Hello everyone!
My name is Halie Higgins and I am a Senior Biochemistry/Biology double major with a Mathematics minor. I am also graduating with honors - which is part of the reason why I chose to take this class. I am in the literature section and this class will fulfill my final four credits necessary to graduate as a Webster Scholar.
It's crazy to think that we are leaving this beautiful place in just a few short days. This trip has gone by so fast - and there are still so many things I'd like to do before we return to Minnesota on Friday.
A few of the highlights from the trip so far, for me, include touring the Westminster Abbey, Roman Baths, and seeing the musical Top Hat!
This past weekend, we were given a free weekend to explore our interests individually. Two friends and I decided to travel to the Netherlands for a change of scenery. I always think that adding a language barrier while traveling makes for a fun experience. My aunt lives in Rotterdam, so she hosted us for the duration of our stay - and we were able to see and experience a lot while visiting.
Aunt Colleen, myself, Mindi, and Danielle visiting Kinderdijk
On Saturday, we spent our day touring Kinderdijk - which is a village in the Netherlands that contains many of the old fashion windmills known to Holland that still function today. Upon returning to my Aunt's apartment, she treated us to a home-cooked meal and Belgian cherry beer. Sunday was wonderful! We were able to sleep in - and woke up to fresh coffee, croissants with homemade lemon curd, dutch sugar bread, and fresh fruit. We headed into Amsterdam and toured the Anne Frank House. Despite the fact that I had visited the museum before, it was still absolutely phenomenal the second time. It is by far one of the most well done and moving exhibits I have ever been to and I would recommend it to anybody.
Me, Mindi, and Danielle with a statue of Anne Frank outside her secret annex
After visiting the museum, we toured the rest of the city before taking the train back to Rotterdam for another low-key night with my aunt.
Today was a lot of fun as well. We woke up early and flew back to London - landing at 7:05 am - just in time to experience true rush hour traffic on the tube. After eating breakfast back at the hotel, we got ready for the day and set off on a Shakespeare walking tour throughout London by our lovely tour guide, Eleanor Jackson.
Visiting the site of the original Globe Theater
We saw a lot of really cool places and learned a lot about Shakespeare and his life. One fact I found particularly interesting was that there are no official portraits, paintings, drawings of Shakespeare, so all of the drawings we see have no validity. I also found it interesting that the theaters in Shakespeare's time doubled as bear/dog fighting rings. Bears would be imported from other places, and they would be placed in the ground level with dogs. Bets were made on whether the dogs or the bear would prevail, and the animals would fight to the death.
After our tour with Eleanor, we visited the Borough Market for lunch. This is a popular marked in Southwark, London that sells many things - including street vendors who provide on-the-go food. Alicia, Deanna, Danielle, and I couldn't resist the delicious aroma coming from Sausage World, and we all tried the traditional English sausage cut in half and placed in a bed of lettuce on a toasted baguette.
Myself, Danielle, Alicia, and Deanna trying our sausages at the Borough Market
The vendor also encouraged us to try the popular mustard spread - which literally made my nose burn until my eyes watered. Regardless, the sausage was delicious. After lunch, we headed back to the Globe Theater, where our group split in two.
Inside the new Globe Theater
The literature group was given a basic tour of the Globe Theater and a chance to tour the museum inside the attached building. Our tour guide informed us that back in Shakespeare's time, there weren't even bathrooms in the theater. Also, I found it interesting that to this day - shows will perform rain or shine in this beautiful outdoor theater.
Outside the new Globe Theater
After our tour of the Globe, Danielle, Mindi and myself headed across the walking bridge over the Thames and took the tube back to the hotel - but not before we stopped to shop at Primark (London clothing store) - which contained four levels of clothes, accessories and make-up, among many other things. We decided to call it an early night tonight, since tomorrow morning the Literature group has a full day - we meet at 7:45 am to take a bus trip to Stratford-upon-Avon to visit Shakespeare's birthplace as well as Anne Hathaway's house.
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