Penshurst Place

     We left Oxford bright and early at 8:00am for Canterbury. However, before going to Canterbury, we stopped at Penshurt Place and Gardens. It is a lovely house that was once owned by Henry VIII. Some parts of it were built in 1341! We arrived there before the house opened to the public so we were given a tour without anyone else there. They don't do restoration there so all of the furniture that we saw was original and how it was when in was used centuries ago. I know that I have mentioned my amazement at the history and age of things in the UK. This was truly incredible and so hard to wrap my brain around. My idea of "old" is expanding daily while over here. 

     The house is owned and lived in by the same family that inherited it from Henry VIII. They allow tours (and weddings!) through the oldest parts of the house and live in the newer parts. Our tour guide was telling us that this house receives no government funding, so this is solely operated by the family because they want people to see this magnificent house and gardens. Also, it is a VERY big house so having the extra income from paid tours probably helps pay the power bill. Whatever the motive, the UK is very lucky to have such a wonderful piece of history so well cared for! 

     After the tour completed, we had a couple of hours to walk through the gardens, get food, and be back at the bus. I, of course, spent most of my time in the gardens. The gardens had over 20 "rooms" of various themes and plant types. One was full of roses, one was an apple orchard, one was only white flowers, and so on. Every room was absolutely gorgeous and so well tended to. It is obviously a full time job for several people to tend this garden. I think I walked through the whole garden 2 or 3 times! I just loved it! Penshurst was a wonderful house to tour and a great way to spent the morning!

The backside of Penshurst Place

Overlooking part of the gardens

This garden is in the shape of the Union Jack, Britain's flag!

My favorite view!

Marie. Her brother, Steve, went to Cuba with me!

Stratford-upon-Avon

    Part of the reason it has taken me so long to get my Edinburgh post up is because we have been going, going, going recently. Monday we had class as usual then loaded up on a bus for Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. We arrived around 2:00 in the afternoon and had until 7:15 to explore the town. While the town is interesting, Shakespeare's birthplace and tomb are pretty much the only things that are there. 5 hours to explore is almost too much. However, there were a lot of little shops and cafes in town so we were able to piddle before the show.
     Emma and I walked around for a bit and came upon a VERY old house compared to the buildings of the town. Obviously, this was Shakespeare's birthplace. Sure enough, we saw the museum attached. We decided not to pay to take a tour and just looked from the outside. Next we walked along another street that led us past the school that Shakespeare attended and its chapel. We then decided to go see Holy Trinity, the church that Shakespeare attended and the location of his burial. On the way, we passed Hall's Croft, his daughter, Susannah's, house. You have to pay to see Shakespeare's tomb so we did that and walked to the back part of the church.
    After seeing Holy Trinity, we walked through a park, past the theater where we were to see a show, then back up one of the main streets. We stopped in several vintage and thrift shops along the way. One place I got really excited about was a Peter Rabbit shop. Seeing all of the little Peter Rabbit things brought back so many childhood memories. I loved all things Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit. Everything in that shop was just so sweet. Anyway...we found a shop to get coffee and tea, and we read for about an hour.
    Emma had to eat dinner with her Shakespeare class before the play so I met up with some of the other girls to wonder around before the play. We walked to the theater, admired the swans, and grabbed a drink before the show. The play we saw was "A Comedy of Errors" and it was quite funny. It was set  in modern times, with characters wearing more modern clothes. Some of the humor and references were quite dark and violent but it had a powerful affect on the play. Altogether, it was really entertaining. The time we spent in the theater flew by! Before I knew it, we were back on the bus to head back to Oxford!

Shakespeare's birthplace

Shakespeare's tomb

Natalie, Kasey, Rosemary, Amanda, me and Brantley before the show

Great Scott! A Weekend Trip to Edinburgh

     Ok, ok. I know what you're thinking. "Seriously, Katie. You use THAT line?" But hey, if not when I go to Scotland, then when? ANYWAY...to state the obvious, I went to Edinburgh, Scotland this weekend and loved it. I traveled with my friend Emma again, and I am throughly convinced I have found a great travel buddy. My mother always said that you have two types of friends: friends that you can travel with and friends that you can't. I'm so happy to report I've found a new friend in the former category. We agree on what is important to see and do and how to spend our time and money. All of these things are essential when traveling. It makes traveling and sightseeing fun and so much less stressful.

   We left Worchester around 2:00 to catch a 2:30 train. Unfortunately, the train was delayed until 3:15, so we had some time to sit down, get water, and get to the platform. Once on the train, my stress level went through the roof. Teenagers should not be allowed to travel cross-country without adult supervision....ANYWHO. The train ride took just over 7 hours, and I'm not sure if that's because it it was a direct route with lots of stops or the many delays we also encountered. One of these delays included a cow stuck on the train tracks! We got into Edinburgh after 10 and arrived at our hostel around 11. This wide gap in time occurred when we got lost on our way to the hostel, not because there was a particularly long way to walk. We stayed in the Castle Rock Hostel, which was a really nice hostel...for a hostel. It was huge and had 60+ rooms! There were industrial kitchens and lots of fridges and preparation areas. It also had a large common area with a massive dining room table, couches, pool table, and other amenities. And keep in mind, these are just the areas that we saw-there was lots more we didn't explore. Emma and I were put in different rooms, which was a bit intimidating at first. However, we spend so little time in our rooms-literally we only slept there-that it didn't end up mattering. 

    Both Emma and I received recommendations from people that either live or have lived in Edinburgh on where to go, where to eat, and where to drink. For the most part, these recommendations lined up, so we felt like we were getting pretty sound advice. Since we got in late and knew we were getting up early, we decided to stop in for a pint somewhere then hit the sack. We went to the Bow Bar, one of the recommended bars. It was originally where we were supposed to get a wonderful single malt scotch, but we didn't realize that until after. 

     We woke up the next morning bright and early to start the day! You don't realize how little time you in a weekend until you start planning what all you want to see and do. Suddenly, a weekend turns into the hours that make up Saturday and Sunday and what you can fit into those precious hours. Luckily, Emma is a great planner so we were able to do all the things we wanted! Houston's friend, Katherine, is living in Edinburgh right now, so Houston was kind enough to put us in contact via email. Although Katherine wasn't in town for the weekend, she sent me a very detailed guide of what to do. One thing that she suggested was a farmers' market Saturday morning. We did a little research and figured out that we would be able to get breakfast there. Three girls from our Oxford group, Natalie, Leela, and Kristen, were staying in our hostel so they came with us to the market. The food was amazing! I decided to get a fresh burger with cheese and onion-quite the breakfast food!

Leela, Natalie, Kristen, and me eating at the Farmers' Market 

     After breakfast, we walked back up the hill to visit Edinburgh Castle. It sits on top of what I now know to be a dead (plugged) volcano! It overlooks the entire city. We got there not long after it opened, and I was really glad for that! By the time we left it was completely packed. The castle was really interesting in that a lot of the buildings that made up the layout of the fortress had been converted into museums. After 2 of these museums, it was clear that Scotland's cultural identification is tied up in their military history. Most of the museums had a military history. Also, all of the military garments, adornments, and other displays were very ornate and beautiful. It was really interesting to see how much pride they have had in their military for so long. The premier attraction of the castle are the crown jewels, and they were beautiful. Once again, the details and ornate design were outstanding. At some point, we lost the other girls but Emma and I stayed at the castle for over 2 and 1/2 hours! I think we saw everything on the map! However, I think I would have gotten a lot more out of the castle if I had read up on Scotland's history, particularly with England, before visiting. Now I know for Wales!

    The very last thing we saw was other main attraction: the one o'clock gun fire. Everyday, except Sunday, they fire one shot into the air. They have been doing it hundreds of years, originally to let people at the shore's edge know the time. After it was over, we turned around to go and were shocked at the crowd that had gathered! There were SO many people. We were really glad we arrived early rather than in time to see the gun fire.

Emma, Leela, Kristen, and me at Edinburgh Castle.

A view of the scaffolding set up for the Tattoo.

Part of the Edinburgh Castle!

     Emma's friend recommended that we go to a place called the Mosque's Kitchen for lunch. That is literally what this place was. The building where we got our food was the kitchen for the mosque next door. Also, it was really just a kitchen. However, the food was amazing. Obviously, it was Indian food, and they gave us a lot of food. We really could have (and should have) split one bowl, but you live and learn. I love Indian food so this was right up my ally, and there was something even more authentic about it being next to a mosque. 

Just HUGE portions

I was super excited about the naan! 

      After lunch, we went to the National Museum of Scotland. We saw the highlights that the book recommended and some of the ones that the museum suggests. We were running out of time, so we skipped the rest and went straight up to the terrace on the roof. My book promised an excellent view of the city, and it delivered. The terrace was open on 3 sides so you had almost a 360º view of the city! It was a beautiful day so it was definitely worth skipping a view of the exhibits of the museum.

A view of the castle from the museum.

Guthrie Street, just for Anne Guthrie!
I got super excited when I saw it.

     We left the museum because we wanted to have time to see St. Giles Cathedral, a cathedral built in the 12th century. It closed at 5:00 on the weekends, so we didn't have a lot of time to see it. It was a lovely church. Just as we walked up, a wedding party was leaving! We walked around and saw all of the architecture and features of such a historical church.  Next, we tried to go to another cathedral down the street, but it was boarded up....After that, we headed back to the hostel to put somethings on our beds, get a cup of tea, and rest for a minute. We then walked to the cemetery where J.K. Rowling drew inspiration for 2 very important characters in the Harry Potter series. The character of Professor McGonagall was inspired by a poet, William McGonagall, that is buried there. To our understanding, he was not a great poet, so we weren't sure where the parallels come from. Also, Tom Riddle is buried in the cemetery. Rowling liked his name so she used it in the stories. 

     After visiting the cemetery, we walked around for a bit, getting our bearings. We decided to stop for coffee. We went to a small place called the Elephant Room. At this point, I should say Emma was so sweet to entertain my Harry Potter love, at both the cemetery and the coffee shop. The Elephant Room is famous because it is where J.K. Rowling would sit and write the Harry Potter books. Needless to say, I was absolutely giddy over all of it! I was really impressed with how the Elephant Room has embraced the "tourist" interest in its cafe but has remained a local gem. The prices were not unreasonable and it was not gimmicky. I could still imagine it as a place to sit a write, unbothered. 

The bathroom walls were COVERED with notes of
"thank you" and love to J.K. Rowling

More notes!

Me and my Irish coffee at the Elephant Room

    As is always true with traveling, Emma and I found ourselves saying "I wish we had known about this place sooner!" One of the things we said it about was the place where we got dinner. It was a cozy college restaurant and bar that was pretty cheap. We enjoyed a meal and drink before we checked out the pubs that were recommended to us. Our first stop was a place called the Royal Oak. It was a room about 15'x20' and most of that space was taken up by a folk band in one corner of the room. We were there for over an hour and in that time, they played a lot of songs we didn't know and a lot that we did. However, there were always people singing along. It was one of the most fun experiences. We also tried scotch. It's definitely a sipping drink, but not unpleasant. I think we both felt like old men in that bar with our scotch and folk music. The next place we went was the Brass Monkey. One of the special things about it is a "Movie" Room. The walls are plastered in movie posters and there is a projector and screen on the wall. Also, there are 2 giant couches that are the length of the room. They are huge in the sense that Emma and I were practically laying on them. Everyone lounges on these couches while socializing with friends. It was a really interesting set-up. And cozy!

Scotch at the Royal Oak

The guy taking our picture didn't seem to understand we wanted the couches in it. 

      Sunday morning we woke up and climbed Arthur's Seat. It is a hill (I say a mountain) that overlooks the city. It was quite a hike up but really worth it. The wind was pretty bad at street level but ridiculous at the top. It was a nice way to end a great weekend.

This is the statue of Thomas Guthrie! Just for you Mrs. Anne!

     As always, I had a great weekend, but it only left me wishing for more time! There were so many more things to see and do in Edinburgh. It has been added to my list of "places to visit again" and it a must! I really enjoyed getting to see a new place in the UK and can't wait to explore more. Thanks for the memories, Edinburgh!

What a Great 23rd Birthday!

     First of all, thank y'all so much for the wonderful birthday wishes. It is so nice to know that people are thinking of me even though I'm thousands of miles and 6 timezones away! I had an incredible 23rd birthday! In the days leading up to it, I was having some anxieties about turing 23. These didn't necessarily come from my own ideas of being "old" but from my classmates. Most of the people on this trip are rising sophomores, so 18-20. Whenever they asked how old I was going to be, they didn't have to say anything for me to know what they thought when I answered 23. Their faces said "DANG. That's old!" However, I am happy to report that I feel nothing but wiser upon turning 23!
     I started off the day with a hearty breakfast-one of my favorite things about this trip so far. It's not Dad's famous chocolate chip pancakes, but does get my days started off the right way. Unfortunately, the fact that it was my birthday did not exempt me from classes for the day! After class, I replied to emails, ate lunch and waited for friends to get out of class. One of the really great things about this program is that we have access to the Bodleian Library while we are here. Emma, Amanda, and I decided take advantage of this and spent the afternoon reading for our classes at the library. After studying, one of the things I wanted to do on my birthday was go for afternoon tea. Emma found a great little place called the Vault, so we decided to go there for tea! We had the traditional tea, scones, jam, and clotted cream, all of which, have become my new favorites! Seriously, I could eat scones, jam, and clotted cream all day everyday if it wasn't so unhealthy!
     After enjoying our tea (and stuffing our faces) we returned to Worchester just in time for dinner-great! I ate as much as I could of dinner, but as always, saved room for the cheesecake served for dessert. I like to think it was my birthday cake! My package from Dad also came that day, so I got a sweet birthday card, my forgotten camera cord, and some snacks! The snacks were mostly individually wrapped packages so they'll be great for travel on the weekends. Thanks, Dad!
     We went out that night and I had a great time! A lot of people from the program were out so it was fun to get to know more people that I hadn't talked to previously. Overall, it was a very memorable birthday! Thanks to everyone who made it so special! Emma and I are off to Edinburgh for the weekend! Any insight into what to do or see is appreciated!

Scones, Clotted Cream, Jam, and Tea!

      It is a tradition amongst my friends to take a picture of each of us pouring our tea during our annual tea parties. Since my new friends were joining me for a tea party, I insisted they join in the tradition!

Emma pouring her tea

Amanda pouring her tea, too!

Me and my tea

Group photo-thanks, Amanda!

Emma and me 

Emma found this cafe because she saw this precious bike on the street! SO observant!

Address in Oxford

I forgot to post my address while I am here!
Katie Johnson 
UA, c/o Worcester College 
Oxford OX1 2HB, UK

A "Short" Walk: St. Mary's Illsley

    On Monday, some of out teachers announced that we would be going on a "short" walk to a quaint little church just outside of Oxford then to a street that is predominately international. The walk would be on Tuesday (yesterday). I thought this would be a fun way to see the town since I did not get to explore this past weekend. Also, the teachers that were leading have gone on this trip for the past 10 years so they obviously know a lot about Oxford and the surround area. The only drawback to these little excursions is the amount of people that tend to go. We end up looking like a herd of sheep on the road, but it was really not as bad as I was envisioning.
   We started our walk by going past Christ Church which is where a lot of Harry Potter was filmed and  also the frame of reference for Alice in Wonderland. Once we crossed over the bridge, we got off of a traffic street and onto a paved path that goes along the river. The river is the Thames River which is the same one that runs through London. However, further down the walk there is a lock and it is then called the Isis River. Across the river from the path is boat houses for all of the crew teams of the colleges of Oxford. Some of them were few industrial looking, but I am happy to report that Worchester's looked quite pleasant! One of the wonderful things about England is that you don't have to travel that far out of town to see pastures and fields and rural life. We past several horses pastures and meadows. It was beautiful!
   We walked for about an hour and a half before we reached the village that the church was in. Once we got to the church, it was clear why they wanted us to see it. It was incredible. The first two parts of the church were built in the 12th century and the last section was relatively young in that it was built in the 13th century! I think I mentioned this in an earlier post, but everyday I am amazed at how old and lasting everything is here. We got to go inside of the church and look around for a bit. One thing that I was interested in was their version of the Apostle's Creed or Affirmation of Faith. The church belongs to the Church of England so obviously it was very different from the Methodist version. I really loved seeing that and appreciating the commonality of our prayers. Outside of the church is a "bush" that was planted the same year that the church was built. It is as tall as the church, hence the placement of quotations around the word bush. This was an amazing example of how special this country and their buildings are. I'm still in awe of that sacred space.
    The professors that took us on the walk have a policy of "a pub for every walk" so we made the traditional stop at a pub in the village. As I mentioned earlier, the anxiety associated with a large group came out when we walked into this tiny pub. We completely overwhelmed them! It didn't take long for them to help everyone, and one of our sweet professors bought both of the bartenders a pint of their beer of choice! I love the pubs here because they are so cozy. They are also much more of a meeting or hangout place rather than just a bar in the US. People bring their kids and sit around and catch up during the afternoons. It's really pleasant.
   After everyone finished their Pimm's and lemonade or pints, we headed for Cowley Road. This is the street in Oxford that is mostly made up of ethnic stores and restaurants. Oxford has a large international presence and this is where a lot of that personality can be seen! We past so many great looking Indian, Thai, and other ethnic restaurants. I'm definitely going to have to spend a good bit of time there! We mostly just walked down and looked this go-round. However, Toni, another Alpha Gam, and I stopped in a coffee shop for cheesecake and coffee!
   We made it back to Worchester at 5:30, yes you saw that right. We were gone for 4 1/2 hours. Hence the concept of a "short" walk. I heard the figure 6 miles thrown around several times. However, it was used as a roundtrip figure and a one-way figure. I'm not sure which it was, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was 6 miles one-way and 6 miles back! I made it back just in time for dinner, and of course, was dead tired after! Now I know when the professors talk about a short walk, I should check to make sure of the definition of short!

One of the random horse pastures just off the path.

An gorgeous bridge that leads to the cottage in the next picture.

This picture doesn't do the gardens justice. The roses were beautiful!

A look up the river.

The front of St. Mary's Illsley

London: Part II

    Once again, I apologize for the absurdly long post yesterday. I'm doing this blog for my benefit as well as your's dear reader. I'm not keeping a travel journal so this is my way of documenting what I did while here!
    Sunday started out with yet another great English breakfast. This time Toby cooked us sausage, scrambled eggs, baked beans, and toast. My job was to butter the toast, ha! After breakfast, we got ready and met Laura and Aamayna at the Tower of London. That was one thing I didn't get to do during my last visit to London so I was particularly excited. We talked a lot about this over the weekend, but I was struck at how OLD everything was. As Emma would say, "Dang, y'all!" I think we both comprehended that nothing in the US compares, age wise, with the things we see in Europe. We walked around the tower, but didn't go in. Then we walked to the Tower Bridge, which is a famous and familiar sight of London. They have recently added Olympic rings from the top of it, but when we walked past the first time, they were folded up. I was really looking forward to seeing them so it was a bit of a disappointment that we didn't see them hanging down.

Emma, Laura and me. You can barely see the rings on the top bridge.

Americans only!

Emma's picture is the optical illusion. Mine's just the silly angle.

We got to see the bridge go up and a boat go through!

    We walked to the bridge and met Aamayna halfway across the bridge. At this point, I was so upset about the rings that it was enough to be directly underneath them.

    Next, we walked to Starbucks and grabbed coffee then walked back the way we came. On our way back, the rings were down! We were thrilled to see them and for yet another photo op!

Our best "cheesing it" pose

Me with the Rings!

A view of one of  the tower from the end of the bridge.

     We left the Tower of London and headed to Buckingham Palace. It started to rain just as we were walking up, so once it stopped there were very few people there-for a bit! We got to see some of the famous guards. We also got to see them open the gate and watch someone come out. Unfortunately, that was slightly anti-climatic as it didn't appear to be anyone important. Although, if you're getting to go to Buckingham Palace then you're probably pretty important in some respect.

One of the "fancy" gates and a view of the palace

Big view of Buckingham Palace

    Our next stop was Trafalgar Square but we got started in the wrong direction. So after a minor detour, we set out! We tried to walk through Hyde Park, the park that is basically the lawn of Buckingham Palace, but it was blocked off from a weekend concert and construction. A lot of London is being spruced up for the Olympics and it is really nice. However, it was clear that it was quite a pain for locals. I guess I forgot that they'll still have to go on with daily life despite the Games! We finally made it to Trafalgar Square, which is near National Portrait Gallery and (temporarily) the Official Olympic Games Countdown Clock. We sat by a fountain and took more time for a photo opportunity. We didn't go inside of the National Portrait Gallery, but if we go back, that is on our to-do list.

The Olympic Game Countdown Clock

The gorgeous fountain we sat in front of

Emma, Laura, Toby and me

Awkward face

Laura felt left out without a camera

So many hands! So many cameras!

Tower in Trafalgar Square

    10 Downing Street, home to the Prime Minister, is just down the street on Whitehall, so we walked there next. It's so funny how you can tell that it used to be a normal city street but it down blocked and heavily guarded. Ahh, modern security worries! Either way, it was very interesting to see, and I now have a reference when I see any pictures of a PM coming out of 10 Downing Street. We were headed to Oxford Circus, London's version of Times Square. It is not as big or well lit, but there are buildings with huge screens. On our way, it began to rain so hard, we had to stop underneath the ledge of a building to wait it out. This downpours are common, but they usually only last a few minutes. This one wasn't showing signs of letting up so we made a run for the tube. We took a few pictures at Oxford Circus and headed to Soho for some dinner. We ate in a small Italian restaurant, in their basement. We were all so hungry and it took forever for someone to come down to take our order. I still say they forgot about us in the basement...Once again, we giggled and goofed off throughout the meal. We each ordered, and just about finished, our own pizzas. As we were paying, a family of 6 ordered one pizza and one calzone for their table. Needless to say, we felt SUPER good about ourselves...not.
    After dinner, we said our goodbyes to Laura and Aamayna and headed back to Toby's to get our bags. We were up to our own devices to get ourselves to Victoria Station, because that is where the bus to Oxford picks up. We decided to take the bus back since we have (now) 8 days of travel on our rail passes. We didn't want to use up one more day just to travel back home. It was so surreal heading back to Oxford, because at that point, I had been in London for longer than Oxford! It was quite familiar to me yet. After a bit of confusion, we found the bus stop and the worker told us we had 2 minutes until the next bus showed up (they run every hour). I still had to get cash from an ATM so it was a bit hectic trying to get that done in 2 minutes. Luckily, we did that and made it back just in time! It's crazy to think that if anything in our evening had taken 2 minutes longer, we might have had to wait another hour for a bus. At 10:30, we were on the bus headed back and by 11:40, we arrived! We were exhausted but in awe of our memorable weekend!
    I just don't think I've made it clear what a great time we had this weekend, and what wonderful memories that we made. I'm so thankful to everyone we met for going above and beyond to make this weekend special. I feel like we got a sense of "real" London and how people our age are living there! We were so lucky! I loved meeting all the people, swapping accents, learning pronunciations, seeing new things, eating new foods, and overall experiencing a whole new world! I can only hope that the rest of my trip is as good as this weekend.

In the words of my British friends....."don't hate me coz you ain't me"