Weekend in Wales!

This past weekend was a blast! We went to West Wales, right on the Atlantic Coast. It was so beautiful and breathtaking! It was good to get out of the city and into the country for awhile, it reminded me more of home. The food was excellent! All the meals were included, which was really nice for a change.

On Saturday morning, we got up early and went coasteering. I didn't know what it was either. But I soon found out...Pretty much, you slip (or struggle) into a wetsuit, shoes, gloves, and a helmet. Then they take you out to a beach of rocks so you could get used to the power of the waves. When I heard this I was like: "Shoot, I've been raised in Florida practically, I can handle it." But, the first wave came crashing in and knocked me to my feet! The waves were incredibly powerful. Keep in mind this is the North Atlantic Ocean in January! We then went to the rocks! We climbed about and swam in the ocean. There was one slick rock that we climbed up to and then slid down into the water, it was pretty sweet! Then came the best part...we swam across to the other side of the bay and climbed up to the cliffs. This is where we jumped into the water from cliffs as high as 35 feet! That was by far the best part of the weekend!

Saturday afternoon we took a hike, a long hike, a 3 hour long hike!! It was very beautiful though! We went all along the coast of Wales and through sheep fields (and sheep poop). It was some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in my life! Then we got really really muddy and tired and finally made it back to the cabins.

On Sunday we went Sea Kayaking. That was actually pretty relaxing. After we learned how to keep from flipping it, we went along the coast. We saw a creepy cave too! This was tricky because you had to back the kayak in. But of course, I had no problem. It was dark and really loud in there from the wind and waves echoing.

Overall, that will be a hard trip to beat, it was right up my ally! Dad and Jake, you would've loved it! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who might ever take a trip to Europe!

Bath

Bath is a nice and luxurious town built with concrete. All the buildings were concrete and stuck together. The sidewalks were about 2 feet by 2 feet squares or cobblestone. There was a ton of shops and places to eat. One of the places we visited dates back to 1482, called Sally Lunn's famous buns. They are huge hamburger buns basically.

Then we went to the Roman Bath House, which is Bath's main attraction. This is where a natural hot spring rises to the surface. The Romans built a "house" (for lack of a better term) around this hot spring in honor of the goddess Minerva. It too is hundreds of years old. The water is so warm that you could see the steam rising. It was a green color and apparently very dirty/unpurified. The guide told us not to touch the water. It was a beautiful place!

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a place that is a mystery to all historians. It's 1000s of years old and built with giant stones. The stones were apparently from Wales, which is hundreds of miles away. One puzzling aspect is how the stones got to where they are. It would've taken several men to move them. On top of that, the stones were in an upright position with other stones laid across them. Supposedly it had one of two purposes. The first theory is that certain stones were positioned and used for astronomical studies and studies of the sky. The other is that it was a place to worship certain gods. It was like a monument to these gods. Either way, it's out in the middle of nowhere and one time visiting is enough for a lifetime. Hope you like the pictures!

St. Paul's Cathedral

We went to church at St. Paul's Cathedral tonight at 6pm. It was as pretty or prettier than Westminster Abbey. The ceilings were domes instead of arched points like Westminster. There were so many scenes painted with glittery gold and silver. It was almost like a mosaic in some spots. Again, I wish I could've taken a picture. The service was more like the traditional Methodist service than at Westminster. But...when we recited the Lord's Prayer outloud, apparently they leave off the end. Well guess who kept going! It was very noticeable in such a quiet and large Cathedral!

Windsor Castle

This castle is what you picture when you hear "castle." It was made of stone with a huge wall around it and a moat. There were several buildings within the castle walls, including a Cathedral. This castle is sill used for weddings, ceremonies, and meetings today. Inside was the queen's doll collection and doll house. The clothes were so cute! They had a replica of one of the palaces (I forgot which one) with mini replicas inside it. There was a china room full of the queen's china. It was all very ornate and beautiful! Next was the guard's room. Inside there were many guns and swords on the wall, it was used to protect ousiders from getting to the king or queen. I could go on and on about this, but I'll just leave the rest to your imagination! My words don't do it justice anyway!

Hampton Court Palace

Yesterday we left early (9am) to go on a tour of 2 castles. The first was Hampton Court Palace where King Henry VIII lived in the 1600s. It was so old, yet so beautiful! The ceilings were all so high in each room and they were highly decorated with murals, many of angels. All the rooms had beautiful crown molding and the beds were surrounded by drapery-type things that reached about 15 feet upward. There were also tapestrys, which reminded me of intricate rugs, that were on the wall. They were approxamately 20ft by 30 ft. Huge! These works of art showed pictures, many during Jesus' time, kind of like a mural. They were hand made and had real gold and silver thread woven into them! Really pretty! The entire palace was surrounded by massive gardens. There was a maze on one side, a garden in the back, and another garden on the side (called Privy Garden, it was my favorite). The trees were like giant lumps, very different! The pictures and my words don't do it justice, you just had to see it all!

Jack the Ripper!

I just got back from a tour around London of where "Jack the Ripper" killed his prostitute victims. It's a well documented set of serial killings that took place in the 1800's. The murders are still unsolved, but there are 4 main suspects that historians are still investigating to try and solve this ancient murder streak. We took the tour at night, which set the scene for the killings in my mind! Our guide did a great job of telling the story and showing us where each victim lived and about their lives prior to their gruesome murders. These five prostitutes were slit from ear to ear and had their intestines (and much more) removed and strung out. It's actually much more gruesome, but I'll leave the details to your imagination. All in all, it was a great tour and I really enjoyed it!

Classes...

Well, my first day of classes were yesterday. There will be more reading and writing papers than I had hoped, oh well! My favorite class will be my musical theatre class. We are required to see at least 6 musicals, darn! lol! I can't wait, it will be so much fun! My other "good" class is our British Life and Culture class. We have lectures every Tuesday night then go on field trips every Wednesday. 1/2 of our grade is attendance and the other half is pass/fail short papers we write every week. Not too bad! My schedule is good too, we only go to class M,T, and Th. Each day I'm done by 10:30 and on Mon and Tues I have a night class. Pretty good! Today we booked our trip to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day! That will be a blast, can't wait! I'll let you know how it goes. Miss you all and love from London!

Living in London

Hey everyone!

I've been here in London for a few days now, and it's great! We've done so much already. Of course we've hit the big spots: Westminster Abbey (we actually went to church there on Sunday), Big Ben, Hyde Park, Portabello Market, Camden Town Market, the Russian Winter Festival in Trafalgar Square, Harrod's, Platform 9 3/4 for all those Harry Potter fans, and much more that I'm probably forgetting!

We are trying to schedule our trips first. Some of the hot spots we hope to hit are France (Paris), Italy (Venice, Rome, Florence), Ireland for St. Patrick's Day, Wales, Scotland, and Spain...depending on how much money we have. We have to talk to the travel agency first.

I want everyone to post comments and questions and stay in touch with me! I have a good amount of spare time during the week, so I'll be checking and posting quite a bit.