It's a good thing I'm so used to packing on really short notice - I definitely did it his morning. It's only overnight so it wasn't too bad, but I didn't want to go back to my room so I threw a bag together along with my normal morning routine.
Walking to the Centre, Nicole and I saw a box that said Virgin Wine - like the virgin mobile Virgin. I said 'Virgin makes wine? Man, an airline, a cell phone and wine, what more could you want?' Nicole enjoyed that :D Then, in Dover, I saw a commercial for Virgin TV - now you really don't need anything else! Though for some reason I don't think their wine would be all that good...
Today we talked about the history of the American musical in theatre class. Most of the iconic musicals - Oklahoma, The Sound Of Music, Hair - came out of the 1940's-1960's. It was interesting to talk about. Culturally, Americans are better at acting a scene and breaking into song than British are - the director and casting director agreed :]
Today was the world premiere of the final Harry Potter movie. Some IES people were going to go down to try and see some people, but some crazy people have been camping out there in the rain without tents or anything for a week. I like Harry Potter as much as any of them, but I had better things to do with my life than sit in one spot for a week.
After class, I grabbed my lunch from a grocery store that sold things to go and went off to Victoria coach station, and I'm glad I gave myself a bit of extra time because I managed to get turned around on my way. I got there in plenty of time, though, so I was able to eat my lunch without rushng through it.
I think it may or may not have taken us an hour to get to the motorway from the coach station. I slept through about 3/4 of that hour, so I'm not entirely sure, but if so I hope we at least made a few stops - the traffic must have been crazy if not.
We stopped on Bluewater - I'm not sure where that is in correlation to London - and I saw the biggest Marks and Spencer I've seen yet. I saved one of my chocolate croissants from lunch and decided that would be a good time to eat it, and I really hope I can find some in West Lafayette - I'm sure I'm going to want them still when I'm back at school :]
I took a bunch more pictures of the countryside again on the drive out here -I really love it and I really really want to live out here some day.
So, I definitely didn't realise that there were 2 stops in Dover - one at the port and one at the town centre. I wanted to get off at the town centre - the B&B is just a 7 minute walk from there. Guess which one I got off at :D Yeah, definitely the wrong one - the port is on the opposite end of town from where I am now. Oh well, I got to see the channel. I'm so happy to be in a sea town again! The salty air, the seagulls (however loud or annoying) I love it! I can't wait to go back down to the ocean again tomorrow.
Oh my goodness, this Bed and Breakfast is adorable! It's painted blue on the outside and very homey inside. And Paula, the owner, is so sweet. She said that she's been super busy all day but she let me stay because, as a young student, she felt I'd feel more at home here than some of the more money-oriented places up the street. I'm so glad I found this place online. And she served me dinner - that was a pleasent surprise, I was expecting to have to find my own. She made ke some tea when I got in and said to help myself if I wanted more and she wasn't there. I was going to walk up to the White Cliffs tomorrow, but she suggested a tour and I'm starting to agree. It's only £8 too - I just can't decide between the bus or boat tour - I guess I'll just ask when I go down there tomorrow.
Well, breakfast is at 9 tomorrowso I'm going to finish my hot chocolate and brush my teeth so I can sleep.
Till then,
-Carly B
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Even more naptime - I need to start getting to sleep earlier...
Bugger, I really didn't want to get up this morning, I was so tired.
I did manage it though, and Living and Dying was interesting. We talked about Medicines and Mortalities and doctors and surgeons. It's crazy to think how people could die back then just by breaking their leg. And doctors/surgeons were generally very ignorant - they gained most of their new knowledge through dissections and even then they didn't really know very much. John Hunter was a surgeon that was really interested in getting to know everything and experimenting with the human body. He paid a lot of money to resurrection men to get cadavers.
Then we went to the Hunterian museum. We got to see the skeleton of the Irish Giant, Charles Byrne. The man was 7' 7" - his skeleton was huge. I feel bad for him, though - he wanted to be buried at sea and instead John Hunter paid a lot of money to get his body.
It was cool to go to the museum, but some of the things preserved in jars made me a little squeamish - and I'm not usually squeamish. There were things like brains and tracheas and baby dolphins. Odd.
When I got back to the room, Nicole had a film screening for class so I read. I was really uncomfortable at my desk, so I shifted to my bed. I wasn't tired, so it seemed like a good idea at the time. I had a playlist going, so I got to see what songs I slept through :D However, I didn't need my alarm to wake up, so I was proud of myself :]
Tonight, we went to see Betty Blue Eyes. It was nice to see a musical - I like musicals :] Sometimes it was hard for me to understand what people were saying when mutiple people were talking at once, but overall I liked the show. At first, I didn't see a pit - it wasn't in front of the stage - and I said 'Oh, goodness, are they using all recorded music?' Ella, a girl in my class, was sitting next to me and she asked what I said. I told her that I didn't see a pit and she asked me if that was a bad thing. I said that it was for me - others might not care, but the musician in me really minded. Then they announced who the conductor would be and I felt better. I didn't see them for the first few scenes, but then one scene was at a dance and they were in the back - like we were in Grease (only they weren't 20 feet in the air...). Of course, it made me miss pit again...
It's now 12.45a. I don't really want to come back to my room before I go to the coach station, but I might have to because I still haven't packed or anything... I think the Bed and Breakfast I'm hoping to stay at has wi-fi, so if I'm there and they do have it I'll update from my ipod. (I apologise in advance for any typos...)
Till then,
-Carlito
I did manage it though, and Living and Dying was interesting. We talked about Medicines and Mortalities and doctors and surgeons. It's crazy to think how people could die back then just by breaking their leg. And doctors/surgeons were generally very ignorant - they gained most of their new knowledge through dissections and even then they didn't really know very much. John Hunter was a surgeon that was really interested in getting to know everything and experimenting with the human body. He paid a lot of money to resurrection men to get cadavers.
Then we went to the Hunterian museum. We got to see the skeleton of the Irish Giant, Charles Byrne. The man was 7' 7" - his skeleton was huge. I feel bad for him, though - he wanted to be buried at sea and instead John Hunter paid a lot of money to get his body.
It was cool to go to the museum, but some of the things preserved in jars made me a little squeamish - and I'm not usually squeamish. There were things like brains and tracheas and baby dolphins. Odd.
When I got back to the room, Nicole had a film screening for class so I read. I was really uncomfortable at my desk, so I shifted to my bed. I wasn't tired, so it seemed like a good idea at the time. I had a playlist going, so I got to see what songs I slept through :D However, I didn't need my alarm to wake up, so I was proud of myself :]
Tonight, we went to see Betty Blue Eyes. It was nice to see a musical - I like musicals :] Sometimes it was hard for me to understand what people were saying when mutiple people were talking at once, but overall I liked the show. At first, I didn't see a pit - it wasn't in front of the stage - and I said 'Oh, goodness, are they using all recorded music?' Ella, a girl in my class, was sitting next to me and she asked what I said. I told her that I didn't see a pit and she asked me if that was a bad thing. I said that it was for me - others might not care, but the musician in me really minded. Then they announced who the conductor would be and I felt better. I didn't see them for the first few scenes, but then one scene was at a dance and they were in the back - like we were in Grease (only they weren't 20 feet in the air...). Of course, it made me miss pit again...
It's now 12.45a. I don't really want to come back to my room before I go to the coach station, but I might have to because I still haven't packed or anything... I think the Bed and Breakfast I'm hoping to stay at has wi-fi, so if I'm there and they do have it I'll update from my ipod. (I apologise in advance for any typos...)
Till then,
-Carlito
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
'Tip the world over on its side, and everything loose will land in Los Angeles.'
-Frank Lloyd Wright. That quote was on a page of my journal that I wrote on for today, I enjoyed it :D
Well, I was going to go to bed early tonight, but then I didn't get dinner till 9p so that's why I'm typing this out at 12.30 in the morning O.o Oh well, I can sleep this weekend.
Today I needed to print some things, so I stayed at the Centre for a bit after theatre class. I printed some reviews for Betty Blue Eyes, the musical we're going to see with class tomorrow night, and my coach ticket for Dover. I'm super excited for Dover! I don't even know what I'm going to do, being a poor uni student won't help matters, but I can't wait to see the White Cliffs. I leave at 2.30 on Thursday!
My plan when I got back to my room was to switch back and forth between writing a story and doing my Living and Dying reading - when I got bored with one I'd switch and then once I was bored with that one I'd switch back.
Well, I started with the Living and Dying reading, got about halfway through and switched, then didn't switch back. Juliet, my character, just took over and I couldn't write fast enough to get everything down. My characters seem to do that to me at the most inopportune times, I think they plan it.
Then it was time for my CORE group Indian dinner. On the way there, I have never seen a Piccadilly line train so bloody crowded, and I travel on one at least twice a day for classes. It was crazy, good thing I'm not claustrophobic.
When we got to the restaurant, no one knew what they wanted so it took a while to order. I asked what they would recommend for a vegetarian that doesn't like spicy and got that - I can't remember what it was called - it was sweet and cinnamon-y and yummy. I don't think they were ready for quite so many of us - there were 2 groups combined to make a total of 23 people - they were still setting things up as we ordered (plates, napkins, tables, silverware, chairs, you know, things like that). It was fun to be there though - I don't eat Indian food very much at home and it's a huge deal here. Though we didn't get our food until 9 (we got there at 7.30) and they forgot mine at first, it was really good. While waiting for mine, I wanted something to eat so I took a bite of naan (I think that's how you spell it...). I was wondering what was inside it when Elyse told me 'Oh, I think there's meat in that.' I literally froze, I've been a vegetarian long enough that my body wouldn't be able to handle it if I ate meat and I'd get sick, but I decided that one bit wasn't going to kill me. Unfortunately, the bite had turned to glue - I forced myself to swallow it rather than spit it back out. I took one of the meatless ones and ate that, explaining why I'm a vegetarian and why I can't eat meat to some of the guys sitting near me. The naan was yummy, and it was good to dip in the sauce of my food.
After they cleared the dishes, our end of the table noticed that the others were getting shot glasses handed to them. Wondering if they ordered them or something, we saw a waiter coming towards us with a trayful - they were shots of Bailey's. We all drank them like a shot - mine hit the back of my throat kinda hard but it was good. I can see why people like to put it in their coffee or hot chocolate.
Tomorrow we're finally going to see a musical for theatre class - yay! I love musicals :D
Till then,
-Ayra
Well, I was going to go to bed early tonight, but then I didn't get dinner till 9p so that's why I'm typing this out at 12.30 in the morning O.o Oh well, I can sleep this weekend.
Today I needed to print some things, so I stayed at the Centre for a bit after theatre class. I printed some reviews for Betty Blue Eyes, the musical we're going to see with class tomorrow night, and my coach ticket for Dover. I'm super excited for Dover! I don't even know what I'm going to do, being a poor uni student won't help matters, but I can't wait to see the White Cliffs. I leave at 2.30 on Thursday!
My plan when I got back to my room was to switch back and forth between writing a story and doing my Living and Dying reading - when I got bored with one I'd switch and then once I was bored with that one I'd switch back.
Well, I started with the Living and Dying reading, got about halfway through and switched, then didn't switch back. Juliet, my character, just took over and I couldn't write fast enough to get everything down. My characters seem to do that to me at the most inopportune times, I think they plan it.
Then it was time for my CORE group Indian dinner. On the way there, I have never seen a Piccadilly line train so bloody crowded, and I travel on one at least twice a day for classes. It was crazy, good thing I'm not claustrophobic.
When we got to the restaurant, no one knew what they wanted so it took a while to order. I asked what they would recommend for a vegetarian that doesn't like spicy and got that - I can't remember what it was called - it was sweet and cinnamon-y and yummy. I don't think they were ready for quite so many of us - there were 2 groups combined to make a total of 23 people - they were still setting things up as we ordered (plates, napkins, tables, silverware, chairs, you know, things like that). It was fun to be there though - I don't eat Indian food very much at home and it's a huge deal here. Though we didn't get our food until 9 (we got there at 7.30) and they forgot mine at first, it was really good. While waiting for mine, I wanted something to eat so I took a bite of naan (I think that's how you spell it...). I was wondering what was inside it when Elyse told me 'Oh, I think there's meat in that.' I literally froze, I've been a vegetarian long enough that my body wouldn't be able to handle it if I ate meat and I'd get sick, but I decided that one bit wasn't going to kill me. Unfortunately, the bite had turned to glue - I forced myself to swallow it rather than spit it back out. I took one of the meatless ones and ate that, explaining why I'm a vegetarian and why I can't eat meat to some of the guys sitting near me. The naan was yummy, and it was good to dip in the sauce of my food.
After they cleared the dishes, our end of the table noticed that the others were getting shot glasses handed to them. Wondering if they ordered them or something, we saw a waiter coming towards us with a trayful - they were shots of Bailey's. We all drank them like a shot - mine hit the back of my throat kinda hard but it was good. I can see why people like to put it in their coffee or hot chocolate.
Tomorrow we're finally going to see a musical for theatre class - yay! I love musicals :D
Till then,
-Ayra
Monday, July 4, 2011
Celebrating American Independence with a Mexican drink in London
As my dad likes to say, Happy Quatro de Julio! :D I didn't bring any red, white and blue, but I got a shirt this weekend that had red flowers on a blueish-blackish and white striped background, so I wore that.
We went to the Guildhall Library again today in Living and Dying. Their internet was down, but they had the book copies of everything on the Old Bailey website that I've been using, so I got to look through those. I was afraid to toush the pages, they looked so fragile. Unfortunately, I had to look through everything to find a case that I could use but it was interesting to see some of the different cases too. I'm curious what the difference is between stealing, privately stealing and feloniously stealing - there were cases of each. It was also interesting to see how many death sentences were handed out for stealing - I'm guessing those ones stole a lot, including the wife/husband, family jewels and/or the curtains (seriously, some of the cases involved people stealing curtains, of all the things to steal).
Nicole and I were still tired after last weekend, so we both had a really lazy afternoon. I curled up in my bed with Me and Mr Darcy. Nicole was on her computer for a bit before she crawled into her bed as well (our desk chairs are rather uncomfortable, we both like our beds better). I didn't fall asleep, but when I got up to get some Pringles I saw that she was passed out :]
I finished the book this afternoon. It was cute, it was cheesy, it was predictable. However, I'm a complete sucker for romance in any and all forms so I enjoyed every word of it :D
Nicole and I decided to celebrate the Fourth by going to The Big Easy, a resturaunt down the street from where we live. They had piña coladas there! Oh my goodness, it was so delicious. It's been way too long since I've had one.
The resturaunt was decorated for the 4th, and a bunch of people were wearing USA shirts. We were laughing about it and compared it to the US celebrating Cinco de Mayo - it's another reason to drink and party :D
After dinner, Nicole and I wanted to bake a cake. We got the cake mix and ingredients, and then the fun began.
First, there are no measuring cups in our kitchen. We looked up a conversion that said 1/3 cup is 16 teaspoons and 1 cup is 48, but we only had a spoon the size of a tablespoon (ish). That was fun, to measure out 21 1/3 spoonfuls of water and 5 1/3 of oil. Thankfully, the eggs were easy enough to measure, even if the shells cracked weirdly and so pieces may or may not have gotten into the batter.
Then the packaging told us the temperature in degrees F, and our oven is measured in Celcius. We had to look up that conversion too. Good thing our room is next door to the kitchen.
Once we got that all figured out, we couldn't tell how big the pan was. I kinda guessed and threw it in the oven for about a half hour. We both agreed that it was going to be an interesting cake :] It would up being pretty good too. Go team! :D
We've been talking about things we're doing this week - it's a busy one for us. She's going to the Globe tomorrow with her Shakespeare class and then to Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday. I'm going to see a show with theatre class on Wednesday and then to Dover on Thursday and Friday. We agreed to sleep in till about noon on Sunday ;D
And now it's time for Carly to sleep, she's got class tomorrow morning.
Till then,
-The Force
(I'm trying to think of new ways to sign these posts, I'm running out of nicknames...)
We went to the Guildhall Library again today in Living and Dying. Their internet was down, but they had the book copies of everything on the Old Bailey website that I've been using, so I got to look through those. I was afraid to toush the pages, they looked so fragile. Unfortunately, I had to look through everything to find a case that I could use but it was interesting to see some of the different cases too. I'm curious what the difference is between stealing, privately stealing and feloniously stealing - there were cases of each. It was also interesting to see how many death sentences were handed out for stealing - I'm guessing those ones stole a lot, including the wife/husband, family jewels and/or the curtains (seriously, some of the cases involved people stealing curtains, of all the things to steal).
Nicole and I were still tired after last weekend, so we both had a really lazy afternoon. I curled up in my bed with Me and Mr Darcy. Nicole was on her computer for a bit before she crawled into her bed as well (our desk chairs are rather uncomfortable, we both like our beds better). I didn't fall asleep, but when I got up to get some Pringles I saw that she was passed out :]
I finished the book this afternoon. It was cute, it was cheesy, it was predictable. However, I'm a complete sucker for romance in any and all forms so I enjoyed every word of it :D
Nicole and I decided to celebrate the Fourth by going to The Big Easy, a resturaunt down the street from where we live. They had piña coladas there! Oh my goodness, it was so delicious. It's been way too long since I've had one.
The resturaunt was decorated for the 4th, and a bunch of people were wearing USA shirts. We were laughing about it and compared it to the US celebrating Cinco de Mayo - it's another reason to drink and party :D
After dinner, Nicole and I wanted to bake a cake. We got the cake mix and ingredients, and then the fun began.
First, there are no measuring cups in our kitchen. We looked up a conversion that said 1/3 cup is 16 teaspoons and 1 cup is 48, but we only had a spoon the size of a tablespoon (ish). That was fun, to measure out 21 1/3 spoonfuls of water and 5 1/3 of oil. Thankfully, the eggs were easy enough to measure, even if the shells cracked weirdly and so pieces may or may not have gotten into the batter.
Then the packaging told us the temperature in degrees F, and our oven is measured in Celcius. We had to look up that conversion too. Good thing our room is next door to the kitchen.
Once we got that all figured out, we couldn't tell how big the pan was. I kinda guessed and threw it in the oven for about a half hour. We both agreed that it was going to be an interesting cake :] It would up being pretty good too. Go team! :D
We've been talking about things we're doing this week - it's a busy one for us. She's going to the Globe tomorrow with her Shakespeare class and then to Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday. I'm going to see a show with theatre class on Wednesday and then to Dover on Thursday and Friday. We agreed to sleep in till about noon on Sunday ;D
And now it's time for Carly to sleep, she's got class tomorrow morning.
Till then,
-The Force
(I'm trying to think of new ways to sign these posts, I'm running out of nicknames...)
Sunday, July 3, 2011
So, my book count is up to 7 now... O.o
Of all the things to be sore this morning, my calves were hurting slightly. What??
Anyway, this morning we went to the Roman Baths. They were pretty and cool to see, though the water was kinda gross if you looked too closely. Nicole and I finished fairly quickly, so we went to get some food. We saw a Garfunkels (where we first tried the J2O and I had the amazing Margherita pizza) and decided to go there. Unfortunately, they weren't serving lunch yet, but the breakfasts we got were still very good :] We were going to try and go on a hop on hop off bus tour so we wouldn't have to walk up to the Royal Crescent (beautiful curved building/houses), but we didn't know how much it would be and it was crowded, so we just walked. It was a nice walk, even though it was almost entirely uphill O.o The Crescent was very beautiful - such a Jane Austen building :D
While walking back, Nicole and I found a Cancer Research UK store - all the proceeds from what they sell there go to cancer research. Unfortunately for my budget, they had a book section ;D I found 3 books for £8.50 - The Other Boleyn Girl, a vegetarian cookbook and another book. In the Jane Austen Centre, I saw this book called Me and Mr Darcy and I wanted to read it, so then I found it in the Cancer Research UK store! I was excited :] Nicole found a biography of a famous rower - so she was really excited too :D
Our roommate for the night (the room had 3 beds) was Jess, an intern. She had gotten these really cute shorts from a store called Republic yesterday, so Nicole and I wanted to go there so look around - we still had an hour and a half of free time. After 30 minutes of wandering around, we gave it up and went back to the hostel to sit and read our new books. (When I got back to my room in Chelsea - the one with internet access - I was curious so I looked up the store location. It was farther south than we ever walked. I guess at least we didn't walk right past it...)
I finished The Rivals and started Me and Mr Darcy. Oh my goodness, Emily (the main character) is so like me! In the third chapter, she's packing to go to England on a Jane Austen tour and her best friend is sitting and 'watching me trying to squeeze more books into my holdall. No matter that I'm only going for a week, I have to be prepared.' Story of my bloody life :D
Nadal and Djokovic played today - I really wanted to watch it. I saw the end of the first set but missed the rest of it because we were driving back from Bath. I heard that Nadal played rether poorly, though, so maybe it's a good thing Nicole didn't see it... :]
It's unfortunate that I get carsick when I try to read in a car, especially since I've got a 5 hour coach ride to Cornwall coming up in a few weeks... At least I was able to really fall asleep today instead of the in and out thing I was doing yesterday, that was nice.
Thankfully Nicole had bought a pizza last week and hadn't eaten it yet - we needed to go grocery shopping and didn't want to go out to get food right after getting back. After the pizza, we did go get groceries before our various skype dates. She's talking with Michael (best friend from school) andd I talked with Mom and Dad. Kristin called while I was talking with Mom and Dad so I tried to make it a group video chat. That kinda failed, so it was a group audio conversation instead. It was still really nice to talk with all of them :D
The mic on my mom and dad's laptop is rather tempermental, so sometimes it sould like they're going through a wormhole, a wormhole with good acoustics. It happened during the group conversation and suddenly I hear my Uncle Mark in the background saying that he wanted to speak whale too and my cousins joined in the whale-speak and quoting Finding Nemo. I love my family :D
Well, I have class tomorrow and I'm slightly sleep deprived, so I'm going to bed now.
God night, sleep tight, dream of bed bugs tonight! (from Lion King 1 1/2, if you haven't seen it)
Till then,
-Carly B
Anyway, this morning we went to the Roman Baths. They were pretty and cool to see, though the water was kinda gross if you looked too closely. Nicole and I finished fairly quickly, so we went to get some food. We saw a Garfunkels (where we first tried the J2O and I had the amazing Margherita pizza) and decided to go there. Unfortunately, they weren't serving lunch yet, but the breakfasts we got were still very good :] We were going to try and go on a hop on hop off bus tour so we wouldn't have to walk up to the Royal Crescent (beautiful curved building/houses), but we didn't know how much it would be and it was crowded, so we just walked. It was a nice walk, even though it was almost entirely uphill O.o The Crescent was very beautiful - such a Jane Austen building :D
While walking back, Nicole and I found a Cancer Research UK store - all the proceeds from what they sell there go to cancer research. Unfortunately for my budget, they had a book section ;D I found 3 books for £8.50 - The Other Boleyn Girl, a vegetarian cookbook and another book. In the Jane Austen Centre, I saw this book called Me and Mr Darcy and I wanted to read it, so then I found it in the Cancer Research UK store! I was excited :] Nicole found a biography of a famous rower - so she was really excited too :D
Our roommate for the night (the room had 3 beds) was Jess, an intern. She had gotten these really cute shorts from a store called Republic yesterday, so Nicole and I wanted to go there so look around - we still had an hour and a half of free time. After 30 minutes of wandering around, we gave it up and went back to the hostel to sit and read our new books. (When I got back to my room in Chelsea - the one with internet access - I was curious so I looked up the store location. It was farther south than we ever walked. I guess at least we didn't walk right past it...)
I finished The Rivals and started Me and Mr Darcy. Oh my goodness, Emily (the main character) is so like me! In the third chapter, she's packing to go to England on a Jane Austen tour and her best friend is sitting and 'watching me trying to squeeze more books into my holdall. No matter that I'm only going for a week, I have to be prepared.' Story of my bloody life :D
Nadal and Djokovic played today - I really wanted to watch it. I saw the end of the first set but missed the rest of it because we were driving back from Bath. I heard that Nadal played rether poorly, though, so maybe it's a good thing Nicole didn't see it... :]
It's unfortunate that I get carsick when I try to read in a car, especially since I've got a 5 hour coach ride to Cornwall coming up in a few weeks... At least I was able to really fall asleep today instead of the in and out thing I was doing yesterday, that was nice.
Thankfully Nicole had bought a pizza last week and hadn't eaten it yet - we needed to go grocery shopping and didn't want to go out to get food right after getting back. After the pizza, we did go get groceries before our various skype dates. She's talking with Michael (best friend from school) andd I talked with Mom and Dad. Kristin called while I was talking with Mom and Dad so I tried to make it a group video chat. That kinda failed, so it was a group audio conversation instead. It was still really nice to talk with all of them :D
The mic on my mom and dad's laptop is rather tempermental, so sometimes it sould like they're going through a wormhole, a wormhole with good acoustics. It happened during the group conversation and suddenly I hear my Uncle Mark in the background saying that he wanted to speak whale too and my cousins joined in the whale-speak and quoting Finding Nemo. I love my family :D
Well, I have class tomorrow and I'm slightly sleep deprived, so I'm going to bed now.
God night, sleep tight, dream of bed bugs tonight! (from Lion King 1 1/2, if you haven't seen it)
Till then,
-Carly B
'He is the very pineapple of politeness!'
I'm going to write this as though I posted it yesterday because I'm using my journal as reference and I wrote in it last night, just so y'all know.
Today was an eventful day. Once we started driving to Stonehenge, I think pretty much everyone passed out. I dozed in and out - I think I woke up with every song change on my iPod. I debated turning it off at one point, but I fell back asleep before I could do anything about it.
Before we got to the motorway, we went through Richmond and passed the Three Kings Pub. The sign had a picture of King Henry VIII, King Charles I or II and Elvis Presely :D We also passed the old deer park, where kings would go hunt when there was still a castle in Richmond, and Brian (our tour guide) commented 'And there's an old deer (dear).' There was an old woman sitting in a wheelchair on the field :D
As we got closer to Stonehenge, Brian started talking about it. Historians pretty much know how it was set up, but when and why are the source of many theories. The one he told us that I liked was that it was used as a place to celebrate life and death. Katie came up with her own - she said that it was a large musical instrument and was later turned into a jello mould. Brian said she might have to do a bit of research before that one becomes widely accepted...
The Stonehenge Cafe sold rock cakes that Brian said were really good. Ivy and I split one - it was really good. We were both glad Hagrid didn't make them ;D
Then we had another drive to Salisbury. Brian told us that Old Sarum is the original location of Salisbury. In Old Sarum, the castle and cathedral were right next to each other and soldiers and clergymen didn't mix well. They had an archer shoot an arrow and that's where the new cathedral would be. Well, the arrow hit a deer and the deer made it another three miles before dying near a river, so that's where they planned the new Salisbury.
There was an Ordination going on, so we couldn't go in the chapel until 1 pm. Nicole and I had lunch at a picnic table outside the cathedral after walking through the markets - you can buy anything there! We saw books, clothes, cleaning supplies, jewelry, board games and food.
When Salisbury Cathedral was first built, it didn't have a steeple. They added one later, but it leaned 29 1/4 inches off centre because it was so heavy. Luckily, that was the extent of it. The cathedral was absolutely beautiful - an English Gothic building that only took 38 years to build.
Inside the chapel, we saw the grave of William Longspree. William was the illegitimate half-brother of Kings John and Richard Lionheart. He met the Countess of Salisbury and fell in love, so they got married and he became the Earl of Salisbury. When King John sealed the twelve copies of the Magna Carta, Longspree brought one to Salisbury. We saw it - talk about small handwriting...
Then he went off on the crusades and disappeared. Hugh de Burgh, one of King John's henchmen, wanted his son to marry the widowed Countess. She didn't want to, but he went ahead and arranged everything anyway.
One day, they were having an engagement dinner and Longspree walked in the doors in the middle of it. They changed it into a welcome home party, but Longspree died less than 24 hours later. They later discovered that it was through arsenic poisoning. Brian's moral of the story was not to trust de Burghs :]
On the way to Bath, Brian talked about how underneath the top layer of ground is a layer of chalk. People have made designs in hills by exposing that layer. And I saw so many Texacos! I haven't seen one since California and I saw a bunch off the motorways. I took a lot of pictures of the countryside - like a lot a lot. Nicole laughed at me, but I really loved the views.
Brian also talked about Bath. About ten thousand years ago, rain water seeped through the ground and was heated by the core and still bubbles up now at a constant rate. The first King of England, King Edgar, was crowned at Bath Abbey in 973 AD. Jane Tusten also lived here, though she really didn't like it. There was a Jane Austen Centre and I got an I <3 Darcy sticker :D I wish they sold Region 1 DVDs - I can watch Region 2 thing on my computer, but I like watching Austen movies on the big tv with my mom :D
Nicole really likes this store called Apricot, so we searched for one once she saw people with the bags. When we found it, we both found things to get - on sale too! I got a shirt and scarf for £7 :]
When we got back to the hostel, we still had 2 hours till we went to eat. I read The Rivals - it's by the same author as School for Scandal. There's a character named Mrs Malaprop (like malapropism...) and she had some of the funniest lines. One of them made me crack up - she was talking about someone and said 'He is the very pineapple of politeness!' I realised that she meant pinnacle, but I was still laughing - I think that was my favourite line.
When we got to the restaurant, it took bloody forever to eat - sitting down till dessert took 2 hours. The tomato basil soup appetizer was delicious though, so that made up for it.
After dinner, a bunch of us went to a pub. It was fun - I tried cider because I'd heard that Bath had some really good ciders. I definitely wasn't prepared for the carbonation - I haven't had a soda in a while so it was weird to drink. So many people got drunk. Dylan, one of the guys in IES, started the day off drunk so he was gone. Nicole, if she wasn't drunk, was definitely pretty tipsy. It's fun to be the sober one in a crowd of drunks :D
Also at the pub were two stag teams (bachelor parties). One was themed - they were all dressed up as geeks except the groom who was in a costume dress and blonde wig. They were all really nice and fun to talk to. I didn't see the other group as much - but I did see them take salt tequila lime shots (snort the salt, take the tequila shot then squirt a lime in your eye - I don't know if they have an official name or not) and there were some IES people talking with them all. It was really cool how everyone merged.
We got in at 12.30 ish and breakfast was at 8, so wrote in my journal and just crashed.
Well, I did promise a longer post this weekend ;] I'll write up today's entry later on, it's only 8.00 pm right now.
Till then,
-Carly
Today was an eventful day. Once we started driving to Stonehenge, I think pretty much everyone passed out. I dozed in and out - I think I woke up with every song change on my iPod. I debated turning it off at one point, but I fell back asleep before I could do anything about it.
Before we got to the motorway, we went through Richmond and passed the Three Kings Pub. The sign had a picture of King Henry VIII, King Charles I or II and Elvis Presely :D We also passed the old deer park, where kings would go hunt when there was still a castle in Richmond, and Brian (our tour guide) commented 'And there's an old deer (dear).' There was an old woman sitting in a wheelchair on the field :D
As we got closer to Stonehenge, Brian started talking about it. Historians pretty much know how it was set up, but when and why are the source of many theories. The one he told us that I liked was that it was used as a place to celebrate life and death. Katie came up with her own - she said that it was a large musical instrument and was later turned into a jello mould. Brian said she might have to do a bit of research before that one becomes widely accepted...
The Stonehenge Cafe sold rock cakes that Brian said were really good. Ivy and I split one - it was really good. We were both glad Hagrid didn't make them ;D
Then we had another drive to Salisbury. Brian told us that Old Sarum is the original location of Salisbury. In Old Sarum, the castle and cathedral were right next to each other and soldiers and clergymen didn't mix well. They had an archer shoot an arrow and that's where the new cathedral would be. Well, the arrow hit a deer and the deer made it another three miles before dying near a river, so that's where they planned the new Salisbury.
There was an Ordination going on, so we couldn't go in the chapel until 1 pm. Nicole and I had lunch at a picnic table outside the cathedral after walking through the markets - you can buy anything there! We saw books, clothes, cleaning supplies, jewelry, board games and food.
When Salisbury Cathedral was first built, it didn't have a steeple. They added one later, but it leaned 29 1/4 inches off centre because it was so heavy. Luckily, that was the extent of it. The cathedral was absolutely beautiful - an English Gothic building that only took 38 years to build.
Inside the chapel, we saw the grave of William Longspree. William was the illegitimate half-brother of Kings John and Richard Lionheart. He met the Countess of Salisbury and fell in love, so they got married and he became the Earl of Salisbury. When King John sealed the twelve copies of the Magna Carta, Longspree brought one to Salisbury. We saw it - talk about small handwriting...
Then he went off on the crusades and disappeared. Hugh de Burgh, one of King John's henchmen, wanted his son to marry the widowed Countess. She didn't want to, but he went ahead and arranged everything anyway.
One day, they were having an engagement dinner and Longspree walked in the doors in the middle of it. They changed it into a welcome home party, but Longspree died less than 24 hours later. They later discovered that it was through arsenic poisoning. Brian's moral of the story was not to trust de Burghs :]
On the way to Bath, Brian talked about how underneath the top layer of ground is a layer of chalk. People have made designs in hills by exposing that layer. And I saw so many Texacos! I haven't seen one since California and I saw a bunch off the motorways. I took a lot of pictures of the countryside - like a lot a lot. Nicole laughed at me, but I really loved the views.
Brian also talked about Bath. About ten thousand years ago, rain water seeped through the ground and was heated by the core and still bubbles up now at a constant rate. The first King of England, King Edgar, was crowned at Bath Abbey in 973 AD. Jane Tusten also lived here, though she really didn't like it. There was a Jane Austen Centre and I got an I <3 Darcy sticker :D I wish they sold Region 1 DVDs - I can watch Region 2 thing on my computer, but I like watching Austen movies on the big tv with my mom :D
Nicole really likes this store called Apricot, so we searched for one once she saw people with the bags. When we found it, we both found things to get - on sale too! I got a shirt and scarf for £7 :]
When we got back to the hostel, we still had 2 hours till we went to eat. I read The Rivals - it's by the same author as School for Scandal. There's a character named Mrs Malaprop (like malapropism...) and she had some of the funniest lines. One of them made me crack up - she was talking about someone and said 'He is the very pineapple of politeness!' I realised that she meant pinnacle, but I was still laughing - I think that was my favourite line.
When we got to the restaurant, it took bloody forever to eat - sitting down till dessert took 2 hours. The tomato basil soup appetizer was delicious though, so that made up for it.
After dinner, a bunch of us went to a pub. It was fun - I tried cider because I'd heard that Bath had some really good ciders. I definitely wasn't prepared for the carbonation - I haven't had a soda in a while so it was weird to drink. So many people got drunk. Dylan, one of the guys in IES, started the day off drunk so he was gone. Nicole, if she wasn't drunk, was definitely pretty tipsy. It's fun to be the sober one in a crowd of drunks :D
Also at the pub were two stag teams (bachelor parties). One was themed - they were all dressed up as geeks except the groom who was in a costume dress and blonde wig. They were all really nice and fun to talk to. I didn't see the other group as much - but I did see them take salt tequila lime shots (snort the salt, take the tequila shot then squirt a lime in your eye - I don't know if they have an official name or not) and there were some IES people talking with them all. It was really cool how everyone merged.
We got in at 12.30 ish and breakfast was at 8, so wrote in my journal and just crashed.
Well, I did promise a longer post this weekend ;] I'll write up today's entry later on, it's only 8.00 pm right now.
Till then,
-Carly
Friday, July 1, 2011
Happy Birthday, Grandmother! :D
Today's my Grandmother's birthday!
This is my 21st post and I had one before I left, so I've been here for 20 days. It feels like it's been longer.
For the past couple of posts, I've been saying that I didn't really do anything that day. Well, today I really didn't do anything.
I got to sleep in - yay! :] After that, I listened to music, wrote, read, played sudoku or any combination thereof. Usualy it was music with one of the other three :]
I got a pretty good start on my research paper outline. We need to have a finalised version of the outline and title by next Wednesday, so going to the library again on Monday should help. In addition to the school work, I also wrote more on various stories that are swimming around in my head. It can get kinda confusing when a Harry Potter character and a cop are trying to get my attention at the same time ;D
Around midafternoon, I decided to walk over to the bookstore (I didn't take any money - I was thinking ahead ;] ). I found about 10 books that I want to read - I really need to start saving up for a Kindle. Then I can get five books and not have to lug them home, like I'll have to with the three that I've gotten here already :]
I read School for Scandal today. I like the play, even though the production we saw was odd. I'm debating whether I want to read another of Sheridan's plays this weekend or King Richard III. Another Sheridan play is winning out - it's a much smaller book than the Shakespeare one to take on the trip.
Speaking of the trip, we're leaving at 7.30 tomorrow morning, and I still need to pack. That means that Monday is the 4th of July. It's kinda wierd, being in England and not having the fortnight of hype and sales on food for a picnic. There's a restaurant down the street that does BBQ - Nicole and I were thinking about going there for dinner.
Nadal is going to be playing Djokovic in the Wimbledon Final on Sunday. That's going to be a good match - a couple of the people going on the weekend trip have said that we're going to need to find a sports bar in Bath to watch it. I read an article saying that when Djokovic won he clinched a spot in the final match and the No. 1 seed for next year. Nicole and I are wondering how that works, but neither of us really know how seeding works so I guess we'll just leave it to the experts :]
Hopefully I'll be able to post tomorrow night, if not I'll have two to put up on Sunday.
Till then,
-Carlito
This is my 21st post and I had one before I left, so I've been here for 20 days. It feels like it's been longer.
For the past couple of posts, I've been saying that I didn't really do anything that day. Well, today I really didn't do anything.
I got to sleep in - yay! :] After that, I listened to music, wrote, read, played sudoku or any combination thereof. Usualy it was music with one of the other three :]
I got a pretty good start on my research paper outline. We need to have a finalised version of the outline and title by next Wednesday, so going to the library again on Monday should help. In addition to the school work, I also wrote more on various stories that are swimming around in my head. It can get kinda confusing when a Harry Potter character and a cop are trying to get my attention at the same time ;D
Around midafternoon, I decided to walk over to the bookstore (I didn't take any money - I was thinking ahead ;] ). I found about 10 books that I want to read - I really need to start saving up for a Kindle. Then I can get five books and not have to lug them home, like I'll have to with the three that I've gotten here already :]
I read School for Scandal today. I like the play, even though the production we saw was odd. I'm debating whether I want to read another of Sheridan's plays this weekend or King Richard III. Another Sheridan play is winning out - it's a much smaller book than the Shakespeare one to take on the trip.
Speaking of the trip, we're leaving at 7.30 tomorrow morning, and I still need to pack. That means that Monday is the 4th of July. It's kinda wierd, being in England and not having the fortnight of hype and sales on food for a picnic. There's a restaurant down the street that does BBQ - Nicole and I were thinking about going there for dinner.
Nadal is going to be playing Djokovic in the Wimbledon Final on Sunday. That's going to be a good match - a couple of the people going on the weekend trip have said that we're going to need to find a sports bar in Bath to watch it. I read an article saying that when Djokovic won he clinched a spot in the final match and the No. 1 seed for next year. Nicole and I are wondering how that works, but neither of us really know how seeding works so I guess we'll just leave it to the experts :]
Hopefully I'll be able to post tomorrow night, if not I'll have two to put up on Sunday.
Till then,
-Carlito
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