Two Inches Away From Going Home...

No, that title was not some dramatic allusion to me hopping aboard a plane in a minute or two to fly back to the (snowy) cornfields of Indiana. Instead, it is an illusion to this terrifying sight:

Yeah, you see that! That's today's date. And two inches away is the date that we go home. I have ~8 weeks left here. And it is so, so bittersweet. I feel like I've just started to feel comfortable here in England and it's going to be terrible to say goodbye to the friends I've made and to the culture and to the country that I've grown to love. At the same time, I've been planning my classes for my Senior year, getting things sorted for a summer on campus, and having skype conversations that make me so excited to return home. (Plus, I've been ill the past few days with a cough that makes me want to be where things are comfortable). Now that I've passed the midway point of being here I now have to remember and plan for life when I get back home, which makes me excited for it. But at the same time, things here have the ability to be really awesome and exciting and full of experiences that I'll never have again. So, yeah. Life!

Anyways, before I started having existential crises about May 24th, I was having a really wonderful week! Last Monday was St. Patrick's day which was celebrated in Cheltenham by a group of American study abroad students, and probably the only four Irish people who live in this city. To start it off, two friends of mine and I made homemade Bangers and Mash in our flat, which, surprisingly, turned out really well! Afterwards, a larger group of us all went to one of the few Irish pubs so celebrate a best as we could.

With Guinness and good company

It's really always so much fun when ever I go out with the group! It's such a fun mix of personalities and it always ends in a good time when we hang out. 

The next day, I found another new favorite place in Cheltenham that I anticipate frequenting in the next few weeks or so. Let me describe it to you. It's filled with hipsters and people who aren't either 12-years old or elderly. Their music selection includes gems like Mumford and Sons and Arctic Monkeys. They serve coffee, food, and cider. Advertisements for live music line the wall. And there is a tattoo parlor upstairs. And, to top it all off, it's called GRUMPY WHISKERS. It's my new favorite and I spent most of last Tuesday hanging out there reading Paradise Lost and flirting talking with the barista. 

The next few days were filled with nights out with the flat, interesting lectures, creative writing, and Netflix documentaries. On Friday, I went out with a group of girl to celebrate one of their birthdays and we had dinner at one pub before migrating to the Frog and the Fiddle for some drinks. All in all, it was a great ladies night out...

And a fantastic preparation for STRATFORD-UPON-AVON. However, it was a little bit of a struggle to get there. GEtting to our first bus of the morning wasn't a problem, but, silly me, didn't realize that the bus driver wouldn't stop for or call out every stop on his route. So, because of that I was mildly panicking about how I would know where to get off and catch the second one. Thankfully, the bus driver was super wonderful and helpful and told us exactly where we needed to be and what not. Unfortunately, our second bus driver wasn't as helpful and Kelly and I ended up stuck in Evesham for about an hour before  FINALLY catching the final bus that took us to the home of my absolute favorite literary figure!

The whole day was just a series of wonderful Shakespeare-tastic moments, for seeing a wall full of plaques commemorating all of his play, to seeing a several hundred year old collection of his plays, 

Conveniently opened to Hamlet, I night add. 

walking through the house he grew up in and seeing the bed he was born in, 

This bed to be exact

to then go to the place where he built his second home and then see lovely sculptures commemorating several of his plays, 

Like The Tempest, my favorite!

visiting his grave despite the fact that I couldn't lie on it or place flowers upon it, 

I could barely handle the fact that I was 5ft away from the bones that supported the mind that created the texts that I love so, so much. 

and then standing outside of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to explore it. That will be at a later date!)

All in all, it was a fantastic day of Shakespeare loving! I only wish I had more time to see more of the buildings and to shop at the lovely little outdoor market near our bus stop home.

Unfortunately, almost as soon as I got back from Stratford I began feeling ill and I have been drinking copious amounts of tea and taking lots of cough medicine. The next week will be extremely low key as I have a lot of assessments that are due next week at the end of term. Yeah, you heard that right. My term is over next week! 

Wait, that also means that by the end of next week (or, technically, by the 22nd of May when I have my one and only exam) I will have completed my Junior year of University. 

And that means I'll be a Senior. 

SEND HELP. 

Until then...

Love and rockets, 

Emily

That time when I visited five castles/palaces in five weeks!

Well, would you look at that! I am a month late from updating this lovely little website. A month that was filled with assessments, adventures, and activity! Let's see if I can remember all of the main things.

Okay, so, as I mentioned in my last post I was finally able to make it to London on a trip that some of the BCA kids organized on their very own. While it was a little bit difficult getting up in the morning since we needed to be at the bus station at, I believe, 6 am, it was completely worth it the moment I stepped off the bus. While in London I was able to see Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar square, the National Gallery (!!!!), Big Ben, Westminster Abby, the Eye, the Thames, the London Bridge, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and, finally, a reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theater!

We were all a little sad that the guards weren't in their traditional red coats. 

The National Gallery was probably my favorite place ever. 

Such London!

P.S. That is the Tower Bridge, not the London Bridge as many American's have been led to believe... Like we were. 

Oh, Anne...

Quoting Richard III in the Bloody Tower? You're doing it right, England!

No matter how much I begged, I was not allowed to go on the stage and dramatically re-enact Polonius' death

If you know me well enough, you'll be able to (correctly) guess that my favorite points of the day were my hour in the National Gallery, my time tracing English history at the Tower, and then internally fangirling as I sat in Shakespeare's Globe. When I was at the National Gallery, I was completely surprised by what artworks they actually had there. Raphael's! Di Vinci's! Rubens'! Titan's! Bronzoni's! Vermeer's (whose pieces I was able to recognize by the tiles of his studio!). The entire hour was spent gasping over pieces I had only seen in textbooks or on projector screens. I think the other BCA students with me were rather amused by seeing me freak out over art. But hey, I will gladly take up the position as the resident art nerd.

The Tower of London was beautiful for the fact that I got to walk through it with other students who were as big of history buffs as I am and laugh with me as I made Kind Henry VIII and Richard III jokes. And the Globe was fantastic because, hi, Willy Shakes and I are best friends. The tour guide there was absolutely fantastic as well and full of snark and sass. At this moment I'm totally planning on returning to London to see Much Ado About Nothing in the globe at the beginning of May!

The following weekend BCA took all of us students to Blenheim Palace, built in the 1700's and still standing in all of it's gorgeous and opulent glory! After visiting the palace I now know how I wan't to decorate my house one day if I ever marry a Duke and how I will maintain my gardens.

Hi-yeh everyone, welcome to my crib!

Here is where I keep the pictures of my celebrity crushes. 

This is where we shall have afternoon tea. 

This is my RA chair. 

I'm sorry I didn't have time to clean up more!

The best part of the visit was taking pictures with my friends while wandering the grounds and having lots of laughs together.  

I also had a really great outfit that day!

The whole group together in all of their silly glory! Rebecca and I "assumed the position!"

Majesty. 

THE SELFIE TO END ALL SELFIES

We all just wanted to take pictures of each other

Kelly and I laughed a little too much at this English to American dictionary. 

After visiting the palace, we all went to Oxford! While there I was able to visit the Eagle and Child, the pub where C. S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien read and edited each other's works over a pint or two, and have an hour or so the wander the town. Unfortunately, I didn't really have enough time to properly explore Oxford so it is definitely my plan to return there sometime in May. 

The following-following weekend I ventured to Wales with the International students to celebrate St. David's Day in Cardiff. As a whole, the day was absolutely fantastic and a great relief after a stressful week writing a paper for my Aesthetics class. I got to wander the city with a really great group of BCA students who laughed along with me as we learned the Welsh word for caution ("Gofal"), sang the Genovian and American National Anthems, danced with our Welsh flags, visited the Doctor Who Experience gift shop, and more!

I would apologize for this tourist-tastic-ness... But I wont. 

Much Wales!

Seeing Welsh everywhere was the best!

TORCHWOOD.

Interpretive dance!

Yes, gofal. 

The absolute best part of the day was being able to see the St. David's day parade! It was so much fun being able to hear all of the fun music, the dancing, the Welsh pride, the everything! Since we American's aren't going to be here in England long enough to celebrate any of our own holidays, it was fun to take part in some Welsh pride and wear a glittery dragon on my face as we stormed the castle!

 

After Cardiff, I had three more days until my next adventure -- a trip to Ireland that, I can proudly say, I organized and planned all on my own! While it was absolutely terrifying to think that I was going to be traveling by train, plane, and bus all on my own, it was all worth it once I made it to Maynooth where two of my best friends from Manchester are studying for the spring term. While it has been exciting and fun to be meeting all sorts of new people in England and making new friends, it was so refreshing to be with friends whom I've known for nearly three years. For a moment everything felt normal and comfortable. I was able to get Starbucks with my best friend and chat about life. Stay up late and watch movies. Make delicious smoothies. Dance to the Wobble. Eat proper Spanish food for the first time since leaving Spain. Go out dancing with my friends. And just breathe and be with people who left like home.

My first glimpse from the plane!

Hello Manchester (and E-Town!) ladies!

Friendship!

Ireland was also amazing to me because it has always been a hope and dream of mine to explore bits of my heritage while there. When we visited Dublin, I was able to finally find and buy my own claudagh ring (which ended up in Kecia, Deanna, and I getting matching rings),

 explore the Dublin castle, 

WHERE I GOT TO SIT IN THE SAME THRONE THAT QUEEN VICTORIA AND QUEEN ELIZABETH II SAT!

play a bit of a prank on Deanna as we "searched" for a pub that we thought was owned by a family friend before going to a proper Irish pub! At the pub we were able to hear traditional Irish music in the lower level where people would sing and dance along with the band and then we heard another band play contemporary songs like Mumford and Sons "The Cave" and The Lumineers "Oh Hey." Being in the pub was so much fun and I am now determined to go to more places like that as I explore Europe.

On my last day in Ireland I was able to go to Deanna's Irish Language class and then later meet with people who are part of the Irish Speaking Club at NUIM. Since it was Irish Speaking week, the club was translating people's name in to Gaelic and we all thought it would be a cool thing to do. Not only did I get my name translated (Eibhlin ni Bhaoill), but I also meet with someone who I may be distantly related to since I gave them my Irish family name! While I knew I may be possible to find someone with the same last name as my grandmother, it was really exciting to actually meet someone. We're already planning the family reunion. 

Soon enough I had to return to England, my now home away from home away from home. This past week was a blur of paper writing, a trip to Windsor, and a newfound restlessness to explore. 

BCA's final excursion to Windsor castle, the Queen's home, will be my last bit to this extremely long post! While at the castle we were able to see the changing of the guard (which stirred up a lot of marching band memories), 

Again, they weren't wearing their red coats :(

finally a picture of the long sought after "Emily Sandwich" with another girl in the BCA program,

explore the interior chambers of the castle and see pictures of past monarchs (like a lovely "family reunion" of King Henry VIII's portrait next to ones of his son and daughter and noting that they "have their father's eyes"), and simply enjoying the lovely spring weather!

This is my new favorite dress, by the way. 

All in all yesterday was a great day of BCA bonding with some of the greatest ladies I know in the program!

Look at how cute we all are!

Today was yet another lovely day in England as the sun shone and the temperature rose to about 70 degrees! I spent the whole day wandering the town with one of my flatmates, drinking smoothies, reading on the grass, and planning our spring clothes shopping adventure to update our wardrobes. The next few weeks will be rather full as lectures come to a close, assessment dates approach. My plans for the next two weekends are to venture to Stratford-Upon-Avon, London, and Gloucester. And then, sooner than I can fathom, lectures will be over and I will be in Paris for the beginning of  my spring break tour of Europe!

I sincerely apologize for my lack of updating and, thus, the extreme length of this post! Hopefully I will keep up with this blog better!

Love and Rockets, 

Eibhlin (Emily)