Dover Castle and Canterbury Cathedral

On Wednesday we went to Dover Castle and the beach there and saw the white cliffs and then we went to the Canterbury Cathedral. It was real interesting to see the castle and tower of Dover. We learned that castles were built for three main reasons: 1. For protection from foreigners and other countries 2. Protection against commoners and 3. For a display of wealth. The castle also had a war museum of sorts that showed the different wars England had been in. I also saw a few WWII bunkers that were around the area. Although I thought the castle was pretty it did not seem too comfortable to live in! It was a real experience to see a landmark that has been around to see so much history. Dover was a neat experience and of course my roommates and I found different ways to have fun.

Jumping Out of a Cannon The Girls From the Attic

At the Dover Beach Getting Blow Away in the Wind!

We also had the opportunity to go to the Canterbury Cathedral. This was an interesting place to visit because I remember reading Canterbury Tales when I was in high school and going to this place made the book so real to me. While on the tour I was able to see places where Thomas A Beckett lived and died. I also got to see parts of the crypt which was over 900 years old. It was interesting that there were a couple of fires that burned the Cathedral down and the monks kept rebuilding it. In some instances the monks needed to raise money and they had the wealthy families give donations to the church and the monks would put the families coat of arms on the ceiling of part of the church. There are over 800 coat of arms on display including: Pope John Paul the 2nd and Prince Charles. There were also death masks hanging above as well. There were also amazing stained glass windows that were from the 1200s. In the crypt we saw statutes with the heads cut off from when the Puritans came through and destroyed the Cathedral. There is also a change in architecture throughout the Cathedral spreading from Roman to Gothic.

For me it was just amazing to be in a place with so much history and a place that Thomas A Beckett knew and lived. This is part of the ceiling and the Cross in the center is 6 ft long. Part of the chapel and the alter.

Buckingham Palace

Yesterday, my roommates and I went on a tour of Buckingham Palace. Some of the staterooms where open while the Queen was on her summer holiday. It was really interesting to see the inside of Buckingham Palace and see the history in it. On the tour I learned that Buckingham used to just be a mansion house before they added on and converted it into the Palace. I enjoyed seeing all the portrait galleries and marble collections that were in the Palace. I could not even imagine living in a place filled with so much art and history. I also really liked seeing the special display about the Commonwealth and all the tours the Queen did. I thought it was very respectful that every gift the Queen receives finds a special place in the palace. You can really tell how much the Queen respects and cares for the Commonwealth. Also, I found in one of the rooms that William Shakespeare was in the plaster in one of the staterooms- since we are reading a bunch of Shakespeare I found this interesting. I enjoyed this experience and know how lucky I am to have caught the Queen on her summer holiday.

National Gallery Assignment

For our first assignment we were asked to go to both the British Museum and The National Gallery. While at these places we were to find specific things to look and reflect on. At The National Gallery we had to look at two paintings and compare and contrast them. The paintings were supposed to be from the Medieval and Renaissance time periods and should be focused on religion.

The first painting I looked at was

-->“The Crucified Christ with the Virgin May, Saints and Angels (The Mind Crucifixion)” by Raphael. This panting was done around 1503. -->
The Renaissance painting was “The Adoration of The Shepherds” by Luca Signorelli and was done in about 1496.

It was interesting to look at the paintings and try to relate them to each other and drawn differences. This experience really helped me look at art in a different way and helped me with being able to look at pieces together.

I am putting the pictures up so take a look and see what you can find! These two where really two of my favorite pieces in there time periods!

London Baby!

A week from Tuesday I will be heading out to a study aboard in London, England. As excited as I am I am starting to feel stressed with all that I need to get done before I leave. All my travel documents are in order so that is a plus. I still need to pack and get some warm weather clothes. I also need to get my text books and put all the paperwork about the program together. As good as Hawaii is it is completely different than London!! Oh, well I am still super excited about being able to go and it should be a lot of fun! I just hope everything gets done in time!

Fun Times in Chicago

So a few weeks ago I took a girls trip with my mom, my Aunt Sara, my Abuela, Olivia, and my cousin Aspen. We all went to Chicago to see my cousin Courtney compete in the Miss International Pageant. It was a pretty short trip, but fun none the less! So on Wednesday night we all packed into Sara's Navigator and drove the 11 hours to Chicago! Much to everyone's surprise no fights broke out and we all survived the weekend without any drama! Of course once we got into the city of Chicago traffic was ridcouls... which later we found out Obama was in town so then my family proceeded to blame everything on Obama! Haha... of course I was just hoping I would see him (no luck there)! The pageant went well... Court didn't make top ten but it was still fun to see here and Clay and Chris! It's always great to get away and take a girls trip... on the way back we ran into a problem when one of the tires went flat.. but we got it fixed at the local Wal-Mart. While they were fixing the tires Aspen and Olivia proceeded to play with the shopping carts in the parking lot by having races with them... We then felt a little like white trash playing at the local Wal-Mart!! Hahaha good times! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Happy Belated Birthday Trisha

Since I am a horrible friend I forgot to wish Trisha a Happy Happy 22nd Birthday!!!! She is one of my best friends that I met in Hawaii! We lived to together the last year and a half and had the best times ever! She really made Hawaii so much fun and was always there for me!! So Trish I am so sorry I forgot: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! LOVE YOU!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Today is my wonderful mom's birthday! It is now 12:39 am so it has officially started! Of course, I will not say how old (or shall I say young) she is turning! In a few hours me and Joe will continue our family tradition and go to Dunkin Donuts and get mom a birthday doughnut! I just wanted to give a birthday shout out to her! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Hope your day goes well and all your wishes come true!!! Haha, plus I hope she loves her gift (we got her an i-pod and an i-tunes gift card)! She has been wanting one for a while! For her birthday celebration we are all going out and going to a Karaoke bar! It should be fun! Anyway, words can't describe how much I love my mom and hope she has a GREAT DAY!

HAPPY BIRTDAY AGAIN TO THE WORLD'S GREATEST MOM!!