A Smattering

All my blog posts are about specific events, and this one is random and for some reason it kind of bugs me. But I wanted to post these various pictures. And please excuse the poor photo quality.

On September 6th we went to Richard III at the Old Vic. It was really good, even though I got a little sleepy. It was with Kevin Spacey!! Here's a nice picture of us together. They did a modern, WWII kind of take on the play. It had big live drums and was very dramatic.

Here's a nice guy at the Tower of London. Two of the girls said they were from Vegas and he said "Oh the Mormons settled that town." Obviously we wondered how he knew that so we tracked him down later to see, and he said he just knows random facts. We were hoping he was LDS but alas, no.

Heavy war helmet at Tower of London.

Don't you think that if I opened a photo shop that I would call it this. I think so.

These people sure love chips. (French fries)

Fresh strawberries and cream at the Thames Festival. So good!

The Lake District: Wordsworth

While in the Lake District we went to two of William Wordsworth's homes. His earlier home was Dove Cottage, and it was definitely cottage-y. It had previously been a pub so it had dark walls and floors, to help hide the smoke stains. The upper floor was nice though, it had the only rooms where light was actually able to come into the home. It had a nice little garden as well.

The group walking, in the rain, across fields and cow pastures. Kind of a funny sight.

After Wordsworth made all his money, he upgraded. And I mean upgraded. He then moved into Rydal Mount which had a huge yard, and had beautiful big rooms. Apparently his writing went downhill once he had money and lived in a big house. I guess poverty makes for better artists and writers.

Rydal Mount. Huge yard.

Too bad it was raining, I would've wanted to wander around the gardens longer. And I was so tired that I fell asleep on a couch in the house. At least now I can say I've slept at Wordsworth's home.

The Lake District, Pt. II

One of the mornings we woke up to watch the sunrise over the lake. Unfortunately it was overcast so we couldn't see the sun. But it was still pretty.

Our hostel in Ambleside.

Our Professor John Bennion reading William Wordsworth's Ode: Imtimations of Immortality at his grave.

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.