Saturday, January 12, 2013

Home Sweet Home

Well, we're home.
The Delta group made it home. If they have travel stories, I hope they share them.
Becca and Sydnee went on to further European adventures. I hope they both have wonderful trips.

The United group had a trip home that was almost the complete opposite of the trip to England.
We arrived at Heathrow and sailed through security. All the workers there were wonderful and pleasant. There was a machine after you had passed through security where you could rate your experience. Many of us happily pressed the smiley face button.

We had a long jaunt to our gate, it felt a bit like doing a transfer on the tube. We settled in at our gate, in a quite little wing of Heathrow and waited for our plane. The plane loaded quickly and was only about 70% full, so we had room to stretch out -- Caitie even got a chance to nap across three empty seats. Dinner was served, was hot, and tasted good. We even got a snack just before arriving in Chicago.

There was not a single issue as we moved through customs and rechecked out bags on the other side. We made our way to our gate, some got some coffee, and settled in to wait to load for home.

Phones were turned back on and people were calling and texting. That's when we began to get messages from Duluth that the weather was bad. Freezing Fog advisories, rain, sleet... They announced over the loud speaker that our flight was on time -- phew.

Moments later, they announced they were going to load us early because there was low visibility in Duluth. They would "attempt" to get us to Duluth, but if they couldn't land once they flew to Duluth, they would turn around and come back to Chicago. (I knew this trip had gone too smoothly!) We loaded on the tiny plane and prepared to take off. Then the captain made an announcement that we were 1700 pounds overweight due to the extra fuel (in case of needing a return trip to Chicago). They wanted 9 people to volunteer to take a flight tomorrow.

After a few tense moments, the offer was made of $300, a free hotel, a meal and trip to Duluth the next morning and 9 people very quickly volunteered. We were shortly in the air and on the way home. The captain kept giving us updates on visibility, we were very near the minimum threshold for landing. A wind out of the East apparently pushed enough fog away and we were able to safely land in Duluth!

Success! We traveled to London and back. Caitie's bag however was not on the baggage carousal. A quick search of the area proved futile. We checked with United and her bag was still in Chicago.
Somehow it had missed the plane. It arrived safely in Duluth this morning and was delivered to her this afternoon.

Thanks for following our adventure! Happy to be home safe and sound.


Friday, January 11, 2013

London. Oh, London

January 10, 2013

London. Oh, London

“In people's eyes, in the swing, tramp, and trudge; in the bellow and the uproar; the carriages, motor cars, omnibuses, vans, sandwich men shuffling and swinging; brass bands; barrel organs; in the triumph and the jingle and the strange high singing of some aeroplane overhead was what she loved; life; London; this moment of June.”--Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (1925)

Though it is not June nor the year 1925, I cannot imagine a more fitting quotation to sum up such a London excursion. As a group of 25 strong, we have been immersed in a culture that historically represents all of us in one way or another. From the hands of Britain our country emerged and now we return on a pilgrimage to our mother land. Perhaps on this journey we seek to get a better handle on our past as a collective people, or to seek the paths famous feet once walked upon, and see what great minds created, to feel the power, or give into our intrigue of such a great nation, or maybe just to buy a London souvenir (made in china). No matter our individual reasons, we came (although it took much longer than anticipated), we saw (perhaps a few too many museums in a span of two weeks), and we conquered (our American voices are all that can be heard from tube stations away).

To be immersed in culture, history, and the grandness of both, I set out on the adventure of a life time. London welcomed with a brief nod, not particularly in my direction, and swiftly moved ahead not caring for my person nor the red crossing man. This reception was as standard as any to be received. Forgiven too, I might add, every time words drop from such beautiful sounding mouths (Yes, it has been two weeks and it must be said I still swoon over their accents).

The ancient power the city of London still oozes between the loose bricks every once in a while; I could feel it nip at my toes in a museum corner—sometimes I could taste it in the water—but these things tend to hit you in the middle of a museum or one of Eleanor's tours in the milky part of dream when one is not quite sure where the line of reality lies and imagination takes over. So many years of history and one is left to put together the million piece jigsaw puzzle to see a picture of life—a picture of London past, present, and future. Each one of these pieces (now I am picturing one of those puzzles where each piece is a different picture of a moment in London life all adding together to make one big picture) adds to the intricate design and feel of the city. If you miss the piece of the fire of 1666 or the blitz in the 40's you lose a piece of London—both figuratively and literally.

For Mrs. Dalloway, and perhaps myself as well, it is the monotonous sounds of daily life that makes London feel like home. One is able to find this in any city, really, but in London, in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, in this moment in January, London represents life for us all—and I quite like it.

Now our group of 25 will branch out in many directions over the vast expanse of the world—some to grad school, some back for a last semester as an undergrad, some to Paris—but I would venture a guess that none will forget such a London excursion as this. It is not the china-made souvenirs that will be a reminder of such a city, but the pilgrimage we've made and the individual meaning it has taken on. To inspire, awe, mystify, or intrigue, London has left something upon our breast. An invisible tattoo of sorts that marks a worldly change. Yes, yes, America is my home—everyone here knows that—but if 'home is where the heart is' then so is London.

Cheers!

By Sydnee Burud Erickson
Sydnee is the most recent BA graduate of the College of Saint Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. After studying literature and philosophy for 3 ½ years, she is excited to travel Europe for 2 ½ weeks after the London Study Abroad concludes. She hopes to gain a more worldly perspective and furthermore pursue her passion for travel. Perhaps a more worldly perspective will lead her to uncover a hidden future, but of that, she cannot be sure.


Our Final Day


January 10, 2013

Hello! I am Lee Bongey, a PSEO student at the College of St. Scholastica. I intend to double major in Asian Studies and Cultural Anthropology when I leave for college next year, so learning about the culture of London has been a fascinating experience for me! Today was our last full day in London, and tomorrow we head back to the United States where we shall have to return to reality.  Although our last day was inevitable, I think that the way it was spent couldn’t have been better!


The day started with a trip to the Victoria & Albert Museum; a decorative arts museum with a variety of exhibits ranging from sculptures and tapestries to theatre and fashion. Eleanor, our guide for previous tours around London, took us through the museum, pointing out key artifacts and giving some additional commentary and explanation about the exhibits; my favorite was the theatre exhibit displaying different kinds of masks used in Greek theatre.  After Eleanor’s tour of the museum, we were free to look around. Many of us went directly to the clothing in theatre exhibit, where we could try on costume replicas from famous plays.


For lunch, I went to a pub called Crowns and Scepters, where I tried the traditional Fish & Chips for the first time, which I actually enjoyed, much to my surprise. After lunch, we went to Hyde Park to meet with some more people from our group, where we visited the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and walked around Hyde Park to the Peter Pan statue. After encountering a very unusual man in red sweatpants who tapped one of our party on the shoulder after whispering at us, we continued cautiously to the train station.


We took the Tube to Leicester Square where we went directly to M&M World. As you would expect, there were more M&Ms and M&M merchandise than I had ever seen before. The four-floor store kept us busy, and when we finished buying our bags of mixed M&Ms and key chains, we returned to the hotel for a little bit of rest before our final dinner in London.

For dinner, the literature and theatre groups went together to a French restaurant (where I had a very good pork cutlet and some extremely chocolaty, but delicious, chocolate mousse). Claire very kindly gave us each a group photo from our trip, as well as a postcard for us to write down what we want to remember from this trip, which she will send to us later in the year so we won’t forget our experiences from this trip. It was a great to get together with everyone for one last dinner with the entire group!

I have loved being in such a diverse and historical city, and meeting all of these great students in our group. This has been a wonderful experience that I have truly enjoyed!

Here’s hoping that our flights tomorrow will go more smoothly than they were coming here!
                                                                                          

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Dickens Walking Tour

January 9, 2013


Hi there. My name is Mary Taylor. I am a second-year student at the College of Saint Scholastica, where I mainly pursue Global, Cultural, and Language studies. It has long been a goal of mine to travel internationally, but I’d never traveled outside of the United States before this trip. Because of this, I was eager to go anywhere, but the program in England was particularly appealing to me due to its literary and theatrical nature. So far, it has not disappointed!
Today, the literature group had the morning off—a welcome prospect after yesterday’s early departure for Stratford. My friends, Emily and Laura (also literature students,) and I decided to use this free time to go wander around the National Portrait Gallery near Trafalgar Square. There, we saw many famous faces. Many of them were royals, scientists, artists, and other such figures of public admiration. We even saw portraits of two of the authors we studied during the fall semester—Robert Louis Stevenson and Charles Dickens.
Afterwards, we went next door to the National Gallery. There, we saw many remarkable paintings, though the one that was most exciting to me was Leonardo da Vinci’s second Virgin of the Rocks. I remember studying this particular painting in high school, but I had not known that it was in London. I was both surprised and pleased to walk into a room at the Gallery and come face to face with this gorgeous work of art. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in either the Gallery or the Portrait Gallery—hence the conspicuous lack of photos so far.


           In the Charles Dickens Museum, though, photography was encouraged. In the afternoon, the literature class headed over to Doughty Street to visit Charles Dickens’s former home, which has since become a museum paying homage to his memory.  Here we saw many original and recreated artifacts from the man’s life. For example, here is the writing desk at which he most likely penned such works as Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities



               We also got a glimpse of the Dickens family structure. Apparently, Dickens referred to this particular house as “the hospital ward,” as it is where he and his wife began to have their ten children. There, he also experienced the traumatic sudden death of his 17-year-old sister-in-law, an event that greatly influenced his writing. Finally, we were able to learn a bit about the household structure. Of particular interest to me was the use of hedgehogs in the house. Apparently, hedgehogs were kept in order to eat any bugs that might infest the kitchen.



   As the owner of bug-eating hedgehog, I approve.
               We then left the museum, but remained in the area. After a brief respite, we reconvened for a Dickens-themed walking tour of London. Though the tour was long, it was also extremely informative. We saw many Dickensian landmarks, such as the square in which his publishing career began, an office in which Dickens chose to fling cherry pits at pedestrians rather than work, many places that feature prominently in his novels, the house in which he wrote The Pickwick Papers, and much more. We even saw some non-Dickens-related literary landmarks, such as the alley off of Fleet Street that would have held the barbershop of one Sweeney Todd (see also: demon barber.) 


               It really does live up to expectations.
               In short, I would say that today was an exciting, interesting, and productive day for the literature group.



Wednesday, January 9, 2013

The Royal Court, Shopping, and Richard III


Hello from London!!!
My name is Alicia Roles I am a third year student at St. Scholastica. I am studying Exercise Physiology and plan on doing my doctorate in Physical Therapy. I also dabble in the theatre department at CSS and have been in a few productions. I have always wanted to study abroad and that is a difficult thing to accomplish as a science major. When the London trip showed up I was immediately excited to go -- it was both travel and theatre, what an awesome way to spend winter break!

            Our morning started off with a split of the groups. Being in the theatre group, we started our morning at 9:45 to travel to Sloane Square for a script analysis workshop at the Royal Court Theatre. With today being the London Tube's 150th anniversary, we appropriately traveled via tube to our destination this morning.  The first thing we saw after coming out of the Tube station was a public toilet.  This particular toilet allows you to do your business for only 50 pence.  Insert your money and the door will open, allowing you to use the facilities for 20 minutes.  However, it would be in your best interest to finish before 20 minutes is up otherwise you become exposed to everyone when the door reopens!

 We began our tour in the larger theatre of the Royal Court, seating 400 people. The seats here were the most comfortable seats I have found in a theatre, this may be due to their design being based on a 1950's Chevy. We learned about how the Royal Court Theatre runs and I found it most interesting that they perform only new shows. This allows the literary department of the theatre to receive and read 3500 to 4000 scripts a year to consider for productions. This means that members of the literary department could read up to 1000 scripts in a year. The shows make their way through a selection process where shows are set aside or moved forward.

The last stage of this process is called a script meeting. In this meeting three shows are discussed a week. Those in attendance include an associate director, producer, visual director and others. All those in attendance would have read the scripts in consideration and they then discuss them in the meeting. These meetings ultimately lead to the decision to produce a show or to set it aside.

Our workshop also allowed us to work through a particular script that is up for consideration. We had our own script meeting discussing our thoughts on a particular script. We used the same “grading sheet” that those at the Royal Court use. This sheet provides options for grading that include immediate production, production with revisions, meeting with the writer, a rehearsed reading, a flat out “no” and also “over my dead body”. What was surprising was that the opinions of the script were all over the board. Although no one chose “over my dead body” in the rating process.


Me, Becca, Caitlin and Deanna getting a glimpse of the sun after the Royal Court workshop for only the third time the whole trip!! J

Following our workshop the theatre group had free time until Richard III in the evening. A group of us decided to head to Pret a Manger, one of our favorite spots for lunch. It was here that we met up with Dan because he is lost without his theatre friends... poor Dan.  We all had a bite to eat and then wrapped up our afternoon with some shopping. 

Tonight we attended our last play in London, Richard III, at the Apollo Theatre.  The theatre was beautiful, with four levels of seating and intricate painting and woodwork it was like sitting in a piece of art.  With our seats up in the clouds, we had a birds eye view of the show.  This particular rendering of Richard III was performed true to the way it would have been done when first introduced, with all male actors and proper costumes to the time period.  While the show was not my favorite, it was still an insightful experience allowing me to feel like I had stepped back into time.


Caitie, Me, Becca and Deanna at our performance of Richard III.

That’s it from London for me! Toodle-ooo everyone!! 

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Paintings, Photos, and a Play


January 8, 2013

My name is Becca Vaughan; I am a junior at St. Scholastica, an art major and sign language minor.  I chose to come on this trip because I have never been abroad before and it was the perfect opportunity! This trip is the start of my 5 month adventure of studying abroad. When everyone else comes home from London, I head to Germany and then to Ireland for the CSS semester in Ireland.

Over all, we ended up having a very relaxing, but productive day today. Starting off with a trip to the National Portrait Gallery, which was amazing!


After, we wanted to see more paintings (remember, I’m an art major) and went over to the National Gallery. This is where more of the more “known” artists are. I loved it! Having just finished an Art History class, I have studied many of the artists. Knowing the artists makes the works so much more inspirational when seeing them in person. Most of the works that are “well-known” paintings weren’t featured in the gallery, which made the experience kind of odd. Although I recognized many of the artist’s names and the style of their work, I had never seen many of the paintings before and that showed me many new works. It would have been fun to see more “famous” paintings, though.
Next, we wondered over to Trafalgar Square, where we saw this awesome street performer who would pose people as matrix moves. Then we had an adventure trying to climb up on the lions because they were just cleaned and sprayed down with water which made them slippery. But we made it up!



We spotted a Gold mail box, which means an Olympic Gold Medalist lives in that part of town. Eleanor Jackson, our awesome tour guide told us that on the first day, so we were very excited to finally spot one.


While walking back to the hotel for a short refreshing nap, we stopped and took pictures with Big Ben! 


Since we are in London, only for a few more days and we love to shop, we decided to hit up Primark. Primark is a four level store, super cheap clothing. Not having much time between shopping and our play, we went to the local grocery store and had a picnic in our lobby! Delicious and cheap!!

Our play performance for the night was War Horse and it was phenomenal! If I hadn’t gone to Wicked, this would be my favorite play! Multiple people crying, the horses looked so real, and after the show we got to go talk to two of the actors who we met previously at a workshop! We got to ask them any questions we wanted to -- a really neat experience.


Ending the night by topping it off with some great ice cream!
Two days left, let’s make it a great trip, one to remember and never forget!

Stratford-upon-Avon

January 8, 2013


Hey! My name is Hannah Roy and I am senior biology major/chemistry minor at CSS. This semester I had the opportunity to finish up my honor’s credits in London. My freshman year I did a similar trip to London but it was purely soccer based. Every day was structured around practice and games. This time I came to learn about more of London’s history and culture with a literature group.
Today the literature group broke away from the theater group and ventured outside the city of London, two and a half hours away to Stratford-upon-Avon. This is a small English town with a population that seemed to be much older than one sees in the city.

Our first stop was Anne Hathaway’s birthplace. Now, this is not the Anne Hathaway that has starred in the recent Les Miserables, but William Shakespeare’s wife and the mother of his children. The house was rather large with 12 fairly sized rooms. Alison, our tour guide explained that the house started off with two simple rooms and eventually two chimneys were added and later the upstairs. She opened our eyes to what life might have been like for Anne during this time. We literally were able to walk on the same floor that Anne and even William during their courting, walked on regularly.

The floor that William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway once walked on


The next stop was Trinity Church where both Anne and William are buried. Gravestones filled the lawn, and a small door, no taller than five feet let you into a small stone church that still functions today. A 12th century door knocker remains and it was once said that touching this door knocker would give any individual 37 days of sanctuary. Sadly, most of us missed this because we were too caught up in getting to Shakespeare’s grave.  At the front of the church was where William and Anne lay, next to other individuals that were a part of the church at some time. Along side the grave stood the same stone bath (font) in which William was baptized.

From here we walked along the river to our last stop on the tour, William Shakespeare’s birthplace. Today in the area where William grew up, main streets run through the city along the river. This is about a 25 minute walk from Anne’s house. The house was similar to that of  Anne’s but with small differences, like the addition of William’s dad’s glove shop.



William Shakespeare's birthplace


After a quick lunch in one of Stratford’s little cafes and some small shopping in the candy store and then we headed back to London in order to catch the 7 o’clock play of War Horse. Most were leary of watching a play whose main character was a horse, due to prior experiences with animal movies and how they typically end. Yet, we all watched and marveled at the play’s ability to capture war and create a realistic horse, all on stage. And to most people’s surprise the horse lived!

Now it is back to the hotel to catch some rest before having to wake up and run about London again tomorrow!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Shakespeare Walking Tour and the Globe


January 7, 2013

Hello!  My name is Caitie Vaughan and I am a senior Psychology major, Biology and ASL minor, at CSS.  I decided to come on this trip because I have never had the opportunity to travel overseas and I thought coming to London would be a fun way to start.  Also, my sister and my mom are on the trip so sharing this experience with them has been awesome!

We had a pretty jam packed day today.  We started out by meeting back up with Eleanor Jackson, the lovely guide from our bus tour about a week ago.  


Eleanor took us on a two hour Shakespeare walking tour where we saw many sites pertaining to Shakespeare’s life in London, including:  the only building he ever owned (a pub with an upstairs apartment), the original site of The Rose Theatre, the original site of The Globe Theatre, and the reconstructed Globe Theatre.  After our walking tour we sadly parted ways with Eleanor, but we will see her again in a few days when we tour the Victoria and Albert Museum!

After the walking tour we had a break for lunch where we all ate at a market called The Borough.   The market had many vendors selling fresh food; I had a pork sandwich from a pig being roasted on a spit right at the vendor’s booth! 


After lunch we headed back to the reconstruction of the Globe to take a tour and participate in an acting workshop.  Our guide/teacher was named Mary and she was great!  She started out by taking us backstage so that we could "come into the theatre for the first time from an actor’s point of view."  When we walked onto the stage we were greeted by the literature half of our group; they were sitting in the stands as part of their tour.  They then got to see us do a little bit of acting for them!  


We spent some more time on the stage and then proceeded to the stands to see the Globe from the audience’s point of view.  This concluded our tour and we walked a couple blocks to the rehearsal rooms for the theatre to have our workshop.


I enjoyed the workshop because Mary had us do activities that caused us to act in a way that would have been similar the way Shakespeare’s troupe acted.  In Shakespeare’s time the actors were not given a full script to study and rehearse for weeks before the production; they were given only their lines and had to learn them and be ready to perform sometimes in only a day’s time.  First, Mary had us memorize a short line, form a circle, and then take turns saying our line as soon as someone said theirs to us.  This created a really spontaneous environment where we did not have a chance to think before we acted.  Next, we did the same thing except we used a short scene from Romeo and Juliet.  I think the energy created in this atmosphere was great because we all appeared to act more naturally.

After the workshop, we had free time for the rest of the night so we split into smaller groups to have supper and enjoy another night in London!

The Netherlands and the Globe

January 7, 2013

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.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Scotland Part 2 and Double Pub time


January 6, 2013

Greetings!  My name is Mark Tomshack, I’m a senior Biochemistry/Biology major.  I’m super excited to be here in England.  Our plays have been great, the city is amazing, and the accents are even better!  Also I absolutely love art majors, and wish I could be one.  Anyways about the trip:

I woke up this morning and this is what was in front of me:


A giant castle on a hill! 
Then, in the other direction:

This is Edinburgh, capitol of Scotland, and an amazing city.  I had spent the night here at a local hostel.  My room was no bigger than a queen size bed, but what did I care, I was in Scotland!  Unfortunately for the first time in like 2 years I’m starting to get sick, but I didn’t let that stop me.  I had breakfast at the hostel, and then set out for the journey home (sort of) to London.  I walked down the royal mile, the street leading up to the castle, on my way to the train station.  This street is a bunch of shops, since its Scotland almost every single store sells kilts and cashmere, and every building is old.  Here’s a picture of the Royal Mile as seen down the barrel of a cannon from the castle ramparts:

Finally Kendra and I, who came with me on this trip, reached the train station.  The train ride itself was great, while it was five hours long, seeing the countryside along the way was fantastic.  There is seriously a castle in every single town here; it gets a little ridiculous coming from the US where there are no castles.  When we got back to London we headed for our hotel and a couple of people were leaving to head to a nearby pub, I decided to join them.  The pub couldn’t have been any more British.  It was a small cramped space, everyone was crowded in, and we were watching a football game(soccer for our American followers).  Later in that night we headed to another pub for dinner where I had the biggest burger I have ever had in my life.  This has been a busy, busy weekend of travel and sightseeing, but well worth it. I’ll leave you with one final picture of Scotland…enjoy!





Saturday, January 5, 2013

Scotland!

January 5, 2013

Hello to all those who have been following us crazy kids around on our excursions in London. My name is Kendra Souther and I am a double major in chemistry and math from Duluth, MN. This weekend we were fortunate enough to have an entire weekend to ourselves to do whatever we wanted. My friend Mark, who is along for the journey, and I decided it would be a blast to head up to Scotland, and let me tell you it was!

For the first time I went to King's Cross to catch a train for a five hour drive up the coast. While the ride was five hours it only felt like a couple; granted I did spend most of it sleeping. Along the way I was able to take some beautiful pictures of the scenery.




Around 1:30 we arrived and  the station was full of action. Mark and I began to find our way to the hostel where  we were staying. We stopped for lunch but not before I used the restroom. This was significant for me given the fact that I had to pay 20 pence just to use the facilities.

After reaching the street we began our trek through the streets of Scotland's capital, Edinburgh. There were so many old buildings around and a river running right through the middle of the city. It was definitely a different feel compared to London. I would call the feeling homey.

When we arrived at the hostel we were greeted to a beautiful castle gazing down on us. 




The hostel we were staying at was very nice and the staff were extremely friendly. Unfortunately the room we were staying in was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde themed and made for some very creepy paintings in the room.


Finally we were off to explore this grand castle that laid before us. The castle and the views from the castle were absolutely breathtaking! I can't describe it with enough justice.



At the castle were the Scottish honours, otherwise known as the crown jewels. To see so much history of Scotland in such a unique arena was the chance of a lifetime.

For the rest of the evening we walked around the streets of Edinburgh. While out we stopped by the National Library of Scotland. There was an exhibit in honor of John Bartholomew, the man who first began to design maps. All the detail that was put into the work he did made me appreciate more the use of a map. 


We topped the night off with dinner at a local pub and called it a night early after an exhausting but eventful day of discovery in Scotland.

Bloomsbury Group and the British Library

January 4, 2013

Hello! This is Emily Fitzsimmons and I am a sophomore at The College of Saint Scholastica. I’m studying biology for middle and secondary education (in layman’s terms, I am studying to teach middle school science classes). I’m very happy to be in the U.K. and I have been thoroughly enjoying all the new experiences, like handling One Pound coins and drinking hot chocolate with breakfast.
               Today started out with the literature class walking to the British Library. On our way, we stopped by a few historical places. The first place was the house(s) where the Bloomsbury Group—which consisted of Virginia Woolf, her husband, the Bells, and the Stracheys—met and enjoyed the intellectual atmosphere created between all of them.

                           
               The second placed we stopped by was a house Charles Dickens lived in, which is now a hotel. There is a similar plaque (like the one seen above) that says that he stayed there from 1851 to 1860, which is when he wrote Bleak House, Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations.
               We then continued to the British Library, where we unfortunately could not take pictures of the wonders we saw in the glass cases. However, here is the statue outside of the Library.


              
               Once inside, we found all sorts of amazing things. I saw Lady Jane Grey’s prayer book, which was one of the last things she touched before she was executed on Tower Green, as well as the letter that Elizabeth I sent to her brother, Edward VI, before he died. It bore her signature, with flourished underline and all. I also found Jane Austen’s writing desk and the Magna Carta that was on display in its own little room.
               After touring the British Library, I went shopping in Leicester Square and around Hyde Park. My friends, Laura and Mary, went with me of course and we all bought novelty items from a little souvenir shop. There are a great deal of them in Leicester Square and scattered all around London. We took the Tube back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and the show we saw—Top Hat.
               We ate at a little Indian restaurant that specialized in Southern Indian cuisine and was sadly without Peshwari Naan. The food was still wonderful and we had great service. We rode the Tube to the theatre and watched the play. Top Hat was good but the story line left me wanting more. The singing and dancing was wonderful though and I had a good time. 
               I’m looking forward to a free weekend and all of the other exciting things we have planned for next week. I’m hoping to share many more pleasant times and great jokes with my friends, old and new, while basking in the London experience.