Cornwall- Lanhydrock and Bath

On our way to Bath we stopped by Lanhydrock House. It's this large house out in the country with beautiful gardens. It was once lived in by a wealthy family, but is now run by the National Trust. They have restored/kept the house like it was when people used to live there. The inside was pretty and pretty extravagant, but the best pictures came from outside in the gardens. 

 A hill overlooking the house.

 The blue and purple flowers were everywhere and so large and vibrant!

 Later that evening we arrived in Bath. There wasn't much open that night, but the next day we toured through the Roman Baths. (see picture). Bath is one of my favorite cities in the England and one Jane Austen used to spend quite a bit of time in although later in her life she despised the city for it's fashion and gossip.

 Being a Sunday everyone was enjoying the sun in the Park.

This was the sign hanging on top of the reception desk. I thought it was funny and very fitting!

After Bath we made our way to Stonehenge (I didn't take any pictures this time as I have enough of Stonehenge) and then headed back to London! It was a great trip and the students were pretty good overall. Next stop: Berlin!

Cornwall- Land's End and the Minack Theatre

Literally the end of the world... or so they thought. Land's End is on the South Western tip of England. We made a stop here to take some pictures before heading to the most awesome theatre ever called the Minack Theatre. I visited the Minack as a student and it was my favorite part of the entire trip. It's basically an outdoor theatre that is carved into the sides of cliffs. We got to watch a performance of "The Death of Sherlock Holmes" with the Atlantic Ocean as our backdrop.

 Claire is from New York and pointing to the sign that is telling her how far away she is, although it's the closest she's been since Christmas!

 By far my most favorite picture of the entire 6 months!

The amazing Minack! Everything was carved by this women and some of her helpers. She had a vision and worked hard to make it come true. I have no idea how she did it, but I'm glad she did!

Cornwall- Newquay

While in Cornwall we stayed 2 nights in the beach town of Newquay (new-key). It's a fun little surf town and gave our students a lot of different options of things to do. We had free surf lessons in the morning or the students could go shopping and just hang out on the beach. Even though the weather was nice it was a little too cold to actually be in bathing suit, but since most of them are from Florida seeing the beach makes them feel at home! Jenny, Onalee, and I stayed at the same hostel and enjoyed some quiet time hanging out together. Our first night we had a dinner of champions with dominos and watched "Kate in Canada " in our hostel room. haha it sounded lame, but was exactly what we needed after a long day on a coach and 3 busy days ahead.

 The view from breakfast the next morning. Unlike a lot of 'beaches' in the UK this one is actually sand, not pebbles. 

 I loved this girl! She was on the beach wearing tights, a long sleeved shirt, and a parka vest! How very English of her. It was chilly, but not THAT cold. haha I thought it was funny. 

Jenny enjoying the sun :) We decided to go shopping and hang out on the beach instead of surfing that morning. It was a good decision.

Cornwall- Tintagel Castle

Our weekend excursion this semester was to Cornwall which is the South West region of England. There was beautiful scenery everywhere we went and everything was green! It was also supposed to rain all weekend and didn't rain once! I couldn't believe how lucky we got. Our first stop was Tintagel Castle. Think King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table era. This explains why it's really more of a ruined castle. It's a beautiful place. I would choose to build my castle here too... although I'm sure the Cornish people would not appreciate the current monarchy taking up residence in their land. Enjoy the views!

 I tried to recreate one of my more 'famous' pictures. The picture on the right is the original and is the one that has inspired all my most recent pictures to shoot scenery through different holes in walls or through fences. I can't believe how much better the colors came out this most recent time. The sun makes all the difference

 Part of what is left of Tintagel

 Claire and I taking one of our last pics together. She's a first year abroad student which means she's been in London since last August! She's been here the whole time with me :)

 I can't believe there was so much sun!

 Not only are there beautiful cliffs, but also waterfalls, beaches, and caves.

 Playing in the caves. Shadow statues and climbing of course!

Olympics Site Round 3

We had another excursion to the Olympic Site. All the buildings are complete at this point, but just not some of the landscaping and other minor things. 

Below are pictures depicting the progress. We're not 1 year from opening ceremonies!

 July 2011

 March 2011

July 2009

Happy Birthday America

I know it's been a while since I last blogged, but once I tell you what all I've been doing you'll understand why. I've barely been on my computer at all this month. But we'll start with the 4th of July! As you would imagine they don't do it big in London, but there were some things going on around town. A lot of it happened on the weekend, but on Monday we found a pub that was serving American beers. It was fun for a little while, but then we got hungry and headed to the best burger place in town, Byron's. We had burgers, fries, and milkshakes! It was the perfect 4th. Below is our best attempt at typical American poses :)

Kew Gardens

The day after Brighton we had our first London Excursion to Kew Gardens. It was quite a trek on the tube, but well worth it. We lucked out with beautiful weather again! After raining for most of the last 6 weeks, London sure has brightened up. The gardens were green and lush and very beautiful. There were different sections such as the temperate zone, the California Redwoods, the Japanese Rock Garden, and other indigenous and non-indigenous species. I can't say I learned a whole lot about different plants, but I saw some great collections.

 The Mexican desert

 The biggest lily pads I have ever seen

 A Carnivorous plant. Those are dead flies that it will eat later. Pretty cool!

 A real piranha! I'm glad it was in a glass case.

 From the Treetop Walkway. I just had to climb some stairs instead of a mountain :)

The Japanese Zen Garden

London to Brighton

One of our first day trips of the semester was to Brighton Beach. I had never been there before and luckily it turned out to be a really nice day. Although, since I was still burnt from Wimbledon there was no sun bathing for me. We first did a tour of the Royal Pavillion of which King George III built and designed while he was a prince and lived in while he was King. When his niece, Victoria, became Queen she sold it to Brighton as it was not her style and moved the royals permanently to Buckingham Palace. It was really pretty, but also kind of odd as it had a lot of Asian influence. We then walked along the pier and the beach enjoying the day. I wasn't so sure about Brighton before we left, but if I lived in London I would probably try to visit once a year. It was quite enjoyable.

 The Royal Pavillion

 Brighton Pier

 A Carousel! 

 Jenny and I having some fun!

 I think it's funny they call it candy floss instead of cotton candy! But it smells just as good :)

 This color water is very rare in Brighton apparently. But we all enjoyed the colors very much!