Shakespeare Fun In Stratford Upon Avon

Sunday Erin and I headed to Stratford Upon Avon which is where Shakespeare lived. We went on a hop on hop off bus tour and we got to see so much!

Outside of the house where Shakespeare grew up.

Inside of the house that was owned by Shakespeare's granddaughter.

 The site of the house that Shakespeare was living in at the end of his life. Someone that bought it after him had it torn down but they have been digging in the site recently and finding some very interesting artifacts.

It was really amazing to see where Shakespeare grew up and also really interesting to hear about how they lived back in his time. We really enjoyed Stratford Upon Avon but Sunday night we hopped on a train to head to Oxford.

Warwick Castle

Erin and I had an amazing weekend exploring three great little towns! We started off in Warwick where we explored the famous castle.

A fun map of the castle.

Trying to climb the castle wall.

 

We wanted to get a good jumping picture in.

In the castles peacock garden.

Creepy old torture chamber.

Inside the castle.

 A view of the town of Warwick.

Another interesting part of the town of Warwick. There were two of these on opposite sides of town.

The Lord Leycester Hospital which was built in the 14th century.

Interesting monument in St Mary's church in town.

Extremely old flag that was flown on ships in battle in the basement of the church.

Too many spiral stairs on the way up to the top of the church.

A view of the castle from the very top of the church.

Another view of town. We had a blast exploring the castle and we both agreed that they did an amazing job of making it seem like we were living in the medieval days. They had actors in all of the rooms and all of the furniture and decorations were amazing. We also stayed in an adorable bed and breakfast that an older couple ran together. They cooked us some amazing pancakes in the morning.

We also had some great tea in an adorable little shop that the B&B owners told us about. Warwick was a great little town the the castle definitely made the visit worthwhile.

More Ladies Day!

All of the lacrosse girls

Ladies Day Tournament

Wednesday was the the first ever Ladies Day Tournament at Leeds and it was so much fun! The weather was amazing all day which made it great to be outdoors. I think I may have even gotten a little tan! The lacrosse team split into three smaller teams so we could all have more playing time at each sport. Each team played each sport three times so we played a total of 15 mini games. We started with football (soccer), and then played rugby, netball, lacrosse, and hockey. All of the sports were really great to try out and it was nice to spend some time playing soccer again! I really think netball would have been fun to try if I wasn't on the lacrosse team.

Above is a picture of all the teams learning the rules for each sport. Lacrosse is the light pink (my personal favorite), rugby is purple, cricket is yellow (we didn't actually play cricket though), hockey is the dark green, netball is the black, and soccer is the light blue. I'm the one in front with the sunglasses on.

My team!

All of the different team colors. The gray shirts were the people running the event. The day was so much fun and we won at least a few games including all of our lacrosse games (thank goodness). The two final teams played a game of tug of war to decide the winner and the hockey team ended up beating the netball team. Erin and I are off for the weekend Saturday and then it's just one week until Spain and my birthday! I have so much to look forward to I can't believe it!

Beginning of Spring?

We have had some AMAZING weather the last couple of days and it's supposed to continue for the entire week! It's obvious that all this sun is not a common occurrence here because people are just beyond excited and clearly trying to spend every second of their time outdoors.

 This is a picture of all the students eating in the outside dining area of the Union.

This is the great seating area right outside our dorm which is where he had lunch since there was clearly no room in the Union. Luciana looks like she's definitely enjoying the sun. Tomorrow is the Lady's Day tournament where each girls sports team gets a chance to play every sport. It sounds like it should be tons of fun and it's supposed to be a beautiful day again! I will try and get some good pictures of the different sports to post here!

Bath and Stonehenge!

We started our trip out in Bath which was stunning. We were also lucky to have amazing weather for the day! The picture above is Erin and I at the Royal Crescent. (Same below)

We went on a walking tour and our guide was amazing. He was such a sweetheart and so knowledgeable.

More gorgeous buildings and also our tour guide at the bottom.

A circular area of more beautiful buildings called the Circus.

More of the Circus.

More buildings along the tour.

 Next we went to the Roman Baths which were placed right next to the stunning Bath Abbey.

 Some amazing statues looking down on the bath. Julius Caesar is the far left statue.

Sarah and I sitting by the main Roman bath.

The only hot spring left. You could see it steaming and bubbling.

More of the water that runs through the springs. It turned the rocks bright orange.

We headed back to check out the Abbey afterward. The tour guide had pointed out some interesting sculptures of angels climbing up the latter to heaven.

They were singing in the Abbey and it was a breathtaking experience to listen while admiring all of the beauty of the Abbey.

 A nighttime view from above the city of Bath.

Another view from the hill.

We headed to Stonehenge Sunday morning and it was amazing to see in real life.

Trying to get a picture "touching" the rocks.

Liz, Erin, Christina and I by the stones.

 Some sheep hanging out by Stonehenge.

Next we went to a village surrounded by a circle of stones called Avebury. We were able to actually touch and climb these rocks so we took full advantage.

 How I got up on the rock.

One more rock picture.

 Next we went to an adorable little town called Broadway. It was nestled at the bottom of some big green hills and basically had one street. It was so cute and had tons of great little places to sit and have a bite outdoors.

The town was so small I almost couldn't fit in some of the stores. After we left Broadway we stopped by a small local farm store and grabbed some snacks for the trip home. I absolutely fell in love with Bath and Broadway and I would love to spend more time exploring the towns. Stonehenge was also great and I'm very glad I got the chance to experience it. This weekend Erin and I are heading to Stratford, Oxford, and Warwick which should be really great!