Milano

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Remember how last week I said Wales was the best place I’d ever been?… Well, that was because I hadn’t been to Italy yet! I think now I may have changed my mind. It may have had something to do with the sun and perfect weather, but Italy stole my heart and made me jealous of everyone that is lucky enough to live in such an exquisite place.

Last week was Milan’s Fashion Week, which for me, meant the perfect time to visit.  (Lots of people were in the city, all the fashion shows were going on & there was also a carnival in town.)  The city was alive and everyone was decked out in their fanciest attire!  Everyone in Milan, regardless of where they may be headed, dresses like they just stepped out of a Prada ad.  I did not see one single soul wearing a sweatshirt, t-shirt, or sweats at any point during my four days in Milan.  They all wore nothing less than their very best and it seemed to be “all designer all the time.”  (I swear everyone must be a millionaire.) I did find out that Milan is the number one city in the consumption of designer clothing.  People in Milan spend on average about 20% of their income on fashion and it definitely shows.  Walk down any given street for one minute and you’ll understand that I’m not exaggerating!

Besides being super put together in appearance, here are some other things I’ve learned about Italians:

• Most everyone has a Vespa.  There are hundreds of them and they are EVERYWHERE.
• If they don’t have a Vespa, they drive tiny cars and park really close to each other.
• Everyone smokes…there is no escaping it.
• They do know a thing or two about food.  You really can’t go wrong.  (And if for some crazy reason you don’t like the food, just eat gelato everyday and you’ll be fine!)
• Not many people speak English, so you may want to brush up on your Italian before you book a flight!
• Even when it’s almost 70 degrees outside they still stay bundled up with their puffy coats on. (CRAZIES!)

North Wales

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Reasons why North Wales is my favorite place… so far:

• It’s absolutely perfect.  It has an ocean, mountains, fields, sheep, waterfalls, beaches and parks.  What more could you ask for?  Wales is pretty much a perfect combination of everything I liked in England, Scotland & Ireland, all in one place!
• The school chose a really delightful place for us to stay and our rooms had a perfect view of the ocean. Can’t ask for much else!  (Our hotel also had a sit-down-tablecloth-style-three-course-breakfast, which is always a nice surprise & a huge plus.)
• The town of Lluandudno gave me serious déjà vu from visiting Whitby this past summer, so that automatically made me love it all the more.  The two towns are quite similar in many aspects.
• We stayed in a sleepy little seaside town where all the buildings are painted Easter colored pastels, restaurants/stores close at 6 p.m. and the majority of the population is more than likely retired.
• We climbed up to the highest point in the city and were able to see everything! We were up so high and it was probably the coldest, rainiest and windiest situation I’ve ever encountered, but it was such a spectacular view you couldn’t complain!
• Caernarfon Castle is by far the neatest castle I’ve visited and I’ve definitely been to my fair share of castles.  We were able to climb to the top of the towers and walk around on the walls for a bird’s eye view of the town and boat dock.
• On the last day of the trip, we went to Swallow Falls and saw a truly spectacular waterfall and stopped for a few minutes to take some pictures before the journey home.
• Lunch in Llanberis was at a place called “Pete’s Eats” which is self claimed as the “best café in the world”.  I’m not sure how accurate that is since I’ve yet to eat at every café in the world, but it did make for a yummy meal!
• We also had one of the best dinners ever at the restaurant called ‘The Cottage Loaf’, that was recommended by Dr. Green.  (Fresh & homemade!)
• Wales is REMARKABLE.  If you want a relaxing trip, with stunning scenery and some adventure, it’s the place to go!

Ireland.

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It’s crazy how fast time is flying by, especially this past week!  It is amazing how busy I’ve been and how much I’ve seen and done in a week’s time. I’m so glad to finally have a free afternoon to catch up on my blog because life at the manor is always bustling.  (Between classes, homework, meals, events and extra-curricular activities- I’m staying up late and waking up at the crack of dawn every morning.  The life of a typical college student still exists here!)

This time last week I had just finished my first British Studies exam and was all set to begin my journey to Dublin. So much relief left my body as I handed in the test I had dreaded for weeks and left on my merry way to another country for a five-day escape.  With only one backpack, one pair of shoes and two pairs of jeans I was already stepping out of my comfort zone.  I was ready to live out of my meager bag and sleep in a different place for the next five days.

Despite the fact that everyone warned us we wouldn’t make our fight, (Dr. Taylor may have even said it was a “stupid and idiotic plan”) we jumped in cabs right after our test and even made it to the airport gate with time to spare.  Although independent travel, in my opinion, can be stressful and nerve-wracking, it ended up working out perfect as a flawlessly planned trip.  We were extremely lucky; missing a flight or a train wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but it definitely would have put a damper on the trip.

We arrived in Dublin about an hour later (which felt like a matter of minutes to me because I was completely dead to the world during the entire flight) and then rode the free Paddywagon bus from the airport to our hostel. We had a free night and the entire next day to explore the city of Dublin.  Next, we were off on our three-day Paddywagon tour of southern Ireland.

Some of my favorite things in Ireland included:

• Galway Bay (I love the water, so being on the shore was a definite favorite for me.)
• Cliffs of Moher (It’s amazing up there…enough said.)
• Grocery shopping and cooking supper in the hostel kitchens to save money!
• The greenest grass I’ve ever seen in February.
• Lee- our bus driver/ tour guide on the Paddywagon.  (He was legitimately so good to us and helped us out so much over the course of the weekend. I definitely recommend choosing Paddywagon Tours if you are going to Ireland.)
• We would have never been able to see everything by ourselves had we not traveled with this tour. They showed us so many beautiful stops along the way!
• Kissing the Blarney Stone for good luck!
• Experiencing various Irish pubs and talking with some locals.

Also, here’s a list of the places we visited:  Dublin, Cong, Leenane, Kylemore Abbey, Dunguaire Castle, Corcomroe Abbey, Galway Bay, Doolin, Cliffs of Moher, Killarney, Blarney Castle, Cork & the Rock of Dunamase!

lincoln field trip.

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Yesterday we set off to Lincoln for our first British Studies field trip.  (Everyone from the college went, so we filled up four coaches to get there!)  The trip was divided up into four sections we had to see: the Lincoln Cathedral, a Roman walk, Lincoln Castle, and a self guided tour.  We were split up into groups alphabetically so it was also a nice opportunity to branch out a bit and hang out with new friends for the day! Lincoln is truly a beautiful, historic city with a lot of character.  With Roman remains and Norman architecture, Lincoln was even more picturesque than I could have imagined. It also wasn’t so bad having class outside of the lecture hall for a change! (Despite the bitter cold temperatures, it was a lovely day!)

P.S. – Marston’s is a pub company in England & Wales, and in honor of my momma’s maiden name, which is also my middle name, I had to take pictures of the signs!

SNOW!

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IT’S SNOWING, IT’S SNOWING, IT’S SNOWING! Well, not as much anymore… but we did have significant flurries this morning that were beautiful! (This is the first time I’ve seen snow this winter since it didn’t do anything at home over break!) Rumor has it we could be getting some significant snow showers on Sunday.  We are all hoping it’s true so that we can go “sledging”..as the british say!  Maybe we could even have a snow day on Monday?!? (Since I obviously couldn’t possible make it down the grand staircase if there were five inches of snow outside!  The poor carriage house folk couldn’t possibly make it that far either.) FINGERS CROSSED. This was the view outside my back window this morning before class.. I love my room!

the scottish experience

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This past weekend, January 27-29^th, I traveled with the school to Edinburgh, Scotland.  (You could easy travel to Scotland by yourself, but I find it much easier to pay the school to take care of the transportation, hotel and travel schedule for me!)  On the school trip you are able to stop at the Scottish/English borders, which was an amazing view! After arriving in Edinburgh by coach, we settled into our room at the Royal British Hotel, which was a really nice place to stay with a perfect location in the middle of town. The remainder of Friday and all of Saturday were spent exploring the town. On Sunday morning we headed out to view Hadrian’s Wall for an hour along the way back. Our next stop was Durham, where we saw the cathedral & ate lunch before driving the rest of the way back to the manor.  Now for a list of things about Scotland:

• The Scottish Whiskey Experience houses the largest collection of whiskey you’ll ever see in your life.
• If you’re really hungry and desperate, you’ll eat Scotland’s version of Mexican food, which is still a little bit of a mystery to me.
• I’m not exaggerating when I say the whole town honestly smells like whiskey to me.  There is definitely a different air in Edinburgh, and that air is one that’s been scented from the multiple distilleries in Scotland.
• I’m also being honest when I say that you can almost always hear bagpipes being played somewhere.  It’s not just a stereotype, people actually do wear plaid outfits in public and play the bagpipe…it’s so nice!
• It’s a super easy town to navigate and it’s not too big where you can’t walk everywhere you need to go.  (I love that it’s much smaller than London!)
•  The Elephant House is a café where JK Rowling began writing Harry Potter and it is one of the coziest, happiest and most inviting places I’ve ever eaten. (So many HP nerds in one room!)
• Beautiful architecture and nature are all around you everywhere you go, it’s a lovely city.

Overall, it was a great weekend; we saw a lot of great places and made a lot of new memories.  Traveling to Scotland was a definite success!

MEET-A-FAMILY

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For anyone thinking about meet-a-family at Harlaxton: do it, do it, do it, do it, do it. please, just do it. apply, apply, apply, apply, apply. please, just apply.

The meet-a-family program has been absolutely fantastic so far.  It may have something to do with the fact that we have the best family ever… but I think there may be some other pretty good ones out there too!

This week we had our official meet-a-family dinner where the families came to meet their students for the first time and make some plans for the semester.  Our situation was a little bit different because Emily, Rachel & I had already met our family beforehand and have been able to get to know each other over the past few weeks. (It’s really up to your family how that part works.)  The Pearl’s had been emailing us before we were here and as soon as we arrived, so we were able to make some plans before the actual dinner came around this week.  (I’m so glad they are on top of things and had us over two times before this week!)

It was so exciting to watch everyone else meet their families for the first time at the dinner.  We described it as feeling like we were all orphans who someone was finally going to come adopt! (All of us anxiously watched to see whose parents would walk in next, save them and take them in as their own for the semester.)

Meet-a-family has also turned into a super popular program this semester; nearly 70 people got turned down because there weren’t enough families to go around…we are truly blessed to have been picked for a family! (I don’t know how we were lucky enough to get Keith & Maureen as our parents; they have already been spoiling us with good home-cooked food and treats!)  I could go on forever; they are absolutely lovely & this program is the best idea ever. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the semester brings!

burns night.

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“Burns Night is annually celebrated in Scotland on or around January 25. It commemorates the life of the poet Robert Burns, who was born on January 25, 1759. The day also celebrates Burns’ contribution to Scottish culture.”

This week Harlaxton celebrated Scottish culture in the bistro by sampling haggis & whiskey punch, listening to volunteers read some poetry by Robert Burns and enjoying some songs from the choir!

small town livin’.

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After spending last weekend in London, it was really nice to take a couple trips to smaller towns this week.  On Wednesday, the Honors students took a trip to Stamford, a perfectly quaint town about 45 minutes away from our home in Grantham.  (We rode there on a double-decker bus which is always guarantees a thrilling trip!)  We spent the afternoon roaming around the town and enjoying a few hours away from the manor.  There wasn’t really an educational purpose specifically; just a relaxing afternoon spent exploring a new area with a lot of history.  My seminar professor, Dr. Green, described Stamford as a “pretty-little-town” and I think that depiction portrays the town perfectly.

This weekend, a big group of us took off after class on Friday and headed for Nottingham.  (A nearby town, about 45 minutes by train.)  We went to see an orchestra concert for our music class to get credit for an assignment. We all bought seats in the very top row since that was obviously the cheapest place to sit. (We’ll get 75 points just for going..well worth the cost!) Our trip to Nottingham also consisted of our first stay in a hostel, which was surprisingly decent.  Admittedly, I was semi-nervous about the conditions of where we would be staying…but it was definitely a good experience! (Clean bedding, hot shower, and a tidy little room. I’m much more optimistic about hostels now.) Nottingham also has lots of good shopping.  It’s the place to go if you need to make a trip out for some new clothes!

london.

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Choosing pictures to post from this past weekend in London has presented itself as a challenge. (I shot way over 1,000 pictures, kept 982… I’m still trying to get rid of a ton of them.  I’ll only post my top 25, which was tough!) I’m better at writing things in lists, so here it goes.

five of my favorite things from this weekend:

1. Playing in parks was the best.  This summer when I was in London I felt like I saw a ton of stuff, but we definitely missed most of the Royal parks.  They are my favorite now… I could have stayed and hung out there all day. (It’s such a nice escape from the city.)
2. Also, in the parks there were some of the fattest and friendliest squirrels you will ever meet.  Seriously, they act like they are dogs & come up to your feet and beg for food. It’s crazy.
3. I had also never been to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, which was by far, one of the prettiest places in all of London.  We went at night when it was all lit up, right after the sun had set and it was perfect.
4. We only rode on a double-decker bus once, and it was only for a few minutes at that, but it was one wild ride.  We rode in the front rows on top for a good view and that’s exactly what we got.  Also, there were more times than I can count when I thought we would smash into the people walking in front of us, or the car in front at a stop light.  (They literally stop two inches away & it’s super terrifying.)
5. After leaving London we went to Hampton Court Palace for a few hours.  (It was beautiful!) I’m also really intrigued by Henry VIII and his wives, so it was really interesting to see his palace and learn more about his interesting life and the women he married.