1/29/14

Bath, is a city in the county of Somerset in South West England. The city was first established as a spa with the name of, Aquae Sulis. The Romans build it sometime in the AD 60s about 20 years after they had arrived in Britain. They build baths and a temple on the hills of Bath. It is a total spa town, and we got to explore the spas. People really would come bath, in these pools. Crazy! Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England. It is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. It is believed to have been built anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC.

Bath

 (Me, Saren, Lindsey)

 (Linsey, Me)

 Those cute children are some of the professors kids.

 (Me, Jillian, Hali, Hannah)

(Me, Katie, Emily, Hali, Hannah, Jillian,  Camille, Jacqueline)

Stonehenge 

 (Me, Saren, & Hali)

 Trying to be like the stones...

 (Christine, Betsy, Saren, Hali, Linsey, Me, Jo, Madeline)

 (Me, Dr. C, & Hali)

I forgot to mention that last week we got to go see a symphony perform. It was amazing. Here are some pictures... London Chamber Orchestra 

 (Me, Hali, Hannah)

 (Me, Saren)

1/29/14

Canterbury, is an historic English cathedral city and World Heritage Site. It was so weird getting off the bus and walking through the streets and seeing a pizza delivery car go by! It was like "wow, people actually live her". It is just so charming that it does not even seem like people actually live and do their life. We just go visit and feel like we are on vacation, but people are around us who are locals. Canterbury Cathedral, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England founded in 597. Bodiam Castle, is a 14th-century moated castle near East Sussex. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Years' War. It was completely rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in 1174. 

Canterbury

Bodiam Castle

Dr. C-one of our professors

1/25/14

I went to look up movie premiers so we could calendar one in, and found that one was happening on the afternoon I looked it up. We were only going off of the one website I found, but everyone thought that Hali and I had done extensive research to find out where to go. We got off the tube station, and Hali looked at me and said "where do we go?" I looked at her and said "let's pretend we know where to go!" Luckily, we got out of the tube station and were able to see exactly where the commotion was. We saw a big gate with black plastic covering it. We saw big lights in the air and people lining up. The men were rolling out the red carpet, and the reporters were staking out their spot. We just got behind the people and waited. We had no idea what to expect. A DJ was talking and giving away tickets to the actual premier. Shortly after Keira Knightly, Chris Pine, and others came out and walked down the red carpets. It felt like we were in Hollywood, I guess you could say it was like a "mini Hollywood" in England.

 Keira Knightley 

Chris Pine

Covent Garden

"A settlement has existed in the Covent Garden area since Roman times - the first century AD, when London was known as Londinium. The area around Covent Garden and the Strand was, in the 7th century, a busy Saxon trading port called Lundenwic. Lundenwic was abandoned once the Viking invaders became too dangerous in the 9th century" (The History and Architecture of London).

We walked around and it reminded me of the San Francisco Pier (minus the water). They had people dressed up on the sides of streets, doing tricks, and performing. They had a cute market that we went to, and a place called Ben's Cookies that is so yummy. So we all got cookies. Of course!

Here is a little performance going on.

1/25/14 Story Time

When I decided to do study abroad I knew that it would be fun. I had no idea it would be this much fun! I can't even explain or write how much fun I am having. Here are a few highlights:

The people, yes I love the British people but I love the people who are here with me! It is so fun to get to know everyone and meet new people. This is like hanging out with 30+ friends all the time! There is always something to do, and always people to joke and laugh with. I love my roommates, and it feels like we have known each other for much longer than we have. We are always laughing about something. The other day Hali and I had a presentation. It was a day that we had gotten up ran, showered, eaten breakfast, and done make-up. But then it was one of those days that we were so organized we even had time to double check our hair and make-up, instead of the usual rushing out the door. I was making jokes saying that we will look so good for our presentation, and Hali quickly said "Well as long as we look good, we can give a terrible presentation. Who needs to be smart when you look good?" It got us all laughing (and yes she was of course joking).

We do day trips with everyone and class with everyone but the rest of the time we get to do whatever we want. So different groups will go off and do various activities during the day. There is never ever a day that we have nothing to do....of course not we are in London! Yesterday I went on a run and then walked in the door and a group was going to a market so I pretty much just changed my shirt and ran right back down all the stairs to leave with them. It is so much fun to be so busy. I realized that maybe I should have showered but I didn't want to miss out on the activities.

We are on the fifth floor and there is not an elevator. All of us girls can not even wait to get home for swimsuit season (we hope the five flights of stairs we walk up will help us look extra good). We get to use the five flights of stair to justify the treats we eat here. We found these cookies at the grocery store for about 47 pence. It is a roll of thin cookies and they come in different flavors. They are called digestives. They somehow sneak their way into our purses so they are with us on every outing. Last night at Matilda we all were in different areas of the theater and we managed to get the roll of cookies around to almost everyone. 

We found out about student tickets for the plays. To get student tickets you need to arrive and be in line early! We got up yesterday at 6:30 am to go get tickets. We arrived and the line was already huge, so we made our way over to Matilda to wait in that line. 10:00 am the ticket office opened and we got our five pound tickets! We returned later that night and saw the musical. It was darling! 

Toilet paper--I am so grateful for Thursday's. We have a bathroom with four girls in it and somehow we always run out of toilet paper. Toilet paper is delivered every Thursday. The first week we were out of toilet paper by about Monday. (they do not give us much). Thankfully we could get some from the church building. We all joked and said we are so grateful for those who pay tithing since it has given us some spare toilet paper.

I realized that I do not have any fun blog pictures for this post, so will need to remember to capture our funny moments. 

1/23/14

Monument 

So today we did our "London Walk" we started at the Monument which commemorates the Great Fire of London. The fire was in 1666. The Monument stands at 202 feet high. 

St. Paul's Cathedral

(Me, Madeline, Madi, Hannah, & Audrey)

(Hannah & Me)

Story behind this: A nice elderly gentleman took the lovely group picture above. He told us that he is a photographer and in order to get the best picture you must relax your face. So for all of you who would like to learn this special tip here it is: you jump, blow out, and then smile) Here is our attempt to do what he said.

Standing outside of St. Paul's Cathedral was awesome and I hadn't even stepped foot inside. History: Construction started in 1675 by Christopher Wren and Lorenzo Gafa. This was the fourth cathedral built on this site. The first one was destroyed in the Great Fire of London. This was the first cathedral to be built after the English Reformation in the sixteenth century. Henry VIII removed the Church of England from the jurisdiction of the Pope and the Crown took control of the life of the church. This building has witnessed Christian Worship for over one thousand four hundred years. In the 14th century jubilees were initially celebrated within the Catholic Church. In a Christian context, Jubilees are certain years in which forgiveness of sins is focused upon. Royal jubilees are a more joyous occasion, celebrating and marking major period in a monarch's reign. We got to see exactly where Elizabeth II entered for her Silver, Golden & Diamond jubilees. One time they had an organ play inside the cathedral instead of her "trumpets" she was so appalled by what it sounded like, that they never played the organ for her jubilee again. 

Yes, this is still at St. Paul's Cathedral. The stairs above were crafted in a unique way. The steps are only supported by each other and stick into the walls. Scary to think about! This was the only place inside the cathedral where we could take a picture.

View from above

So our tour started and they explained how after our tour we will have the opportunity to climb 500 stairs to see a view. I did not expect the view to be this amazing. They handed us a little pamphlet about the cathedral and there was a section warning people that the stairs are steep. It went on to say that if you are afraid of heights or small spaces then they would advise you to not participate in the walk, or climb I should say to the top. There was an option to watch a film that could show you the same view. After walking around London the film was sounding pretty good. But, who comes all the way to London to watch a film! Not me! We finished the tour and began our climb. They were not joking when they said 500 stairs, and small spaces. The pretty stairs in the above picture were not the ones that we climbed. We climbed cement stairs, and twisty medal stairs. The medal stairs were small with little holes so you could see all the way to the bottom. It was quite the experience and so worth the view when we got to the top!

 (Hannah, Me, & Hali)

View from above

1/17

 I am standing on Tower Bridge which has been around since 1894. It was originally created to provide passage over the Thames for the East End of London. Today it is the only bridge east of London Bridge. Originally it was a chocolate brown cover, but was painted red, white, and blue in 1977 in honor of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. 

Globe Theater was built in 1599  by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was destroyed by fire in 1613, and a second Globe Theater was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed in 1642. A modern reconstruction of the Globe, opened in 1997 and is 750 feet from the site of the original theater. People used still today go and see shows in the theater in the Summer. Theater has an open roof, so not good for winter. The people used to stand in the "yard" right under the stage, and there was no lighting or sound system. They are not positive if the theater was all painted on the sides, but painted a little bit of the sides so we can get an idea of how it may have been. There were no restrooms in the theater, so people would go to the bathroom down on the ground (ew, gross!). Theater can house up to 3,000 spectators! In Shakespeare's time people could stand in the "yard" or the "pit" for a penny. 

(Me, Lindsey, & Hannah)

Church 

Here are some of the members of my Sunday School class! 

1/17 & 1/18

St. Albans Cathedral 

 St. Albans cathedral is a church of England cathedral. It is significant because St. Albans was the location of the first Christian martyr. Alban was a pagan living in the Roman city of Verulamium, where St. Albans is now in Hertfordshire, England. Local Christians were being persecuted by the Romans, before Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Alban sheltered their priest, Saint Amphibalus, in his house and was so impressed by his faith that he converted to the Christian faith. When soldiers came looking for Amphibalus, Alban exchanged cloaks with the priest and let himself be arrested in his place. Alban was taken and condemned for his new Christian faith.  Legend has it that he was beheaded in the same spot the cathedral now stands. The tomb of Saint Amphibalus was inside this cathedral.

 Many of the cathedrals have beautiful stained class. Some of them are pictures, but I thought this was a pretty color scheme.

 Museum that we went to, showing the way of life for people living during St. Alban's time. 

 (Molly, Jillian, Me, Briona, Hali) 

Inside the cathedral



Cambridge University
Founded 1209

Yes, this really is what it looks like! I could not believe walking down the streets of Cambridge. I felt almost like I was in some "pretend" are of Disneyland. The buildings were precious. There were locals shopping, eating, and hanging out. There also were many students that we saw walking around the campus. We went on a guided tour and learned so much. There was even a mall right by the University full of University students. History of Cambridge: Since at least 875 Cambridge had a bridge that went across the River Cam. The town was an important trading center, and there was much commercial and residential properties as well as churches in the main settlement. There were a number of religious institutions. Clergymen and traders were attracted to Cambridge. After 1100 they could easily reach Cambridge by the river systems. Much wealth accumulated in the town, as we can see from the architecture. By 1200 Cambridge was a successful commercial community, which had at least one school. In 1209 scholars taking refuge from hostile townsmen in Oxford migrated to Cambridge and settled.  They were able to set up an organization, arrange courses of study,  and teach.

Students live, worship, and eat in these buildings.

Issac Newton (discovered gravity) lived right here and attended Cambridge.

King's was founded in 1441 by Henry VI. We got to go to King's Hall chapel and participate in evensong. The choir was amazing and the experience was very different than what I thought. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures of that.

Trafulga Square 
(This was for Zachary my brother)

Tower of London

In 1080 William the Conqueror began to build the tower. Over the years multiple monarchs added to it.

This is where people would enter into the tower.

 This memorial is to remember those who were executed within the tower. The center represents a glass pillow, to allow those who were executed to lay their head on it.

The sentry is part of a military guard stationed here to protect the crown jewels. The military guards come from an operational unit of the Armed Forces that is currently employed on ceremonial duties.

 The Roman invaders who founded London built a wall around the city. Here are some of the remains.

What a King's room looked like in the Tower.

The crown jewels were absolutely stunning! I had no idea that they would be so beautiful! Seeing the crowns made many of the stories come to life, being able to see what they wore on their heads!