Monday, 31 March 2008
A Whirlwind tour of England and Beyond!
Hello all!
This is going to have to be a short post, but I am hoping to put up a few pictrues. It was great seeing my mom and sister last week when they came to England to visit. It was a busy trip, full of sightseeing and adventure (inclduing missing scheduled buses and having to sleep in the station, crowding into a tiny dorm room, getting seasick on ferries, navigating our way in a foreign country where we didn´t speak the language, and other similar excitement). Overall though it was a lot of fun! We started in Norwich where I gave them a tour of UEA and the city inlcuding the castle and cathedral there. The next day, before heading into London, we went to Sherringham, a quaint seaside town, for a couple of hours. In London we stayed with a friend of my mother´s who she hadn´t seen in over 20 years, so it was neat to meet and catch up with her family. We hit up all of the main sites in London: Big Ben, Parliment, The National Gallery, Tower of London, the London Eye, a ferry ride down the Thames, Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard, and also just spent some time wandering the city. We definitely crammed a lot into those two days before heading on to Paris for just one night to do the same. It was a long ride there as we took an overnight coach, which went on the ferry, and had all kinds of delays, but we made it and hit the ground running. We went to Arc de Triumph, the Louvre, walked along the Seine, and ascended the Eiffel Tower late at night for a great view of the city. The next morning we climbed up up to the Sacre Coeur church and explored the artisan area up there before catching a train to Le Havre where we took a ferry to Portsmouth, England. In England, we were greeted by and spent the weekend with friends of ours from church back home who are orginally from Engalnd. It was nice to be a bit more relaxed and spend Easter with them. Of course we did manage to squeeze in some sightseeing as we wandered around Westminister checking out the cathedral, a castle, King Arthur´s Round Table, a museum, and the gardens, and the next day having our first National Trust experience. It was a great trip and wonderful to see my family. On Tuesday they flew back home and I headed for Spain where I am now, but that will have to wait until later! (So much for a short post...)
This is going to have to be a short post, but I am hoping to put up a few pictrues. It was great seeing my mom and sister last week when they came to England to visit. It was a busy trip, full of sightseeing and adventure (inclduing missing scheduled buses and having to sleep in the station, crowding into a tiny dorm room, getting seasick on ferries, navigating our way in a foreign country where we didn´t speak the language, and other similar excitement). Overall though it was a lot of fun! We started in Norwich where I gave them a tour of UEA and the city inlcuding the castle and cathedral there. The next day, before heading into London, we went to Sherringham, a quaint seaside town, for a couple of hours. In London we stayed with a friend of my mother´s who she hadn´t seen in over 20 years, so it was neat to meet and catch up with her family. We hit up all of the main sites in London: Big Ben, Parliment, The National Gallery, Tower of London, the London Eye, a ferry ride down the Thames, Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard, and also just spent some time wandering the city. We definitely crammed a lot into those two days before heading on to Paris for just one night to do the same. It was a long ride there as we took an overnight coach, which went on the ferry, and had all kinds of delays, but we made it and hit the ground running. We went to Arc de Triumph, the Louvre, walked along the Seine, and ascended the Eiffel Tower late at night for a great view of the city. The next morning we climbed up up to the Sacre Coeur church and explored the artisan area up there before catching a train to Le Havre where we took a ferry to Portsmouth, England. In England, we were greeted by and spent the weekend with friends of ours from church back home who are orginally from Engalnd. It was nice to be a bit more relaxed and spend Easter with them. Of course we did manage to squeeze in some sightseeing as we wandered around Westminister checking out the cathedral, a castle, King Arthur´s Round Table, a museum, and the gardens, and the next day having our first National Trust experience. It was a great trip and wonderful to see my family. On Tuesday they flew back home and I headed for Spain where I am now, but that will have to wait until later! (So much for a short post...)
Saturday, 15 March 2008
Easter Break!
If I would just write shorter posts, then I would be able to write so many more! Sorry they are all so lengthy. Even in my essays here I have the hardest time keeping to word limits. At least back home it's usually a page requirement...so you can always shrink the font, extend the margins, etc...
Anyways, Easter Break is here which means we have 4 weeks off (to dedicate wholly to our studies of course)! With all of my travel plans, I don't know if any books will even be opened. Tomorrow my mother and sister arrive and I'm going to meet them at Heathrow. I'll show them around Norwich for a few days, then we'll head back to London to see as many of the main sights we can in just a day or two. Next it's on to Paris for a night where we'll again rush around as tourists, but this time unable to speak the language. After that we'll end back in the UK in Southampton area with some family friends. Once my mom and Sarah fly home, I'm off to Spain for a week to visit a friend who's studying in Granada and to also do some travelling in Malaga and Sevilla. From here I fly back to London and take a train directly to Edinburgh where I'm meeting other friends for a 3 day Scotland tour. Then I'll have a few days to recoup in Norwich before taking off to the Isle of Wight for the last part of the break. I'm really excited for everything, but I think I'm going to need another vacation to recover from this one! : )
I don't know what kind of internet access I'll have, but please feel free to keep emailing me and I'll post pictures if I can!
Anyways, Easter Break is here which means we have 4 weeks off (to dedicate wholly to our studies of course)! With all of my travel plans, I don't know if any books will even be opened. Tomorrow my mother and sister arrive and I'm going to meet them at Heathrow. I'll show them around Norwich for a few days, then we'll head back to London to see as many of the main sights we can in just a day or two. Next it's on to Paris for a night where we'll again rush around as tourists, but this time unable to speak the language. After that we'll end back in the UK in Southampton area with some family friends. Once my mom and Sarah fly home, I'm off to Spain for a week to visit a friend who's studying in Granada and to also do some travelling in Malaga and Sevilla. From here I fly back to London and take a train directly to Edinburgh where I'm meeting other friends for a 3 day Scotland tour. Then I'll have a few days to recoup in Norwich before taking off to the Isle of Wight for the last part of the break. I'm really excited for everything, but I think I'm going to need another vacation to recover from this one! : )
I don't know what kind of internet access I'll have, but please feel free to keep emailing me and I'll post pictures if I can!
Snowdonia
Last weekend I went on another Fell Club trip, this time to Snowdonia in Wales. The group that went this time varied from the Lake District, so it was fun to meet some new people as well as visit a new country. Overall it was a great trip, but had you asked me on Saturday afternoon, I probably would have given a completely different response…Day 1:
After loading up the mini-buses and signing all necessary papers, we waved farewell to UEA and embarked on our long journey to Wales. At least the trip was complete with the inevitable stop at a chip shop, and plenty of cakes (anything sweet and bread-like is called cake here), biscuits (basically hard cookies that come in millions of varieties and are usually eaten with tea), and
flapjacks (delicious creations made out of oatmeal, sugar, butter, and whatever else you choose to throw in). I think we got lost on the way there because we didn’t arrive at Caseg Fraith, the hut we were staying at until nearly 2:00 am. The beds were a wonderful sight, despite the fact that it was just two long rows of mattresses laid out on the floor.
Day 2:
After not enough sleep, we woke up to the pleasant sound of pouring rain being blown against the glass on the windows. At least there was lots of porridge and tea to put us in better spirits and prepare us for the adventures of the day. We went through the usual routine of packing lunches, gathering gear, and dividing into 3 different hiking trips and by then, thankfully the rain has subsided slightly. My group began at Pen-Y-Pass with the intentions of ascending a few peaks and walking along a ridge until we reached Capel Curig, a town on the opposite side. When we started out, it was only raining a little bit, but the paths had turned into streams and my feet were soaked through within 20 minutes, despite my heavy boots and multiple socks. The further up we got, the windier it became and by the time we had reached 500 meters (which is only about 1500 feet) we seriously had to sit down to keep from blowing over. For awhile I thought I was going to have my life long d
ream of being able to fly actually come true. It was obvious things were only going to get worse if we tried to go up any farther, so our walk leader made the wise decision to head down into the valley. We basically made our own trail but in the UK, there aren’t the trees everywhere like back home, so you can see where you are going. We used the map to orient ourselves as then began to follow this never ending stone wall. By this time it was absolutely pouring and the wind was just driving the rain. We had to cross several streams and march through bogs, but at this point we didn’t even bother trying to keep dry; it was far too late for that. If it’s possible I don’t think I’ve ever been wetter, not in the shower, not swimming, not anywhere, in my life. Just as we thought it couldn’t get worse, it some how managed to rain even harder and then turn to hail which, with the wind, made for a painful combination. The stone wall wasn’t getting us anywhere quickly, so we found our way to the road and followed it for another 2 miles or so until we made it to Capel Curing where we saw the glorious sight of the pub where we were meeting everyone else. We must have been a sight in ourselves though, dripping wet, clutching our hot tea, and huddled around the little fire. Later it was so nice to get back to our hut 
and change into dry clothes, eat a delicious dinner, and just sit around playing cards and enjoying warm drinks.
Day 3:
Sunday was also predicted to be horrendous, but fortunately the bad weather held out! Yet the day was not adventure free. We hopped into the minibuses ready for another hike, but it wouldn’t start. After many phone calls to the university and the insurance company, we found out that they would send another bus for us to drive as well as a tow truck. Since they were coming from Norwich, we knew it was going to be a long wait so we split into groups, changed our paths and did hikes from the hut. My group went up and over a series of peaks along a horseshoe that looped back to the hut. It was really pretty and it was quite clear so the views were good. We had only had a small burst of hail and strong winds, but aside from that, the weather was surprisingly great! There was snow on top of one of the peaks we did and it was funny to see how excited some of the people became when they saw it. I told them to go to New England. The hike ended up being great as it was nice views, a good pace, and a fun group. Back at the hut we hung around waiting for our relief bus, only to have the insurance man arrive, stick the key in the ignition, and have the bus start with no problem! It was emb
arrassing, but we were glad to be on our way. It was just in time too because as we were pulling away, it began to sleet/snow/hail or something nasty, but we escaped it. Despite Saturday’s weather, it was a good trip and I’d love to go back to Wales to explore other parts.
P.S. Although, I didn’t get to hear much Welsh this weekend, I say it written all over. How do you pronounce words like hwylfawr (goodbye) or diolch yn fawr iawn (thank you very much) ?!
After loading up the mini-buses and signing all necessary papers, we waved farewell to UEA and embarked on our long journey to Wales. At least the trip was complete with the inevitable stop at a chip shop, and plenty of cakes (anything sweet and bread-like is called cake here), biscuits (basically hard cookies that come in millions of varieties and are usually eaten with tea), and
flapjacks (delicious creations made out of oatmeal, sugar, butter, and whatever else you choose to throw in). I think we got lost on the way there because we didn’t arrive at Caseg Fraith, the hut we were staying at until nearly 2:00 am. The beds were a wonderful sight, despite the fact that it was just two long rows of mattresses laid out on the floor.Day 2:
After not enough sleep, we woke up to the pleasant sound of pouring rain being blown against the glass on the windows. At least there was lots of porridge and tea to put us in better spirits and prepare us for the adventures of the day. We went through the usual routine of packing lunches, gathering gear, and dividing into 3 different hiking trips and by then, thankfully the rain has subsided slightly. My group began at Pen-Y-Pass with the intentions of ascending a few peaks and walking along a ridge until we reached Capel Curig, a town on the opposite side. When we started out, it was only raining a little bit, but the paths had turned into streams and my feet were soaked through within 20 minutes, despite my heavy boots and multiple socks. The further up we got, the windier it became and by the time we had reached 500 meters (which is only about 1500 feet) we seriously had to sit down to keep from blowing over. For awhile I thought I was going to have my life long d
ream of being able to fly actually come true. It was obvious things were only going to get worse if we tried to go up any farther, so our walk leader made the wise decision to head down into the valley. We basically made our own trail but in the UK, there aren’t the trees everywhere like back home, so you can see where you are going. We used the map to orient ourselves as then began to follow this never ending stone wall. By this time it was absolutely pouring and the wind was just driving the rain. We had to cross several streams and march through bogs, but at this point we didn’t even bother trying to keep dry; it was far too late for that. If it’s possible I don’t think I’ve ever been wetter, not in the shower, not swimming, not anywhere, in my life. Just as we thought it couldn’t get worse, it some how managed to rain even harder and then turn to hail which, with the wind, made for a painful combination. The stone wall wasn’t getting us anywhere quickly, so we found our way to the road and followed it for another 2 miles or so until we made it to Capel Curing where we saw the glorious sight of the pub where we were meeting everyone else. We must have been a sight in ourselves though, dripping wet, clutching our hot tea, and huddled around the little fire. Later it was so nice to get back to our hut 
and change into dry clothes, eat a delicious dinner, and just sit around playing cards and enjoying warm drinks.Day 3:
Sunday was also predicted to be horrendous, but fortunately the bad weather held out! Yet the day was not adventure free. We hopped into the minibuses ready for another hike, but it wouldn’t start. After many phone calls to the university and the insurance company, we found out that they would send another bus for us to drive as well as a tow truck. Since they were coming from Norwich, we knew it was going to be a long wait so we split into groups, changed our paths and did hikes from the hut. My group went up and over a series of peaks along a horseshoe that looped back to the hut. It was really pretty and it was quite clear so the views were good. We had only had a small burst of hail and strong winds, but aside from that, the weather was surprisingly great! There was snow on top of one of the peaks we did and it was funny to see how excited some of the people became when they saw it. I told them to go to New England. The hike ended up being great as it was nice views, a good pace, and a fun group. Back at the hut we hung around waiting for our relief bus, only to have the insurance man arrive, stick the key in the ignition, and have the bus start with no problem! It was emb
arrassing, but we were glad to be on our way. It was just in time too because as we were pulling away, it began to sleet/snow/hail or something nasty, but we escaped it. Despite Saturday’s weather, it was a good trip and I’d love to go back to Wales to explore other parts.P.S. Although, I didn’t get to hear much Welsh this weekend, I say it written all over. How do you pronounce words like hwylfawr (goodbye) or diolch yn fawr iawn (thank you very much) ?!
Time sure does fly when you're having fun!
AAAHHHH!!! Where is the time going?! I have been here for 9 1/2 weeks!!! I can't believe how long it's been since I last made a post and so sorry if you have been looking! There is so much I could write that I don't know where to start! It's usually the weekends I write about because that's when I tend to travel, but all sorts of other things happen here too. Hmmm... I guess I'll start with last weekend in Wales and see how far I get.
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