England 2

  March 28-31, 2008  

     After my trip to Valencia during Semana Santa I was really missing my family so going to England to visit my second family was really exciting! My second family in England are the Conrows. After meeting my best friend, Josh, in high school and dating for several years I have become very close to his family, especially his sister, Chaska. Josh and I visited Chaska a few years ago in Madrid because she was working here teaching English. That definitely was a dream come true. I had been wanting to go to Spain since high school and visiting Madrid made me want to study abroad even more.

     Since I arrived in an airport outside of London and far away from Bury St. Edmunds, where they are living, I had to take a train into London at Victoria Station and then a bus to Cambridge. I really enjoyed taking the train because I was able to see more of the neighborhoods outside of London and I also loved the bus ride because it was like a free tour of London. Even though I had been to London before it was good to see the city another time. While I arrived in Cambridge, Chaska was there waiting for me. We decided to spend the day checking out Cambridge.

     Of course, when I arrived in Cambridge it was raining, but we still had a great time. I am really really happy I got to see this city, because it was so old and definitely a student city. One of the things that was quite the sight to see was King’s College. It is amazing how old the college is and the King’s College Chapel was huge. As we walked around the city we also got to see several of the other colleges of Cambridge. I can’t imagine what it would be like to go to school at such a historical school as Cambridge.

     Chaska also took me to a local pub called The Eagle, Cambridge’s oldest pub. It is said that Watson and Crick announced their discovery of DNA in this bar. It is also said that the British and American WWII pilots burned their initials into the ceiling. This is also where I had my first fish and chips meal. It was delicious!! I loved the feel of the city.There were lots of students, stone-cobbled streets, old buildings and cute little restaurants and stores. After my tour of Cambridge we headed to Bury St. Edmunds by bus. When we arrived it was a full house. Not only was I staying over, but so were four other people. One of them was my friend Dwayne. I met Dwayne when I went to visit Chaska in Madrid because they were roommates. Dwayne is from Ireland so it thankfully didn’t take him a long time to get to England and he also rented a car. I had a great night talking with the Conrows and Dwayne. I was happy to have some interesting and intelligent conversation. I say this because I had felt like I was lacking good conversations and hearing everyone talk about traveling, the economy, politics, etc. was really refreshing for me.

     On Saturday before we packed into Dwayne’s rented car for Stonehenge we checked out Bury St. Edmunds. It is a very small town, but very cute. I got to see a very old abbey, well parts of it because most of it was gone. It was very interesting though, because just from the parts that were still standing you could see what the formation of the abbey was before. We also walked around through the city and I got to see Britain’s smallest pub, The Nutshell Pub..it was crazy how small it was!!!

     After checking out the city we headed to Stonehenge. Stonehenge has been around for around since 2200 B.C. It is a formation of stones that at one point was a complete circle. No one is quite sure who constructed Stonehenge, but some people think it was Neolithic builders. Some of the stones weight up to 45 tons each and no one exactly knows how Stonehenge was constructed. It was a long drive, but again I enjoyed checking out the other parts of England. Before we arrived in Stonehenge it was already raining, but I think we probably went to Stonehenge on the worst day possible. : ) When we arrived it was pouring, windy, and freezing. It was quite the experience, not only seeing something very, very, historical, but also trying to listen to the headset, taking pictures while trying to hold my umbrella while it was raining. Basically I gave up on my umbrella at times and let the rain sting my face and then I gave up on trying to listen to the headset. Overall, this was an experience I will always remember.

     It was amazing to see Stonehenge in person and marvel at what mysterires there still are about things of the past. It was also fun being at Stonehenge in horrible weather (I hear it is very normal to have bad weather at Stonehenge), all I could do was laugh, smile and get soaked. After Stonehenge we were all starving so we drove around looking for something to eat. Once we had eaten a yummy lunch we headed back toward Bury St. Edmunds and stopped in Cambridge for a few hours. We were all pretty exhausted when we got back, it still amazes me how tired you can get from traveling.

     Sunday after I said goodbye to Blanca (Josh’s mom) the rest of us headed to London. When we arrived at the tube we all went our seperate ways Chaska and I went to our hostel, Dwayne went to see his friends and Doug and his friend went to check out London. After Chaska and I had checked into our hostel she took me to some really cool parts of London. First we went to Portobello Market, it is located in the Notting Hill district. It was such a cute neighborhood. I loved the houses and the shops. There were also people selling tons of things in front of their stores, down alley ways and in the streets, it was like a big flea market with way better stuff. After spending some time walking around we then headed to Cadmen Town. It was also an awesome neighborhood. I loved that the people and the stores were very alternative and unique. It was definitely my kind of neighborhood. Besides seeing these awesome neighborhoods another great thing was we had good weather…really good weather for London. I loved it and it made me realize how awesome London can be!!!

     During the night time we headed to the center of London and went to Piccadilly Circus. I was definitely ready to head back to the hostel when night came because I was exhausted from traveling so much. Overall, it was a great trip. I felt refreshed to be around people I knew and I felt I got to see London with a different perspective. I know every place I go gives me a new view on life and helps me to appreciate things more.

Inglaterra

December 4-10, 2007

            Well, I just got back from traveling on my final puente (a long weekend) for my first semester in Spain. I decided to travel to England to check out some shows just like I had tried planning for Paris. This was a great trip. I can honestly say the trips keep getting better and better. This trip was a little different because I traveled on my own to Liverpool for a few days and then I met up with Rachel in Birmingham and we headed off to London.

            Last Tuesday after school I took a plane over to Liverpool, all by myself. I was really excited to travel for a few days by myself and I was interested to see how I would like it. I had a feeling I would love traveling by myself because all I have to worry about is myself and I am really open to meeting new people. Well, the landing into Liverpool was probably the scariest landing I have had so far. When we arrived in Liverpool it was very cloudy and raining so when we were landing it felt like the plane was fishtailing. It was quite the experience! When I finally arrived at my hostel I asked the receptionist if he knew a good place to eat or hang out so he told me about a really good Japanese restaurant. I found my way around the city at night, which was another fun experience. As several people had told me, Liverpool is under major construction because they have been given the title the European Capital of Culture for 2008. Thankfully, everything was pretty close to my hostel. After the yummy dinner I headed out to the main road where there are local bars. The timing was perfect for me to be in Liverpool because it was Liverpool Music Week! If you know me well then you know I love music, almost every type. The best thing about music week was that each night different bars/ venues held different bands and almost all of them were free. So that night I was in heaven. I heard everything from folk, pop to thrash metal. It was a great way to start of my time in Liverpool.            

            Just like I think my trips keep getting better and better so do the hostels. The hostel I stayed at for the first two nights in Liverpool had the most awesome breakfast for a hostel. They had everything such as: toast, eggs, beans, cereal, yogurt, fruit, coffee and tea. It was heaven compared to other hostels. While I was getting up in the morning I met two girls from Slovenia. They were really nice and it was Ana’s birthday. We decided to check out The Beatles Story Museum together. I did not grow up listening to The Beatles so it was really awesome for me to learn so much about them. It took about two hours to go through the whole museum because there was everything from when they were kids till when they broke up, until now. It was really inspiring and really showed me how much influence music can have on people. The Beatles Story is located on Albert Dock, which also holds several museums, galleries, restaurants, and shops. After the first museum the girls decided they were going to go shopping and I decided to take advantage of the free museums. I went next to the Tate Gallery. This is only a branch of the Tate Gallery that is in London, but it was still amazing to see. It had everything from modern works of art, Picasso, Cezanne, sculptures to Andy Warhol. I really enjoyed this gallery. It is great to look at paintings and understand why it is the way it is (thanks to my Spanish Art Class). 

After the Tate I headed over to the Merseyside Maritime Museum. This museum was full of history about the sea/port life in Liverpool. I learned that Liverpool was tied to three large ships that sunk soon after each other: The Titanic, Lusitania and the Forgotten Empress. Even though the ships might not have sunk in Liverpool, there was a large number of people from Liverpool that were part of the crew and Liverpool manufactured several great ships during this time. This museum also talked a lot about the Battle of Atlantic during World War II and after the war. It shocks me that people went through so much on the sea, what a tough time it must have been to be alive. The museum also talks about living on sea, the careers that are offered, how to build a ship, and so on. It was cool to hear and see history of a very important port city.

With the little time that I had left I decided to go the International Slavery Museum. This museum opened my eyes to more things that I had not learned about. I saw how, where and when slaves were traded. The museum depicts the historical as well as relative facts of slavery. It also showed specifically how Liverpool and other countries played a huge rule in slavery. It was really humbling, especially hearing people talk about their experiences as well as hearing how people try to identify with their heritage today. At the end of the day I felt refreshed, and inspired. To some people they might think museums are boring, but these museums were the opposite. I know that God placed me in Liverpool for a reason. I was reminded of my desires to work in events/ promotions through the art and history. I was reminded that art no matter what form can change society, can make a huge impact and some how I want to be apart of it.

When I returned to my hostel, while I was waiting to use the computer I heard a few people talking in Spanish and decided to ask where they were from. Obviously I knew where they were from, but I was just trying to get the courage to speak Spanish. We hit it off and they were so nice. Two of them were from Madrid and the other four were from Valencia. I ended up hanging out with them. It was a great way to practice my Spanish and to relate with them because they also loved all types of music. It was a fun night. We walked around to several bars to check out the bands.

The next morning I had to change hostels so I got up early so I could have time to walk to the hostel and explore the city. I started off at the Metropolitan Cathedral. This cathedral was completed in 1967 and there has been some controversy over the modern interior. From the outside it looks very industrial and kind of ugly, but it is very pretty from the inside. Neon-blue stained glass mainly occupies the cathedral, but there are also other colors as well as embroidered hangings on the walls of the Cathedral. They also are in the process of designing a crypt. After this cathedral I headed off to the Liverpool Cathedral. This cathedral was built in 1978 and is the UK’s largest cathedral. It also has the highest Gothic arches and the heaviest bells in the world. I was able to see this cathedral at all points of the city so I was really excited to see it up close. It was beautiful and some of the architecture reminded me of Notre Dame. Giles Scott, who also designed the famous red telephone box, designed this cathedral. After checking out the inside and taking a break for lunch at their café I decided to go to the top of the cathedral. It was really cool because on the way to the top you are able to look down at the bells, they are huge. It was really strange because there were a lot less people checking out the cathedral than in other cathedrals I have been to so it was quite eerie going to the top of the cathedral alone. When I reached the top I was really nervous because it was so windy outside. It also felt very unstable to walk on the roof; it felt as if there was only a thin piece of wood keeping me from falling. Even though it was a little scary being at the top I got a great view of the city.

After I left the cathedral I headed out to the main shopping area of Liverpool. I walked around for a while and then came across FACT. FACT is a foundation for art and creative technology and at this location there are cinemas, galleries, a bar and a café. Again the galleries were free. The galleries contained art by Nick Crowe and Ian Rawlinson. They have a video exhibit called At 25 Metres and from this exhibit there are three pieces at FACT. The pieces are The Fireworks/The Name of God, The Carries’ Prayer and Two Leprechauns. All of these pieces look at the complications of faith and use fire and light as a symbol. It was really interesting and exciting to see art exploring the subject of faith. My favorite was The Name of God. In this piece they had different people from the three Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) hold a sparkler and write the name of their God. There are several things to examine in this piece, but the one that they mentioned that stood out to me is the active state of faith. Just like you need to keep rewriting a word with a sparkler because it disappears to keep an active state of faith or for me to keep my relationship with God strong I need to be continually praying, reading the word and focusing on Him. 

After checking out the gallery I watched a movie, The Darjeeling Express. It was a great movie. There was a lot of humor as well as a great story of adventure and the friendship of three brothers. I had a great time taking my time exploring the city and again the things I had seen inspired me. When I got back to my hostel I met a girl from Pennsylvania and we decided to go out for a little while. I was supposed to see the band Hard-Fi, but the show got moved to Friday so we went out to dinner.  Then we went to a bar near by that was having a free show again. It was pretty chill because I had to get up early in order to get my bus to go to Birmingham.

Overall my trip to Liverpool was amazing. I think I felt most at home here and definitely did some soul searching while I was by myself. On my way to Birmingham it was beautiful. There were green pastures and I was able to see the sun for a little while. When I arrived in Birmingham at first glance I was not very impressed. To me it was right away very run down or least it felt that way. My hostel was right down the street from the bus station and was really central to the main shopping area. 

The main shopping area has a building called the Bullring. The Bullring is Europe’s largest retail establishment and has a crazy exterior. The bottom level of the mall is the main eating area and it is like heaven! They have it put together in such a way that I felt like I was a kid in a candy shop. They have tons of different food products to buy and several different places to eat. Not only was the eating area amazing so were the shops themselves, there were a ton. Since Rachel was not arriving till the afternoon I checked out the mall as well as the shopping on the streets right next to the mall. It is amazing when you first see the mall because right next to it is the St. Martin Cathedral. The cathedral was so old compared to the new mall right next to it. It was such a quaint, cute cathedral. The church was built in 1873, but there has been a church in this location for about 800 years. There are also open-air markets located right next to this church and mall. 

There were a few other places to visit, but I decided to take it easy. When Rachel arrived we had dinner and afterwards we headed off to a concert, with Justice (I also saw them in Paris) and CSS (they are from Brazil). It was a cool concert. I always enjoy seeing a good show and I am always interested to see what the venue looks like and how the crowd responds. We decided not to stay out really late because the next day we had to catch a bus to London in the morning.

Thankfully on Saturday morning we didn’t have to wake up really early since our hostel was within walking distance of the bus station. It was so cool to drive into London; it was a complete change from Birmingham and Liverpool. The buildings were so beautiful and had such a homey feel. After we arrived at the bus station we took the metro to our hostel. Again I have to say the hostels keep getting better. The hostel we stayed at was part of two other hostels, which were on the same street, but the only problem was we had to check-in at the hostel down the road. Our hostel had a coffee shop adjacent to it so that was really exciting for us! The hostel was decorated really cute, was clean, was right near the metro and some sights and they offered so many things to do at the main hostel down the street.

After we checked in we headed out into the city. We first checked out the Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge is usually what many people think of when they say the London Bridge, but that is the bridge next to it. This bridge is in several movies and is known all over the world. It was so cool to see in person. It was such a pretty bridge. We walked through a Christmas market where they were selling several types of candy and food…mmmmm….it smelled so good! After walking across the Tower Bridge we also saw the Tower of London. The Tower of London also contains a palace and a prison. This was built in 1067, by William the Conqueror. We did not go inside, but several important things in the Tower of London are the White Tower, Byward Tower (the bell tower), Traitor’s Gate,  Tower Green, and the Bloody Tower. There has been a lot of history that has happened here as well as bloodshed. This place also holds the crown jewels. That is one thing I hope to see in the future. 

We also saw St. Paul’s Cathedral. This cathedral can hold up to 2500 people and also has the second-tallest dome in Europe. By this time of day it was already dark and it had started to rain. We were pretty cold so we decided to go home and get ready to go out for the night. We went out that night to Piccadilly Circus. It was cool. There were a ton of people out and lots of bright lights. We went to a club that one of Rachel’s friends recommended. It was definitely different than any other place I have been to. 

The next day we decided to take the city sightseeing bus because it was a good way to see all the monuments since it was so cold outside and rainy. We saw the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, the Marble Arch, and Oxford St. I would have to say Big Ben was my favorite sight to see in London. It was so surreal and so huge! We also walked around Oxford St. to see the shops and the lights. We had a pretty long day so we had dinner and decided to take it easy in the night since we had to get up really early to catch our plane, 3 a.m. to be exact. This was one of my longest trips so far and I really enjoyed it. Everything kind of feels surreal since I am seeing places that I have heard about for my whole life. I loved England expect that the dollar is worth nothing there and I do not think I could live with their weather for very long; thus, I was really happy to see the sun when I arrived in Madrid.  : )