Pictures from Scotland

Beginning of the hike!

Gorgeous views

The climb

Victory jump!

Arthur's Seat

Super windy!

Cute!!

The gardens

The Palace

Walking the Royal Mile

Goodbye, Scotland! 

Cambridge Week 1 / Scotland trip!

Hey guys! So, I just finished week 1 at Cambridge. It was good. :) I'm still getting used to where things are in the city as well as the different currency (pounds). The weather here has been nice -- sunny and occasional rain. The sunsets and clouds are beautiful EVERY DAY. It's really a beautiful place to study. More and more tourists are coming in, I'm noticing. Other than that, it's a pretty tranquil place. A lot of the shops close down early (around 5 or 6pm). So, if you want to get some shopping done, go early. On Thursday, our group took a four-day trip to Scotland! It was fun. 8 buses total went.. The drive was smooth; we stopped a couple times on the way up. One of our stops was Fountains Abbey, which is ruins of a Cistercian monastery. It was cool to see! Afterwards, we made our way to Scotland! It was very much like England -- rolling green hills, sheep, and more hills and sheep. :) We stayed in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. You can tell it's very old by the architecture, but still a nice place as there is much to do and see. The following day I hiked Arthur's Seat with my group. It was fun! Definitely worth it. It was pretty steep in the beginning and very windy at the top, but very fun. The rest of my time there I relaxed, read, and took a walk to the Royal Mile (the street connecting the Castle and the Palace and Parliament). There, I did some window shopping and got some lunch. :) Indian food! Yum! At the end of the day, our program organized a dance for us -- Ceilidh, a traditional Scottish dance, somewhat like square dancing. I didn't go because I wasn't feeling too good, BUT I could hear it from my window and sounded really fun. :) Those who went had a blast. We made our way back to Cambridge today, with a couple short stops. I slept practically the whole way over.. I'm definitely caught up on my sleep. Looking forward to another week in Cambridge. Tomorrow, classes are not meeting due to the Tour de France! The bikers will ride through our town so much of the faculty won't be able to drive over because of roads being closed. So, tomorrow is another day off. :) Time to catch up on studying, laundry, etc! God bless. xoxo.

First time on the grass :)

Formal dinner -- King's College

Fountains Abbey

My bus buddy - Gladys!

Inside the ruins

More Pictures!

The River Cam

Webb's Court (where I'm staying :))

The Round Church 

The Coffee Shop! 

The Library

Alleyway of shops

Jesus Green Park!

Pictures!

Keep off the grass!

My Future Car

Beautiful Every Day 

Out for a stroll

Lunch :) 

Walking the streets

Made it to Cambridge!

Seriously, so beautiful here. Ima do a quick post because I need to sleep to get up for an early breakfast and welcome orientation! Just wanted to let y'all know that I made it. Dad's been a good sport about it all--helping me with the public transportation, carrying my luggage, keeping me safe and keeping company. He's great. :) He even did all that in the rain/cold when he forgot his jacket and umbrella! He's a good dad. We took the underground subway to the train, which took us to Cambridge. Took us about an hour... It was a pleasant ride. Then, we hopped on the bus, which took us to the city center. From there, we walked to King's College in Cambridge! After checking in and getting my welcome packet, we went across the street to buy Dad a jacket and umbrella. We walked the town a little bit, took some more photos, and said our goodbyes at the gate. Not gonna lie, I cried when he left. :') It was such a good week with him and I hate goodbyes. But, after that I met a lot of new people and mingled! It was fun. So many students from all over the world, many different colleges and majors. There's a lot of friendly people and everyone seems very excited to be here. Not long after, we had our welcome dinner in King's College Dining Hall. It was nice. :) Such a beautiful hall. Huge, too! Afterwards, a few other students and I walked the town! It started to rain a bit but it was bright outside until after 9pm. (It gets dark late here). That's pretty much it. :) I'm looking forward to breakfast and meeting more people! God bless.

Oh! And I'm really liking my room on campus. It's pretty sweet. :) Thank you, Grandma, for financially covering this trip! I am so grateful. Xoxo.

Days 4 & 5 (Cotswold, etc.)

 

Yesterday, Dad and I had our last tour. We went to the Cotswolds in England. It was so beautiful! There, we visited 4 villages: Bibury, Burford, Bourton-on-the-Water, and Stow-on-the-Wold. Cool names! Our first stop was Bibury. There, we had a short walking tour. So beautiful. We got to see the little cottages made of limestone. (Every building in Cotswolds has to be built of limestone). It was charming. English designer/poet William Morris called the town "the most beautiful village in England." I would probably agree with that, although I haven't seen all the villages... Our next stop was Burford. There, we had lunch at The Cotswold Arms. It was a cozy little place. Then we did some window shopping. Burford was a busier town with many shops along the main street. After, we made our way to Bourton-on-the-Water. I loved this place. Again, very beautiful. Cute and quaint. It's known as the "Venice of the Cotswolds." Quieter than Burford, but still a tourist attraction. The perfumery where the Queen of England gets her perfume is actually located in this village. There was also a really nice candle-shop there. :) Smelled soooo good inside. Lastly, we made a stop at Stow-on-the-Wold. Here, we did some more window shopping and sat on a bench and enjoyed coffee together. England's first inn is located here. Today, Dad and I slept in (yes!!) and enjoyed a late breakfast together. Afterwards, we walked to the National Gallery but there was a parade going on there so we weren't able to get it. :( It was a bummer, but we still enjoyed a nice walk together. It's crazy how fast the week went. But I'm really glad I got to spend it with my dad. I'm really looking forward to going to Cambridge tomorrow. It's been a busy week. London is crazy, busy, and a bit overwhelming considering how much there is to do, learn, and see! It's been a good week but I'm ready to be going to Cambridge. God bless.

London Day 3 (Touring England!)

Today was fun! Dad and I woke up around 6am, had breakfast, walked to the coach station, and headed out for a tour of England. :) We got to see places such as Stratford, Cotswold, Bath, and other cities in between. It was super neat! It took the whole day but was definitely worth it. Stratford was our first stop. There, we went to William Shakespeare's birthplace! We actually got to walk inside the house he was born in. We also got to try some delicious strawberry scones while watching someone act out some of Shakespeare's works. After that, we got back on the coach and headed for Bath. On the road, we saw and learned about the different architecture in the different parts of London. For example, we saw the limestone buildings in Cotswold and "thatched" (straw) roofs in some parts of England. Our next stop was the city of Bath, which was my favorite! The cobblestone roads were pretty and the architecture was magnificent. It was a pleasant and beautiful city. There, Dad and I had pasties for lunch, which are savory pastries with a variety of fillings. I also had my first latte abroad! It was delicious. Creamy and tasty. After our visit, it started raining so we head to our last stop, which was Stonehenge! Ah! It was so cool. Apparently, there are multiple Stonehenges, which I was completely unaware of. But our tour guide said that the one we visited was the most famous and sophisticated out of them all. It really was a neat experience. Although we couldn't touch them, it was still very cool to be able to view such an old, historic, and famous landmark. Stonehenge concluded our day tour and we were pretty tired after such a long day. On the way back to London, we rested while learning more about the English countryside. Grateful for my time with Pops. Love him. Will post more photos/updates this week. :) God bless.