The Rents: London & Wales

DAY UNO:

            MOM & DAD ARE IN LONDON!  I went to my 9am class on Tuesday morning and then headed to the Sherlock Holmes hotel at 10:30 to meet them there in the lobby.  Mom was so excited she started crying and I was happy to be sitting there relaxing and seeing family!  Around 11:15 we got up and went to find lunch.  We ended up eating at an Italian place called l’ulivo; it was really good! We quickly finished though because they weren’t too hungry seeing as it was 6am in the morning their time.  So I took them to Regents and I showed them around the school and my room.  We hung out in my room until about 1:45 because I had another class at 2.  While I was in class they went back to the hotel and took a short nap before meeting me again at 6:30 for dinner!  Elizabeth, Lindsey & Goff all came to meet and eat with us and they were so excited to be with some parents.  I think it was a nice meal for everyone. 

            When we finished dinner I headed back to the hotel with mom & dad while everyone else went back to their room.  We ordered dessert in the lobby of their hotel and just hung out for a few hours.   Around 11 they walked me back home to my dorm and then we called it a night!

DAY DOS:

            Wednesday we got up and I had class until noon.  After I got out  Liz and I met them at a nearby Crepes place that is delicious!  They both had one for breakfast (because they didn’t get up until late) and then we headed towards the tube!  Lindsey & Goff offered to give us a tour of the Parliament so we met them at 1230 outside their office.  They took us to Westminster Hall, showed us around the parliament and their offices, etc.  Afterwards we went out on the bridge and took some pictures before my parents said farewell to them!  Liz also headed back and my parents & I jumped on the tube again to head to the Harrods area.  We ate lunch at a café outside before we went to Harrods and some other nearby boutiques.  It was nice to just walk around and enjoy the beautiful day.  The weather here isn’t nearly as nice as Lexington but a warm day is mid-60s with the sun out! 

            After we shopped around we headed towards the Prince Edward Theatre because we had tickets to see Jersey Boys.  We stopped by a pub to order some appetizers and drinks before the show because we weren’t quite ready for dinner.  The musical was awesome!  The actors were phenomenal and the music was upbeat and fun.  All three of us really enjoyed it and we had great seats.  After the show we grabbed dinner at one of the only places still open and then made it back home around 1230 at night.  It was a great day!

DAY TRESS:

            Thursday I had class until 130.  We took a field trip to Lord’s Cricket Grounds which was nothing like I had imagined.  The place was HUGE and very clean.  There was a huge media room that was like a sky box that was very high tech.  We also saw a game of “real tennis” being played which I had never heard of until I came here.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about then go youtube it because it’s really weird.  You serve it up onto a slanted wall and the ball plays off the wall and there are other ways of scoring too.  Its very interesting and entertaining!  So that was really neat to see.  But after I got out of class I ran and grabbed lunch in the refectory and then got my luggage in my room to wait for my parents to pick me up.  They rented a car for the weekend, which was quite the experience and entertaining from the back of the car haha.  I think we circled an area in London about 5 times until we could find the car parking lot for their hotel…needless to say we did not make it everywhere mom had planned for that day because we didn’t get out of London until about an hour & a half later once I was out of class.  But anyways, we headed towards Wales around 3 to Bodysgallen Hall.  We got there late & it was dark but luckily they were still serving dinner and we were able to get settled in our room.

            The hotel was secluded back on top of a hill and we had a small cottage that was very nice and clean.  For dinner I had a chicken dish but mom and dad ordered quail and rabbit so I also tried that.  It was interesting… We also ordered dessert before heading back to the room for the night.  We skyped the harris girls and then checked in on the boys at home so that was fun!

           

DAY CUATRO:

            Friday was full of castles… I don’t think I want to see another castle for a long time.  The first castle was Conwy Castle.  The castle was nice and big, but claustrophobic because there were so many rooms.  

The second castle was Beaumaris Castle and this one wasn’t finished.  So the entire exterior was there but the inside was an open field of grass.  Dad found a really neat chapel in the church with a detailed ceiling that was really cool.  But other than that the castle wasn’t complete.  

After these first two castles we grabbed lunch and then headed to two other stops.  The first one was a mansion that a family still occupies called Plas Newydd.  Unfortunately we couldn’t go inside or explore the area because they were there (so it was closed) but we were able to see the home from a distance.   Then we went to Betws-y-Coed which was supposedly an art district but there wasn’t much there.  It was a cute little town with a few galleries of pottery but I think it was more of a touristy trap. 

            So after we walked around there for a bit we headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.  We played cards for an hour or so and then went to sleep.  Of course I had my alarm set to wake back up at 2am though because UK was playing!  I ended up waking dad up after halftime because the game was so close, but of course we pulled through and it ended up being a great game.  So I basically didn’t get to bed until 4am that night but it was definitely worth it!

DAY CINCO:

            Saturday morning was a struggle to get up because I was so exhausted from being up all night.  But we got breakfast and then checked out of our cottage.  We got back in the car and drove to see a third castle called Caernavon Castle which is where the Prince of Wales was inducted.  This castle was super cool just because we could see exactly how everything is set up.  There was also a museum with pictures of past princes being inducted and they had the furniture that is used during the ceremony.  This was probably the most beautiful and well-maintained castle of the four.  We spend an hour or so here and then found lunch at a small café before getting back in the car.  

             Next stop was a place called Port Meirion…aka “whoville” in my opinion because that’s what it looked like.  It was supposed to be the factory for the Port Meirion pottery but we couldn’t see it made and there were only two small shops that sold the pottery.  We got some ice cream and walked around the small town for a little while.  Mom bought a nice Thanksgiving plate and then we headed out.  It wasn’t what we expected at all but it was an interesting stop.

            So we hadn’t seen enough castles yet…so we went to a forth!  This one was at the top of a steep hill and we only found one curvy road to get up it.  Dad stalled the car a few times but apparently did “an amazing job” according to mom.  I’ve only driven a stick shift once so I don’t know how all of that works but we had a close call of rolling backwards and flipping before we reached the top.  This castle was called Harlech.  It was very big and open.  It’s hard to me to describe these to you because the castles are all ruins and very similar because they were built by the same guy.  So just know this was our last one on top of a steeeeeeeeep hill! 

            We drove through a couple of other towns as we headed to our hotel for the night in a city called Tywyn.  The hotel was very quaint and in the middle of a beautiful field full of flowers!  We had a nice dinner and then relaxed in the room watching some interesting British shows.  They aren’t into TV as much as we are back at home.  It was a short night meaning I was asleep by 1130 because I was so exhausted!  But we had a nice day of walking around and seeing Wales. 

DAY SEIS:

            Today was the last day in Wales!  We woke up this morning and had French toast for breakfast before checking out.  We mainly explored the town Shewsbury but all of the stores were closed so we just walked around and had lunch there.  The drive was about 4 hours back home and we had to turn the car back in by 5pm so we just enjoyed the scenic route home…It was so nice to actually be in a car again, it’s the small things you don’t think about that you miss.  I thought I would love not driving around (which I do love the tube & bus system here) but it’s also nice to jump in the car on a nice day and drive the country roads.  I can’t wait to do that when I get home!  But anyway, they dropped me off at school and then turned in the car.  I met mom & dad for dinner at ‘The Volunteer’ which is a restaurant down the street from my school- the food was delicious and the atmosphere was great so it was a nice ending to a great weekend!  We came back to the room to catch the last half of the UK game, which we won by the way, and then they went back to their hotel. 

            Now I am laying in bed resting up to meet them for breakfast in the morning before seeing them off to their flight in the morning!  It was a great week and nice weekend in Wales.  I have 6 weeks left until I return to the states and lots of final papers and exams before coming home!  Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the beautiful weather back at home for me! I wish it was in the 80s here…that’s just ridiculous!

SPRING BREAK 2012: Munich & London

WOW! What an incredible spring break! Not only did I have an amazing time with Bri in Spain, Sarah my best friend from home arrived Sunday morning and spent 8 days with me!  I picked her up Sunday morning and we both started crying we were so excited! I brought her back and showed her around my school, we ate lunch and then set out to the streets of London!  We stayed close to campus because she was exhausted but I took her down Baker Street and to Oxford Street the main shopping street.  We also got a little bit into Soho aka China town, before heading back down Regents Street and back to my room.  Around 3:45 she fell asleep but I woke her up fairly quickly because I knew she needed to get used to the time.  Although she wanted to kill me she rallied for dinner, then fell back asleep around 7 until the next morning!

B

Monday I took her to my favorite area meaning Big Ben of course!  We also saw the parliament, westminister abbey, Buckingham palace, and we walked along the Thames river.  We decided to have drinks & appetizers as we waited for Lindsey & Goff to get done working at the Parliament.  When we met up with them, we grabbed dinner at Giraffe and then they showed Sarah their apartment before we headed back home around 930.  I took her to the student bar because we wouldn’t have time the rest of the week… and then we showered, tried to watch the UK game but it wasn’t online, then crashed because we had to be up at 230 the next morning!

We got up at 2am to catch the metro bus on the street for 30 mins to a stop, to catch the hour-long easybus ride to the airport! We got to the airport around 445 and checked in, grabbed breakfast & boarded our flight to Munich Germany!  We arrived an hour & a half later & grabbed a taxi.  Little did I know how far away the city was because the ride was 70 euros! Absolutely ridiculous & a horrible start to our day.  We were already exhausted from being up basically all night but we managed to stay awake until lunch at 1130 at a pizza place! The pizza had a cheesy crust that was to die for…but we had a lot of trouble communicating with them because they were immigrants from Italy & didn’t speak much English.  So that was interesting and we were super worried about how the rest of the week would turn out communication wise.  The day was also very cloudy, cold & no one seemed to be too friendly.  (Luckily this changed later).  But after lunch we headed back to the hostel, fell asleep on the lobby couches… yes we are bums…and then finally could get into our room at 2 where we fell asleep for another 2 & a half hours!  But…by this time we were ready to go! So we headed out in search for dinner but couldn’t find anything other than Italian for a while…until we came upon a greek restaurant!  They had everythingggg and it looked delicious! I got biftiki (a mix of hamburger & meatloaf basically) and then rice with a marinara sauce on top.  Sounds weird… but it was delicious!

Afterwards we decided we should try to stay up for a while so we sat at the bar at the hostel.  The bar quickly filled up which is surprising for a hostel.  But the Bayern vs. Bavaria futbol game was on so everyone was cheering on the game!  We started talking to these guys next to us who told us to come to their bike tour in the morning around Munich.  We had already made plans to go to Dachau but we told them we may join and continued talking to them the rest of the night.  After the game was over, they headed to a city party because Bavaria won…but Sarah & I went to bed. 

We got up the next morning but had missed our 10 o’clock tour… so we decided to take them up on their offer and go on their bike tour at 12:30.  We quickly rushed to get ready & tried to find them at the meeting point where he greeted us saying “well hello Courtney & Sarah glad to see you made it” haha so everyone stared at us and we just started laughing wondering what everyone was thinking about us right then.  The tour was awesome though!  We biked all over Munich and ate lunch at the famous beer garden.  It was a beautiful day in the high 50’s so it was perfect!  The tour ended around 4, but the entire tour (a 5 person young family, middle-aged man, and a couple) decided to go out for drinks because they heard we were going out with the tour guides! So it turned into a big group outing and we even met back up with the couple later that night for drinks at our hostel!  Which is where we finished for the night after having pizza for dinner with the guys.  It was a perfect day and we were much happier with our location, the weather and the city!

Beer Garden!

Drinks with the Tour Group afterwards!

The next day we had planned to go to the Neuschwenstein castle… but oh wait we missed our tour again!  We couldn’t find the meeting spot and literally ran around the block frantically trying to find the bus for 30 minutes.  I called the company at 9 and turns out the bus left at 830… we thought we were supposed to meet at 830….whoops.  So we missed it and headed back to the hostel to try to figure out a plan b.  Our choices consisted of taking a train ourselves and finding a bus from there…or getting with a more expensive tour that only went to the castle & no where else like our other tour.  So that was kind of a bummer but we decided to go on the tour & had a good experience.  The castle grounds were gorgeous and inside was really neat.  My favorite room was a cave…like literally you felt like you were in a cave! It was neat… but the tour lasted 30 minutes before we had to walk back 45 mins down a steep hill to meet our tour guide.  I could only take pictures of the outside so the inside is hard to describe.  Ludwig the 2^nd built the castle and supposedly lived in it, but our tour guide said that was false so honestly we have no idea if he did or didn’t.  But, we enjoyed it and our guide literally made the tour of the grounds…just look at this outfit.

  

We got back to Munich around 715 and went out to dinner at this place called Augustiner Brau and it was delicious! Authentic German food, everyone was drinking out of kegs and having a good ole’ time.  I even tried Schnitzel and Sarah had a stew so we went out on a limb and tried new foods!  We ate for about 2 hours because we also ordered apple strudel for dessert!  & another couple sat down at our table with us (because that’s how they do it here, everyone just kind of sits where there is room and we were at a 5 person table for 2 people…) so we talked to them for a little while about our trip and other parts of Germany.  The woman had been to the US on business so she told us where she had been, but the man was going for the first time later this year!  But anyways, afterwards we went back to the hostel and drank again with our two favorite bartenders who happened to be working that night!  We also met up with one of the guys we met the first night and hung out with him.  So we had a great last night with all of our friends!

Friday we woke up and actually made our tour for once!  We went to Dachau concentration camp and although it was depressing, it was a really good experience & definitely worth going to. It was surreal how dreary the grounds were.  We learned a lot though & we were glad we went. 

Camp Grounds

Undressing & Shower Room

              

Beds

When we got back at 3 we grabbed calzones at a place near the hostel and then went back and sat down for a little bit before heading back to a main square to do some tourist-y shopping! I also went to the apple store because my imessaging hadn’t been working all week.  They couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it so they decided to reset it.  It looked like it was going to work after that & I was so ecstatic but when I got back to the hostel not only did it not work….everything was in German!  So I couldn’t figure out what the heck it was saying was wrong and got super frustrated.  So I just turned it off and had a quick pity party before it was time for us to go to the airport.  This time we were smart and found we could take the train for 10 euros… so we got tickets, boarded our plane, made it through customs, back on the easy & metro buses…and made it home to London around 130am. 

The week was so amazing this short update doesn’t even describe it.  The rest of the weekend consisted of Saint Patricks day, borough market, westminister abbey for church and seeing Platform 9 & ¾!  As much as I would love to tell you every detail I’m sure your tired of reading this by now so that’s enough for now! My parents are coming tomorrow and I am super excited!  We will be hanging out around London and then going to Whales & Cowgill Village for the weekend.  It should be a nice break away and some much needed family time!  Only a little over a month before I’m back to the states!  This semester has flown by it’s so unreal!  I’ve had an amazing time.

"You ever look a picture of yourself, and see a stranger in the background?. It makes you wonder how many strangers have pictures of you. How many moments of other peoples life have we been in. Were we a part of someone's life when their dream came true or were we there when their dream died. Did we keep trying to get in? As if we were somehow destined to be there or did the shot take us by surprise. Just think, you could be a big part of someone elses life, and not even know it. " - One Tree Hill

Y.O.L.O -- Court :)

Sevilla to Visit Bri!

This past weekend I went all by myself to Sevilla Spain to visit my good friend Brianna Hill from Transy.  Bri is studying abroad there through May 11th and is taking classes and doing a little bit of teaching in a school there.  I learned so much this weekend about the culture and spanish people it was a great trip! Sevilla is a lot like Italy in that the roads are very narrow and the area is very quaint.  The weather was in the 70s so everyone was eating outside in little cafes enjoying breakfast, lunch, drinks & dinner!

The Street her Apt was on 

Alley-- so beautiful

I left Thursday afternoon and took a 30 min bus on public transportation; then switched to an "Easy Bus" which was an hour bus ride to the airport.  (aka London is HUGEEE). So I got through security, found my gate and found out the flight was delayed an hour and Spain was an hour ahead.  Therefore, Bri and I were planning on meeting at 5... and I wouldn't get there until at least 7:30! So I frantically had mom facebook her and my friends here in London trying to reach her to tell her i'd be late. Of course she didn't find out until an hour & a half later (she was freaking out) that I wouldn't be arriving for another few hours. Luckily I did find her at the bus station I was supposed to meet her at and we were on our way!
First we went to the apartment/flat where she's been staying. Her Senora (mom for the semester) told her I was welcome to stay with the family in her 3yr old daughters room which was super nice of her! So I dropped off my things and we headed out. We walked towards town and stopped in a place called Plaza de la Encarnacion. This was a huge mushroom like structure that will have only been there for a year this coming May.  It was interesting because Bri said some people really liked it and other locals didn't because they didn't think it fit into the area.  But I thought it was really neat and we ate at a restaurant nearby.

Mushroom as i call it :)

Bri ordered everything for me seeing as I don't speak a  lick of Spanish & couldn't read the menu.  We ordered 3 tapas (small portions) because you get things to share, not a separate meal.  So we got some croquettas, a rice dish with shrimp & veggies, and a stew and potatoes type dish with some cervezas of course.  Everything was delicious and then afterwards she had to introduce me to Rayas...a new gelato place that was literally to die for.  I got a small cup and you choose 2 flavors instead of one... so i had sacher (chocolate ice cream with cake bites) and caramel de carmelo or something like that.. (a creamy caramel ice cream).  It was super good!  Then we headed to a small restaurant with outside seating to wait for her friends.  After her 3 friends (Eric, Marcy & Emily) came to meet us we headed towards the bar scene.  Lots of cute boys and really cheap drinks.  Bri said most people stay out til 4-430 am (her friends did) but we ended up heading back by 2-230 because we were exhausted!

ice cream = yumm

Friday we got up and Bri took me literally EVERYWHERE! I had blisters on my feet halfway through the day from walking so much (in flip flops bc I thought that would be a good idea- not! cobble stone killed me)...so I had to buy some new shoes! But we saw the cathedral, a large outdoor plaza in a park, all of the shopping areas and we laid out by the river & I got burned! Pale skin seeing the sun for the first time in a while. But it was definitely worth it and I felt like I got a good idea of the city and enjoyed being with Bri and catching up on gossip we can't always talk about with our friends here.
Around 430-5 we headed back to rest & she showered.  We met her friends at 6 under the mushroom and went on top of it! You take an elevator up and can see a large part of the city.  Afterwards we got Rayas ice cream again (because Marcy's sister came this day and they all wanted her to try it)... Afterwards we headed towards the river to meet Marcy's spanish sister because she was taking us to a street where the beginning of Holy Week was starting to emerge.  Holy week is a big deal over here and this night they took the Virgin Mary out of one church & carried her to another church to prepare her for the week. It was very interesting and I felt very lost as the sister told them all about it in spanish.. she didn't speak english so I just hung out and people watched & took it all in.

Cathedral

Where we hung out by the water!

Bri's fav spot- a plaza we went to

Holy week ceremony- carrying the Virgin Mary

Afterwards we went to a restaurant on top of the roof overlooking the river and ordered lots more yummy food! We headed back home after this because everyone was once again exhausted from the day and ready to go to bed.
I got up Saturday morning and we had breakfast, I thanked her mom for allowing me to stay and gave her some treats we had bought the day before and then I headed to the bus stop to catch the bus back to the airport.  I got back to my room around 7, & luckily caught the end of the Uk/Fl game! That was fun and nerve wrecking! I showered, unpacked and got things organized because Sarah Czack one of my best friends from Transy came here today! She is currently taking a short cat nap because I just made her walk about 4 miles around trying to keep her awake and moving. I told her she had 20 mins & that was it so it's about time for me to wake her up now.  I know it's hard getting used to the time though so i'm giving her a little break! We're heading out to Westminister, Big Ben (my fav), Buckingham Palace, the Parliament & all that jazz tomorrow so I can show her around.  Then we are meeting our friends Lindsey & Andrew for dinner! It should be a pretty fun day! I'll probably update you guys at the end of the week though because we will be in Germany tuesday-friday so I will have lots to talk about!

Bri & I :) love herrrrrr

"To everyone who helped pave my way, if it weren't for you I wouldn't be here today. To all my friends, the girls, the broken hearts; All the critics, cynics and doubters, y'all know who you are.
Mom and dad, and all your prayers & those looking down from up there. I didn't get here alone
that road's just too rough & long; I might be the one the spotlight's on, but, I didn't get here alone... yeah, I know I didn't get here alone" 
   -- Kenny Chesney singing the story of my life having the opportunity to study here!


Y.O.L.O -- Court :)

"oh my gosh, we're in freakin' london right now"

Hi followers :) It's crazy to think it's already the first week of March! I have reflected a lot on my experience this weekend and as my friend Goff continues to say..."oh my gosh, we're in freakin' london right now." Tonight Elizabeth and I met up with our friends Lindsey and Goff from Transy. We ate at Wagamama's and then got some frozen yogurt at Tutti Fruti.  They live next to the parliament, so we ate along the Thames River and then crossed the river to go to the yogurt place.  The view was beautiful, everything was lit up and it was just one of those times to say "oh my gosh, we're in freakin' london right now!" They only have a month left here because they have been interning in the parliament and their program ends the first of April; but we still have two more months.  We have lots of traveling planned and numerous more places in London we'd like to go.
I continue to keep up with everyone at home and as much as I am ready to see everyone, I am going to be so upset when I have to leave.  It's incredible that I have this opportunity, and I love this city! I hope all my friends and cousins can experience this sometime because it's incredible! We are having a great time and continue to meet new people and make new connections everyday! If only I could visit a school to be around some kids...life would be perfect! I can't wait to get back to my 3rd graders for May term!
But anyways, just a quick update on how wonderful everything is! I'll be heading to Seville Spain this weekend to visit my friend Bri and then Sarah is coming on Sunday for a week!! I can't wait :)




"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity" - 1 Timothy 4:12


y.o.l.o -- court