Me and Paree

Basically, I am very sleepy, so here is Paris in a nut shell.

Part Two-Scotland

J.K. Rowling began writing Harry Potter on napkins at the Elephant House. This is also the place where I found out I had a new little niece. :)  I am so excited to meet Samantha Jane! 
Napkins, full of Harry Potter elephants.  
This is on top of Arthur's Seat, where Orson Hyde dedicated the land of Scotland to the Gospel.  

Going on Holiday-Ireland Part One

This post is long over due! I am going to attempt to catch up so, so hopefully the saying "a picture is worth 1,000 words" proves true. 

This first picture is of Lisa and I on our way to the airport the night before our departure.  Our flight departed really early in the morning, which meant we would have to leave for the airport around 3 in the morning.  Seeing as roaming the streets of London in the middle of the night did not seem like the smartest idea, we "slept" safely in the airport. 

This was the yay, we are in Ireland picture! As you can see, we were able to get plenty of sleep the night before!

This road might look a bit more familiar during the spring.. But just picture Gerard Butler walking on the other side of the street, with purple flowers everywhere :) (P.S I Love You).  I wore the purple hat just for the occasion!
On our Over The Top Tour, which was pretty darn over the top!
It was quite chilly!
I would have to say Ireland is quite scenic!

Watch Out Wordsworth!

AHEM.....

Untitled: A Lake District poem

Nicole

The clouds conceal the sun’s effulgent rays

From the meadows of green and lake below.

Oh lightless day, how you tighten your grip

Just once let sun and earth touch cheek to cheek!

But no, the gray wall stands firm against sun’s

stamp, as the little boy sits steadily

Perched on the time-worn rock separating

The hustle of man and pure hand of God.

Looking back towards the road discouraged

His journey yet finished, time’s presence

too present, he picked up his parcel to go,

Glancing at the lake once more he saw it,

A moment in time, captured once and stored

Forever.  The gray wall relinquished its

Throne, passage for the sun was settled.

Joy found the boy’s face a welcoming grace. 

Grass and tree, lake and hillside shown brilliant

Dancing upon them the sun’s rays brought life

As the lake made mirror produced a scene

For both little boy and heavens to watch. 

Lakeside View

Yes, I recognize I have been slacking on my posting... So hold your breath no more, here come the updates!

Both these pictures were taken when walking through the lake district.  I especially like the one below!

 

The Story in Videos... Getting Left in the Lake District

Dove Cottage Gift Shop: 30 pounds

Getting Left at Dove Cottage for Leaving Gift Shop Late: 4 pounds + 3.5 hour walk

Getting to post experience on blogger: priceless

What a day this turned into.  Dove Cottage (William Wordsworth home) was a great experience and just had the cutest darndest gift shop.  Waiting in line I saw the number of BYU students around begin to dwindle.  Soon it was just two other girls and me, both ahead in line.  Well to put it plainly out of the three of us, one made it to the bus on time.  The Director made it a point to leave on time.  The phrase "Never Leave a Man Behind" did not seem to cross his mind.  The coach was scheduled to depart at 11:00.  We made it back to the parking lot by 11:04.  I bet you can guess, there was no coach to be seen.  The Director was able to prove his point (for all knew we were missing) and my friend and I were able to have a unique and memorable afternoon.

   At first moment however, it was not quite this happy event I really thought to be "memorable."  Not knowing where our hostel was located and not having any type of phone gave way for a moment of freak out.  But only a moment, of course.  Being a well brought up and sophisticated young woman  (thanks mom and dad :) ), I pulled myself together and remembered the emergency contact sheet we were given with all the phone numbers of our professors and Brooke (the girl also left) realized she had the itinerary in her bag.  So we traversed through the doors of the nearest restaurant and explained our dilemma.  They so kindly allowed us to use their phone... The phone rang and rang... I have to say what is the use of an emergency contact sheet if not one phone listed is in service!  So, we left a message and decided to begin our jaunt to locate our hostel.  The restaurant manager gave us directions and we were off.  It turned out to be 5 to 6 miles, which you wouldn't think would take three hours to walk, but yet, somehow we were successful in taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R! Maybe it has to do with our slow pace, or our hopping over walls, or even our walking along walls,  who knows? 

I feel like for a brief moment of time I now know how it would feel to be a backpacker or even a vagabond!... Maybe not so much a vagabond.  We began our expedition a little after 11:00 and arrived at the hostel around 2:30.  You know though, it almost was a good thing we didn't make it because I guess they drove up in the mountains around the lake and everyone, no exaggeration it was everyone, got carsick!  Well for the girl who used to get carsick on the way home from school and knew the little baggies they have on busses and planes quite well, I was not disappointed to know I was left! 

Well that is my story, I hope you enjoy it!  

This was the I'm excited, our walk will only take an hour or so video!

Heading towards hour three our spirits were weakening. Yes I did just use that phrase.  We had passed a town, which I thought would hold our lovely hostel.  But did it?... Of course not. Taking a break from walking for a second and looking at the landscape encircling us, greatly improved our moods!

We had actually spent a little over 3 hours walking.. That's almost the drive to St. Johns, crimony! All in all I walked about ten miles that day, for we walked back to the nearest town to eat once we arrived at the hostel, and I had gone on a two-three mile hike earlier that morning.  At least I am going to come back home with legs of steel! (However, the Cinnabon store located only a five minute walk from the center, might hinder my chances of reaching maximum steelyness).  

Day Two=Ruin

Our next stop was the ruins of Fountains Abbey.  Built in 1200 A.D this Abbey was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in King Henry VIII's reign.  He made for a beautiful landscape!

Lisa and I near the creek.

Sarah, Lisa, and I on our way to the Abbey... You can see it poking above the tree line in the distance.

All I can say is.. Hercules

Yorkminster Abbey
I was attempting to be the rest of a tree

Lake District Day One

This is from Yorminster Cathedral in Yorkshire.  Evensong was about to begin, so a choir was practicing while we were walking around.  Mom, I thought you would enjoy this! :) Yorkminster is the largest cathdral north of the Alps.  Like many of the cathedrals and abbey's we have attended, the history of these places lies in the stained glass windows.  Because so many people could not read, the stories would be engraven on the windows by way of picture.  

The first day also consisted of visiting the Bronte Sister's village and home.  I had both videos and pictures of Haworth (the village), however, as my memory card filled up, I had to begin picking the cream of the crop and the Bronte pictures just were not cutting it.  

Big Ben

I have now been in London for 20 days, but up until the 19th day I had yet to see Big Ben.  So, after going to All's Well That Ends Well, we decided to take a little jaunt over, to meet this Ben, and boy was he big... I would post more about today at church, or even this weekend, however, I am just a tad tired at the moment and sleep is callously calling.

Oh and here's a picture of Westminster Abbey, I might as well throw that into the bunch too :) (love that I can say that).
Big Ben=Peter Pan

I will be heading to the north country in the morning :).. So get ready for some fun stories next friday. And also will be cut off from the world of technology for the next week, oi, an adventure in itself!

Galavanting in the Heath of Hampstead

The rest of the afternoon was spent in Hampstead Heath.  We went to the gardens, travelled through the paths of the "forest." and even took our shoes off and ran through the meadow!  It was the perfect day to get out of the city.  It was quiet, peaceful, and the town of Hampstead was the epitome of what you would imagine a European town to look like.  

Garden area of the Heath. 

Meadow we played in. :) 

Welcome to London!

Yes, it is true, I have given into blogging! So here it is, the first post of many to come.  First off mom and dad, I cannot thank you enough for making my time in London possible.  I have only been here two weeks and already gained so much.  

St. John Cathedral in Hampstead

Our first outing at Hampstead was St. John's Cathedral, it appears there is a St. Johns everywhere :).  We spent much of our time in the cemetery encircling the cathedral.  The foliage was incredibly overgrown, there was moss growing on the tombs, and squirrels climbing up the trees. The graveyard was dated back to the 1700's, which I thought was pretty darn cool, if I say so myself!

This sketch is of the picture above.  It's a little rough.. But hopefully they will get a tad better as the months roll on!  It was such a neat experience to sketch, I spent a good hour just standing there drawing.  This little man with his dog even sat down to watch! You can call me Artist Nicole (pronounced with a French accent).  

This is my friend and bunkmate Lisa.  We were quite the pair!

This is one of my practice shots for Humanities.  What do you think?