The Bonnie land of Scotland

Happy Birthday Me! 22 and waking up way way to early to catch a bus to Scotland! Emma, Sara, and I set out on the long weekend adventure first thing. 

At the bus station

 

Making a stop in Moffat Scotland for lunch and a shop around we had a good little lunch in a very traditional pub/hotel.  The people in Scotland are all very sweet and nice, however poor Emma and Sara had a much harder time understanding so this weekend I took the roll of translator.

We finally got to the Hotel Claymore our final stop right on the banks of get this Loch Long, yes it was like it was just meant to be. Miss Rebecca Long was staying on her birthday with the views of Loch Long right out the window.  

Loch Long

 Though the demographic of the tour was a bit older... (We were once again the youngest people by at least 10 years) they were all sweet and fun to be with. That night Emma and Sara surprised me with a small gift and singing happy birthday to me in not just in English but also in Swedish and let me tell you I loved it! They are so sweet; I am lucky to have such great travel companions.

Emma and Sara

Saturday we headed to Callander and to spend some time at some beautiful Lochs, making a stop to see the famous Hamish. He was so big and huge and I feel as though he needed a bang trim but the little calf was very cute.   

Hamish

Driving into Callander area we learned that this area was the old stomping ground of the real Robin Hood (Rob…?) and this was the area that he would hunt to feed his clan.  It was very interesting especially for a lover of the old story.  Callander was like most towns in the Highlands very small only about one main street of shops and pubs and such and it didn’t take us long to walk through the town a few times. 

Callander

When we got back to the hotel that afternoon the sun had come out and the Loch was just calling my name so I answered it by taking a wonderfully long walk along the side of the Loch.  The area around the Loch reminded me of Utah, the beauty of the Mountains, and the quietness of the distance away from the cities. 

From my walk I found a spot to sit

That night the entertainment was a singer and Highland Dancers (which was the highlight).  Now for the credit of everyone enjoying the music they are not from America (me being the only one) and so they didn’t mind that in Scotland they were hearing old American songs but me the lil’ American in the room was a bit let down that we didn’t have proper Scottish music.  But all disappointment went out the window when the Highland Dancers showed up.  The small team was very impressive and the little one was just so cute you couldn’t help but love them!

The next day was much like the day before but the sun way out all day and we enjoyed every second of it! Spending time in Invarary walking the shops, eating (lets just skip talking about the food) and than driving past the Castle that is there.  The Castel is more like a toy with the way it was built very ideal looking just like it was out of a storybook.   

Getting back to the hotel I laid out on the grass taking in the sun listening to podcasts while the girls walked around the lake, all I can say was this was a very relaxing weekend! After a day of travel home we are back to school and the less relaxing life of the student.

Birthday Dinner

Well it was a day early but on the night of March 24 the girls and I went out for dinner to celebrate.  It started out with Maria my dear friend giving me a small keepsake that I had wanted when we went to Warwick.  It was very sweet of her to get it when I wasn’t looking. I am so thankful to have such a sweet friend here in the UK.   

Maria and Me at Warwick

We than all headed out to dinner at the restaurant ‘Ask’ an Italian restaurant. Now I chose this restaurant because it wasn’t and I am saying a big wasn’t British food. I know what you are thinking why would you get Italian food when you could eat local food and all I have to ask is have you ever eaten British food? And that would be your answer.

Martina, Me, Jen, Sara, Maria, Emma, and Julia (Elke is taking the pic)

Once we got there all ordered and started eating I decided that I had found my new favorite place to eat it was so amazingly good! What a good birthday present! At dinner Elke, Julia, and Martina surprised me with a gift that was a big photo frame with pictures that they had printed up from my trips, it was so sweet that they did all that work for my birthday! In all the night was so much fun, good classy birthday fun! 

YUM!

Once upon a time...

As the title of today's post states it is once upon a time that every fairy tale starts and 6 girls and 1 guy started out on this tale Saturday morning.

The Group at the top of the tower (Sara, Elke, Maria, Erica, Matt, Emma, Me)

Getting onto the bus to Warwick Castle we were all in excitement/ still very sleepy. Warwick Castle is the Disney Land of castles, costumed workers, themed activities, well done life like exhibits, and Peacocks! The sun was shinning and we were ready to go, as we walked up to the castle it was like a group of children on their way to Disney for the first time. The Castle is a real castle that they have just converted into a living exhibit, and as we walked in it was like we had been transported back in time.

This is the view from Guy's tower. The tower is as high as it looks and the only way up is spiral stairs that are very small and seem to go on for forever. To say we were all very happy to make it to the top to see the views from all around the city. And just to think that women would climb those stairs in a dress and not just a dress but the dresses that they had to wear! After a walk around the towers (yes there were two) and than down the stairs on the other side to the court yard. We than made our way through the Great Hall with living exhibits, Secrets and Scandals of the Royal Wedding (1898 with the Countess of Warwick, The Price of Wales, and the Young Churchill).

As we were on our way to Princess tower there was a sign, stating that the Tower was closed for maintenance! In my depressed state I was very sad, as I had looked forward to this portion of the castle, as I let out my sadness none other than a Knight in Shining armor walked by.... and of course since he saw a damsel in distress he came to my aide and offered a picture. 

As you can see his charming ways won me over and I forgot about the silly tower. My Knight had finally found me haha!


After my moment with KSA (Knight in Shining Armor) we headed over to the gardens were about a billion peacocks were walking around. and it was here that I decided that I wanted one as a pet!









These vain birds were very beautiful and not at all scared of the people all around them. After time spent in the gift shop we were headed to the hotel hungry for dinner and tired from our long day.



Chatsworth~
"I Cannot fix on the hour, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."
For those of you who know where this quote is from it means that you have read one of the most read novels ever written! Pride and Prejudice! Chatsworth house is the home of none other than Mr Darcy that is used in the 2005 version of the movie. Pemberley, to be there I felt as though I did walk into the pages of my all time favorite book and movie.  Walking through the house which is actually the home of the Duke and Duchess of Derbyshire, if I was a duchess I don't know how much I would love to have people walking through my house everyday but I guess that is the price you pay when you let it be used for several movies and you open it up.  However we were able to see several of the statues that were used in the movie and many of the rooms that Elizabeth walked through on her tour of Pemberley. The highlight of the tour was seeing the bust that was made of Mr Darcy for the movie on display in the gift shop.

 It is fun to be able to see a piece of movie making, it makes the movie come alive, walking through the conservatory room with all the statues I felt (nerdy I know) just like Elizabeth. Yes it is just a book and all of you who are rolling your eyes I don't care because I was excited! 

After this we walked the gardens and took a look at the amazing building the house is, and now for the disappointing part of the trip. As with all old buildings Chastworth needs repairs and for the next two years will have scaffolding covering the most iconic portion of the house so I do not have the much sought after picture of me in front, the shot that you see in the movie. But I do have to picture in the other direction of the same fountain.... In my head I can just watch the movie to see the other iconic part.

 And that was the end of the trip, we took the bus back to reality and I will spend the rest of my week writing essays and studying for my classes waiting for my next adventure!

Such stuff as dreams are made on

I know I know it has been way to long, so this is me playing catch up. The weekend of the 12th I was once again gone into the pages of a book driving to the fair city of Stratford. The city of Stratford the home and birthplace of none other than William Shakespeare himself. As I was on my way I was thinking cool Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, this will be interesting. But once I got there my travel buddy Erica (a drama major from California) was bursting at the seems in excitement. We first decided to take a open bus tour around the city and to Anne Hathaway's cottage. The city is very old and beautiful and I learned quite a bit about ol' Shakespeare.

Here in Hull we have city and not to much on the nature. But here at the cottage they had a wooded path way around the back of the house. This area was like a refreshing breathe of clean air. The trees were so green with moss over their bark. As it is early March and no leaves have started to grow it was good to see some color that looks like spring.

After this we went back to the center of town and took pictures with the statues of Shakespeare and his famous characters. The day was bright and warm and Erica and I decided to walk to the other 3 houses that are apart of the Shakespeare tour. We made it to the Church were he is buried, it looked very much so traditional English. 
Though this church has capitalised on the fact that Shakespeare's bones are laid here it was still cool to see. Plus Shakespeare is probably the only person to write a curse on his tomb that is laid in a church. The curse stating:  

GOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE,
TO DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE.
BLESE BE THE MAN THAT SPARES THES STONES,
AND CURST BE HE THAT MOVES MY BONES.  

(No my spelling doesn't suck it is the spelling of the stone!)

Next we went to his birth house, and here camera's were not allowed but it was very fun to walk through. They have made it to were you get a feel for the time period and you see many sayings and words that we use today due to the good ol' man. In all Stratford was a fun city and I learned that Shakespeare was an amazing writer and a still better insulter, "More of your conversation would infect my brain" might just be my new favorite quote!

The Next day we were in Cotwold and though there wasn't very much to do in the very pretty little town we did walk around the area and found this spot where the country side went of forever. Erica and I both agreed that it was just like a part from our favorite books. 

All in all it was a relaxing trip!!

Bird-Chirping Weather near the Lakes

I will start from the beginning and the beginning was 6 am on a Saturday morning, fun! Packing my clothes and getting ready for my first trip through National Holidays tour company with my friend Erica. The day was gray like most days but there was a hope for no rain, at least according to the weather channel, so I kept my fingers crossed. We got to the bus station and got onto the bus labeled Lancaster, and this is when Erica and I realized why we stood out.  In our bus we were the youngest by about 20 years, which just made us laugh we were going on this beautiful trip to the country with older people, at least this meant the bus would be quiet :) So off we went the drive took around 3 hours to Lancaster through the rain, fog and than on to gray skies.  Lancaster is a beautiful city we started off by looking at the Grand Theater (more like the little Grand) and we were given a tour very nice like, however we didn't ask for it so when we thought we were going to have to pay we got right out of there since we just wanted to take a look. We were very sneaky or more like we just walked really fast away. Than on to the city center, the city is old like most English cities the buildings are old and beautiful.

Having lunch at the street market, their Indian food was very good! (mmm mmm) And than on to the Castle... oh the Castle. This Castle is also used for its original purpose, a court, and prison! This is the oldest working prison in the world, very cool and kinda freaky. We paid for the tour (since you can take one of the part of the Castle and Court that is not used as the Prison) and off we went. There will be no pictures of this due to some rule or another so I can't show you but the tour was very interesting.  The Castle is owed by the Queen of England who is also the Duke of Lancaster, every Queen or King also is the Duke of Lancaster because of a take over of the Crown by the Duke of Lancaster many years ago. We first saw the court room, these rooms are still used today in court cases I got to stand where the witnesses would stand and the room was so beautiful.  We than went to see the prison (the not used more old historical side), it was here that we learned about the witches that were put on trial and prison and than executed; much like the US version in Salem. The story was horrible and the cell is still in the Castle with the chains still in the ground, however it is on the other side of the Castle and 30 feet under ground.  We did go into a cell that was about half the size of my room and once we were all standing in it he shut the door and turned off the light. The darkness was so dark your eyes would never adjust and this was the last place the prisoners would be before being executed.  So in all the Castle isn't one were the Prince fell in love and married a Princess and lived happily ever after, it is one were many people have been put to death.

We than headed back to the bus to head back to the hotel and spend the night. The hotel was amazing, mostly because my room was very nice with a view of the river and the beds... oh the beds I wish I could sleep on them another night!

Needless to say it was a good night and I was rested ready for the next day. The drive to Bowness on Lake Windermere was the most beautiful drive. Rolling hills with rock walls, sheep, and the run shinning through it all. It was here that I thought I had stepped out of my life and into the pages of a book. At one point we passed this bridge that looked like it was from Lord of the Rings I wish I had taken a picture, however I was to dumb struck by the amazing beauty. Once at the lake we decided on a plan of action. Beatrix Potter exhibit house and than off to a lake Cruse.  The Potter house was out the Disney's play book, the walk through the stories of Peter Rabbit and all his friends. It was so much fun to be able to learn about an author I had read as a little girl!

After this it was off to the Lake Cruse, the sun was shinning and the birds were chirping and I couldn't have been more happy. The 45 min jump around the lake was very fun and relaxing. There are so many little islands and houses that are the biggest most elegant things I had ever seen, there weren't very many people on the water so it was nice to quiet. Oh it was so nice to be still on not hear cars, buses, or stupid loud students walking by. All I could hear was the waves and the birds... mmm what a happy place.  

It was a much needed weekend away and to sum up everything:

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather.  ~Terri Guillemets