Nessie and Greyfriars Bobby

Scotland, need I say more? I loved going there. I went the weekend (Jan 27-29) and had a wonderful time. I went with great people and tried a bunch of new things. The highlights of the trip where seeing Edinburgh as a whole and going on a late night walk to find Guildford Arms. A bar/pub/tavern built in 1898. My friend Lexi and I just where walking around Princes Street and decided to go look at this building. We had a wonderful time asking the bartenders and the locals what to try. I had a twisted bitter and I LOVED it. Lexi had a cider that is "reserved for locals" that was AMAZING. Enough about the Pub, on to what else we did. We arrived to Edinburgh at about 4pm so we walked up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle, it was closed for the day but we did get some wonderful shots of the sun setting behind it. We then did a little bit of shopping and asked a local where to eat, that led us to Deaconess Brodies Tavern. It was good. We then just went walking a stumbled upon The Real Mary Kings Close. A tour beneath the City to see the REAL closes of Edinburgh's glory days. We actually walked the close and saw homes that up to 12 (yes really 12) people slept in. That ended our night and we went back to the hotel to watch some British tele. Saturday morning was filled with Edinburgh Castle, a Whiskey Tour (and tasting), and Italian food. The afternoon filled with running around trying to get everything done. We went to Greyfriars bobby, The Elephant House (where JK Rowling wrote HP), The National Museum of Scotland, The North Sea, St. Giles Catherdral, and probably somewhere else that I can't remember (oh geeze this isn't good). On Sunday we left for Hadrian's wall and Durham. We went to a Roman Fort and stood on the wall. In Durham we went to another pub and had wonderful wonderful food. Another highlight of the week was finally meeting my family that has "adopted" me. I get to have dinner (tea) with them tomorrow (Monday). Another thing that I really like is being able to try new beers/lagers/bitters/ciders. I have tried about 8 new beers. My favorite so far has been a twisted bitter. It was really smooth and had a great wheaty taste. I've also had Haggis, pretty good, but I think im going to stay away from Whiskey. Enough rambling now. Next weekend is a weekend away with local university (Lincoln) students then Ireland!!!!!!

Haggis and Whiskey

Welcome to Scotland

Tennets Lager

Edinburgh Castle

Whiskey tour

Elephant House

Greyfriars Bobby

Leffe beer

North Sea

St. Mungos

Twisted Bitter

Belhavens Best

The pub Built in 1898.

Durham Cathedral

Carling Lager

Liz

PS. I did not see Nessie though :( Just thought the title was clever

Lost in Translation

Hello,

A lot has happened since my last post about London. My classes are starting to pick up the pace so I have a lot of homework :( I also keeping getting lost in translation. My favorite example of me making a error was on Wednesday night. My friend Sarah and I where going to a worship service in Lincoln. The pastor who works with the student christian group was giving us a ride (since we don't have cars) and he asked both of us if "we had tea." My response was "Yeah, I like tea." Little did I know that he was asking if we had dinner. Ooops my mistake. We laughed about it and now Sarah and my friends always ask me if i want "tea." I also love finding out what the call other things here. Here are some examples: A parking lot= a car park, a sidewalk=footpath, a stroller=pushcart, and there are so many more but those are my favorite. I also have took a day trip to York and it was amazing. My friend Grace and I just decided to walk around and not really use a map. York is a small town, but it has a beautiful Minster (cathedral) and a lot of History. Grace and I climbed all 275 stairs to the top of the spire. The view was amazing. We could technically see Scotland (where I am going on Fri). We also went to a viking center and had tea at Betty's proper. Betty's is this famous tea cafe that had the BEST English cream tea. Our sponsor of the trip told us to try Little Betty's because the line would be shorter. Well Grace and I walked past Betty's and there was no line so we walked in and waited for less than 2 minutes to have wonderful English Cream tea. Highlight of the day. We had a wonderful time just walking around and walking through little shops of everything. We stopped at a button store, a hat shop, a fudge shop and a chocolate shop. We had a wonderful time. Another thing that has happened since I got here was I watched the Haunting a 1999 film that was shot at Harlaxton (well just the outside and a couple of scenes in the long gallery. It was really cool because watching the movie we all where like "that's where I live." It was fun. I also saw some more traditional dancing. It was cool to watch the History behind dancing. I also had my first Bitter. It was good. I seem to be the only one who likes beer in my group of friends. Oh well :). Enough of me rambling here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Scene from the Haunting that is now my home

My bitter

Forester Morris Dancing group

Clifford Tower at York

Betty's Tea Cafe

My tea and scones

Inside York Minster

View from the top

Five Sisters of Glass

York Minster

Next weekend is Scotland, so be on the lookout for another post

liz

London

Hello,

I just got back from London, and I had a wonderful time, I have put pictures up of the "major" places that I went to, and I will tell you more about each place but for now here are some pictures of life at Harlaxton. I am loving it here and I have made some new friends and I am having a wonderful time.

Blackcurrent and Chicken marsala pringles.

A yummy snack

Ceilidh (Kaylee) Dancing

LONDON!!!!

This trip was AMAZING!! I loved it. I had a wonderful time and I want to go back. We arrived by coach (charter bus) and just hung out in our room for the first night. Friday morning we met up with some of our friends who stayed in a hostel in London. We took a walking tour of London and got to see most of the sights. Our first stop was the British Museum. I think I could of spent all day in that place (thankfully we went back on Sat). We then walked to Piccadilly Circus and saw the "Times Square" of London, Next stop was Liechtensteiner Square but it was under construction. Then we saw the National Gallery and had lunch in a Crypt. I had my first taste of Mushy Peas (yuck) and really good fish and chips. After lunch we saw Trafalgar Square. Then it was off to the Big Ben and everything that is right on the river Thames. We stopped by Buckingham place, but the queen was not there :( We then hoped on the Tube (underground) and road to the Tower of London, and Tower Bridge. We did not get to see the crown jewels, but I want to go back to see them. At this point in time everyone in our group was really tired so we went back to the hotel and took a nap. Yes it was wonderful! We needed to get dinner so we checked out the restaurants around the hotel and found a really cheap pasta place. I had chicken curry :) with my pasta, and Bubbling water (very interesting). The next day (Sat) we took the Tube up to Abbey Road. It was so cool to cross the street where the Beatles recorded their music. We then went to Kings Cross to see Platform 9 and three quarters, but they moved it inside and you had to have a ticket to get in. So I am going back to see Kings Cross. We then went back to the British Museum and saw mummies and really cool European artifacts. In the evening we went to Regent Street and Window shopped at expensive stores. On Sunday we left London and went to Hampton Court Palace an saw the Palace there. Henry VIII lived there along with William and Mary (not at the same time). it was really cool to see the history there. Enjoy the Pictures :)

Iconic phone booth

Olympic Medals

British Museum

Piccadilly Circus

Liz

Hello Mrs. Usrey's Class

Hello from England and the UK,

Cici and I are having a wonderful time exploring the castle that we live in. I have started school just like you and I am going to classes. I live in a beautiful castle and Cici loves the exploring that we do. There are so many secret passage ways. I keep finding new ones everyday. I am writing

this post to you at 1:15 in the afternoon while every single one of you is getting ready to go to school. The British people have different words than we use at home. If I want french fries, I have to ask for "chips." They also walk on "footpaths" instead of sidewalks. I am kinda learning a new language but it is still english. The castle is huge and has a lot of pretty rooms. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures. This weekend I am going to London and

I will take a whole bunch of pictures so enjoy looking at them :)

Cici and Ms. Usrey in Class

Exploring the Castle

A statue that is on a staircase

Cici going through a fire door

How did you get up there??

In a classroom window

Billy the bagpiper

The ceiling in the long gallery

secret passage way door

My home for the next 4 months

In the Dallas airport waiting for our plane

Our plane is here!!

On the plane

Dinner for the night

lots of love,

Ms. Usrey