Where to start? There is so much that happened in such a short period of time, it's hard to know where to start. I guess Thursday night would be the best place....and get settled, this is going to be a long journey!
The place was buzzing with excitement on Thursday night as everyone was getting ready for our big trip into the exciting city of London. In order to divert our minds from stress, the students were all invited to a Ceilidh, which is pronounced (Kay-lee). It is a mixture of Irish and Scottish dancing, and it was amazingly fun! I was sweating profusely by the time we were dancing, turning in and out and going in circles with big groups of people. After that was finished, I rushed off to do some laundry because all my jeans were dirty, only to find out that only one washing machine was working in the Manor, so i put all my dirty clothes in my suitcase and went down to the Carriage House to do laundry with Chelsea and Jessica. I waited around for over 1.5 hours. It was so ridiculous!!
Friday morning came way too soon, and we all boarded onto the coaches. There were 3 of them, and about 100 students going. We all sat together and tried to go to sleep, since it was a 2.5 hour drive, but my attempts were futile even though my eyes were heavy. Finally we made it into London and our driver gave us about a 1.5 hour bus tour of the city, where we got to see glimpses of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London Bridge, etc etc. All places we wanted to go visit right away.... After we checked into the hotel, we were free to do whatever we wanted, so a big group of girls started out. However, due to my need for cash and going into numerous banks, we were split up so it was just Me, Meghan, Adrienne and Jessica. (I never got any money, just so you know).
We started walking around, thinking that one of those huge attractions would just pop out at us... I mean seriously, how could you miss a freakin huge clock? Well, ask us, and we'll tell you. Look RIGHT!! We were one block away from literally EVERYTHING we wanted to see: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the eye of london, etc! We kept going left when all we needed to do was look right and we would have seen it. Instead, we got lost wandering around Piccadilly Circus and Leichester for about 2 hours and then wandering around some more places in downtown London. By the way, don't ever ask someone in London where anything is, they are the worst people to give directions! Saying, turn left, right, right, left, is not going to tell me, a Kentucky girl that never goes anywhere, how to get to an important building! I need landmarks, signs, etc. So, basically that first day was useless, but we did buy a few souvenier type things and got to eat at a really cute Italian place. Its all about the journey not the destination...right?
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We got back to the hotel and found Chelsea, who had been waiting on us for quite some time. We got out club outfits on and headed down to Leichester, to find a club without a covercharge. Fortunately, we came across Oxygen and we got a pretty good deal for less than 4 pounds, plus a free drink. Unfortunately the drink had to be some kind of vodka mix, so i didn't get anything, although i did have a sip of some of my friends. We went upstairs where the lights were up and it was a little quieter, however that was soon interrupted by a guy who was heavily intoxicated. He came over and passed out on Marissa! It was flippin hilarious until he spit and we all thought he was going to start puking so we all ran downstairs. It was dark and loud with music, and pretty narrow so it was hard to walk around without bumping into people. Jess and Chelsea started talking to a few guys at the bar, and eventually got them to buy them a drink which we all found hilarious. A few minutes later the guys all came over to where the rest of us were sitting and introduced themselves to us. Matt was the guy that Chelsea and I talked to the most. He was part of the royal guard but had 3 weeks off for training. He was really interesting, very sarcastic and funny. Because he had already been drinking, he was extra friendly but we were all just having a good time so we didnt' mind. Some how, due to my charming looks and winning personality, I got him to buy me and drink. However, since I didn't actually walk to the bar with him and watch him buy it, i didn't drink it because who knows if he slipped anything in it? He came back down and sat next to me, everyone else was paired off dancing or drinking with some of the other guys. A little after midnight, the girls were ready to leave, and to be honest, i was a little sad to go. Matt was so nice!! Ahhh, we all have a joke now that he was my man... hahaha, but he did kiss my cheek right before I left. So see, the royal guard wanted me! :)
Makes for a great story...
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Saturday we woke up early and set out to find all those sites we couldn't find the day before. Fortunately, we now knew how to use the Tube and bought an all day pass. So we went to Buckingham Palace first and watched the changing of the guard, and lemme tell you....that sucker is boring. I don't know who said it was so exciting and it is a "must-see" but they must have been drunk because I've seen more exciting things happen during a Catholic mass(not meaning to be mean, just they're very traditional and seldomly step out of the box).
Big Ben, the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and a few others were on our list and a lot of fun to see. Big Ben was probably one of the coolest things to see, and we actually saw the London Eye, but didn't go up in it because Jess is afraid of heights. I do wish I could have gone into some of these places but unfortunately there just wasn't enough time! We split up and Meghan, Jess and I went shopping while Adrienne and Chelsea went exploring some more old buildings. I didn't really buy much and we even ate in a Subway...how very cultural I feel now.. haha. We met a guy named Frank in the Tube who was exploring Europe before we went back to Iraq. He was an American soldier that was from Pennsylvania, and he was just going around on his own before he was deployed. After hours of walking, we decided to go back to the hotel and meet up with the other two girls but stopped in the British Museum first. There, were met an American guy, Dan, who was really nice and talked to us for quite some time. He invited us to dinner but we had to refuse because we had to meet up with Chels and Adrienne.
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That night, we ate the the London Pub which was right next to our hotel, and it was such a cute little pub! The atmosphere was really nice and inviting which made it even more fun. After dinner we hopped back on the Tube and went to the Tower Bridge, the one thing I had wanted to see since we got there. I wanted to see it lit up at night, because lets just face it, it looks much better than seeing it in the daytime. My feet were killing me, because I was in hills but I didn't care, it was one of the best moments while in London (other than hanging out with matt of course...haha! Just kidding...) and I got to share it with two of my new good friends: Jessica and Meghan, along with Adrienne and Chelsea. We had planned to go out to a club that night but we were all so exhausted that we just went back to the London Pub and hung out with some other people from Harlaxton. Pretty soon we were really slap happy and decided it was time to go to bed. .JPG)
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This morning, we woke up, and checked out of the hotel. Our coaches took us to Hampton Court which was a truly fascinating place. It was originally built by Cardinal Wolsey back in the 1500's when King Henry VIII was in power. Henry liked it so much that Wolsey gave it to him and I could definitely see why! We decided to watch one of the reenactments from when Henry was married to Catherine Howard?? some "h" word that I can't remember haha. I couldn't take pictures though because it was forbidden within the house, but I did get a few outside on the grounds which was breath taking! The gardens were truly remarkable. The trees looked like mushrooms and they were lined perfectly along rows and rows of gravel walk ways. There were fountains and ponds and geese everywhere! It was amazing, and they even had the kitchens running and we ate a real Tudor meal: I chose pasta and potatoes and it was flippin awesome! There was even a really cute boy that worked in the kitchen that sat behind us, Meghan took a picture of him and he caught us. It was so embarrassing but hilarious at the same time. What can we say?.... We are weak when it comes to British boys... :)
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It's been a fabulous weekend and now I'm a little sad that I have to go to bed and wake up extremely early for British Studies...considering I haven't even finished all my homework. Oh what a shame... I did get to talk to my family through Skype which was a GREAT ending to a good weekend. I have a slideslow at the bottom you can watch, but only from the website, not from the email....so check out my website so you can see all my pictures!! LOVE YOU!
The place was buzzing with excitement on Thursday night as everyone was getting ready for our big trip into the exciting city of London. In order to divert our minds from stress, the students were all invited to a Ceilidh, which is pronounced (Kay-lee). It is a mixture of Irish and Scottish dancing, and it was amazingly fun! I was sweating profusely by the time we were dancing, turning in and out and going in circles with big groups of people. After that was finished, I rushed off to do some laundry because all my jeans were dirty, only to find out that only one washing machine was working in the Manor, so i put all my dirty clothes in my suitcase and went down to the Carriage House to do laundry with Chelsea and Jessica. I waited around for over 1.5 hours. It was so ridiculous!!
Friday morning came way too soon, and we all boarded onto the coaches. There were 3 of them, and about 100 students going. We all sat together and tried to go to sleep, since it was a 2.5 hour drive, but my attempts were futile even though my eyes were heavy. Finally we made it into London and our driver gave us about a 1.5 hour bus tour of the city, where we got to see glimpses of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London Bridge, etc etc. All places we wanted to go visit right away.... After we checked into the hotel, we were free to do whatever we wanted, so a big group of girls started out. However, due to my need for cash and going into numerous banks, we were split up so it was just Me, Meghan, Adrienne and Jessica. (I never got any money, just so you know).
We started walking around, thinking that one of those huge attractions would just pop out at us... I mean seriously, how could you miss a freakin huge clock? Well, ask us, and we'll tell you. Look RIGHT!! We were one block away from literally EVERYTHING we wanted to see: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the eye of london, etc! We kept going left when all we needed to do was look right and we would have seen it. Instead, we got lost wandering around Piccadilly Circus and Leichester for about 2 hours and then wandering around some more places in downtown London. By the way, don't ever ask someone in London where anything is, they are the worst people to give directions! Saying, turn left, right, right, left, is not going to tell me, a Kentucky girl that never goes anywhere, how to get to an important building! I need landmarks, signs, etc. So, basically that first day was useless, but we did buy a few souvenier type things and got to eat at a really cute Italian place. Its all about the journey not the destination...right?
.JPG)
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.JPG)
We got back to the hotel and found Chelsea, who had been waiting on us for quite some time. We got out club outfits on and headed down to Leichester, to find a club without a covercharge. Fortunately, we came across Oxygen and we got a pretty good deal for less than 4 pounds, plus a free drink. Unfortunately the drink had to be some kind of vodka mix, so i didn't get anything, although i did have a sip of some of my friends. We went upstairs where the lights were up and it was a little quieter, however that was soon interrupted by a guy who was heavily intoxicated. He came over and passed out on Marissa! It was flippin hilarious until he spit and we all thought he was going to start puking so we all ran downstairs. It was dark and loud with music, and pretty narrow so it was hard to walk around without bumping into people. Jess and Chelsea started talking to a few guys at the bar, and eventually got them to buy them a drink which we all found hilarious. A few minutes later the guys all came over to where the rest of us were sitting and introduced themselves to us. Matt was the guy that Chelsea and I talked to the most. He was part of the royal guard but had 3 weeks off for training. He was really interesting, very sarcastic and funny. Because he had already been drinking, he was extra friendly but we were all just having a good time so we didnt' mind. Some how, due to my charming looks and winning personality, I got him to buy me and drink. However, since I didn't actually walk to the bar with him and watch him buy it, i didn't drink it because who knows if he slipped anything in it? He came back down and sat next to me, everyone else was paired off dancing or drinking with some of the other guys. A little after midnight, the girls were ready to leave, and to be honest, i was a little sad to go. Matt was so nice!! Ahhh, we all have a joke now that he was my man... hahaha, but he did kiss my cheek right before I left. So see, the royal guard wanted me! :)
Makes for a great story...
.JPG)
.JPG)
Saturday we woke up early and set out to find all those sites we couldn't find the day before. Fortunately, we now knew how to use the Tube and bought an all day pass. So we went to Buckingham Palace first and watched the changing of the guard, and lemme tell you....that sucker is boring. I don't know who said it was so exciting and it is a "must-see" but they must have been drunk because I've seen more exciting things happen during a Catholic mass(not meaning to be mean, just they're very traditional and seldomly step out of the box).
Big Ben, the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and a few others were on our list and a lot of fun to see. Big Ben was probably one of the coolest things to see, and we actually saw the London Eye, but didn't go up in it because Jess is afraid of heights. I do wish I could have gone into some of these places but unfortunately there just wasn't enough time! We split up and Meghan, Jess and I went shopping while Adrienne and Chelsea went exploring some more old buildings. I didn't really buy much and we even ate in a Subway...how very cultural I feel now.. haha. We met a guy named Frank in the Tube who was exploring Europe before we went back to Iraq. He was an American soldier that was from Pennsylvania, and he was just going around on his own before he was deployed. After hours of walking, we decided to go back to the hotel and meet up with the other two girls but stopped in the British Museum first. There, were met an American guy, Dan, who was really nice and talked to us for quite some time. He invited us to dinner but we had to refuse because we had to meet up with Chels and Adrienne.
.JPG)
That night, we ate the the London Pub which was right next to our hotel, and it was such a cute little pub! The atmosphere was really nice and inviting which made it even more fun. After dinner we hopped back on the Tube and went to the Tower Bridge, the one thing I had wanted to see since we got there. I wanted to see it lit up at night, because lets just face it, it looks much better than seeing it in the daytime. My feet were killing me, because I was in hills but I didn't care, it was one of the best moments while in London (other than hanging out with matt of course...haha! Just kidding...) and I got to share it with two of my new good friends: Jessica and Meghan, along with Adrienne and Chelsea. We had planned to go out to a club that night but we were all so exhausted that we just went back to the London Pub and hung out with some other people from Harlaxton. Pretty soon we were really slap happy and decided it was time to go to bed.
.JPG)
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This morning, we woke up, and checked out of the hotel. Our coaches took us to Hampton Court which was a truly fascinating place. It was originally built by Cardinal Wolsey back in the 1500's when King Henry VIII was in power. Henry liked it so much that Wolsey gave it to him and I could definitely see why! We decided to watch one of the reenactments from when Henry was married to Catherine Howard?? some "h" word that I can't remember haha. I couldn't take pictures though because it was forbidden within the house, but I did get a few outside on the grounds which was breath taking! The gardens were truly remarkable. The trees looked like mushrooms and they were lined perfectly along rows and rows of gravel walk ways. There were fountains and ponds and geese everywhere! It was amazing, and they even had the kitchens running and we ate a real Tudor meal: I chose pasta and potatoes and it was flippin awesome! There was even a really cute boy that worked in the kitchen that sat behind us, Meghan took a picture of him and he caught us. It was so embarrassing but hilarious at the same time. What can we say?.... We are weak when it comes to British boys... :)
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It's been a fabulous weekend and now I'm a little sad that I have to go to bed and wake up extremely early for British Studies...considering I haven't even finished all my homework. Oh what a shame... I did get to talk to my family through Skype which was a GREAT ending to a good weekend. I have a slideslow at the bottom you can watch, but only from the website, not from the email....so check out my website so you can see all my pictures!! LOVE YOU!
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