HALLOWEEN!

     I had an amazing break and I will update my blog about my Eurotrip tomorrow. But for now there are more important events on my mind. HALLOWEEN! YAY!
     Waking up this morning I was sad to realize I would miss the Hocus Pocus of Gettysburg Halloween as well as the traditions of trick or treating and dressing in crazy costumes. But, when I was walking home from the gym at 5 (it was completely dark) I saw the happiest thing ever- little British children dressed up and trick or treating! It was so happy to know that some American traditions had crossed the pond.
      It was funny to get home and realize that as responsible tenants of our house, we should get candy for the kids! So we did, and now we're happy because they walked up and down NoHo (Northampton St) and we felt so grown up giving them candy.
     With that being said, Happy Halloween! I'm excited to wander to some Halloween parties tonight...thankfully not in the snow. haha
     I promise to update everything tomorrow!  :)

Me Kelsey and Margaret on Halloween last year! So fun, I certainly miss this! Yay Disney Princesses.

First 2 Months:

     I love England! I fear that my time here is far too short for the amount of exploring I want to do, which is the sad reality of being abrade for one semester. But, I know when I leave, I'm going to be so happy knowing I made the most of my time here by doing everything possible and taking advantage of being in this wonderful city, even if it's exhausting. I guess that goes for globe trotting too. People keep asking me how I have so much energy and how I get my work done with all of the traveling I've managed. And here is my answer: I work extra hard during the week so that I can travel or explore Bath on the weekends. Although I'm here as a student, I feel as though a lot of what I've learned about the people and culture of England as well as of other countries is from traveling and experiencing life first hand.
     No doubt though, school work is still challenging and for those of you who have doubted the amount of work I've had this semester...just know that the last two weeks were very hard!!! And ask my housemates, when I need to get something done, I just hunker down in the library (with no internet :o) and get it done. So even though it's been amazing traveling and seeing so much around Europe, of course I'm tired!!! But I wouldn't change that for some extra hours of sleep, because I have the rest of my life to sleep in!
     So I've talked mostly about my travels elsewhere, but here's what I've learned in Bath...
1. As the seasons change, the only difference is the temperature of the rain...it hailed today! And right now, on Oct 20- it's 34 degrees and raining. BURRRRRR
2. English people either love Americans, or they dislike Americans. There is no in-between because most people have either had really happy interactions or the contrary.
3. Americans are often seen as being really loud...which I understand because English people are slightly quieter than us. Also, they mumble a lot so sometimes it's hard to understand their accents especially if they're from New Castle of Yorkshire. haha
4. Pumpkin doesn't really exist here. BUT we found somewhere that sold it and since then have made muffins, pie and smoothies. The funny part about this is that the only people who buy pumpkin are Americans, and the guy at the check out counter asked me if it was a holiday because we had cans of pumpkin. He was embarrassed when I said no but then I assured him that we just like eating pumpkin in autumn which made him feel better.
5. People smoke a lot. Even though the cigarettes say "Smoking Kills" everyone smokes even the young people! This is strange for us because at home you never see someone standing outside the gym...smoking, it just doesn't make sense!
6. Tea is a way of life. People joke about that but here, they are really serious about their tea! Everyday people drink tea in the morning and afternoon. Our assistant director joked "whenever there's a crisis, everyone freaks out and then someone puts on the kettle so they can solve the problem over tea." haha true story! So with that being said, coffee here is not strong or good because it's not a necessity like it is at home. My friend Deanna would die without good coffee! But luckily, when I do want to indulge, we have a Starbuck's which is my comfort shop when I get homesick because it's so familiar to me.
Now for some language:
stove: the hobb
to rent: to hire
bathroom: toilets
thank you: cheers
bucks $: quid
cents: P as is pence
rotary: circus
money, bill: note, banknote
sandwich at at street vendor: butty, like a chip butty
fries: chips
parking lot: car park
trash: rubbish bin
poor college student (out of money): skint...haha the fact that they have a noun for this is awesome
being right: being spot on
cash register: the till. this still confuses me.
umbrella: brolly, this term is most useful!

Here are photos from our 11 mile walk to Bradford on Avon:

Such a cool picture of a houseboat with a reflection from the canal!

We made it to Bradford :)

This is pretty artistic with the symmetrical reflection of the bridge and the building. I like it. 

Maybe the oldest thing I've ever seen! 1100, a Saxon Church!

The Magical World of Wales:

     Wales is the most beautiful place ever! I've been to a lot of places and although I say most of them are really pretty or amazing, Wales is one of the prettiest places I've seen. Also, I'm not going to lie, leaving in the morning with overcast skies and a significant threat of rain, I was feeling a bit discouraged thinking, "I'm going to hike an amazing landscape and not even see 20 feet in front of me."
     But, the day got better when we stopped at a little town in Wales and got some tea and coffee. My favorite part was that they had PUMPKIN flavored coffee, which I haven't found since I've been here! So that was a lovely treat to put me in a better mood. After Callie and I enjoyed our coffee, and our bus got lost because we couldn't cross the bridge due to the height of the bus, we arrived in the Brecon Beacons park!
     As we started to climb the moderately steep slope, I remembered how much I love hiking. It's the greatest feeling to be surrounded by nature and be completely removed from the busy, modern world. I found myself just looking around, trying to take it all in- being in the middle of these grassy mountains, but I couldn't resist trying to snap a million photos. However, as we climbed, we were brought back to earth by the dense cloud cover we were about to enter. And sure enough right as we reached the ridge, we were covered by a thick blanket of fog that prohibited us from seeing any view of the surrounding mountains. We stopped to take pictures though, and we were so happy to reach the ridge even if there wasn't that much to see, and we were glad we stopped because 5 minutes later, the clouds were gone! We were so happy at this point because the view of the ridge and the two peaks we were going to hike was absolutely amazing! The rest of the hike was wicked fun, and I could talk about it all day, but honestly I don't have that much to say. It was one of those moments where I felt so content and so thrilled about being on the mountain that the outside world ceased to exist. I remember when my friend Rathi and I almost reached the bottom of the mountain, we slowed down so that we could stay a little longer, knowing that we might never be in such a cool place in Wales again. Oh another fun thing, the sheep on the mountain were really interesting, and we liked how they scaled the steep slopes to climb and eat food.
     As you can see, Wales is a magical place, where pumpkin is a real flavor and the mountains look like those in Harry Potter. After eating my firers Shepard's Pie, we drove back to Bath where the rest of the weekend was relaxing...
     But, Sunday after a day of relaxing, my friends and I walked 11 miles to Bradford-On-Avon, a cute medieval town on the river! It was different to see the riverboat houses and canal! We walked for a good 4 hours before reaching the little town where we ate lunch, had tea and walked around. There was this old Saxon church that dated back to 1100, which is pretty old! I liked that and I also liked this old barn we found! Perhaps we were ambitious at one point about walking back, but lets be real, after 11 miles...we took the bus. haha It was well worth it too because we all had work to do when we returned home after a long day of walking. Overall, my weekend was so fun and I'm glad I spent some time in Bath. I feel like I got some quality exploration done and it made me appreciate my English home. Even though it's only been 10 days, this is the longest amount of time I've spent in Bath in 6 weeks, so I was successful in exploring and relaxing. Here are the pictures from hiking! The ones from Bradford-On-Avon won't upload, so I'll try again later.

Clearly-foggy still, at the bottom of the mountain, but it was so pretty I didn't even care!

Classic jumping photo. For those of you who don't know, I'm taking jumping photos all over Europe! The background is right when we reached the ridge.  

Looking down into a valley, with a perfect little pond. 

This is one of my favorite photos of the peaks. You can even see the trail in the green!

So Happy: How could I not be looking at this?

Coming down the mountain, this was our view!

Me and some sheep. haha They were fun...

Pictures of Barcelona!

Casa de Famila: This is the prettiest most ancient church ever. Sadly, it's so old that it's under construction ...

The architecture here is unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's made of stone I think, but it's smooth and curvy which is really different than the western style. 

One of the beautiful views from Tribidibo! I love seeing the Mediterranean in the background :)

THE BEACH IN BARCELONA! I felt like I was on a tropical island in the middle of a city...

Me looking really standing in the ocean. I almost got swallowed by the big waves. haha There were people surfing too!

I don't know which church this is, but I saw it from the top of the mountain we went to! After seeing so many gothic and medieval cathedrals, it was refreshing to see a different style. 

Taken at Sensation White which is an insane "musical festival" with lots of colors and lights. After being on the floor for four hours, we decided to get the view from above, which makes the whole event seem even more crazy.

Clearly-everyone is wearing white! They were pretty strict about that!

Barcelona and Sensation White:

     Last weekend, I took a weekend trip to Barcelona, Spain with my friend Sam! It was so amazing, and although I was already tired and stressed from school work (which some of you won't believe), I'm so happy I went to Spain. Once again, I faced the issue of not speaking any Spanish, which made me a little worried when I got on the bus to the city center because I didn't have a good sense of where I was going. But two things made me feel more confident traveling alone:
1. Sam would find me eventually! He's really smart, and I figured somehow he would make it all work out because he is organized and just knows what's up. haha
2. After traveling both weekends before, I was less worried about what other people would think of me and my big hiking backpack, traveling alone. I met these really nice women from England who were so nervous about finding their way around and they asked me if I was worried because I guess I seemed really calm (which is unusual)...
     So somehow it all worked out fine, and I found Sam right when I got off of the bus which awesome because the city was really overwhelming and I wouldn't have known where to go.
After an amazing afternoon of site seeing, mainly just the old part of the city, as well as the shopping areas and eating a plate of Paella (rice and meat all together with spices), we headed back to our hostel to hang out and catch up on everything.
     The next morning, I got Sam up nice and early...although I don't think he was too happy about that. haha We walked down about 20 minutes to Plaza de Familia, possibly one of the most amazing old churches I've ever seen...and that's saying something because Europe has so many old churches! The Gothic architecture and the size of it was quite impressive. We then walked past the bull fighting stadium, and saw some really cool houses and plazas. I love that in Barcelona, ever corner you turn could be something new and just as exciting..
      When we first arrived in the city, we saw this beautiful hill that over looked the city, and we made it our mission to climb up there or (take the train...) to Tribidibo- a mountain overlooking Barcelona. Although we took two separate trains up the hill, it was well worth it. With the sun shining looking down on the Spanish city, I felt so peaceful and happy. This was one of my favorite parts of the trips
     Even though I was having a great time in Barcelona...Sam and I did something that made our weekend EPIC! We took a three wheeled go cart around the city! So we went to a place where you rent mope-heads and little go carts, which is even cooler because there's an automated voice that tells you where to go. If you've ever doubted my sense of adventure, this should prove how adventurous I really am! I drove a scooter around a city...IN SPAIN! It was so fun. We drove through little side neighborhoods, and got to see the ocean, which I loved. I even got to walk on the sand and dip my feet in the Mediterranean, which is so beautiful. It was cool to see everyone surfing too!
     After an epic day of adventures and a few glasses of sangria, Sam and I went to Sensation White, dressed in white from head to toe.  Now I'm not one who would usually go to a rave, but this was an acceptation because it's a huge international party that is held in a stadium. The lights and music at this show were so cool and although I'll probably never do it again, I was so happy that we went! After taking a cab back to our hostel with two girls from BC who were also going back to the city center, our adventure came to a end.
     It was a great weekend, and it made me appreciate how lucky I am to be traveling to these amazing places that I've never seen. I had a bit of a panic moment when I returned to Bath and realized I was almost hallway done with my experience here. It's been great! But I don't think there's enough time to do everything I want, which is a tough thing to realize. Yet, if I could do it over...I wouldn't change anything because I'm making the most of every moment I have here, and I guess that's what really matters. After a tough week of papers, I'm ready to go explore Wales tomorrow! I will upload my Barcelona and hiking pictures sometime this weekend because for once, I'm staying in Bath so i can enjoy it here! It's my first weekend home in 5 weeks...so I'm looking forward to relaxation and exploration of this wicked cool city.

Pictures from Dublin:So Irish

Pub/club from P.S I Love You: called Whalers and it's my favorite pub I went to, and that's saying something since I went to 9!

If you can't see how enormous St Patrick's is, then I'm sorry but it's really big and gothic. I think it was built sometime around 1100 or so...

This was taken looking at a bridge in St. Stephan's Park. I thought it was beautiful and it resembles a water color painting. I like how the silhouette of the umbrella is visible through the rain and the colors on the tree look like a New England fall!

Dublin Castle: When Dublin needed fortification this is the castle that granted it!

The inside of Trinity College. 

This is the inside of the prison where a lot of political figures were held during the uprising in the warily 1900s. It's based on Foucault's concept of penopticism which I'm studying about in class and is an effective model of control over prisoners. 

This is my friend Rathi in front of the main campus at Trinity College. It was a truly beautiful campus.

This is me in front of the gardens at St. Patrick's. It was so pretty even in the rain!

Dublin: the land of the Dunne's...

     Last weekend my friend Rathi and I went to Dublin! It was amazing despite the weather which persisted to rain on us for two days straight. Nonetheless, the city was beautiful! There was so much history that I've never studied before.    
     After arriving early on Friday, we went straight to sight seeing with the National Irish Museum, the              National Library, and the National Art Gallery. The museum was incredible and even had bog bodies found in Ireland-bodies that have been preserved in bogs for thousands of years! This was really interesting from an archeological perspective. I learned a lot about Irish history, especially about Catholicism in Ireland that had to do with St. Patrick and Augustine. Although I don't usually appreciate art galleries as much as I should, this gallery was amazing! We saw so many original paintings from Monet, Picasso and many more. I loved this one beautiful painting of a scene where Judas betrays Jesus, and it shows their facial expressions vividly, it was such a memorable painting and I think it's quite famous!
     One of my favorite parts about our trip was going to St. Stephan's park which is near the center of the city. It reminded me of the Boston Gardens actually and I loved just walking around and seeing all the different gardens.
     That night, we went on a hostel pub crawl and it was awesome! We went to four pubs and a night club which was special because we got in for free. The pubs were so "typical Ireland" I don't know how else to describe them. There was great live music and it was so chill, which we really liked. Traveling with just me and Rathi, we were relived to meet new friends who were studying abroad in London. It was really cool to meet everyone else traveling, there were people from all over the world! Oh and side note, we went to the pub that P.S I Love You was filmed in...I thought that was a highlight of our pub crawl.
     The next day, we walked everywhere. We walked from one side of the city to the other! We started at Trinity College- I loved it. It's assumed to be the Oxford Uni. of Ireland which made it seem really intellectual and cool. Although it was pouring out, Rathi and I loved walking around the city center and just window shopping for things we wanted to buy. After a warm lunch with lots of soup...we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral. This was by far one of the most magnificent cathedrals I've ever seen in my life! It was so impressive and for a good reason-St. Patrick was the person that brought Catholicism to Ireland which makes him one of the most celebrated saints. Walking further to the outskirts of the city, passing the Guinness factory, we went to the old Irish prison. This was the creepiest place I've every been and it was relatively modern considering the history of it the 18th century and used until 1946. We paid for a tour and it was well worth it, we learned so much about the rioting in 1919 that helped Ireland gain independence!
     At this point we were very tired and cold...we were ready for a good pint and some fish and chips, so we walked to a pub and had dinner! I wouldn't mention it, except the pub was so unique. One of the benefits of traveling with one other person is that you could go anywhere without worrying about being a loud crowd of Americans. So walking into this quiet, old pub was so fun because we got a real Irish experience and everyone there was so nice!
     Saturday night we went on a literary pub crawl...For those of you that don't think I'm literary intelligent, I'm not really, but one of our mentors gave us all the answers! Also, this was an experience that I wouldn't have had otherwise, so I'm very glad I did it. It was actually a lot of fun!
     Staying in a hostel was quite an experience. We met two really cool people there, which I wasn't really expecting! One: her name is Mary and she is 18 and traveling Europe ALONE! I can't believe how independent and friendly she is for her age! She was really nice and this weekend, I might see her in Barcelona! The other was a girl from Australia who was also traveling alone before returning to her university. Both of these people made me feel slightly immature because of how big a deal it is to travel. But not in a bad way, just in an inexperienced way. I loved them!
     So with the most amazing trip near an end, we packed our bags and prepared for our early journey home. However, neither of our alarms went off the next morning....So instead of waking up at 5 30, we woke up at 8 15. I thought we were done, I knew at that point we had missed our 9 30 flight on Ryan Air, a notorious airline that requires you to be there two hours prior to your flight and one that closes the gate 30 minutes before departure. We took a rather expensive cab ride to the airport, and a miracle happened...there was NO ONE in line at Ryanair. So we got our passports stamped easily and then another miracle happened...NO ONE at security! It was amazing, and we barely made our flight! It was such a rookie experience, and thank god we made it because it would've costed us so much money to reschedule. Sitting on the plane knowing we were going to make it home was the best feeling ever!
     That basically sums up my trip to Ireland. Dublin was so cool and just really chill, I hope I can go back someday and visit or even live there. I loved it so much even in the pouring rain... This week is our midterms week and I'm pretty stresses but I've already written one paper which is good! It's also my 21st birthday tomorrow, which I'm excited for! Honestly, I miss my sister so much and I would be more excited if I could be with her- because as a twin, this is our birthday. But I know both of us will have a great time even if we are continents apart!
I will post pictures in the next entry! This weekend is Barcelona, so I'm looking forward to a weekend in the sun! :)