The Past Three Days Have Been Crazy

Just when I thought the weekend was here and I could have a chance to relax, I was hit by a jam-packed weekend. This weekend we went on three day-trips as a group: one to Hampton Court, one to Bath, and one to Gad’s Hill. It has been a crazy three days, full of walking and sunburns, but it has been a wonderful weekend.

Friday, 25 May 2012

In front of Hampton Court

On Friday, we went to Hampton Court, the palace of King Henry VIII. The place was gorgeous and huge! I had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that people actually lived there. But once I got that fact straight, it was very neat to put history in a physical context. It’s weird to think that I have walked the same halls that King Henry and his six wives walked. We spent a few hours walking around the palace and then had a picnic in the gardens. It was a beautiful day and we were surrounded by gorgeous landscapes – the picnic is probably my favorite thing that we’ve done so far. After the picnic, we walked around the garden for a little bit before trying our hand at the hedge maze. The maze on the grounds of Hampton Court Palace is the oldest hedge maze in England – it has existed for over 300 years. After spending all day surrounded by gorgeous history, we hopped a train back to London and spent the evening unwinding at a pub.

Saturday, 26 May 2012

English Countryside

Roman Baths

Saturday was an exhausting, but beautiful day in Bath. We started off our day at the Roman baths. It’s so easy to forget that England was once part of the Roman Empire, but being surrounded by the ruins of the bathhouses, I could just see the Romans walking around, leisurely enjoying their spa days. After exploring the baths, we took a lunch break, and once again, we were able to picnic surrounded by beautiful nature. After our picnic, we wandered through the town and ended up at the Crescent. In the 1800s, the Crescent was THE place live – the most fashionable people lived there; if you had a Crescent address, you were cool. Following our jaunt to the Crescent, a few of us decided to climb to a tower which is said to have fabulous views of the entire city. We were told that it was about a fifteen-minute walk. But after a fifteen-minute walk up a hill, we stopped a church that we though was the tower. Come to find out, it was not; the tower was still a half hour walk up the hill! We decided the view would be worth it, so we continued on, but ended up stopping at a pub at the top of the hill. However, the pub had a grassy area in the back from which we could see great, sweeping views of the English countryside. The view was well worth the hike!

 

Sunday, 27 May 2012

Gad's Hill - Dickens' house

Sunday was an interesting day. We went to Gad’s Hill, which is where Charles Dickens lived for the last ten years of his life. However, in his will Dickens stated that he though that his books were enough of a memorial to his memory, and as such, he wanted his house to be sold, rather than being preserved as a museum. In accordance with his wish, the house was sold. It has changed hands several times and today, it houses a private school. However, the school is in the process of moving out of Gad’s Hill so that the house can be converted into a Dickens museum. Because of this, the tour itself was kind of strange – we had to look past the modernization in order to see what life there might have been like. Despite this, I think going to Gad’s Hill was something that I’ll remember, especially as I read Dickens’ books.

Other Thoughts:

Today, the group started booking our side trips. In the upcoming weeks, I will be visiting Paris, Edinburgh, Dublin, and Germany (we’re not firmed up on the exact cities yet). I’m really excited about this great opportunity to visit some of the major cities in Europe.

Also, it’s been really hot here lately. Evidently, or so the locals have told me, London is having a heat wave. Normally, around this time of the year, it’s supposed to be in the mid-60s or so. Yet, for the past several days, it has gotten up in the high-70s to low-80s everyday. I thought by coming to England, I’d be escaping the stifling heat of the American South, but to no avail. Hopefully, the weather will return to normal sometime next week. Either that, or I’m going to need to go shopping, because I did not bring enough of the right type of clothes!