Saturday, March 19, 2011
Leaving Budapest
Today we left Budapest. It was slightly sad to leave, but at the same time it was nice to be in an English speaking country. We left the hostel at 1PM, or 12 England time and arrived in Charlbury up at our houses at 9:30-ish. There were no issues with flights or travels, we just had to do it. It was surprising to see that Mark was here before us. I guess he came back the day before Mareika and Jenina. There really wasn't much interesting that happened and I am tired so I will end it here. Budapest was great. I recommend it to anyone who has more than a couple of days because there is a lot to see.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Budapest: Day 6
This was our last full day in lovely Budapest. It began with breakfast and hopping onto a metro train to go to Parliament to try to get some tickets for a tour. We were able to buy tickets for the 12:00PM tour, but it was only a little after 10AM. We had a bunch of time to kill and to make it worse it was raining and pretty cold. We killed time by exploring some weird buildings and going into a little cafe to eat some vanilla croissants.We headed back to Parliament for the tour and had to head through a airport style security thing before we could enter. Parliament was large with lots of red carpet and gold everywhere. They told us something about the gold leaves that we so thin that 10,000 of them put together were only 1mm thick. They applied them by rubbing the
brushes against their faces and then using the static to pick up the leaves. Apparently the technique is still used today. We were able to see the coronation jewels in one of rooms. There was a neat cigar holder outside of the speaker room and you could tell how well the speaker was by the lengths of the ashes on the cigars in the cigar holder. A very good speaker could be "worth a whole Havana". A pretty much took video for the whole tour so I don't need to say anything more about that besides that it said it was the 3rd largest European Parliament and that some of the pillars in the main staircase were made in Sweden and the other pillars were used in the British Parliament. The British Parliament tour was much more impressive, but it was still really neat to see this one.
After Parliament we headed toward Andrassy utca to see the Opera House. When we got there I was curious to see if anything was playing. We ended up buying tickets to see a ballet at 7PM. After that we continued down Andrassy to the House of Terror. It is a building where they used to hold and torture prisoners, do interrogations, that sort of thing. It was interesting and the basement has been recreated to look like what it would have looked like when it was used as a prison. They were pretty intense with their prisons here. One of the most memorable parts came when I had to use the bathroom and when I got back Beth was sitting on the stairs, asleep.
After the House of Terror we went down Andrassy until we came to Heroes Square. It was a about what I expected. Nothing too spectacular and probably holds more meaning in what it represents or something. The statues were pretty large and you can tell in one of the pictures I have with Beth standing beside it. At this point my hands were starting to freeze and we could see our breath (different than the 10-20 degree weather we had been getting) so we had to get moving. We went back down Andrassy utca and stopped at MacDonalds. It is weird because at fast food places over here you have to buy your ketchup and they come in little containers like you would get barbecue or sweet and sour sauce in. At least at MacDonalds you don't have to pay to use the bathroom.
After MacDonalds we headed back to the Hungarian State Opera House and watched a ballet called The Karamazovs or something else that I cannot remember in Hungarian (just looked it up, "Karamazov testverek", you can understand why I didn't remember). It was a good experience to see it, but I think I had more of an idea of what was going on before I started watching it. The music was really good though and I actually recognized some of it because I think I have it on my computer. After the ballet we hopped onto the metro and headed back to the hostel. Tomorrow our shuttle is set to pick us up at 1PM and then our flight is at 4. We are supposed to check out by 11 though. The people said it wouldn't be a problem if we wanted to leave our stuff there until we left. Hopefully everything goes according to plan and we should be getting into Charlbury by 9-ish because Beth wants to see the Peter Pan statue.
After the House of Terror we went down Andrassy until we came to Heroes Square. It was a about what I expected. Nothing too spectacular and probably holds more meaning in what it represents or something. The statues were pretty large and you can tell in one of the pictures I have with Beth standing beside it. At this point my hands were starting to freeze and we could see our breath (different than the 10-20 degree weather we had been getting) so we had to get moving. We went back down Andrassy utca and stopped at MacDonalds. It is weird because at fast food places over here you have to buy your ketchup and they come in little containers like you would get barbecue or sweet and sour sauce in. At least at MacDonalds you don't have to pay to use the bathroom.
After MacDonalds we headed back to the Hungarian State Opera House and watched a ballet called The Karamazovs or something else that I cannot remember in Hungarian (just looked it up, "Karamazov testverek", you can understand why I didn't remember). It was a good experience to see it, but I think I had more of an idea of what was going on before I started watching it. The music was really good though and I actually recognized some of it because I think I have it on my computer. After the ballet we hopped onto the metro and headed back to the hostel. Tomorrow our shuttle is set to pick us up at 1PM and then our flight is at 4. We are supposed to check out by 11 though. The people said it wouldn't be a problem if we wanted to leave our stuff there until we left. Hopefully everything goes according to plan and we should be getting into Charlbury by 9-ish because Beth wants to see the Peter Pan statue.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Budapest: Day 5
Thursday was rainy. It has been raining all day and made it a bit miserable to do much of anything. We began by going to the market again. We ended up getting langos because I wanted to try it quite badly. It reminded us of a pizza-donut-pretzel type of dough. It was deep fried and salty dough and you can add whatever you want to the top of it. I had cheese and sour cream. It is best not to think about the unhealthiness while you are eating it. It was pretty good and very filling because I had a hard time eating all of it.
After the food we took the metro to Kossuth Ter, which is the station right by Parliament. Beth spoke to one of the guards in french because he was more comfortable with french than english and he told us that the tickets were all gone for the day (again) and that it is best to get there around 8 when the ticket office opens because the tourists buy them all very quickly.
After this we walked in the rain across the chain bridge and went to the inside of St. Matthias church. It cost to enter which is different than the other churches that we have been to. It was very nice but not nearly as nice as St. Steven's and that one was free. We walked back to the market in the rain and bought sausages. I bought a bun downstairs for 45 forint but the sausage itself was 1350 forint. It was a pretty decent sausage but nothing that blew my mind, although I am not the biggest sausage fan anyways. We watched Up in the common room because we were both thoroughly soaked and did not desire to do any more walking in the rain. We have just been killing time with cards, games and reading ever since. I am just waiting for a sink to be free so I can brush my teeth, so I am sitting at the computer with a toothbrush in my mouth.
Tomorrow we will be trying to get a tour of parliament again as well as going to heroes square, and maybe also the house of terror and seeing the state opera house briefly. We also have to remember to call the shuttle people so that a shuttle will be able to pick us up around 1:30 on saturday. I think saturday morning we will try to go to the Bible museum that is not too far away from where we are staying.
After the food we took the metro to Kossuth Ter, which is the station right by Parliament. Beth spoke to one of the guards in french because he was more comfortable with french than english and he told us that the tickets were all gone for the day (again) and that it is best to get there around 8 when the ticket office opens because the tourists buy them all very quickly.
After this we walked in the rain across the chain bridge and went to the inside of St. Matthias church. It cost to enter which is different than the other churches that we have been to. It was very nice but not nearly as nice as St. Steven's and that one was free. We walked back to the market in the rain and bought sausages. I bought a bun downstairs for 45 forint but the sausage itself was 1350 forint. It was a pretty decent sausage but nothing that blew my mind, although I am not the biggest sausage fan anyways. We watched Up in the common room because we were both thoroughly soaked and did not desire to do any more walking in the rain. We have just been killing time with cards, games and reading ever since. I am just waiting for a sink to be free so I can brush my teeth, so I am sitting at the computer with a toothbrush in my mouth.
Tomorrow we will be trying to get a tour of parliament again as well as going to heroes square, and maybe also the house of terror and seeing the state opera house briefly. We also have to remember to call the shuttle people so that a shuttle will be able to pick us up around 1:30 on saturday. I think saturday morning we will try to go to the Bible museum that is not too far away from where we are staying.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Budapest: Day 4
This morning, Wednesday, began with Cave Church. It was really cool because it was cheap, only 400 HUF and it came with an audio tour. You wouldn't think it but the cave is apparently 20 degrees all year round because of underground thermal springs keeping it warm. Like many things here in Budapest, Cave Church was destroyed during Communist rule when churches were not allowed. It is hard to describe because it is just a cave with stained glass, statues, and altars in it. One of the rooms is decorated with extremely detailed wooden carvings. I will try to remember to put some pictures of it on here. There was a video at the end of the tour and at one point they played the main bit from Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars. It seemed strange and out of place, but it was pretty amusing (which I guess isn't a good thing for them because it wasn't meant to be amusing).
After Cave Church we went back to the market to explore for a little while. It was a good trip because we were able to get our lunch at a fraction of the cost of a restaurant. I think we know where we can go for lunch from now on. We are planning on going back to try Langos at some point and I would like to buy a Hungarian sausage. Today I managed to buy a couple of large buns, kind of like kaiser buns for 100 HUF, enough salami for two sandwiches for 190 HUF, a litre of Fanta for 240 (instead of the 320 per glass at the restaurants). We bought slices of cake for dessert at 220 a piece (instead of the 380-450 they charge per slice for the same stuff down the street). Altogether our meals worked out to just over 1000HUF (about $5) for the two of us. Way better than the 3700-4000HUF ($18-20) total that we would have paid at a restaurant for the same amount of food. We ate at the hostel because it was just down the street and there was nowhere to eat it easily without utensils.
After eating we walked down a touristy walking area, mostly Vaci Utca, toward Parliament. There were no more tickets for the tour that day so we had to settle for something else. We walked through a square and found ourselves looking at St. Steven's Basilica. After failing to locate Duna Castle, we headed to St. Steven's. It was really really big and we paid 400HUF to get to the top of it to get a panoramic view of the city. There were quite a few stairs and then an elevator to the top. With all of the walking and stair climbing we should have decent leg muscles. The view of the city was amazing, but it was nothing compared to the inside. I took quite a few videos of the inside of it to try to capture it, but I am sure that it doesn't even come close. There was gold and paintings and arches everywhere. We stuck our fingers into the holy water containers just for kicks. We "saw" the mummified right hand of St. Steven. "saw" because it was in a case and it was kind of dark and you couldn't really see much of anything, but I saw it enough to say that I have seen it - whatever that's worth.
After St. Steven's we started walking back to the hostel. We stopped at two or three churches along the way because they were there and open and free. All of the churches are gorgeous and put any church that I would attend to shame. I am sure that you could spend a whole day just going around to all of the different churches. For supper I ate the other sandwich that I had leftover from lunch and Beth bought a bag of salad so we could have caesar salad. I bought of bottle of juice because it said it has mangosteen in it and I really want to try a mangosteen, but there are too many other fruits in it to distinguish anything. Just recently we have finished playing a couple games of backgammon. The chess/checkers/backgammon game and the set of cards that Beth bought at the market have been put to good use. Now I am going to go to sleep knowing that I am caught up on my blogging, but not certain of what I will be doing tomorrow.
After Cave Church we went back to the market to explore for a little while. It was a good trip because we were able to get our lunch at a fraction of the cost of a restaurant. I think we know where we can go for lunch from now on. We are planning on going back to try Langos at some point and I would like to buy a Hungarian sausage. Today I managed to buy a couple of large buns, kind of like kaiser buns for 100 HUF, enough salami for two sandwiches for 190 HUF, a litre of Fanta for 240 (instead of the 320 per glass at the restaurants). We bought slices of cake for dessert at 220 a piece (instead of the 380-450 they charge per slice for the same stuff down the street). Altogether our meals worked out to just over 1000HUF (about $5) for the two of us. Way better than the 3700-4000HUF ($18-20) total that we would have paid at a restaurant for the same amount of food. We ate at the hostel because it was just down the street and there was nowhere to eat it easily without utensils.
After eating we walked down a touristy walking area, mostly Vaci Utca, toward Parliament. There were no more tickets for the tour that day so we had to settle for something else. We walked through a square and found ourselves looking at St. Steven's Basilica. After failing to locate Duna Castle, we headed to St. Steven's. It was really really big and we paid 400HUF to get to the top of it to get a panoramic view of the city. There were quite a few stairs and then an elevator to the top. With all of the walking and stair climbing we should have decent leg muscles. The view of the city was amazing, but it was nothing compared to the inside. I took quite a few videos of the inside of it to try to capture it, but I am sure that it doesn't even come close. There was gold and paintings and arches everywhere. We stuck our fingers into the holy water containers just for kicks. We "saw" the mummified right hand of St. Steven. "saw" because it was in a case and it was kind of dark and you couldn't really see much of anything, but I saw it enough to say that I have seen it - whatever that's worth.
After St. Steven's we started walking back to the hostel. We stopped at two or three churches along the way because they were there and open and free. All of the churches are gorgeous and put any church that I would attend to shame. I am sure that you could spend a whole day just going around to all of the different churches. For supper I ate the other sandwich that I had leftover from lunch and Beth bought a bag of salad so we could have caesar salad. I bought of bottle of juice because it said it has mangosteen in it and I really want to try a mangosteen, but there are too many other fruits in it to distinguish anything. Just recently we have finished playing a couple games of backgammon. The chess/checkers/backgammon game and the set of cards that Beth bought at the market have been put to good use. Now I am going to go to sleep knowing that I am caught up on my blogging, but not certain of what I will be doing tomorrow.
Budapest: Day 3
Tuesday began with uncertainty. We had planned on going to the Cave Church, but ended up getting started a little later and didn't think that it would be open because my Budapest book said it had weird hours. Instead we stayed at the hostel and watched the Revolution Day service out the window. The streets were crowded so I am not sad that we stayed inside. When we left we headed to get some lunch. The waiter seemed to be a bit slow getting to us, but we both enjoyed the food and had strudel for dessert.
After lunch we went to the hostel to plan the rest of our afternoon. We were not certain of where to go because it was Revolution Day, so we went to try to see if the Cave Church was open. We missed the entrance because we were looking on the wrong side of the road, but kept walking anyways and went up a hilly path to a cool looking structure/monument. Buda is very different from Pest because Buda is hilly and has more nature around it. Pest is just like a city, but it has some historical buildings too. From where we were on the hill we could see the Castle District which was our original plan for the day. The Elizabeth Bridge was closed to cars for the day and pedestrians were allowed to walk on it instead of using the regular footpaths (I am actually uncertain if it has footpaths, but I assume it does because the others do). We didn't cross it but went down one of the closed off roads and approached Buda Castle. It was neat from the outside, and also you quickly noticed that it was huge. We had pay to take an elevator to get to the top. The National Gallery and Library are up there inside the palace and because it was Revolution Day we were able to go in for free. It was a good thing that we went to see it.
After the Gallery we walked through a little market until we got to Fisherman's Bastion. There was a really cool looking church there, but we only got to see the outside of it. We walked down the hill toward chain bridge and realized that Buda reminded me more of Halifax while Pest is more like Toronto or London or something. It was dark by that time and all of the city was lit up with lights. Budapest is a very pretty city during the day but it is even nicer looking at night. We explored a little and walked back along the river.
After that we had supper, played some games/read/slept.
After lunch we went to the hostel to plan the rest of our afternoon. We were not certain of where to go because it was Revolution Day, so we went to try to see if the Cave Church was open. We missed the entrance because we were looking on the wrong side of the road, but kept walking anyways and went up a hilly path to a cool looking structure/monument. Buda is very different from Pest because Buda is hilly and has more nature around it. Pest is just like a city, but it has some historical buildings too. From where we were on the hill we could see the Castle District which was our original plan for the day. The Elizabeth Bridge was closed to cars for the day and pedestrians were allowed to walk on it instead of using the regular footpaths (I am actually uncertain if it has footpaths, but I assume it does because the others do). We didn't cross it but went down one of the closed off roads and approached Buda Castle. It was neat from the outside, and also you quickly noticed that it was huge. We had pay to take an elevator to get to the top. The National Gallery and Library are up there inside the palace and because it was Revolution Day we were able to go in for free. It was a good thing that we went to see it.
After the Gallery we walked through a little market until we got to Fisherman's Bastion. There was a really cool looking church there, but we only got to see the outside of it. We walked down the hill toward chain bridge and realized that Buda reminded me more of Halifax while Pest is more like Toronto or London or something. It was dark by that time and all of the city was lit up with lights. Budapest is a very pretty city during the day but it is even nicer looking at night. We explored a little and walked back along the river.
After that we had supper, played some games/read/slept.
budapest: day 2
On Monday we started our morning by going to a huge indoor market that is close to where we are staying. It was pretty neat, and there was a lot of paprika, sausages, and food on the bottom floor and on the second floor there were toys, games, dolls, clothing, and that sort of thing. I bought a set of those funny stacking dolls.
After the market we went out to eat, but the guy took forever getting back to us after he gave us menus so we just left and went somewhere else. I got a bowl of goulash soup and they gave us some bread with it. It was pretty cheap and very filling. For dessert I tried the golden dumplings, and they were good also.
After lunch we went to the Jewish museum/Great Synagogue which was very large and impressive. I had to wear one of those funny little hats that cover your head. After that we just walked around to try to find some of the cool looking churches that are all over the place. The one that we wanted to see wasn't open that day or else we just couldn't figure out how to get in. We were right by the Danube at that point so we just walked up and down the river exploring because it was neat. In one of the squares that we went to there was a guy playing music on a bunch of glasses and I took a video of it because it was quite amusing.
Those are the highlights. There was more walking, and we ate supper, and went to bed.
After the market we went out to eat, but the guy took forever getting back to us after he gave us menus so we just left and went somewhere else. I got a bowl of goulash soup and they gave us some bread with it. It was pretty cheap and very filling. For dessert I tried the golden dumplings, and they were good also.
After lunch we went to the Jewish museum/Great Synagogue which was very large and impressive. I had to wear one of those funny little hats that cover your head. After that we just walked around to try to find some of the cool looking churches that are all over the place. The one that we wanted to see wasn't open that day or else we just couldn't figure out how to get in. We were right by the Danube at that point so we just walked up and down the river exploring because it was neat. In one of the squares that we went to there was a guy playing music on a bunch of glasses and I took a video of it because it was quite amusing.
Those are the highlights. There was more walking, and we ate supper, and went to bed.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Busapest: day 1
On our first day we started off by grabbing breakfast. It was nothing too exotic: toast, jam, cereal, the standards. After breakfast we headed off to the National Museum, the largest museum in Hungary, and spent until early-mid afternoon exploring the exhibits. One of the most impressive rooms in the place was the first room that you entered after buying a ticket. I think I have a picture of it on my camera so I will try to remember to upload it here.
The museum took us through the history of Budapest from its beginnings up until around the 1990s. By the end of it we were both Beth and I were tired of reading and getting quite hungry. We went to the hostel and ate some of our snacks because we figured it was too close to supper to get food. Our first language mistake occurred shortly after when we bought six 1.5L bottles of carbonated water. Unless we can manage to find some syrup packs to mix our own fountain pop it will probably remain a casualty of war. It wasn't very expensive and it gave beth and I quite a laugh.
After the water incident we decided to see if the market was open. It wasn't but we decided to check out the Buda side of the city because the bridge was nearby. We found a neat pathway up a big hill and there was a bunch of statues at the top. You could see out over the whole city from up there and was good for exercise. When we came back we stopped at a burger king because it was easiest and something that we recognized. After we were fed we explored some more of the city and then headed back to the hostel.
The museum took us through the history of Budapest from its beginnings up until around the 1990s. By the end of it we were both Beth and I were tired of reading and getting quite hungry. We went to the hostel and ate some of our snacks because we figured it was too close to supper to get food. Our first language mistake occurred shortly after when we bought six 1.5L bottles of carbonated water. Unless we can manage to find some syrup packs to mix our own fountain pop it will probably remain a casualty of war. It wasn't very expensive and it gave beth and I quite a laugh.
After the water incident we decided to see if the market was open. It wasn't but we decided to check out the Buda side of the city because the bridge was nearby. We found a neat pathway up a big hill and there was a bunch of statues at the top. You could see out over the whole city from up there and was good for exercise. When we came back we stopped at a burger king because it was easiest and something that we recognized. After we were fed we explored some more of the city and then headed back to the hostel.
Getting to Budapest
Our trip to Budapest began at 7:04 when we boarded the train from Charlbury. Mike was nice and drove us to the station which meant we didn't have to get up quite as early as we would have had to before. We arrived at London Paddington Station and discovered that some of the tube lines were closed. It wasn't really that big of a deal and we ended up taking the same route that I had planned beforehand.
When we arrived at St. Pancras we bought tickets to go to Luton Airport. When we got to our destination we had to take a shuttle to get to the actual airport. There were no real problems with the flight there except that it was 20-30 minutes late. At the airport in Budapest we arranged transportation for getting to our hostel. It takes some stress off of everything because the shuttle will pick us up and take us back to the airport when we are going to leave.
By the time we arrived at the hostel it was starting to get dark. So we went and bought some food from a store nearby and packed it in for the night. We spent some time looking at maps and planning the rest of our trip.
When we arrived at St. Pancras we bought tickets to go to Luton Airport. When we got to our destination we had to take a shuttle to get to the actual airport. There were no real problems with the flight there except that it was 20-30 minutes late. At the airport in Budapest we arranged transportation for getting to our hostel. It takes some stress off of everything because the shuttle will pick us up and take us back to the airport when we are going to leave.
By the time we arrived at the hostel it was starting to get dark. So we went and bought some food from a store nearby and packed it in for the night. We spent some time looking at maps and planning the rest of our trip.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Catch-up post
So I am in Budapest right now on spring break and there are a lot of events we have done that I haven't written about. I should probably get those out of the way before I start talking about Budapest.
I went to Blenheim Park one Sunday afternoon with everyone in the group minus Hannah, Sally, and Emma. The gardens (lawns) at Blenheim were extremely large. It is crazy to think that one person can have so much land when everyone else has basically none. The palace at Blenheim was really nice too, but we were not able to go inside. It was a nice day and the sun was shining as I remember it. At one point mark stuck his head into a bush and it was funny so I took a picture of it. Sadly I do not have access to that picture right now so this is a reminder to myself to put that picture up when I get back (or remind me in the comments if you read this and it still isn't up and it is past the 19th). There were some neat fountains behind the palace with lots of statues. There was a crazy amount of poop in the park when we were walking in the grass. I think it is because of the geese. To cap off the event Mark did a front flip down a hill and almost killed himself.
The next trip that we had was to Steventon and Chawton which are places that Jane Austen used to go to. We took everyone's favourite/hated vehicle, the playbus. Favourite because it has Playbus on the side in rainbow letters, hated because some of the seats face backwards and make your stomach feel like it is in a washing machine. Somehow my co-op group was in charge of making packed lunch again. We haven't made an actual meal yet. We headed toward Steventon, but had to go to some lady's house because it was lunch time and also because there was a funeral that morning at the Church in Steventon. We met Doug Mantz and his wife. We ate our packed lunches, and then visited the neighbour's house because it is a heritage site and looks very similar to Anne Hathaway's cottage. You can see outside by looking up his chimney, and the house has a thatched roof. We went to the Steventon church from there which is the church that Jane Austen would have gone to and her father was the Rector. From this point on the trip was super rushed because the funeral was unexpected and pushed all of our times back. We rushed from Steventon church to the cottage that Jane Austen lived in. I didn't really even get to look in all of the rooms because Doug was trying so hard to keep up with the disrupted schedule. After the house we went down to a little conference room and had a lecture given to us by Doug's wife. I think her name is Eileen, but I am not sure. The lecture was supposed to be about Jane Austen with some context of women writers, but it ended up being a lecture about women, how they were oppressed and... oh also Jane Austen wrote stuff. It was very informative, but didn't really seem to fit. After the cottage we hustled over to Jane Austen's brother's house. It was a nice place which is also a library that people can go to if they are researching female writers. After this busy day we headed back onto the Playbus and drove for another hour and a half to get back to Charlbury. Marion gave us a nice surprise because she left some cookies, tarts, and beverages on the bus after we left from the cottage Austen lived in. I guess I knew about it beforehand, but had forgotten.
Everyone was getting sick, including Beth so I feared it would hit me just in time to leave for March break, but I got lucky and avoided it. On the friday before we left we had play practice. It is coming along, but everyone still needs to memorize their lines as well as get their cues and all of that. In the future we will undoubtedly have Glenna stressed to high levels with our lack of readiness. I think we only will have a week and a half or so to write all of our papers when we get back from the break. This final month is going to be nuts.
I went to Blenheim Park one Sunday afternoon with everyone in the group minus Hannah, Sally, and Emma. The gardens (lawns) at Blenheim were extremely large. It is crazy to think that one person can have so much land when everyone else has basically none. The palace at Blenheim was really nice too, but we were not able to go inside. It was a nice day and the sun was shining as I remember it. At one point mark stuck his head into a bush and it was funny so I took a picture of it. Sadly I do not have access to that picture right now so this is a reminder to myself to put that picture up when I get back (or remind me in the comments if you read this and it still isn't up and it is past the 19th). There were some neat fountains behind the palace with lots of statues. There was a crazy amount of poop in the park when we were walking in the grass. I think it is because of the geese. To cap off the event Mark did a front flip down a hill and almost killed himself.
The next trip that we had was to Steventon and Chawton which are places that Jane Austen used to go to. We took everyone's favourite/hated vehicle, the playbus. Favourite because it has Playbus on the side in rainbow letters, hated because some of the seats face backwards and make your stomach feel like it is in a washing machine. Somehow my co-op group was in charge of making packed lunch again. We haven't made an actual meal yet. We headed toward Steventon, but had to go to some lady's house because it was lunch time and also because there was a funeral that morning at the Church in Steventon. We met Doug Mantz and his wife. We ate our packed lunches, and then visited the neighbour's house because it is a heritage site and looks very similar to Anne Hathaway's cottage. You can see outside by looking up his chimney, and the house has a thatched roof. We went to the Steventon church from there which is the church that Jane Austen would have gone to and her father was the Rector. From this point on the trip was super rushed because the funeral was unexpected and pushed all of our times back. We rushed from Steventon church to the cottage that Jane Austen lived in. I didn't really even get to look in all of the rooms because Doug was trying so hard to keep up with the disrupted schedule. After the house we went down to a little conference room and had a lecture given to us by Doug's wife. I think her name is Eileen, but I am not sure. The lecture was supposed to be about Jane Austen with some context of women writers, but it ended up being a lecture about women, how they were oppressed and... oh also Jane Austen wrote stuff. It was very informative, but didn't really seem to fit. After the cottage we hustled over to Jane Austen's brother's house. It was a nice place which is also a library that people can go to if they are researching female writers. After this busy day we headed back onto the Playbus and drove for another hour and a half to get back to Charlbury. Marion gave us a nice surprise because she left some cookies, tarts, and beverages on the bus after we left from the cottage Austen lived in. I guess I knew about it beforehand, but had forgotten.
Everyone was getting sick, including Beth so I feared it would hit me just in time to leave for March break, but I got lucky and avoided it. On the friday before we left we had play practice. It is coming along, but everyone still needs to memorize their lines as well as get their cues and all of that. In the future we will undoubtedly have Glenna stressed to high levels with our lack of readiness. I think we only will have a week and a half or so to write all of our papers when we get back from the break. This final month is going to be nuts.
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