My time here has been so full of wonderul new adventures and people that I'm sorely going to miss!! We have got one more day left in classes and it's hard not to get sentimental about it. What with Christmas coming around the corner, everyone is in a cheerfull sprirt and if you had to pick one day out of the entire year to be super sentimental, I would say that Christmas would be the day to do it.
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| Andrea, Lauren and I at the Thanks giving service before dinner |
Here at the manor, the staff had a huge Thanksgiving Dinner for all the students and faculty. We got to get all dressed up and eat in the super fancy rooms! That, for me is what REALLY put me in the holiday spirit. It felt like a mini Christmas! The next day, Harlaxton put up the Christmas tree. 16ft tall, this tree is the focal point of the great hall. Everyone got together to decorate it with lights, ornaments, and tinsel. They lit the fire in the fire place for mood (and warmth...it's legit cold here) and we sat around drinking coffee and hot chocolate. I had taken a 45 minute walk around the campus just before going to decorate the tree, so coming into a room lit with a fire, surrounded by some of the greastest people was perfect!
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| Me putting an orniment on the Christmas tree! It was a stocking orniment! |
I just mentioned that it's legitimately cold here. And it is! It's not Northern Wisconsin middle of January cold, but it's reached freezing. I talk about the weather because in addition to wanting to see all of the places that I have gone, (Dover, Canterbury, Vienna, London, Ireland, etc.) I really wanted it to snow! Winter is my favorite season, and snow one of the best forms of precipitation there is. Well, to say the least, I got my wish! The day after we decorated the Christmas tree, we woke up to an inch of snow blanketing the grounds. It's PERFECT! To be in England, and have it look the way it does is so beautiful! Parts of it remind me of back home....but I keep interjecting my thoughts with, "yes, but YOU'RE IN ENGLAND!" It's bascially all of the emotions I felt the first couple of day I got here happening again, only this time there's snow on the ground!
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| The first snowfall of the season at Harlaxton! I've got an identical picture to this of when I first got here! Ha! |
I know I said that I would blog about my trip to Prague, but there really isn't much to tell. We walked around and took a crap-ton of pictures. We did learn about some interesting stories of Prauge from the people we satyed with, but other than that, it was just Kenzie, Andrea and I exploring! Then, a couple of days ago I went to Canterbury and Dover!! It was the first time traveling on my own, and I'm really glad I did! You can totally see the things you want to see, and go at your own pace. In Canterbury, I wanted to see the cathedral, and that was it. I did get to see it, and it's awesome, but I found some cool ruins and a park that I didn't expect and that was even MORE exciting!! In Dover, I wanted to see the white cliffs. I gave myself five hours in Dover to do so. I'm glad I did, because I spent three of those hours walking the ten or so miles it took to get the lighthouse and back into town. I got there at 1p.m. and got back to town just as it was getting dark. Then I went up to the castle, took a picture, and walked around down town to kill time before my bus left to get back to London at 6 p.m. Let me tell you, my back STILL is sore from carrying my backpack all that way!!
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| White cliffs of Dover in the Snow!! So pretty! |
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| Rooftops and St. Charles bridge, Prague, Czech Republic |
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| Canterbury Cathedral!! Woot Chaucer! |
Anyways, now it's crunch time, and everyone is settling into studying for finals. I have one Saturday morning, one Monday afternoon, and my last one is Wednesday morning. Then, the next day I'm off to Italy for a week then back home!! I can't wait to see all of you soon, and hope that until then you're doing well and staying healthy! Happy Thanksgiving to all and cheers!!
