Hmm... where to start. I left off from when I got back from Kos, Greece. After we got back there were numerous field trips that we went on including: Durham, London, Coastal Castles, then we had another break where I went to France, Italy, and Germany. And then after that break we finished with Newcastle, and York.
I won't go into detail about ALL of the field trips, but I'll talk about a few that stuck out in my mind. London was a 5 day trip which was awesome! As soon as we got there, we dropped out stuff at the hotel and took a walk around the town. Later that evening it was option to go on the London Eye, which of course I said yes. If you haven't ever heard of it, it's basically like a big ferris wheel overlooking the city. We got on around sunset, it was beautiful. Over the next few days we went to Tower Bridge, the Parliament buildings, Big Ben, Museum of London, Westminster, Buckingham Palace, and we also went and saw the musical 'Oliver,' which was FABULOUS! These a just a few of the places we went to while in London, we also had a lot of free time to explore the city on our own.
Another field trip that was most enjoyable was Coastal Castles. Coastal Castles isn't a place, but along the coast there were 3 different castles we visited. This trip was originally cancelled because of the weather, but I'm so glad it got rescheduled. It was beautiful to see the sun rise, and we also had a marine biologist with us showing is different creatures. Walking along the coast was glorious, we even had time for a group photo. and here it it!
On a side note, none of Sherry's friends spoke English too well, so it was hard to communicate, but still fun to meet all of them! So great to see her, and her family was great!
From France I met up with Rachel (a girl that was abroad with me) in Rome Monday morning. We found our way out of the airport and to the neighborhood we were staying in. It was pouring rain when we got off our train stop and it took FOREVER to find out B&B. We asked people and no one really knew where it was. Finally, we stopped at a pub where two men were standing in the doorway and asked them. This big man then grabbed an umbrella for Rachel (I already had one) and walked us through the rain, around the corner (where there was construction) to our B&B! Yay! Once we got all checked into our room, we took out all of our stuff to let it dry. We hung stuff on the ceiling fan, and also blow-dryed it! haha. We were getting creative! Once the rain stopped we went out for a walk around the town, and then back to the B&B by dark. Over the next few days we were there, we saw the Spanish Steps, the Trevoi Fountain, the Pantheon, Alter of the Nations, the Colosseum, and the Vatican. All of the sites were amazing, and on one of the nights we met up with some other friends who were abroad with us: Allie, Billy, Nicole and her boyfriend Ryan. It was nice to see a familiar face in the city. I'll tell you a funny story; the day we went to the Spanish Steps, a man walks up to me while I'm posing for a picture and hands me this rose. I say thank you and keep taking the picture. Then he gives one to Rachel and asks her for money, I then start walking away and he basically runs after me and says I either need to pay him for it or he needs it back. baha. I gave it back. Every night after our day of site seeing we would make ourselves coffee and tea and listen to the music channel :) It was fun traveling with Rachel.
Finishing the trip off, I then traveled to Germany where I met up with Navina and her husband Phillip. Navina is an old friend of mine, she was an intern and YFC (youth for christ) in Litchfield and stayed with my family when I was in 7th or 8th grade, and then came back to student teach while I was in high school, and then MY senior year, my friend Kayti and I went to visit her. So, it was time to go see her again :) It was wonderful seeing her again, it was like no time had passed and we picked up right where we left off. Ending the trip here was nice because it was so laid back, she likes to lay around and do nothing, which was fine with me. We did get out though and see the town she lived in, and went to another city near by, Heidelberg, which I had been to before, and had dinner and did some shopping. I also attended church with them, where they sang some songs in English :) Then another couple days and it was back to Alnwick.
After the break it was only a few more weeks before going home. We had 2 more field trips, one to Newcastle, which by now most of us had been there, either for shopping or a football game (soccer). We had a tour of BBC while in Newcastle, which was interesting to see. We also go to practice reading the news and the weather, like an actual broadcaster. Very cool! The last field trip was to York. That morning there was so much snow on the ground, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to go, but we made it out somehow! Snow in England is a funny thing, they don't know what to do with it if it's more than an inch. I think they only had one snowplow for the whole town. Us Minnesotans thought it was quite comical.
Some other things we did while abroad was volunteering. Most of us volunteered at the local radiostation at least once if not more. That was fun being able to experience. I volunteered at the local market selling Christmas lights, which were used for the Christmas lights, lighting ceremony. That day was also special, the duchess speaks a little and then flips the switch and everything in the town lights up. Every business has their own Christmas light decoration that they create themselves. Also, while in England the newest Harry Potter film came out, so we obviously went to go see it. Seeing a movie in a theater while there was nice, because it kind of made you feel at home, because there are movie theaters everywhere and you kind of forgot where you were. There is a local bookstore in Alnwick. It was actually started by an American woman, living in England. It was originally a train station, and it looks fabulous because of it. It has an old rustic feel, one of those quaint bookstores you see in movies.
Thanksgiving is obviously a holiday that the English people don't celebrate, but we had our own celebration. We set up all of the tables and decorated our eating hall. It was lovely. It felt like home being able to eat all together and had some good food! After dinner we had a surprise bridal shower for one of the girls who was engaged. It was so so much fun!
I was going to upload more pictures. But it's taking FOREVER.... so maybe I'll try again next time. I probably have more to say, so until next time!
