February may be a short month but it can fit in a lot Part 2

Okay here goes part 2. Unfortunately the internet is too shaky to load pictures, even takes ages to load them onto the internet in general, so at some point (cross your fingers) I can get some up in some form.

So I finished up Edinburgh (sadness. . .those were some good days) and now am moving onto the weekend of February 16th and 17th. I went on two separate day trips. Leeds Castle and Canterbury on Saturday and Oxford and the Cotswolds on Sunday.

So we left pretty early on Saturday and spent a few hours on the tour bus before arriving at Leeds Castle, which might I say is simply gorgeous. It is still used for celebrities and such to stay when there is an event. We had about 2 hours there. We walked through the grounds and saw hundreds of swans, ducks, and GREEN! Yes green in February. Once we arrived outside the castle (p.s. there's a golf course there; how cool would that be?!), a few of us (aka me and the other Californians who went) decided to hit the hedge maze first since we didnt know how long it would take us. After reading the info sheet, we saw that on average it takes 20 minutes for people to complete. Once inside, we decided to race, which scared me because let's face it, being trapped in a maze, not cool. . . Somehow though I managed to win and made it to the stone grotto in the center first (in about 10 minutes might I add) and watched the rest scurry around from my post (ah sweet victory. . .) After everyone completed the maze we headed into the groto which was really cool. There were mosaics, fountains, and a cool pathway which led us back out of the maze. We then headed to the castle. It was ridiculously large and it took us a good deal of time to wander through. What's nice about this castle is that it once belonged to a private family, but now belongs to Britain . It is surrounded by water, a man made moat, and since it was a nice sunny day the water spaw-kled (its better if you imagine a little british boy saying it). We could see the golfers as we approached the entrance. Once in, I was just in amazement. A lot of people liked the maze best, but just the immensity of this place and how it was furnished got me. I'm a sucker for interior design and some of the more modern rooms were just perfect. . .somehow. . .About half the castle was restored to look like it did back in the day and the other half modernized when it was purchased by a private family in the late 1920s.
One of the conference rooms was actually the site of a meeting between the Egyptian President and Israeli Foreign Minister for the preparation for Camp David Accords.
This place was amazing. There was a hot air balloon to get views of the grounds, a little train to take you up to the castle and peacocks!! Somehow that was really exciting to us.

So we got back into the bus and headed to Canterbury to see Canterbury Cathedral and spend some time in the town, after a lunch break, our tour guide led us to the Cathedral and we were able to look around for a bit before it closed. Now in all honesty I do love Cathedrals and Abbeys and all that, but they do start to look alike after a while. While Canterbury Cathedral reminded me of the one in York, it had its own personality that I really liked. We walked around the crypt portion, which is more like some seculded prayer areas and around the nave. And of course, the stained glass was one of my favorite parts, especially because the sun was out and when I rounded a corner I could actually see the colors of the glass reflecting on the wall. But it was a pretty quick visit that left us some time to look around the main street in town before heading home. We got home pretty early, which I'm not used to considering evry other tour I went on we have returned super late, but all in all it was a good day. I got some work done and rested up for the next day.

SUNDAY: We headed to one of the small towns in the Cotswolds, a popular vacation area for Englanders. It was a very sweet little town but there wasn't a lot to do. We walked around a bit, sat and watched the ducks, fed them a bit of muffin that my friend had brought along and hit up a candy shop before boarding the bus on the way to Oxford. Oxford was fun. We explored some of the buildings associated with the University including Radcliffe Camera, part of the Oxford Library, which was closed off and I didn't realize people could actually study in there until my friend Megan who studied there last fall filled me in. We saw St Marys Church but didn't get a chance to go to the top as recommeded by Megan. Our tour guide was a bit unorganized that day. He sent us off for our free time before we even got the opportunity to see what was around. But we did get to go into Christ Church, aka Harry Potter mania. Now I don't read or watch Harry Potter so I wasn't super excited, but what amazed me is that people actually eat in that dining hall. And that they have to wear appropriate attire if they go to dinner at a certain time. WOW! But most of Oxford was just a walking tour and a chance to grab some lunch. Then it was back on the bus for another early night home, which was good because I had a very long week, with Scotland and 2 tours and was in desperate need of some down time.

That week was a good week as well. One of the girls on my floor turned 19 so we had a little floor party to celebrate and all had to dress as our favorite things. I decided to dress as California/warm weather and threw on a pair of shorts and tanks top and began missing the warmness of California and the fact that I could wear that to work. We went to the Student Union all dressed as our favorite things and just had a good time hanging out and dancing. It was nice to bond with my floor mates.

I had a lot of work to get done during the week though because the very next weekend I was heading to Wales for the entire weekend!

More to come . . . stay tuned! (And once again I tried photos. . .sorry!)