A Day in the Life of Kaitlin Hartley

Top of the Morning to ya Ireland!

2010-11-19T08:03:00.008-06:00

November 5-7, 2010

Our weekend began with a mandatory field trip to London for our British Studies class. Darn, I know, too bad we have to go to London. It was perfect because we went to the places I hadn't been yet! We visited the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery which house some of the most famous art pieces. They gave us a booklet of art to find within the museums- so it was fun going on a scavenger hunt throughout and seeing the art we have been learning about and analyzing.Then we made our way to St. Paul's cathedral, built between 1675 and 1710 (before the USA existed) after the first cathedral was destroyed by London's Great fire of 1666. Inside the cathedral we got a tour around and then we made our way up via the stairs to the Whispering Gallery. This is the first level of the dome where you can stand opposite one another and whisper, and still hear eachother. Then we went up to the next level, up a winding staircase- and the kind you can see through; (the metal ones with holes!) it was kind of scary! But we finally made it to the top of St. Paul's for a great view down at London!

After our academic duties were done I met up with friends in Trafalgar Square and we headed to Chipotle for a much needed burrito! We also got some yummy gelato and then Shelby, Stephanie, and I headed to the Victoria Tube stop in order to board the Gatwick express for the airport. We made it with no problem and our flight to Dublin was to leave shortly. It was a kind of sad weekend as this was the Three Amigos final trip all together :'(. The weeks have been flying by so fast lately.

Funny story, I probably can't tell it as funny as it was at the time though. So, we were walking outside to the airplane from the gate, because that's how you get to the plane for Easyjet. Shelby and Stephanie are walking in front of me and I'm talking to them from behind. We were walking along side caution tape which was blocking us from an area in the tarmac where you aren't allowed. In mid-sentence this caution tape flies over my head and engulfs me and for some odd reason (perhaps cause we were headed to Ireland) I let out this leprechaun noise. It's hard to explain. But Shelby and Stephanie look back and just start cracking up cause I'm trying to get out of this caution tape. This was the beginning of a very entertaining evening.

Next story: We are sitting in the airplane with Shelby by the window, me in the middle (the youngest always gets stuck in the middle), and then Stephanie on the aisle. Sidenote: At the airport we had each bought a powerade for the trip. We were all sitting quietly listening to music and what not. Then Shelby gets out her powerade, takes the top off, and opens the mouth piece and the pressure of the airplane sends a fountain of red powerade all over me. It just sprays all over my face! Shelby saw my face, Stephanie and I saw Shelby's face and it was the most hilarious thing ever. Shelby was sobbing because it was so funny. I just needed to make sure I didn't have red all over my cream jacket!

Later on in our journey Stephanie and Shelby were listening to their ipods and I thought it would be funny to listen to one headphone from each of them. So I had a slow melody going from Shelby's ipod and some intense rap from Stephanie. Then Shelby played a rap song and was dancing in her seat acting out the lyrics...with her eyes closed I might add. Little did we know, the flight attendant was coming around telling people to turn their electronics off. So there we are, Shelby breaking it down, me watching her and laughing and the flight attendant standing at the aisle just watching and waiting for us to look up at him. Finally we saw him and cracked up cause he was watching the whole thing!

Then we landed in Dublin and had to take a bus to the city center. This was about 11pm at night- I suppose we were a little slap happy by this hour. On the moving double decker bus we proceeded to throw gummy candy for Shelby to catch them in her mouth.

We've learned to make our hours of transportation more fun!

We arrived in the rainy city and found our hostel and called it a night, as it was about 1am already and we had to be at another hostel at 7am the next morning for our Paddywagon tour to the Cliffs of Moher. Here's the green bus we were in for about 14 hours!

Our tour started and we made our way to Galway. We stopped at an old monastery and then at the shore to take pictures. I believe this was at the Burren.

Next we made our way to the small village town of Doolin where we stopped for a very quick bite to eat. I had some soup to warm me up!

Then we headed up the mountain to the Cliffs of Moher, what this day was all about. It was the most windy experience ever. We could barely walk it was so windy.

It was so beautiful up there. The coastline was green, the water was so blue!

That ended our adventure -- we would return to our hostel for a final day in Dublin.

Sunday we ventured around the city, but couldn't find many things to do. Dublin was not what I expected.; perhaps a Sunday morning wasn't the best time to explore though.

Nonetheless, Ireland was a good experience. We made our way back to Harlaxton that evening to begin another week of classes.

Next is Austria and Switzerland :)

Keep reading,

Aunt Kate

Oxford, Stonehenge, and Bath

2010-11-18T08:33:00.016-06:00

October 29-31, 2010

This weekend would be the final weekend 'school' trip for our semester at Harlaxton. (I say 'our' because I feel like I'm writing on behalf of Stephanie, Shelby, and myself) We left on Friday morning to drive to Oxford University. Oxford is the oldest Univeristy in the English-Speaking world - and second worldwide. I have already seen it's 'other half' - Cambridge, which is said to have been created by some academics that were disputing at Oxford. So they created Cambridge, the other half of the Oxbridge education that British history is known for. Arriving in the town of Oxford you don't get the University feel as you do when entering WKU's campus. It's not similar at all. It's a city and you don't know what is an academic building and what isn't. Our task for Biology was to do a Scientific walk around Oxford to check out sights, museums, etc. that will help us see what we are learning about in the British Influence on Science. One of the cool places we visited was The Natural History University Museum. We saw some fossils, and rocks, and animals - even one dressed like me!
Christ's Church was another place we visited. We just saw the outside and the gardens around but it was so gorgeous.

Here's Stephanie and I showing some love. You can't tell from this picture, but the vines on the building looked like they were the shape of a heart and we color accented the red.

After our quick 4 hour day at Oxford I feel like I didn't really get to see the entirety of it. Our day was cut short when we had to meet back at the bus in order to continue on to Bath. (said like moth but with a B) Our meet a family tried to teach us how to say it with an English accent. So funny!

We arrived in Bath at our hostel - way up a huge hill, practically overlooking the entire city of Bath. That evening we ventured into town where we indulged ourselves with real mashed potatoes and other yummy foods!

Day 2 began with a scheduled tour to the city of Wells where we saw Wells Cathedral. It is a very good example of well-preserved early English architecture, begun in the 12th century. It was really pretty inside but we weren't allowed to take pictures.

Then we made our way by coach to Glastonbury Abbey, the ruins of a monastery that is associated with the legend of King Arthur. Supposedly his remains were once at this monastery. Our tour guide, the youngest monk there, showed us around pointing out all the remains from the ancient monastery. The entire time we were kind of taken aback. As Shelby put it, "Needless to say, I was in a bit of shock." We weren't shocked at the structure itself, instead, we were shocked at the fact that he was acting as if he were alive during the time.He was about 1000 years old I guess. "The fact that he still looked so young and exhuberant was mindblowing," Shelby stated.

After our day of sightseeing we were dropped off in the town center in Bath. Bath is a really neat town. 200 years ago, Bath was the trendsetting Hollywood of Britain. First stop, a delicious candy store that had caramel covered apples, rolled in mini chocolate chips, and sporatic marshmellows! So delicious!!!! With more shopping on the agenda we carried on for a few more hours until heading up the dreaded hill back to the hostel.

As it was Oct. 30, all of us were going to dress up and go out for the night for Halloween!! We had so much fun just getting ready in the room. In our room for 10 people, there were literally 20 or more people that ended up in there!

Starting from the left there is Stephanie, the gangster, Shelby the dude, Katie as Rosie the Riveter and me as Kitty Kait :)

The next morning we got up to see what Bath is all about, The Roman Baths! The were really impressive. A museum surrounds the ancient bath showing artifacts, mosaics and the mouth of the spring. The bath is a large area where Romans would once bathe in the naturally heated water. They warn you not to touch the water, as it is not treated - but I was adventurous and touched it, it was really warm! We even got to talk to real Roman women that were taking baths - they looked really good too, for being so old. Haha.

I almost forgot to mention one of the most epic parts of the weekend. There was just so much that we did! The last part of the trip was our visit to Stonehenge. "As old as the pyramids, and older than the Acropolis and Colosseum, this iconic stone circle amazed medieval Europeans, who figured it was built by a race of giants" (Rick Steves). It's a very mysterious structure as no one knows exactly how, when, or why it was built. "Stonehenge still functions as a remarkably accurate celestial calendar. As the sun rises on the summer solstice (June 21), the 'heel stone' lines up with the sun and the altar at the center of the stone circle" (Rick Steves). Most of the stones are about 25 tons, and the largest is 45 tons. How they got them all the way from Wales, 'only' 240 miles away, and stacked them, is a mystery.

Overall it was a really great weekend. We saw so many sites of the United Kingdom- which is really important since this is where we are living. It's good not just to see the big city of London, that's not all the England is. There is so much more that tourists don't explore. With very few weekends left of time is drawing to the close. Still many more memories to write about though.

Ireland is next. Check back soon!

Aunt Kate

Cambridge University

2010-11-09T06:37:00.008-06:00

Friday, October 22nd, our Biology class had a field trip to Cambridge University. It's such a beautiful University. I felt so asstute and academic walking around the bicycle filled streets. Our first stop was the famous Cavendish Laboratory, where world renowned scientists did their research. One of the most famous being Watson and Crick who discovered the double helix structure of DNA. There are
so many scientific relics filling the halls where students pass by everyday. I'm sure that some don't even realize what priceless items lay in those wooden cabinets.

I couldn't help but laugh when the tour guide was explaining how scientists discovered things that did not previously exist -- it just seemed so beyond my level of thought to think of the unthinkable. Purely astounding that someone could create a device to detect neutrons - something with no charge!

Then we went to The Eagle, a pub in Cambridge where Watson and Crick visited frequently. It was at this pub, in 1953, that they came in and announced that they had discovered the secret of life.

At risk of boring you with more biology and chemistry things, I will move on to our next stop. Next we visited King's College Chapel. It's a beautiful church. We have seen a lot of church's though..

Then we visited Trinity College, where Issac Newton studied.

Interestingly enough, Newton is actually from Grantham. (We visited his childhood home at an earlier time). As a matter of fact, we actually ran into Newton while we were there.

Our day trip was really nice. I enjoyed the afternoon spent at Cambridge. Overall, this field trip was not only a sight seeing adventure, but a time to put ourselves in the shoes of the scientists we are studying, and see what they saw, and experience what they experienced.

Lake District

2010-11-04T05:29:00.015-05:00

Thursday, October 14 we departed Harlaxton for an adventurous weekend at Lake District. That night we arrived in Ambleside, England at our Youth Hostel which overlooks England's largest lake - Windemere. Although Lake Windemere is the largest lake in England, it's only 9 miles long; but so beautiful. The entire landscape was so picturesque. Mountains, waterfalls, fall colored leaves - so pretty. Friday we had a free day and began by making our way to the nearby town of Grasmere. Our goal was to visit the famous Gingerbread store. We bought some gingerbread in the tiny shop - it was different than usual gingerbread, but very good. We simply visited shops and walked around taking in all the sights. Then we got on a random bus and just rode it until we decided to get off --this was the adventurous part of the day. We joked that is was a really big deal for me and Jessie to go somewhere without planning. We later found out that the city we had made our way to was Bowness. This is where Beatrix Potter world is! We found Peter Rabbit.

Continuing our nice relaxing day, we stopped for a picnic in the town square. Then we made our way down to the Lake and made friends with many geese and swans. Shelby got especially close with them. Guess what she stepped in this weekend?!

A big glob of goose poop! She has great luck with her shoes.

We just moseyed around the rest of the afternoon until dinner when we ate at a delcious authentic Italian restaurant.

Saturday was activities day! We had a big day ahead complete with kayaking in the morning and ghyll scrambling in the afternoon. We had to get suited up first - it was gonna be cold!

First was kayaking. We went down to the Lake, right outside our hostel, where our guide met us. He provided us with some waterproof pants (thank goodness), a lifejacket, kayak, and paddle. It was definitely a learn as you go kind of thing. As soon as we got in, I felt a little unsteady and was really hoping to stay dry! We all got the hang of it rather quickly and determined it was pretty hard to flip your kayak. After a short jaunt we stopped to play a fun game of British Bulldogs - our version of sharks and minnows. I was the champion! It was a lot of fun. No one could catch me on my kayak. haha. One person even flipped over during this game. So hilarious. After winding down even further we decided to stop to play another game with our group. This time we were in two teams. There was a tennis ball and the idea was to get the tennis ball and throw it to the instructor - and who ever's team it was that threw it, got a point. It got a little vicious at times - and another person flipped. Thank goodness I was able to stay in my little kayak.

After a quick lunch and re-charge it was time to get on the bus and head out for ghyll scrambling. Ghyll scrambling is fancy way of saying, climbing awesome waterfalls that have freezing water coming down them! Yes, I did this. I know you might be skeptical, but I beasted it. It was so much fun. Although I returned with bruised legs, sore muscles, and frozen EVERYTHING, it was SO worth it. The highlight of the weekened. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from it because my body was fully submerged in water at times - meaning, no camera allowed. It started as a small creek at the bottom of the mountain. Instead of merely walking along side, we walked through it! Then we got to a point where there was a small cliff. Our awesome guide, Ian, walked up it pretty much, making it look so easy, but dropped a rope down for us to climb with his assistance. Then came the part where I had to literally swim across in order to get to the other side - that was fun. Ice cold water rising all the way up to your neck. Intense. We just continued making our way up the mountain and the most strenuous, and craziest part was at the very end. This waterfall was tall, steep, and had water rushing down it. And did we simply go around it, no! We climbed directly up the middle of it. Water was splashing in my face, I couldn't see, my hands were so cold they wouldn't grasp anything tightly, and the moss was causing my feet to slip. A great combination. But guess what, I made it up! We were the fastest group and made it the furthest too! Go team.

That evening, our awesome group of 4, Shelby, Jessie, and Katie and I enjoyed a much needed helping of nachos and burgers. Then we went to the cinema for the evening in Ambleside to see the best movie ever, Wall Street. (sarcasm, it was boring)

Sunday we made our way to another city, Keswick, where we took in the magnificent view of the lake. We had fun taking pictures, maybe a little too much fun. Haha. The picture to the right is what Shelby captured of my epic jump. Epic fail on the photographer's end. :)

Lake District was a good time had by all - one of the best weekends yet! We enjoy the natural beauty of England so much more than the hustle and bustle of the city. Country girls at heart.

Bonjour. J'Adore Paris.

2010-10-18T10:06:00.022-05:00

Wednesday, September 29th we had our first dreaded British Studies exam which consisted of three essay questions. We bolted out of there at 4pm and had a cab waiting for us to depart to London Luton airport. We were in a slight crunch for time, as our flight was leaving at 7pm and it takes about 2 hours to get to the airport. Prayers were answered and we arrived with time to spare for a yummy Krispy Kreme doughnut!! Our direct flight from London to Paris didn't take long at all and we arrived into the City of Love that evening. Our first feat was finding the apartment we would be living in for the next three nights. As this particular week we were going was fashion week, finding a hotel room proved to be challenging. Our wonderful travel agent, Kelley Hartley, found us an Eiffel Hideaway apartment that was perfect! Having the apartment made our experience so much more enjoyable. We were living as the Parisians were!

We took a bus and the metro to finally find our quaint, tiny, apartment complete adorable window boxes and art throughout. That evening we stayed in playing some scrabble and listening to classical music. It was quite hilarious -- I felt so old!

The next day we woke up and got brunch at the cafe across the street from our apartment. I got a yummy baquet sandwich and chocolate croissant! We began strong by making our way to Notre Dame, the famous cathedral.

It's beautiful inside and out. We used Rick Steve's self guided tour and also joined a group to learn about the architecture and history of the cathedral.

We continued on Rick Steve's awesome tour making our way through a park for a little play time --and on to a memorial to the 200,000 French that died in World War II. Next on the agenda was the magnificent Saint Chapelle. This is a gothic chapel with the prettiest stained glass I have ever seen. It was beautiful.
Next we made our way to the Louvre which I never realized so so huge -- it's enormous. We visited the pyramid which was really cool to see as well as the famous Mona Lisa. Everyone has to see the Mona Lisa -- They say it takes about 6 hours if you really want to see all of the Louvre. We made a B line for Mona and called it a day; taking in the gorgeous art along the way of course.

Leaving the Louvre I found it necessary that we make a pit stop for some crepes. I had never even had a real crepe, I was waiting for Paris. I was so happy to find a yummy crepe stand and ordered a nutella and banana crepe. Here's the man making mine- It was soooo delicious, and such a mess!!

From the crepe man we made our way to the Champs Elysees, the famous shopping street which ends at the Arc de Triomphe. It's a humongous arch way and we climbed up the 284 steps to the very top for a fantastic view of Paris. We got to hold the Eiffel Tower in our hand. Shelby's mouth was as big as the Eiffel tower. hahaha.

It was a big day, so what better way to end the night than going to see the Eiffel Tower up close at night time when it's all lit up!

When we turned the corner after getting off the metro, there it was! It was no disappointment. For some reason, I was not expecting to be very impressed - but I was! While we were standing there beneath the Eiffel Tower, on the side where no other tourists were we ran into a group of 4 other Harlaxton students that we didn't even know were traveling to Paris as well. It's such a small world - and it continues to get smaller as I explore it. Every night, on every hour the Eiffel tower literally SPARKLES! It was so gorgeous.

We left the Eiffel tower and made our way back to our apartment with a pitstop at the local market where we got all the fixins' to make a gourmet spaghetti dinner- complete with french bread and cheese!

The next day we planned to visit Versailles -- pronounced Ver-SIGH! Not like the Kentucky pronunciation. :) We took the train and made our way to The Palace of Versailles where King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette lived. The best part was Marie Antoinette's cottages and gardens in the very back part.

After our long day in Versailles, we took the train back to our apartment to get our rain gear and head out to the Eiffel tower in order to go up in it! It wasn't the best night as it was super windy and rainy but nonetheless it was really cool. The elevators went up the tower at a slant and we made our way up in several different elevators to the very top. Someone even got engaged while we were up there! So romantic.

Next on our to do list was Moulin Rouge -- we needed to see it and take some pictures! It's just one of those photo ops you can't pass up. Back to the metro we went to go to the Montmarte area where the beautiful basilica, Sacre Coeur. Sacre Coeur is at the very top of a hill and you have to take a tram up. When we go to the top it was 9pm but there was a service going on. We went in and listened for a little while -- very interesting having it all in french!

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to a large market before making our way to the airport to say Au Revoir to Paris!

It was a wonderful trip -- having the apartment made a big difference and I loved every minute of it. It's possible that I left some things out since I'm doing this so late. My goal this week is to get caught up.

Ta ta for now.

*Kitty Kait-Oprah*

*Yes, there is a story behind these nicknames. First there's Kitty Kait; I have been forced to begin to answer to this name. Miss Shelby Rader has decided that this is the perfect nickname for me. I don't really understand it but everyone, well Shelby at least, seems to find it hilarious. As far as Oprah goes, Shelby and I compare our friendship to that of Oprah and her friend Gayle. I, of course, am the sensible Oprah while she is the wild Gayle. Together = a good time!*

Birthday Bash Week!

2010-10-10T08:18:00.011-05:00

After our weekend in York it was my birthday week! Turning the big 1-9! haha. The week started with the usual class on Monday, a wonderful day of no classes on Tuesday. Tuesday evening our meet-a-family picked us up for dinner and we met them for the first time. Our parents names are Vincent and Penny and they are an older couple but have children ranging from 25 to 30. Vincent is a retired CPA and Penny just seems to do a lot of things including volunteering at the Red Cross. They drove us to their farm in Grantham and they have a lovely farm house that is hundreds of years old. We still haven't gotten to see the whole thing -- hopefully we will get a tour soon! They are really nice and it's great to be able to get away for dinner every once in a while. That night she made us chicken stuffed with cheese and sun dried tomatoes! It was delicious. It is very interesting to be around English people and learn their customs- we don't get to experience that here at Harlaxton with a school full of Americans. Back to class on Wednesday and then I went on a trip to Tattershall Castle. The brick castle is not very far away and was an optional/free trip with the school. Wonder how many castles and cathedrals I can possibly see during one semester?!

That evening was Harlaxton's Jersey Shore Party downstairs in The Bistro. Everyone dressed up like they were from the show and we had a dance. It was pretty fun. The best part was just getting ready. We put huge poofs in our hair and put bronzer on so we'd look orange, and then put on some not so tasteful clothing. Here is a pic with me and my new WKU friend, Jessie!

The next day, Thursday, September 23rd, was my birthday!!! I was so excited to open all my cards from people and just have a great day regardless of the one class I had. I ordered myself cupcakes from Grantham, I know - kind of pathetic, but I treated myself. They came that afternoon and were so cute. Carrot cake and Banana Cake with chocolate icing. That evening me and 9 friends walked down our mile long driveway to The Gregory, a semi-fancy restaurant that was delicious. Thursday nights are steak nights so it was perfect! 2 people get 2 steaks, fries, and a bottle of wine for 25 pounds! Good deal, right?! We all had an awesome time together. It was a night filled with great friends, good food, and lots of laughter! We came back to the castle and had cupcakes in the room and the traditional game of hot-and-cold for me to find my presents. This tradition started in London when I decided it would be fun to hide Stephanie's present. The game has progressed and this time I had to find 4 different spots where gifts were hidden. They thought they would be clever and hide my earrings under the beer hat that Shelby was wearing -- that was the first place I looked. Here's a picture of Shelby for you mom! It was a really fun birthday!

It was complete with cards from all of my friends and family, thank you!!

The next day, Friday, we had class and the rest of the weekend we stayed at Harlaxton and enjoyed some sleep!! We also went out in Grantham one night and had a lot of fun dancing! They played really good music. So that was our exciting week in Harlaxton.

The weeks are going by surprisingly fast. Today, 10/10/2010 is exactly two months from when I will be waking up in my very own bed.

My blog about Paris is coming up next. Thanks for being patient with me. These blogs take me forever!

Love and miss you all!

Cheers!

Purple: The color of Royalty, purple rain and purple chocolate. What more could you ask for?!

2010-10-02T15:46:00.012-05:00

(September 17-19, 2010)

Our next stop along the journey is the English town of York. We arrived in York on Friday evening with reservations at a bed and breakfast, Heidi's Bed and Breakfast to be specific. We take a taxi there and it is the cutest room ever -- it's purple!! Which is so fitting due to the title and I didn't even realize that until writing this...but it was adorable. That evening we decided we were going to do a Ghost tour in town after getting some dinner at The Punch Bowl, a pub restaurant that our cab driver recommended for cheap and cheerful eating! Our ghost tour started at Kings Arms Pub where our tour guide introduced himself to the large group. He was quite a character. We basically had a walking tour of the cute and quaint town of York with some added ghost stories here and there. One thing we distinctly remember is him making the loudest knocking noise ever by knocking on his head! It was disturbing. Must not have been much inside---sounded hollow! We were so glad we went on this tour because the next day we knew exactly where we were going. Everything in York was in walking distance and it was one of the cutest towns ever. Saturday morning started with a delicious traditional English breakfast made by Heidi, our York Mom, complete with her to-die-for homemade blackberry jam! After that we ventured into town, over the River Ouse (pronounced ooze), passing by Hartley's deli and rounding our way up to the spectacular York Cathedral. We were really able to appreciate the details of the cathedral after taking British studies, yes, I just admitted that. Next we walked down The Shambles. This is the most colorful and old street in the town and was once the 'street of the butchers'. Now it is the cutest street ever lined with shops, chocolate stores, and restaurants. On this particular weekend, because we have such wonderful luck, it was the Food Festival! We walked around from booth to booth sampling free items and buying a few things along the way. I got a spicy chicken wrap, Shelby got a giant hamburger, and Stephanie got a hot dog! We finished the day off with some shopping..where I probably spent a little more money than I should have buying a winter coat, but hey, I will need it! It's very European...you will inevitably see pictures down the road when it gets colder. We finished the day off by hopping on a train from the cute town of York, to Birmingham.

Our only plans for Birmingham were to go to Cadbury World, the famous world of delicious chocolate. We arrived Saturday night at our next Bed and Breakfast where our new Mom, Marlene, took great care of us! We have met some great locals by staying at Bed and Breakfasts...it's really the way to go! Sunday we started with yet another yummy English breakfast and headed out to catch a bus to Bourneville, home of Cadbury World. Before entering into the world of chocolate, Stephanie and Shelby were unaware of my true love for it! I was so excited. We finally get there for our tour, that they suggest will take a couple of hours, but we spend the entire day there! They started by giving us a candy bar and a bag of chocolate buttons. Those don't last long...afterall, you have to get in the chocolate spirit.

We learned the origins of the cocoa beans, how the first chocolate was made, and what makes Cadbury's dairy milk chocolate so delactable-- 1 and 1/2 cups of fresh dairy milk! Or as Shelby put it, basically the first Cadbury chocolate was made with backwash- cause they showed the video of two men having a glass of milk, and one drinks half before pouring it into the chocolate...and therefore, 1 and 1/2. We saw the conveyor belts where the chocolate was packaged, enjoyed a Cadabara ride, and even wrote our names in chocolate, after receiving another chocolate bar of course! We finished our tour inside and made our way into Cadbury's largest chocolate store! We all bought so much chocolate!

Next we went out to the Spots vs. Stripes game area where they were promoting since they are the sponsor of treats for the London Olympics. We played a couple rounds of shoe golf, which I won..and we all won another chocolate bar! Yes! Next we did a tour of what is called, Essence, another part of Cadbury world, where were were able to 'create our own treat'. We could choose anything behind the counter including popcorn, gummies, krispies, marshmellows, and what I chose, biscuits (aka..English cookies) to mix into our delicious, creamy, melted, warm chocolate that they poured into a cup and we literally ate with a spoon. It was the best thing ever! I was licking up every bit. My two friends on the other hand, couldn't handle the sugar! haha. Overall we had a great day at Cadbury World complete with loads of chocolate to show for it! We made our way back to Grantham for another week at Harlaxton that night. Another fantastic weekend under our belts.

At this time I would like to make a special shout our to some of my awesome followers, the Moms of the Three Amigos -- Sus, Robin and Nancy! We love and miss you all :)

More to come!

Scotland- Edinburgh and Beyond

2010-09-25T08:24:00.019-05:00

All Aboard! Our first train ride and we are off from Grantham to Edinburgh (pronounced ED'n-burah), Scotland. It was an easy trip seeing as though there were no change in trains- just a straight shot there. The trains here are so nice. We got a table to ourselves and read Rick Steves along the way! We arrived in Scotland and found our Hostel very easily. I was quite nervous as this would be my first hostel experience, but it turned out to be really nice! We were in a 6 person room and had some asian roommates. That afternoon we went into Edinburgh and explored. It was a lovely city- very old, medieval architecture. We promenaded down the Royal Mile between the Edinburgh Castle at the top and the Palace of Holyroodhouse (the queen's vacation home for a week a year) at the bottom. We went into a Whisky store- where the famous Scotch comes from, and then we found my favorite store, Ness, which has the cutest colorful plaids in clothes, purses, shoes, scarves, etc. I went in there a couple of times. There was a wedding going on and a nice man in the wedding took his picture with us in his kilt. Love it! That evening we had reservations to take a tour of Mary King's Close. A close is an alley leading to a courtyard or square and this tour provided a unique look into the past as we took a trip through the excavated underground where people once lived. Our guide told us some ghost stories and interesting historical insight into what it may have been like to live in Edinburgh hundreds of years ago. Next we went to Viva Mexico, a delicious Mexican restaurant that gave us so much needed good food. We were celebrating my roommate, Andrea's, birthday a little early too! Her 21st! That night we dug right into the Scottish culture and went and saw a movie. haha. The Switch with Jennifer Aniston, I loved it. The little boy in it is so cute! The next morning we went off on an adventure to hike up Authur's Seat, an 822-foot extinct volcano. I couldn't be the lazy one! So I did it..and I enjoyed the view of Edinburgh from the top. It was so windy though. I almost blew off the mountain.

Following our last look around Edinburgh we hopped on a bus to Berwick-upon-Tweed, a small coastal town practically on the border between Scotland and England. There we took a taxi to Coldingham where we were staying at our first with Dorothy and Sweetheart (that's what Dorothy called him). It was so cute, we got our own little bedroom and it was just so cozy. We stayed in that night to prepare us for the best day of Shelby's life- the day she could see Siccar Point. Although the story of finding Siccar Point with give it no justice, I will attempt to describe our adventure, and oh was it an adventure, in every way. Sweetheart took us to the city of St. Abbs that morning after a delicious breakfast prepared by Dorothy, complete with Black Pudding (she wouldn't tell us what was in it, but we looked it up...thank goodness I tried just a nibble - blood, yum) Anyways, at the drop off point we were told it was a couple of miles and it shouldn't take us too long to find the famous Geological Point, Siccar Point. It started off great, we were seeing gorgeous views of Scotland's coast. We were following all the signs for the 'coastal path' and all was well. We even found the light house that we were told about. The path we took was simply dirt and sheep were freely roaming EVERYWHERE. It was a great way to truly experience this area and it's beauty. Then a few hours past and everyone we saw had never heard of Siccar Point and the mountains were getting steeper. We had to be close, right! WRONG. But the coastal path continued, so we did too. Then, in the middle of a field, not so close to the coast, the coastal path abruptly ended. Now what?! We made our way across a field intentionally running into an older couple that was hiking. They had heard of Siccar Point, but bad news, we were still about an hour away. We felt good though, they gave us directions and we were on our way. The first landmark we should come across is an old farm house, check. There we met a boy who offered to drive us, but didn't have a driver's license, great help. haha. So we climbed the fence and came across our next landmark, the car park. It was like Dora the Explorer. Then we continued along the road...at one point climbed a barbed wire fence, now it was more like The Bourne Identity. Lol. An hour past, and we were still walking. At this point, I was walking with my eyes clothes because I was so tired. Far down a busy road we saw a nice looking lady mowing her lawn. We asked if she knew how far we were from Siccar Point. She had no idea, so she got her husband, Paul, and he had a map for us to look at. We could see the cliff from their yard! But...he said it would still take us another couple of hours!! I'm sure he saw our dreadful faces when he told us this news and offered to drive us as close as he could. Now don't get the impression that I will just hop in the car with any stranger...but I saw Paul as an angel from God! They were such a nice couple and I was glad to have any other mode of transportation besides walking. We took us to an area, said climb up that cliff, and left. So up we go and there was a sign!! "Siccar Point". We were so excited that it even had a sign! Down the 80 degree slope Stephanie and I had fun sliding down, and Shelby climbed. We had finally made it! How exciting. We saw the unconformity in the rocks and Shelby was in heaven.

Not only did Paul take us there, he said his wife felt bad and told him to come back and get us so he took us all the way back to our Bed and Breakfast too. Such a nice man. He even gave us a ton of cards that they had made with portraits of the area. We need to send him a thank you card!

That day was finished off with a much needed large Big Mac Meal that we devoured. After 6 hours of hiking we were hungry!

Made it back to Grantham that night and woke up for British studies quite sore and stiff. We made many memories in Scotland and pretty much guaranteed that Shelby will be a famous geologist one day--her picture's already all over WKU's campus!

Next stop, York and Birmingham.

-Aunt Kate

London, here I come!

2010-09-20T13:02:00.027-05:00

Thursday, September 2 we departed the manor for our first adventure of many....London!! Although I have traveled to a wide variety of places, London hasn't been one of them surprisingly. I saved the easiest for last...the country where they speak English and it's very similar to America. Even with this being true, I was still a little nervous to navigate around the big city. I was very pleased to know my roommate, Andrea, lived in London all summer and is a pro, especially on the Tube (which is their subway system). A little thing that everyone knows about that's visited here is that you take the tube everywhere and when you get on it always says, "Please, mind the gap" Haha. Friday morning we started the day off strong after a good nights rest. We were to meet a school group at the Tower of London that morning. Giving ourselves plenty of time to take the tube, and to grab some delicious starbucks we arrived right on time thanks to our navigator. Although the Tower of London was not what I envisioned at all, it was still really cool. It is not, as the title suggests, a tower! It's actually a large building where people live currently, where prisoners were once held, and where Henry VIII had many people executed. Stephanie was very excited for this part of the excursion. We toured the Bloody Tower as well as my favorite, the rooms where the Crown Jewels are held. They were so extravagant, and it wasn't just one, there were rooms full of gold, rubies, diamonds, emeralds, pearls. It was incredible. No photos were allowed unfortunately. They told the story of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and showed the video and then had her coronation gown on display- super fancy, I think it would look smashing on me!

London sits on the River Thames with many bridges going over one of which is the Tower Bridge. Here is a picture of me with it in the background. We got really lucky with the weather, it didn't rain on us once! I was so glad because it wouldn't have been the same experience had it rained the whole time. Our next stop was Oxford street, we were in much need of some shoes! At the very beginning of our morning we were just leaving starbucks and saw a red telephone booth so naturally we need a picture in it! And that's when Shelby's bad shoe luck began...her flip flop broke! We tried to fix it with a bobby pin and tape but nothing would work - so she limped around the tower of london until she was able to buy some ever-so-glamorous TUBE FLOPS! (don't google this to see what she bought...we came up with the name) They were cheap plastic flip flops with the Tube map on the bottom! Needless to say, Shelby was on a hunt for some shoes to wear! After Oxford Street we ventured to our next destination, Parliament, Big Ben, The London Eye, and Westminster Abbey. This section of town is like a one stop shop. All of the big sites of London are situated in a one mile radius of one another. We made our way up the stairs from the tube and there he was, Big Ben! The Parliament building is gorgeous as well! We sat for about an hour on the edge of the River Thames just soaking up the sun and the sights. When Big Ben struck 5pm we were off to Westminster Abbey. A great way to see, enjoy, and hear the beauty of Westminster Abbey is to attend the Evensong Service. It's free and you get to hear the organ and choir! Following the service we headed back to the hotel to get ready for a fun night out, afterall, at midnight it would be Stephanie's 20th birthday!

Saturday, we woke up early to make it to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Now all that it's worked up to be....a huge crowd of people and I couldn't see anything. I heard the band playing but that's about it. That poor queen has to deal with all those people every morning! Sounds pretty miserable to me. I can just live in my nice castle in the English countryside all incognito. I love it! Following this unsuccessful event we made our way to Leicester Square to purchase our show tickets for the evening..we decided on Chicago (kind of ironic as we were not in the US), nevertheless, we were very excited. We took a quick pit stop at Piccadilly circus, the small, London version of Times Square. Next on our agenda was Portobello Market- it took FOREVER to get there! The darn tube had areas closed and it messed us all up. But we finally got there and were able to enjoy the adorable little area with the Portobello Market. I loved the street it was on, it was lined with rainbow colored townhouses and vendors selling items such as jewelry, clothes, antiques, etc. We even visited a yummy cupcake store called Hummingbird Bakery. For this evening, for Stephanie's birthday we had dinner reservations at the Tate Modern Restaurant which is across Millenium Bridge from St. Paul's Cathedral looking over the River. We were on the top floor seated by the window with an awesome view. And we got steak! It was so good. I think Stephanie had a wonderful birthday dinner complete with candles to blow out atop her chocolate cake!

That night was complete with seeing Chicago! It was awesome. The theater was a lot smaller than in NYC but it was still really good. It was a fun girls night out!

Sunday we departed London for Hampton Court Palace about an hour outside of London. Henry VII and William and Mary and all sorts of royalty lived there. My favorite part was one room that was decorated with guns and knives on the walls. It looked like just patterns, but if you looked closer you could tell it was actually these weapons making up the art. In addition, I loved the gardens. We had a fun little photo shoot out there! That completed our first weekend away. It was a great start to our semester. Next stop, Edinburgh, which Shelby, Stephanie and I have planned on our own.

More to come,

Keep reading!

Cheers,

Aunt Kate

My New Home: it's not a ship, but a castle!

2010-09-16T07:33:00.007-05:00

August 26th I departed from Louisville airport for my next journey. Yes, I know I move quick. I've been referred to as Carmen San Diego a couple of times..but what can I say, you only live once!! You have to live like you were dying, as Tim McGraw might say. It was quite hard leaving my wonderful family though. I will miss them so much over these 4 months, especially little Avery who will be dramatically different when I get back. I hate missing all of it! She came to the airport to say farewell to me in her cute little homemade shirt. It says I <3 Aunt Kate. It brought tears to my eyes.

I arrived in London on the morning of August 27th to begin my Fall 2010 semester at Harlaxton College. Harlaxton is situated an hour or two north of London in Grantham. It's a small, quaint little town with all the necessities which I love because it gives the real English countryside feel. I live inside that 'manor' (pic on right) -- isn't it crazy that I get to call that home! Here I eat, sleep, and take classes. Some days, I don't even go outside because everything I need is in there. As far as my room, I got pretty darn lucky...my roommates, Andrea and Lacie, and I have one of the largest rooms in the manor. I love it - it has a couch and everything!

This semester I am taking 12 hours of classes, which is awesome, so I can travel on the weekends. Everyone is required to take 6 hours of British Studies - for the record, I very strongly dislike History classes so this will be a tough one for me. My other 6 hours include Special Topics in Biology regarding all of the famous British Scientists. It's a field trip based course so we will be visiting many famous sites throughout England where science has been impacted. And lastly, Public Speaking, which I'm required to have, so might as well take it now, right!

My friends from WKU, Stephanie and Shelby are with me here at Harlaxton, and I'm so glad! We are planning all our trips together for the weekends and it's so much fun to have them here with me. We are going to make lifetime memories together.

Our second night here we had a 'high table dinner' which required 'smart' dress. It was followed by tea and dessert, which they call 'pudding'. To the left is a picture of Andrea, Me, Stephanie, Lacie, and Shelby!

Classes began August 30th, and that weekend we were off to explore London! That will be in the next post.

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers,

Aunt Kate

2009-09-13T06:39:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone.
I have very little time on the real internet. This is like my first time.

I am using a computer in our hotel in Marrakech Morocco with a french and arabic keyboard. Very hard to type.

But I spent the night in the Sahara Desert the other night in a Nomad village. It was a lot of fun.

We are headed back to the port city of Casablanca in a few minutes.

But just wanted to update and say I am having a great time. Spain was great. Im getting tired pretty quick but it is all worth it.

Ghana is our next stop: We will be there in about a week I think. So classes for a week. Then I have my birthday while in Ghana.

Sorry I cant ever post pics. Internet is just so limited: But I am alive and well everyone

Adios....I dont know any arabic

2009-08-13T22:32:00.004-05:00

International Field Programs I'm participating in include:

Spain: Sevilla & Cordoba - City Tours

Morocco: Marrakech and Camel Trek in Sahara - 4 days - includes a camel trek with the nomads and spending the night in a nomad tent. Also touring the city of Marrakech.

Ghana: (Birthday Country) Cape Coast Historical Tour - includes a visit to Kakum National Park where I will walk in the tree tops via canopy bridges. And then tour the infamous forts, castles, and slave dungeons of Ghana.

South Africa: Three Day Safari to Kruger National Park - includes game drives every day in open 4 x 4 vehicles. Experience how nature comes to life with the sun in an early morning game drive and search for sitings of the Big Five.

Mauritius: Snorkeling

India: Taj Mahal and Varanasi

Vietnam: $100 solution at an orphanage. Flying to Cambodia to visit Ankgor Wat (supposedly a wonder of the world!)

Hong Kong: City Orientation - oldest temple in the city, Aberdeen, sampan ride, Victoria Peak

Beijing- 4 days- Tri shaw ride (3 wheeled bicycle!)
Visit Family for tea and refreshments and dinner at a family's home where I will learn how to make a dumpling
Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square
Great Wall of China
Chinese Acrobatic Show
Shanghai: Tasting the Daily Life of a Shanghai citizen - learn the art of chinese cooking, medicine.

Yokohama: Yokohama and Tokyo overnight - explore highlights of Japan's capital
Landmark Tower: tallest building in Japan

Kobe: International Student Exchange and Homestay (Osaka) - Meet students from a University at the ship and have a welcome party before going to my host's home.

Honolulu and Hilo Hawaii: Snorkeling, Volcano Tours, Pearl Harbor and Beach!

2009-08-13T22:30:00.001-05:00

Here are the courses I'm taking. Currently I'm enrolled in the Leadership Dev. class but I'm going to try and drop that one and add Marine Biology. We will see how that works out.

Sched #	Course #	Credits	Title	Faculty	Day/Time
00012	BIOL 1559-2	3	Zoology	Church	A 1455 - 1610
00041	MUSI 1070	3	World Music	DeVeaux	B 1215 - 1330
00001	SEMS 1010-1	3	Global Studies (A Day)	Winchester	A 0920 - 1035
00055	SEMS 3559-13	3	Leadership Development	Strenecky	B 1335 - 1450

Total Credits: 12

Map of Port Cities

2009-07-20T22:25:00.002-05:00

Here is the map with all the ports I will be visiting on my journey around the world. We start in Halifax, Canada on August 27 and end in San Diego, California on December 14! Hope you all will keep up with where I am and keep in touch.