The Chamberlain Family Goes Back to their Roots.

For the next part of my Easter Holiday my Mom, Dad and Maggi came to visit. They came for a week, wish it could have been longer. They got in Saturday April 11th, so Friday April 10th I stayed with Ashley. It's been nice knowing that Ashley is there in the city to stay with, it's sad she's leaving soon! 

So the next day I left Ashley's flat a little before 11, which was our original time set for meeting at the hotel. As it turns out my family got through customs, and left Heathrow faster than expected. They were waiting at the Hotel since 9am! I got there after 11:30, it was  great reunion! The hotel was so neat inside. It is a Bed and Breakfast, in an old Townhouse, which they own two buildings, and has 25 rooms. The family that owns it was so nice and hospitable. My family was pretty exhausted when I met up with them, since they'd been up for quite a long time. Regardless they didn't want to miss a thing. So we walked out towards Buckingham Palace, and walked around to Parliament, then to Trafalgar Square. Which at that point they were getting extremely tired. We had to give ourselves enough time to get ready because we booked tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera. 

The Phantom Of the Opera was such an experience. It's been my dream ever since I was here 4 years ago, to see the show and see inside Her Majesty's Theatre. Before heading to the show we at a nice pub/restaurant just around the corner from the Lime Tree Hotel. Everything was so amazing. The show was so magnificent. We got there just in time to get seated, and give a drink order for intermission. Our seats were really great, we could see the stage perfected, being one tier up. The show lasted till about 10:30, and which point my family was ready to crash. Jet lag was weighing heavily on them. 

Easter Sunday was perfect. We started the day off right by having an amazing English Breakfast at the hotel. Everything was so amazing, even down to the toast and jam. We wanted to get to an Easter service, and decided on Westminster Abbey. It was just too unreal to say we went to a service at Westminster Abbey. The service was so beautiful, with the choir and the surroundings. It ended at about noon, at which point we headed over towards Kensington Palace. We took the tour through the Palace, and walked around Kensington Gardens. For dinner we of course ate a pub. Everything was closed because it was a holiday. So we never got to see inside Harrod's on this visit. We got back to the hotel and relaxed for a while, browsing through Bridal Magazine's with Mom and Maggi. We all had a sweet tooth and next door was a wine bar with a great dessert menu. I had and amazing Lemon mousse and Coffee/Bailey's drink, while every one else had equally amazing desserts. We of course passed each around for a try.

For the remainder of the week we rented a cottage in Broadway, which was in the Cotswolds. Our house was right on the High Street/Main street. It was so lovely. Had 3 rooms, a family bathroom, a sitting room and kitchen downstair and a small bathroom downstairs. 

On Monday I wanted to show my family the Uni. and St. Albans. So we made our way to Hatfield, with a stop at the Infamous ASDA for food. It was a beautiful day, slightly chilly, but nice enough for the park at St. Albans. We wanted to make it to Broadway before it go dark, we hopped back into the car and were on our way. Monday night we had dinner at a lovely place called the Swan. It was a restaurant/pub, but very classy. 

Tuesday we drove to Stratford upon Avon and walked around there. It was a bit pricey to do the Shakespeare tour. But not too bad to just go see Anne Hathaway's Cottage. After seeing all we wanted to of Stratford, we made our way to Anne Hathaway's cottage. It had a beautiful garden. Across the way was a cafe, where we had our high tea for the day. 

Wednesday was a fairly nice weather day, so we drove around to the different village towns that were close to Broadway. The first one was Bourton on the Water. We'd heard it was a cute little one. However once there realized it was very touristy. There was a nice pottery place we found, and purchased some things. The next town we went to was Stow on Wold. It was a very lovely town. With decent shopping. We stayed there for a while, and had a high tea as well. Our dinner that night was a lot of fun too. We ate at the Broadway Hotel. It was only about 3 houses down from us. We met some local people too. We ended up staying there till almost midnight talking to them, while having a few pints as well. It was a great evening. 

Thursday was our last day in Broadway. We spent it at the Blenheim Palace, which was about 30 or so minutes away. It was where Sir. Winston Churchill was born and grew up. It was fascinating to see. The place was absolutely magnificent. I can't even imagine what growing up there must have been like! 

Friday we went back into London. Mom, Dad and Maggi were leaving the next morning from Heathrow, so staying in the city made a lot more sense. Dad was able to get us into the VIP tour of the Tower of London. They do the tour for special tours and law enforcement. It was amazing to see at night. We even got to enjoy the Beefeaters Pub. 

Saturday my family left. It was sad to see them go, because the week had been so amazing. It's good to know that I'll be seeing them in just about 5 weeks!

Cheers!!

Photographs of Germany

All the photos below are my photos from my trip to Germany. My friend Aisling and I went to visit my old housemate Shay. We also had the opportunity to tour Munich, and some of Frankfurt. The pictures are mainly from Bamberg and Munich though. 

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Michelsberg Monastery. A beautiful old monastery, that gives a beautiful view of Bamberg. 
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The Bamberg Rathaus-or City hall. Built in the middle of the river with bridges connecting it. 
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The amazing Apple Strudel Aisling and I split while in Munich. 
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The Soccer Stadium at the Olympic village in Munich. 
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The accidental train we hopped on. One of the nicest one stop rides we went on that day. 

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The first night we got into Bamberg. This was taken at an authentic Germany Pub, where American Country music was being performed. Go figure! I haven't heard country music in 3 months, until I went to Germany. 

Germany Adventures

I started my 3 week Easter Holiday off by visiting my old housemate Shay in Germany. She moved there during my freshman year to Student Teach at the Military base in Bamberg, Germany. I've always wanted to get to Germany, and had the perfect opportunity. Plus I haven't seen Shay in about 2 and a half years. It was a lot easier and cheaper to get there from England than from the U.S. 

I haven't had the chance to upload my pictures yet, because my family is coming tomorrow! And the day I got back was filled with unpacking, laundry and re-packing. 

So my friend Aisling and I left Sunday morning from Stansted airport. The flight wasn't too bad, only about an hour.  We flew into Frankfurt Hahn airport, where we then had to take a bus to Frankfurt am Main Train station. We boarded a train for Bamberg, and only had to switch trains once. We got into Bamberg at about 7:30pm. That night Shay made us dinner, and then we went into the downtown and met her friends at Blues Bar, where country music was being played by some Americans. 

Monday Shay had to work, but she gave us the idea of taking the train to Munich. We hadn't even thought of doing something like that. So we boarded a train in the morning and was in Munich by the afternoon. Aisling and I spent all day there. We walked around the Olympic park, went in this huge tower where you can see all of Munich. It was such a nice day. Getting back to Bamberg was a bit of an adventure though. Our train was delayed, which we then had to switch to another train, then get off at the next stop and board another one. This was just the first leg of the journey, which took us to Nuremberg. When we got the Nuremberg we had to wait until 12:11am for a train. Which then got us into Bamberg at 1:15am.  Luckily Tuesday was more of a chill day since we were going to be touring all of Bamberg. 

Tuesday Shay had the day off, so she took us all around Bamberg in the morning. We saw the Rathaus, which is the courthouse. We went into the Dom, or Cathedral. Then she took us up to Michelsberg, which was and is an old Monastery. It gave such a beautiful view of the whole city. While we were there Shay wanted us to try a Bach Beer. Which people used to drink during lent when they were fasting. It was quite an experience, sitting outside drinking a great German beer at 11:30 in the morning. After Michelsberg she took us by "little Venice" which is a row of houses situated right up next to the river, where boats float by them.  Then we had to go back to Shay's apartment so I could register for fall semester classes. While I was registering for classes Shay made us a picnic lunch, which we took to the Seehof Schloss, or Seehof Castle. It was a beautiful day there, so warm I only needed a short sleeve top. We sat around the lawn of the castle and had our picnic. After laying out for a while we walked down the hill to the cafe' which I believe must have been the stables or entrance to the castle. We had an Ice Cream, which I found is a great treat when it's warm outside. We then went back into Bamberg and walked around for a bit, also trying a Rauchbier, which is the locally brewed in Bamberg. It had a smoked taste, with an after taste of Ham. Or as Shay called it, like drinking a Slim Jim. 

Around 6:30pm we met up with Shay's friends at a favorite restaurant called Mahr's Brau. It was a really need place. We tried their favorite drink, shorten to Oue, or Ooo. I can't remember the longer version. We stayed there until heading back to Shay's Flat and crashing at 10pm. Aisling and I needed to plan our or departure to Frankfurt. So Shay called it a night, and we booked our hotel, and found train tickets. 

Wednesday was a bit of a later start. Shay didn't have to get into work until noon, so we had a bit of a later start getting up, while she went for a run. We left the apartment with Shay, so we knew which bus to take to get to the Train station. The train wasn't too bad. Right when we got into Frankfurt Am Main our first objective was to find the Hotel we'd reserved. It was a pretty decent hotel for only 50 Euros total, only 25 Euros per person. We decided on a hotel rather than a hostel, because it ended up being cheaper, and we got our own bathroom in the room. After we dropped off our stuff, it was time to explore some of Frankfurt. It was a fairly nice evening, so we took the underground to a spot where lots of tourists head. It heard more English than I had all week, when we walked around Frankfurt. 

Thursday was our last traveling day. We had to leave early in the morning to catch the Bus back to Frankfurt Hahn airport. The hotel offered a breakfast, which we missed because we were already walking to the bus station by the time is was being served. The traveling back to Hahn, and the flight back wasn't too bad. I had to check my bag again, which totally stunk because it was 20 Euros. I probably won't fly Ryanair again. They add every little thing in there, making you spend more money. 

It was a wonderful trip. I'm so glad I was able to get to Germany! It's been my dream ever since I started learning German. And now I can stay I've officially visited the country!

Pictures will follow in another post. 

Cheers!!!