Manchester weekend

I thought my first weekend in London would be hard to top, but this past weekend I went to Manchester with about 20 other kids from my school and had a blast! We started with a British Studies field trip to Lincoln and saw the roman ruins and the Lincoln Cathedral which was beautiful, but FREEZING cold. Not my favorite trip but it was very interesting and full of history.

Then we took a bus back to school and hopped on a train to Manchester! We stayed at a really cool hostel called Hatters which was actually really nice and had a lot of fun people staying in it. We were all pretty tired by the time we got to Manchester that night so we went to bed pretty early so we would be well rested for the game the next day. Our hostel was about a 1o min tram ride to the stadium and we got there about an hour before the game so we had time to walk around and checkout all the fans. It was packed and super exciting! We went into a pub before the game and you could barely move it was so packed with Manchester fans. We had really good seats on the east side of the stadium and got a great aerial view of the field. The game itself was really good and they played against Hull city with a winning score of 4 to 0. One player, Rooney got a hat trick and scored 3 of the 4 goals! All in all it was a very fun and exciting day followed by fun Manchester night life out on the town. Then we caught the 11 am train back to Gratham, exhausted but happy to have experienced such an authentic english weekend with a winning soccer match!

all the fans walking to the stadium

view of the field from our seats

me and anna

london weekendd

Just got back from London a few hours ago, and now am exhausted but had so much fun! We got there around noon on Friday and then had a 2 hour bus tour around the city which was actually really nice and informative. We stayed at the Royal National Hotel which was conveniently very centrally located right in the middle of London and was ideal for getting everywhere quick.
After getting checked in we just took to the streets and walked everywhere! We ended up walking all the way to Big Ben and back with lots of great people watching and fun sights. Then we had a big group dinner at a very strange chinese restaurant and enjoyed a fun evening out on the town!

Saturday got up just in time to catch the last 5 min of the continental breakfast and then walked around town some more looking for cafes and some locals. Then we bought a day pass and took the tube all over town. We walked around the Harods shopping center which was amazing and full of excellent window displays then headed back to big ben and parliament! After that we went to a a really fabulous store called Topman which was 3 stories and full of wonderfully stylish british people! It was a little cold and rainy so we got some hot chocolate and were ready for a quick nap before heading out to dinner. We ended up going to the London Pub and having some delicious hamburgers for only 5 pounds! After that we went dancing and had a really fun night out :)

Sunday we got up early and were on the buses headed to Hampton Court Palace by 10am. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine which was a nice change to the could rainy typical weather :) The palace was very interesting and there were some beautiful paintings and gorgeous gardens in the back. A rather relaxing afternoon after running around London for the past two days.

All in all a very successful and fun weekend with lots of great experiences and new friends!

First Impressions

I finally made it ! After a few hours of delays I safely arrived to London Heathrow tired, but with no missing luggage thank goodness. There was plenty of snow on the ground when we got here on Friday and it has continued snowing everyday, lending to a very beautiful english countryside. I live in the actual manor house in the blue corridor with 2 other roomates. Our room is spacious, but rather drafty especially at night. The food is somewhat blandas expected, which is perfectly alright with me! Lots of soups and potatoes have been on the menu so far with some rather good biscuits for desert :) They also conveniently have a free hot chocolate and coffee/espresso machine in the Rectory where we eat.
Classes started today with a 8:30am sharp lecture for the entire school, followed by my british studies seminar and then my U.S. foreign policy course. Then I have a nice 3 hour long break for lunch and lounging/napping and my philosophy of ethics course at 4pm. I have signed up to be on the social committee and am considering running for office in the upcoming student government elections. All in all everything is going rather wonderfully and I love it! I shall be heading to London this Friday for the weekend with the school so there are lots of fun plans to be made.


side view of the manor, including my window


some of the front of the manor


western girls at the high table dinner

packing

I have never been very good at packing or getting ready for things, such as 5 month long trips to another country, but packing for this trip has definitely proved to be rather challenging! Thankfully my mom has been extremely helpful regarding my endless laundry from school and Christmas, but it is so hard to decide what to bring. Its a good thing my dad will be visiting me in England periodically in case I forget anything. I am so excited to be leaving in only 4 days!