NOTE: I will have to add pictures at a later time because my computer is about to die! Here are my updates from our North Trip!!!
Hello! I am here in my bunkbed at our hostel in Ambleside on
the shores of Lake Windermere in the Lake District. It is BEAUTIFUL! But we did
lots of other things before we got here so I will start there.
So we got on the coach at like 7:45, had to get out of
London before rush hour hit! Our first stop was Cambridge! We had about two
hours there. It was beautiful! The campus itself reminded me a lot of Hampton
Court with all the red brick and stuff. Which I guess makes sense because
Christopher Wren also designed some of the buildings there. I have to admit I
wasn’t as intimidated by Cambridge as I was by Oxford. I think that’s because
we were immediately introduced to the BYU students that are doing the summer
program there. (definitely thinking about doing that!!) first we had a lecture
by Dr. Kerry, the professor that oversees the exchange program we do with
Cambridge. BYU, along with Harvard and Yale, provide the most students to the
program. Isn’t that cool? BYU actually has the largest group on average. Crazy
right? So we had this little lecture on the history of the school. It was
basically created by the people that got sick of Oxford… and it’s funny because
the people that got sick of Cambridge went and established Harvard! So they’re
all connected. But people like CS Lewis, Isaac Newton, and AA Milne have all
studied there so it’s freaking cool.
Unlike Oxford we didn’t have quite as much free time to go
see all the museums and bookstore and whatnot, our main event was punting the
cam!! So I’m sure you are confused, just like we all were when we found out we
were ‘punting’. Punting means pushing a little gondola boat! So picture the
famous gondolas in Venice… now put it in the middle of Cambridge with a byu
student driving it. It was great. They are self hire, when you rent one you
don’t get a driver. You do it yourself! So we all had a go and most of us were
terrible, especially the girls. But it was beautiful! The Cam is the river. It
used to be named something else but they changed it to go with the name of the
town, Cambridge. It was so beautiful with all the bridges and willows and
beautiful flowers. Plus it was a sunny day! The cam winds behind almost all of
the colleges so we got to see them too. It was cool stuff.
After that we went straight back to the coach. Before we
started our long long drive, we took a bathroom break. Apparently the Cambridge American Cemetery has the best
facilities around there, so we stopped there. I am so glad we did! It reminded
me so much of Arlington it was INSANE. I seriously felt like I was in DC with
all the marble and American flags. Wow. I had no idea that the military had
cemetaries overseas. But I guess when you enlist you can choose to be interred
at places other than the states. I was looking at a map and there are like 20
worldwide! Mostly in France. But all together there were about 8000 soldiers
buried there. There was also a hugeee wall with all these names that were there
to memorialize soldiers that were never found. Kind of the equivalent to the
tomb of the unknown soldier. Professor Jacoby asked one of the workers and I
guess most of these names were pilots that were lost over German occupied
territory. This place was crazy. It was definitely sacred ground and it made me
proud to be an American. It also made me homesick like crazy, because like I
said it was so much like DC it was blowing my mind.
So after that we started our real trip! I was asleep for
most of it, I wont lie. One funny thing that happened though... in the UK they
are so picky about how long their bus drivers drive for. So after a certain
amount of time we are required by law to stop at rest stops. They have little
computers on the buses and if you don’t stop the driver gets fined! So it’s
pretty nit-picky. So we stopped at this goofy rest stop that had a hotel and a
bunch of places to get food and it was really funny. But guess what family I
found VIMTO! The purple soda from Senegal! I have seen before but I didn’t get
it… it’s so good!
Okay so then it was another two hours or so to the Lake District,
which is actually a national park! Didn’t know that. We passed between
Liverpool and Manchester.. didn’t go through them, but I saw the exits so that
was kind of cool. Anyways, this is the part when I got SO homesick. I am going
crazy without my mountains you guys!! The lake district obviously has lots of
lakes and some little mountains! And it’s super super green and has pine trees…
it reminds me so much of redfish lake in Idaho. I would give anything to be there!
What makes it worse is that my mimi called me today and told me how she was at
the ranch and I miss it so much! But anyways this place is BEAUTIFUL. It’s just
as pretty as Wales and I didn’t think that was possible! Oh my goodness. I will
just let the pictures do the talking but I’m obsessed. All the stone cottages
and streams and the MOUNTAINS and trees! Ah!
First we went to this place called dove cottage, which is
where the poet William Wordsworth lived during the romantic era. We have been
studying his work so it was cool to see it all brought together. He has some
beautiful property in a place called Grasmere. We had dinner there made by the
people that run the foundation! It was so adorable! We walked in and they had
the little fire going in the parlor and we had all traditional food that he
would’ve eaten back in the day. Some boiled potatoes, a stew with lamb and
potatoes and rice, and mushed carrots and turnips which was surprisingly yummy.
Then we had homemade lemonade and lemon custard which was really, really yummy.
After that we explored the little cottage and the gardens. I liked going
through this house because it has a lot of artifacts from Wordsworth himself… as
opposed to dumb Anne Hathaway cottage which is totally different from how it
was in her day. In the garden and in the parlor some of the students recited
poetry from Wordsworth which was really cool. For our class we have to memorize
28 lines of poetry and recite it to the class so it was cool to see it done
where this guy actually wrote it. I can see why he would be writing poetry here
though! Heck, I might be able to write poetry here! The scenery is soooo
pretty! Okay… I probably wouldn’t be able to write poetry no matter how pretty
the scenery. But still.
After that we came over here to Windermere, which is a
little town right on the shores of the lake. It is so cute. I could die. We
checked into our hostel and of course it’s literally right on the lake. I don’t
know how we are so lucky. This hostel is really nice! It’s more like a hotel
with lots of rooms and levels. It also has it’s own restaurant and bar and
rents out lots of sailboats and kayaks. I think I might kayak tomorrow during
free time! But we went on a little walk around the shore and it was so
beautiful. It was one of those moments where you just kind of zone out and
think how amazing the world is. That was corny. But seriously. Then Chelsea and
me came back and had the most amazing hot chocolate in the world from a funny
bartender that didn’t speak very good English but was totally hitting on
Chelsea. So funny. And now I am in my bunk! I am so proud of myself because I
actually showered here at the hostel! Can check that off my bucket list now!
But anyways this won’t get posted till I have Internet but I am thinking of you
all! Much love!
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