Wrapping Up the Adventure.

Wow.  I can't believe I'm actually home.  I've been putting off this last blog post for a while... I guess I didn't want to acknowledge that the trip's actually over!

Well. I've done so much since my last blog.  We moved to Endsleigh, my mom and dad came to visit, we went to Paris and Dublin, we saw many more plays, and we had ridiculous amounts of finals. Oh, finals.  We all felt like we were locked up in the flats the last two weeks because we had so much work to get done.

Anyway, after the coach tour I moved into a flat with the lovely Miss Lydia White.  My parents came to visit shortly afterward, and Jase and I got to show them all around our part of town! Later in the week, the four of us (mom, dad, Jase, and I) went to Paris for the day.  We woke up early in the morning to take the Chunnel from Kings Cross Station.  After getting on the train, we found that we were to be accompanied by a large group of obnoxious old Southern women.  They were bedazzled from head to toe, and we overheard that they were spending the day in Paris as well.  We got to the station in Paris and we could not find our "hop-on-hop-off" bus tour, though we searched for about 45 minutes.  In the end, we decided to walk from the station down to Notre Dame, where we knew we could find our bus.  It was quite a trek, even though we were used to all the walking.  About five minutes into the walk, we realized that we weren't in the best part of town.... sex shops, sex shops everywhere.  It only encouraged us to walk faster, though! Hah.

We finally arrived at Notre Dame, and we took a good look around.  I had a mini debate with Jase over the accuracy of Disney's portrayal of the cathedral in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." I said that the details were amazingly accurate and felt like the artists did an amazing job, while Jase said that they portrayed it as much bigger than it actually is.

We went to lunch at a small cafe, and we had plenty of bread and cheese! (Dad only ordered cheese platters the whole day).  Then we hopped on our bus (that we finally found!) and it took us all the way around the city, and we "hopped off" at the Eiffel Tower.  

We decided to go all the way to the top! I'll have to admit, it was a little freaky.  This thing isn't nearly as sturdy as it looks.  We had to take two elevators to get to the top, and each little elevator car is suspended on one cable... we practically had to drag Mom on! 

We rode around the city more after the Eiffel Tower, had some dinner, and headed back to the train station.  We boarded the train, only to realize that we were still accompanied by the group of old ladies. They were even louder this time around, and Jase and I were seated right next to them.  I soon found that I could do nothing but listen to their ridiculous conversations.  I got so tickled at what they were saying that I began to write down my favorite one-liners:

1.  "I thought that porridge was only in books."  Another lady answers: "It's like grits."

2.  "Honey, you hungry? I've got snickers bars and other stuff.  I cared for my mother, who's a diabetic, for seven years."

3.  One lady asks, "Who wants to go back to Paris ever again?" One lady, "NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN. RUDE, RUDE PEOPLE.  Why go back there when there are so many nicer places to go to?"

4.  "I'll gladly pay you for a beer."

5.  *Talking on the phone* "We're about to go under the water, so I don't know if I can still talk to you!"  Later... "I don't know if we went under water or over water!"

6.  "I just want some black-eyed peas and cornbread cooking at home."

7.  *telling a story* "... and his dad had diabeetus and died in '84..."

8.  "I musta sat on something that really stinks!" *gets up to let friends in the seat, thrusts her butt in Jase's face in the process*

9. Referring to the bar car, disdainfully:  "You know the one food that they didn't have up there? Cheeseburgers!"

10.  Referring to a whole apple and orange:  "I was expecting the fresh fruit to be cut up... I can't eat it like this!"

11.  "I just want you to know I'm eating chicken salad with lettuce AND tomato! Feels good eating healthy!" Answer, "Proud of you!"

12.  "I got you a water because they didn't have chardonnay."

13.  In disbelief: "This train ain't going 200 miles an hour!!"

14.  "Are Pringles not vegetarian?"  Answer, "Nah, they got chicken guts in them."

15.  "Most vegetarians are skinny people.  It must be pretty healthy."

16.  "I think the Tower of London costs 18 euros."

17.  "I don't drink water good--I just don't like it."  Answer, "You need to hydrynate (??)! I drink 64 ounces every day!"

Oh, 'Muricans. Love it.

Jase and I went to Dublin the next week, over Easter weekend.  It was fantastic.  We woke up at 3:00 am to take the buses all the way out to London City Airport for our 7:00 am flight.  We got on this tiny toothpick of a plane, and landed at the Dublin airport.  We then had to figure out the bus system, which was comical.  We knew we got on the right bus, because the man who sold us our tickets at the airport told us which one... that was the only thing we knew.  Every time the bus stopped, we frantically looked for a sign as to where we were, but none of the stops were labeled.  We rode like that for about 30 minutes, and then I just asked an old lady to tell us when we should get off for our hotel.  She was very sweet about it.  Jase asked her how people know where their stops are, and she simply replied, "We've been here for a long time." Hahaha.  We stayed at this lovely little place called the Castle Inn. It was newly restored and had a restaurant and bar in it with live music every night.

Exploring the city!

As soon as we got there, though, I started feeling ridiculously sick.  My throat hurt very badly, and I had a mad case of the chills.  After googling all my symptoms, I came to the conclusion that I had strep throat.  However, there was no way to get medicine any time, because all doctors' offices close for the whole Easter weekend in the UK.  I essentially said, Oh well.  Even strep throat wasn't going to ruin my weekend in Dublin!! We were able to get a few things in... we went to the National Leprechaun Museum, attended a Good Friday service at Christchurch Cathedral, ate out plenty, went to the Writers' Museum and watched a one-man show, explored St. Stephen's Green, and a lot more! It was an amazing weekend, and I was so sad that we had to leave!

We were shrunken at the Leprechaun Museum!

Jase fell off this chair right after this picture.  And by fell, I mean fell. Hard! 

 Favorites. Hahaha. 

Jase and his first Irish coffee!

Three little old Irishmen who play in the Hotel Restaurant every night!

I loved listening to them! They were too cute. 

After we got back home to London, all the studying began!! It was nice to have a break from it, though.  Truthfully, we spent the last few weeks in London working hard on homework.  We found a few breaks here and there to have a little more fun.

We went to the London Zoo for an afternoon, and our professors took us on a "Friday Fun Day" to the London Dungeon (a really tourist-y thing) and the London Eye!

Where the zoo scene was filmed in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone"!

Hahaha.

Best picture. 

These little monkeys were the best! 

London Dungeon group picture. Haha. 

On the London Eye!

Gorgeous view. 

We also saw "Quartermaine's Terms" and met Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr. Bean!

We even got to see "Wicked"! I loved getting to see it again!

For our last day in London, Jase, Lydia, and I headed to Leicester Square and bought tickets to see "Singin' in the Rain" that night! Jase and I then went to our last pub in Covent Garden and had a few tall ciders and a delicious lunch.  We went back to Endsleigh to pack some more, and then we headed out to meet up with Lydia at the play! It was fantastic. I know it was Jase's favorite of all the plays that we saw.  They used real rain in the production, and it was just fun! We had shelled out for first row mezzanine seats, so we had the best seats in the house!

I cannot even begin to say how grateful I am that I have gotten to take this trip.  For both Jase and I, it has been such a growing experience, and we have learned so much.  It was quite the adventure.  I won't lie, it certainly leaves me wanting more! I'll be back someday.  While it's great to be back home, I'm going to miss that crazy city.

"You go, Glencoe Co! And none for Hawkshead."

This past week was exhausting. We had some really fun moments, as well as some unfortunate instances. We were on a coach tour from March 8 to March 16, so we rode on the bus a lot, and there was much packing up and moving every day.

Day #1--We stopped in Stratford-upon-Avon.  We visited Anne Hathaway's cottage and saw Shakespeare's grave and all that jazz.  Oddly, I was more excited about Jase and I finding a small restaurant called "Fresh and Funky" ... the cheapest meal I've had yet. And it was delicious.  We saw the play "Galileo" that night.  Ian McDiarmid (aka Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars movies!) played Galileo... Jase was pretty psyched to see him, along with all the guys in our group.  I got excited about seeing him, too! We went to the "Dirty Duck," the actors' pub, after the play and we did get to talk to some of the actors from the show. Just not Palpatine. Shucks.  

Day #2-- We headed out to York after that... it started to get extremely cold and rainy. OH... and I should mention that it was worse because Jase accidentally left his coat at the Pickwick in London.  Some of our professors who were still there were able to bring it to him on Sunday, but he still had to go two days without it.  [Insert Emma grumpy face].  We took a tour of Coventry Cathedral. I have to admit, I had a pretty short attention span by this point.  I wasn't the only one, so I didn't feel bad about it. Hah. After the tour, we headed back to our B&B to rest up for our Ghost Tour that night! The ghost tour was pretty fun.... it was really just this slightly creepy man leading us around the town and telling us ghost stories about the buildings.  

Day #3--We made it into Scotland.  I touched Hadrian's Wall, and got all muddy while doing so.  It was sad.  After a full day on the bus, we finally made it to Edinburgh (pronounced "Edinburrow," just FYI).  Jase and I really wanted to go out to see the Crags, and we started to head out. However, by the time we got halfway out there, it was starting to get dark... we decided to turn back. We were in a foreign city that we didn't know, we had no maps, and we had already passed several strip clubs and whatnot.  It was time to head home. Haha. 

Day #4--We took a bus tour around Edinburgh... it was okay. We were all pretty tired of being on that coach.  We got off and headed up to Edinburgh Castle.  I do believe that the top of the castle was the coldest I've been on this trip.  The wind was fierce.  Normally when it's cold here I just get to that numb place where I feel like I've gotten Botox or something.... not this time. This was the cold that hurt.  The castle in itself was amazing, though, and I felt oddly connected to it! Looking through the books at the World War Memorials, I found several Walkers, a few Lyles, and plenty of other Lyells and Lyalls.  I'm guessing those are other spellings for my last name.  After the tour that morning, we got back on the bus and headed out through the mountains to Glencoe.  

The writing on the Scottish coat of arms literally means, "Don't mess with me." Hahahaha.

We drove for hours through the Highlands, and I couldn't even bring myself to do anything but look out the window.  As hipster as it sounds, I put on a Mumford and Sons album and watched the scenery roll by.  We finally got there, and our B&B was nestled in the mountains.  We settled in, ate dinner there, and Jase, Taylor, Lydia, Tim, and I watched The Amazing Spiderman.  It was a good ending to a long day. 

Silly scarf heads at dinner.

Day #5--Woke up in our B&B, the Clachaig Inn, at Glencoe.  Best place ever.  One group headed out to climb the "Devil's Staircase." Jase headed out with that group, but I did not have the proper shoes, so I went with the nature walk group instead.  It was gorgeous.  We walked about 6 miles round trip, but it was so great.  I love Scotland. I would live in Glencoe.  It would be hard, but I would do it.  It would be one of those things where I would take a year out of my normal life and go off and live in the wilderness... and it would be worth it.  

It's like a Bob Ross painting.  "We're gonna paint a happy little Emma right here, and that'll be our little secret."

We came across an itty-bitty town... no more than 250 people lived there.  It was just one long street.  I loved it, and I'm pretty sure I could have stayed there for a lot longer than I did.  

This was the schoolhouse!

The Loch.

 I know. Gorgeous.  

(Left) Taylor and I under the bridge.  The water was so clear!! (Right) Jase and Lydia on the Devil's Staircase hike! They're twinsies in their flannel.  

Days #6 and #7--We left Glencoe :( and headed out to the lake district to Hawkshead.  We had to "ride and ride and ride" (Mommom, haha)... there were so many sheep.  Sheep everywhere in Scotland.  We were out in the middle of nowhere.  In a sketchy youth hostel.  It just looked like somewhere where a horror movie would have taken place.  I can now say that I have had the true hostel experience.  It was okay... there were eight of us in our room, and the shower was pretty questionable, but we survived.  We passed the time by playing Monopoly and Phase 10.  We also walked down the road and asked a farmer lady if we could pet her lambs.  She said yes, but the mama sheep was super defensive, so we didn't want to mess with her! (Btw, sheep look really funny when they bleet/baa. They stick their tongues out). Our professors felt bad for the sketchy hostel experience, and that night they bought a murder mystery role-playing game that we all played.  It was set in Casablanca.  Jase was a Nazi character.  I was a singer... but then surprise! My character was a cross-dressing agent for the French Resistance. Boom. I was a woman, playing a man, playing a woman. Also, I was the murderer. Acting award, please? 

Still Day #7-- We left that hostel and headed to Liverpool, then to Wales.  We stopped at the Beatles museum. I listened to the Across the Universe soundtrack a lot.  

We then arrived at Caernarfon, Wales.  The dinner was the best dinner I've had on this trip.  It was some delicious chicken.  I ate it amazingly fast.  We really just chilled for the rest of the night; it was a long day.  

Day #8--We went on a walking tour around the city, ending with Caernarfon Castle. I enjoyed the castle... Jase bought me a Love Spoon, a Welsh tradition! Hahaha. 

Overall, it was a really great trip.  It's insane to be back and have to jump right back into schoolwork.  Speaking of which, I need to go read the Two Towers! Mom and Dad are going to be here tomorrow night, and I'm very excited to see them! :) I know they've had a great time in Greece... it'll be fun to show them around London! :)