Paris: Part 2

Still on day two…the next stop was the Louvre! I had one of those “oh my gosh! I’m in Paris!” moments as we walked into the courtyard of the Louvre and I saw the glass pyramid rising out of the center. The museum was amazing but very overwhelming; I got to see a lot of great paintings but I barely scratched the surface. I heard that if you spent 30 seconds on every painting and sculpture in the museum for 24 hours a day, it would take three months to see them all. In other words, the two hours I spent there didn’t result in me seeing any significant percentage of the collection, but I still loved it! Our last activity of the day was a nighttime boat tour of the Seine! It was beautiful! The city looks so different at night. On our last day we went to the Musee d’Orsay which is in an old train station! This is one of the coolest museums I have ever visited just because of the building! I could have spent a lot more time there but we had to make it to the Arc de Triumph! We climbed to the top to get another great view of the city and all the crazy drivers around the Arc de Triumph. It was a beautiful sunny day, so I just sat on top for a while and enjoyed myself. Finally, we made a quick trip to the Opera House, grabbed another delicious pastry, and headed for the bus station.

Paris: Part 1

Upon arriving in Paris, the first thing we did was bolt for the Eifel Tower and we took the elevator all the way to the top! Talk about a great view! We spent a good hour and half just looking around and familiarizing ourselves with the city while we could see it all. Next, we walked the Champ Elysees and found our first baguettes and crepes, both of which were phenomenal. Day two started with a trip out to Versailles. I had been looking forward to this since before we even got here, and it lived up to all my expectations. It was absolutely huge and had some amazing painting in the galleries inside. I knew it was suppose to be ornate, but I had no idea just how ornate it was going to be; every wall and ceiling was covered with paintings, mirrors, gold, or fancy wallpaper. The gardens were just as amazing. I can’t even imagine anyone living there! I could have fit my whole house probably three times just in the Hall of Mirrors. After exploring as much of Versailles as we could, we took off for Notre-Dame. We sat inside for a while, climbed the tower, visited the bell, and learned how to identify a real gargoyle! This was probably one of my favorite things of the whole trip!

Church History: Herefordshire

We met up with Peter again and completed our second installment of Church History in England. First, we stopped at Benbow Farm. This is where Wilfred Woodruff came when he arrived in the area and where he baptized many of the United Brethren that converted after his teachings. It was also here that the constable and two clerks came to stop him from preaching, but instead found themselves desiring to be baptized as well. The Benbow's played a very large financial role in the church as well by donating money that assisted 40 families across the America as well as helped print new copies of the Book of Mormon. We also hiked to the top of Beacon Hill which overlooks Ledbury and the surrounding areas. We reached the top just before the sun started to set and we had a wonderful view over the valley as Peter read Wilfred Woodruff's own words taken from his diary. It was a wonderful experience to sit where this great apostle sat while listening to the words inspired by the scene I was seeing before me. Finally, we visited Gadfield Elm Chapel which is the longest working chapel in our church. It was fascinating to see the hand of God at work in the church being able to acquire this land at an auction. It was almost miraculous how perfectly it worked out!

Edinburgh Part 2

Edinburgh Castle was our next stop! After witnessing the firing of the 1:00 cannon, we toured the rest of the castle including the oldest chapel in Edinburgh, the Royal Hall, the Crown Jewels, and the dungeons. We even made friends with one of the security guards who listed off a good 100 famous people from Scotland or things invented by the Scottish (i.e. Penicillin) just to prove that Scotland isn't known only for its beer and bagpipes. He certainly exceeded! We also stopped at the National Gallery where we were able to recognize works by Gainsborough, Van Dyck, Reubens, Constable, and Van Gogh thanks to our most recent Humanities test! Next was a climb up Calton Hill to see the various Roman-style building and ruins (we even created our own Wanderer Above the Sea Fog scene), and finally, we headed to New Town to count the pubs on Rose Street. We were told that there were 27 when in reality, there are only 17. Not that 17 isn't enough... :) What a trip!!

Edinburgh Part 1

These four days in Edinburgh were probably some of the best four days since being in Europe! Edinburgh is one of the coolest cities I have ever been to, and the BEST part was that no matter where you were, you could always hear bagpipes. Always. After arriving at 8:00 am after an overnight coach ride, the first thing we did (besides our 1 hour nap) was climb Arthur's Seat. Talk about a view! We could see what certainly looked like all of Scotland and the North Sea, and luckily the day was clear. On the way up we found some old church ruins that required a brief detour of course! After that, we wandered up the first half of the Royal Mile and saw all the shops and pubs. Included in this walk was a stop at the Edinburgh museum that walked us through the history of Edinburgh and how it got to be where it was today. It also showed the various levels of connection Scotland shared with England throughout the years. All in all it was very educational and fun! The second day there we wandered down to the coast and the shipping yard in search of a lighthouse. Although we only saw one in the distance, it was cool to wander around on the waterfront and in the Royal Yacht Brittania.

Bath and the Roman Bath House

This place was straight out of my imagination complete with humid spa rooms, grand columns, surviving Roman sculptures, and ancient drains leading out to the river. I could easily imagine an impressive group of soldiers and scholars gathered for healing, relaxation, and social interaction! The town of Bath itself was amazing! It was larger than I thought but still had the wonderful cobblestone roads and beautiful parks. I'm living there some day. I even picked out the street of my future house as we drove away on the Coach.

Stonehenge and Stourhead

Stonehenge greatly exceeded my expectations! I kept hearing that it was smaller than people expected and not to get my hopes up. With these thoughts running through my head, I was greatly surprised and happy with what I saw! As we walked around, we were challenged to think of some of the possible ways in which the stones got there and to what purpose. Thousands ideas ran through my head, some crazier than others, but I came to the conclusion that I like the mystery behind it. The mystery makes it even more appealing.
Stourhead was absolutely beautiful. I was rather upset, along with about 40 other girls, that the "Darcy Proposal building" was closed for construction, but I quickly got over that as I looked out over the beautiful lake! This site competed with Fountains Abbey for the most beautiful places I've been in England. The manicured gardens looked so natural and in place. I especially loved the changing color of all the trees!