Southwestern Trip + Some

I know I haven't posted in a while... The further behind I get, the less I want to start in on it. Bleh. But, I did write an email to Greg (brother on a mission) that basically related everything, so in order to catch up, I've decided just to post a bit of what I wrote him. It's all pretty much there...

I'll try and do better!

 Sorry I haven't written in a while, a lot has happened. I'm trying to remember what we did before I last wrote. I think it was right before we left for our south western tour. Our first stop was in Bath; they are the only geothermal hot springs in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the Romans beat us to it, and while the ruins were cool (Bath was built up around it and then they rediscovered the ruins when digging down), I would have liked to have gotten to go in them, or view them in their natural state. Oh well, the statues and ruins were cool! We also went to a fashion museum... It was really funny- they kind of turned it into a bonding moment, involving 40 girls and corsets... Yeah. Anywho, fashion is nuts, just in case you didn't know. It was sooo windy there too! My hair was beyond description. We stopped for Indian food on the way back... We asked a local, who happened to be an owner of a local B & B, so he knew the area really well. The walk home wasn't too great-- the hostel was a bit outside the town, and when you're tired, the hills just aren't cool.
The second day we went to the ruins as Glastonberry Abbey. It was really cool!! I got a ton of pictures, and it made me want ruins with my future castle :). Am I allowed to send you pictures? We got taken on a tour by one of the period actor people. I forget the name of the guy he was supposed to be, but he was supposed to be the guy sent by Henry viii to shut down all the churches in England. It was kind of gross listening to them describe how they killed and tortured people. After that, we went on one of the most amazing hikes ever! We met in Tintagel (the group split into two, one was hiking INTO Tintagel, the other was hiking OUT of Tintagel to Boscastle. I was in the second group) and then hiked along the cliffs next to the Irish Sea (it was a beautiful cloudy day, and the colors were so brilliant!). It was about a 5+ mile hike and there were more stairs then I think I've ever done in my life (not really, St. Paul's Cathedral was more). It was sooo up and down, my legs were killing me. Knees were not happy!! That night, our professors made up dinner-- pasta al forno, garlic bread, and a whole chocolate bar! YES! And then, our group was too big to fit in the hostel, so two of us got to stay in a B&B.... I got to!! It was sooo nice, and the next morning, the B&B owner made us breakfast-- I had crepes :).
Third day-- Tintagel castle-- a reaaaally cool castle ruin perched on the edge of a cliff. They say that it was King Arthur's castle. It was fascinating to imagine people actually living there, and what they would think if they could see us now. The cliffs were beautiful! I finally found a gift for Mom too. We also finally got to eat REAL cornish pasties.. So good! Basically a pastry crust stuffed with beef, potatoes, carrots and gravy. We finished the day by going to some quoits, or neolithic stone monuments, kind of like mini stonehenges. They were a bit of a let down to be honest. We did get the bus driver, Tony, to join in on the picture though! John, one of our professors, was also hilarious. In the words of Sarah, one of my friends on the trip, he is the most apologetically inappropriate person ever.
Fourth day: Actually, the quoits were on this day. Oh well, same thing happened. The countryside around here was so beautiful! So many colors! But I don't like gorse bushes. They hurt. We also went to St. Michael's Mount-- one of my favorite places! It's basically a castle (was a strategically important place, militarily too. BTW, this is all in Penzance, as in the Pirates of)  on an island, that you could only get to at certain times because of the tide. While the tide was out, we all just took off our shoes and went wading into the Irish Sea! I got a bunch of shells, hands down one of my favorite experiences. We also went on another hike, to Land's End, or the most southern tip of England. The cliffs again were beautiful, but we were pretty quickly surrounded by fog, so it was hard to see out. They didn't want us wandering off and falling off a cliff. By now my knees were hurting a lot. Dad told me to take ibuprofen everyday. It was kind of annoying.
Friday: Stonehenge! It was actually pretty cool-- we actually started at Stourhead gardens. They were soooo beautiful! There was a lake, and the trees were beginning to change, but not too much. It was one of the old victorian gardens, you actually see the Temple of Apollo in the Kiera Knightly Pride and Prejudice, with a lake and Grecian looking buildings. I thought Mom would have loved it! The walk was so pleasant, but by the time we left, there was too many people I thought. My favorite part was the grotto-- it was built under ground, in a grotto-esque place, unsurprisingly, with a bunch of beautiful statues in it.  Then onto Stonehenge. It was right off the road, with actually not too many neopagans. We couldn't get right up in it, because they had ropes up (I think they were repairing the sod? I don't remember), but it was cool. Not like Mt. Rushmore, which was a bit of a disappointment. We kept passing old burial mounds too, all in the farmers' fields. The farmers don't plow into them, so they just leave them. Then we went home. Back to the center.

I forgot to mention Kew Gardens and Hampton Court; they were before the south western trip. I think I told you about Kew Gardens before, but Hampton Court was interesting. I'd have to look up the history again-- it was a stressful day, so I wasn't paying too much attention to it. The architecture was beautiful. The gardens were kind of funny though; the trees were cut in an interesting way. I thought they looked like the mushrooms from Mario. It was funny.

This last week was also way stressful. I was up till 2 and 3 in the morning every night. I've been soo tired. It was mainly doing art projects, although today was essay day, and I need to work on and finish like three art projects this week. Not cool. Anyway, Sarah and Jessica and I went to Camden market. It was really fun. Compared to Portobello Road, it was all clothes. Portobello is all antiques and knick knacks. We had fun trying on some of the crazy stuff. We also went to a play, the Woman in Black. It was supposed to be a scary play, and it was! Only three actors, some well done lighting and well placed sound bites, and we all jumped! We had to finish the evening off with watching Sense and Sensibility to feel better. Colonel Branden is nice :). I also went to institute this week. It was nice to finally have a religion class again. Between us being gone on trips so often, and me being in nursery, I don't get a lot of church instruction.

Hopefully I'll post more today... And maybe some pictures...