The Lake District, Pt. 1

The Lake District was absolutely beautiful. We stayed in a town called Ambleside and it was very quaint. It is next to Lake Windermere, the one we hiked above in these pictures. These pictures really do not do the scenery justice.

This wall ran along the hills every which way. It was like a miniature Great Wall of China.

Sketching the lake. It was lovely.

We decided to take a different route on our way back and we found ourselves trail-less. We came up against the wall and our only viable option was to climb over it. Luckily there were some jutty rocks that we could use as steps.

The wall seems small, but it was pretty daunting at the time. It wasn't one you could just jump on top of. It ended up being a funny story cause Kendal (in the picture with me) had come across a spider in the previous marsh area we had to pass through and wasn't too pleased. It took us a while to coax her to come down, and that spiders were more likely to be on the wall than in the ground below. Camilia and I trudged ahead and realized that we were having to make our own path. Then I slipped in a stream.

As Camilia and I were trying to find a way back to town, this lady with her adorable puppy came up. The dog took one look at us and bounded happily our way. It made my day. That and the awesome views.

Couldn't Resist

Who's Taylor looking at in this picture you might ask. Well it was us! I was looking on People.com today and this was the one picture they showed of the premiere last night. This was the one and only time he looked up the entire night, and it was at us standing on the ledge!! He did this right before he went inside. I just couldn't resist posting this!

Taylor Lautner!

Tonight we went to the red carpet premiere of Abduction to see a Mr. Taylor Lautner. It was supposed to start at 5:15 and we got there at 5. So naturally the front row spots were already taken. We got down there and I realized that unless you were in the first two rows you wouldn't be able to see anything (and it didn't help that Taylor is short). And the girls in the front row would just as soon shank us in the stomach than let us push through. So we decided to go up to this ledge that overlooked the red carpet. This was a good idea. Until it started to rain, and rain hard. Taylor was just covered up by three umbrellas at a time, as seen below. Luckily the rain let up later and we were able to see him! He even looked up and waved at us on the ledge. He seemed very nice and paid attention to the fans. Before we went I ran up to my room to get my camera and my zoom lens. I got the camera, but forgot to get the zoom lens so my pictures were worthless. Thankfully my friend Megan had hers and she took these great pictures.

So worth getting literally soaked in the rain! And thanks for sharing the pictures Megan!

Also, before Taylor came out I saw a medic go into the crowd and pull out a girl that had apparently gotten pushed down. The workers kept yelling at the girls for being so aggressive. I just thought to myself, "This is crazy. This is funny."

Elephant House

While in Edinburgh we had to stop by the Elephant House. Home of Harry Potter! The food was also really good which was a plus. I could see why JK Rowling would choose to write there because it had a nice ambiance.

The hallway to the bathroom is covered with notes to JK Rowling. One note said: "we stuck with you until the very end." Those words always touch my heart for some reason. I cried when I read them on the book jacket of the seventh book.

I added myself to Dumbledore's Army.

Chicken Tikka baked potato.

Ashleigh, Kinsey, and Kendal.

Me, Laurel, and Camilia.

I recommend it to everyone!

Edinburgh Castle

While in Edinburgh we went to the castle. It was a lovely day. I'd been to the castle before but we got the audio tour which was interesting.

Megan and me.

Camilia, Laurel, Lisa, Kendal and Hilary.

Beautiful views of the city. There's the English channel in the back. They call this little part that cuts into Edinburgh the Firth and Forth.

Arthur's Seat

When we got to Edinburgh we promptly went off to hike Arthur's seat. It was extremely windy. At one point I feared for all of our lives. After we'd been hiking for awhile a couple passed us and I asked them how much longer to the top and the guy said, "once you get up there, you have to hold on to something or you'll blow off." But we kept going and found out he was right.

It is a beautiful view of the city.

Here we are with our Professor, John Bennion. This whole Northern trip was his concoction. He's invented the study abroad at BYU where you literally hike across the UK. We got a little taste of it during this week.

Of course I wondered the mph of these winds, and a girl there said she'd worked on some mountain top over the summer that had 70 mph winds and these were stronger. So upwards of 80 or 90. It was crazy.

Hadrian's Wall

On Tuesday of our trip North we stopped by Hadrian's Wall. This wall used to be 8 feet thick, 15 feet high. Now it's just nubbiny. It was built as part of the mighty Roman Empire by Emperor Hadrian.

It was very rainy, cold and windy. Some peoples umbrellas broke, but I always make sure I put mine away when it gets too windy. Cause I'm not paying $16 for a new one.

Funny Story

This story is so funny to me, unfortunately I wasn't there. My friend Madeline recounted this from an experience at church yesterday. They were teaching in the primary about God's sheep. She told the kids that everyone is a part of God's fold and one little girl said (and say this with a little girl British accent) "Even Beyonce?" Madeline said "Beyonce isn't bad." The little girl replied, "Yes she is. She sings her songs to Satan." The little girl's brother then turned to her and said "No, that's Kesha."

Chatsworth

On Monday, on our way to the North, we stopped by Chatsworth House. Supposedly this is the house that Jane Austen used as inspiration for Pemberly, Mr. Darcy's house. As we pulled around the corner I saw it and thought- that also looks like the house they used to film some scenes in the 2005 film version. And lo and behold, it was! I think they filmed the scene in which Darcy sees Elizabeth peeping through the open door at Georgiana playing the piano, and he runs after her onto the porch. Unfortunately that porch was closed. So here is what the house looks like:

And here is what it looked like when we went. Awesome. Thank you 2012 London Olympics. Before we saw the house, our bus driver, Tony, said to us "and around this corner is a true countryman's pad... Ahh! It's wrapped in scaffolding!" (Say that in a British accent). Suffice it to say it was a little disappointing.

I think this ceiling was in the movie, when Elizabeth first walks into the house.

This sculpture room was for sure in the movie- from the scene where they're looking at the bust of Darcy. We watched the movie on the bus afterward, and they showed shots of some sculptures that we had fully just seen here. It was kind of exciting!

As were were waiting for all the girls to get back on the bus, a helicopter landed on the front lawn and a Landrover drove out to it. Tony got on the intercom and excitedly said, "that's a royal helicopter." Of course I couldn't help but freak out a little bit. I think the words "this is what we've been waiting for!" popped out of my mouth. Slightly embarrassing. How awesome would it have been if it was William and Kate though. Or Harry. Unfortunately I couldn't see who got out and got into the Landrover, but luckily the car passed right by our bus. I couldn't see, but Tony said he didn't recognize them. It would've been so cool if it had been a famous royal, but then again I would've felt a little slighted because I wouldn't have been able to actually see them from where I was sitting. Afterward Tony said that if it had been an important royal there would've been way more security. Still fun though.