Markets are a big part of European culture. London has many markets all through out the city. Their are all different types of markets. Some for food, some for arts and crafts, some for antiques, and some for a mixture of everything. I have found that my two favorite markets are are Covent Garden and Spitalfields Market. Each one is different but both have a wide variety of vendors and items.
Spitalfields is a big market. It is close to Brick Lane as well and is within walking distance of my flat. It is really fun to walk around and see all the different things being sold. They have different types of markets on different days as well. Some days their will be a lot of antiques while other days it is more of a food or clothing market.
Covent Garden is near Leicester Square. It has restaurants and real stores all around it. It also has some theaters near it. There is a small part of the market that has a lot of homemade crafty things. The larger part of the market also has homemade things but it includes trinkety things, antiques, bags, and tourist stuff. It has a very big variety and a lot of interesting things.
I have really enjoyed taking time to walk through all the markets. There are so many and each one is different from the environment to the quality of products sold to the type of products being sold. It is fun to just walk through them even if you know you don't have the money to buy anything. I wish we had more markets at home. They are definitely one thing I will miss about London.
Cheers,
Allie
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Things I learned while traveling
Reflecting on my 5 trips outside of London I realized I have learned a lot. I learned a lot about traveling through Europe and keeping it cheap and I also learned things about myself and gained confidence.
To start, traveling around Europe can get very pricey. As each trip went a long, I found better ways to travel. First, look through different airlines. Easy Jet and Ryanair were the two airlines I used that had the cheapest flights. If you book early enough as well the flights will be very cheap. My cheapest flight was 38 pounds round trip. That's only about $50. Not to bad.The cheaper flights are usually early in the morning or late at night. Sleeping in the airport might be the most convenient for getting an early flight but definitely not the best for starting a trip off rested. You might not think getting back at 2:30 am isn't that bad either but after a week or weekend of traveling its not that fun.
Hostels can also be tricky. I learned that location is prime. You want a hostel that is close to transportation but is also not far from the sights you want to see. I also learned that it is worth spending a little bit of extra money for a private room with the people you are traveling with rather than booking cheap and staying with 4 random people. I booked through hostelworld.com. It is important to check the ratings. You can find decently priced hostels with ratings above 85% satisfaction and you should be pretty happy. Some hostels, like my one in Ireland, gave us our own bathroom for the room. This was very convenient but usually you will be sharing with the floor. My hostel in Florence was not bad but was the worst one out of the 5 I stayed in. The ratings definitely help with cleanliness. It can also be convenient if you know someone in the area that you can stay with and not have to find a hostel. We did this is Scotland.
Overnight trains can be cheaper and helps you save money on hostels but you must be ready to drink lots of coffee and get a second wind. In Italy, I did 2 nights in a row with over night trains. I did not get much sleep either night but I did save money. You just have push yourself to keep going but I wouldn't recommend sleeping on a train for more than two nights in a row.
Public Transportation in every city is going to be different. There are ways around paying for but you also have to be careful because if you are caught without a ticket you will be charged a fine. you also must validate your ticket. I found ways of getting around tickets. In Italy I was able to buy a bus ticket when I first got there and just used it every day because on the buses they never checked. But buses are really the only one that you can easily get around.
Plan your trips ahead of time. Check out the area and decide on some major things your want see and do. Also keep track of what you do each day so that you can remember what your pictures are of. I took a lot of pictures and it was good to have something to look back on.
Pack light. Only bring the necessities and leave room for souvenirs. If you are only going for a weekend, a backpack or small duffel will work. Cheap airlines only allow one bag so either hide your purse in a jacket or make sure it is small enough to fit into your bag when you go through security. Wear bulky items on the plane to save room. I have definitely become a lighter packer.
Traveling on my own and with friends definitely helped me gain confidence. We had to figure out everything on our own. We had to plan what to do when we got there, figure out transportation, communicate with people if countries that spoke a different language, the list goes on and on. It gives you a greater sense of independence and confidence. I know I can do these things on my own now. I am not scared to stay by myself in a train station for a few hours at night any more. It might not be ideal but I got to see more places this way. Traveling has definitely given me more confidence. I know I can handle different situations on my own. Mommy and Daddy might still have been a phone call away but they can't do much aside from listen to whatever problem you are having. You have to do it on your own. Find your own way but still know that they are their if you really need them. I know my parents worried every time I left London. I tried my best to keep the worrying down and let them know when I arrived at whatever destination I was headed too. It was kind of hard because I can only talk to them when I have WiFi but luckily most cafe's and all the hostels have WiFi. I hope I didn't make them to nervous.
I have loved traveling around Europe. I am looking forward to coming back hopefully soon and seeing some of the countries I did not get to. I hope that I can come over with friends and have an adventure of a lifetime. I want to come back with my parents and sisters and show them around London. Traveling is such an exciting thing. The travel bug has bit me hard and hasn't quiet let go yet. Who knows where my next trip will take me but for now I am going to store my knowledge of traveling around Europe and save it for another day.
Cheers,
Allie
To start, traveling around Europe can get very pricey. As each trip went a long, I found better ways to travel. First, look through different airlines. Easy Jet and Ryanair were the two airlines I used that had the cheapest flights. If you book early enough as well the flights will be very cheap. My cheapest flight was 38 pounds round trip. That's only about $50. Not to bad.The cheaper flights are usually early in the morning or late at night. Sleeping in the airport might be the most convenient for getting an early flight but definitely not the best for starting a trip off rested. You might not think getting back at 2:30 am isn't that bad either but after a week or weekend of traveling its not that fun.
Hostels can also be tricky. I learned that location is prime. You want a hostel that is close to transportation but is also not far from the sights you want to see. I also learned that it is worth spending a little bit of extra money for a private room with the people you are traveling with rather than booking cheap and staying with 4 random people. I booked through hostelworld.com. It is important to check the ratings. You can find decently priced hostels with ratings above 85% satisfaction and you should be pretty happy. Some hostels, like my one in Ireland, gave us our own bathroom for the room. This was very convenient but usually you will be sharing with the floor. My hostel in Florence was not bad but was the worst one out of the 5 I stayed in. The ratings definitely help with cleanliness. It can also be convenient if you know someone in the area that you can stay with and not have to find a hostel. We did this is Scotland.
Overnight trains can be cheaper and helps you save money on hostels but you must be ready to drink lots of coffee and get a second wind. In Italy, I did 2 nights in a row with over night trains. I did not get much sleep either night but I did save money. You just have push yourself to keep going but I wouldn't recommend sleeping on a train for more than two nights in a row.
Public Transportation in every city is going to be different. There are ways around paying for but you also have to be careful because if you are caught without a ticket you will be charged a fine. you also must validate your ticket. I found ways of getting around tickets. In Italy I was able to buy a bus ticket when I first got there and just used it every day because on the buses they never checked. But buses are really the only one that you can easily get around.
Plan your trips ahead of time. Check out the area and decide on some major things your want see and do. Also keep track of what you do each day so that you can remember what your pictures are of. I took a lot of pictures and it was good to have something to look back on.
Pack light. Only bring the necessities and leave room for souvenirs. If you are only going for a weekend, a backpack or small duffel will work. Cheap airlines only allow one bag so either hide your purse in a jacket or make sure it is small enough to fit into your bag when you go through security. Wear bulky items on the plane to save room. I have definitely become a lighter packer.
Traveling on my own and with friends definitely helped me gain confidence. We had to figure out everything on our own. We had to plan what to do when we got there, figure out transportation, communicate with people if countries that spoke a different language, the list goes on and on. It gives you a greater sense of independence and confidence. I know I can do these things on my own now. I am not scared to stay by myself in a train station for a few hours at night any more. It might not be ideal but I got to see more places this way. Traveling has definitely given me more confidence. I know I can handle different situations on my own. Mommy and Daddy might still have been a phone call away but they can't do much aside from listen to whatever problem you are having. You have to do it on your own. Find your own way but still know that they are their if you really need them. I know my parents worried every time I left London. I tried my best to keep the worrying down and let them know when I arrived at whatever destination I was headed too. It was kind of hard because I can only talk to them when I have WiFi but luckily most cafe's and all the hostels have WiFi. I hope I didn't make them to nervous.
I have loved traveling around Europe. I am looking forward to coming back hopefully soon and seeing some of the countries I did not get to. I hope that I can come over with friends and have an adventure of a lifetime. I want to come back with my parents and sisters and show them around London. Traveling is such an exciting thing. The travel bug has bit me hard and hasn't quiet let go yet. Who knows where my next trip will take me but for now I am going to store my knowledge of traveling around Europe and save it for another day.
Cheers,
Allie
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Porto, Portugal: November 23-26
Colleen and I went to Porto, Portugal for Thanksgiving weekend. It was our random trip of the semester. We got up early on Friday and headed to airport. We arrived in Porto around 12:30. We found our hostel and got some food. First impressions of Porto were not the best. It was not very clean and not the type of environment we expected. We even thought about trying to change our flight and come back to London early but it was expensive. Once we started really walking around the city we found it to not be so bad after all. We tried to find a tourist office to help give us information on what to do while we were in Porto. This was when the communication barrier really started to show. Once we had some ideas, we started wandering and found the Cads da Camara which was a church on the top of a hill. It over looked the river. We tried to find a way down the hill to the river but after some wandering we went back to the main streets which made it much easier to get down the cliff. Along the river their were some little shops. We then crossed over the Ponte de Luis I bridge into Gia, another city in Portugal. Gia is known for their port wine. When we were on the Porto side of the river we saw Cable cars that brought you to the top of the hill. Porto and Gia are both built on hills. We took the cable cars because it wasn't very expensive and thought it would be fun. We learned that Porto had some interesting forms of transportation. We walked up to the Do Infante Santo which was a monument it was kinda weird because it was guarded by the army. We walked through a park and took the cable cars back down. We got a free port wine tasting with our cable car ride. I found out that I am not a big fan of port wine. It was to sweet. Now don't get me wrong I like my wine a little sweet and not to bitter but this was to much. The sun was starting to set.Iit was really pretty looking at all the Porto houses that were piled on top of each other with the sunset behind them and the river in front. We got dinner and called it an early night.
On Saturday we decided to get tickets for the yellow bus tour. There were two tours and we could spread them out over two days. They were also hop on hop off tours so we could get out and walk around the different parts of Porto. It was pretty sunny out so we decided to take the Castle tour because it brought us down by the beach. We weren't able to go into any of the castles but that was okay. Once we got to the beach we got off the bus and went down on the sand. Colleen and I were both in boots but we took our shoes off anyway and ran through the water. It was surprisingly pretty warm . My pants got a little at the bottom even after rolling them but I didn't care. We sat on the beach for about 2 hours. It was weird thinking about how I was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The waves were huge on this side. I wanted to go in so bad but the undertow looked like it would be pretty bad. The waves did look like tons of fun though! We got back on the bus and headed back into the center of Porto. We got dinner and walked through some of the shops. We were really starting to notice the language barrier. It was hard to communicate when we tried to order food of buy things. Portugal was definitely the hardest country when it came to communication.
We got up Sunday morning and tried to find a place for breakfast. It was very difficult to find a place with people who speak English. We did a lot of miming. Porto shuts down on Sunday morning we found out. Stores and cafe's didn't really start opening till about 1:00. We got back on the yellow bus for the Historical Porto Tour. It brought us through more of the city and back down to part of the beach. We got off again and walked down some of the piers. There was a light house on one of them as well. The waves down here were bigger than the ones on the beach! They would crash against the piers and come up over the top. We had to be careful walking so we wouldn't get splashed. The waves were so fun to watch. We also saw some whirl pools in the water. We walked down on one part of the beach. The sand in Portugal was different than the sand in America. It was much looser and your feet sank in more. We spent again almost 2 hours down on the beach watching the waves. Once we got back on the tour bus it brought us into Gia and then back to Porto Center. We got dinner then walked over to Gia to get pictures of the city at night and to try and find ice cream. We walked back across the Ponte de Luis. On the side of the cliff there was this cool train thing. The bottom of it looked like an accordion and would stretch out so you were still level to the ground as it went down the steep cliff. Colleen and I had seen it the day before and wanted to know what it was. Being us silly girls we decided to take a ride. We get to the top and find out it was actually just public transportation to get from the bottom of the cliff to the top. We still thought it was cool and got a good view of the Gia.
Monday was our last day in Porto. We really had been having a relaxing weekend as we had hoped. We didn't have much of a plan but wanted to go back to the beach. We decided to try and see if we could take the yellow bus again and not pay for the bus ride there. Each time we had gotten on the bus we just had to hold up our receipt. They never checked it so we were able to get a free ride. I must say traveling has taught me ways around paying for public transportation. Maybe its just the now poor study abroad student in me. We sat on the beach for a bit. The water was colder but the sun made it kinda hot while we were sitting there. It was really nice. It started to sprinkle though randomly and got colder when the sun was hidden by a clouds. The weather was so bizarre. It would be raining a little and then not at all and when it was raining you could still see the sun. You could also see the line of rain over the ocean. We walked down the beach a bit and the towards the Cheese Castle which was one of the Castles on the tour from Saturday. This Castle was our favorite because it reminded us of the Little Mermaid Castle. Colleen and I might be 20 and 21 years old but we are still kids at heart. We found a gelato place on the water and then walked to find a bus stop for the yellow bus. We started to watch the sunset over the ocean but of course it started to rain again even though you could still see the sunset. When we turned around to go back to the bus stop there was a double rainbow over the city. This is like the 5th rainbow at least that I have seen since being abroad. It was a great way to end our relaxing weekend in Porto. We got back to the center, got dinner, and headed to the airport. We met 2 girls on our flight home. One goes to Westminster and lives in Alexander Flemming and the other is studying abroad with a different school but is from Massachusetts. It definitely is a small world.
It was nice to make my final trip a relaxing one. We were not rushed and had plenty of time to do things. I loved being able to sit on the beach. I now have to start buckling down writing papers and finishing projects. I'm not stressing yet and if I stick to my deadlines I think I will be doing fine. This trip gave me a grand total of 6 countries in 3 months! That is crazy. I am so excited to spend my last 3 weeks in London. I am definitely going to miss it out here. Stay tuned for my final adventures around London for the next 3 weeks. I have decided that every day I am not in class I am going to do something off my bucket list even if it means pulling all nighters to finish my papers.
Cheers,
Allie
On Saturday we decided to get tickets for the yellow bus tour. There were two tours and we could spread them out over two days. They were also hop on hop off tours so we could get out and walk around the different parts of Porto. It was pretty sunny out so we decided to take the Castle tour because it brought us down by the beach. We weren't able to go into any of the castles but that was okay. Once we got to the beach we got off the bus and went down on the sand. Colleen and I were both in boots but we took our shoes off anyway and ran through the water. It was surprisingly pretty warm . My pants got a little at the bottom even after rolling them but I didn't care. We sat on the beach for about 2 hours. It was weird thinking about how I was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The waves were huge on this side. I wanted to go in so bad but the undertow looked like it would be pretty bad. The waves did look like tons of fun though! We got back on the bus and headed back into the center of Porto. We got dinner and walked through some of the shops. We were really starting to notice the language barrier. It was hard to communicate when we tried to order food of buy things. Portugal was definitely the hardest country when it came to communication.
We got up Sunday morning and tried to find a place for breakfast. It was very difficult to find a place with people who speak English. We did a lot of miming. Porto shuts down on Sunday morning we found out. Stores and cafe's didn't really start opening till about 1:00. We got back on the yellow bus for the Historical Porto Tour. It brought us through more of the city and back down to part of the beach. We got off again and walked down some of the piers. There was a light house on one of them as well. The waves down here were bigger than the ones on the beach! They would crash against the piers and come up over the top. We had to be careful walking so we wouldn't get splashed. The waves were so fun to watch. We also saw some whirl pools in the water. We walked down on one part of the beach. The sand in Portugal was different than the sand in America. It was much looser and your feet sank in more. We spent again almost 2 hours down on the beach watching the waves. Once we got back on the tour bus it brought us into Gia and then back to Porto Center. We got dinner then walked over to Gia to get pictures of the city at night and to try and find ice cream. We walked back across the Ponte de Luis. On the side of the cliff there was this cool train thing. The bottom of it looked like an accordion and would stretch out so you were still level to the ground as it went down the steep cliff. Colleen and I had seen it the day before and wanted to know what it was. Being us silly girls we decided to take a ride. We get to the top and find out it was actually just public transportation to get from the bottom of the cliff to the top. We still thought it was cool and got a good view of the Gia.
Monday was our last day in Porto. We really had been having a relaxing weekend as we had hoped. We didn't have much of a plan but wanted to go back to the beach. We decided to try and see if we could take the yellow bus again and not pay for the bus ride there. Each time we had gotten on the bus we just had to hold up our receipt. They never checked it so we were able to get a free ride. I must say traveling has taught me ways around paying for public transportation. Maybe its just the now poor study abroad student in me. We sat on the beach for a bit. The water was colder but the sun made it kinda hot while we were sitting there. It was really nice. It started to sprinkle though randomly and got colder when the sun was hidden by a clouds. The weather was so bizarre. It would be raining a little and then not at all and when it was raining you could still see the sun. You could also see the line of rain over the ocean. We walked down the beach a bit and the towards the Cheese Castle which was one of the Castles on the tour from Saturday. This Castle was our favorite because it reminded us of the Little Mermaid Castle. Colleen and I might be 20 and 21 years old but we are still kids at heart. We found a gelato place on the water and then walked to find a bus stop for the yellow bus. We started to watch the sunset over the ocean but of course it started to rain again even though you could still see the sunset. When we turned around to go back to the bus stop there was a double rainbow over the city. This is like the 5th rainbow at least that I have seen since being abroad. It was a great way to end our relaxing weekend in Porto. We got back to the center, got dinner, and headed to the airport. We met 2 girls on our flight home. One goes to Westminster and lives in Alexander Flemming and the other is studying abroad with a different school but is from Massachusetts. It definitely is a small world.
 |
| The Cheese castle |
 |
| Sunset |
It was nice to make my final trip a relaxing one. We were not rushed and had plenty of time to do things. I loved being able to sit on the beach. I now have to start buckling down writing papers and finishing projects. I'm not stressing yet and if I stick to my deadlines I think I will be doing fine. This trip gave me a grand total of 6 countries in 3 months! That is crazy. I am so excited to spend my last 3 weeks in London. I am definitely going to miss it out here. Stay tuned for my final adventures around London for the next 3 weeks. I have decided that every day I am not in class I am going to do something off my bucket list even if it means pulling all nighters to finish my papers.
Cheers,
Allie
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thanksgiving in England
It is so weird to not be home for Thanksgiving this year. I remember talking to family and friends last year about how I wouldn't be around and now I actually am not. I have seen all my friends post things about going home and being on break. I still had to go to class today. I was going to skip seeing as it is a national holiday for me but I complained about my group missing seminars so I figured it probably was not the best if I skipped this week. It was definitely weird sitting in class. Since Thanksgiving isn't celebrated out here it doesn't really feel much like Thanksgiving. Everything is decorated and Christmas is in full force. Luckily I have a lot of American friends so we made our own celebration and found a pub that was serving a three course Thanksgiving meal for pretty cheap. It was nothing like a New England Thanksgiving but it did the job and was actually pretty good.
I have so much to be thankful for this year. My family to start with. They have been so supportive while I have been out here. I miss them all a lot and am excited to see them in 3 weeks when I come home. I couldn't ask for a better family. My friends, the new and old. My friends from home are always there for me. They really are the best and I know that if I need them they are their. My new friends from London. I am so happy I have met these girls. I feel so blessed to have found a good group of friends to share my experience abroad with. I love that we live so close at home as well. It is going to be so easy to stay in touch. I am so thankful for this experience. Studying abroad has been better than I ever could have imagined. This has honestly been the best 3 months of my life and I would not change this decision for the world. But this goes back to my family and friends because without them I probably wouldn't be able to be here. I could not be more thankful this year for everything I have experienced while being abroad. It really is life changing.
This year I ate my makeshift Thanksgiving meal and celebrated with my friends rather than my family. There were many British people having Thanksgiving dinner. We wanted to ask why they are celebrating it but we thought that could be weird. It was definitely a different type of Thanksgiving but we have made the most of it. (I have already requested a real one from daddy once I get home). I will be so much more excited next year when I get a real Thanksgiving dinner. I have been more homesick than I had anticipated today but I will talk to my family soon and hopefully feel better. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
Cheers,
Allie
 |
| Before: This was split between two people |
 |
| After |
 |
| Desert |
I have so much to be thankful for this year. My family to start with. They have been so supportive while I have been out here. I miss them all a lot and am excited to see them in 3 weeks when I come home. I couldn't ask for a better family. My friends, the new and old. My friends from home are always there for me. They really are the best and I know that if I need them they are their. My new friends from London. I am so happy I have met these girls. I feel so blessed to have found a good group of friends to share my experience abroad with. I love that we live so close at home as well. It is going to be so easy to stay in touch. I am so thankful for this experience. Studying abroad has been better than I ever could have imagined. This has honestly been the best 3 months of my life and I would not change this decision for the world. But this goes back to my family and friends because without them I probably wouldn't be able to be here. I could not be more thankful this year for everything I have experienced while being abroad. It really is life changing.
This year I ate my makeshift Thanksgiving meal and celebrated with my friends rather than my family. There were many British people having Thanksgiving dinner. We wanted to ask why they are celebrating it but we thought that could be weird. It was definitely a different type of Thanksgiving but we have made the most of it. (I have already requested a real one from daddy once I get home). I will be so much more excited next year when I get a real Thanksgiving dinner. I have been more homesick than I had anticipated today but I will talk to my family soon and hopefully feel better. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
Cheers,
Allie
Touring The National Theater
My theater class toured the National Theatre today. This tour was way better than the Globe Theatre tour. We got to go back stage as well as learn about the theatre. There are three theaters inside the National Theater. Each one was designed differently and is a different size. They also run on a rotation system. 2 shows will play in the same theater for the same run time. they switch out every 5 days for about 3 months. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures. Having a guide makes it much harder to sneak them as well.
We went into the biggest Theater first. This one was my favorite. We learned about the underground drum which is where they store different sets. We also learned about how the floor moves so that the sets can easily be changed during the show without the audience knowing. The set that was up was so cool. It moved and could open like a story book. The smallest stage was very little. The audience actually sits on the stage as well as in the balcony. It was interesting to learn about the different types of plays that are performed here. Apparently they can stage anything on that small of an area.The last stage we went to was the middle sized one. I was surprised at how it was set up just like most of the other stages in London. It was the typical stage you see anywhere. We were able to go back stage and see where the sets are stored. We were also told about how they move the sets on and off. The sets are made on a wagon which will then drop down into the floor once put into place.
Each theatre was different and had their own way of moving sets and whatnot. We got a chance to walk through the dressing room areas along with the workshops where the sets are made and the prop area. I really enjoyed this tour. It showed a lot of the background of the shows.
Cheers,
Allie
We went into the biggest Theater first. This one was my favorite. We learned about the underground drum which is where they store different sets. We also learned about how the floor moves so that the sets can easily be changed during the show without the audience knowing. The set that was up was so cool. It moved and could open like a story book. The smallest stage was very little. The audience actually sits on the stage as well as in the balcony. It was interesting to learn about the different types of plays that are performed here. Apparently they can stage anything on that small of an area.The last stage we went to was the middle sized one. I was surprised at how it was set up just like most of the other stages in London. It was the typical stage you see anywhere. We were able to go back stage and see where the sets are stored. We were also told about how they move the sets on and off. The sets are made on a wagon which will then drop down into the floor once put into place.
Each theatre was different and had their own way of moving sets and whatnot. We got a chance to walk through the dressing room areas along with the workshops where the sets are made and the prop area. I really enjoyed this tour. It showed a lot of the background of the shows.
Cheers,
Allie
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
A few days in Plymouth, England
I went to visit Kenny in Plymouth, England from Sunday till Tuesday. My Aunt and Uncle said it was a nice area and with him living there it made it convenient to go see the area. Unfortunately, I didn't get the best weather but it was still nice and I could tell that it must be a really pretty if it was not raining.
I took the train down on Sunday and got there around 4:00. It was a 3 and a half hour ride so I was able to write a paper which made me feel a little less stressed about all the work I have. We had a relaxing night just watching TV. To be honest, it was kinda nice. I have not sat on a couch and watched TV since I left home. My flat does not have a common area or a TV. It was nice to just relax for a little and not worry about school work.
On Monday, Kenny, Matt, Matt's friend Melissa, and I did a bit of sight seeing. We went do to the Hoe and the Marina area. I saw the Mayflower steps and memorial. It was pretty fitting considering Thanksgiving is tomorrow. We decided to be adventurous even tough it was raining, We walked on some of the paths near the water, climbed some rocks, found a cave, all trying not to slip. It was pretty fun actually. I wish it was a bit clearer of a day because the area was pretty and I am sure it is better when there is no fog and rain. We went to a club Monday night which was fun until I got seperated and I had to find my way back on my own but I managed it and was fine.
Tuesday was pretty relaxing as well. Kenny had class so Matt, Melissa and I hung out. We took a walk and got coffee. There was some man singing to get people to buy the paper or whatever it was the he was selling. It was actually pretty fun because he was just making things up and then would laugh at himself. I took the train back Tuesday night which ended up taking way longer than it should have. The train took almost an extra 40 minutes and then of course the tube was backed up. I got back to my room around 10:00.
It was a pretty good few days and I am glad I went. One thing I learned though is that I am definitely happy with my decision of choosing a city as my study abroad location. Plymouth is a small town just like everywhere at home. Kenny's apartment was just like ones I find around campus at home. My flat might not be the greatest but I like that it is a different living environment than what I will live in once I move back to PSU. I also have a lot more to do and can easily fill my time seeing different parts of the city. My cost of living is much higher but for three months its worth it. London was definitely the right choice for me. I have one more travel weekend before I spend my last few weeks in London. I can't believe how little time I have left here. Stay tuned for my last few week adventures!
Cheers,
Allie
I took the train down on Sunday and got there around 4:00. It was a 3 and a half hour ride so I was able to write a paper which made me feel a little less stressed about all the work I have. We had a relaxing night just watching TV. To be honest, it was kinda nice. I have not sat on a couch and watched TV since I left home. My flat does not have a common area or a TV. It was nice to just relax for a little and not worry about school work.
On Monday, Kenny, Matt, Matt's friend Melissa, and I did a bit of sight seeing. We went do to the Hoe and the Marina area. I saw the Mayflower steps and memorial. It was pretty fitting considering Thanksgiving is tomorrow. We decided to be adventurous even tough it was raining, We walked on some of the paths near the water, climbed some rocks, found a cave, all trying not to slip. It was pretty fun actually. I wish it was a bit clearer of a day because the area was pretty and I am sure it is better when there is no fog and rain. We went to a club Monday night which was fun until I got seperated and I had to find my way back on my own but I managed it and was fine.
Tuesday was pretty relaxing as well. Kenny had class so Matt, Melissa and I hung out. We took a walk and got coffee. There was some man singing to get people to buy the paper or whatever it was the he was selling. It was actually pretty fun because he was just making things up and then would laugh at himself. I took the train back Tuesday night which ended up taking way longer than it should have. The train took almost an extra 40 minutes and then of course the tube was backed up. I got back to my room around 10:00.
It was a pretty good few days and I am glad I went. One thing I learned though is that I am definitely happy with my decision of choosing a city as my study abroad location. Plymouth is a small town just like everywhere at home. Kenny's apartment was just like ones I find around campus at home. My flat might not be the greatest but I like that it is a different living environment than what I will live in once I move back to PSU. I also have a lot more to do and can easily fill my time seeing different parts of the city. My cost of living is much higher but for three months its worth it. London was definitely the right choice for me. I have one more travel weekend before I spend my last few weeks in London. I can't believe how little time I have left here. Stay tuned for my last few week adventures!
Cheers,
Allie
Saturday, November 17, 2012
A Day Trip to Cambridge
Today API brought us to Cambridge. It was about a 45 minute train ride which was nice and quick. We started the day with a tour of the University of Cambridge. There are many colleges within the University. What found interesting however is that the students do not take classes at the Colleges. The Colleges are strictly where you live and all classes are held in the University. There is no difference in majors that split the colleges up. You just choose which college you would rather live at and that is where you apply. This is much different than most other schools. Oxford University has a similar system. We toured Emmanuel College and Kings College. Both were beautiful. I wish we could have toured a few more because I heard that each college in Cambridge is beautiful and different.
We walked through some of the town on our tour and part of the academic buildings. We got a real ghost story too! The pub called "The Eagle" has a haunted room upstairs. It is said that a women haunts the room after being burned in a fire. You must leave the window open other wise the ghosts gets frightened and screams. Also if the window is closed the pub will burn down. Apparently last year they had a scare. The window was closed and no one reopened it. The basement caught on fire the next day but luckily someone caught it before the Pub went up in flames. The window has now been fixed and can never be shut. It was funny because they put a ghost balloon in the window for Halloween. We also walked by this clock. Their was a cricket on the top of it that "walks" across it making it spine and keeping the clock on the right time. They even made the cricket blink. There are three others like it around England but with different animals on top.
The tour ended around 12:30. We went back to The Eagle for lunch. After that we had about 2 and a half hours to walk around the town. Caitlyn, Roxanne, and I went to the market and walked through one of the malls, and explored the town a little. We ended up loosing everyone else we were with in the market. I got fudge right before we left from a little shop that home-makes it. It is literally the best fudge I have ever had. We met back with everyone at 4:15 to catch the train home.
Over all the day wasn't bad. I wish we had gotten to see a few more colleges and some parts of the tour could have been left out because personally I didn't care to see the outside of a museum but that's okay. I am glad I went and got to see a different town in England.
Cheers,
Allie
 |
| Emmanuel College |
 |
| Kings College |
We walked through some of the town on our tour and part of the academic buildings. We got a real ghost story too! The pub called "The Eagle" has a haunted room upstairs. It is said that a women haunts the room after being burned in a fire. You must leave the window open other wise the ghosts gets frightened and screams. Also if the window is closed the pub will burn down. Apparently last year they had a scare. The window was closed and no one reopened it. The basement caught on fire the next day but luckily someone caught it before the Pub went up in flames. The window has now been fixed and can never be shut. It was funny because they put a ghost balloon in the window for Halloween. We also walked by this clock. Their was a cricket on the top of it that "walks" across it making it spine and keeping the clock on the right time. They even made the cricket blink. There are three others like it around England but with different animals on top.
The tour ended around 12:30. We went back to The Eagle for lunch. After that we had about 2 and a half hours to walk around the town. Caitlyn, Roxanne, and I went to the market and walked through one of the malls, and explored the town a little. We ended up loosing everyone else we were with in the market. I got fudge right before we left from a little shop that home-makes it. It is literally the best fudge I have ever had. We met back with everyone at 4:15 to catch the train home.
Over all the day wasn't bad. I wish we had gotten to see a few more colleges and some parts of the tour could have been left out because personally I didn't care to see the outside of a museum but that's okay. I am glad I went and got to see a different town in England.
Cheers,
Allie
Friday, November 16, 2012
Museum of London
Today I went to the Museum of London. I have decided that everyday I am in London and I do not have classes I am going to do at least one thing from my bucket list even if I adventure by myself. I will work on my papers at night or in between classes. I do not want to waste the last month I have here.
So the Museum of London. It is a free museum which is awesome and it gives you the entire history of London. It starts before London was a city, moves to roman times, continues through the Victorian ere, talks about the London Fire and the rebuilding of London, and finishes with the 20th century London and modern day. They also had a small exhibit about this past years Olympic games. It was really interesting to see all the history of London. It dated way back to the 1300's. I found the Victorian ere and the 20th century London exhibits the most fascinating. The London fire also caught my attention because I did not know much about it. London has a pretty interesting history and seeing the changes through out the times was really interesting especially when it came to clothing and the beginnings of cars and technology.
I have found that I am enjoying the history of London. I have never been a big history buff or enjoyed history that much but British history has definitely caught my attention. I still have a decent size list of things to do while I am here but I think I can finish it. I can't believe I go home in exactly a month. Boy has the time flown.
Cheers,
Allie
So the Museum of London. It is a free museum which is awesome and it gives you the entire history of London. It starts before London was a city, moves to roman times, continues through the Victorian ere, talks about the London Fire and the rebuilding of London, and finishes with the 20th century London and modern day. They also had a small exhibit about this past years Olympic games. It was really interesting to see all the history of London. It dated way back to the 1300's. I found the Victorian ere and the 20th century London exhibits the most fascinating. The London fire also caught my attention because I did not know much about it. London has a pretty interesting history and seeing the changes through out the times was really interesting especially when it came to clothing and the beginnings of cars and technology.
I have found that I am enjoying the history of London. I have never been a big history buff or enjoyed history that much but British history has definitely caught my attention. I still have a decent size list of things to do while I am here but I think I can finish it. I can't believe I go home in exactly a month. Boy has the time flown.
Cheers,
Allie
Monday, November 12, 2012
The Royal Mews and Queens Gallery
Today Colleen and I adventured to Buckingham Palace to go to the Royal Mews and the Queens Gallery. We wanted to see the state's room as well but it is closed until the middle of December. We started at the Queens Gallery. The gallery had a lot of different paintings, portraits, and a few tapestries. Their were also some sketches and drawings which were cool because you don't normally see those when you go into the galleries. Some of the paintings were a little weird but it is always interesting to read the descriptions.
The Royal Mews was really cool. I heard about it from Auntie Chris and Uncle Tom. I am so happy they mentioned it. It holds all the carriages and cars that the Royal Family uses for special events and getting around the city. We saw some of the horses that pull the carriages as well. Each carriage has a different purpose and is used during different events. They were beautiful! Some of the carriages were given to the Royal Family by different countries. Each one was unique its own way. My favorite carriage was of course The Gold State Coach. It was gorgeous. The detail in the carvings was amazing. It really was beautiful. I can't even imagine being able to ride in it or see the queen riding in it down the street.
I am slowly but surely getting through my bucket list. It needs to be put on hold for the next two weeks but I plan on getting through all of it and if not I want to be very close by the time I go home.
Cheers,
Allie
The Royal Mews was really cool. I heard about it from Auntie Chris and Uncle Tom. I am so happy they mentioned it. It holds all the carriages and cars that the Royal Family uses for special events and getting around the city. We saw some of the horses that pull the carriages as well. Each carriage has a different purpose and is used during different events. They were beautiful! Some of the carriages were given to the Royal Family by different countries. Each one was unique its own way. My favorite carriage was of course The Gold State Coach. It was gorgeous. The detail in the carvings was amazing. It really was beautiful. I can't even imagine being able to ride in it or see the queen riding in it down the street.
I am slowly but surely getting through my bucket list. It needs to be put on hold for the next two weeks but I plan on getting through all of it and if not I want to be very close by the time I go home.
Cheers,
Allie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)