York, Wales, Bath, and Stonehenge (Days 33-44)

Friends! It seems I have fallen behind on my blogging responsibilities and have failed to post in over two weeks. I am so sorry. Time is absolutely flying over here and keeping up with this blog has become less of a priority as normal, scheduled classes have started up (and homework assignments have become increasingly time-consuming).

I am now in the fabulous London, meaning our tour of the British Isles is now over and I'm going to be stationary for the rest of the trip (besides Fall Break and Independent Travel). I've only been in London 17 days, but already the travel portion of the trip seems so long ago, like a completely separate experience. We have just done so much in our now 61 days abroad! It's hard to believe we're already over halfway through. 

But I last left you off on day 31! So I have a lot to fill you in on before I can get to today. So here's a summary of the last leg of our tour of the British Isles! 

After Edinburgh, our group kissed Scotland goodbye and re-entered England for the first time since Stratford! As we crossed the border into England the skies immediately turned grey and it started to pour... a comical and almost poetic English welcome. 

While in England, we made trips to Rosslyn Chapel, York, Hadrian's Wall, Manchester, Wales, Bath, and Stonehenge before reaching London. I am just going to blog about the highlights of a few of those places...

York

• Our first night in York, my foursome of friends- me, Caroline, Kenzie, and Clare- went out on the town for dinner. We split a pitcher of fruity, girly cocktail between us and chatted with each other and the locals at neighboring tables. I know that's not exactly an only-in-York experience, but it really was one of the highlights of my time in the city. Just a special girls' night and a sweet memory with some of my favorite people. 
• York Minster: York Minster is a must-see of York! We toured the large, ornate cathedral during the day (with an incredible, informative tour guide who absolutely made the experience for me) and revisited it in the evening to attend Evensong, a service featuring a brief sermon, a series of prayers, and a magnificent performance of a variety of hymns by the York Minster choir. To be in such a gorgeous church with so much history and cultural significance, worshipping where thousands of pilgrims have worshipped before me, was truly a spiritually moving experience. I felt so blessed to have had the opportunity to attend. 
  
  

Wales

• Our visit to Wales was spent mostly in Llandudno, a small resort town right on the coast. The best part of Llandudno was just walking down the main strip in the evenings. Our first night there, a few friends and I walked down to the pier where an old-school carnival was set up. It was late so everything was closed, but the lights on the water in this quiet, tiny town made for a perfectly picturesque scene. I'm sure my friends and I were the loudest ones in the entire town (okay, just me) as we died laughing at the silly stories we made up in what felt like a storybook setting. 

I didn't get a picture of Llandudno, 
but I did get this from Snowdonia National Park, also in Wales

Bath

• The Roman Baths: the city of Bath gets its name from the ancient Roman baths that are found there. I spent the better part of a day touring the baths with fascination.  When I think of English history, I've never thought much about ancient Rome, but I really have learned so much about that long-ago time while in Bath. The technology alone is an incredible aspect of the Roman Baths, but the cultural, spiritual, historical, mythological, and religious all come together in these ruins as well. 
  
• Another really fun part of Bath is the outdoor marketplace! There have been so many great outdoor markets on this trip-- York had a really good one as well-- but the one at Bath features more than the typical flowers, fruits, veggies, and sausages. This one also had people selling everything from baked goods to collections of antique silverware to records. I really enjoyed milling around that area and I even made a small purchase which may or may not appear under the Christmas tree in a couple months!
  
  

Stonehenge

• What's the meaning of Stonehenge??? I've been up all night asking myself that question ever since our visit nearly 20 days ago! Well, that isn't really true. I've been able to sleep just fine, but the mystery around Stonehenge's meaning really is its greatest draw. There were tons of tourists visiting with us on that beautiful day, all taking pictures and asking the same questions: How did they build the Stonehenge? Why did they build the Stonehenge? The world may never know. 
  
  

Well those are just a few highlights covering the best of the final leg of my travel study experience! But really, our group has done so much more than I could ever recount. I feel so blessed as I write this right now; I can't get over how many things I've seen and how many wonderful experiences I've had with this incredible group of people. I am definitely sad that the travel portion of the trip is complete, but I am also loving being here in London, getting to know this city as we stay here long-term! Expect another post soon about my London adventures!