We watched a Division Three profession soccer (futbol) match with Cambridge’s team. Unfortunately York was victorious.
York vs. Cambridge
York vs Cambridge
Valpo Voyager
Student Stories from Around the World
Category: England (page 7 of 26)
Last weekend, six of us travelled to Scandinavia to see fjords in Norway. When we came abroad and someone told us that we would have the chance to go any place in Scandinavia, we probably wouldn’t have believed them. And looking back on it, I am so glad that we went. It was one of the coolest and most unique trips I’ve ever been on.
We flew into Oslo on Thursday night, and on Friday morning, took a train across the country to Bergen. We wanted to see fjords and there are a lot of fjords in Bergen. The train was six and a half hours long, but it didn’t seem that long because we had gorgeous scenery the entire way. A lot of the way through, we saw many little mountain towns. But when we really got up into the mountains, all the trees disappeared and we found ourselves in a frozen tundra where everyone travelled either by skis or by snowmobile. It was a beautiful ride, and didn’t feel long at all.
Bergen was an amazing city. We got there in the afternoon, and took a tram up a mountain to a scenic overlook over the entire city. We wandered around the mountain on trails until sunset, where we watched the sun go down over the fjord and the city. It was a gorgeous sunset. For dinner, I had the BEST fish soup I’ve ever tasted. It was INCREDIBLE, and a wonderful way to end the evening.
We spent Saturday in Bergen before training back to Oslo. We walked along through an old castle in Bergen, and walked up to the top of what looked like it may have been the remnants of the castle keep. It had a great view of Bergen, and we spent an hour up there, taking pictures. After that, we wandered around the town before our train left, and all bought hats to let everyone around us know that we were tourists. But they’re really warm and will keep us very happy in the frigid Valpo winters.
Our last day was spent in Oslo. We walked to a castle that was built in the 1700s. Most of the buildings weren’t open, but the grounds were open, and we got to climb on top of the walls and walk around them. We also got to see a woman riding her horse around the grounds for awhile.
We were all so sad to leave, because it was such a beautiful place. We were very lucky to have good weather the entire trip, and it was amazing to see a country that not many people think to go to, and where the culture is so incredibly different from our own.
On Sunday March 1, I took a day trip to London. I wanted to take some time off and stroll through the royal parks of the city. I explored Regent’s Park and Queen Mary’s Gardens. Then I went to Hyde Park and rented a Barclay’s bike and road around the lake. It was brilliant outside. Later that evening I went to a Hillsong London service which was really cool and the lead pastor of their Sydney campus was there.
Regent’s Park
I found one rose in the entire garden in early March! – Queen Mary’s Gardens
Regent’s Park
Regent’s Park
Regent’s Park
Hyde Park
To end our Spain and Italy tour, we needed to stop in Barcelona! We spent two full days exploring the city. As agreed upon by the entire group, the bike tour of the city was our favorite part!
Barcelona – bike tour
Barcelona – bike tour
Barcelona – bike tour
Sarah and the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean
The Mediterranean
The Iberian Coast
Oxford Castle
Yesterday, six of us travelled by train to see Oxford. For those that are keeping tabs, Cambridge is the number one university in the world, with Harvard and Oxford taking up the next two positions. Those positions change quite frequently, but right now, we brag about the fact that we live in the same town as the number one university in the world. But we’d also heard good things about the town of Oxford, so we decided to see what another college town was like.
Christ Church
To start off, it was a perfect day to go to Oxford, because it was sunny and nearly 60 degrees outside, so walking around the town was pleasant. Most of our day was spent walking around and taking pictures of buildings and seeing the outside of colleges. We saw the outside of Christ Church, which is one of the largest churches in Cambridge. We also saw remnants of Oxford Castle and the Bridge of Sighs in Oxford.
For lunch, we went inside this little indoor village with all these little shops and cafes. I had THE BEST sandwich, with brie, onions in balsamic vinegar, and spinach on a baguette. It was DIVINE. And, even better, we got really good cookies at the end of lunch that were still warm from the oven and so good.
Balliol College
Our last stop of the day was to see Balliol College, which is arguably the oldest college in Oxford. It was established in 1263. We got to walk around the grounds for a little while, and see the inside of their dining hall. There was also a really small garden that looked like the Secret Garden. It was also late afternoon by this time, and we got some really good pictures of the college in the fading light.
Overall, it was a very relaxing day, and we enjoyed spending time walking around together on a leisurely day off. We had a great time visiting the second best university in the world, but I think it’s safe to say that we all love Cambridge, and wouldn’t trade living here for anything.
What a capital!! Two days were not nearly enough to explore this gigantic city. To name a few, we saw the Colosseum, the Royal Forum, and the Vatican.
The Colosseum – Roma
The Colosseum – Roma
(Matt) The Colosseum – Roma (photo credit: Brendan Johnson)
The Colosseum – Roma
Roman Forum – Roma
Roman Forum – Roma
(Left to Right: Emily M. Aislynn, Brendan)
Roma
Roma
The Pope at the Vatican – Vatican City
The next stop in C-95’s Italian and Spanish adventure was nestled in the mountains of Tuscany: FLORENCE!!! This city was built and supported by the Romans because it was a fertile area along the trade routes to the Alps. The basilica was gigantic and we loved strolling through the Roman plazas and seeing the impressive Classical architecture and sculptures.
Michelangelo’s Plazza: C-95 Left to Right: Brendan, Aislynn, Emily M., Sarah
Florence Hospital: Excellent Classical Architecture
Fiume Arno flowing through Firenza
Florence
Fiume Arno flowing through Firenza
Last remaining bridge after the Nazi bombings
Firenza
Florence
From February 12-14 six of us Cambridge students began an adventure through Italy and Spain. We stopped in Venice first which was great because Carnevale was going on and people dress up in fantastic costumes and masks! The city itself was gorgeous too. Nothing like floating on a gondola during Valentine’s Day weekend. The gondola man does not make too bad of a date!
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- Gondola port
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- Along the canals
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- The floating city
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- Carnevale
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- Carnevale
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- Carnevale
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- Carnevale
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- The Adriatic Sea
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- Venice
While everyone has been off galavanting over Spain and Italy during first break, Jessica and I have been taking several small trips around England. Our first stop was last week in Dover, and our next trip was to Windsor and Eton to see Windsor Castle.
Before we left, we checked online ahead of time just to make sure that it was open, because we didn’t want to have a repeat of our Dover trip where we arrived and found the castle closed. Luckily for us, the castle was open and we hopped onto four different trains to Windsor. The castle is very cool because on the outside, it looks old and very medieval, but on the inside, it has been renovated and decorated.
During the winter months, the State Rooms are often open to the public. We got to wander through all of the State rooms, which were very interesting. St. George’s Hall had hundreds of family crests covering in the walls and the ceiling. The stairway entering into the rooms was covered in a great display of antiquated swords, guns and other weapons, showing off the power of England to all who come to visit. My favorite room was one decorated in red (my favorite color) and gold, with an entire wall of windows that overlooked the gardens outside.
We also got to see Queen Mary’s dollhouse. This dollhouse is absolutely amazing. It was built to reflect the culture and fashion of the times, and was incredibly elaborate. They said that all of the golden plates in the dining room were made of real gold, and the Crown Jewels were actually small jewels. If I had a dollhouse like that, I could have played with that dollhouse for hours.
Because we went on a Sunday, St. George’s Chapel was not opened to the public, as they were holding services all day. We did get to see the outside of it, and the rest of the outside of the castle as the sun was going down. It was very pretty.
We had a great time traveling down to Windsor, but were very happy to take a few days for a break before our next day trip adventure. Coming up next is our trip to York!
We’re already at our first week break of the semester! I can’t believe that it’s already been a month since the new group arrived. This week, the majority of the group is headed off to Spain and Italy. Jessica and I, however, decided to stay in England and use up our Britrail passes and travel to a couple of places in England that we really wanted to see.
Dover Castle
Yesterday, the two of us trained down to Dover to see Dover Castle and the White Cliffs. Dover Castle sits on top of one of the cliffs, and the town sits below it. We had to walk all the way up that cliff to get to the castle, only to discover when we reached the top that Dover Castle was closed. Needless to say, we were quite disappointed, and had to settle for taking pictures of the outside of the castle. Luckily, the weather was pretty nice, so the climb up wasn’t too bad.
Our next stop was to try to find a good spot to see all of the White Cliffs. There was a winding road that led from the castle down and toward the cliffs. We thought that the it would take too long to follow that winding road, so we hopped a fence and walked through a lovely English pasture down toward the road. It got a little sketchy when our third fence-hopping experience happened over a barbed wire fence, but we had fun frolicking through grassy fields and seeing the scenic side of Dover.
The first fence we hopped on our trek down to the road
After wandering back to the road, we ran into a very nice couple who kindly suggested that maybe the best place to see the cliffs would be on the waterfront instead of on top of them, which is where we were. So we made our way back into town and walked along the water. We never really got a good look at the cliffs because there were cars and overpasses in the way, and we didn’t have a car. It was a little disappointing, but we did spend some time picking rocks on the beach, and watching the waves coming in and out, which is my favorite thing to do.
Our day ended with a visit to a museum in Dover which houses the oldest seafaring boat that has been found. This boat dates back to the Bronze Age in 1550 BC, and was excavated from Dover in the early 1990s. It had to be the biggest attraction to the museum, because it was pretty much the only thing inside, but it was still pretty cool to see something that old.
Overall, our little misadventure turned out to be pretty fun. I would probably like to go back to Dover and actually see the castle one day, but that was a fun first time. It was also a good reminder that even when things don’t go exactly as planned, they can still turn out to be fun if you go with the flow.
White Cliffs of Dover
Pier in Dover
Bronze Age Boat
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