...8 countries, 10 cities. Yes guys it is Easter Break! I have handed in all of my essays and tomorrow I will be heading off on my 3 week adventure with my friend Irene! We will be hitting 10 different cities- Marrakesh (Morocco), Barcelona, Venice, Rome, Athens, Santorini (Greek Island), Berlin, Lucerne (Switzerland), Paris, and Brussels! I cannot wait to visit all of these countries and cities! This will be the first time I have visited any of these places and the first time I will have been to Africa!
The infamous backpack!
I still can't believe that I get the opportunity to travel for three
weeks. It will be absolutely amazing to be surrounded by so much beauty and new and exciting cultures! I plan to soak up every minute of it! I will be spending Easter in
Berlin and my 21st Birthday in Paris! :)
Yes! You read correctly I will be living out of one backpack for 3 weeks! It is the cheapest way to do it and once I started packing, I realized it wasn't so bad! I have 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, 1 dress, and a handful of shirts that can be layered and mixed with 2 cardigans. I have all of it packed up now and about half of the bag is still empty! That means I have room for some souvenirs!
I promise to bring back lots of exciting stories and photos (and I actually promise to blog about them!)
- Cheers Jennifer the world traveler haha
“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends
into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world
within.” – Lillian Smith
On my last day in London, I headed to the Tower of London! I was hoping to take the tube, but the green line that I needed to get to tower hill was closed for maintenance, so I took the bus instead. I am really glad I did too! In order to get to the Tower of London, I had to switch buses at St. Paul's Cathedral. I hadn't had the opportunity to see the cathedral because it was on the opposite end of the area that we had been exploring.
St. Paul's Cathedral is magnificent! I'm so glad I didn't miss seeing it! Right across from the Cathedral was the Millennium Bridge; this Bridge is famous from the Harry Potter Movies. Specifically the one where they are all flying on brooms fighting the death eaters. So, I decided to walk across it; the bridge provided some beautiful views of the Thames River and the London Bridge.
Barrack Obama in London??
Right beside St. Paul's Cathedral, the Occupy London movement has set up camp. It is a pretty big occupation movement and one of the first that I have actually seen, myself. I was quite surprised to see a movement that started in the U.S. to be going so strongly halfway around the world in the U.K.
After I finished exploring around the cathedral, I moved on to the Tower of London. The Tower is massive and has a lot of historical significance. There was a free tour given by the yeoman wanderer. My Yeoman Wanderer was called George and he really enjoyed telling us stories of execution. Most of the executions took place a little ways away from the Tower on Tower Hill; this is where the regular citizens were executed for treason and crimes against the crown. But, 3 queens and one a favorite of one of the queens were executed within the tower in a private execution area. The Tower wasn't originally meant for executions, instead it was one of the first royal palaces. Two princes actually vanished at the tower and their bodies were later found over 100 years later behind a staircase. They Royal family kept many exotic animals there that they were given as gifts by other countries because zoos really didn't exist at the time. They even had an elephant at one point, but it died after 2 years. There is a legend that unless 6 ravens reside at the tower at all times, the white tower will fall and crumble to pieces. So, to this day the tower keep 7 ravens on hand just in case something happens to one of them.
Lions were (and still are) very important symbols in England
One of the infamous Ravens
George! The Yeoman Wanderer.
This building area is where the private executions took place
Apparently there were large amounts of monkeys at the tower.
The staircase are where the 2 princes' bodies were found
The London Bridge!
After the tower of London, I got back on the bus and headed to meet up with my friend Ashley to go to the British Museum. The British Museum is really cool and they have tons of exhibitions. It reminds me of one of the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C.
The British Museum!
The Rosetta Stone
An art piece- these are all of the pills/medicine that one man and one woman have taken throughout their lives. The woman is still alive.
Buddha
Apparently the Egyptians actually mummified their cats too...kinda creepy
The ceiling of the British Museum- really cool looking!
After the British Museum, we went and grabbed dinner at a pub. Then we went and checked out platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station because what else would two girls that love Harry Potter do on a Sunday evening?? After that we headed back to Manchester; we didn't get back to Manchester until 3am, but it was definitely worth it!
Off to Hogwarts!!
-Cheers
“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends
into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world
within.” – Lillian Smith
On our second day in London, we decided that we wanted to see a Musical on the West End (the London equivalent to Broadway). We weren't really sure what we wanted to see...but we had a really long list of things we would be willing to see. It included- Lion King, Chicago, Jersey Boys, Billy Elliot, Thriller, Singing in the Rain....you get the idea. But I was secretly rooting for Billy Elliot So we asked our hostel were the cheapest place was to get tickets. They directed us to an authorized ticket dealer in Leicester Square (which is where they have the Harry Potter premiers. So we headed down to see what tickets we could get. On our way there we passed a group of guards on horseback.
Once we got into the square there was a massive line que. So we patiently waited to get our tickets. Originally we had wanted to see a night showing, but many of the shows were sold out for the night shows or didn't have any discounts. So we finally settled on the show we wanted to see- Billy Elliot. We got tickets for the matinee that were normally 65 pounds for 45 pounds! I have wanted to see Billy Elliot since I saw a preview of it on the awards show for the theater. Elton John wrote the music, which prompted my initial interest because he is my favorite artist. I then discovered that there was a movie, which I rented and loved. I really wanted to see the musical, but it was only showing in New York, Chicago, Toronto, and London. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would have the opportunity to see the show on the west end in London! Before we went to the theater we grabbed lunch at a local pub! England really does have great food, no matter what people say.
Prime Beef Sandwich and Chips!
Irene's fish and chips came traditionally wrapped in newspaper.
The storyline of Billy Elliot really resonated with me. I really feel like it has a lot of parallels to my own life. Billy Elliot is set in the tumultuous years of 1984/1985 in the North of England. It is set in a small mining community. During the 1980's, a recession took hold of England; this recession exposed the mining industry and Margret Thatcher announced the closure of the pits. This was devastating for the mining communities as this was the only way they were able to support their families. The announcement prompted the National Union of Mineworkers to strike. As the strikers became more defiant, the government reacted with more intimidation. Daily confrontations between the pickets and the police became common. The strike lasted for over a year. It is during this strike that Billy Elliot is set. Billy is a young boy, the son of a miner. One day he stumbles into a ballet class and his life is forever changed. Billy is gifted in ballet, but he comes from a working class family and it seems that his dreams are beyond his reach. Billy Elliot is the story of how a community rallied together and despite the odds Billy was able to became more than he ever expected.
The current Dad in Billy Elliot is Amazing, he brings so much emotion to the musical!
The author of the musical stated that "if Billy Elliot conveys any message at all I hope it is that it is possible to fight back and resist and it is possible to move on without forgetting where you come from." The beauty of Billy Elliot is that you don't have to want to be a ballet dancer to enjoy it. It touches something deeper, the desire to attain your highest dreams. Which, is what I am doing here in Manchester. I come from a working class family, a family that sacrificed so much so that I could attend university and so that I could achieve all of my dreams and aspirations, just like Billy's dad. Going into the show, I know that it was going to be amazing, but I had no clue the actual affect it would have on me.
Our seats were amazing!
We made our way to the Victoria Palace Theater; I was so excited to see the show! I didn't really know what to expect because I have never been to a musical and I have only seen a few plays. We had amazing seats in what is called the "stalls." These are the seats on the ground! The theater really is magical. The musical had me laughing and crying (I'm not really an esp. emotional person, so that will tell you how much the performance touched me). It is honestly really hard to explain just how the show touched me, but it was amazing! Literally, Billy Elliot the Musical was one of the most (if not the most) amazing things I have ever seen or experienced! I could never really express just how good the show is, but I can let you experience just a taste of it- the original cast recorded the songs from the musical. So while you don't get to see the amazing dancing or acting, you can get an idea of what the musical is all about. Also, rent the movie...at least then you will get the whole story! I promise you won't regret it.
This is the first song from the musical and probably one of my favorites!
This is another great song, but don't listen if language upsets you!
This one is so touching! I think the dad in the show I went to was a lot better at conveying emotion. But still a really good song!
This is a compilation of a lot of the songs from the Musical and it includes dancing with one of the casts from the West End version of Billy Elliot! I had a different cast, but this will still give you a great idea of what the show was actually like!
These were taken after the show! I would honestly love to go back and see it again- it was really that good!
After the show we headed back to my friend Ashley's flat were we made dinner together and then had real American cookies. Here they the call their cookies digestive biscuits and they don't really taste like cookies. My friend found this cookie place near her flat called Ben's cookies. I had a orange and chocolate one and a cranberry and white chocolate; they were both delicious!
Cookies!!!!
To be continued...
“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over
and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off
from the journey.” – Pat Conroy
I know I promised to blog about my trip to Liverpool, but this past weekend I went to London. So I thought it would be alright to jump ahead. I have plenty to tell you about Liverpool, York, and starting classes (so hopefully I will get to that later this week!) I spent 3 absolutely amazing days in London. The city was more than I ever expected!
Caribbean food stand in the market!
Italian man that sold delicious fresh Italian food
This was the first time I stayed in a hostel. It was really nice!
We took the megabus from Manchester to London and arrived in London at about 11am on Friday morning. The megabus is a really cheap alternative to taking the train around the UK. After we got off the bus we dropped our bags off at the hostel and set out to get lunch and explore. We found this really neat little food market set up a few streets from our hostel. There were tons of ethnic food stands and specialty food for sale! It took a while to decide what to get, but I ended up with a delicious sandwich from this little Italian man.
After we got our lunch we headed towards Buckingham palace. It was
only a 15 minute walk from our hostel. On our way there we saw a
carriage going into the royal mews; it was escorted by police, so I
couldn't help but wonder if there was someone in the carriage.
Buckingham palace itself is HUGE! It feels so much bigger than the
White House. It is very ornate, with a beautifully carved
statue/fountain in front. We had just missed the changing of the guards
because it is at 11:30 and every other day in the winter. From
Buckingham palace we walked down "the Mall" which apparently during the
restoration period was were the wealthy strolled around. We took a bit
of a detour into Prince Jame's Park, which is right beside the mall; the
weather was beautiful, so there were plenty of people out to enjoy the
nice day. The park had a lot of birds/ducks, which was apparently
intentional. The park also had "floriferous shrubberies in the spirit of
John Nash"; at least that is what a sign told us haha- not really sure
what that means, but I'm sure the park would be beautiful in the spring
as it was already very pretty in the middle of winter. From the park we
headed through a marble arch past a statue given to the British
government by the Russians celebrating the anniversary of manned space
flight.
From there we made our way through to Trafalgar Square. This is where the Olympic time clock is located for the London 2012 games (by the way, I can't wait for these)! The National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery are also located in the square. There are also some pretty cool statues and fountains, which we may or may not have climbed on...like all of the little children to take a picture with the lions. There were some street performers here too including a man in a kilt and a man painted entirely in silver that looked like a statue (this seemed to be a common theme with street performers in London).
Trafalgar Square!
You can see Big Ben in the background
After Trafalgar Square we wondered across the Thames and up towards Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye. I never realized just how large the London Eye was until I was standing under it! Big Ben and Parliament were so cool too see, I almost wish I could work there! After taking like a million pictures of Big Ben and Parliament we moved on to Westminster Abbey. I honestly can not even comprehend how people could build buildings as large and beautiful as Westminster without the technology and machines we have today! We didn't get to go into any of the buildings, but I can only imagine how grand they were after (esp. after going in the York Minster last weekend). After we saw Westminster Abbey we headed off to meet my friend Ashley for dinner.
The main gates to Parliament!
One amazingly beautiful side of Westminster Abbey!
After we had finished our sight-seeing for the day, we headed to meet-up with my friend Ashley who had just gotten done with her last class for this semester. She is doing the GLS program, so they will spend the rest of their semester working an internship in London. She took us to a really good Belgian restaurant! Afterwards, we walked around Oxford st, which is one of the main shopping districts in London. One of the department stores had a really unique window display- it was a wooden roller coaster!
Singing in the Rain theater sign
Spinach and Ricotta puffs from the Belgian resturant
Wooden Roller Coaster at Selfridges
To be continued.....
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on,
deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard
