OXFORD anyone?

Wednesday February 23rd, we set off on a wonderful adventure! Our destination: Oxford University! It was absolutely amazing! The city is so big, and so beautiful. We had so much fun! Maybe even a little too much fun... :) We started off by taking a little stroll down to Alice's Shop! This was an adorable little store that helped inspire Lewis Carroll's famous novel 'Alice in Wonderland'. And as a result, the shop is now dedicated to the story! It was fun. Then we went down to the River Head Pub. The cutest little pub right along the side of the river where all of the Oxford boat races take place. It was great! I was really curious about the water temperature, and honestly, I wanted to jump in to test it out. That is until I saw the water up close. Very not clear, and very brown. I quickly changed my mind! haha Our next adventure took place at Christ's Church College! The most gorgeous school I think I've ever seen... and uh, guess what!?!? Harry Potter has some awesome history here! The main staircase was used in Hogwarts, and also the dining hall is the Great Hall in the movies! It was so fantastic! (although kinda disappointing. The movies do a great job at making things look a lot bigger than they really are... but it was awesome nonetheless!) We then went into the St. Mary's Church, and climbed the stairs to the top of the tower. Here we were able to look out across the beautiful city! Right next door to that was some cool rotunda library thing, where the Hogwarts Library is also located. :) We then had decided we had enough exploring, and needed some food! So we went to the most incredible little pub I have ever seen! It's called Turf's Tavern, and the only way to get to it, is through these tiny little alley ways... whic are nearly impossible to find! So it's kinda like some cool little secret. :) While there, my buddies decided me that today was the day for me to try the infamous English Fish & Chips. And they were very pursuasive. So I gave in... and I hated it.  haha  ok, not really! But this is how it went... I was so scared to try it! Just knowing that it was fish freaked me out. It didn't look like fish, and it didn't smell like fish... and quite honestly, it didn't taste like fish either. So I ate a few bites, thinking that I was maybe being a little dramatic, and making a bigger deal out of things than they really were... until I saw it. A dark, shiny spot in my fish. And guess what it was!? yup. It was a scale!!! I had been eating scales! ugh! I thought I was going to die... I refused to take another bite. I then had to make Ramzi finish mine because there was no way I was going to get another bite of that in my mouth. But, it was legit, and I can now officially say that I ate fish and chips! Once was enough for me... :)  Some of the other cool things we did in Oxford include a walk down Queen's Lane, a photo shoot underneath the Bridge of Sighs, and Broad Street. We also went into the famous Covered Market, and got milkshakes from Moo Moo's. So delicious! And so worth being late and almost missing the bus for. :)  Overall, our experience at Oxford was very successful. I loved it!

Pews, Picnics, Playgrounds, and that blasted bus #18!

Today me and my good buddies Kaylee, Liz, and Haley went out on the town! Well, kind of. We went out in search of ways to satisfy our homework assignments. We did this by first hopping onto the infamous tube, and going up to Old Street where we paid the Methodist Church a little visit! We did this for our religion class... we've been learning about how the Mormon Church got it's start in England, and a huge part of that was through the Methodists. So we went up to John Wesley's chapel. We walked in the doors, and were immediately swarmed by old people, just dying to take us around and share their stories! They are so funny... So it took us about an hour to get out of there instead of the intended two minutes. haha  But we learned a lot, and had a great look at the chapel and museum. Then we went to another churchy historical site up the street... the intersectino on Tabernacle Street where the first LDS Sermon was preached in London! It was pretty awesome... not going to lie.  :)  We then jumped back on the tube, and found ourselves up in Regent's Park territory. And let me just say... it was by far the absolute most gorgeous day ever! The sun was shining, the skies were blue, flowers blooming everywhere... I loved it! We then took a walk up this cute little hill in the middle of the park, where we had the best view of the city! It was fantastic! It was there on the hill that we sat on a park bench and had a picnic! Nothing says great day like a good old fashioned PB&J! haha  Gotta love it... maybe? I've never really been a big fan, but I've eaten more of them the last few months than I think I've eaten in my entire life! Funny. After lunch, we just strolled through a few big parks in the area, watched cute littled British children kick soccerballs, faceplant in the mud, and swing on the playground. They are adorable! Anyways, the parks were gorgeous, and green, and we loved them! We stopped and fed the ducks, saw tons of amazing little houses and streets, and just had a great time! Then when we were finally finished, we decided to take the bus home instead of the tube. Remember how I have such great luck with buses?  haha  yeah.  So we got there, looked at the papers, figured things out, and sat down to wait for the bus. And we sat and sat and sat... for about 25 minutes! Keep in mind, this bus was supposed to come ever 3-10 minutes... just my luck. But as we sat and waited, that darned #18 kept coming and coming and coming! I hate bus #18! haha  I almost got frustrated enough that I was going to get on it, just to see what the big deal was! It's obviously a popular place! haha  But eventually, our bus made it, and we enjoyed a great ride through the city! Overall it was a splendid day spent out and about!

I just absolutely love London! :)

Things I Miss...

Well friends, we've reached the halfway point! Only 48 more days until I make my triumphant return! :)  I am so excited, yet also really sad. I wish there was more time to enjoy this wonderful city and culture. However, there are also a lot of things I miss about home... things I am excited to return home for. And since it's just been one of those days,,, I'm going to share a few:

THINGS I MISS TODAY
*My mommy
*Warm water... that comes out of one faucet instead of two - one scalding and one freezing
*My computer
*Obviously, my boyfriend :)
*A bed I can actually fit on
*Normal Showers with normal showering products. example: a loufa would be nice!
*My shoes!!!!!
*My dad... he's THE man!
*Macaroni and Cheese... any normal American food actually.
*Bottled Water!
*My bestie Natalie Lemon
*Real school... weird as it may sound, I really do miss it!
*The sun. Although it came out today, I miss seeing it everyday!
*Isaac Davis... what a stud. Need I say more?
*My roommates! (apt #11)
*Clean air
*My cell phone!
*My little brothers....

Alright. I think that's enough complaining for one day! :)  hehe  But seriously, London is fabulous and amazing and great. And I am so glad to be here! I would not trade this experience for anything in the world!  :) But I am also glad to be to this point. I'll be home before you know it!

Hampton Court

This last weekend, we got to go and explore Hampton Court! It was pretty fantastic... This is the palace lived in by King Henry VIII. It was pretty legit. The best part of it, was the beautiful gardens! I died, they were so incredible! So green and so pretty!

Then we took a drive through the countryside, until we arrived at the house of Charles Darwin! It was pretty fun... we just wandered the museum, and learned all sorts of weird facts about Charles Darwin. Did you know that he had like 9 kids, and he built them a slide to go down the stairs! It was pretty much the coolest thing ever. I liked it anyways...  haha  And I will have one in my house one day. J

London Temple

Wednesday February 16^th, was one of the most beautiful days I have seen since arriving in London...The skies were blue, there was a perfect breeze blowing, the grass was green, the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, and our faces were beaming as entered the doors to the London Temple! Truly one of the best days ever! It was such an amazing experience. With only about 25 of us, we were able to complete over 270 baptisms, and 250 confirmations in less than two hours! It was incredible. J

Southall

One night we ventured into the district of Southall.... we had to take a tube/bus/train combo to get there, but it was definitely worth it! When we first got there, we went inside the beautiful Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha - one of the largest Sikh temples outside India. It was incredible. We had to remove our shoes, and wear scarves over our heads when we went in. We just walked upstairs, and sat on the floor as they sang their little prayer songs, and then we went and explored a bit. It was a really awesome experience! Then we went and wandered around, and saw many other Sikh and Buddhist temples along the way. We ended our adventure by meeting up with the group at a restaurant called GIFTOS... the most legit Indian food there is. And guess what!? I actually tried some of the food... it was a big step for me considering my extremely picky eating habits. I was quite proud of myself. I didn’t like any of what I tried... but I did try it!  J  This was such a great cultural experience for me. I absolutely love begin here where I am able to experience amazing things like this each and every day. I have changed a lot because of them, and I know that there are so many things I am learning through all of this, that will have a huge impact on the rest of my life. This is such a great opportunity, and I am so glad that I am here!

Valentines Day, London Style

There is no better way to start your morning, than waking up to the most adorable Valentine’s Day card made especially for you, by one of the most adorable guys in the world. It’s very... adorable.  Haha  J There is also no better way to start your afternoon than discovering that you have mail! I finally have my London Underground Oyster Card! I can now travel without the stress and humiliation... hooray! Oh, and did I mention that my new computer battery came too!? It was pretty much the best afternoon of my life, and it only got better! This happy Valentine’s Day, I got to go to my favorite class, Creative Writing! And because it is the day of love, we celebrated by talking about the elements in a love poem, and then we tried writing really bad love poems. Here is mine!

Really Bad Love Poem

I have a hunch

That I love you a bunch!

I like when we hold hands

And visit faraway lands.

And when we kiss,

It feels like bliss.

When you give me that smile,

My heart flies a mile.

I’d go anywhere,

As long as you were there.

Yes, I have a hunch,

That I love you a bunch!

Yeah I know... its pretty lame, But that’s what makes it so BAD!  J haha  After a wonderful dinner and TESCO run, we all got dolled up for our day of love celebration: Swan Lake Ballet! It was awesome... Really rather long and somewhat boring. But that’s only expected when watching men in tights dance on stage for over 3 hours, right? J haha But it was really great. I enjoyed it a lot. Especially the music... gorgeous! After the ballet was over, me and Ramzi were trying to find the tube station, and we got lost! But as we wandered the city in search for a tube station, we stumbled upon.. Gringott’s! Well, not the actual building of course. But the real Australia House where they filmed Gringott’s Bank in Harry Potter! It was pretty awesome! We finally made it home, and then of course, me and the girls had our usual little ‘girly talk’, and then I got to enjoy some of the best hours of my life! I got to skype the love of my life! It was so much fun... there was no better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than talking to him. I LOVED IT! Oh, but wait... it still gets better! Because when we had finished talking, I got to call my absolute favorite person in this world: Natalie Lemon!   J She is seriously the best. And even though we were cut off mid-conversation... it was the highlight of my week! And then, my night ended with a bang when I got to call my family on the phone! I miss them so much! And it was so wonderful to hear their voices! Best way to end an already perfect day! Basically, today was just the BEST DAY EVER!  J

Welcome to the Land of Haggis & Kilts

SCOTLAND

Last Wednesday, we left for bonny SCOTLAND!!! We dragged our bags around the tube, and then took the train. It was a 5 hour trip... It was so much fun! Just plug in the ipod and sleep! That’s how we roll.  Haha But the views out the window were spectacular. Scotland is by far the most beautiful place on earth... J  I LOVE IT! It has everything! Mountains, valleys, flat fields, and a beach! It's perfect! We first arrived at Edinburgh (pronounced end-bur-uh) Where we went and played around at the Castle! It was so much fun... I love castles! They are definitely cooler than cathedrals.  haha  Then we went and toured the official kilt factory, and did some shopping on the Royal Mile. We of course stayed at another amazingly awesome hostel, where we stayed up late and had lots of girl time talking and playing games and of course, indulging in some delicious Scottish Shortbread. The next day, we had nothing planned, and were just left by ourselves to wreck havoc in Edinburgh! So we started our day off with a true Scottish breakfast... complete with Haggis!  (but no worries.. I did NOT eat it... it looked bad enough. It looks like gravel sausage. seriously. Nasty!)  Then we went and saw the Queen's Palace, hiked King Arthur's Seat, ate lunch at the Elephant House (the cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter!!!) then went to a witch monument, explored some creepy old graveyard, went to the people's museum, and went to the top of a mountain to play on some ruins and watch the sun set. Then we all went and got dinner, then bought tickets to ANNIE! It was super fun... J Oh! And did I mention that we actually found Waldo? True story... he was hidden in the crowded streets of Scotland. Who knew!? We even have pictures to prove it. J We left Edinburgh the next morning, and drove up to New Lanark... This is a cool little town way up in the Highlands, where we toured a big cotton mill, then we took a long hike up the river to some big waterfalls. It was so pretty! Then we got back on the bus and drove to Stirling! There we went and again goofed off at the castle.  J We probably enjoyed it a little too much... They are just so much fun! You have no idea!  Then a bunch of us went out on the town for a true ‘American Date Night’. We went and got dinner at a New York style restaurant, then bought movie tickets to see 'Gnomeo & Juliet'. Then we made the trek back across the city and up the mountain to our hostel. Our hostel here at Stirling, was by far the creepiest place I have ever stayed in my life! It was some old run down castle looking thing, with a huge graveyard in the front, lining the walk right up to the door... it looked spooky! The inside was probably just as scary.  haha Luckily it was only for one night! J Our last day in Scotland we went and saw the William Wallace monument, which was super cool... (If you've ever seen the movie Braveheart, that's the guy! He is legit!!!) We had great fun... we saw his sword, and hiked 300 stairs to the top of the huge tower. Good times! Unfortunately, the fun always has to end, and so we got back on the bus, got out at the train station, and headed back for London. Our train ride was supposed to only be 5 hours, right? Well... somehow it ended up taking us 8! I wanted to die... we had to stop so many times for who knows what... and yeah. We just learned to love the train! Haha J

A look up the Royal Mile street... my favorite street in the world! Love it!

Just some of the gorgeous views of the city of Edinburgh!

A bunch of us and the Crowe's... cutest couple/professors ever!!!

Sometimes me and Carly like to wear cool hats....

We found WALDO!

The Elephant House...Harry Potter was written within those walls!

The sun will come out tomorrow....  :)

The Scottish really love Harry Potter... Can you tell?

This is what we do for fun on 8 hour train rides.  :)

Stirling Castle!

Edinburgh... I love this place!

And that’s it! The story of my Scotland Adventures.... It seriously was THE BEST! I absolutely LOVED it! Scotland is by far the pretties place I have ever seen in my life. I highly doubt anything will compare... but we shall just have to wait and see! It will forever be a memorable trip though, and I am so glad that I got to enjoy this wonderful experience with these wonderful people! It’s been the adventure of a lifetime! J

Paris Holds The Key To Your Heart!

The first weekend of February, me and 8 of my best friends set out on the adventure of a lifetime!

What follows is an account of our amazing weekend in Paris! Enjoy! :)

We got our start on Friday February 4^th, at a bright and early 3:00 am! Then it was off to the train station we went! Everything was going our way... or so I thought.  haha  Basically, the English Public Transportation system hates me... no, it despises me. And anytime that something can go wrong, it will. So we arrive at the bus station, and we're getting onto the bus, and I swipe my oyster card... rejected! What the nut!? I tried again. And again. The bus driver just kind of looked at me like I was an idiot, and looked down with those eyes that basically said 'oh that sucks...'  So I started panicking... running around the bus stop trying to find a machine to put money onto my card... but no luck. There was nothing I could do! I was a wreck! The bus driver gave me that ‘I’m leaving now’ look, and I freaked out. I pulled out a ten pound note, and offered it to the bus driver. 'I only take exact change' was all he said.  So I told him he could just keep it all! That's a pretty good deal, right?  Anyways, I guess he felt a little bad, he could probably see the desperate look in my eyes, and he took pity on me. He told me that he would probably have change for me by the time we made it to the train station. So he let me on! I stumbled up the stairs of the bus, and then the 9 of us scrambled through our pockets and purses, to come up with the £2.20 that he needed, and then enjoyed our nice quiet bus ride. Oops. Did I just say that? I forgot to mention one small thing...  haha while we were driving, we pulled up behind another bus, and we could see a group of drunk English boys in the other bus. Well, they were pretty wasted, and they thought it would be funny to mess with the group of girls behind them. So down went the pants! Yup! That’s right... we were mooned. Twice. On the bus.  Haha  Great start!  J So we finally made it to the train station, and I ran down the stairs, to give the money to the bus driver, remember? He looked at me for a minute, then told me to keep it, and not to worry about it... I was so angry! I had just gone through all that drama and stress for him! I'm pretty sure I yelled at him, threw the money in his little window, and ran off the bus. Once we made it inside the train station, and checked in, we had to go through security and customs. So... being the smart and responsible little student that I am, I had put my money belt on that morning. Well, it turns out that the zipper on the money belt sets off metal detectors...  haha  So yeah! There I was, standing in the station, practically naked as the security guard made me raise me arms as she lifted my shirt up until it was almost completely off my head, and searched me. It was really rather awkward...  but it made for a good story!  :)  The moral of the story: Don't wear metal while walking through metal detectors. The French guards don't like it... J Our train ride was only about 3 hours long from London to Paris. The coolest part is, the train goes underground! And if you know your geography, you know that there is an ocean between these two places... yup! It goes underneath the ocean!  J  Cool huh? It was pretty awesome, I can't lie. I loved it! And that was my first European train experience! Yeehaw! We were in Paris! And we were so excited... that is, until we actually left the platform and realized that we were all completely clueless. I had no idea what was going on... I couldn’t understand a single thing! And people were already giving us the “crazy tourist” looks. (I think the bright orange study abroad backpacks were the dead giveawayJ )  We decided that the best way to figure anything out, was to just get to it, and put ourselves out there! So we took to the streets... I never knew it was possible to be so lost. Haha We just kind of wandered for a while... a long, long while, and then we finally decided to stop for breakfast. We found the most adorable little bakery shop on some tiny, random street. We all ordered Chocolate Croissants (paun au chocolat to be more official). Seriously, the most delicious croissant I’ve ever eaten in my entire life! We eventually found a map, and soon we found ourselves standing outside the Louvre! We didn’t go in, but took a fabulous photo shoot outside instead. Always a good alternative, right?  J  Then we just wandered the city... walked through a bunch of beautiful parks, and saw lots of amazing things! Paris is such a gorgeous city! We found ourselves on the other side of the city, at the Saint Chapelle, one of the most incredible cathedrals I have ever seen! It is made almost entirely out of stained glass, and it is so amazing! Loved it! Then we found a crepe shop for lunch. We all got jambone & fromage (ham and cheese)... so so so good! Our next adventure was at Notre Dame! The inside was absolutely gorgeous, and we even hiked up the 400 stairs to see the actual Notre Dame Bell... SO awesome! I loved it! Definitely one of my favourites. Then we walked across the city until we arrived at the EIFFEL TOWER!!!  Most amazing and incredible thing I have ever seen in my life. I LOVE IT! We just got really excited, took a bunch of pictures, and then went and found legit French baguettes for dinner. Yummy! We then went to our hostel... My very first hostel experience! haha  It was actually not that bad. Nothing like sleeping in a room with red carpet, fusia curtains, crunchy blankets, polluted water in your sink, and a neighbouring room full of loud drunk French men to make you feel comfortable!  J  haha  It was a blast! The next morning, we went up the mountain to the Basillique Sacre Coeur! (coolest cathedral I've ever seen) Plus, there was a big Scottish Festival going on, so we saw literally thousands of men in kilts playing the bagpipes. It was great! Then we wandered the streets and found seriously the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my life... I  know I say that a lot. But this is legitimately the winner... Nutella and banana crepes! SO GOOD!  haha  (so funny story about this one: I ordered my crepe, and the man told me how much I owed him. Without even thinking, I reached into my wallet, pulled out a twenty, and handed it to him. I then received the strangest look I have ever been given... I just looked back at him, totally confused, he then waved the money in my face, and said, 'you’re not French, are you?' That's when I realized that I had handed him a twenty pound note, instead of a euro note.  I was so embarrassed. But we got a big laugh out of it! J We then made our way to the Arch De Triopmh! My absolute favourite part of the whole trip... It was so gorgeous! It was tons of fun. We hiked the million stairs to the top, and took literally hundreds of pictures! It was so cool... The view was stunning. As we were walking back across the city to find our next adventure, we decided to take a river tour! It was so much fun! We just got on a big boat, and we went up the river, and saw just about everything there is to see in Paris. It was so beautiful! (Except for the 4 Scottish men in kilts who decided to moon us at one point while moving under a bridge... Those guys wear absolutely nothing underneath those kilts! It's pretty nasty! But it gave us a good laugh....and officially made our mooning count 6 in two days!) Our last conquest was back at the Eiffel Tower... this time, we went to the TOP! And it was seriously the most incredible view I have ever seen... You could see everything. Literally. It was fabulous! So on our way back down, me and my friend Carly got separated from the group. It took us almost ten minutes at the top before we made it onto the elevator to get back down. So when we made it to the bottom, we tried to find everybody else... and they were nowhere to be found. We started getting angry. We thought they had ditched us at the Eiffel tower. We were so mad! Then after about five minutes of sitting on the curb trying to decide what to do, we saw the other girls running towards us, laughing hysterically. You'll never guess what happened to them! Their elevator got stuck! haha  When they asked the operator how often that happens, he told them it maybe only happens once a year, for about a minute or two. And they happened to be in it, and it lasted for about 10 minutes. Funny stuff! It's hilarious how things like that happen...  J  As we were leaving, the sun set, and the lights of the tower came on! It is so pretty at night! We even got to see it sparkle! Every hour, they turn on sparkling lights, and it's absolutely gorgeous! So French, I love it!

So there you have it...my Paris adventures! It was a great weekend, and I loved every minute of it! (well, except for the fact that I never went to the bathroom, because you have to pay for it... and the fact that I had to wear my gloves the entire time because that city is so dirty... I refused to touch anything!)  haha   I'm such a nerd. ..  But it was so much fun, and I am so glad that I had that wonderful opportunity! It was one of the greatest experiences of my life, one that I will never forget!  J

Here are some pics to help give you a taste of the one and only Paris!



Here is me standing next to the river, in front of the Eiffel Tower!  :)

Here we are at the Sacre Coeur! One of the prettiest buildings there is to see, ever!

Notre Dame!

Midget door at the top of Notre Dame!  haha  Freaked me out....

This is how we do it in Paris....  :)

The Arch De Triomph! One of my absolute favorite things about Paris!

At the top, with a view of the city behind us....

Here we are at our little Crepe Party!

Here we are with our legit crepes... Nutella and Banana. Best thing I have ever eaten in my entire life!  :)

There are a LOT of stairs to be climbed in Paris... Talk about a work out!

Just some views of the city.... isn't it gorgeous!?

Here's us on our Bateaux Mouche boat tour! If anybody ever goes to Paris, this is a must! It was awesome!

I LOVE PARIS!!!

A Day in the Countryside

Wednesday February 2nd:

This was perhaps one of the most beautiful days ever! Today was the day that we drove far into the English countryside, and went on a ten mile hike! Doesn't sound too fun, I know. But trust me on this one... it was one of the most fun things I've done yet! It may just be because there is nothing I love more about England than it's ability to make me feel at home with it's rolling green fields, herds of sheep and cows, and little farm houses spotting the countryside. I absolutely LOVE it! Think I'm kidding? Take a look...

Yup! I told you so... it's gorgeous! Anyways, this hike was fantastic! We got to walk through several large fields, up a few hills, along the river, through the wonderful city of Kent, and we also got to stop for a picnic inside the ruins of an ancient castle. I just love England!  :)



Tea Anyone?

This was seriously so much fun.. I probably enjoyed it a little too much! We all got dressed up nice and fancy, and ventured across the park to Kensington Palace, where we had Afternoon Tea in the Orangery. How legit is that!? It was so much fun. I have never felt more elegant and sophisticated in my entire life! It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon... now if only I were royalty and could do that everyday! :)

Parliament & Protests

So basically, the coolest thing ever happened last weekend. Let me tell you about it! :)

It all started with a phenomenal tour of Parliament, and oh my gosh. Let me just say: Most amazing and incredible place I have ever seen in my life! So gorgeous, and so awesome! Loved it! (unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos... sorry! I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.) haha

So, the real story begin as we were walking down the steps of Parliament, and were approached by a police officer. He demanded that we leave immediately, and get home as quickly as possible. Somewhat confused, we began walking. Our questions were immediately answered as we noticed a mob of angry protestors in the distance. Curious, we disobeyed, and kinda took out time getting to the tube station. I have never seen anything like it before in my life: Banners, and signs being run through the street, police officers in their bright yellow vests blowing their whistles, smoke and fire in the center of it all, people screaming and running from others, loud gunshots in the background, and the panicked looks on the faces of those who stopped to witness the incredible event that was unfurling before their eyes. It was seriously intense. We only stuck around for a minute before deciding that we needed to get out of there before things got too out of control. But it was still an awesome experience! Unreal almost... And yet something I hope I never have to do again!

Reflection...

Just real quick, I want to take a minute to reflect on how grateful I am to be a citizen of the United States of America. While journeying through the country the other day, we had the opportunity to stop at a memorial sight for American Soldiers who died in England during WWII. It was an incredible experience. I am so grateful for all of those men who gave their lives fighting for the country that I love, and I am also grateful for those who continue to fight to this day. Thank you! This picture doesn't do justice to the vast amount of headstones or names that were displayed here. Truly a remarkable place!

I Feel Smarter Already!

CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY:

Land of the Smart

Look at us in our little hoodies! Don't we look like legit Cambridge Students? I sure think so! haha

This was probably one of the single most coolest things we've done yet! I absolutely loved it! Besides the fact that I am an absolute nerd, and love school... it was a very beautiful city and environment, and I honestly wish I could say I knew what it was like to go to school here! Unfortunately, that will never happen. But at least I have a sweater to prove that I kinda have an idea, right? :)

Just to give you a small idea of how absolutely gorgeous and amazing this school is, I'll show you my favorite college we saw while there: King's College:

The best adventure of our day trip to Cambridge, was found in PUNTING!

yes, that's what I said... punting. Be jealous! haha  Now, for those of you who probably have no idea what this mysterious thing is, let me explain: Basically, we all boarded one of those cute little river boats, and got all cuddled up in blankets. Then our tour guide stood on the back of the boat with his 15 foot pole, and guided us up and down the river, whilst giving us the fabulous history of the University and the Colleges we past. It was an incredible experience! I loved every minute of it! (well, maybe not the part when I was attacked by a duck...but other than that!) Great time in Cambridge!

Oh, and now comes my favorite story of the whole punting experience! So while we were standing on the river side waiting for our boat, another group of punters passed down the river... Just as they were right in front of us, the guide's pole got stuck in the river, so when he went to pull it, he lost his grip! And the whole thing fell into the river, and started moving down stream. Poor bloke! The only thing he had on his little raft to help him anywhere, was an umbrella! So there he was, paddling up stream, with his little umbrella.

Funniest thing I have seen in a long time!  :)



Dover & Canterbury

Wow! I have been such a slacker lately! And so much has happened, it's ridiculous!  :)

My first adventure took place last week on our day trip to Dover! We were supposed to go and explore the Dover Castle. Exciting right? Well, upon our arrival, we discovered that the castle was closed! Sad day! So we decided to go visit the ocean instead! We found the perfect little beach... looking over the English Channel towards France, and the famous White Cliffs of Dover behind us! It was absolutely gorgeous!

Great alternative to a castle... haha 

After our adventure at the English Channel, we wandered up to Canterbury! Here, we were able to go and explore the Canterbury Cathedral and yes, we even re-enacted the infamous murder of Thomas Becket by King Henry II. Classic! Although the Cathedral was of course very entertaining, I swear if I have to see another one... I may scream. I promise, if you've seen one, you've seen them all! But overall, it was a fantastic day to spend exploring the wonderful world of England!