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!!!

Oxford and Harry Potter

This was the long corridor/cloister that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire filmed!
The Harry Potter Great Hall!!

Now that I have some time to write I want to describe last Saturday. I went on the International Student Support team's trip to Oxford. We left UH around 10:30 and got there a little after 12:00. I'd signed up without knowing who was going to be there. Luckily there was one other person I recognized, so we stuck together the whole afternoon. His name was Gordon and he was an exchange student from WVU too. I didn't know him before I came here though. It was pretty cool to get to know someone new. 

So when we got to Oxford we had about 25 minutes for a toilet break and to grab some food. We bought Panini's  to-go from a little cafe.  After grabbing our food the tour was about to start. Our tour guide took us along through the town and into some of the Colleges. . At one of the colleges we got to see where the students housing is. It was so fancy! Then we got to go into one of the regular dining rooms they use.  At Oxford the students have to wear black robes for certain occasions, such as, when they take an exam, formal dining, and for some lectures. Also for exams there is a formal uniform dress they must wear. The guys are in black suits with a white shirt and black tie (I believe), and the girls wear a white shirt, black skirt and white tie? Also when the exams are taking place the girls wear a certain color carnation on their lapel which signifies which exam year they are taking. 

Harry Potter!!

I was most interested in going to Oxford for the Harry Potter sites.   We saw where the infirmary shots were filmed, saw the windows of where they filmed the Library scenes. We couldn't go into the infirmary, because they either used as a hospital, or as a place of rest and it wasn't open to visitors. Also the Library was above the infirmary so that was out of the tour as well. Then we went into another place, and as we got to it I knew exactly from a Harry Potter movie. In The Goblet of Fire there were several scenes filmed in the cloisters/ corridors of this one building. It opens up to a pretty courtyard where they filmed as well. Warner Brothers booked that area for 3 weeks and no student or professor could use that area. However it only took them 3 days to film it. The tour guide said that the studio put a green screen on the other side of the walls, so they could piece together the Scotland backdrop with this filming. Finally we ended at the Christ Church College. This is the most famous of all the colleges in Oxford University. In here they took inspiration from the Great Hall dining room and the staircases for the Harry Potter films. Also and arial shot of Christ Church was in the movie the Saint. 

After our official tours ended we had some free time. So Gordon and I met 2 other people that didn't have a group and we went to the infamous Moo-Moo's Milkshake place. It was so amazing. I had a Kit Kat Cappuccino Milkshake. They have over 200 flavors! Basically candy bars are mixed together with vanilla ice cream into a milkshake! Then we walked around some more until 5:00 when we went to The Red Lion Pub for dinner and  Pint. The bus left around 6:30, so we had plenty of time meeting up. 

It was such a lovely day. I wish it was a bit warmer then though, but I'm glad I got to see the infamous Oxford University!

Cheers!!

School Work Overload

I have a few minutes now to post on my blog. I have been drowning in school work since the end of February. Slowly but surely I'm getting it all done. The items on my list to check off are: A group presentation today at 2pm in American History, a group presentation in my Impacts and Ethics course next Wednesday at 10am, a 2000 word essay in American History due next Friday, and finally a 1500 word essay due in my Geography of Travel and Tourism class on March 31st. After all this work is done I'll be able to go into spring break with nothing to worry about!

It has been so different getting used to how to study here, or get the work done. All of my modules had things due in March and not things due through out the semester, therefore my time management had to kick in this month.

I had to make a schedule for my courses next semester back at WVU. I'm probably going to be carrying about 18 credits plus a 1 credit MDS required intro class. So all in all I'll be taking 19 credits! I have to finish on time and this was the only way. I will definitely keep myself busy!

Well this is all for now..I have to get my act together for our group presentation in an hour.

Cheers!!

I <3 London

London is such a wonderful city. I can't believe it is just 40 mins away by train from Hatfield. I went into the city this past Saturday with 3 friends from the CU. We got the all day travel card pass, so we could use the underground..which helped immensely. The train went into Kings Cross Station, which we then took the tube to the Hyde Park Corner stop. The first item of importance was finding a McDonald's for a milkshake. We walked into the one past Harrods in Knightsbridge. I had forgotten how good milkshakes were! Their large was the size of our medium cups back in the US Mcdonald's. Then we took our milkshakes and sat on the steps of the Victoria & Albert Museum. I really liked this museum..it had a mix of everything. There was pedestrian tunnel that ended at the science museum. This museum was really neat too. The exhibits we saw were the space and the hands on part. The Science museum is a big attraction to bring school groups too. That day there were hundreds of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, which reminded me of when my troop would go to museums. After touring the museums it was lunch time. So we hopped on the tube again to hyde park..however realized not many places were around there for eating. It was to the underground again to go to Leichester Square. My friends got subway, but I'd brought my own lunch. We ate our lunch on the steps at Trafalgar Sqaure. Lunch was later around 3:00pm. We were meeting another friend at Harrods about 5pm before heading to dinner. I finally got to go to a Starbucks! Everytime I want to go into one my American friends don't want to! I had the best Latte ever!! It was so nice to sit and relax for a little while. After we met our friend at Harrods, I had the tourist photo taken of me in front of a lit up Harrods! The plan was to eat at Hard Rock Cafe. So our group made our way down there. The wait was about 2 hours! which is pretty normal for Hard Rock Cafe..however at this time it was almost 7pm! Once our name was down on the list we headed to a pub to hang out for a drink. I realized how expensive London really is, so I just had a soda. It was so fun just hanging out and getting to know my new friends from England. The whole reason I came here was to get the full England college experience. Hard Rock Cafe was really neat to see. Now I can say that I've been to one in another country. It was expensive as all get out, but still neat. There wasn't enough time to get a souvenir..I guess I'll just have to go back. We left HRC around 11pm and got to the train station with about 25 mins till the train left. Since we had so much time a game of Charades was played. I didn't get back to my room till about 1:30am! It was an awesome day in the city!

Cheers!

This isn't a Holiday?

So this week I've come to the realization that I'm not on a vacation. This week has been so packed with upcoming assignments, and reading assignments. I have a paper due this coming Monday, a poster project due Wednesday, an article and readngs to do for my class this Friday. Then in march I also have a large group presentation due, and a couple more papers.

The workload has been fine up until now, and I'm finding that there just isn't enough hours in a day! As far as getting so much homework at once, I do enjoy my classes. It is a funny thing because I know someone in all of my classes here. They are mainly the exchange students, but that's totally cool. When I'm at WVU I'm lucky if I know anyone in one of my huge lectures.

If I haven't mention my classes before, this is what I'm taking:
Human Space and Society-Lecture Monday
American History-Lecture Tuesday; Seminar Friday
Geography of Travel and Tourism-Lecture Tuesday; Seminar Tuesday
Impacts and Ethics of Tourism-Lecture Wednesday; Seminar Wednesday

I guess my time management skills need to kick in for me to get everything done on time. Needless to say this weekend is going to be a weekend filled with school work.

Cheers!