“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher Hershey

“As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own.” - Margaret Mead


Tonight is the last night in Kingston Upon Thames. I can't believe this past 5 weeks was real. It feels like I have been living in a dream. I have always wanted to come to London, England and now that I got a a taste of it's rich culture and history, I really do not want to leave. It is beautiful here, in so many ways. The people are (mostly) nice and welcoming, the food is (bland) but interesting and new and the sights literally take my breathe away. London did not fail to impress me every single day. I learned so much these past 5 weeks that I hope to take back with me. My classes were more than I ever expected, not to mention my teachers were hilarious as well as very knowledgeable. I have so much more respect for Britain and the people who have inhabited here and who do today. Britain is very multicultural. I feel so lucky to have been able to come here. <3
I am so glad I decided to come on this amazing, life changing trip. It was exactly what I needed and have always hoped it would be for me.  Now that I have had a baby taste of another culture in their home country, all I think about is traveling all over the world. It really is possible for me to visit the places I have always dreamed of ever since I was a little girl when I looked at those pictures in so many books.

Here are some wonderful quotes that I love and have lived by while here:

“Our deeds still travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are.” – George Eliot

“We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.” – Hilaire Belloc


“Half the fun of the travel is the aesthetic of lostness.” – Ray Bradbury

4 weeks and counting

My time in England is almost up and I could not feel more rushed to do everything I have not yet, to see everything I have missed and to do my three last paper's for my classes correctly as well as visit with my new, awesome friends I have gathered while abroad.  I miss America- but essentially for these reasons only- (family/friends obvi) actual good tasting food and the fact that every time I buy something I won't have to almost double it in my head. Either way I slice it though, I am going back in a weeks time, actually less.
I know  I will never forget this amazing trip. I made sure of it by taking more pictures then I ever have in my entire life. On that note, here are a few more :)

 The changing of the guards at St. James Palace (these are Irish guards) :) I wrote a paper on this so I know a shit ton about it

 Big Ben <3

 Westminster Abbey- Where Kate and Wills got married  sigh*

Me at the Transport Museum in London on (driving a double decker bus!)



Cheers~


        Chantelle

Maybe I belong here...

This is Bath (properly pronounced as B Ahh th- not BAAAAAth). This is a picture of the hot mineral springs that still produces water at this site. Cool, no?

Another gorgeous picture of the city of Bath

And of course I have saved the best for last.... STONEHENGE <3. Can't say I hated this trip. :)

so much more to see and do so I'm off for now.


      Cheers~


               Chantelle

Oxford University- a.k.a Hogwarts

Today I went with my british culture and society class to Oxford University. The beauty of that town, that uni- words cannot express. It was more beautiful then I had ever imagined it would be. It does look like Hogwarts- mostly Christ Church -- where the producers took the blue print for the HP dining room from and they filmed Harry going up those gorgeous steps the first time he went to Hogwarts. I had one of the best days today, simply because Oxford does not fail to impress.

Here is the hall in the movie and underneath this picture is the actual dining hall (which is still used by students) at Oxford.

This hall in the Christ church college is magnificent to no ends. Another fun fact about this dining hall that I learned today from my prof is that Alice in Wonderland was written in Oxford. One the fifth window on the right of the room, you can spot alice, the white rabbit and other fictional characters from that book in a stained glass window. It is really quite cool to see.

Another cool aspect of this ancient college is the profs there wear their traditional robes to class- as do the students in the older colleges. I think that is so neat. I also saw the colleges in Oxford that Bill Clinton, JR Tolkien and C.S Lewis went to- which was pretty awesome. :)

Overall today was one of my favorite trips. I'll be posting more photos when I get the chance


    Cheers~


            Chantelle

Something green something blue...

I just got back today from my 4 day weekend in Dublin, Ireland! I saw a lot of beautiful things while on my vacation from my vacation, but then again who doesn't when they go to Ireland?


First thing's first - the actual trip--- getting there. We booked a train ride from London to Holyhead (Wales) where we took an Irish Ferry across the pond. It was a long trip over all- 5-6 hours to get there. The train ride was not terrible but the ferry ride was an hour long and super shaky. I never have been motion or boat sick before and I had to sit down for the majority of the ferry ride. :/

My first thought of Dublin was- where's all the beautiful stuff? Dublin was a typical, dirty city. It seemed dark a lot of the time- even when the sun was out. I cannot say I was very impressed with the actual city, but the night life made up for that 100%. The pubs in Ireland are everything I had hoped for. They were vibrant and exciting and just overall fun. The music- live music may I add- does not seem to stop ever. Every single time I passed a pub- whether it be in the afternoon or night time- wonderful musicians were showing off there Irish talent. :) One of my very favorite things about Irleand has to be the music they play. It is beautiful in so many ways. I found mostly men played at the pubs, but one night we went to the Temple Bar (very popular bar in Dublin) and there was a women playing guitar and singing. She reminded me of Janis Joplin- she was quite amazing. The wonderful thing about the music is that there was a lot to choose from- depending on what you wanted to hear. Some pubs did the traditional Irish music (which was amazing to say the least) and some did funk/jazz and others played more modern/american music like The Script and so on. The variety was made every pub something new and different.
Besides the music being played in the pubs, there was also loads of musicians outside on the streets around Temple Bar playing for money. They were all pretty good too, which did not make me feel bad about taking my gelato ice cream on the corner and listening for a while. :)

One of the unfortunate things about Ireland, especially Dublin is that the price of everything is so high. A typical lager was about 5.70 Euro- which made it at least 7-8 dollars. I sadly spent 30 Euro my first night on drinking and going to a club (which sucked super bad btw). I'll have to say Dublin wins with the pubs and London wins with the clubs.

The last day we were in Ireland we went on a tour of the country. It was by far the best part of being in Ireland. We got to see all the beautiful rolling green hills and the waterfall in p.s I love you. <3

More pics to come soon!


         Cheers~

                       Chantelle

Not too much has happened today that is very significant but I thought it a good idea to write something up for my bare blog.

Today for my Museums and Galleries class we went to The National Gallery and The National Portrait Gallery. I am not an art buff by any means but I actually enjoyed our tours by Michael (our prof). I learned a lot about the Tudor dynasty. I got to see some really fantastic pieces of work. :)

Good news alert: I also was was successful in switching classes- so now I get to go to Oxford, Stonehenge, Greenwich, Bath and the globe theatre to see a replica of one of Shakespear's originals. Yay me! <3

I'll say it again because it is true- I have having the best time ever. Also just fyi - my feet kill because I have been going none stop every single day, every hour.

Here I am eating my first Fish and Chip batch. It was not very good. At least not where I had it. :/


That's all for now folks-


    Cheers~

              Chantelle

Woke up in London yesterday...

I have officially been in England for 5 days now and I cannot get enough of it. I love turning around each corner and finding something new and amazing to revel at. So far I have been to London pretty much everyday. I am literally having the best time of my life, hands down (sorry America). :)

So as for my classes, I start tomorrow. Every other day I am in a class- either Exploring Cultural London (which is tom) or Museums and Galleries. I am so excited for these classes, fyi. The only thing that sucks is that they are taught by the same prof- and both classes are essentially the same sort of thing :( . I am actually going to visit a few places twice- The National Gallery, The British Museum and a few others. I am not to upset though because the places I am going to twice are huge and I am going to need the extra time there. I do kind of wish I was in a different class- just one- so I could switch things up a bit. Some of my friends are going to Stonehenge during class and I am JEALOUS. But good news is there are open seats during those trips so I can e-mail that prof and still attend. I do have to pay around 45 pounds though, oh well. It will be beyond worth it in all honesty. 

Exciting news for the day (1): I made my way to my beloved Fleet street today! I have been dreaming about visiting England in general since I can remember but after I saw Sweeney Todd, I fell in love- in a weird way. Long story short, I ate a deelish meat pie and sadly did not find the alleged house of Sweeney Todd. Thing is I was not prepared to go there today so I did not look up the address. They apparently do not have it labeled on the "said" house. What rubbish.  I was sad indeed when I found out I was not going to be able to find the place today while I was there. After researching at home- I found the address is 186 Fleet st. I will go there and I will take pictures and I will love it. 

Exciting news for the day (2): I booked my trip (by train and then ferry) to Ireland today with a few other girls. I am super excited to go to Ireland. I cannot even imagine the beauty that will be there for my little eyes to soak up. :D

I'm off now to bed- I have a long day ahead of me for class tomorrow, a full day- from 10:30 am to 4 pm of roaming around London with my class and prof. I best be nodding off. 

Cheers~

               Chantelle

Kingston Upon Thames, England

Day three in Kingston upon Thames, England and I am having the best time of my life! I have essentially gone to London now and seen Big Ben, the London Eye, been on the tube and double decker buses and all that wonderful stuff. I went to my first day of classes today- Exploring Cultural London and Museums and Galleries. I am so excited to go on the field trips- which are everyday- twice a day :)
I cannot wait to really get to see what London is all about! I'll keep you posted :D

Cheers,
Chantelle (people here have taken to calling me Elle, since it is easier then Chantelle- I like)