Alright, it's been a while. I know. But two weeks of entries about the Lake District and Dingle, Ireland, would have made for pretty dull reading - promise.

Here are some highlights:

• I read lots of books, including but not limited to: The French Lieutenant's Woman, Remains of the Day, Richard III, Henry IV Part 1, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Any Human Heart, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Atonement.
• Because of the volcano in Iceland (??) no planes were flying so we had to arrange an emergency ferry ride that resulted in a fifteen hour travel day. Not so much fun, but we passed the time reading Henry IV aloud.
• We enjoyed a bus tour of the Dingle peninsula, a Gaelic-speaking region of Ireland with gorgeous hills and history.
• LAMBS ARE CUTE NO MATTER HOW MANY YOU SEE!

Now we are in Dublin, which is an amazing city. Every person on the street is beautiful and fashionable. We've eaten Irish stew and shopped in cool boutiques. I've gotten some letters from home and sent a lot too. Postcards are great too (hint hint).

I may put down a more detailed account later, but it's mostly been all about class and homework and wandering. I love you all and miss you tons!

The Lake District: Part 1

April 6-8

Hello, All! The Lake District has been a departure from Edinburgh in many ways. From being in a different country to the different money to the staying in a hostel to the being in the middle of nowhere, it has certainly been an adventure. We have very little phone or internet connection and our hostel is a two-mile hike outside the bustling metropolis of Keswick, England.

We have enjoyed exploring and, mostly, beginning classes! I am taking Shakespeare, British Fiction, and Travel Writing, all of which I love. The other possible class is Medieval Literature, which revolves around a very large copy of Chaucer, and the I am not taking (woo hoo). Between classes in the morning, homework in the evening, and hiking (!!!) in the afternoon, we have packed days and are sleeping very well.

This area is completely gorgeous, rolling hills, lakes, woods, rivers, stone bridges. Although I am not too much of a country person, or one for hiking, I've enjoyed wandering about over the last few days. I actually went on my first hike ever this morning, ten miles over mountains to Castlerigg, a smaller and less preserved version of Stonehenge, and then into town for breakfast. We are all excited to head to a play and the Keswick Disco this evening, promises to be a good time.

Excitment for the future: possibly visiting Sylvia Plath's grave and the home of William Wordsworth.

Off to England!

April 5, 2010

We woke up very early this morning to pack up, enjoy one last breakfast, and squeeze in one last trip to Peter's Yard in a (seemingly and ultimately) futile attempt to spot the elusive JK Rowling. We hopped on the bus at 11:00, and beside a short stop at Grenta Green (the Vegas of the UK, where the British would come to procure a hasty marriage) for lunch, most of the day was spent on the bus. We arrived at YHA Derwentwater, our hostle and home for the next two weeks, and moved right in.

The Lake District is insanely gorgeous; waterfalls, creeks, snow-capped mountains, trees, sheep, picturesque bridges and houses, it's glorious. I'm very excited for some outdoor time, maybe I'll even go on a hike! After a shiort walk up to a view point, we all buckled down for some Chaucer homework in preperation for our first day of classes, fun (not).

The other group at the hostle is a bunch of high schoolers from Singapore, and are they ever loud! It's a fun energy to be around, though dinner was crazy. It appears, however, that we will be well-fed here. Back to our ten-person room and it is quickly to sleep, classes start tomorrow!

He is Risen!

April 4, 2010

We begain Easter Sunday by sharing a breakfast of eggs, cereal, and (cue ominous music) haggis. Many had never tried it, and I would call this a success; it was almost enjoyed! We then attended an Easter service at the same church we went to for Good Friday. The regular pastor had returned and gave a sermon about "Voting for Jesus," as the entire service was themed after the British television program "The X Factor," similar to our American Idol. We enjoyed a lunch of chicken soup and sandwiches with the church and said goodbye, taking some Cadbury Creme Eggs with us.

A few of us decided to climb to the top of Calton hill to see some monuments, for the likes of Admiral Lord Nelson, it was quite windy, and more than a little treacherousat times. We then wandered down Prince's Street, explored a little bookstore, and ended up at the Elephant House once more. We relaxed and did some reading, then had dinner at another local pub.

Bryn and I went down to the hotel's pub to do some more reading and were invited to join the pub's pop quiz. Of course we knew almost no answers, but enjoyed drawing a large dinosaur eating a pear. A very celebratory Easter, if I do say so myself.

Saturday, What a Day.

April 3, 2010

This morning we got up early and joined up with former SPUdent and British Isles traveler Jeremy, to tour the more "student-y" parts of Edinburgh. The first stop on the tour? The Writers' Museum, of course! There were special exhibits for Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Lewis Stevenson. The area outside the museum had quotes from famous Scottish authors inscribed into the pavement, my favorite was from Neil Munro, "And yet-and yet, this New Road will some day be the Old Road too." We walked through Prince's St. Park and ended in a big farmers' market behind the castle. After enjoying lunch in a restaurant behind a church (soup eated sitting atop gravestones), we saw a 3D preview of the popular British television show "Dr. Who," a block away.

After this, a few of us went to a 3 Wireless store where we purchased cell phones for the length of our stay, it has Skype, which makes calling the US a bargain (especially if you have Skype too)! Ali and I named the phone we are sharing Maurice, and he has been quite well behaved so far.

We considered climbing the hundreds of steps to the top of the Sir Walter Scott Memorial, but didn't want to pay £3, so ended up at the Edinburgh National Gallery, which was free! There we saw paintings by El Greco, Monet, Degas, Seurat, Cezane, and others. It was quite lovely.

Afterwards, we trudged back to the hotel for some relaxing of the feet before our next planned outting. At 4:30, we set out for a tour of Mary King's Close, which is supposedly the most haunted alley in the UK. A few hundred years ago, the government built new buildings on top of some of these closes, covering them completely, now it's like an underground city. This close lost over half its inhabitants during the Black Death and is, as a result, particularly haunted.

That evening, we enjoyed some dinner at the World's End, a pub located on the (no longer existing) wall of Edinburgh. After soaking my feet in some hot water, and making contact with America via my new phone, this weary woman was ready for bed.

Good Friday Indeed.

April 2, 2010

We finally got some much needed sleep and enjoyed breakfast at the pub in our hotel. We left early (9:00) to meet our tour guide at St. Andrew's Square (he's the patron sain to Scotland). We enjoyed a three-hour walking tour of this small but extremely beautiful city (200,00 less people than Seattle), ending with a tour of the Edinburgh Castle. Leading the tour was a wonderful Scottish Nationalist Morag (which, she informed us, means "princess").

We walked through Holy Rood park, wandered through one of Edinbugh's many cemetaries, and saw monuments for Sir Walter Scott, Adam Smith, and Robert Burns (the national poet of Scotland). Old Edinburgh is beautiful, if not a bit tourist-y, though we were a tad bit upset by their skipping of the one-o'clock gun (because it was Good Friday). We got the see the Royal Crown Jewels (2nd oldest in Europe) and the prison (with a Revoluntionary War Era drawing of the American Flag etched into one of the doors).

After the tour, we split into somewhat smaller gtroups, though ours still had seven, and wandered down the Royal Mile in search of lunch. We eventually found the George IV Bridge which lead us to The Elephant House, our goal. It is rumored that this is the place where JK Rowling wrote on the famed papker napkin to being the Harry Potter series! This trip is turning into a bit of a Potter pilgrimage, which wasn't our original goal, I promise.

After lunch, a couple of us peeked into the drawers at the table we were sitting at and they were stuffed full of notes on napkins, receipts, maps, scraps of paper. Some were random, some drawings, some poems, some letters to JK, Ali even found a "letter" meant to have been written by Harry himself while on holiday in Edinburgh with Ginny and the kids. We all contributed a note and I stole one I particularly liked. I also took a napkin and pasted it into my journal with the hopes that it brings me the same literary luck it brought good old Jo.

We wandered some more, read Richard III aloud, and decided to attend a Good Friday service at a Church of Scotland (Presbyterian!) just down the street. The service was lovely and we stayed for hot-crossed-buns, tea, and conversation after. Everyone was quite friendly. One girl about our age invited us out to a pub for dinner with some of her friends and her. It was lovely to get to know some people our same age. We stayed up late and were proud to beat jet-lag once more.

Hopefully Saturday brings more sunshine!

Travel, Travel, Travel, Travel.

April 1, 2010

So much flying! I left SPU on the morning of March 31st at NINE o'clock after a lovely night with my beautiful roommate, Kathleen, and our wonderful houseguest, Sadie. After gathering at the Sea-Tac airport, we boarded the plane and set off for the wide blue yonder. Over nine hours later, we landed in Amsterdam at EIGHT AM on April 1st! Crazy amounts of time change. It felt great to finally be on our way after the months and months of planning.

After a short lay-over in the Amsterdam Airport (5th largest in Europe) and the learning of the German for "elbow," (it's elbowgen, if you were wondering) and we got back on a plane headed for Scotland!

We are now in (snowy?!?) Edinburgh and are extremely tired. A bus ride to the hotel to drop off our bags and we recieved our first adventurous assignment from Dr. Reinsma: Find Blackwells (a large bookstore) and our HUGE, FREE copies of the complete Chaucer. We wandered for a while but eventually found it, with the help of some friendly locals.

On the way back to the hotel, Chaucer tomes in hand, we stopped in for a spot of tea at the Black Medicine Coffee Co. where (drum roll please) JK Rowling wrote the beginnings of the Harry Potter series! We are sure that we are now destined to all write epic masterpieces as a result of our encounter with this obviously magical location. We have plans to return tomorrow to begin work.

Back to the hotel, checked in to our beautiful quad room with windows overlooking a huge park, we are all trying very hard NOT to nap and it's very difficult. The goal is to stay up until at least Eight PM so as to beat the jeg-lag phenomenon. Showers and food restore some health and off again through the blustery day!