Beatlemania!!!

It's been a long and eventful week!!
So...naturally...this post is going to be very long.
I guess that's nothing new though. :)

fried tomato, bacon, sausage, beans, and egg

Tuesday was a day full of amazing food!! When I arrived to my internship, James and Suzy asked if I would like an English breakfast. (and even though I already ate...how could I turn that down???)
O my goodness...so GOOD!! Breakfast is kind of my favorite meal...so it was really nice to have hearty eggs, sausage, and bacon rather than a muffin and banana (my usual breakfast at Vandon). The fried tomato wasn't my fav...but have I mentioned how divine England's bacon is!!! It's much thicker and not as fatty as American bacon.
That night we went on a program trip to Tayaabs...an Indian restaurant (actually...Pakistani...but we all called it Indian food). I don't remember how many courses they had for us...but it was like a buffet. Super spicy! (just like me....*wink*). Sauces with crispy tortillas (for lack of a better name), loads of meat, including lamb, flat bread, mango lassi (the smoothie-like drink...so good!), and bowls of curry covered chicken, veggies, lamb, etc. It was good...but almost burned my insides as spicy as it was. Also...we discovered that our clothes reeked of curry when we got back to the hotel...not pleasant.

Wednesday was our first Art in London class where we actually met in the museums.

We went to the National Gallery next to Trafalgar Square.

I was really excited to see the paintings...but almost as soon as we stepped into the first room...excited was traded for overwhelmed!!! 

The gallery was so huge...there was no way we could see everything during class time.

This frustrated me. 

Because if you know how me and art museums go...you also know that I want to see everything...even if only a glance. 

I'm already planning on going there during my free time to see the rest of the museum.

It's SO nice that the museums here are free admission!!

I could revisit the gallery every Monday night if I wanted. :)

I will be revisiting Leonardo, Titian, Turner, and Van Eyck again soon. :D :D

Thursday after classes we took our train from Euston to Bangor, Wales!!!

I went with the two Kristins, Matt, and Ashley.

We arrived to the station at the dark hour of 9 pm

...and I was greeted by Molly running down the platform to give me one of her rib-breaking hugs!

haha!

Her and Shawn took me up to their dorm...chatted for awhile before sleep overtook me.

Lovely bed made of a folded comforter on the hard floor, thin sheets, and a sweatshirt as a pillow...didn't exactly sleep like a rock...lol! Shawn was gracious to switch with me so that I could sleep on the bed...partly because I started to get a nasty cold.

Despite my sneezing attacks and stuffed up nose...Bangor was beautiful and I could still smell the fresh sheep-farm air. :)

Friday morning I got my first view of the mountains from Shawn's kitchen window. Breathtaking!!! 

I haven't seen mountains since my freshman year of high school!!

They weren't Colorado mountains by any means...but they were still mountains. :)

Molly had class, so Shawn and I met up with a group and walked down to the pier for scones. (stopping to see "Hogwarts"...Bangor University...on the way).

Bangor is much more rural than London, so there were virtually no tourists, and the pier was completely clear of people...a sight us Londoners are not used to. (as well as the open spaces...so refreshing!!)
The view from the pier of the mountains was...hmm, what's a good enough descriptive word....divine? magical? Knock the wind out of you gorgeous!??
It was cloudy, so we didn't get a perfect clear view of the mountains...but the sky looked amazingly blue...the crisp morning air and the water with boats on it...wow!

The tea room...resembling what I would imagine a sea/fishing shack to look like...was towards the end of the pier...with a view of water and mountains on every side! lovely!

We arrived early, so the old man working was not ready for us. But he was so nice!

The scones were DELICIOUS!! They came right out of the oven, so they were wonderfully warm and butter melted on them in seconds. Hot chocolate...combined with the best scones in the world....heavenly!!

The guy even passed out business cards with his number on them and let everyone know that the next time they plan to come to give him a call and he will have the scones ready. :) AWW!! 

Next we went to an old cathedral in Bangor. But after all these other giant old church's I've seen...I feel like this one was unimpressive. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable to walk around it, and there was an old lady that came over every so often to tell us about the history of the church. :) She was so sweet.

We then moseyed down a shopping street and Molly met me for lunch. 

We ate KFC. Yes, that's right....nice, cheap, Kentucky.Fried.Chicken. I was disappointed that they didn't have mashed potatoes with gravy and biscuits though. Just chicken and chips (fries).

Then Molly took me to the Bangor museum and we had a few chuckles about some of the old furniture and costumes they used.

Then I insisted they show me the library in "Hogwarts"...and I'm glad I did. It was so lovely and old. Wood decorations and old book on the shelves. It would be a nice cozy place to study with a cup of tea.

Next Molly and Shawn took me to "Roman Camp."

I had no idea what to expect...except (haha...expect, except...same letters...oh, sorry) that the view was amazing.  I thought there might be ruins or something.

So when they took me up a bunch of hills (have I mentioned how hilly Bangor is? Holy aching legs!!!)

...and then up a dirt path through some trees...

...I was a little suspicious. 

But then the trees cleared and I saw the expanse of green meadow spread before us...my heart did a little leap.

No people. No buildings. No cars. No noise.

Bliss!!!

I literally started running and twirling over the grass and lyrics from Disney's Tangled spilled from my lips as I sang a song of found freedom.

"Just smell the grass, the dirt, just like I dreamed they'd be!

Just feel that summer breeze...the way it's calling me!

For like the first time EVER, I'm completely free!...

I could go running...and racing...and dancing, and chasing

and leaping, and bounding, hair flying, heart pounding,

and splashing, and reeling and FINALLY feeling!!!

Now's when my life begins!!!"

Yes...I am a nerd. But hasn't everyone had dreams about their life being a musical? haha!

Anyways....

We went up a little grassy hill to where a log was to sit and stare at the wondrous view of mountains, water (Irish sea?), and town spread below us.

I started to take pictures when an older man walked up (from like out of nowhere!) and told me to save my pictures for a nice, non-cloudy day. He then asked me where I was from...to which I started babbling about how I'm studying in London but I'm from America. "No no no...where are you from?? That red hair has got to come from Ireland or Scotland." (btw...this man had an Irish accent...totally a leprechaun...the sneakiness, it all fits.)

I said that I didn't know much about my family history except that I have a lot of German in my blood. He just joked and kept saying how my red hair is NOT German...then he walked away. lol

This got me thinking...I really don't know a whole lot about my ancestors...do I? After working on those old photographs at my internship...being asked about my origins...and just being in a foreign country that my family just might have roots in....has made me really curious. I want to go home and do some research. I want to create an album/journal thing...piecing information all together. I don't know why this stuff was never this intriguing to me before. But I want to know about where I come from....where my red hair comes from!! Plus, it's like a quest to me...and I like quests. :) It's also the fact that we've learned so much history about these places and I wonder why we as Americans don't seem to treasure our history as much. Also, as the oldest sibling in my family...it's like my job to pass on the family history....our roots...to my children someday!!

Okay...musings interruption ending.

At the top of this hill we attempted to take a jumping picture off the log.  Complete fail. lol!

I think only Molly was caught in the air...and just barely...out of the, like, 20 photos we tried taking with self-timer. However, it was fun and we laughed pretty hard over some of them.

So after that we wound through the streets back to the dorms...seemingly handmade stone walls on each side. (they're everywhere in Bangor).

They took me through the dogpark and we saw a beautiful orange kitty with bold patterns on it's fur...so cute! (a.d.d. much?)

Back at the dorms we helped (or "watched", rather) Molly make fried rice and I met their friend Lydia. It was, well, an interesting experiment...but it turned out and was edible! :)

Fun conversation time...."what was your favorite childhood toy?" good times and good talks.

Went over to Megan Cain's room where Ashely and Grant were having an unmentionable contest of sorts. yea...lol. Had some good laughs, but unfortunately sleep deprivation and my stuffed up nose overtook me and we left so I could go to bed. :)

Saturday morning...Liverpool day!! 

I was so grateful that they let us go on their program excursion.  Hitting two birds with one stone in a weekend trip...Bangor and Liverpool!

We took the bus...about an hour ride....but that's okay, because it was yet another perfect way for me to see the country, Irish sea, mountains, and sheep....lots and lots of sheep. :)

The first thing we went to was the Anglican church.  Like usual, it was huge and beautiful.  Red stones and an emphasis on verticality. We were able to each have an audio recording with headphones that acted as individual tour guides...directing us to different areas of the church and describing the construction of the building. I liked this.  It was much nicer than other museums where you have to read everything...instead I could just listen and look and walk. :) I particularly enjoyed going up the stairs to stand on the bridge and listening to a recording of the choir boys singing. Angelic. :)

 After this cathedral, we went to a much more modern Catholic Cathedral just across the way. I still don't know how I feel about this church. It was definitely beautiful architecturally and artwise, but the modernness compared to the other took away that special awe. That's the best I can describe it.

After these churches we went to what I had been waiting for...the BEATLES STORY!
I think I was expecting more of a tour around Liverpool pointing out different sites related to the Beatles...but it was just a museum (underground?).
It was still cool...but I thought they may have preserved places where the Beatles formed the band and started performing together.
We got to use audio recorded tours for this as well.
I liked the room they had with a wall completely covered in a video screen with clips of screaming girls and fans of the Beatles going completely nuts!!! They gave this a name. Beatlemania! lol
I bought a mug and some postcards. I wanted to get a Beatles guitar strap for Milo (my guitar) or for my youngest brother...but they were super expensive.

After this we just had free time to walk around before meeting the bus for a dark sleepy ride home (you know the feeling...the drifting off without realizing it until your head jerks you awake...lol)

So we walked around some shops and the dock/port?, ate at a cafe, and saw the Royal Liver building.  haha, whatever that is!

I'm surprised we were still awake enough when we returned to play Grapes (I introduced this game to Molly and Shawn...haha! (Harry Potter did something to Molly's little toe in Timbuktu). 

We also met with a few other girls to play "name that tune" before hitting the hay.

Sunday morning Shawn and I walked down the street trying to find a gift shop with Bangor postcards and memorabilia but could find none. So while we waited for the rest of the group to join us, we went into Mike's and I order tea cakes (which ended up just being toast with butter..) and a mocha. Holy cats! Best mocha I've ever had! I got a large...and they put cream and sprinkled chocolate chunky goodness on the top. Delicious!! However, Shawn had to experience the effects coffee has on me...hello chatterbox. :)

I looked out the window of the train on our way back to London. Sigh...goodbye mountains. Unfortunately I got a bad headache on the three hour train ride. But I can now say that the "toilets" (bathrooms) on trains are like spaceships. (it's the doors...lol).

Finally arrived at Euston, my headache slightly disappearing. But I was a walking zombie. All I wanted to do was to go to bed immediately. And I tried...honest...I laid down for about 20 minutes.  But my head and my stomach would not shut up. So I got back up to make food. And like usual...my body pushed past the tired stage and even when I tried to go to bed late that night...it took me forever to fall asleep!! guh! (kind of like how I was super tired around 7 pm today...but pushed past it and am just now finishing this post at almost 1 in the morning...yea).

Okay...well that is enough for now I guess. (lol, long enough?)  I have a lot from this week...but I probably won't be able to write until Monday night or so. I'm going to Paris tomorrow for the weekend!!!

I cannot believe that on Monday...I will have been here a month.

And in three months today...we go home.

Time flies