I'm officially finished with all my schoolwork here in England! I took my exam this past Thursday, and I'm happy to say that I think it went well. It was a little strange taking an exam for a class I'd finished six months before, but I guess doing new things is what this year has all been about.
Katie and Emily were here to visit last week too. We did some day trips around Kent--Dover, Whitstable, Deal. Whitstable in particular was really pretty. It's a coastal town with pebble-beaches and lots of cute little boutiques and bookstores.
The weather lately has been especially gorgeous, so my flatmates and I (and practically everyone else on campus, for that matter) have taken to spreading blankets out on the lawn outside and sitting in the sun during the afternoons. It feels really great to be able to read for fun again without worrying about the studying I have to do.
I've only got 18 more days here, so I'm trying to make them count!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Barcelona
So Ginnie and I got in to Barcelona on Saturday night, and the views from the plane were pretty spectacular, especially of the mountains. On Sunday we did some walking around and saw the main part of the city, including the Placa Catalunya (the main square), La Rambla (a long pedestrian street with shops and performers), and the pier. We took lots of pictures, and soaked up the Spanish sun while we sat by the water. Unfortunately, I think we both soaked up a little too much sun though, because we were both a little sunburned that night.
Then on Monday we did one of those tourist bus tour thingies, which I personally think is a great way to see large areas of the city. We saw tons of great architecture, Montjuic (a really pretty mountain/hill), and had great views of the water. Oh, and we also saw the Barcelona Cathedral, which had an especially pretty cloister area. With swans!
And that brings us to today, which...was not great. Well, the first half was alright, as we visited La Sagrada Familia, which is the absolutely enormous cathedral in Barcelona that was designed by Gaudi. It's going to be an even more amazing place once construction is finished--they've been working on it off and on since 1882. I got lots of pictures of it, but unfortunately you won't get to see them because I no longer have my camera. Which brings me to the second half of my day. My bag was stolen. We were having lunch at an outside table, and my bag was sitting right by my foot, touching it. One minute the waiter is pouring our drinks, and the next I look down and my bag is gone. It couldn't have been out of my sight for longer than 60 seconds. My current theory is that someone came up from behind and reached through a row of hedges to take it, because no one in front of me came close enough. So that sort of threw me into a panic for the rest of the day, as my bag had tons of important things in it like my passport, camera, wallet, and phone. Very luckily, the police found my passport discarded in the street some hours later, so at least I can still make my flight back to England tomorrow.
All in all, a not-so-pleasant end to what was otherwise a very pleasant holiday. But even then I suppose there was a bright side. And suffice it to say that from now on I'll be keeping one hand very firmly attached to my purse at all times!
(Here are the pictures from our first day in Barcelona, which I copied to my computer before my camera was stolen.)
Then on Monday we did one of those tourist bus tour thingies, which I personally think is a great way to see large areas of the city. We saw tons of great architecture, Montjuic (a really pretty mountain/hill), and had great views of the water. Oh, and we also saw the Barcelona Cathedral, which had an especially pretty cloister area. With swans!
And that brings us to today, which...was not great. Well, the first half was alright, as we visited La Sagrada Familia, which is the absolutely enormous cathedral in Barcelona that was designed by Gaudi. It's going to be an even more amazing place once construction is finished--they've been working on it off and on since 1882. I got lots of pictures of it, but unfortunately you won't get to see them because I no longer have my camera. Which brings me to the second half of my day. My bag was stolen. We were having lunch at an outside table, and my bag was sitting right by my foot, touching it. One minute the waiter is pouring our drinks, and the next I look down and my bag is gone. It couldn't have been out of my sight for longer than 60 seconds. My current theory is that someone came up from behind and reached through a row of hedges to take it, because no one in front of me came close enough. So that sort of threw me into a panic for the rest of the day, as my bag had tons of important things in it like my passport, camera, wallet, and phone. Very luckily, the police found my passport discarded in the street some hours later, so at least I can still make my flight back to England tomorrow.
All in all, a not-so-pleasant end to what was otherwise a very pleasant holiday. But even then I suppose there was a bright side. And suffice it to say that from now on I'll be keeping one hand very firmly attached to my purse at all times!
(Here are the pictures from our first day in Barcelona, which I copied to my computer before my camera was stolen.)
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| Barcelona |
Friday, May 15, 2009
Dublin
On Tuesday morning, I left for London to meet my friend Ginnie at Heathrow. We spent the day seeing the cool sights in London, and I got to go up on the London Eye for the first time. It's really high! Obvious, I know, but still impressive when you're up there. We also walked around and discovered a cool market area that I'd never been to before.
On Wednesday we flew to Dublin. I'm in Ireland right now! Dublin has been really amazing. On Wednesday we walked around a bunch, mostly along O'Connell Street, which is one of the main thoroughfares. Then on Thursday we took a Dublin city bus tour so that we could get a feel for the city. We saw lots of monuments and buildings and stuff, including the statue of Molly Malone and the huge 360-foot Spire, which looks like a giant needle and is very helpful in terms of orienting yourself. We also visited the Guinness brewery, which has been by far my favorite part of the trip so far. I got to pour my own pint of Guinness, and I got a certificate to prove it, heheh. Today we took another bus tour, this time up north along the coast and to Malahide Castle. There wasn't much to see in the castle, but the tour along the coast had some pretty cool views. After that we took a tour of Dublin Castle, which had lots of amazingly decorated rooms and even a little underground section that was really neat.
We're flying to Barcelona tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have more updates for you in a day or two. And hopefully it'll be a little sunnier in Spain than it has been in Ireland!
On Wednesday we flew to Dublin. I'm in Ireland right now! Dublin has been really amazing. On Wednesday we walked around a bunch, mostly along O'Connell Street, which is one of the main thoroughfares. Then on Thursday we took a Dublin city bus tour so that we could get a feel for the city. We saw lots of monuments and buildings and stuff, including the statue of Molly Malone and the huge 360-foot Spire, which looks like a giant needle and is very helpful in terms of orienting yourself. We also visited the Guinness brewery, which has been by far my favorite part of the trip so far. I got to pour my own pint of Guinness, and I got a certificate to prove it, heheh. Today we took another bus tour, this time up north along the coast and to Malahide Castle. There wasn't much to see in the castle, but the tour along the coast had some pretty cool views. After that we took a tour of Dublin Castle, which had lots of amazingly decorated rooms and even a little underground section that was really neat.
We're flying to Barcelona tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have more updates for you in a day or two. And hopefully it'll be a little sunnier in Spain than it has been in Ireland!
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| Dublin |
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| Dublin 2 |
Monday, May 11, 2009
On the Road Again
Well, I've just turned in my 18-page paper for my Roman and Medieval Artifacts class, and now I'm packing for a week and a half long trip to Ireland and Spain! I'm so excited! My friend Ginnie and I are going to spend 3 days in Dublin and 4 days in Barcelona. So expect lots and lots of pictures when I get back! Hopefully I'll be able to post updates along the way as well.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Family! Battleships! Stonehenge!
What a great week! My parents and my aunt and uncle came to visit, and we all had a fantastic time. It was really great to see more family again! We toured London, visited Canterbury, and even got to see Stonehenge and the town of Salisbury. So we saw the sights, had plenty of fish and chips, and even managed to watch a little football. Along with getting to see my parents again, I was particularly excited to finally see Stonehenge. It was pretty awesome, lemme just say. :D I took about a million pictures of it, but I couldn't help it. And the neighboring town of Salisbury was really cool too. We visited the Cathedral there, which has the tallest medieval spire in Europe, and something like the 4th tallest in the world.
In London we also got to go aboard the HMS Belfast, which is a military cruiser permanently anchored on the Thames. I had a lot of fun climbing around the ship from the engine rooms below the waterline to the admiral's quarters on top.
It was hard to watch everybody drive off to the airport at the end of the visit, but I'm consoled by the fact that I'll be home in about a month and a half. How time flies! In the meantime, enjoy the copious pictures of Stonehenge and the surrounding countryside! (All those yellow plants in the fields are canola plants, by the way.)
In London we also got to go aboard the HMS Belfast, which is a military cruiser permanently anchored on the Thames. I had a lot of fun climbing around the ship from the engine rooms below the waterline to the admiral's quarters on top.
It was hard to watch everybody drive off to the airport at the end of the visit, but I'm consoled by the fact that I'll be home in about a month and a half. How time flies! In the meantime, enjoy the copious pictures of Stonehenge and the surrounding countryside! (All those yellow plants in the fields are canola plants, by the way.)
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| Salisbury and Stonehenge |
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