Monday, August 31, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Culture Observations
ITALY
Italy is charming. When I think of Italy I remember winding alleyways of quaint little buildings that are aged by the passing of time. Every so often there’s the surprise of bursting into something ancient, something wonderful…the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, The Duomo, Realto Bridge. They all just pop out of nowhere, taking you to a distant world in the past. Italy is hot and sweltering, but full of delightful gelatos at least once a day. A musician is always playing somewhere in the background and the language of the natives is like music in and of itself. Italy is foreign…tiny cars, strange food, a different language…but not uncomfortable. I loved immersing myself into their culture and their language. The people are helpful and I felt like communication was easy, although we speak with different words. Everywhere you go is different. Rome is filthy, infested with gypsies, and covered in graffiti. Yet, it is full of history and has its pockets of glory. Florence is small, gorgeous, abounding in street markets, and full of black guys trying to sell their knock-offs. Venice is just magical…breathtaking, romantic, and free of cars. All of Italy is full of beauty, art, and grace.
FRANCE
France is not a friendly place. Trying to speak is awkward and unnatural. No one tries to help you as you struggle to ask for something, and being an American is something you try to hide. I do not miss the smells of that city…body odor, urine, cigarettes, and a million other foul things.
It has the architecture of Disneyland but in somber colors. Everything is grey with an accent of green from trees lining the streets. It is full of modern designs that are intriguing and inspiring and completely different than anything you’ve ever seen. Fine art, famous art, modern art, crazy art…Paris has more art than you can even try to absorb. France was a blur to me, huge, everything oversized, and way too much to do.
ENGLAND
England is fantastic, brilliant, and similar to home. The accents are to die for and even the plainest person can become so intriguing once they start to talk. The English keep to themselves but if addressed they’ll open up like a treasure box. I fell in love with everyone I met here. They really are quite charming, and they love Americans almost as much as we love them. England is a lot more like home and it’s easy to feel comfortable and accepted there. There is variety wherever you go. The buildings vary, the food varies, the people vary, and yet there is still a unifying voice that screams “this is English”. There are so many different things to do, and so many of them are free. Everything cost money in Italy and France, but England has tons of museums that are simply free of charge, and a million different activities for every kind of person. England for me was full of incredible talent, indescribable countrysides, and rich traditions. Everyone there has a strong pride for their country. They’re not afraid of being different…driving on the wrong side of the road, and their own currency when all of Europe around them is on the Euro. They’re proud of who they are and I think they have a right to be.
Italy is charming. When I think of Italy I remember winding alleyways of quaint little buildings that are aged by the passing of time. Every so often there’s the surprise of bursting into something ancient, something wonderful…the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, The Duomo, Realto Bridge. They all just pop out of nowhere, taking you to a distant world in the past. Italy is hot and sweltering, but full of delightful gelatos at least once a day. A musician is always playing somewhere in the background and the language of the natives is like music in and of itself. Italy is foreign…tiny cars, strange food, a different language…but not uncomfortable. I loved immersing myself into their culture and their language. The people are helpful and I felt like communication was easy, although we speak with different words. Everywhere you go is different. Rome is filthy, infested with gypsies, and covered in graffiti. Yet, it is full of history and has its pockets of glory. Florence is small, gorgeous, abounding in street markets, and full of black guys trying to sell their knock-offs. Venice is just magical…breathtaking, romantic, and free of cars. All of Italy is full of beauty, art, and grace.
FRANCE
France is not a friendly place. Trying to speak is awkward and unnatural. No one tries to help you as you struggle to ask for something, and being an American is something you try to hide. I do not miss the smells of that city…body odor, urine, cigarettes, and a million other foul things.
It has the architecture of Disneyland but in somber colors. Everything is grey with an accent of green from trees lining the streets. It is full of modern designs that are intriguing and inspiring and completely different than anything you’ve ever seen. Fine art, famous art, modern art, crazy art…Paris has more art than you can even try to absorb. France was a blur to me, huge, everything oversized, and way too much to do.
ENGLAND
England is fantastic, brilliant, and similar to home. The accents are to die for and even the plainest person can become so intriguing once they start to talk. The English keep to themselves but if addressed they’ll open up like a treasure box. I fell in love with everyone I met here. They really are quite charming, and they love Americans almost as much as we love them. England is a lot more like home and it’s easy to feel comfortable and accepted there. There is variety wherever you go. The buildings vary, the food varies, the people vary, and yet there is still a unifying voice that screams “this is English”. There are so many different things to do, and so many of them are free. Everything cost money in Italy and France, but England has tons of museums that are simply free of charge, and a million different activities for every kind of person. England for me was full of incredible talent, indescribable countrysides, and rich traditions. Everyone there has a strong pride for their country. They’re not afraid of being different…driving on the wrong side of the road, and their own currency when all of Europe around them is on the Euro. They’re proud of who they are and I think they have a right to be.
Day 34-August 4
Today was our last day!!! That's so crazy to me! I have had such amazing time on this trip but I am super excited to come home. I am definitely dreading the long flight though. This morning we went to Buckingham Palace.
The back of Buckingham Palace
The gardens of Buckingham Palace were really pretty too
It was gorgeous! I absolutely loved it! It was definitely my favorite interior out of all of the places we've been. Unfortunately we could not take any pictures inside. It was cool because it's one of the only operating palaces still left in the world, and it just has a timelessness about it. It's totally historical and authentic and yet it has a new, clean, almost modern feel to it as well. All of the palaces we've been to have been very sumptuous and ornate and Buckingham wasn't an exception to that. However, I felt like some of the other places had too much going on and didn't flow together very well. Buckingham was still over-the-top but I felt like it worked this time and it was elegant. I just loved it in there! I spent so long looking at everything. haha. They had a really cool display of all of the queen's dresses and gifts she's been given from other countries and I liked that a lot too. When we got out we went through the giftshop and Amanda and I split a chocolate tart and ice cream at the cafe.
It was way yummy! For lunch, Amanda, Beccah, Mallory, Whitney, and I all went to Ask. It was a little Italian restaraunt and it was pretty delicious.
The menus were sweet!
...and so was the food!
After that Amanda and I went to Westminster Abbey. It was cool! It was way crazy inside though. I felt like a was in a big unorganized closet where you just stash all of your old stuff to get it out of the way. It's pretty much like an indoor cemetery. There are tons of people buried there and monuments/gravestones that are dedicated to famous people (i.e. Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, Jane Austin, Handel, and a bunch of royalty). They're just all over the place though in no particular order and jutting out at weird angles. Nothing really flowed together. It was a huge modge podge of different styles and time periods. Some parts are SUPER old and some parts are really new. It was cool but I really did have this huge desire to straighten everything out and organize it! (which would be impossible to ever do because it's all built in and made out of stone) My favorite part was probably the tomb of the unknown soldier. A soldier was sent back from France or somewhere who had died in the battlefield and no one knew who he was but they buried him in the church to signify that he was just as important as any king because he sacrificed his life for his country. It really was worth going to. It just wasn't at all what I was expecting. I felt way bad for Amanda though because I was so tired and totally just falling asleep so she basically had to drag me around the whole place.
Westminster Abbey!!!
When we were done with Westminster we went to Portabello Road to meet up with Beccah, Whitney, and Mallory again. That was my third time being there! Beccah bought a purse that was really cute and Amanda found a dress and then we went to Queensway to buy cheap duffel bags for everyone who didn't have enough room to get all of their stuff home. They were only 5 pounds! On the way home we were going to try and get a black bottom cupcake at hummingbird bakery. We have been anticipating it all week long and they were all gone! We were so sad! It's probably good though cuz I'm already feeling like a fatty! haha. We dropped off all of our stuff at our flat and then we went to the Sainsbury's (grocery store) to buy treats to take home to the family. I got SO many! I am definitely pumped to have a teaparty when I get back home. When we got back to the flat I had a sandwich and yogurt for dinner and then we worked on our blogs and stuff. LUCKILY our sketches are no longer due tomorrow so we can have more fun tonight!
The back of Buckingham Palace
The gardens of Buckingham Palace were really pretty tooIt was gorgeous! I absolutely loved it! It was definitely my favorite interior out of all of the places we've been. Unfortunately we could not take any pictures inside. It was cool because it's one of the only operating palaces still left in the world, and it just has a timelessness about it. It's totally historical and authentic and yet it has a new, clean, almost modern feel to it as well. All of the palaces we've been to have been very sumptuous and ornate and Buckingham wasn't an exception to that. However, I felt like some of the other places had too much going on and didn't flow together very well. Buckingham was still over-the-top but I felt like it worked this time and it was elegant. I just loved it in there! I spent so long looking at everything. haha. They had a really cool display of all of the queen's dresses and gifts she's been given from other countries and I liked that a lot too. When we got out we went through the giftshop and Amanda and I split a chocolate tart and ice cream at the cafe.
It was way yummy! For lunch, Amanda, Beccah, Mallory, Whitney, and I all went to Ask. It was a little Italian restaraunt and it was pretty delicious.
The menus were sweet!
...and so was the food!After that Amanda and I went to Westminster Abbey. It was cool! It was way crazy inside though. I felt like a was in a big unorganized closet where you just stash all of your old stuff to get it out of the way. It's pretty much like an indoor cemetery. There are tons of people buried there and monuments/gravestones that are dedicated to famous people (i.e. Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, Jane Austin, Handel, and a bunch of royalty). They're just all over the place though in no particular order and jutting out at weird angles. Nothing really flowed together. It was a huge modge podge of different styles and time periods. Some parts are SUPER old and some parts are really new. It was cool but I really did have this huge desire to straighten everything out and organize it! (which would be impossible to ever do because it's all built in and made out of stone) My favorite part was probably the tomb of the unknown soldier. A soldier was sent back from France or somewhere who had died in the battlefield and no one knew who he was but they buried him in the church to signify that he was just as important as any king because he sacrificed his life for his country. It really was worth going to. It just wasn't at all what I was expecting. I felt way bad for Amanda though because I was so tired and totally just falling asleep so she basically had to drag me around the whole place.
Westminster Abbey!!!When we were done with Westminster we went to Portabello Road to meet up with Beccah, Whitney, and Mallory again. That was my third time being there! Beccah bought a purse that was really cute and Amanda found a dress and then we went to Queensway to buy cheap duffel bags for everyone who didn't have enough room to get all of their stuff home. They were only 5 pounds! On the way home we were going to try and get a black bottom cupcake at hummingbird bakery. We have been anticipating it all week long and they were all gone! We were so sad! It's probably good though cuz I'm already feeling like a fatty! haha. We dropped off all of our stuff at our flat and then we went to the Sainsbury's (grocery store) to buy treats to take home to the family. I got SO many! I am definitely pumped to have a teaparty when I get back home. When we got back to the flat I had a sandwich and yogurt for dinner and then we worked on our blogs and stuff. LUCKILY our sketches are no longer due tomorrow so we can have more fun tonight!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Day 33-August 3
Today we slept in and it felt so good! It was just a nice lazy day. I can’t believe I come home in two days! It went by way fast but I am definitely ready to come home and super excited. I’m not to the point that I’m sick of being here yet though so it’s perfect timing! After we got up and ate breakfast Amanda came running with me in Hyde Park and it was way nice. We ran into Allie and Erica at the park and we walked with them for awhile. Then we all did our usual stair workout at our favorite monument. While we were stretching afterwards some old Italian man came over and was trying to talk to us but we couldn’t understand anything he was saying. I don’t even know why he was talking to us! Haha. All I got out of the conversation was that he was Italian and he kept trying to say something about 200. It was weird. Maybe he ran the 200m dash or something? I don’t know. We ran back and got ready for the day. I hadn’t showered since we left for Scotland so I took a really long time and it was nice but we weren’t ready for a while. Haha. We went back to Nodding Hill and did some more shopping for Amanda because she still needed a bunch of stuff for her family. On the way over we stopped at the Tesco and bought some Magnum ice cream bars. BEST ice cream bar I have ever had in my life!!! We just need to learn how to make treats like the British. It was just so delicious!
My favorite convenience store in the whole world!
YUMMY!!!!
After Notting Hill we strolled over to Queensway to get some Lebanese food that Michelle recommended. It was really yummy but I think it made me sick. I’ve had a stomach ache ever since. We also found a really cheap bag store that Uncle Jerry had told me about, so if we can’t fit all our stuff in our luggage we’re definitely coming back and buying a duffel or something. We ate our lunch in Hyde Park and then decided to just walk back to our flat rather than take the metro. It was such a nice sunny day and so warm outside so we decided to just stay there for a while. We took some pictures and sketched some flowers and it was really nice to just take it easy.
This garden in the park was gorgeous!
This is totally the chair I mentioned a while ago that's in Hyde Park. It looks EXACTLY like a barbie chair I used to have. Funny huh?
haha. I had to use the bathroom while we were at the park and this sign made me laugh!
We were originally going to try and go to Westminster Abbey today but I think we’ll just do it tomorrow. When we got home I had a snack and fell asleep on the couch for a while. When I woke up Ashley and Amanda had already left to go see their show at the Globe Theater. I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner and then started working on homework. There’s so much to do and it takes forever! Oh well. That’s what I get for procrastinating.
My favorite convenience store in the whole world!
YUMMY!!!!After Notting Hill we strolled over to Queensway to get some Lebanese food that Michelle recommended. It was really yummy but I think it made me sick. I’ve had a stomach ache ever since. We also found a really cheap bag store that Uncle Jerry had told me about, so if we can’t fit all our stuff in our luggage we’re definitely coming back and buying a duffel or something. We ate our lunch in Hyde Park and then decided to just walk back to our flat rather than take the metro. It was such a nice sunny day and so warm outside so we decided to just stay there for a while. We took some pictures and sketched some flowers and it was really nice to just take it easy.
This garden in the park was gorgeous!
This is totally the chair I mentioned a while ago that's in Hyde Park. It looks EXACTLY like a barbie chair I used to have. Funny huh?
haha. I had to use the bathroom while we were at the park and this sign made me laugh! We were originally going to try and go to Westminster Abbey today but I think we’ll just do it tomorrow. When we got home I had a snack and fell asleep on the couch for a while. When I woke up Ashley and Amanda had already left to go see their show at the Globe Theater. I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner and then started working on homework. There’s so much to do and it takes forever! Oh well. That’s what I get for procrastinating.
Day 32-August 2
This morning we woke up way early. I don't even remember when it was...like 6:00 or something. I had a pb&j for breakfast. I think I should done with pb&j for this week. haha. Wow, I just realized that half of my blogs are about the food I eat! I am just obsessed with food I guess. Sorry. Anyways, we tried to go to the coast this morning and it took us forever! First we had to figure some stuff out at the train station and then it took a while for us to figure out if we should take a taxi or the bus. The whole time I was thinking "I could be sleeping right now" but it was ok. We ended up taking the bus and it was only 3 pounds for a day pass. The only place they could drop us off though was by a loading dock so it wasn't super gorgeous or fantastic but it was cool.
We got to see the Royal Yacht Britannia. That was cool I guess.
This sign freaked me out because I'm terrified of the ocean! I just thought it was random that they had this sign there though...whether it's super deep or not, you could still drown
There were still some pretty things to see even though it was a loading dock.
We didn't stay for very long because it was freezing cold. The next thing we did was walk The Royal Mile, which is where all the little shops are and stuff and that was cool. We found the coolest Scottish music! It's the Red Hot Chili Peppers combined with bagpipes. Kylee and Michelle left at 10:30 to go to Liverpool and shortly afterward the rest of us went to church.
On the way to church we passed an H&M and I had to get one more picture to add to my collection of "H&M's around the world"
This was the beautiful little church building. Notice that they have a gate and they only have it open for a certain window of time while people are coming into church. Then they lock it up.
It was SO good to go to church! After not being to church for so long, it makes you appreciate it so much more. They were really friendly and cool and it was fast and testimony meeting which was really neat. There was a really good feeling there and I was just so happy to be there! We only stayed for sacrament meeting and then the usher had to come let us out because they lock the gate that goes out to the street for safety reasons. I've never heard of that before! I wonder if there's just a lot of opposition to the church here or something. There's only one ward in the entire city but it was pretty good sized...not huge or anything, but not tiny. It took like an hour to get to church and an hour to get back. I had another pb&j for lunch...haha. I was grateful for it though because if I hadn't had it with me it would have been a long time before I ate. We went to Edinburgh Castle next and it was way cool! It's supposed to be one of the top ten castles in the world.
The castle from the front gate. SO cool!
There were these huge masses of rock everywhere and the castle was kind of just built into it. It was sweet!
This was the part of The Royal Mile leading up to the castle. I loved the banners.
Amanda and I headed to the train station after that and got some pasties for dinner. They were yummy! We were just in time to take the 6:00 train back to London and although it was a 5 hour ride it didn't seem that bad. I definitely prefer trains over airplanes. They just don't seem as cramped and there's never any turbulation or taking off and landing. We ended up just talking for the first hour or two and then we finally started working on our sketches. I have so many to do still! These teenage boys were sitting in front of us the whole time (and I'm sure they were listening to our conversation the entire time) and they started talking to us right before they got off. It was so hard to talk to them! They had the thickest Scottish accents and I couldn't understand half of what they were saying! They would have to repeat like 3 times. Sometimes we couldn't even tell if they were talking to us or themselves. We just laughed a lot and it was kind of awkward but it was really funny. I got three sketches done and a couple of patterns! yay! For the last hour we slept and as soon as we got off we booked it to the metro because it closes at 11:30. We were so tired when we got home and my shoulders were dead from lugging my backpack around all day. It felt way good to get into my bed. I was way glad that we were able to go to Scotland. We were originally going to just do a day trip to a castle on Saturday, but instead we got to see two castles and do a ton of other stuff! Even though we were technically only there for 24 hours I felt like we were there for a while and got a ton in so it was good.
We got to see the Royal Yacht Britannia. That was cool I guess.
This sign freaked me out because I'm terrified of the ocean! I just thought it was random that they had this sign there though...whether it's super deep or not, you could still drown 
There were still some pretty things to see even though it was a loading dock.We didn't stay for very long because it was freezing cold. The next thing we did was walk The Royal Mile, which is where all the little shops are and stuff and that was cool. We found the coolest Scottish music! It's the Red Hot Chili Peppers combined with bagpipes. Kylee and Michelle left at 10:30 to go to Liverpool and shortly afterward the rest of us went to church.
On the way to church we passed an H&M and I had to get one more picture to add to my collection of "H&M's around the world"
This was the beautiful little church building. Notice that they have a gate and they only have it open for a certain window of time while people are coming into church. Then they lock it up. It was SO good to go to church! After not being to church for so long, it makes you appreciate it so much more. They were really friendly and cool and it was fast and testimony meeting which was really neat. There was a really good feeling there and I was just so happy to be there! We only stayed for sacrament meeting and then the usher had to come let us out because they lock the gate that goes out to the street for safety reasons. I've never heard of that before! I wonder if there's just a lot of opposition to the church here or something. There's only one ward in the entire city but it was pretty good sized...not huge or anything, but not tiny. It took like an hour to get to church and an hour to get back. I had another pb&j for lunch...haha. I was grateful for it though because if I hadn't had it with me it would have been a long time before I ate. We went to Edinburgh Castle next and it was way cool! It's supposed to be one of the top ten castles in the world.
The castle from the front gate. SO cool!
There were these huge masses of rock everywhere and the castle was kind of just built into it. It was sweet! 
This was the part of The Royal Mile leading up to the castle. I loved the banners.Amanda and I headed to the train station after that and got some pasties for dinner. They were yummy! We were just in time to take the 6:00 train back to London and although it was a 5 hour ride it didn't seem that bad. I definitely prefer trains over airplanes. They just don't seem as cramped and there's never any turbulation or taking off and landing. We ended up just talking for the first hour or two and then we finally started working on our sketches. I have so many to do still! These teenage boys were sitting in front of us the whole time (and I'm sure they were listening to our conversation the entire time) and they started talking to us right before they got off. It was so hard to talk to them! They had the thickest Scottish accents and I couldn't understand half of what they were saying! They would have to repeat like 3 times. Sometimes we couldn't even tell if they were talking to us or themselves. We just laughed a lot and it was kind of awkward but it was really funny. I got three sketches done and a couple of patterns! yay! For the last hour we slept and as soon as we got off we booked it to the metro because it closes at 11:30. We were so tired when we got home and my shoulders were dead from lugging my backpack around all day. It felt way good to get into my bed. I was way glad that we were able to go to Scotland. We were originally going to just do a day trip to a castle on Saturday, but instead we got to see two castles and do a ton of other stuff! Even though we were technically only there for 24 hours I felt like we were there for a while and got a ton in so it was good.
Day 31-August 1
K, so last night ended up being way stressful. By the time we got on the computer and all got together to book a hostel for Scotland they were ALL full! There was one open but it was a co-ed room and I was not willing to sleep with creeper guys that I don’t even know in my bedroom. Amanda was so mad and frustrated, Kylee was just calm and trying to find some hotels, Michelle couldn’t do anything because she didn’t have a computer, and I was so tired that I didn’t really care what happened anymore. We almost didn’t end up going but then we found a hotel that was only 99 pounds per night for a double bed. Between four people that was about as much as the hostel we were going to stay in and we had no idea how big the double bed was going to be but we figured we could all squish. This morning we woke up at like 6:00, packed really fast, and headed on the train to Scotland. It was so awesome because our BritRail pass covered the whole thing so we didn’t have to There were just six of us: me, Mallory, Amanda, Beccah, Kylee, and Michelle. First we went to Alnmouth on the way and stopped to see Almwick Castle which is the Harry Potter castle. It was way cool. I’m totally into the castles!
Almwick Castle...where Harry Potter learns to fly
I asked this soldier at the castle if I could take a picture by him and then he put his hat on my head. It totally caught me off guard but it was cool! haha. It was kinda sweaty and gross though...
They had owls there that you could pet and we took pictures by the wall where Harry Potter learns to fly in the movie. (I really should probably read Harry Potter when I get home )
I totally fell in love with this owl. It was so cute! I didn't even know I liked owls but now I really want one for a pet. haha
We were at the castle for a couple of hours and then ran to the train station, saw some folk dancers in a town square on the way, and barely made our train in time to go the rest of the way to Edinburgh. Our hotel ended up being in a great location and right next to the train station. It was way nice too! I was expecting our bed to be a little full size bed but it was huge…like California king!!! Kylee and I were so excited! When we walked in we totally screamed and gave each other a huge hug. Haha. The first thing we did after we dropped off our backpacks in the room was film ourselves doing 'the scotsman' in Scotland.
getting ready to do 'the scotsman'
For those of you who don't know what 'the scotsman' is, it is basically our school pride song and we sing it at all of our games. It was SO funny and totally awesome! We found a sign that said 'scotsman' on it across the road, and our hotel was called the 'thistle' hotel so it was perfect! I will have to post the video of it when we're done with it and it will all make sense. After that we went on a bus tour of the city. It was really cool!
This is one of many pics from our bus tour.
Edinburgh is an awesome city! It’s super old and every building looks like a castle. I loved it! I’d probably have to say it was one of my top 3 favorites. We were on the top of an open double decker and it was just way fun. Afterwards we walked through a couple of streets and went on a ghost tour of the underground vaults.
I thought the spire on this cathedral was AWESOME! This is where our ghost tour started.
Edinburgh has an entire really old city buried underneath it. Some king long ago built a wall around the city to protect it from England if they ever decided to invade, but he didn’t make it very big. It was only a mile by like a quarter of a mile long so the city got crowded pretty fast. After they built all of their buildings as high as they could without the buildings collapsing, they started digging down beneath the ground and created vaults that people could live in. They were really dark and damp though so it’s super creepy. When they stopped using them everyone just forgot about it and they got lost for 200 years, but now you can go into some of them and it was way cool. I loved our tour guide. She was super enthusiastic and she told us really cool stories. I found out that the bright plaid prints of the Scottish actually isn’t a very old tradition. It all started when King George IV (I think) was going to come to Scotland for a huge party and he thought the Scottish were savages and everything and they wanted to impress him. So whoever was throwing the party (the government or something…I forgot) got the highlanders and lowlanders (who didn’t like each other) to come together and made them brightly colored tartans for their party outfits. You see, they traditionally had very somber colored ones so that they could be more practical and camouflaged. Once the highlanders and lowlanders actually met each other they decided that they liked each other and after that they got a long great. They also really loved their new tartans and it became their favorite way to dress and a national tradition. I’m not positive that that story is true so don’t quote me on it but I’m pretty sure it is. I don’t know why she would’ve told it to us if it wasn’t. I thought it was cool though. When we went down into the vaults it was way creepy. They were super dark and damp and musty. We actually only went through a couple and she told us ghost stories and stuff that’s supposedly happened to people when they were inside of them. When we were in the haunted room where ‘the entity’ (whatever haunts it) is, Mallory, Amanda, and I were all at the back of all the people and were freaking out! We totally clung to each other the whole time and Mallory was freaking me out because she was SO scared and kept saying she’d seen something, or something. Then all three of us heard a ton of shuffling footsteps behind us and freaked! Of course there was a chain reaction and the entire group of people was freaking out and we ended up 20 feet farther away from the back wall. Haha. I didn’t really believe anything our guide was telling us so I wasn’t genuinely scared and didn’t have a dark feeling really or anything like that. It was more like going to a haunted house and you kind of just freak yourself out, but it was really scary and fun. Then a few minutes later she turned off all the lights and they had someone jump out at all of us. I’ve never screamed so loud and jumped so far in all of my life!!! Haha. After the ghost tour we went to Hard Rock Café and it was SO yummy! Amanda and I split chicken fajitas and a smoothie and we all had coupons for hot fudge sundaes that we got on our bus tour. It was way nice to have genuine American food and it was just super satisfying and delicious.
mmmmm. Hard Rock!
It was a lot of fun. We were so tired when we got back to our hotel that we just went straight to bed and konked out. Amanda, Kylee, Michelle, and I all fit into the huge bed just perfectly and Beccah and Mallory were staying at a different place. I felt like we fit in a lot today and I’m so glad we came. It has been way worth it already.
Almwick Castle...where Harry Potter learns to fly
I asked this soldier at the castle if I could take a picture by him and then he put his hat on my head. It totally caught me off guard but it was cool! haha. It was kinda sweaty and gross though...They had owls there that you could pet and we took pictures by the wall where Harry Potter learns to fly in the movie. (I really should probably read Harry Potter when I get home )
I totally fell in love with this owl. It was so cute! I didn't even know I liked owls but now I really want one for a pet. hahaWe were at the castle for a couple of hours and then ran to the train station, saw some folk dancers in a town square on the way, and barely made our train in time to go the rest of the way to Edinburgh. Our hotel ended up being in a great location and right next to the train station. It was way nice too! I was expecting our bed to be a little full size bed but it was huge…like California king!!! Kylee and I were so excited! When we walked in we totally screamed and gave each other a huge hug. Haha. The first thing we did after we dropped off our backpacks in the room was film ourselves doing 'the scotsman' in Scotland.
getting ready to do 'the scotsman'For those of you who don't know what 'the scotsman' is, it is basically our school pride song and we sing it at all of our games. It was SO funny and totally awesome! We found a sign that said 'scotsman' on it across the road, and our hotel was called the 'thistle' hotel so it was perfect! I will have to post the video of it when we're done with it and it will all make sense. After that we went on a bus tour of the city. It was really cool!
This is one of many pics from our bus tour.
Edinburgh is an awesome city! It’s super old and every building looks like a castle. I loved it! I’d probably have to say it was one of my top 3 favorites. We were on the top of an open double decker and it was just way fun. Afterwards we walked through a couple of streets and went on a ghost tour of the underground vaults.
I thought the spire on this cathedral was AWESOME! This is where our ghost tour started. Edinburgh has an entire really old city buried underneath it. Some king long ago built a wall around the city to protect it from England if they ever decided to invade, but he didn’t make it very big. It was only a mile by like a quarter of a mile long so the city got crowded pretty fast. After they built all of their buildings as high as they could without the buildings collapsing, they started digging down beneath the ground and created vaults that people could live in. They were really dark and damp though so it’s super creepy. When they stopped using them everyone just forgot about it and they got lost for 200 years, but now you can go into some of them and it was way cool. I loved our tour guide. She was super enthusiastic and she told us really cool stories. I found out that the bright plaid prints of the Scottish actually isn’t a very old tradition. It all started when King George IV (I think) was going to come to Scotland for a huge party and he thought the Scottish were savages and everything and they wanted to impress him. So whoever was throwing the party (the government or something…I forgot) got the highlanders and lowlanders (who didn’t like each other) to come together and made them brightly colored tartans for their party outfits. You see, they traditionally had very somber colored ones so that they could be more practical and camouflaged. Once the highlanders and lowlanders actually met each other they decided that they liked each other and after that they got a long great. They also really loved their new tartans and it became their favorite way to dress and a national tradition. I’m not positive that that story is true so don’t quote me on it but I’m pretty sure it is. I don’t know why she would’ve told it to us if it wasn’t. I thought it was cool though. When we went down into the vaults it was way creepy. They were super dark and damp and musty. We actually only went through a couple and she told us ghost stories and stuff that’s supposedly happened to people when they were inside of them. When we were in the haunted room where ‘the entity’ (whatever haunts it) is, Mallory, Amanda, and I were all at the back of all the people and were freaking out! We totally clung to each other the whole time and Mallory was freaking me out because she was SO scared and kept saying she’d seen something, or something. Then all three of us heard a ton of shuffling footsteps behind us and freaked! Of course there was a chain reaction and the entire group of people was freaking out and we ended up 20 feet farther away from the back wall. Haha. I didn’t really believe anything our guide was telling us so I wasn’t genuinely scared and didn’t have a dark feeling really or anything like that. It was more like going to a haunted house and you kind of just freak yourself out, but it was really scary and fun. Then a few minutes later she turned off all the lights and they had someone jump out at all of us. I’ve never screamed so loud and jumped so far in all of my life!!! Haha. After the ghost tour we went to Hard Rock Café and it was SO yummy! Amanda and I split chicken fajitas and a smoothie and we all had coupons for hot fudge sundaes that we got on our bus tour. It was way nice to have genuine American food and it was just super satisfying and delicious.
mmmmm. Hard Rock!It was a lot of fun. We were so tired when we got back to our hotel that we just went straight to bed and konked out. Amanda, Kylee, Michelle, and I all fit into the huge bed just perfectly and Beccah and Mallory were staying at a different place. I felt like we fit in a lot today and I’m so glad we came. It has been way worth it already.
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