Scotland + Lake District = Longest post EVER!!!

Ok so I have not blogged in a whole week because our group went to Scotland and I didn’t have access to the internet while we were traveling and so I have a lot to write about.

July 20

My day started at 4:30 in the morning because we had to be on the bus by 6am or you were going to get left behind. I was glad that we were traveling on a coach and not something else because by the end of the day my butt hurt so badly I wanted to cry.
We spent most of our day in York visiting places like the Jorvik Viking center, The Shambles, York minster abbey. The Jorvik Viking center is on top of this old Viking village that the English excavated in 1980's and over 13 million people have visited the village by now. It was really cool but it smelled so gross!
After the Viking center we toured through York minster Abbey. It was really pretty and the stain glass was so beautiful but we have visited so many abbeys and this one really reminded me of Westminster abbey. Oh, well... We did climb the tower though and from there you could see over all of York and that was really cool. I had a hard time with the winding staircases though and by the time I got to the top I was sick. Rebecca got scared at the top and so I went down early with her but it was so hard to walk down a bazillion year old stone staircase were the steps where not the same height and everything was really narrow, and trying really hard not to fall. Ugh, I was really glad to be out of the staircase when we got back down.
We then loaded onto the bus again and headed for Fountains Abbey. This abbey was a lot cooler because it was destroyed by Henry VIII and it’s all in ruins now and we could walk among the ruins and the landscape was amazing. Allison and I walked around as much of it as we could visit the water gardens and an old mill that was still there. It was really cool and so beautiful, especially because there was not a big city around it so it was a lot more peaceful and you could just relax and enjoy it.
After Fountains Abbey we then loaded on the bus again and traveled in to Durham England and stayed in an old Castle there that has been converted in to a college. It was really cool but unfortunately we were miss informed and it was not Harry Potters Castle :(. After we had settled into our rooms Ilarene, BJ, Allison, Elizabeth Stuart, Elizabeth Davey, Sammie and I went to a small Italian restraunt and it was really good and they were playing really fun music and I want to just get up and dance but I resisted! After that we headed back to the castle and what we thought would be a very unexciting night. It was really cool though and my room was in the Keep which is supposedly haunted. When it got dark a few of us went and explored the castle and an old student ran into us and took us up onto the terraces and it was so cool. You just can’t beat exploring a haunted castle in the dead of night!!!

July 21

This morning we headed for Edinburgh Scotland. Along the way we visited a section of Hadrian’s Wall.... except for the fact that none of us actually saw the wall. We saw the old barracks and the bath houses but there was no wall to be seen!!! It turned out to be ok though because as we were leaving we saw the wall from the bus. It was a sad day though because it rained all day and I didn’t have an umbrella cause mine had broke and I hadn’t yet purchased a replacement. So I spent all day pretty much soaked but it was all good.
After Hadrian’s Wall we went and visited Abbotsford which was the home of Sir Walter Scott. It was really cool and I learned a lot about Scott and the Scottish Enlightenment period. The grounds were really pretty but it was still raining so I didn’t go exploring much but it was still fun and a great learning experience.
We then finally made it to Edinburgh Scotland. Ilarene, Danny, Dillon, Allison, Both Elizabeth’s, Sammie and I went to dinner at this really good burger place. Can I say that I got the biggest burger and was the first one to finish, haha!! After dinner we went and explored a little and went to this place called Chocolate Soup. It was the greatest place that I have ever been to and I am totally in love. If they ever put one of those in Provo they would make a killing! We got the best chocolate drinks that I have ever had and some of the girls for this brownie ice cream sandwich that came with melted chocolate to dip the stuff in and it looked positively divine!
After that we headed up to go on a tour of the vaults which was supposedly really scary and I was so excited. We had to wait for a while during which time the heavens opened and dumped all of its rain on us plus some and by the time our tour guide got there I was soaked to the bones! Our tour guide was amazing and she was a really good story teller but I dint find myself scared at all on the tour and I was really disappointed. The best part of the whole thing was when Danny screamed in our tour guide's face and it scared the crap out of her and it was so funny that I just laughed for almost the whole tour.
After the tour we went back to the hostel and hung out for awhile and just talked. Our intention had been to do homework but that didn’t work out so well. I didn’t end up going to bed until almost 2 in the morning and then I didn’t sleep very well because we left the window open and the seagulls were being so noisy. I only got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep and so I was pretty much dying all day.

July 22

So on Wednesday we went to the Scottish National Museum in Edinburgh, Edinburgh Castle, Lady Stair’s house and tons of Shopping!!!
The museum was cool and we concentrated mostly on the more modern history and stuff and it was all really interesting and Allison and I found a terrace on the top of the building that looked out at all of Edinburgh. It was really fun and we got really cool pictures of the castle from out on terrace.
After the museum we went and got lunch and saw the Elephant cafe while we were walking. For all of you who don’t know the Elephant cafe is where J. K. Rowling first writing Harry Potter. It was a fun little thing to see. We then headed up to the castle and as we were walking it began to rain again and I really just wanted to cry because I wanted to be dry! Oh well, the castle was amazing and I got to see the crown jewels of Scotland and were Mary Queen of Scotts was born and lots of other stuff. By the end though it was raining so hard that I put my foot down and said that I was not going any further until I had an umbrella. So on our way back down we stopped in a store and got umbrellas and other stuff. We then headed for Chocolate soup to dry out and drink hot chocolate. By the time that we were done it had stopped raining and we headed out to do some shopping. I got presents for a lot of the family and got myself the most amazing ring!!! I really wanted this cashmere purple sweater but it was 200 pounds and I was like heck no!!! Oh well it was a lot of fun and we all got some really nice stuff. Latter I went back to the hostel to try and blow dry my shoes dry and eat dinner. After dinner we went to an organ recital at St. Giles cathedral. It was really cool and the guy that was performing was one of the best in the world! Elizabeth Stuart, Becky, Jessica and I went on another tour of some different vaults because we really wanted to find something scary. It ended up being even less scary and I was so sad :(. after we headed back to the hostel but I only got 4 hours of sleep because someone's car alarm went off at 4 and it stayed on for almost 40 minutes before someone turned it off!!! By then I was really awake and I could sleep anymore. So pretty much I was dying and looked like crap the next morning.

July 23

We left Scotland and headed down into the Lake District on Thursday. We stopped in a town and went to Dove Cottage where William Wordsworth wrote most of his poetry and it was such a cute little place and the landscape was amazing. The Lake District is the most beautiful place that I have ever been and I wish that I had more pictures! After Dove cottage we headed in to Ambleside. We had the afternoon free to our selves while we were here so Ilarene, Allison, both Elizabeth’s and I went out on row boats onto the lake. It was so much fun and the lake was wonderful! We could see a castle and some really nice homes from the lake but we couldn’t get any good pictures of them because we could get close enough.
When we got back to shore we went and got ice-cream and were sitting there and watching some ducks and swans. Well the momma swan came in and while she was two babies and I decided that I was determined to touch the baby swans. The only problem was that the daddy swan was supper mean and we had seen it attack ducks that had gotten to close and when a dog had walked by it spread its wings stuck out its toung and started hissing!!! It was so weird. Well luckily some kids came and started feeding the ducks and so the daddy went off to go eat and turned its back long enough for me to touch the babies!! They were so soft and I have decided that I really want a swan baby to cuddle with!!!
Anyway we went back to the hostel after chilling in a park to eat dinner. Dinner was... well... disgusting!!! But it was food and kept me from starving so I guess that is a good thing. After that we sat around and had girl talk time and then played ERS for quite a while. We played with 8 people and one deck??? It was so much fun and of course I won only after Elizabeth’s Stuart's nail cut my hand open!!! After that everyone else went to go play another game but Stuart and I kept playing for quite a while during which time we collapsed several time into fits of giggles. At one point we went up stairs and I decided it would be fun to knock on Dillon’s door and run away but as I was running down that hall way I turned the corner and my socks slipped on the carpet and I did like a baseball slide down the hall way after which Elizabeth and I died laughing. We had such a wonderful time and I don’t think that I have laughed that much in a very long time!

July 24

On Friday I was so tired that frankly I didn’t care what I looked like and so didn’t even make it all of the way out of my PJ's. We left Ambleside and went to Preston to learn about the church and how it was introduced into England. We even went to the site where the first LDS members were baptized and then we headed over to the Preston temple. It was really cool it learns about the churches early days in England.
After the temple we got on the bus and headed for an old textile mill. I was so mad that we went to the mill because we were supposed to go visit places from Pride and Prejudice but instead we went to some crazy mill!! I was feeling so sick on the bus from being cooped up and from not being able to sleep. Sammie and I ended up leaving the mill early and we fell asleep on the bench for 40 minutes. It felt pretty good but then we got on the bus again and I thought I was going to die!
When we stopped at a rest stop to get dinner I was feeling so sick and I just wanted to lie down and sleep. But we got into the stop and the smell of food was so sickening that I promptly went to bathroom and tossed my cookies twice!!! I was miserable and Elizabeth Davey told me that I "looked like crap." haha, it was funny but I really wanted to cry.
Back on the bus we watch North and South which is an amazing movie and I loved it!! by the time that we got back to the center Ilarene told me that I looked like a ghost because I was so tired and sick and when I got to my room I fell in my bed and didn’t move. Ilarene ended up taking my shoes off for me and getting me medicine.

The week was wonderful and I don’t think that anything could ever beat all the fun and amusingness of this experience!