From London, we headed back out to the countryside to a conference center, High Leigh, in Hoddeston. The location was prime for walking over the hills and laying out on the lawn journalling, and night games. It felt like a church retreat, in a way. During our time there, we had to write a paper and spent more time in class. We had beautiful weather and I enjoyed hanging out with my friends and learning.
For an idea of the schedule of the day at High Leigh, and the amount of time spent eating, here is an example:
Wake up
-Eat Breakfast
Class
-Morning tea and biscuits
Class
-Lunch
Break
-Afternoon tea and biscuits
break
-Dinner
break
-EVENING REFRESHMENT to cap it all off.
We left High Leigh after about 5 days and stopped at Cambridge for two nights to explore the university. We toured the colleges and had a birthday party that night.
Monday, October 5, 2009
London the first time
From St. Deniol's Library, we moved all too quickly into the big city of London. I had some apprehension about navigating the city and figuring it out, once things got going I came to love it.
The first full day, we went on a typical, touristy “Hop on, Hop off” tour of London on a double decker bus. On that tour, I viewed Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. A friend and I took a cruise on the Thames up to the Tower of London, and walked over to the Tate Modern, where we saw many modern artists we’d studied in school.
The next day, I wandered through the British Museum and got to see the "Elgin Marbles"--famous and controversial grecian sculptures orginally from the Parthenon. I enjoyed them immensely--half of the figures were a play by play of some man fighting a centuar, and losing. Except none of them had heads. After this, I did a little shopping on Oxford Street and explored more on foot. That evening, our group went to the Agape Arabic Christian Center, a small Arabic bookstore in an Arabic Quarter of London. While there, we got to hear from several Christian Arabs about their lives and ministry to muslims around them.
I went to church the following morning at an Evangelical church, a very interesting service that reminded me of church at home. Afterwards, a few friends and I went to Hyde Park, a busy tree lined park in central London. With the sounds of an ABBA concert echoing through the green park, we enjoyed some time journaling and reading. Later that night, a bunch of our group went to the Thames Festival, an outdoor art festival along the River Thames. Outside the Tate Modern, they had created several art installations using fire, and had little fires around the yard and along the river. With the live music, festive food, arts and crafts, and cool dry air, it was a perfect night to be out.
The entirity of my day on Monday ended up to be trying to find a place to get a hip London haircut. And I did!
Tuesday was our day at the Globe Theater, starting with an insiders tour and class and ending with a performance of "As You Like It". It was pouring rain. The tour and class were interesting--we got to learn about how Shakespeare would have directed a play in his time. We had a break then, during which a few friends and I travelled across London to go to a cheap clothes store and buy Ben's Cookies--an england term legacy we are carrying on. Then we headed back to the Globe for one of my favorite nights of the trip. "As You Like It" was wonderful. The energy and talent of the actors, the way they interacted with the crowd, the atmostphere of the historic globe theater, and the story itself made for an absolutely fantastic performance and a wonderful night for our last one in London.
The first full day, we went on a typical, touristy “Hop on, Hop off” tour of London on a double decker bus. On that tour, I viewed Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. A friend and I took a cruise on the Thames up to the Tower of London, and walked over to the Tate Modern, where we saw many modern artists we’d studied in school.
The next day, I wandered through the British Museum and got to see the "Elgin Marbles"--famous and controversial grecian sculptures orginally from the Parthenon. I enjoyed them immensely--half of the figures were a play by play of some man fighting a centuar, and losing. Except none of them had heads. After this, I did a little shopping on Oxford Street and explored more on foot. That evening, our group went to the Agape Arabic Christian Center, a small Arabic bookstore in an Arabic Quarter of London. While there, we got to hear from several Christian Arabs about their lives and ministry to muslims around them.
I went to church the following morning at an Evangelical church, a very interesting service that reminded me of church at home. Afterwards, a few friends and I went to Hyde Park, a busy tree lined park in central London. With the sounds of an ABBA concert echoing through the green park, we enjoyed some time journaling and reading. Later that night, a bunch of our group went to the Thames Festival, an outdoor art festival along the River Thames. Outside the Tate Modern, they had created several art installations using fire, and had little fires around the yard and along the river. With the live music, festive food, arts and crafts, and cool dry air, it was a perfect night to be out.
The entirity of my day on Monday ended up to be trying to find a place to get a hip London haircut. And I did!
Tuesday was our day at the Globe Theater, starting with an insiders tour and class and ending with a performance of "As You Like It". It was pouring rain. The tour and class were interesting--we got to learn about how Shakespeare would have directed a play in his time. We had a break then, during which a few friends and I travelled across London to go to a cheap clothes store and buy Ben's Cookies--an england term legacy we are carrying on. Then we headed back to the Globe for one of my favorite nights of the trip. "As You Like It" was wonderful. The energy and talent of the actors, the way they interacted with the crowd, the atmostphere of the historic globe theater, and the story itself made for an absolutely fantastic performance and a wonderful night for our last one in London.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
St. Deniol's Library
In the heart of a small village in Northern Wales, William Gladstone—book enthusiast and prime minister in the 19th century—built a library to house his huge collection of books. It is now a library, bed and breakfast, and destination for people wanting to study a number of subjects.
I feel so blessed to have stayed at St. Deniol’s for a week. Since it is more of a study center, we had classes in the mornings and some really inspiring discussions about literature. The afternoons were spent reading Wuthering Heights and drinking afternoon tea, or going on long walks through the lanes and fields of Hawarden. The days there seemed to last forever, and the building felt like home. Spending time there inspired me to read and write and just enjoy quiet time.
It wasn’t all rest and relaxation. Our group climbed Mount Snowdon, the tallest peak in Wales, which was one of the more physically demanding things I’ve done in my life. There were high winds, pelting rain, and steep rocky inclines that seemed to go on forever. But with the fellowship of a few friends, we conquered the mountain and made it to the summit … only to see white mist. Although there was no view, it was still satisfying to do something so challenging. There was a nice station at the top to get hot drinks and rest before the trek back down.
The library itself we found to be slightly haunted, and it inspired our imaginations
One of my favorite parts of the stay at St. Deniol’s was spending time in the library. They have these moveable stacks full of literature that I spent hours perusing and wishing I could stay forever to read them all. Maybe I’ll go back some day…
I feel so blessed to have stayed at St. Deniol’s for a week. Since it is more of a study center, we had classes in the mornings and some really inspiring discussions about literature. The afternoons were spent reading Wuthering Heights and drinking afternoon tea, or going on long walks through the lanes and fields of Hawarden. The days there seemed to last forever, and the building felt like home. Spending time there inspired me to read and write and just enjoy quiet time.
It wasn’t all rest and relaxation. Our group climbed Mount Snowdon, the tallest peak in Wales, which was one of the more physically demanding things I’ve done in my life. There were high winds, pelting rain, and steep rocky inclines that seemed to go on forever. But with the fellowship of a few friends, we conquered the mountain and made it to the summit … only to see white mist. Although there was no view, it was still satisfying to do something so challenging. There was a nice station at the top to get hot drinks and rest before the trek back down.
The library itself we found to be slightly haunted, and it inspired our imaginations
One of my favorite parts of the stay at St. Deniol’s was spending time in the library. They have these moveable stacks full of literature that I spent hours perusing and wishing I could stay forever to read them all. Maybe I’ll go back some day…
Monday, August 31, 2009
Random Things about England
Here are some random things about England that are notably different than in America. I like to pick up on these cultural differences that I had no idea about until I got here.
-They don't have a sheet to cover up with. It's just a sheet to cover the mattress, and then a duvet (sp?) cover to put over a thick comforter type blanket. This was very confusing at first. In Edinburgh, I used the duvet cover as a sheet but thought it was weird that there were like 2 sheets glued together. I was also afraid to use the comforter they gave us, because it looked gross. Eventually learned that the double sheet was a duvet, and the comforter probably was gross but meant to be covered by a clean duvet.
-Bath mats. Paper squares about two feet by three feet to put on the floor instead of a rug.
-In America, on a walking path, you typically walk on the right side. We drive on the right side. Still figuring out if we should walk on the left side in England.
-Road Signs:
Give way=yield
Humps Ahead=Bumps Ahead ( I wonder if America is the only place that calls them bumps. They were called humps in Belize too )
-Wellies=Boots
-Cheers! = a commonly used parting comment that I think means, generally, "Have a good one"
-Obession with fire safety. The first week here, I noticed the large amount of green colored signs saying "fire assembly point" and "fire exit this way". Each place we go, they commnunicate over and over the fire exits and fire safety. We've also dealt with three fire alarms and evacuations--two in the flats at Edinburgh and one last night, at 3 AM, here at St. Deniol's library. Upon finding the room which made the alarms go off, which happened to be a room two from our team are staying in, the library peopel asked "We're you smoking??" to which they replied "No, we were sleeping!" to which the library people said, "Oh, another possibility is that a spider crawled in to the fire alarm." We were too tired at the time to speculate how the presence of a spider could set off fire alarms throughout the whole building.
-Obsession with their dogs. People take their dogs every where with them, and half of the articles in the daily paper are about "How to travel with your dog" and "England's Oldest Dog Dies". There are dogs tied up on their leashes outside the supermarket and other stores.
-They don't have a sheet to cover up with. It's just a sheet to cover the mattress, and then a duvet (sp?) cover to put over a thick comforter type blanket. This was very confusing at first. In Edinburgh, I used the duvet cover as a sheet but thought it was weird that there were like 2 sheets glued together. I was also afraid to use the comforter they gave us, because it looked gross. Eventually learned that the double sheet was a duvet, and the comforter probably was gross but meant to be covered by a clean duvet.
-Bath mats. Paper squares about two feet by three feet to put on the floor instead of a rug.
-In America, on a walking path, you typically walk on the right side. We drive on the right side. Still figuring out if we should walk on the left side in England.
-Road Signs:
Give way=yield
Humps Ahead=Bumps Ahead ( I wonder if America is the only place that calls them bumps. They were called humps in Belize too )
-Wellies=Boots
-Cheers! = a commonly used parting comment that I think means, generally, "Have a good one"
-Obession with fire safety. The first week here, I noticed the large amount of green colored signs saying "fire assembly point" and "fire exit this way". Each place we go, they commnunicate over and over the fire exits and fire safety. We've also dealt with three fire alarms and evacuations--two in the flats at Edinburgh and one last night, at 3 AM, here at St. Deniol's library. Upon finding the room which made the alarms go off, which happened to be a room two from our team are staying in, the library peopel asked "We're you smoking??" to which they replied "No, we were sleeping!" to which the library people said, "Oh, another possibility is that a spider crawled in to the fire alarm." We were too tired at the time to speculate how the presence of a spider could set off fire alarms throughout the whole building.
-Obsession with their dogs. People take their dogs every where with them, and half of the articles in the daily paper are about "How to travel with your dog" and "England's Oldest Dog Dies". There are dogs tied up on their leashes outside the supermarket and other stores.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
To Her Fair Works Did Nature Link The Human Soul That Through Me Ran ...
After leaving Edinburgh, we traveled to the island of Lindisfarne, also called the "Holy Island". It is a place steeped in Celtic history, a place where monks and saints once lived and created the basis for their mission to the pagan people in surrounding Northumbria. Their history is very important to them there, and all the islanders know and respect the stories of St. Aiden and St. Cuthbert.
A unique thing about this island is that it is totally dependent on the tide. At high tide, the road is covered by the sea, and impassible, trapping those on the island, on the island until the morning, and low tide, comes. It was a wonderful place to stay--very idyllic and welcoming, and we stayed in a bed and breakfast that had comfortable beds and a home cooked dinner.
In the morning at low tide I walked about gathering sea glass, enjoying how much slower life goes when you are not in the city.
We only stayed a night there, and went on to Durham, the sight of England's greatest Roman style cathedral. The town of Durham almost felt like the Edina of Minnesota--kind of ritzy and rich. The Cathedral itself was beautiful, and we attended evensong there. It was amazing to hear the huge, open building fill with the sound of the choir.
Durham was also a one night stay, and finally we came to the Lake District. Along the way, we stopped at Hadrian's Wall, a stone wall built by some king long ago to mark the border of the northern Roman empire. We got to hike along it in the wind and the rain, up and down steep rocky inclines with beautiful views at the top.
Now I am in the Lake District, which was one of the draws for me for coming on this trip. We are staying in a town called Keswick, right in the heart of all the mountains (called fells), which are splashed in purple heather and covered with pine forests. The town kind of feels like a Colorado town, with many outdoors shops and focus on getting out and exploring the Lakes.
We visited the house of William Wordsworth, poet, a necessity for us literature nerds. We had an outdoor activities day, guided by outdoor adventure guides. Although it was downpouring and freezing, we built canoe rafts and took them out on Derwentwater Lake. After, we got to do archery and orienteering. The best part about this day was wearing the "waterproofs" (rain jackets and pants) and "wellies" (rain boots). We all looked strange. That was enjoyable for me.
Today I hiked up around the area, saw some breathtaking views of the surrounding fells, and walked through a field with sheep and black horses. My life is complete!
A unique thing about this island is that it is totally dependent on the tide. At high tide, the road is covered by the sea, and impassible, trapping those on the island, on the island until the morning, and low tide, comes. It was a wonderful place to stay--very idyllic and welcoming, and we stayed in a bed and breakfast that had comfortable beds and a home cooked dinner.
In the morning at low tide I walked about gathering sea glass, enjoying how much slower life goes when you are not in the city.
We only stayed a night there, and went on to Durham, the sight of England's greatest Roman style cathedral. The town of Durham almost felt like the Edina of Minnesota--kind of ritzy and rich. The Cathedral itself was beautiful, and we attended evensong there. It was amazing to hear the huge, open building fill with the sound of the choir.
Durham was also a one night stay, and finally we came to the Lake District. Along the way, we stopped at Hadrian's Wall, a stone wall built by some king long ago to mark the border of the northern Roman empire. We got to hike along it in the wind and the rain, up and down steep rocky inclines with beautiful views at the top.
Now I am in the Lake District, which was one of the draws for me for coming on this trip. We are staying in a town called Keswick, right in the heart of all the mountains (called fells), which are splashed in purple heather and covered with pine forests. The town kind of feels like a Colorado town, with many outdoors shops and focus on getting out and exploring the Lakes.
We visited the house of William Wordsworth, poet, a necessity for us literature nerds. We had an outdoor activities day, guided by outdoor adventure guides. Although it was downpouring and freezing, we built canoe rafts and took them out on Derwentwater Lake. After, we got to do archery and orienteering. The best part about this day was wearing the "waterproofs" (rain jackets and pants) and "wellies" (rain boots). We all looked strange. That was enjoyable for me.
Today I hiked up around the area, saw some breathtaking views of the surrounding fells, and walked through a field with sheep and black horses. My life is complete!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Rest of Edinburgh
The past 4 or 5 days in the city have provided me with so many new experiences that I've absolutely loved. We have started class at this point, which adds the dynamic of doing homework, planning out how to spend my time wisely, and remembering to wake up in the morning to walk to class. Beyond that though, plenty has been happening.
The great thing about this city is that we can get everywhere we need to by walking. I've never walked so much in my life, but it's so convenient and easy to get around and see all I want to see. I visited the Scottish History Museum, had coffee in the Elephant House (the cafe where J.K Rowling wrote Harry Potter), toured the Edinburgh Castle, climbed a mountain/hill called Arthur's Seat, and saw a few shows.
One of the shows, called "Tattoo", was this Scottish military band performance that was held in a temporary stadium type thing built right in front of the Castle. It was a huge spectacle, and people from all over the world were there to see it. It was a wonderful thing to be a part of, a very Scottish thing. There is nothing like the sound of a hundred bagpipes playing "Auld Lang Syne" in front of the towering castle ramparts.
Saturday the group got out of the city and bussed out to visit the ruins of a castle called Linlithgow and tour the restored Stirling Castle. Both held so much history and beauty, but I liked wandering around the ruins at Linlithgow the most. It was set beside a blue loch and walking around the grounds and crumbling stone was quite peaceful and reflective.
Today is the last day in the city. I know I will miss it but I can't wait to get out into the countryside and explore the Lake District in England.
The great thing about this city is that we can get everywhere we need to by walking. I've never walked so much in my life, but it's so convenient and easy to get around and see all I want to see. I visited the Scottish History Museum, had coffee in the Elephant House (the cafe where J.K Rowling wrote Harry Potter), toured the Edinburgh Castle, climbed a mountain/hill called Arthur's Seat, and saw a few shows.
One of the shows, called "Tattoo", was this Scottish military band performance that was held in a temporary stadium type thing built right in front of the Castle. It was a huge spectacle, and people from all over the world were there to see it. It was a wonderful thing to be a part of, a very Scottish thing. There is nothing like the sound of a hundred bagpipes playing "Auld Lang Syne" in front of the towering castle ramparts.
Saturday the group got out of the city and bussed out to visit the ruins of a castle called Linlithgow and tour the restored Stirling Castle. Both held so much history and beauty, but I liked wandering around the ruins at Linlithgow the most. It was set beside a blue loch and walking around the grounds and crumbling stone was quite peaceful and reflective.
Today is the last day in the city. I know I will miss it but I can't wait to get out into the countryside and explore the Lake District in England.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Sipping Lattes in Edinburgh
I made it safely to the UK! We got in to Edinburgh in the afternoon yesterday (August 18), exhausted, jet-lagged, but extremely excited! We are staying in University of Edinburgh housing "flats" which give us each our own room. Mine is on the third story with a window across from a beautiful old church and looking down on busy Clerk Street. It's very noisy but perfect, because we are in walking distance from all the necessary Edinburgh sites.
Today, with a few other members of my team, I walked down the "Royal Mile" where the Fringe Festival crowds hurried about in the cold, gray wind. I love the weather--it's exactly how I pictured Scotland to be. At the center of the city is the old castle that towers over everything from its stone hill. We explored the National Gallery of Scotland, found a little "Writer's Museum", and marveled at the many tall spires of churches throughout the city.
As far as the overall feeling I get from the people is one of indifference. Not many are overly friendly or unkind, they just walk quickly to their destinations and keep their eyes level. I definitely stand out as an American and tourist, what with my dorky huge camera bag and huge camera. But, with the Fringe Festival going on, we are not the only tourists here. For the next few days, we will be seeing shows, continuing to explore in our large amount of free time, and starting classes.
Today, with a few other members of my team, I walked down the "Royal Mile" where the Fringe Festival crowds hurried about in the cold, gray wind. I love the weather--it's exactly how I pictured Scotland to be. At the center of the city is the old castle that towers over everything from its stone hill. We explored the National Gallery of Scotland, found a little "Writer's Museum", and marveled at the many tall spires of churches throughout the city.
As far as the overall feeling I get from the people is one of indifference. Not many are overly friendly or unkind, they just walk quickly to their destinations and keep their eyes level. I definitely stand out as an American and tourist, what with my dorky huge camera bag and huge camera. But, with the Fringe Festival going on, we are not the only tourists here. For the next few days, we will be seeing shows, continuing to explore in our large amount of free time, and starting classes.
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