London, Lincoln, and Nottingham

Hello all. Sorry I'm so slow at posting things. Life abroad has proven to be a lot more busy than I had anticipated. But to dive right into things.... two weeks ago I went to London and it was a great place to start my travelling. There was so much to see, new and old, and so much to do, during the day and at night. We arrived Friday and I made a point to head directly to the National Gallery(bottom picture). It was incredible, from the water fountains outside to the DaVincis and Turners inside. The next day we managed to get up early to go see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. It was quite the parade(video at the end). Then we went on to see Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Westminster was absolutely breathtaking and inspiring. Even if you're not a religious person you have to be an awe of it's grandeur and artistry.

The following Friday, January 18th, we went on a school field trip to Lincoln. It was interesting because we got to see some of the historical sites we are learning about in our British Studies course, such as Lincoln Castle and Cathedral (middle picture). In the castle they had one of the original four existing copies of the Magna Carta. It's hard to fathom something that old is still legible today. Last but not least, I had my first tea party there and chatted with two older ladies who shared there stories of living in the english countryside. It was a lovely day trip.

Leaving directly from Lincoln, I headed to Nottingham with some anxiety for my first hostel experience. Thankfully, I was travelling with a bunch of classmates so we ended up taking over most of our 12 person room. However, one of our random roomies was an Australian mate who became our tour guide to Nottingham night life. The next day we had intentions of going to Nottingham forest, home of Robin Hood, but we were told it would be a 45 minute bus ride to get there. So for future reference, Nottingham forest is not actually in Nottingham. But not all was lost- Nottingham had a ridiculous amount of shopping. So needless to say we did a little bit of shopping that day. On Sunday we decided to do some more wondering around the city before we caught our train. We found this fabulous place called the Pitcher & Piano, which was a cathedral that had been turned into a classy bar(top picture). So I was able to tell my mom that even with all this travelling and studying, I'm still able to go to church on Sunday. haha well until next time- i miss you all and I hope you're all staying warm! cheers!
P.S. just in case some of you are not familiar with the world of blogging (I certainly wasn't until recently) you are able to write comments on my blog if you would prefer that instead of writing me emails. But I get excited to hear from everyone no matter what form its in!

Getting Settled in at Harlaxton

So I've been in england for almost a week now. The castle is gorgeous. Very large, I seem to get lost in a new part every day but ive managed to get to all my classes on time so far. by the way all my classes, my dorm room, the cafeteria (they call it the refectory here), the library are all in the manor house. Which is very nice sometimes because im able to practically roll out of bed and go to class. The only down side is that I hadn't stepped outside for 2 days, ok I lied it was 3, but i was sick as well. The second night we had to dress "smart" for a "high table dinner" which even included a bagpiper. i was quite impressed. They have shuttles that take us into Grantham, the town by us. Its a lot bigger and busier than I had expected, but it was a pleasant surprise. All the english people that I have met have been very kind and we seem to share a mutual fascination with one another. However, I was surprised at all the differences between here and the US. For example: they dont have folders here, randy means horny, everyone seems to be dressed to impress, lectures dont include bullet points nor power points (quite frustrating at times) and thats just to name a few. Friday morning we leave for London which should be quite exciting. I promise I will try to update the blog every couple weeks or so, but i must say im pretty impressed with myself already because anyone that knows me knows that Im awful with figuring out anything that has to do with technology. Well until later, cheerio! PS incase you dont know them, the two girl in the picture with me are Tracey and Brit. They both also go to Eau Claire, and I dont like to admit this, but Im not sure if I wouldve been brave enough to do this without them.