After Edinburgh, I had the chance to go further north on January 25th to Perth, which is on the southeastern edge of the Scottish Highlands. It was a cute, little town nestled in the rolling hills. Sometimes you have to get outside the city to see what life is really like in a foreign country.
Perth, Scotland
Perth, Scotland
Firth of Forth leading out to the North Sea
This past weekend we travelled north to the capitol of Scotland!
One of the greatest things about studying abroad for a year is that I have so much time to do the things that I want to do. I can pick and choose the things that I want to do, and take my time seeing them. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to do that when the group took their first trip to London. I went along on Friday, and I have to say that it was nice to already have a sense of the city before I got there. I didn’t have to struggle with the Tube and using an oyster card, and I got to watch other people experience London for the first time, which was pretty cool.
Tower of London
One of the reasons I was so excited to go along on Friday was because the group went to see the Tower of London. I had never seen the Tower before, and had always really wanted to go. I love exploring old castles, and it especially cool to see the Tower because of how many important events occurred there. We saw the Crown Jewels, the green where Anne Boleyn was executed, and the tower where the two princes were supposedly murdered by their uncle, Richard III. Being inside and walking around the Tower made me feel that much more connected to history, and like I was a part of it.
The Imperial War Museum, London
I was also really excited for our day in London because we visited the Imperial War Museum. This museum had all kinds of exhibits from different wars that Great Britain has participated in. I am both horrified and fascinated with the events of the Holocaust, and I appreciated the work that was put into the Holocaust exhibit. Since we are celebrating the hundred years since World War I, the museum had an excellent exhibit about things from World War I. Overall, I was quite impressed with the work put into this museum, and would love to spend more time there.
“Wicked” at the Apollo Victoria Theatre
But the best part of the day came at the end of the night when we all went to see “Wicked” at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. For those who don’t know, “Wicked” is the story of the Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz.” I had never seen “Wicked” before, but I have been dying to see it ever since it started running. I’m a huge fan of Idina Menzel, who played Elphaba in the original cast, and I was thrilled that I got to see this musical that she was once in.
My anticipation and the expectations I had for the play were blown out of the water. I am not ashamed to say that there were times that I cried during the play. It was wonderfully put on and right after it ended, I wanted to see it again. My favorite part was at the end of the first act when Elphaba sings “Defying Gravity.” I literally felt weightless during that song. I love the way that music can move you so much, and because of that, I would absolutely recommend seeing “Wicked” to everyone.
Overall, it was a wonderful weekend, and I’m really glad I went along to London with everyone on Friday. I’m really excited about this new group in Cambridge, and for all of the trips we’re going to take together and all the memories we’ll make!
This past weekend we visited London. It’s such an amazing city! Where else can you find medieval castles intermingling with skyscrapers?
The Market Square in Cambridge, UK – built originally by the Vikings
The River Cam (Cam-Bridge)
Hello everyone! For those of you who don’t know, I am studying abroad for the entire 2014-2015 school year in Cambridge, and I’m back blogging again! I had a wonderful Christmas break in Cambridge, but I am really excited to get back into a routine with classes again.
As the title indicates, a new year and new semester have begun. The new Study Center group arrived last Thursday, and they have been getting settled and getting to know Cambridge for the past couple of days. It’s fun to watch people discover new things in the town. It was also a good conversation starter between the group and myself. If they had any questions about where to eat, where to shop, or anything of that nature, I could answer them.
On Friday, everyone took a guided tour of Cambridge. While everyone was taking their tour, I decided to take a tour of my own. I walked around the market, down past King’s College and Queen’s College, and then walked around the backs of the colleges. It was a gorgeous day and the sun was shining. Walking around on my own reminded me of why I chose to study here, and how even though I’m not new in town like the rest of the group is, I can still enjoy all of the culture and history I have around me.
The back of King’s College Chapel
The River Cam from the Clare College bridge
On Friday evening after their arrival, we went to see a pantomime (or panto, as they call it) of “Aladdin” at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. A panto is the British slapstick comedy play. They only run for a few months out of every year, so we were lucky to get to see one. These kinds of shows almost always feature a man in drag, and include a lot of audience participation. For example, the audience knows that when a character says, “Oh, no he didn’t!”, they yell back, “Oh, yes he did!”, and they boo and hiss at the villain. It also featured many songs pulled from all sorts of genres, including, “One Way or Another” and “Roar.”
Cambridge Arts Theatre presents “Aladdin”
For the most part, I think everyone enjoyed the play, and I know I thought it was funny. It was different from the Disney version of Aladdin we have come to know and love, with the setting in Peking, China, and Aladdin living with his mother and brother and running a laundromat. The night after the play, we all gathered around the TV to watch the “real” Disney version of Aladdin together.
Our next adventure is London this weekend, where we will have a chance to see the Tower of London and the play “Wicked,” which are two things that are on my bucket list. I can’t wait to travel with this group and spend some time in one of the greatest cities in Europe!
Castle Hill – Cambridge, UK
Emily P. looks out across Cambridge from the city’s highest point (January 10, 2015)
King’s College, University of Cambridge – Cambridge, UK
On our first tour of the city, we were able to see the largest university chapel in the world (January 9, 2015)
For those of you who know the series, you would have figured out just from the title of this blog that this is about Harry Potter. Being in the home of Harry Potter, it is only fitting that we would take a trip to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studios just outside of London. For any Harry Potter fan who comes to the UK: GO SEE THE STUDIOS. It was the most amazing thing. My face was frozen in a perpetual smile, and I think I even cried. Seriously, go see it.
I went with three friends to see the studios on Friday. Naturally, since there were four of us, we all had to dress up as a student from each of the four houses. I was the only one wearing green, so I ended up being from Slytherin. We completed our ensembles with chapel robes borrowed from Westfield House next door. We had people stop and take pictures of us because of how dressed up we were.
Our first stop was King’s Cross Train Station, where we stood in line and took pictures at Platform 9 3/4. Since I was from Slytherin, they let me wield the wand of Voldemort. I felt quite powerful, and I’m pretty sure that I cursed a lot of other people in our line. Oh well.
Going to Hogwarts at Platform 9 3/4
The studios themselves were fascinating. There were so many different sets to see. They had sets from Harry’s bedroom, the Gryffindor Common Room, the Ministry of Magic, Harry’s house on 4 Privet Drive, and so many more. They saved a ton of props and costumes from the movies and had them on display as well. My favorite had to be Dumbledore’s office. It was a little bit smaller than I imagined, but other than that, it looked exactly like it does in the movies. Everything was there, including the sorting hat sitting on a shelf. We had a great time taking pictures in front of everything and reliving our childhoods in the days of our youth when we first read and watched Harry Potter. It was truly a magical (no pun intended) day.
Harry’s and Ron’s Outfits from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”
Dumbledore’s Office
The Great Hall
I felt that the title for this blog was appropriate not only because of its reference to Harry Potter, but because our time in Cambridge is coming to a close. We are nearly through with this semester, and I have to say that I don’t know where the time went. It seems like yesterday that we were all meeting each other for the first time and getting on a plane to fly halfway across the world. I know that I speak for everyone in Cambridge when I say that this has been an unbelievable semester, and that we will cherish the memories we have made here when we return to Valpo.
Last weekend, the entire group embarked on our last trip together to see all sorts of castles around England. We also made stops at other places of historical significance. It was a great last trip for everyone to take together, and we had a lot of fun.
First, we stopped and visited Warwick castle. There are many different parts of the castle that were built and rebuilt over the years, some by the Normans, some during the Tudor reign, some much more recent. The oldest part of the castle, however, dates all the way back to the Anglo-Saxons, who lived in England before William the Conqueror and the Normans invaded. It was fun to climb the towers and walk around the outside of the castle.
Warwick Castle
Our next stop was in Stratford-upon-Avon. This was where William Shakespeare was born and lived with his family. We went through the house where he was born, and visited other houses of various family members, such as his daughter Susannah. He was probably one of the most wealthy in the town, because the rooms in the houses were huge (for that time) and had real glass windows. Most people would not have been able to afford glass, so that just showed how wealthy he and his family were.
Shakespeare’s Birthplace
The best part of the day was when we saw the Royal Shakespeare Company perform “Love’s Labour’s Lost.” This play is not nearly as well known as many of Shakespeare’s other plays, and was only recorded to have been performed in England three times during the 1800s. They set the story during the early 1900s in England, and had amazing sets and costumes that resembled those of Downton Abbey.
In Bath, we visited the Roman Baths. Bath was a very different kind of English town, because it really didn’t feel English at all. I felt like I was back in Italy, which makes sense, since this was an old Roman city. It’s amazing that the baths are still in such good condition for being as old as they are. They still had the natural hot spring running nicely, and it was cool to get to see something that old and that historical.
Roman Bath House
On our last day, we stopped for a cold and rainy hour to see Stonehenge. After that, we travelled to Surrey, right outside of London, and visited Hampton Court Palace. This was by far my favorite thing that we did. I am especially interested in history surrounding the Tudor monarchs, and was ecstatic that I got to see Henry VIII’s rooms. One of the hallways is said to be haunted by the ghost of Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Katherine Howard, and people have reported seeing her ghost running toward the chapel to beg for her life from King Henry, and hearing her screams as she’s dragged away.
Stonehenge
Hampton Court Palace
It is getting right down to the end of the semester, and I think everyone is excited to go home, but sad to be leaving Cambridge. We have done so many things and experienced so much that our perspectives have changed, and we have truly made Cambridge our home. It’s been a thrill so far, and I can’t wait to see what these last few weeks have in store for us!
It was a nice change of pace from our big trip to Spain and Italy, because instead of there being ten of twelve of us all traveling and trying to go places at once, there were just a few of us. We got to spend a lot of time leisurely walking around and seeing whatever we came across.
We trained up to Edinburgh on Thursday night, which, with all of the train changes, is nearly a five hour journey. We made it in the middle of the evening and had a chance to walk around and look at all of the Christmas lights. Because it was the weekend before Veteran’s Day (or Armistice Day, as it is officially called in England), all of the gravestones at the churches and cathedrals had poppies on them in honor of those who were killed during World War I. It was very pretty and also very moving to see that sort of large scale memorial.
One of the things that Scotland is most known for, besides bagpipes and kilt, is Scotch Whiskey. There are so many distilleries all over the country that brew different kinds of scotch. While we were in the city, we took a tour of a distillery in Edinburgh and got to try scotch from different regions of Edinburgh. We also got to stand in a room that houses the world’s largest scotch whiskey collection. All in all, a fun afternoon.
On Saturday, we trained up to Inverness, Scotland, the city that is closest to Loch Ness. In the afternoon, we took a boat tour of Loch Ness. Our boat’s captain was a very nice old man who let us each take turns driving the boat. He was a member of the Loch Ness Investigation team back in the 1960s, and recorded one of the first camera sightings of the supposed Loch Ness Monster. He showed us a video about all of the work he did, and gave us some explantations for what Nessie could be. It was a very interesting tour, to say the least.
View from Loch Ness
That evening, we went to a pub called Hootenanny’s. This was my favorite part of the entire trip because we got to sit and listen to (or dance to) traditional Scottish music for three hours. The live band consisted of an accordion player and a guitar player. The accordion player is actually pretty well known, because not only is he a musician, but he has his own band and is also a professional athlete in a sport called shinty. The guitar player was one of the most talented musicians I have ever heard in my life, so it was a great night to get to sit and listen to the two of them.
This weekend, we’re traveling as a group to several castles, Shakespeare’s birthplace, and Stonehenge. Hopefully it’ll be a fun way to wrap up our time abroad, which for most, is quickly drawing to a close. We’ll all be back in Valpo before we know it!
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