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

(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

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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