Friends from around...

This week has been one of the fullest ones yet. On Monday, we made a trip to Stratford Upon Avon with class. We saw Shakespeares birthplace and a few other local attractions the first night. We also saw the Tempest, which was done in the fashion of African customs, similar to the Lion King. It was amazing! I would say this is probably the best Shakespeare production I have ever seen. The costuming was awesome and the acting was superb. We spent the night at the Forget Me Not B and B and Tuesday saw us traveling to Mary Ardens Farm, which had numerous different animals and to Anne Hathaways House. After we went to Warwick Castle, which was one of the touristy places I have seen. I also had the opportunity to hold a Falcon, which was really cool.

On Wed., our friends from Paris, Amanda, Lucy, and Sarah, came to London for a short visit. It was so much fun hanging out with them and we tried to take them to all the local London establishments. We ended up going to Tiger Tiger Club which was a lot of fun and saw us meeting some french girls. There is a good story with this so if you want to know, ask me, its not appropriate for the internet. Thursday saw us going to see Wicked and a walk with Sarah around the museums and what not for class. For Wicked, we had seats five rows from the front and it was amazing! On Friday, we went to Spitafields and then to Dennis Severs house, which is modeled to look like a house from the 1800's and was really cool. Now come Friday night. We went to see England People Very Nice and it was very interesting. We went to the platform by the author and someone stood up and started shouting the author was racist and it turned into this big thing with the guy getting on stage and trying to debate the author before finally being removed. While the guy had the right to say what he wanted, he chose the wrong time and place for it. Not only did the audience get mad, I am sure they lost any interest in hearing his point due to his rudeness. Oh well thats the week so far!

not sure what i want to do with life...

The Week...

This week has been a blast.  On Monday, we wandered around the city and welcomed the nice weather for the next few weeks with 50's and no rain!  We saw Mrs. Affleck at the National, which while interesting, did not do anything for me in the end.  We had the opportunity this week to climb to the top of the Monument and St. Pauls Cathedral which was awesome!  It was like 1000 combined steps but we had super good views of the city.  And on Friday, I left for Ireland and this is what I am going to talk about coming up.

Ireland

Friday

We took a 7am plane from Heathrow on BMI and it was a great ride with really nice seats and all.  Once we got there, we took a double decker to our hostel and tried to check in but it was obviously too early.  So with this, we went on an adventure.  We got passes for a bus and took a sightseeing tour of the city to all the main points.  We ended at the Guinness factory and since we were really early, we toured the neighborhood.  Eventually we took our tour which was AMAZING!  Guinness has 4 main ingredients-Hops, Barley, Water, and Yeast and its burnt hops that give it the toasted flavor it has.  We got a free pint at the top of the place, which has a 360 degree view of the city and was breathtaking.  After this, we went to a pub for some food and I continued the Guinness tradition with Guinness stew and a pint along with it.  After we finally made it back to our hostel and checked in to an 18 person room.  Boy was that interesting, but at the same time, kind of cool.  Later that night we found ourselves going to Temple Bar, which is the big bare district and immediately you could tell almost everyone was drunk and all the pubs were jammed with people.  There was street performers as well, throwing fire, pretending to be a statue, and playing some good irish music.  We ended up stopping and getting some Irish whiskey to sip on while we listened to a guy play.  While walking, we saw the Garda, which is the police, take down a drunk guy and watched it fight them.  It was really funny as they used their batons and everything.  Oh what fun!  After, we managed to get back to the hostel and here comes day 2.

Saturday

On Saturday, we woke up, ate a good breakfast and went on a tour of the Wicklow Mountains.  The countryside was amazing, so green and full of life.  The streams and rivers were equally wonderfully, with water so clear I thought I could drink it.  This took up the majority of our day and we visited Avoca, Glendalough, and thwe Wicklow Gap.  We ended up back at Trinity College and wandered around and eventually made it back to our hostel.  We chilled for awhile and went out to dinner at a pub and I once again got a Guinness, which I think is my new favorite beer.  We wandered Temple Bar again and eventually came back and I tried sleeping but it was to not avail.  I got up at 4am and got on a bus to the airport to fly back to London, knowing I have to come back someday...

As for what I learned... Here is the List...

1. The Irish are the nicest people ever, nicer than the English even.  They help you with everything you could need and they come up to you when they think your in distress.  Super awesome!

2. Don't mess with the Garda.  Plain and Simple.

3. The crosswalks are awesome-they make a little drum beat when its time to cross and beep at you when its time not to.

4. If you can, stay for a long time, trust me, it's worth every minute of it.

5. Going to Ireland made me think a lot about my family and all that and made me realize how I miss them but also how to live.  The Irish enjoy life to the fullest it seems and I think i need to start having this mentality to try and get every last bit out of my short and precious years on this earth.

With this, Cheers! I am off to Stratford Upon Avon for 2 days with class!

Phew...

Sorry about the lack of updates, its been a crazy week.  Monday started off with a trip to Hampton Court, one of the many royal palaces open to the public.  It was rainy and cold, but the trip was nonetheless exciting.  I learned a lot of Henry VIII and the styles of architecture he used in building parts of the palace.  This week we also had the chance to see the Pitman Painters, which was wonderfully done piece about mine workers who become painters and learn about themselves.  Wed. we had a tour of the Banqueting room and got to see the changing of the guard, it was super cool and pictures will come sometime soon!  Thursday had some of us going out for some fun for student night at one of the places here and it was a blast dancing to some good music.  Friday I went to Scotland for the night and even though we had a 5 hour train ride, it was worth it!  Scotland was extremely beautiful with its mountains, the lochs, highlands, and the gothic style architecture.  We ended up going on a Ghost tour which was a lot of fun and let us seem some of the many underground vaults.  We also ate at a place called the Filling Station and it was perfectly American in everywhere, a nice change of pace!  Saturday I took a tour of Edinburgh castle which was amazing and was the first castle I saw!  Today brings research and writing because I cannot neglect my schoolwork as much as I wish I could!

Excellent weekend...

So Friday we went to the Portrait Gallery and spent the day wandering around... We ended up going to Mango on Friday night and there was a lot of old, creepy people there, which was kind of funny.  On saturday, I made a trip to Oxford and it was amazing.  The town was small but big and felt like a college town should.  We saw all the local spots, including the places they shot parts of Harry Potter at.  The University itself was amazing and the Christ College was really cool and had a lot of good architecture.  The great room was probably the greatest and made me feel like i was whisked away to Hogwarts.  I know, I am a nerd!  Today I found some books on the Battle of Britain for my hopeful senior sem. topic in the fall and found some good places to get food.  We tried going to the BAFTA's, which is the British version of the oscars.  We ended up arriving late and didn't see any cool stars, what a shame!  Overall, the first two weeks have gone well and I find myself missing home less and less everyday.  While I do miss my fraternity and friends from school, I know I am having the time of my life.  And in regards to the British being rude, we did meet a nice man who started telling us the fastest ways to get to places on the tube, it was really nice!  Until later, Cheers!

Westminster Abbey

As the week comes to an end, I have realized a few things.  First, British people can be super rude to you when you ask them, "Excuse me, do you have a moment" and they reply, "You're very rude, please go away"!  For the most part, the people are really nice and friendly and I hope this was just a one time thing that won't repeat itself.  This week as gone by fast with seeing 2 shows, Gethsemane and A Midsummer Nights Dream.  I loved Gethsemane, but I hate MSND.  I thought the show was terribly done and did not compare to the version I saw back in the states for Kelly Stages' class.  We also had a trip to Westminster Abbey this week and it was amazing.  The church and just the outside of Parliament were breathtaking.  I have a bunch of pictures on my facebook and if i could get married there, I would!  I end the week with a trip to the National Gallery as well as maybe a day trip this weekend.  I booked a ticket to Paris for spring break and I am looking into Ireland, Amsterdam, Spain, and Germany as well.  Cheers!

Let it snow...

So Sunday night something crazy happened... it snowed!  From Sunday night through Monday it snowed a lot, more than they have had in the last 18 years!  Waking up Monday, the buses were suspended, most tube lines were partially suspended or delayed, and the schools were closed.  The snow literally was a death grip around London and most of the United Kingdom.  We ended up getting at least 8 inches and it was weird to see a few things--first, they call salt trucks "gritters" and they really don't have plows; second, they use umbrellas to cover themselves when it is snowing out, kind of funny; third, they don't own very many shovels here and the struggle with the snow could be seen from anywhere.  It's funny how a simple snowfall throws such a huge kink into the everyday routine of the city, however when back at Ripon, its like whatever, it happens.  Tonight we are seeing a play and I have spent most of the day just working on papers and such!  Cheers!