Field Trips...What??

I'm in college and I get to take field trips. Yes that statement is true. Today we took a field trip to Southwell Workhouse and toured the Manor. Yes I know touring the Manor that I live in?? It was to see how the Manor is very Victorian in the layout and how the house functioned. It was interesting to see this division. I guess I knew that it existed but to actually see it and realize that this happened was a WHOLE different thing. The Southwell workhouse also correlated to what we are studying in British Studies. The workhouse was separated into men and women oh and children had there own wing. The whole idea behind the workhouse was to strip the identity of the people who came to work to try and convince them to find a job. The jobs at the workhouse where tasks that would keep people occupied not really jobs that had any meaning or value to them. If you where able bodied then you worked. They also trained the children to try and get jobs in country manor homes, so that they could live in a better place. I think that i would want to work in a Manor house. I just think that it is cool that I am in college and I get to take field trips.

-xx-

liz

Little Dirt Balls

Another weekend of Traveling,

This weekend was filled with an adventure to Oxford, Bath and Stonehenge, but first I had a got my tickets for the football (soccer) next weekend. It was not my first choice of teams but I am really excited to go with my friend Hayley. We are taking a train to London on Sunday, then going to the game then coming back on a night train. I am really excited. Here are my tickets :)

Now on to my trip to Oxford Bath and Stonehenge. It was a great trip and we had wonderful weather the whole weekend. It was sunny and pleasant and just great for walking around little towns. Our first stop was Oxford. We visited Christ Church. It is the home of many famous author such as Lewis Carroll. John Wesley and Charles Wesley also studied there. Scenes from Harry Potter where also shot at Christ Church. The great hall in the movie was modeled after the Great Hall of Christ Church. We also went to a Museum and just walked around Oxford. We only spent about an hour there but it was worth it. I would love to go back and spend some more time there. It was a wonderful city and a great history. Here are the pictures for Oxford.

Christ Church College

Anyone know what these where in?

Cathedral at Christ Church

John and Charles Wesley

We then left for Bath and then my camera died, but I did get pictures later of the city.. have no fear :) On Saturday morning we took an optional trip to Glastonbury. It is home of the Glastonbury abbey and Tor Hill. we hiked up the Tor first and then walked around the Abbey. We had great weather the whole time and it was a wonderful walk (not as bad as some family hikes.. Yellowstone...Mariposa grove). The climb was well worth it and the view was incredible coming down. We then went to the Abbey. Since the seasons run on a little bit of a different schedule things where starting to bloom. The flowers where absolutely breathtaking against the backdrop of the Abbey. We explored a little bit but I wish that we could of had more time (this always seems to be a problem). We found the gave site of King Arthur and his Queen Genevieve. I really loved walking around the Abbey. We then went back to Bath to enjoy the afternoon and lunch. We stopped at an Irish pub and got to watch a half of a rugby match. I also got a Guinness and a clover was drawn on top it :) Made me smile. After that we headed to the Jane Austen Center. It was really cool see a glimpse into the life of her. It was really cool and wonderful to see. We then walked up to the Royal Crescent, which is really impressive to look at. We also went to the shopping district and I had fun window shopping. Our night ended back at a pub for dinner again. We also spent time doing homework.. This week is going to be CRAZY!! On Sunday morning we woke up and headed towards the Roman Baths. The Baths are fed by a natural hot spring. It was really cool to see the bubbling of the water and it reminded me of a trip to Yellowstone a few years ago. I did not touch the Bath (it was green) but I did have fun walking around and seeing how the Romans would have used the natural bath to their advantage. I also took pictures of the Abbey church in Bath. It was wonderful inside and I wish I would of had more time to walk around. After Bath we left for Stonehenge.

St. Micheal's Chapel on the Tor

View from the top of the Tor

The spring flowers and the abbey ruins

Guinness and Rugby

Jane Austen Center

Royal Crescent

Bath Abbey

Down by the Bath

Stonehenge, by far the coolest place that I have been too. It was amazing to see years of history standing before me. Even though it is just huge rocks it still is amazing to look at. We had fun walking around just looking at the stones from different points of view. We even tried to hold it in our hands. This has been on my bucket list for forever and now I can finally say that I have done it. We then headed to Salisbury for Lunch and we just ate at a restaurant that the building was built in 1258. It was really cool to see. We then took the Coach back to Harlaxton. It was a really good weekend and I had fun.

Stonehenge

In front of Stonehenge

My next trip that I am going on is to Poland. We are going to Auschwitz and hopefully not going to be confused by Polish. It is another place that has been on my bucket list and I can't wait to go. :) Enjoy your week, and I am sure that I am going to post pictures of the game on Sunday!! I also cannot believe that I will be home in less than TWO months. I guess time really does fly when you are having fun.

xoxo

liz

Halfway There (almost)

Hello,

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. I know that mine was a lot of fun. I got presents from my parents and my grandparents. I now have collected a good supply of chocolate :) I also received candy grams from some of my friends (thank you). I also went to a Karaoke party down in the Bistro. I did not sing but I had a wonderful time with my friends singing aloud and taking pictures for the Yearbook ( I took a lot and only a few turned out). Oh well that is how it goes sometimes. It was a great night. They had Guinness in the Bistro so I bought a pint and it just wasn't the same as it was in Ireland, but I finished it anyway (can't let a beer go to waste). Enough about Valentine's Day, here is one good picture of the karaoke party.

Everyone having a good time and singing along.

On Friday I took an evening trip to London. My original plans for this weekend where scraped and moved to a different weekend. It was really nice and I got a lot of homework done. We took a train from Grantham to London (about an our trip) and then walked to Olivia and Trisha's hostel ( I did not stay the night). We then had dinner at a small Thai noodle place that was excellent and I tried a Thai beer. We then caught a cab to the West end and went and saw BackBeat. The show is about how The Beatles got started and the story behind it. It was a great show. one of the highlights of the night was sitting next to a lady who went to a Beatles concert in 1963. It was so cool to see her dance and sing to the music. After the show was over they did a concert type thing, they played the songs and everyone was up dancing, singing, and having a grand time. One of the BEST shows I've seen. After the show was over we waited to see if we could meet some of the cast. We got to meet two of the cast members ( I don't have the picture yet, but when I get it, it will be on here). It was a great end to a wonderful night. I then navigated the tube back to King's Cross, and then waited for my train back to Grantham. Oh the tube was PACKED. You know when they show people squished so tight that the door almost closes on them, yeah that was how packed the tube was. I was the person almost in the door. It was not so fun. But I survived and I didn't get lost at all. My next trip is to Stonehenge/Oxford/Bath. I am excited for it, so be on the lookout for more pictures. I also can't believe that I only have 9 yes NINE more weeks in the UK. It has been a wonderful experience and I would not trade it for the WORLD. But for now enjoy these Pictures :)

My dinner from the Thai noodle place

Backbeat Amazing to say the least

After the show

The Lovely ladies I went with, Trisha on the left, and Olivia on the right.

Much love

-xx-

liz

P.S. Happy 18th Birthday to my Little Brother (who is really taller than me)

Drinks and More Drinks.. also a Hole

Another weekend, another trip

I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Dublin, Cork and Cobh. I went with my friend Lexi and it all started very early in the morning. Our flight out of the UK left at 6:35 so we took a cab at 4:30 to leave the Manor. After getting to the airport we had no problems getting through security (it's very different), and getting to our flight. We arrived in Dublin and went to our hostel even though we could not check in. We also got coffee and scones for breakfast. We walked around and just stumbled into the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. We bought tickets for the 10 am tour and only had two other people on our tour. Since there was only 4 of us on our tour, we got to taste test other whiskeys and compare them. We tasted Jameson, a Scotch Whiskey, and Jack Daniels. I have to say that Jameson was so much better than the other two. We got certificates stating that we where certified whiskey testers. We then bought a hop-on/hop off tour of dublin so that we could see some of the other places in Dublin. We ended up going to Trinity College, Ha'penny Bridge, the Guinness Storehouse, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. We also stopped at a Pub to have a pint and use the restrooms. I tried a Kilkenny and liked it. Friday was also an early start. We booked a Paddywagon tour to Cork, Cobh and the Blarney Stone. Our schedule said that we left at 6:05 sharp, we got up and went to our pick up point and found out that only one other person was on our tour. Her name was Lauren and she was on a trip that she got for graduation. Getting to Cork was very interesting. The paddywagon picked us up at 6:05 and then we went to Paddy's Palace and had breakfast there, then they took us to a Station where Aircoach provided the ride between Dublin and Cork, needless to say we where very very confused. Once we got to Cork another Paddywagon picked us up. We went strait to Blarney Stone and fell in love with how beautiful it was. I also kissed the Blarney Stone, so 7 years of Eloquence for me :) We then went to the little city of Cobh (pronounced Cobe with long o). We ate a pub and I tried another beer (my dad says I'm drinking my way through Europe). After the Pub and lunch started to head back to the van, we decided to stop and take pictures of a Cathedral. As soon we were done taking pictures I stepped into a ditch and fell on my face. We all laughed and we had a good time. After Cobh we went to a little seaside village Kinsale. It was super cute and a lovely town. It had very cute shops and a wonderful atmosphere. We left Kinsale and went back to Cork, after we spent sometime in Cork and then headed back to Dublin. In Dublin we went the Temple Bar Area. We hit up a few pubs before we ended up at THE TEMPLE BAR. I had a great time listening to Irish Music. We also met an Irish guy who met Lauren the night before so we had a great time drinking and talking. We left the Pub at 3:30 and headed back to the Hostel (that was a fun). On Friday we went to the National Leprechaun Museum. We had a great time looking for Leprechauns and hearing stories. After the Museum we went to O'Connell Street and had lunch before Lexi and I had to leave Ireland. We saw the Dublin Spire and a protest. I had a great time and I want to go back. Three days was not enough :) The next trip that I am taking is Oxford/Bath/Stonehenge, but for now enjoy these lovely pictures.

Jameson Distillery

The book of Kells

Guinness Storehouse

My First Guinness

Ha'penny Bridge

Blarney Castle

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Beautiful Flowers

The Cathedral where I fell

The lovely town of Kinsale

Our Paddywagon tour bus

Temple Bar

In the Leprechaun Museum

The Dublin Spire

Our new Friend Lauren.

Love

liz

Newl!fe Weekend Away

Hello,

This week the whole school took a field trip to Lincoln. It is about an hour (by coach) drive. We where split into groups by last name, and then we toured the city, the castle and the cathedral. My group started out by walking around the Roman remains that are in the city. It was really cool to see where emperors had once walked along the same streets that I was walking on. We then had independent travel (meaning we took our own tour of the city). We walked to the Uni that is in Lincoln and walked through the student center and got some interesting looks. We also stopped at some cute shops on Steep street (yes it is really steep). Our next stop was the castle, it was very cool to walk around, inside a castle. We also had the chance to see the Manga Carta, but we could not take pictures :( so that was a disappointment. We then toured a Victorian Jail, where the prisoners where kept in silent solidarity confinement. The Chapel of the Jail was the coolest part, because there is individual stalls to keep you from seeing other people. I also fell down the stairs in there as well (Oops). We then moved into the Cathedral, which is stunning. I loved looking at the stain glass as well as the architecture. It was a lot of fun, and then I got to try two new beers. I had a Hobgoblin as well as a Martsons Smooth. I think that trying new beers is something that I really like doing.

The weekend, was soooooo much fun. I went to a Christian retreat in Norfolk with a group of Uni (University) students from Lincoln. I made a bunch of new friends and had real food, and grew closer to GOD. I also learned some new games like PIT and stairball. I think that stairball is a game that is endless fun, and I will be taking PIT back to the states. When you play stairball, you find a stairwell that has lots of flights and you drop a tennis ball down the the basement from the highest point and you try to make it into a cup. Endless hours of fun (I wish I had a stairwell like it to play). I think the best part was growing closer to GOD. It was the opportunity of a lifetime to go. I got to go with amazing people who are from a different country and still have a common bond with them. We also had a talent show, it was cool to see the talents of many different people. The "Americans" (there was 12 of us that went including me) did an act and I think that it was the hit of the night. Every person kept singing it and asking us to do it again. This was one of the best trips that I have had in a while. OOh and it snowed while we where there so we had a snowball fight and played in the snow.

Enjoy the pictures

Roman arch of the North gate

Castle

Hobgoblin

Martsons Smooth

The Cathedral

The Stain Glass

At the weekend retreat, Me Sarah and Sam

Stairball (from the top looking down)

In the Snow

View in the morning

Liz

PS Next weekend is Ireland! Pictures and update will be coming soon