Walking in Shakespeare's Footsteps

Hello, once again, and welcome back to my thrilling blog! I've got some great, educational stuff to say about the tour I attended on Friday, so pay attention.

Michelle and I were the only ones on the tour from the program...it was about a group of ten people this time compared to the forty-nine on our last tour. Our day started out at Oxford. I did not realize this, but there are 39 colleges at Oxford each with their own dining hall, library, quad, and chapel. The area each college has is small, but it is gorgeous. Apparently, the students at Oxford do not attend lectures, they are tutored for all their courses one-on-one with professors. It sounds impossible because there are 15,000 students combined at the 39 schools. The town has some amazing architecture, and looked like it would be a great place to live.

The college that we had admission to was Christ Church College. It was founded by Cardinal Wolsey, the man who would not acknowledge King Henry VIII's "invalid" marriage to his first wife. Wolsey named it Cardinal College, but after he died, Henry renamed it Christ Church. For those of you who have watched the first two Harry Potter films...this is the college that some of the hallway scenes were filmed in. Probably the most recognizable one would be when Harry is outside the Great Hall in the first film...he meets Malfoy and McGonagall in the scene. I stood in that spot (first picture above)! Also, the Great Hall for the film is based off of the dining hall at Christ Church. I believe some of it was filmed in there as well, but with heavy CGI later.

After a very brief visit to the beautiful city of Oxford, we drove through Cotswolds...we didn't get to stop, but the stone in the area is amazing! Really old, and a great countryside, although I missed a lot of it because I was sleeping. Our next destination was Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of the immortal bard, Shakespeare. While driving into the town, I did get to see Trinity Church where Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway, are buried. Unfortunately, it was a bit too far out to walk there from the birthplace. But, here is what is inscribed on his tomb stone, written by Shakespeare:

"Good friend for Jesus sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here!
Blest be the man who spares these stones,
And curst be he who moves my bones."

His bones have never been touched, even though there were many people who thought he should reside elsewhere. The birthplace was actually quite interesting. It is the original house with few alterations over the years. One of the rooms has the original floor...literally, I walked in Shakespeare's footsteps! It was very touristy. There were no pictures allowed in the house which was disappointing. Fun fact: there are books that contain most of Shakespeare's famous works compiled shortly after his death. Without these books, we would not have his great work today...I have seen two! They are very rare, barely in existence, but there was one at the birthplace and one at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

From Stratford, we traveled a short distance to Warwick Castle (pronounced War-ick). A little background is needed to understand some of the changes made to the castle. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068; the Mound which was built by him still stands. It was used as a fortification for some time, but it eventually became the home to the Earls of Warwick. The Greville family have been the Earls of Warwick since 1759 and still are today. Although, it is no longer a residence because it was purchased from the family by The Tussauds Group in 1978. Famous for their wax figures, Tussauds turned it into a tourist attraction. They put the castle through massive restorations, and now it is named as one of the top ten castles in the UK.

It was a little on the corny side, but the wax figures were amazing! When you walk through the Kingmaker exhibit (named after Earl Richard "Kingmaker" Neville), you find Kingmaker preparing his troops for battle. You actually smell the horses and the swords in a burning fire. Even though the figures do not move, you feel very connected to the scene. Again, back to my geeky history side, there were wax figures of Henry VIII and his six wives! I took a picture with Henry VIII. I thought it was great, and they looked so similar to their portraits, right down to the 'B' necklace that Anne Boleyn is seen wearing in almost every portrait.

The people dressed up outside was a little tacky, but it was all in good fun. The grounds are large and has the largest trebuchet in the world. It is around 59 feet tall, and it is still used from time to time. The castle sits on the River Avon which made for some spectacular views. The tallest tower there was not fun to climb. It was about 520 steps to the top which doesn't sound like a lot, but it is when you are in a cramped spiral stair case with no windows...it was a bit creepy. I have a video of Michelle and I walking down the stairs which was almost worse than walking up...it is a bit boring, but a bit entertaining at the same time. The video is at the bottom. Pointless fluff...lots of silliness.

Overall, it was a relaxing day...much less rushed than our last tour, and we got home by seven. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I visited all of those places. Hopefully, I can book another tour through that company because both have been worth the money so far. Now, it's nap time! Then, tonight I am going out with Cailtin and Maggie! Cheers!

Well Hellooo, Hottie McGoalie

I am sitting in my room after a good day at work, waiting for LOST to load online, listening to Don't Stop Believin' (The Glee Version), and I realized that I could be updating my blog that I haven't updated in over a week! As I'm writing this my pictures are loading on my computer so I can put them up on this post.

Well, when I last left off I was going to see Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the National Theatre. Well, it wasn't good. Everyone in the class was disappointed. The orchestra on stage was great, but the play didn't do it for me. I was completely confused the whole time. There was probably some hidden meaning that I didn't understand.

The best part of the week...Liz came to visit me! We spent a lot of time visiting the London sites. I took her to Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St. James's Park, Trafalgar and Leicester Squares, Tower of London, and Portobello Road.

We had a lot of fun, but I think the Tower of London was the best. I had not been in the actual tower yet, and being the history nerd that I am, I fell in love! I would definitely go back to see it again...it was worth the 14 quid to get in. I was in awe of the tower...there was graffiti on the walls from prisoners! If I wrote about all my thoughts on the Tower of London this blog would never end, so I will just say that it was amazing! I highly recommend it.

One of the things that we did after the Tower of London was visit the Tate Modern...a modern art museum. Now, Liz is an art enthusiast...I'm not. I do not appreciate modern art at all, but I went along because I thought it might be interesting. I did have a homesick moment while there because all I could think about was how much my dad would hate this! I thought about how we would be making fun of everything in there...especially a guy that stopped in front of a "painting" that looked like paint was scratched off and contemplated it. I got a kick out of that. I counted four paintings and a few photographs that, if they were offered to me for free, I would actually keep. Everything else would end up in my trash. And now everyone knows my strong feelings on modern art.

I went to Portobello Road with Liz on Monday morning. We both had just watched Notting Hill (which we had never heard of) and fell in love with the movie. So, we decided to visit the actual setting. It was absolutely adorable. If I ever came back to live in London, this place is where I would want to live. The houses were so colorful, and the market was fantastic even if the rain made it a little bit miserable. I am going back there when the weather is nicer because I want to explore the area more thoroughly.

I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum on Monday as well. It was so huge, and all I got through was the theatre section for a class. There is so much there, and you can take pictures! I am going back next week, I think, because it is free and has a lot of great art.

Yesterday night I went to my first football match ever! It was actually a lot of fun to watch...the atmosphere was great and exciting. I cheered for Brighton, the away team, because well...they were much better looking. Rachel and I sat together and commentated the whole match...let's just say the majority was not actually about football. :) I nicknamed the goalie for Brighton Hottie McGoalie...no joke. But, I did actually watch the match, and I was so impressed with the athleticism. I have a lot of respect for footballers...their sport is really amazing. Brighton won, by the way. There were over 17,000 people there...on a Tuesday night, in the cold, at a non-premiere league match. The stadium wasn't even full. I can't imagine what a premiere league match would be like. (Video, hopefully, coming soon!)

Caitlin and Maggie are coming this weekend, and on Friday I am going on a tour with Michelle to Stratford, Oxford, and Warick Castle. I'm so excited! Until next time...

Look, there's the Queen!

I'm avoiding my homework at all costs, so I figured I would give a brief update as to what happened over my weekend.

On Saturday, Michelle, Racheal, Jessica, Abbey, and I went on a tour to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath. We were on this big bus that drove us to all the sites which was fantastic. Our tour guide, Tony, was really great. He was super funny, and he remembered my name because he has been a fan of the Chelsea Football Club for 30-something years.

Our day began at Windsor, the Queen's favorite home which isn't that suprising considering she was there! No joke, the flag was flying at the top of the castle to signify that she was at Windsor. We saw her apartments from outside, and I swear she was sitting by her window! ;)

We were able to see a lot of the state apartments, but we were not allowed to take any pictures. Being able to see original paintings, suits of armor, weapons, and china was great! But, being the total history nerd that I am, I was really struck by the original portraits of King Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. I had seen all of these portraits before, and it really amazed me to be able to see them in person. I stood staring at them for a good five minutes.

I also went into St. George's Chapel in which many monarchs have been buried including Henry VIII and Jane Seymour...I stepped on his grave while walking through. Again, we couldn't take pictures. I wanted to and had my camera on in case one of the staff wasn't looking, but I was afraid I would get kicked out or something. We did get to take some pictures with the guards that don't smile. They really look like they are not having a good time at all...I feel a little bad for them, getting their pictures taken all the time. It was really funny to watch them march in their little area.

After leaving Windsor, we drove to Stonehenge. It was pretty cool, but I'm glad that we only spent 40 minutes there because really, it's just a bunch of rocks. Really great to see because it is just one of those things you have to see, but other than that it wasn't that exciting. It was fun taking goofy pictures...trying to hold it up, jumping, leaning on the rocks. After that fun wore off, we were ready to go to lunch.

We ate at this pub called Stonehenge Inn, and I had a chicken pot pie with peas, carrots, potatoes, a piece of chocolate cake, and as much tea as I wanted. Abbey and I split it because it was pretty big, but it was delicious food, and it was great to have hot food when we were in the cold all day. After that, we got back on the bus...then, I preceeded to get very carsick. It was horrible winding through all those roads on the bus. Thankfully, I didn't get sick. Once I was in the fresh air of Bath, it was much better.

We didn't have a lot of time in Bath, but it was well worth a visit. It was really neat seeing the Roman Baths. The foundations of the original baths were really great, and there was an audio tour for free, so that was a great supplement to the baths. We saw some of the architecture which was great and Bath Abbey. It was pretty on the outside...over 50 percent of the outside walls are glass windows!

Overall, the weekend was a lot of fun and well worth the money we spent considering the admission prices into all of the places was a bit expensive. Today, Michelle, Rachel, and I went to the Science Museum. All of the museums in London are free, and I'm glad it was because it was not that exciting. We were going to go to the Natural History Museum, but every child in London was standing in the queue because every school has a week off for midterm...we will go back when it isn't so snot infested.

Tomorrow I see the play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour...it sounds really good, and I'm really excited to see it. Well, probably won't update for awhile because I am not doing anything this week! Liz (my awesome roommate) is coming into town from Paris over the weekend, so I will be doing London stuff with her this weekend. Cheers!

I Survived Liverpool!

I can't believe it has been a week since I last updated! Time is flying by here, and I wish it would slow down...
Well, the last time I left off with my adventurous tale, the group was heading to Liverpool. On the way, we stopped in a little town called Chester. It is the typical town that comes to mind when you think of a British town. The architecture is amazing, much of it left over from hundreds of years ago. The ancient Roman wall that surrounded the city is still standing and is the most complete wall in the UK. You can even walk on it around the ancient city. Not only that, but ruins of Roman gardens remain, Chester castle, an amphitheatre, and foundations for Roman structures can be found in Chester as well. There is a cathedral there that was really gorgeous on the outside (it cost a lot of money to go in). Also, the most photographed clock in the world (besides Big Ben) is in the town.

After spending two hours in Chester, we all piled back on our double-decker tour bus (aka the Hell Hole) and headed to Liverpool. Once we arrived, we checked into our four-star hostel (we even had a full English breakfast which includes eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, and beans) and looked around the area. It is definitely dirtier than London, and I really didn't like it from the beginning. The accent there is really difficult to understand (they are called Scousers). We went on a Shiverpool tour, and our tour guides were a little creepy and rude, but it was all in good fun. It wasn't that scary, but walking around at night in Liverpool is enough to give me the creeps!

The next day, we went on a bus tour around Liverpool. It was great to see some of the buildings around the city without walking in the cold. We saw the headquarters of White Star (the company that built the Titanic), the Cavern Club (the club The Beatles first played in), Penny Lane and the sites in the song, Strawberry Fields, John Lennon's and Paul McCartney's childhood homes, and the Catholic and Anglican Cathedrals. There is a lot of Beatles history in Liverpool, and it was great to see some of those sites.

In my opinion, the Cathedrals were the best. Both were free admission, so I went to both. The Catholic Cathedral was built in the 60s. The design is very peculiar...it is rounded with "thorns" sticking out of the top to represent Christ's crown of thorns. Also, there are four bells outside the church which they named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Anglican Cathedral is very much traditional...high vaulted arches and huge stain glass windows., finished in the late 50s. It is the largest Cathedral in the UK and has the biggest pipe organ in use in the world with over 10,000 pipes! I'm pretty sure it is only second to St. Paul's in the Vatican.

Overall, Liverpool had some really friendly people. They actually talked to us...in London I think you might be considered mad if you talked to a random person. But, I feel like I need a badge that says "I survived Liverpool" because it was really sketchy. I just didn't feel safe walking around, even in the daytime in some areas. I was really glad to be back in London.

Well, on to this week. On Monday, I got to see the play War Horse, and it was amazing! The way they used the puppets to create the horse was spectacular! It really looked like a horse on stage, and it was a good play in general. I had my internship on Tuesday and Wednesday, and on Tuesday I got to join some of the office for the launch for the new campaign called 'Shout out for a sure start!' I got to see a few MPs (Members of Parliament) and Mum of the Year last year, Melinda Messenger who, apparently, is pretty famous over here.

After class on Thursday, a big group of us went to the premiere of Valentine's Day. This time we had a prime first row spot. I sat on the ground for six hours in the cold waiting for the stars of the movie. I couldn't feel my feet and I was afraid I lost some toes, but I did see Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Gary Marshall (autograph), Emma Roberts (autograph), Topher Grace (autograph), and Hector Helizondo. They were all great, but I really wanted Ashton's autograph, but he skipped our section by about two people. He saw our sign that said "We're from Iowa!" because he was raised in Iowa. He commented, "You're from Iowa! What are you doing here?" But, then he was pushed off by his manager. At least he acknowledged us! I was glad to get a very hot shower when I got back.

Today, we went on a river excursion down the Thames to Greenwich. It was a really nice part of London, but we didn't stay long because it was very cold and rainy/snowy when we were walking around. The only things I saw were the Greenwich gardens where King Henry VIII's palace used to reside (the gardens were his hunting grounds) and the prime meridian. This is where time starts (the GMT...or Greenwich Mean Time). I stood in two hemisphere's today...and of course I did the "I'm on the east...I'm on the west side!" After that, almost everyone in our group went to a Mexican restaurant. It had decent food, and I drank a strawberry daiquiri...it was delicious! I also bought a cheap Chelsea Football jersey today. It cost me 12 pounds...it doesn't have their famous lion on it, but it does say Team Chelsea!

Tomorrow, a few of us are headed to Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor. I'll try to update more often since I was getting complaints from someone (i.e. mom *glares*). Anyway, I have to go cook my dinner...chicken and potatoes tonight!

Was that Jude Law?

So, before I head off for the weekend to Liverpool, I thought I would give a brief update. On Monday, I had my first class. It is a theatre class and basically we go to plays and then we talk about them! It is going to be so much fun! We saw our first play on Monday called Rope. It was actually pretty good and based off a murder case in Chicago that took place in 1924.

But, the best part is that Jude Law was attending the same play! We were all so excited, and after the show...we tracked him down. He was in the bathroom, and when he came out, we all just stared. He knew we were staring, but he just smirked at us and walked right past us. I was literally a foot away from Jude Law. He is much more good-looking in person. We all talked about it the entire way home...we were star-struck.

After that crazy encounter, I started my internship. Tuesday was my first day and it was fun. A lot of tedious work, but I am going to learn so much! I found the work place to be very similar to the States, but others found it to be much more relaxed. I did hear a few curse words in the office, so that was new, but otherwise it is basically the same. I work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Next week on Tuesday, I get to go to an outing with the office...a lot of kids will be there for the a new program.

This morning, we had our first required classes. We talked about British newspapers for three hours. Things that surprised us, what we encountered over the week...one thing that really shocked me is that in the best-selling newspaper in the country, The Sun, there are topless women in it everyday! I was sitting at work and I saw it in the newspaper! We talked about it in class, and apparently there is a new woman everyday on page three that is topless. And...here's the kicker...it's a family newspaper!

Well, my short update does not have any pictures, but I will after this weekend. We are off to Chester and Liverpool to experience a different side of England. I will update when I get back! Cheers!