Holy Hanna

Holy Hanna, I am so behind on blog posting it is not even funny. Somebody please remind me to breath because we have been so busy around here I think I am forgetting! Do you think that explains the blue-ish tint my skin has had as of late, and the weird light headedness that keeps appearing. Ha ha just kidding, I am fine; actually more than fine, I am great! I seriously can’t get over how lucky I am that I get to be here having this incredible experience. I wish I had more time to blog so I could give some justice to everything I have been doing as of late, but since I don’t I’m just going to have to roll with it. It is about 1:00 in the am right now, why am I choosing to blog in the wee hours of the morning? Maybe it’s because I am so dedicated to keeping everyone updated that I couldn’t resist. Or maybe it is because I am sick of studying for finals and in an attempt to avoid the inevitable hours of studying that lie ahead of me I am choosing to do something else! I think it might be the latter of the two. So basically school is intense right now. We have finals on Monday and they are going to be beastly! I really don’t have much time, my school work is calling my name… so I am going to make this fast (and by fast I mean this entry will probably a short book rather than a novel like it usually is!)…here goes nothing!

“They must all go to Brighton. That is the place to get husbands. What a pity it is, mamma, we did not all go. ”

–Lydia Bennett, Pride and Prejudice.

Well folks I went to Brighton, and luckily Lydia was wrong because I came home husbandless. She did have one thing right though…it is a pity not everyone can go to Brighton, because it was so much fun! The train ride was about an hour but I didn’t mind because I was headed to the coast!! Before we went to the beach we took a tour through the Royal Pavilion. The Royal Pavilion is where George IV resided and where Queen Victoria and other Royals frequently visited. Apparently when the building was designed, Asian flavor was IN because the inside of this house is like taking a walk through China land. I have never seen anything so spectacular. The first room you walk in was the most elaborately decorated space I have ever seen. Every inch was covered in some kind of gold, leaf, intricate design, bamboo, paint, etc. And the Chandelier was ridiculous!!! It was 30 feet long and weighed over 1 ton! Wow baby! The whole house was similarly decorated and I found myself manually closing my mouth several times because everything we saw was so jaw-dropping. If you are ever in Brighton, take the tour!! After the tour…it was BEACH time! The Beach in Brighton was weird, instead of sand it was covered in rocks about the size of eggs. The water was frigid so I didn’t swim but I did lay out for a bit, which was stupendous. All I could think about as a soaked in the Vitamin D was how excited I am for OBX (only 25 more days, but who is counting?)! It felt so good to lay in the sun away from the city for a bit. Overall I would say Brighton was a big success!

Okay, I’, trying to think what else we did this week. I just asked a few people that I’m sitting with where we went on Monday this week and the replied “Dover, Canterbury, etc.” and I didn’t believe them because it feels like we went there ages ago, I can hardly remember it! But alas, we did go to Dover. Dover was cool; we got to see an ancient Roman Lighthouse. I love light houses so it was cool to see one of the very first ones…I think they said the Lighthouse was built in 70 AD so not too long after Christ was on the earth. Isn’t that crazy? The lighthouse was next to a cathedral that was built about the same time; and the two of them sat on the edge of a massive cliff. Standing on the edge of the cliff and looking across the ocean was neat because you can see France! I most definitely saw the Eifel Tower...and I am most definitely joking. It is nice to pretend though! So we also went and saw the ruins of Canterbury that day and that was way cool as well.

Other items on the agenda this week: The Banqueting House and Hampton Court. The Banqueting house is exactly what it sounds like…a banqueting house. It is a huge great hall that contains the most incredibly painted ceiling by Rubens. The Banqueting House is where King Charles I was beheaded and it is also where James I ruled. Hampton Court was a train ride away and totally worth the travel time! We spent the day walking through the palace, getting lost in a garden maze, looking at orange trees and the biggest grape vine in the world, and watching a reenactment of a wedding. Overall, I would say it was a success!

I can’t believe I only have about 1 week left in London…but I won’t think about that right now, I am going to enjoy every minute that I have left here…until next time, Cheers!