Have you ever seen “A Muppet Christmas Carol?” Well, if you’re like my family, then of course you have and you watch it every Christmas. Guess what. If you look outside my hotel room, it looks like the opening credits of that movie. You know how it opens up on the rooftops and old chimneys of England? It looks EXACTLY like that and it makes me ridiculously happy.
Today was an interesting day. In comparison to the rest of the time we’ve been here (which feels like forever, by the way…even though this is only Day 4), it was a relatively slow day in that we didn’t have very many things planned. This morning we went to a bakery/café for breakfast called the Apple Pie Bakery. While we were there, I realized how comfortable the group is with each other, considering that we all really started talking to each other four days ago. It’s comforting to see the group grow as we become close enough to tease each other.
After breakfast, we went to the house of Beatrix Potter, the author of the Peter Rabbit books. In case you were wondering, it is a very easy slip of the tongue to say Bellatrix instead of Beatrix. For the Harry Potter fans, you know that Bellatrix’s house would not be a party to go visit. We all thought we were pretty clever when we were talking about that. Anyways, her house is really cute. It had been preserved to look exactly as it did when she was living in it. Her belonging and furniture were all on display, and they placed the books that she wrote in strategic places around the house. The books were open to different pages depending on the room that they were placed in. It turns out that Beatrix’s illustrations are based on things she saw in her house. Looking at the picture and realizing that you were looking at the real life version of it was really cool. I’m not entirely sure that I’m making myself clear because I’m writing this pretty late, but I hope you get what I’m saying. It’s also pretty cool to know that in the future if I read a Peter Rabbit book I’ll be able to look at it and say, “See that room right there? I saw the real room in person!”
After touring her house, we traveled to William Wordsworth’s house. The cottage we visited was not the place where he lived when he was famous. However, he wrote all of his famous poems in or on the grounds surrounding that house. That was pretty cool, too. There we got to see the kitchen and how a cellar keeps various foods cool and fresh. It was pretty gloomy though because it had been raining all day and of course there was no electricity in the house. The gardens were beautiful though, even in the rain.
Next, we went to lunch at an Italian restaurant. After the delicious meal, we visited the graves of William Wordsworth and his family. Then, we had free time until 5:00. A bunch of us ran to the café we had eaten at this morning and took advantage of their free wifi. We had church service in Dr. and Mrs. Organ’s hotel room after free time. It was both weird and interesting to realize that while we were having church, even though it was late that day, most of our friends and family were at their morning service of church. It actually made me miss my family a little bit. Not that I don’t miss them of course…it just made more aware of it. Following church, we were given more free time. A few of the girls and I watched a few episodes of The Office because it was raining outside, and then suddenly we had the whole group in my room talking. I think this was the first time we really all talked to each other as a group. A bunch of people opened up about their families and their private life, but mostly we just told funny stories about things that have happened to us over the years.
Tomorrow, we travel to Scotland and Hadrian’s Wall. Of course, I’m really excited about getting to see it…it’s the history major in me coming out. But I’ll talk more about that tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment