Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Harlaxton



So, I lived in England for four months, the best four months of my life so far.  I studied abroad through my University and joined 177 other students on the trip of a lifetime.  I left January 6 and came back on April 30.  I visited London, Stonehenge, Oxford, Cambridge, York, Edinburgh, Paris, Bath, Salisbury, Lincoln, Florence, Venice, Rome, Nottingham, Dublin, Galway, Llanberis, Llandudno, Chester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Cadbury, Hadrian's Wall, Pompeii, Ostia, and Llanfair PG.  We stayed in a small town and lived in a 19th century Manor, or Carriage House in some cases.  Gorgeous place.  When the sun hit it just right, the stones turned gold.  I was one of the students who lived in the Carriage House, but everyone had classes in the Manor.  The estate itself is mentioned in the Domesday Book (written in ca. 1070, you know, right after the Norman Conquest in 1066).  The town associated with the Manor has a post office that is also the convenient store.  Next time, I will spend more time exploring this small village.  The chimney pots look like chess pieces.  Many of the towns in England (York, Chester, and Cambridge) had chess piece chimney pots.  According to a cab driver, they were like guards.  The town most of us went to for supplies (food, the pub, clothes, etc.) was 3 miles away.  We frequented a place called ASDA.  Americans call it Wal-Mart.  Saturdays in the town are a wild place.  I saw two guys dressed up Aladdin-style (with cardboard magic carpets, too) walking around.  Honestly, I cannot wait to return to England in August. 

The Costume Ball:  We had a costume ball at the end of the semester.  I bought the dress I wore the same day, in Nottingham.  I took my boyfriend, who is British and lives locally.  He went as the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who, and I wore a late Victorian-style dress, with black velvet corset top and a maroon pearl skirt.  He wanted to see the Manor, so we spent most of our time walking around the Manor so he could check it out.  We did dance for a little bit at the end of the night, though.  It was a wonderful weekend. 

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