My travels continue....

These past two weeks have been amazing. Every day I am grateful for this opportunity that I have received. I have seen many places that I have always wanted to go. As I had mentioned in the previous blog that I would be traveling around and seeing new places. I was able to attend the Wicked Musical in London. It was amazing!!! It was not the first time that I have watched it, but every time I watch it again I fall more in love with it. It was cool that I was able to see it in London.Before watching Wicked we went into a Pub near London Victoria to eat. I had the Hunters Chicken which is grilled chicken with Bacon and Mozzarella Cheese and Tomato Sauce it was delicious. I have tried to be adventurous when it comes to food.

 Unfortunately, the weather here in the UK is crazy. It has been raining a lot which has stopped me from going out especially because I have been getting sick. Even though I have not been going out into Brighton as much I have enjoyed myself traveling which is the main reason why I am here to travel and see what is surrounding me.

I went to Lewes on a walking tour and it was amazing. I totally loved it.  We saw Anne Boleyn (she was once queen), and Lewes Castle. This little town is only like 6 min away on train from school. It has amazing little gardens where you can just go to relax. The streets are very narrow but the architecture is what I have fallen in love with. England has amazing architecture. I have always loved buildings that are old and made of brick.

I also went to Chichester and was able to see the Cathedral! It was a remarkable piece of architecture. Just by looking at the images you would love it. When I first entered it was an amazing view. High ceilings with a lot of detail in every corner. A lot of things that were in the church were to commemorate the fallen soldiers during World War Two. It was amazing to see how much history a lot of the sites that I have been to have. It was raining that day which sucked because it was hard to get really good pictures from outside. 

Not only did I go to Chichester but I also went to Arundel to see the castle. It was amazing!!! The Duke of Norfolk lives there and we saw his kids playing in the field from the top of the castle. They live in a private wing in the castle it was really cool being inside a real castle where the Duke still lives in. Unfortunately, there were no pictures allowed inside the castle but every time I was outside I took advantage and took pictures of the surroundings. It got sunny when we arrived Arundel which was great. :) It was an amazing view on top of the castle. We also were able to see the church and the gardens that surrounded the castle.

 My travels continue!!! I was able to visit Stonehenge!! One of the places that has always fascinated me as a child. I always wanted to be able to witness the presence of this marvelous construction. As a child I always wondered how this monument was created, why did they do it? I was blessed that I was able to go and see it. It was a wonderful sight. Even though, it was pouring rain and I got drenched I enjoyed my trip there and I have a funny story that I can remember it by.

I also went to Bath where I was able to go see the Roman Baths. I never knew the history behind them. I am glad that this trip has allowed me to learn history that I had never learned. The Roman baths were a very interesting thing to see. The way that they thought about the treatment of baths for a person. It was interesting to learn also how they get the water. All the water was from the earth, including the hot one which contains gas coming from the earths surface. And the city of Bath is beautiful in general. It is a must see place. I also  went to the house of Jane Austen the author of Pride and Prejudice. I had to have a Bath Bun (recommendation of Evita Moreno). I also had some lasagne and it came with peas and fries, very weird combination, but it was really good.

I had an amazing time in all those places. This weekend I went to Amsterdam in Holland (Netherlands) and Bruges in Belgium. We took the Eurorunnel to France. It was very interesting and a new experience. It is an underwater tunnel and it takes you to France from the UK in 35 minutes. Basically you stay in the same car that you are in and go into a train and all the door close and you just wait till you get to France. From France we drove all the way to the center of Amsterdam where we began our tour. It was a very interesting experience going to Amsterdam. You really have to go there with an open mind. What I expected the city to look was totally different. I thought it was going to be dirty and people smoking pot everywhere but it was not like that. I really had to have an open mind about everything. Every where you went there were sex shops. The coffee shops were there selling weed LEGALLY!! It was cool seeing all of this. While there I had to visit the Anne Frank House. This was where she was hiding while writing her journal. While being in the house I could not believe that she was hiding there. It was scary to think that she spent time there and lost a lot of her childhood due to the holocaust. It was a very informative tour through the house.We were not able to take pictures of the inside of the house.

Anne Frank House (The outside looks different from when she lived there)

The next stop that we had was at the Heineken Brewery. We stopped by but did not go inside because it was too expensive and we wanted to see other stuff. In Amsterdam you will see the Heineken sign everywhere that sells beer. That is the beer that they drink.

Our next stop was the Van Gogh Museum!!! I loved it! It was amazing. I love art and learning the way that the artist painted things and why he did it. This exhibit was worth my time. Each level was a time period of his life. At the end of Van Gogh life he had become ill and most of his paintings had lost color. There were many new painting of his that I encountered that were truly beautiful. After the museum we took Pictures with the I amsterdam sign and had fries with mayo (I had cheese instead) thinking that the mayo was going to be gross, but I had some with Mayo and they were delicious.  We later got on a Canal Cruise which was fun we were able to see a lot of Amsterdam.

  After our cruise we went to the hotel to refresh ourselves with a shower and quick nap before we headed out to see the night life of Amsterdam. We went back into Amsterdam and we got a tour of the Red Light District. Yes, I saw all the prostitutes! They were behind windows half naked waiting for men. Women who were already busy had a curtain covering the inside. It was a really interesting experience because you would not see that in the United States. Passing by the Red Light District it was weird looking at them. I would try not to look at them. After we passed the Red Light District we went to an areas where there is a bunch of coffee shops (coffee shops in Amsterdam is where they will sell weed products legally) and we headed to have dinner at an Italian restaurant. Our tour ask all of us if we were going to eat with him and only 29 raised their hands s he reserved 29 spots and when we walked to the restaurant more than 29 showed up and of course my group would be stuck with no seats inside the warm restaurant. We were going to go eat somewhere else because it was too full, but the owner bribed us with free drinks and we stayed and sat outside in the freezing cold, in the rain and on wet seats. Not a fun experience, but we got free wine and when people left the restaurant we went inside and it was warm :) The food was not what I expected, but it was okay.

We all had to head back to the hotel, but when we got there we went to the bar that was in the other hotel that was next door. When we got there were old guys from Scotland and they were drunk and singing their guts out. It was hilarious!!! The managers kept on telling them to stop singing and they kept going. A couple of my friends recognized the song they were singing and they began singing with them and then we were clapping and the management was getting frustrated. One of the guys who was 21 came up to ask to ask where we were from and when we said California he told his friend to sing the California song. It was a priceless experience.

After our experience in Amsterdam it was time to go to bed and wake up early for our tour of the traditional village of Zaanse Schans.We were able to see how dutch shoes are created and try some on and even buy them. We also saw how cheese was made and were able to try all the different kinds that they made. There is many types of cheese that you can eat. We were also able to see a working windmill which was pretty cool! It was raining and I got drenched again, but it was fun walking through the village and seeing all the animals and windmills and buildings.

After our small stop at Zaanse Schans we headed to Belgium to the city of Bruges. When we arrived we got a small history tour and were left to have lunch and free time. We went to a restauraunt where they server 3 curse meals. I took a risk and ordered something on the menu that was weird. My 3 course meal consisted of Flemish Ham and Melon, Flemish Stew, and Apple Pie for dessert.

 After eating we walked around and saw the building ans stopped to buy chocolate. Belgium is known for having the best chocolate and I would have to agree. I do not eat chocolate, but the chocolate from Belgium was too delicious to resist. I had to get some.

All of this I did in two weeks while still going to school and getting work done. It has been an amazing experience! I still have 5 weeks left in the United Kingdom and I am enjoying every minute of it. This Thursday I will be heading out to Italy to meet up with my sorority sisters and friends. I am super excited to see them and finally go to Italy a place that I have always wanted to go to. I cannot wait!!! : ) Super happy that I took this opportunity to Study Abroad and explore the world something I needed to grow as a person and learn more about myself.