Another Busy Week

Wow! I cannot believe it's nearing the end of my journey.  My last week here has been amazing, and included a weekend in London, a trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, and a sad goodbye to my students and fellow teachers at school. 

I'll begin with my weekend in London.  I went with Harriet, a friend from school, who got us tickets to see Singing in the Rain at the Palace Theatre.  I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy going to a musical, but the show was terrific and I enjoyed it immensely! (Plus, now I can say "I've been to the theatre in London," which sounds very posh.)

After the show, we grabbed dinner at a popular Italian restaurant near the theatre before heading back to Harriet's flat.  Then it was time to get ready to go to a proper London nightclub, where Harriet's friend was having a birthday party and had rented out the entire second floor.  It was pouring rain during our walk to the club, and we both got completely drenched and our hair and makeup got completely messed up.  In spite of those setbacks, we had an amazing time! Her friends were so nice, there was great music, and plenty of wine and fun to be had. 

Sunday morning, we woke up and went on a quick Fortnum and Mason run before heading back to Bognor.  It was only my second time shopping there, but I really, really love it.  They have so many lovely teas and coffees on the main floor, and some really nice things for the home upstairs.  I ended up buying some more tea to take home, as well as a large cup and saucer.  Looking back, I should have bought two sets, as the one is kind of funny on its own.  I guess that just gives me yet another excuse to make it back to London one day...

Monday I went on a field trip with the class to the Chichester Cathedral.  I have seen the cathedral many times during my shopping excursions in Chichester, but have refrained from going to see it because I knew I was going on the field trip.  I'm glad I waited, because we were given a guided tour of the cathedral, which I found really interesting.  It's over 900 years old (wow!) and was the subject of a massive blowout between Henry VIII and the bishop of Chichester during the time Henry began pulling away from the Catholic Church. 

On Tuesday, I took the day off from school to drive to London with Helena for a visit to the Harry Potter Studio Tour.  If you're a fan of the movies or the books, I would highly recommend going...it was wonderful! The tour is inside the studios where much of the movies were actually filmed. The sets were those from the movies, as well, and there were familiar props on display for everyone to see.  I saw the Great Hall, Dumbledor's office, the Gryffindor common room, the Potions classroom, Hagrid's hut, Number 4 Privet Drive, and the Weasley's kitchen.  They props they used in the movies were amazingly detailed, like the items from the Weasley Brothers' joke shop.  Some looked incredibly realistic, like the Triwizard Cup and the horcruxes.  It's amazing the amount of detail and planning that went into making the movies.  I was really impressed! The tour lasted about 4 hours (at our own pace) and concluded with a stop in the gift shop.  While I only ended up buying a t-shirt, I could have purchased an entire wizard outfit, complete with wand, for a mere 300 pounds.  A much more practical, but still expensive, souvenir would have been an original, signed painting from the movie storyboards; they were absolutely stunning. 

My ride on the Knight Bus

Finally, I ended my week on Friday, my last day of school.  I have been blessed to work at a wonderful school with wonderful kids, and it was extremely sad to say goodbye.  My class presented me with a signed class photo, as well as a bound hand-made book they made with individual self-portraits and messages to me from each student.  It was so sweet, and I have to admit - I got a little teary-eyed over the whole thing.  I managed to leave my email address and have already gotten a few emails from some of the class.  I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon, but it will be nice to keep in touch for a while. 

Now, I just have the weekend left before I head home on Monday.  Today I'm attending a 3-year-old's birthday party and will hit the chocolate shop in Chichester one last time.  Tomorrow is supposed to be rain-free, so we might manage to get a walk in around the South Downs before I begin packing and getting ready to go.  Again, I can't believe how incredibly fast the time has gone, but I am definitely ready to get home.  I've missed Aaron so much and it will be nice to get back to my "normal" life once again. 

Sorry...

I was just looking at the date of my last proper post, and it's been a few weeks.  Whoops! Now, here I am with only 10 days left and I'm just now getting around to writing about what I've done since Arundel.  Hmmm....that may be difficult.  I've done so much!

I suppose I'll start with Easter Sunday.  I went with my hosts' son, Marc, to an Arsenal football game.  They played a home game against Manchester City in London.  Now, I'm not really a huge fan of football/soccer, but I am always up for going to a live sporting event.  I am so glad I ended up going, because it truly was one of the highlights of my stay.  The atmosphere and the energy of the crowd was amazing! I loved all of the chants and the songs, which we do have in the States but it was just sung with so much more passion.  It's really difficult to describe, and I'll certainly never do the experience justice, so I'll stop trying and just say it was a blast!

 A few days later I went to London with my hostess.  We did the open-top bus tour around the city and saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey (which charges to get in...lame), the London Eye, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London.  We also stopped at Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard.  I didn't realize what a huge spectacle it would be, with the guards marching in while a band plays.  It was quite entertaining and there were loads of people there watching.  The fountain across from the palace was full of people for that, so I can only imagine what it would have looked like on Kate and William's wedding day.  Amazing.

After our tour, we stopped at the famous Fortnum and Mason's, where the Queen gets her tea.  I guess the Queen and Kate were just there last month to sample some of the special Diamond Jubilee cakes, coffees, and teas they are selling.  Afterwards, we walked to Piccadilly Circus where I did a little souvenir shopping and then continued onto the British Museum.  The museum was huge and I literally could have spent an entire day there, but we only had a little while so I settled on finding the Rosetta Stone and wandering around the ground floor for a bit.  Once we finished, we walked across the street to the Museum Tavern and had a beer.  I had it on good authority that the pub, which opened in the early-to-mid 1700s, was a hangout of Karl Marx and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Not only does that make it cool, but the fact that it is older than the establishment of the United States of American makes it a pretty bad-ass place to have a drink!

 

That pretty much sums up my fantastic day in London.  My next big adventure was last weekend's trip to Paris.  I went with Marc's wife Helena, and we left early Saturday morning and came back late Sunday night. We had a short amount of time to spend in the city, but we managed to pack quite a bit into the time we had.  We went to the Louvre, where I saw the Mona Lisa.  I was quite surprised at its small size, because with it's larger-than-life reputation, it just feels like it should be enormous; it's not.  You may be surprised to know that my favorite part of the museum was actually not any of the thousands of art pieces on display.  It was actually the ceilings of each of the rooms.  Beautiful friezes covered every inch of the ceiling and while I'm sure I looked funny craning my neck to look at each one, I was completely awed. 

 After the Louvre, we walked forever and ever along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower.  We could see the top of the tower for most of our walk, but it more or less sprung out at us as we walked through an alley and were all of a sudden at its base.  It's just as impressive as I imagined it would be, and although I did not ride the elevator up to the top, I was overjoyed to finally be able to see this iconic tower in person. 

After the Eiffel Tower, we took the Metro back to our hotel and got ready for dinner.  We were told that we would find good restaurants, shops, and a beautiful view in Sacre Coeur so we took the Metro to the nearest stop and braved the hilly cobblestone streets in our heels.  Many curses and blisters later, we made it to the basilique at the top of the hill.  The view was worth the pain and the effort, as was the lovely restaurant we ended up in for dinner.  This small area ended up being my favorite part of Paris, with the tiny shops, quirky street vendors, and bustling streets.  It's the first place I'll head to when I return.

The next day, we got up and rode the RER into Versailles.  We took a tour of the palace and saw the Hall of Mirrors and Marie Antoinette's bedroom, which was indescribably beautiful.  It was incredibly crowded though, and I felt like I was part of a herd of cattle being pushed and shoved from one room to the next.  If I ever went back, it would be on a Tuesday or Thursday instead of the weekend.

 

So, that's what I've been up to over the last few weeks, or at least the big things anyway.  I've returned to school after our two week Easter holiday, and had a great week with the kids.  I spent some time in the 5th grade classrooms this week, as well, so that was interesting.  Next week we go on a field trip to Chichester Cathedral Monday and then on Tuesday I go with Helena to the Harry Potter studio tour.  Then, I only have a few days left until I'm homeward bound.  A large part of me is sad to have all of this come to an end, but I'm really excited at the thought of getting home to Aaron, my friends, and family.  The thought of getting back to my regular daily routine sounds nice, as well, though I don't relish the thought of the job hunt I'll need to go on once I return.  That's never fun!   

Oh, my!

It's been quite a while since I updated my blog.  It's not because I haven't been doing anything or because I'm too lazy (well, maybe a little bit).  It's really because I've been so busy seeing really cool things (i.e. football matches, London, and this weekend, Paris).  I'll be back next week to update, I promise!

Arundel Castle

I went to the most amazing place today! We drove to Arundel Castle this morning, a nearly thousand year-old castle just 20 minutes outside of Bognor Regis.  It's the home of the Duke of Norfolk and his family, who have private living quarters, though the rest of the castle is open to the public. 

This is the first look of the castle I got as we were walking up the lane to the entrance.  It was a breathtaking sight, and the rainclouds in the back make it look even more picturesque.  It was supposed to rain today, so we thought we'd head up to the Keep to start with so we could get a good look at the views from the top. 

Climbing the stairs to the Keep

Top of the Keep

One of the many magnificent views from the top

It was 137 steps to the top of the Keep, with some very narrow ones in turrets that were not made for tall people with large feet. 

The climb was very much worth it and we could see for miles and miles all around us.  It didn't rain after all, which was lucky, because we were able to enjoy the rest of the day both inside the castle and out in the gardens.  Although the garden was home to plenty of beautiful flowers (mainly tulips), it was also a working garden which grew kale, lettuces, peppers, leeks, fennel, and just about every other vegetable you can imagine. 

I had a wonderful time, as I always do, wandering around the grounds and inside the castle, listening and reading about the history and imagining all the people and events this place has a part of over the years.  It's still very much in use today, for private and public functions.  I was told by one of the guards that one of the dining rooms we toured is sometimes used for discos by some of the younger children of the Duke.  It's really amazing when you think about it, to go from seeing the rosary beads carried by Mary Queen of Scots as she walked to her execution to a cluster of modern day family photos of the Duke on the front lawn. 

Brighton and Bognor Town Centre

Yesterday we drove to Brighton, a seaside town about an hour northeast of Bognor Regis.  I had heard there were some wonderful, quirky shops called The Lanes, as well as lots of contemporary shops in the centre of town.  The shops in The Lanes were indeed quirky, and there were all sorts of  places to have a look around.  I found a shop that was entirely devoted to Alice in Wonderland, more jewelry shops than I could count, and several small art galleries.  I've been looking for some unique egg cups to bring back with me, and I managed to find some hand-painted ones in an art gallery. 

We took a break from shopping to eat lunch at a Portuguese restaurant called Nando's.  I had a chicken sandwich with peri peri sauce, which I had never heard of before, but enjoyed thoroughly! It's a chile-based sauce and it is SPICY, which was perfect for me! I cooled off with a Portuguese beer and then we were ready to roll to the Royal Pavilion, former home to King George IV and later, Queen Victoria.  It was absolutely breathtaking, and we were able to spend a few hours walking around the palace and listening to our audio guide before stopping upstairs for afternoon tea.  It was my first experience with cream tea, and I adored it.  Cream tea, as I discovered, is a pot of tea (usually English breakfast or Earl Grey) served with a scone, clotted cream, and jam.  I thought the clotted cream wouldn't be something I would enjoy, but with the sweetness of whipped cream and a cream cheese consistency, it was difficult not to lick the bowl it came in! 

This morning I had what the English call a "lie in," which means I slept in.  My hostess and I spent the morning planning the rest of the week (tomorrow Arundel Castle, Thursday is her son's birthday, and Friday a possible walk in the South Downs).  We also talked about next week's London trips as well as our trip to Paris.  As it stands, it looks like we're going next Saturday and Sunday, which would be a fantastic way to end my Easter holiday!

After our planning, I decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and walk down to Bognor's town centre.  I needed to stop at the pharmacy and make a fun to Tesco, so I decided to make a day of it.  I started out by having lunch at Cardamom Bay, a popular Indian restaurant in town.  I had the chicken vindaloo, which was excellent, although not a hot and spicy as I had hoped.  It was close, but it could have been hotter.  I walked off my very large lunch for a couple of hours, wandering around High Street and poking my head into the shops.  Finally, I decided to run my errands and return home by way of the seafront.  It wasn't a terribly exciting day, but it was a relaxing one.

Stonehenge and Jane Austen's House

We got up early and drove to Stonehenge this morning.  The weather was chilly, but the sun was out and it was a perfect day to see such an amazing sight.  Seeing Stonehenge has always been on my Bucket List, ever since I was in elementary school and we studied it in AGP, along with the Bermuda Triangle and Atlantis.  I believe the topic was Unsolved Mysteries, or something of that nature, and it intrigued me even then.  All I can say is that pictures do not do it justice.  Stonehenge was truly awesome. 

As you walk around the site, you are able to listen to an audio tour which gives a little bit of history, as well as some theories behind how it was built, why it was built, and when it was built.  Common theory is that it was built as a sort of calendar, as many of the stones align perfectly with the sun during the winter and summer solstices and the fall and spring equinoxes.  Some say Merlin the Wizard had something to do with its building, while others say it was the Devil.  It's estimated to have been built between 3200 and 1600 BC. 

After we left Stonehenge, we made our way to Alton, home to Jane Austen from 1809-1817.  It was the place where she revised and edited Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility before submitting them for publication. 

It was so wonderful to explore the house, as well as the garden and learning center in the back.  The gardens were absolutely beautiful and were full of rosemary, sage, and lavender, which is grown all over the town.  It smelled heavenly.  I was also lucky enough to grab a keepsake from the garden...I just hope customs doesn't discover it on my way back to the states!

In short, it was another fabulous day in England! Only 29 days left...

First Day of Easter Break

And what did I do? Shopped and saw The Hunger Games, of course! I went down to Chichester again to look for some gifts and do a little shopping for myself.  I swear I looked at every shop there last weekend, but apparently I did not because I managed to find some stores I had not yet been into.  I have to admit, I love buying things that I know no one back home will have.  Cute dresses, scarves, jewelry...I can't help it!  There are so many gorgeous things!  But, in addition to what I bought myself, I found some really nice gifts for my sister and nephew today.  I'm still on the lookout for the rest of the people on my list, but I think I'm done with them until I go to Paris.  I was at a loss on what to get my nephew, because he doesn't really play with toys anymore.  I discovered buying for boys is pretty difficult, but when I found this little gem, I knew it was perfect!

It's an egg cup for soft boiled eggs! He's a very picky eater, but I know he likes eggs.

I don't want to spoil the surprise for any readers who may be getting gifts and trinkets from my travels, so I won't post anything else that I bought. I think I'll put off shopping again for a little while, though...at least until I see what some of the big cities have to offer.

After shopping, I headed over to Chichester's cinema.  It looked just like your typical American movie theater, except they a)charged ridiculously high prices for tickets, b)they had a bar IN the theater (I couldn't take a drink into the movie, but it came in handy while I waited for it to start), and c)they only offer two types of popcorn: salty or sweet, and neither comes with butter.  I thought (c) might have been a deal-breaker, but I actually didn't miss the butter and I probably saved a truckload of calories (that I made up for by having a beer).

"Stellaaaaaa!!!!" in a cheesy Sylvester Stallone voice, is what I hear in my head every time I drink one

Their "small" popcorn really is small

 So, I watched The Hunger Games.  Loved it (and no, I did not think it was too violent nor did I think Rue was "too black," as apparently some racist Tweeters do.  Assholes.)!  Would see it again, but don't really want to spend six pounds to do it.  Guess I'll wait on the Blu-Ray.

Well, my first day of Easter Break was pretty great and I still have a little over two weeks left.  I wonder what I'll see and do...