Longest Day EVER--literally!

Last day in Italy, Last day in Europe :(  It was a sad one.  We packed up our things, and left them at the hotel to set off on our final day.  It also happend to be the same day as Britain's Royal Wedding between William and Kate.  We were just ambling about the city when we happened upon an English Pub that was playing the wedding so of course we made our way inside and celebrated with the other English tourists who discovered this little place.  I ordered tea and sipped it whilst feeling a little bit of national pride for GB.  Afterwards, we walked around and found our way across the island where we sat on the edge of the water and literally watched the boats go by all afternoon.  It was an awesome end.  The sun was shining, the salt water was lapping up and hitting our feet, and the view was something I could have only imagined.  Eventually we headed back to grab some pizza one last time and grab our stuff for the flight back to London.  We left at 11pm Italy time and got back to London at about 1am England time.  We went ahead and went as close to the gate as we could get at that time of night where we all opened our suitcases and redistributed stuff so that we could meet the weight requiirements.  We spread out some blankets and watched the british flick "Love Actually" while we waited for the night to pass.  At about 7am we headed up to the terminal and grabbed some food while we waited to be able to check our bags.  At 9am we made it through security and then sat with our carry ons inside and waited for the gate to be opened.  My flight left at 12pm England time and arrived in Chicago at 9pm my time (or 3pm US time).  We said our final goodbyes and headed out with our parents.  I then got in the car and took the 6 hour drive down to southern Illinois.  It was an intense day!  We arrived home at 10pm US time and I stayed up until midnight which would be 6am my time.  Essentially I was awake for about 48 hours.  Needless to say I slept well that night and the next day I began trying to remember what it was like to live in the US. 

Venice :)

First day in Venice was really awesome!  I think it probably turned out to be my favourite in Italy :)  Only bad part was to travel to any of the different islands we had to buy Vaparetto (water bus) tickets which were really expensive for public transportation.  Then we had to wait to get on the water buses for ever so that part was really annoying.  Eventually we were off to the island of Murano which is famous for glassblowing.  We walked around a perused the shops enjoying the beautiful day.  Some of the shopkeepers were really rude so I waited to purchase my Venetian glass from the main island.  We bought some food from the grocery store and the next thing on the agenda was to ride the water bus to the island of Lido which is where the beach is.  It took forever for us to find a vaparetto that would take us there, and finally we were helped by some friendly canadian women.  When we finally arrived on Lido we stopped to get gelato and then headed straight to the beach.  Unfortunately, that day it was super windy and sand was blowing everywhere.  When we tried to lay down the sand was blowing into our eyes and it was kind of miserable.  I walked along the shore because the sand wasn't blowing there.  The body of water at Lido is the Adriatic Sea.  We eventually picked up and made our long water bus journey back to the hotel.  That evening, we went to try to bargain for a cheap gondala ride but the best we could do was 25 euros each.  That is a lot of money so we decided to skip it and sit on a dock and watch the boats sail by instead.  It was pretty awesome.

Verona

Wednesday morning we got up and left early to travel to Venice.  Venice is a city that is literally built on water so the only way to get around is to walk or take boats.  It was beautiful upon arrival and I immediately fell in love with its uniqueness.  We arrived around 2pm and after leaving our stuff at the hotel, Amanda, Christina, and I headed ot the train station to spend the day in Verona.  Verona is the setting for Romeo and Juliet and a lovely little city.  When we got off the train we tried to find the related tourist sites but we had a little bit of trouble.  We went to the tomb of Juliet first, which was a bust.  The tomb was just an empty box with a bunch of graffiti on it.  So we asked the museum lady where the 'other' Juliet stuff was and she directed us to the city center.  We got to see a lot of the stuff that was in the movie "Letters to Juliet".  It was so cool seeing the infamous balcony and we even took our pictures posing with the statue of Juliet.  We also found the "Letters to Juliet" club place in an upstairs room by the balcony.  We got to read real letters that people across the world sent to Juliet and also write our own.  Eventually, we found a nice pizza parlour for dinner and enjoyed a relaxing evening before catching a late train back to Venice.

Goodbye Harlaxton :(

Last British Studies Final.  Last Day at Harlaxton.  Last goodbyes before heading to Italy.  Today was a day equal to an emotional rollercoaster.  It truly was bittersweet.  We all rushed through our exams and probably didn’t try hard enough on explicating ‘British National Identity.’  We had our final lunch in the refectory with friends and then spent the remainder of the afternoon packing and saying goodbye to groups of friends who were leaving for home/independent trips.  I took one last walk down the lane by myself and enjoyed more English spring.  I trekked out to the Harlaxton church (not exactly sure what kind of church, I just followed the steeple) and I got to enjoy the pristine solitude of a beautiful spring day.  My last walk up the manner was sad as well, it truly was hard to say goodbye.  Even now, I feel like after Italy I will be going back up to school like usual.  So surreal how fast the time flew.  The Italy trip students got to stick around the manner until Thursday at 2am so we ate our final meal together (fish and chips-I thought that was rather fitting) and then took a walk into the woods behind the manor to see the bunker that the troops who stayed at the manor in WWII used to practice.  I got some more lovely stinging nettle on my legs and feet so that was fun and I also scratched up my leg on a branch (I didn’t anticipate that it would be so far back in the woods!).  Pretty much just wasted the rest of the evening away before heading out early for Heathrow Airport.  I will never forget my last few glimpses of Harlaxton Manor as the coach made its way down the drive way and down the A607.  This place changed my life, and I was sad to see it go.

Firenze

This morning we woke up early again to head out on the town.  On our way to our destination, we did some more perusing of the street markets and then headed out to the Accademia Galleria to see Michealango’s famous statue of David.  After standing in a pretty long line, we finally got in and it was magnificent, and much bigger than we expected.  We looked at the other pieces in the museum and then set out to find a place to eat.  We decided to cross the river and look for a less touristy area.  We didn’t find the restaurant we were searching for, but we did find a giant hill to climb and at the top there was an awesome view over the entire city of Florence.  It was really cool to see how far we had walked and all the places like the Duomo that we had visited.  We grabbed some lunch and then walked back to our hotel .  We ambled around for a bit and heard some music playing outside so we went to investigate and found ourselves in the midst of a communism/marxism rally.  Needless to say, we made our way our quickly and explored a local church instead.  On our way back to the hotel, we also picked up some gelato that turned out to be 10 euros, so that will go down as the most expensive ice cream I ever have—15 american dollars.  We made it back to the hotel and took a nice long nap to relax.  Around 7pm, I set off to take a walk around town and then I ran into Marie and Jessica on the way out.  They invited me to go with them to dinner at a spagetteria they found that was far from the hotel.  We walked there and I had delicious fettuccini and mushrooms, and then some tiramisu.  It was really nice, I had a very nice time.  We walked back and our room decided to have a showing of Pocahontas as we packed for Venice in the morning.

The Leaning Tower and Florence

Today was our first real day in Florence, and first thing we went to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  We got up early and walked to the train station to buy tickets after eating a really nice breakfast at the hotel.  We found 12 euro tickets roundtrip and left at about 9:30am.  Pretty much slept the entire way to Pisa and when I woke up we were there.  We got off the train and got lost on our way to find the tower, but we did pick up some lovely gelato—I got a Lion flavoured cone.  We spotted the leaning tower from a distance and it was just what I expected.  We took our iconic photos holding up the tower and I almost face-planted trying to get out of the way of a photo(not a fun part of the trip).  It really was cool to see this in person.  We walked around their duomo and saw the baptistery and then we did some shopping at the tourist shops along the way.  We then grabbed some lunch at a café (I had a calzone) before heading back to the train station.  Our train left at 1:30pm and we got back to Florence at 2:30pm.  From here we set off to find the Duomo—very gorgeous—and waited in line to get inside.  The outside was magnificent compared to the inside, but it was still cool.  Next we found the Ponto Vecchio which is the iconic Florence bridge that holds lots of jewelry and leather shops.  Seeing as none of us have very much money to spend, we just walked through and a little further into the city to explore.  We randomly heard some music around a corner so we went to find out why there was a random band playing on the street.  We don’t read Italian, but we knew enough to realize that we had walked into a communist/fascist rally.  Obviously, we got out of there quick, and wandered into another free church that was nearby.  This church wasn’t as beautiful on the outside, but the inside was much more ornate.  Our day was wrapping up so we headed back to our hotel and stopped at a grocery store on the way back.  We picked up some food and rested after a long day of travel.  Amanda and I got in our swimming suits and made the lovely jet-bath in our room as a Jacuzzi.  Overall, it was a great day J

A very different Easter Sunday

Today was sort of low key because it was full of traveling and waiting around.  It was also sad because this was my first Easter Sunday that I missed church and also I didn’t get to spend the day with my family.  Anyway, the uneventfulness of the day  was kind of a good thing because I’m getting over another cold, but it was also a little disappointing.  We slept in this morning and packed up our things to wait for the coach.  We went to grab some food and then just chilled because the coach came about 45 minutes late.   We took the bus through the gorgeous Italian countryside to Florence.  Upon arrival we checked into the hotel (big improvement on our last hotel) and we found it pretty modern and spacious.  We have a shower and a big jet bathtub.  We decided to splurge and head downstairs to the restaurant for dinner.  Here I had my first Italian pasta.  It was ravioli that was potato filled with a meat sauce—very delicious!  We headed upstairs to plan our night and relax.

Do as the Romans do!

Today we had a hard time getting started, but we left on the Metro to go out to the Coleseum.  It was really neat to see this ancient place that held so much Roman history.  We then grabbed some food at a grocery store and walked back to the Coleseum to have our lunch.  I should really document all the cool places I’ve eaten lunch at.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon looking around the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.  We grabbed some gelato and went back to the hotel.  At the hotel, we took a nice siesta and then headed over to grab more food from a grocery store.  We enjoyed the food, watched Italian TV, and just chilled for the evening.

When In Rome :)

What a good Friday indeed.  We set out pretty early in the morning after a free breakfast at our hotel.  Our first stop was the Vatican City (a separate country inside Rome).  We took the metro (with only a slight confusion) out to the area in west Rome.  Our first stop was St. Peter’s Basilica.  This building was beautiful!  We fought the lines to get in for free and despite my uneasiness of the crowds, we enjoyed a nice visit.  We were hungry so we stopped at a pizzeria for our first taste of Italian pizza.  We weren’t exactly sure what we were going to end up with (menu was in Italian) but

we ordered anchovie and prosciutto (ham).  Interesting to say the least!  We also picked up some more gelato before heading to the Vatican Museum and the infamous Sistine Chapel.  Soooo beautiful!  This was a masterpiece by Michelangelo and it houses his works such as ‘Creation’ and “Last Judgement”.  Afterwards, we went for round two on gelato before heading to the Coleseum to meet up with friends.  After we met up we stood in line to get to see the Pope at The Stations of the Cross.  We were front row to see it and I saw the Pope!!! We stood there from like 6pm-11pm.  Our feet hurt!!!  But it was soo worth it.  We tried to catch the bus back but it never came so instead of spending $ on a taxi we were going to walk back.  Luckily we found a nocturnal bus and we arrived back faster than our friends.  We were exhausted and definitely had no problems falling asleep.

Traveling to ITALY!

After leaving on the coach and riding into London at 1am we shuffled into the airport and waited around for our 7am flight.  When we got on the plane I found out I was assigned to sit next to Dr. Taylor—my awesome british studies professor—so that was interesting/awkward.  We arrived and it seemed like it took FOREVER for everyone’s bags to come out, then we had to wait for the bus for a long time as well.  We embarked on coaches for the hotel and I started to get really excited about Rome when we drove past the Coliseum!  We got to the hotel and Amanda, Christina, and I showered to freshen up and then continued our never-ending day.  We left with Megan from the hotel in search of food and finally found a nice little café where we had paninis!  Mine was mozzarella and tomato and it was delicious!  I have a feeling all of this Italian food is going to continually remind me about my ongoing job at Fazoli’s Italian Restaurant.  I finally get to see some of our food in its true element!  We tried to go to the Trevi fountain but our Italian map reading skills are shaky so we ended up at a monument called the Porta Pia.  (Still not sure what this is?  Click on the description—I had to look it up too!)  We now headed in the right direction to see the very famous Trevi Fountain.  It is absolutely beautiful!  We picked up some gelato and ate it on the side of the fountain J  You are supposed to throw one coin in using your right hand over your right shoulder to ensure that you will return some day.  And if you throw in two you will meet your true love.  I threw in some coins and then I finally got to throw in the coins that Brecca, Bria, Katrina, and Gena sent with me for them (which included, a silver dollar, a shiny penny, 10 cent euro, and a 2$ bill respectively!)  Now I feel assured that some day all of my friends will visit as well!  It was beautiful!  Next we headed to the equally popular Spanish steps.  So pretty and there were people everywhere!  We walked back and pretty much are ready for bed even though it is only 9pm---it has been a LONG two days that have blended into one!

Final Goodbye to Harlaxton

Last British Studies Final.  Last Day at Harlaxton.  Last goodbyes before heading to Italy.  Today was a day equal to an emotional rollercoaster.  It truly was bittersweet.  We all rushed through our exams and probably didn’t try hard enough on explicating ‘British National Identity.’  We had our final lunch in the refectory with friends and then spent the remainder of the afternoon packing and saying goodbye to groups of friends who were leaving for home/independent trips.  I took one last walk down the lane by myself and enjoyed more English spring.  I trekked out to the Harlaxton church (not exactly sure what kind of church, I just followed the steeple) and I got to enjoy the pristine solitude of a beautiful spring day.  My last walk up the manner was sad as well, it truly was hard to say goodbye.  Even now, I feel like after Italy I will be going back up to school like usual.  So surreal how fast the time flew.  The Italy trip students got to stick around the manner until Thursday at 2am so we ate our final meal together (fish and chips-I thought that was rather fitting) and then took a walk into the woods behind the manor to see the bunker that the troops who stayed at the manor in WWII used to practice.  I got some more lovely stinging nettle on my legs and feet so that was fun and I also scratched up my leg on a branch (I didn’t anticipate that it would be so far back in the woods!).  Pretty much just wasted the rest of the evening away before heading out early for Heathrow Airport.  I will never forget my last few glimpses of Harlaxton Manor as the coach made its way down the drive way and down the A607.  This place changed my life, and I was sad to see it go.

Final Days at Harlaxton

At this point, we have all just been trying to savor our last days in England.  Plus, now the weather is unbelievably lovely here and everything is blooming so it's hard not to love it!  Here is some of what I've been up to lately.

Burghley House: This was a free trip we could take on a Wednesday afternoon.  It just so happened that the day we went was absolutely gorgeous (warmest day of the year at that point!)  We explored the house, which was used as Lady Catherine's house in Pride and Prejudice the film.  It was grand, and very beautiful!  Then we ventured out to the gardens for some spring fun!  They had a lot of really cool fountains, flowers, and even a maze!

Capture the Flag:  This was awesome!  We played outside around the manor after dark and my team dominated--well sort of!  It reminded me of playing games back in youth group during high school.  It was kind of dangerous though because there is so much to trip on, etc. 

Costume Ball:  Once again, really really great way to end the semester.  I dressed up as James Bond, but the girl version.  It was cool to see what everyone else came up with.  We had a nice dinner and then a dance in the Great Hall.  That night Amanda met some Bobby's as well (police officers) and they were nice (we got to take our picture with them!) 

Fair in Grantham:  This was really fun.  They set up a fair inside the streets of Grantham and it reminded me of the one they have every May in Mt. Vernon.  It was fun, Amanda and I both played a game and she won a goldfish named Algae and I won a banana!  We also got some doughnuts (we wanted funnel cake but I guess that isn't popular here?!)

Valedictory Dinner:  Bittersweet.  Last day of classes!  But it also meant that things were coming to a close.  It was a lovely dinner and afterwards we all headed out to the bistro for the last time.  It was a great night hanging out with Cara and Kelsey.  We made plans to meet up at Holiday World this summer so I hope we can make that happen.

Packing:  Ughh--not fun.  I had to pack stuff take to Italy, and also pack everything that was left in my suitcases to meet me at the airport.  This was a process, and I had to give some things away.

Bakewell/Chatsworth House Trip:  On my final Friday my English Novel class took another trip out to Bakewell and Chatsworth to see the home that Jane Austen based Mr. Darcy's house, Pemberley, after in Pride and Prejudice.  It was magnificant.  We started our day in Bakewell where we went to a tea shop for some tea and a famous Bakewell Tart.  As a group we trekked on public footpaths across sheep pastures to find the Chatsworth house.  The view approaching the house is iconic, but in our experience we got to come over the hill and see it "shrinkwrapped" essentially.  They were doing construction on the front of the house which was a bummer but it was still really magnificant.  The inside of the home was spectacular, so ornate!  Some of the rooms have been used in filming of Pride and Prejudice so I can't wait to get home and watch it again!  My favourite part was going out to the gardens.  These romantic style gardens are built to impress you and make you think that you are in the middle of nature--it worked!  So pretty, and so full of fountains!  Unfortunately, I ran out of camera battery so I don't really have picture evidence :(  This trip was really really rewarding and I had an amazing time.

Belvoir Castle Adventure:  On Monday Amanda and I had a day off from finals so we decided to take a walking trip to Belvoir Castle.  On a clear day I can see it from my bedroom window, but it is a good five miles away.  We brought directions, but we decided to meander around and take the wonderful public footpaths they have in England (I wish the US had them, you can walk right through ppl pastures and yards using styles to climb over their fences and such--very neat!)  We left at 9:30 and finally arrived at the castle at about noon.  Unfortunately, it was closed!  We did get some Belvoir springs juice that was delicious!  On our way back we decided to just go south because that was the direction that Harlaxton was in relation to the castle (I used my compass so that was cool).  We kind of got lost, went to Knipton and Croxton Kerrial.  We saw a LOT of English countryside that was very lovely.  Lots of flowers and lots of animals-sheep, ram, white horse, chickens, birds, cows, and so much more!  We even fed an apple to Steedy-our white horse!  Amanda found a magic feather and we literally walked out feet off!  We were sort of lost, and eventually we had to call a cab to pick us up because we needed to make it back for Amanda's checkout time.  It was a really fun adventure and I had a really goood time exploring!

Final Exams:  Not so fun, and took up a lot of my last time in England so I wasn't so happy about that.  It also made it very difficult to concentrate knowing that I had to get packed, say my goodbyes, and get ready for a trip to italy.  But I got through them thank goodness!

London- Round III

Last weekend Amanda and I set out to London to meet up with one of her high school friends and show her around the city.  We did a lot of the same things as before, but here is a little description about the things we did while visiting.  It was an absolutely GORGEOUS weekend--no rain which is not normal!
Camden Town- We went bargain shopping here and found some cool clothes.  We grabbed some dinner and sat by the canal to eat it.
Oxford Street- We took Nicki here to introduce her to Primark.  Primark was crazy busy, but not the busiest I've seen it!  We found some great deals and I picked up some more 1£ sunglasses to replace the ones I broke in Spain.
10 Downing St.- This is where the Prime Minister lives so that was kind of cool.
Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace- Wow there was a LOT of people there.  The crowd was quite overwhelming, but we got to see the famous ceremony that was full of fanfare. 
Portobello Road- The street where the riches of ages are sold.  Anything and everything a truck can unload, are sold by the barrel on Portobello Road! This is the largest street market in the world and they sing about it in the classic movie "Bed Knobs & Broomsticks."  It was pretty awesome, I bought a cool vintage necklace and some frozen yogurt (it is just sooo good!).
Oh and we ran into a interesting guy in the lobby of our hostel who used tarot cards to read our fortune.  It was free, thank goodness because apparently my life is so confusing that it isn't really in the cards.  We had a laugh though and pretty much tried to avoid him the rest of the weekend

:( Last Day in Spain

Spain has been my favourite trip so far, so it was sad on the final day to say goodbye.  The last day we slept in as late as we could because of how tired we were from Granada the day before.  Plus, we changed time so we lost another hour (it was very hard to figure out what time we wanted to get up when you had to figure out the time change plus the fact that Spain is already an hour ahead!).  We left and went straight to the beach for the last time and spent some time just laying out and soaking up the rays.  I had fun making words in the sand with the rocks i found on the beach.  We decided to attend mass at the big church in Malaga so we headed out there.  It was definitely an interesting service because A. I'm not catholic so it tends to get confusing for me B. The mass was in Spanish so I didn't understand what they said C. there were tons of kids running around and crying D. Some lady fell during the mass so that was scary E.  The frequency of the priests microphone was picking up some random lady talking on the phone or something and apparently what she was saying was funny.  It was a cool experience though.  Afterwards we found a restaurant to eat at because everything else in town was closing up for the siesta hours.  I ordered a Malaga salad that was pretty good.  It had potatoes, olivves, oragnes, etc.  We ventured over to visit the Picasso museum and luckily it is free on Sundays.  It was cool to see some Picasso art in real life in the city where he was born.  We still had time to kill so we ate some more deliecious frozen yogurt from LlaoLlao and people watched.  We decided to move over to the pier where the cruise ships come in to do the same in order to kill time waiting to head to the airport.  They had a cool pirate ship there so of course I pretended to be a pirate in front of it.  We made a secret hiding spot to leave our towels behind for Emily to pick up too so that was exciting.  At about 8:30 pm we headed over to the airport to get ready for our flight at 10:50pm.  When I was going through security they made me search through my entire bag to find this really cool shiny rock that I found at the beach and was going to use as a paper weight :(  That was really frustrating, and then my sunglasses broke so I was just having a hard time for a bit.  I got on the plane and zonked out all the way back to London.  We arrived at Gatwick and picked up some food to eat while we waited the 4 hours until the first trains go on monday morning.  We tried to sleep, but it was freezing and there was only enough room to sit.  This part of the trip is always annoying , but we save money by taking the late flights so it's give and take.  I arrived back at the manor at 7:30 am with enough time to shower, eat breakfast, and then go to lecture at 8:30.

Granada!

Granada by Frankie Laine

Saturday we woke up really early to head to the bus station to catch one to Granada-about a 2 hour bus ride from Malaga.  This was a great day trip and when we arrived we met up with Clare's friend from high school who agreed to show us around for the day.  We headed out to the city centre and right away I could tell that it was quite different from Malaga.  Mainly, it wasn't quite so tropical as Malaga because it wasn't on the beach.  Granada was much more brown and not quite so verdant---but also very beautiful!  Our first endeavor was the Alhambra.  Once again, it involved climbing up a giant mountain/hill!  Here's some info about it--""literally "the red one"), the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra (الْقَلْعَةُ ٱلْحَمْرَاءُ, Al-Qal‘at al-Ḥamrā’ , "the red fortress"), is a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid 14th century by the Moorish rulers of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus, occupying the top of the hill of the Assabica on the southeastern border of the city of Granada in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia.  It had some pretty spectacular views of the city!  And you could see the Albaicin which is a hill that led up to our next stop and lookout point.  Following is info about the Albaicin--a district of present day Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain, that retains the narrow winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past. It was declared a world heritage site in 1984, along with the more famous Alhambra.

It rises on a hill facing the Alhambra and many tourists journey into the Albayzin primarily for the spectactular views of the Alhambra from the viewing point by the church of San Nicolas". Next we made our way back down to the city center to visit the Cathedral.  It was pretty spectactular, but what we really wanted to see was in the Capilla Real, so we had to pay twice unfortunately.  In the Chapel, we saw where Ferdinand and Isabella are buried.  They were the spanish monarchs who gave Christopher Columbus the ships for his journey to the new world and they also are the parents of Catherine of Aragon.  Furthermore, they also re-seized southern spain back from the moors who had taken over.  After we got some more frozen yogurt (our new favourite!) and did a little shopping on the Albaicin where you can buy all sorts of souvenirs.  We ended our day of sightseeing with some tapas (appetizers--ours were tiny sandwiches).  In Granada, you get free tapas with the purchase of a drink, so we drank some delicious tinto de veranos and rested our feet!  All of spain is full of brick roads so my feet were TIRED!  We headed back to the bus to head home and made our journey back out to the hostel.  When we arrived we were hungry so we had some paella which is a valencian dish popular in spain.  There is a picture below because it is hard to explain--it was delicious!

Spain: Day 3

The next day we spent in Malaga and it was really fun as well!  After a late night, we had to drag ourselves out of bed to get out on Friday morning but it was another lovely day in Spain!  Today I set out with a bit of a sunburn, so the locals kind of looked at me funny b/c A. they didn't think it was warm enough to go to the beach and B. they don't get sunburns---but I had fun so that was all that matters!  We met up with Emily and Clare again to explore the Alcazaba (fortress) and the palace.  It was absolutely beautiful as well, and I especiall liked the flowers beginning to grow there.  After that we all went to the Cafe de Madrid and Emily introduced us to churros con chocolate.  Amazing!  It was just like "american" churros except there was no sugar and cinamon and instead you dip them into this really thick hot chocolate stuff!  Muy sabroso!  Oh and we learned the "spoon test" which is to test the thickness of the chocolate.  You see if you spoon floats on top and if so it is perfect for this dessert!  I liked it a lot, but it was really intensely chocolate!  We went back to the Mercadona (grocery store) and picked up some more crackers, cheese, and mandarinos and then headed to the beach.  We all enjoyed another siesta on the beach.  That night, we met up again to hang out again in the city and try some more "spanish" food.

We'll I've Never Been to Spain, But I kind of like the Music :)

First day in Spain.  WOW!  It was sooo beautiful there!  One of my favourite places I visited.  We were so excited about the warm sunny weather than Amanda and I packed all sundresses and skirts to wear there which was awesome except all of the Spaniards gave us funny looks because they thought the upper 70 degree weather is cold.  Amanda and I woke up early and got ready to ride the bus into the city to meet up with Clare and Emily.  Emily acted as our personal tour guide the first two days in Malaga so we set off to the Castillo de Gibralfaro.  Here is a better description of it than I can give, "The Castillo de Gibralfaro in Malaga is situated above the Alcazaba and is connected by a path at the eastern end of the Alcazaba. It was built in the 14th and 15th centuries by the Muslim King Yusuf....The castle was constructed as a fortress to defend the Alcazaba against the spread of artillery use. The fortification includes the defensive devices of a large flanking tower, a rampart perimeter adapted to the terrain by zigzaging walls and an angled gateway."  It was an intense climb (another time in Europe when we found ourselves climbing a mountain) but the view was spectacular.  From here you could view the dock, the meditteranean sea, and the entire city.  We walked around for a good part of the morning and then we made the trek back down.  We stopped by a chino (type of store) and picked up some beach towels and then went to the Mercadona for a picnic lunch.  Amanda and bought some gouda cheese (really good), crackers, and a bag of mandrinos (mandarin oranges).  We met up on the beach and sunbathed, ate, and played in the water.  It was really awesome to go into the Mediterranean Sea because I never thought I would.  While we were there there were a lot of waves up at the shore which apparently is very unusual for this body of water.  The waves were pretty intense at some points.  Between Amanda and I, we ate almost the entire bag of oranges in one afternoon---they were SO good!  We also took a siesta on the beach and it was glorious!  We headed back at late afternoon to shower and rest because we planned to meet up at 11pm to go out (Spainards don't even start to go out for the night until like midnight! so crazy!).  Amanda and I went up to the city centre and did some shopping and ate dinner (they eat really late too) at 100 Manneditos.  It took us a while to figure out how to order but we found the sandwiches we got interestingly good. Clare, Emily, and some of Emily's friends from her school met us for Salsa Dancing.  We danced the night away and it was really fun!  It is always interesting to dance with people who don't speak English because we had to try to communicate using the little bit of spanish I know.  Overall it was just a great night!

En Route to Spain

Last Wednesday began my trip to Malaga, Spain.  Malaga is on the Costa del Sol of Spain, or in other words, it is a beach city on the southern coast.  It actually is just across the sea from Moracco which is on the nothern side of Africa.  Anyways, Wednesday started off with me attending our 8:30 British Studies Lecture but then skipping my seminar class so that we could catch the 10:10 shuttle to Grantham in order to leave by train to Gatwick Airport at 12:00pm (I'm sure my teachers understood).  Amanda and I caught a bite to eat at the Goose and proceeded out to wait at the train station where I took this photo.  It is part excitement about the beautiful weather in Engand, but mostly sheer joy because I'm about to go to sunny Spain!  Amanda, Clare, and I pretty much spent the rest of the day moving from one form of public transportation to another until we finally arrived at Malaga at about 9pm.  We took a bus from the airport to the city to meet Emily, our friend from Eastern who is studying abroad there.  It was so exciting to be reunited in Spain!  She took us on a general walking tour of the city centre and then sent Amanda and I off to our hostel further out of the city but right by the beach.  The weather was absolutely beautiful and you could just smell the green and verdant flowers and palm trees!  Amanda and I got off at what we thought was our stop but in reality we somehow went too far.  So we ended up walking around for about an hour looking for the hostel.  We tried asking people for help but first of all, we came across a language barrier because they didn't speak english and then even more so they just didn't know where The Melting Pot Hostel was.  Eventually we called and finally located it.  When we arrived we felt very welcome and our accomodations were pretty good as well.  I went to bed being able to hear and see the ocean out the window which was a very pleasant experience!

London Field Trip, Wicked, & Cadbury World!

Although technically I was just around the manor, last weekend was jam-packed with activities that kept me out and about until Sunday afternoon.  Friday we had a field trip to London where we toured St. Paul's Cathedral, the National Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery.  It was a typical day in England, rainy and sort of miserable but overall it was fun.  The cathedral is magnificant on the inside and we climbed all the way to the top (really intense climb) and saw an awesome view of London.  We ate our sack lunches and then headed out to see portraits and paintings that we have been discussing in class, in real life (which was very neat).  In Trafalgar Square we also got to see the official countdown to the olympics which will be held next year in London.  We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant called Garfunkels before trekking over to the Apollo theater to see a performance of the musical, Wicked.  The walk was lovely because everything was really lit up in the city.  The play was awesome as well, just as cool as when I saw it the first time at the Fox.  Following this, we made our way back to the bus to take us home.  My group did stop by a McDonalds and I bought my only American Fast food purchase while in Europe which was my personal favourite, ice cream cone.  I just had to see if it was as good overseas!  We made it back at 2am and then I went to bed because I had to be back on the bus the next morning by 8am to go to Cadbury World.  I have come to love Cadbury chocolate since being in England because I have been introduced to the wide array of candy they make (besides merely the Easter eggs that they sell in the US).  It was really fun, we got lots of free chocolate too!  The Cadbury brothers who started the company are remembered for the stellar way they treated their employees during the industrial revolution.  They even built a town called Bourneville for their employees to live in.  It was a really neat tour and afterwards we got to go into Birmingham to shop at the Bull Mark shopping center.  The only way I can describe it is INSANE!  Seriously we went into Primark (cool store I shopped at in Nottingham as well) and you would have thought it was Christmas-except it was just a saturday in March!  Finally we came home and ate dinnner before going out to celebrate my friend Christina's birthday.  It was a good couple of days, but I was relieved on Sunday to be able to relax!

A little bit of everything (it's been a while)

So it's been a REALLY long time since I blogged last but I haven't been on any major trips so it's hard for me to remember!  Following are a few short blurbs about what I've been up to in the last two weeks.

Nottingham: On a Friday free from classes, Shelby, Amanda and I caught the train to Nottingham for a day of shopping and Robin Hood.  Here we discovered the BEST store ever-Primark!  It has super cheap clothes and it's cheaper than even walmart shopping (even with the exchange rate!)!  It was bliss :)  We shopped to our heart's content and worked to complete out "english" wardrobe.  Mine still needs work, but I found some great stuff to wear on our new tradition, "Dress Up Wednesday."  We started trying to dress up for school on wednesdays just for fun.  Except this last wednesday we all dressed down due to the British Studies test that afternoon.  Somehow taking a test in sweats is just more comfortable than doing so in a dress ;)

A frolic about the manor: Last week was probably the most sunny week we have had so far!  It was absolutely brilliant!  The picture on this blog is from one of our days of bliss outside.  We took walks down the drive, ran around barefoot, and did cartwheels (or I attempted anyway lol). 

Nottingham University: On one of our Wednesday afternoons we took a free school trip to Nottingham Unie.  Here we walked around and enjoyed their scenic campus and their busy library.  It was pretty cool to see students like ourselves in a real college setting in England.  It was similar, but also quite different.  There were way more students in the library so maybe they study more? lol

A night at the Greg: Last weekend we got a big group of friends to walk out to The Gregory, a pub just down the driveway of the manor house.  The Gregory is named after Gregory Gregory who built Harlaxton manor.  It was a fun night of laughs and conversation.  On the way back Amanda and I saw a frog which was cool.

School work: Lately I've felt pretty busy with school.  I had my research paper about John Donne due on the same day I had to present in British Studies about the role of women in the Industrial Revolution.  I still have a ton to read and then just this past wednesday we had a really hard British Studies exam.  The semester is winding down though really soon which is crazy!

St. Patrick's Day: We had a fun celebration after the test for british studies to celebrate St. Patrick's day in the school Bistro.  Here we listened to irish music and drank things with green food coloring in them.  It was pretty fun and a nice break from the stress of studying for the exam.

The Roman Baths and Stonehenge!

Today was filled with lots of riding in the coach but we did get to see a few cool things before the weekend was over.  The Roman Baths were the first stop.  Here is where the Romans set up this bathhouse where people could come and relax, and be healed by the waters flowing from the 10,000 year old hotsprings.  It was cool to see and this was also mentioned in Austen novels as a popular activity in the 18th century.  Next stop was Stonehenge.  One of the 7 wonders of the Medieval World!  It was pretty cool to finally get to see it after hearing about it all my life!  We then went out to Salisbury to eat lunch.  Our group chose the Whig and Quill Pub for a quick bite and it was pretty good overall.  Back on the bus to ride the 4 hours back to school--ugh!  But I was excited to make it back for ice cream!

Bath and the surroundings, Day 2

Saturday we woke up early to take a bus tour out to some interesting sites around Bath.  We first visited Wells Cathedral.  It was pretty typical for a cathedral (I've seen a lot at this point).  We even had time to stop by a little farmer's market that you could buy all sorts of food and crafts from.  Amanda and I picked up some homemade apple juice and clotted cream fudge to split for a snack---delicious!  Next we went to Glastonbury Abbey.  This was the ruins of an ancient abbey and it has the place where King Arthur is buried.  I really liked this one because they had lots of beautiful flowers everywhere.  It was like a spring day!  We got back onto the bus and headed back to spend the remainder of our day in Bath.  Upon arrival in the city we all went the Jane Austen Museuem.  It wasn't great, but they did tell you a little bit about Jane Austen's life when she stayed in Bath.  It was really cool to finally get to see the place that she mentions so frequently in her novels as a place of relaxation and culture.  Next on the agenda was walking up to the royal crescent which is from the 18 century and a model of georgian architecture.  We decided to find a movie theater to spend our free evening and we finally found a cinema that was playing "No Strings Attached".  We grabbed a bite to eat at a very interesting mexican-ish restaurant and then saw the show.  The movie was AMAZING!  I'm still not sure if it was because it was just that good or I've just really been missing things like going to see movies with friends but either way we left the theater on cloud 9.  What a great day!

Oxford and Bath

Today we woke up early to head out on our 3 day bus tour with the school of Oxford, Bath, and eventually Stonehenge.  We arrived at Oxford first thing and headed out to look around this prestigious college town.  We stopped by Christ Church in Oxford to see the cool historical Great Hall that was the inspiration for various shots in the Harry Potter films.  Following is what Christ Church has to say about the films,

"The Great Hall was replicated in the film studios to create Hogwart's Hall. Only one of our portraits moves, sadly, but many of the faces are the real "Wizards" who have changed the way we understand the world. As Harry and the new first-years enter Hogwarts they are greeted by Professor McGonagall. This scene was shot on the 16th century staircase which leads up to the Great Hall......The cloisters in Christ Church were first built 1000 years ago. This ancient vintage made them the ideal setting for various scenes.  It is here that Harry is shown the trophy his father won as a seeker in Quidditch."

We also visited Christ Church Cathedral which is where Charles and John Wesley were ordained.  Afterwards we did a little bit of window shopping, and mainly just looked around the city to find parts of the many colleges that make up Oxford University.  We stopped in at the castle for a look around and then eventually loaded up the bus to travel to Bath, the location of our Hostel for the next two nights.  When in Bath, Amanda and I decided to see what the city had to offer as far as food and nightlife.  Our hostel was on the top of Bathwick Hill and so we had to walk down a steep incline into the city.  We found a quaint little place called Tilly's Bistro so we decided to stop there.  This was a fancy restaurant!  They took our coats and everything.  I tried to order water and he brought me sparkling water!  The food was delicious and we had a two course meal.  Afterwards, we were standing outside in the process of deciding what to do and a crazy man started talking to us about false claims of Sally Lune's (famous tea house).  Apparently they claimed to have the oldest house in Bath, but this is impossible because the parsonage was built before it.  I don't know?!  It was definitely a strange but entertaining conversation.  We walked around some more and met up with some cool locals who showed us the cool places to go.  We had a really good time and they were all really nice.  We called one "Mr. Darcy" all night because he was being very nice (and in celebration of Jane Austen's writings in Bath).  Needless to say we split a taxi to go back to the hostel because we didn't want to climb back up the massive hill!

Mind The Gap- London Day 3

Today we woke up early once again to get out on the town before we had to head back to Harlaxton.  Before leaving we found where the hotels advertised free breakfast was and enjoyed an assorment of cereal, toast, and croissants.  We even were able to sneak some cheese and apples to add to our packed lunches for the day.  While eating we watched the news (on BBC lol) and we got to see a Grantham local who was being interviewed because he has created the hottest chile peppers in the world.  It made us feel famous!  I also began wondering if it is easier to get onto tv in the UK because since there are less people there should be a much bigger chance that anything cool you do is actually recognized--food for thought.  So we left and caught the tube to Trafalgar Square.  Another interesting tidbit of info is that just 3 days before we came to this part of the city there were gang fights there!  Luckily we found it to be pretty civil and lovely early in the morning before most of the tourists were out.  The Nelson monument is in the center and this is dedicated to Horatio Nelson who defeated Napolean in a naval battle at Trafalgar off the coast of Spain (which i learned in British Studies).  We waited and toured the National Gallery which housed many famous paintings by various well known artists.  Furthermore this was especially neat because we got to see some of the artwork that we have been studying in class.  Next we rode the tube to Picadilly Circus (likened to the Times Square of London) and picked up a few cheap souvenirs.  We started to get really hungry so we decided to head back to Buckingham Palace to eat our packed lunches.  We sat up on the Victoria Monument and watched everyone come and go to take their pictures.  It was funny and I'm pretty sure some kids thought we were homeless lol.  From here we went back to St. Jame's Park to feed the birds our left over crackers.  Amanda fed them and I took pictures (I'm not a huge fan of birds up close to me!).  She let me feed the swan the last of our leftover food and I decided to keep my gloves on because I wanted to protect my hand from actually touching it.  Well bad idea because the swan snatched it right off with the food and it fell into the pond (see the video evidence above!).  It was hilarious!  Of course everyone around started laughing at me and we couldn't reach my glove because it started floating away.  A little english girl's dad used a stick and fished it out for me though!  Once again my gloves were saved from being lost!  I swear these gloves must be magic because I almost lost them in Scotland too!  During this whole ordeal we met a guy from Pittsburgh (he heard us talking with our American accents).  He was cool and told us that he was stationed there in the military.  It was nice to see someone else from America!  Now we headed off to Camden Town (yet another part of London!).  Here we looked in souvenir shops and Amanda and I both got our ears pierced.  We then headed back to the train station to wait for ours to Grantham.  At this point we were beat and just ready to make it back for Sunday Roast (mainly we just wanted the ice cream!)

Double Decker Bus--Day 2 London

Today we woke up early and headed out to the tube to ride up to the Tower of London.  We got a little lost which was frustrating ( and it was raining) but finally we made it.  This landmark is full of cool things to see and we spent the greater part of the morning exploring the different towers and artifacts.  We got to see the crown  jewels--very cool!-- and even the bloody tower that held many famous people captive.  At the tower they keep these famous giant ravens that are literally the size of like cats which were kind of scary.  From here we grabbed some lunch and then walked along the Thames to view the London Eye (World's largest ferris wheel) and then we caught sight of Big Ben.  Absolutly magnificant and just as I pictured it!  We even got to hear it toll on the hour :)  We saw the house of parliament and Westminster Abbey (the place of the royal wedding coming up in April).  On our way out to Buckingham Palace we walked through the beautiful St. Jame's Park.  They had tons of cool birds hanging out by the water (swans, pelicans, pigeons, ducks, etc.).  We saw an older man feeding the birds some bread and was a sight!  Every time he threw a piece of bread in birds from everywhere in sight flocked to him!  They even had a type of duck-like bird that looked as though it ran on top of the water.  We finally headed out to Buckingham Palace which was absolutely beautiful.  Afterwards we visited the Wellington Arch (dedicated to the Duke of Ellington which is the person Amanda has to write a paper for in our British Studies Class).  To end a nice day of touring the city we headed over to Harrod's.  Harrod's is a famously huge superstore right in the city that sells everything!  They have clothing, food, souvenirs, sports gear, furniture, carpets, etc.--and all quite expensive!  It was a tiring experience just to explore all of their floors!  We headed back to the hotel again and enjoyed some more Chicken Palace Pizza and BBC.

Londinium

Last Friday Amanda and I set off at 11:11am on the train into Kings Cross for a weekend in London.  Ironically, we have been in England for about a month and a half and still hadn't seen the lovely capital.  We immediately got our tickets for the tube all weekend and then headed to southwest London where our hostel was located (actually quite close to Heathrow).  When we finally arrived we found out that we were being transfered to the Belgravia Hotel that is closer to the city centre because the hostel's hot water was broken.  We hopped back on the train and it took another hour or so to ride all the way to the hotel.  We checked in and were pleasantly suprised with the upgrade.  We now had our own room and our own bathroom, plus we were closer to all of the touristy spots.  We even got to pay 1/4 of the cost for the two nights at the nice hotel because they had to charge us the same price as we were getting at the hostel.  Unfortunately it was a little late in the day by the time we accomplished all of that so we were limited on what we could go do.  We rode the tube out to the Tower of London and walked around outside.  We also photographed and even touched the Thames River (pronounced Tems) and walked across the London Bridge (luckily it didn't fall down!).  We then decided to get on the tube and ride out to Greenwich Village.  Here we had fun perusing a bookstore sale (all books one pound!) and we ran to Greenwich Park to see the Prime Meridian.  I sort of thought that they might close the gate when we ran in, but we were determined to get to the National Maritime Museum to experience standing in the East and West Hemispheres simultaneously.  We made it and it was cool to see the green laser pointing out from the museum.  Now as we came back down the hill and through the park we noticed how dark it was getting and we got kind off nervous because the park was not lit at all on the inside (luckily there was some light pollution from London!).  As we approached the gate to exit we saw people having to climb the fence.  We were locked in to the Greenwich Park!  Luckily though, by the time we approached the gate a security guard drove up and let us out of the gate.  We happily headed back to the tube and went back to our hotel.  We stopped at the Chicken Palace for cheap pizza and spent the rest of the evening watching the BBC.

Discoving the Bronte Sisters

"From the well-known names of these towns I learn in what county I have lighted; a north-midland shire, dusk with moorland, ridged with mountain: this I see. There are great moors behind and on each hand of me; there are waves of mountains far beyond that deep valley at my feet. The population here must be thin, and I see no passengers on these roads: they stretch out east, west, north, and south—white, broad, lonely; they are all cut in the moor, and the heather grows deep and wild to their very verge. Yet a chance traveller might pass by; and I wish no eye to see me now: strangers would wonder what I am doing, lingering here at the sign-post, evidently objectless and lost. I might be questioned: I could give no answer but what would sound incredible and excite suspicion. Not a tie holds me to human society at this moment—not a charm or hope calls me where my fellow-creatures are—none that saw me would have a kind thought or a good wish for me. I have no relative but the universal mother, Nature: I will seek her breast and ask repose." -Jane Eyre
Tuesday my English Novel class took a trip to Haworth, England which is the town in which the Bronte sisters (Emily and Charlotte) grew up and based different aspects of their famous works such as Wuthering Heights and Jane Grey.  We have read both of these novels for our class so it was really neat to see the home in which they grew up in.  It is now converted into a museum where you can view their clothing, writing desks, and different things that have lasted since the 18th century when they lived.  Following this we headed out to the moors, a unique landscape that is uncomparable to anything in the US.  They are characterized by hills full of a plant called heather.  Technically moors are considered dry marshes, although while traisping across them on a rainy day we found ourselves quite wet and muddy.  It was an intense walk and I wish that we wouldn't have had to hurry so much because the view was beautiful.  Due to the wetness/muddiness we had to be extra careful to not slip and fall around all the rocks and hills.  We made it to Bronte Falls and took a picture on a bridge.  It was a long and tiring walk and when we got back we had to freeze the entire two hour ride home but it was really fun.  I also technically have been to the Sherwood Forest (Home of Robinhood) because we drove through it on the way there and back.  It was a great but very very tiring day!

And, Until We Meet Again, May God Hold You in the Hollow of His Hand :)

Sunday was bittersweet because we knew the fun would come to an end soon.  We left Killarney for the Blarney Castle and Blarney Stone and when we arrived we headed straight up to the top to kiss the famous stone.  I have been waiting to do this almost my entire life!  I remember my brothers and I looking it up in our ancient encyclopedias and and thinking that it must be really really scary.  The stairs you had to climb were beyond steep (like maybe 4 inches in width!) and they were so vertical that the handrail literally was a rope tied down.  Once at the top, we got really jittery and nervous because of the way you have to go about kissing the stone ( they couldn't have made it easy of course!)  In order to kiss the stone, you sit down backwards and grab the two bars while being held onto by some random irish guy and essentially hang your head off the side of this castle so that you can kiss the famous blarney stone.  If you happened to slip, you would essentially fall to your death!  I went first and luckily I'm still here to tell about it :)  The story is that when you kiss the stone you get the gift of gab (which I already had lol).  Afterwards we were able to walk around and explore the castle, grounds, and village of Blarney.  We picked up a couple loaves of bread, cheese, a 2 liter bottle of sprite, and cadbury chocolate bars to form an impromptu picnic before loading up the bus to head back to Dublin.  On the way back we passed by the field where they filmed the fight scenes from Braveheart.  We got a little nervous on the way back because our flight was due to leave at 8pm (gate closed at 730pm) and we didn't get back to Dublin until about 6:15 (you are supposed to arrive for international flights 2 hours early).  Luckily Amanda, Christina, Marie, and I were able to split a cab straight to the airport and arrive just in time to board the plane.  After arriving back in London we were once again stuck spending the night there because the trains don't run after 930pm (that's when we arrived).  So we spent the evening working on homework, writing postcards, taking pictures, watching a hot dog stand be built (randomly during the night the airport set up a new hotdog vendor right by where we were camped out), and being silly.  At 4:30 am we were able to catch the train out to Grantham and then a taxi to Harlaxton.  I showered, went to breakfast, and then arrived at my first class at 8:30 am.  What a busy weekend!

May the Rains Fall Softly Upon Your Fields

It was very difficult to wake up Saturday after having such a busy past few days but the thought of seeing more of Ireland pulled me out of bed.  We left at about 9am and headed down many more curvy, hilly, country Irish roads.  We made our first stop at another film village where they filmed "The Field".  I have yet to see this movie but I am really excited to now.  We started heading up in elevation to a land called the Burren.  This area was full of flat rocks and their was even a ancient burial ground we saw that was around the same age as Stonehenge.  As we drove we started down the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.  Here we saw the most beautiful (and biggest!) waves I have ever seen.  They were sooo cool!  The sound of the ocean was just so powerful and the way the waves came up and hit the rocks just below the cliff was just amazing.  It was one of those scary/breathtaking moments.  The waves here in Ireland are actually really famous for surfing and here you can see the Aileen's.  We left and then ate in Doolin and I had an amazing bowl of Tomato soup.  From here we headed up to my favorite part of my trip-The Cliffs of Moher (pronounced More).  I can't even describe them, but they are absolutely beautiful (see the picture!).  A panoramic shot of them was actually used for the Harry Potter 6 movie.  Saturday was super windy, especially up on the cliffs so we were having fun trying to hold our hair down :)  Afterwards, we headed to Killarney for the night.  The hostel was nice and that night we went out to a restaurant where I enjoyed some fresh mussels (they were really good!).  We didn't stay out to late though because at this point we were all absolutely exhausted and we needed our rest for day 3 of the tour! 

May the Sun Shine Warm Upon Your Face :)

We woke up today (Friday) in order to get onto our coach by 8:00 am.  We scheduled a 3-day Paddywagon tour of Southern Ireland (pretty much the only chance we had at seeing all the cool stuff outside of Dublin).  It was a little frustrating to see that like 30 other people from Harlaxton had the same idea so our bus was full of Americans.  We left and headed onto the motorway.  As we drove the beautiful countryside became more and more and we finally made a stop in Cong.  Cong is a quaint little village that has a little stream that flows through it and it is also famous because it was the site that they filmed "The Quiet Man" with John Wayne.  I've seen this movie so it was really cool to get to see some of the famous sites of the film.  While in Cong, we followed the river around had fun exploring and then we went out to the ruins of the Cong Abbey.  This was absolutely gorgeous and everything was sooo green :)  It was just like you would picture Ireland to be!  Christina, Amanda, and I even picked out houses there so we can live by each other ;) We loaded back up and then headed towards Galway and into the Connemara are of Ireland.  Here we saw many lakes, rivers, and mountains.  We even stopped at a waterfall where the Erriff river flows into the Atlantic Ocean.  It was really cool.  The next stop on our tour was at Kylemore Abbey.  This was a beautiful building that looked like a castle and it was nestled perfectly at the base of a mountain.  It was neat because if you looked closely, up the side of the mountain there was a statue of Jesus.  Here we ate lunch (I had a Limmerick Ham and Brie Sandwich which was great).  From this point we loaded back up and followed the fjord all the way to Galway, Ireland (Song Galway Girl from P.S. I Love You).  This town was unique and really fun.  We checked into our hostel and then headed to eat.  I ate a wonderful seafood chowder and then we walked around and experienced some of the unique nightlife in Galway.  Live music was awesome there and we had a good time hanging out in the city.  We even met some people from our home away from home (England)!