Loire Valley

From Paris we took a train to the Loire Valley where we went on a castle tour. There are SO MANY castles around France. We saw 3 of them. Chambord, and Chenanceaux, and St. Amelion. Chambord had a double helix staircase, desined by Divinci especially for the king. We also saw the Divinci house in which he lived, as well as many of his origional drawings and models. We also went through many vineyards, and did a lot of wine tasting. We stayed with a french family. The other girl I went with had a French exchange student a few years before this, so we stayed with her family. It was really neat to see and experience french culture inside a real house, and not necessarily in a tourist area.

Paris, Trip 1

While we were student teaching we got a week off in February for a mid winter break. During that time, 1 other girl and I went to France. We started in Paris and we spent 4 days there. We had a goal to see as much as we could, and I think we succeeded pretty well. We saw the Arc de Triumph, and went to the top, we walked along the Champs Elysee, the Eiffel Tower, and went all the way to the top, we walked through the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, the Centre Pompidu, the Pantheon, as well as ate at many of the French Cafes. I think we lived on sweets that week! My favorite part of that trip was seeing the Eiffel Tower glitter at night. It was probably one of the most amazing sites of the trip!

Ireland

A couple of girls and I went to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day. It was very different from being in the US! First of all we realized just how we have taken that holiday and made it into an excuse to drink! Yes, they drink over there as well, but not like we do. It is mostly beer...no shots, no drinking for the sole purpose of getting drunk.

The day started off with the St. Patty's Day Parade, which was exciting because we saw many university bands from the US marching, such as University of Arizona, and University of Texas. It was actually nice to see the American flag because by this point it had been about 2 months since we left and we had not really been reminded of home much. Once the parade was over we toured the Dublin Castle, and then proceeded to tour the Guinness Factory. The showed how beer was made, as well as free beers throughout the whole building. Once we reached the top we were able to pour our own beer, and got a certificate that says "I poured the perfect pint!" One of my favorite pictures from over there is a picture of me in a bright green shirt (we all got matching ones made) that said "trust me, i'm a teacher" and I am holding a rather large beer. It is even funnier if you know me, because you know that I do not drink very often at all, so just seeing me with a drink is amusing.

Once we left there we proceeded to tour the Jameson Factory to find out how Whiskey is made. That was a very interesting experience as well. I enjoyed learning about that! We got free samples again along the way, however as I said I do not drink often, and straight whiskey is not my choice of a drink, so I stuck my tongue in, but that was about it. I poured the rest away.

This was probably one of my favorite trips while we were over there. Ireland is beautiful, although I have heard that Dublin is not even the best place to visit. I would like to go back and see the rest of the country at some point in time!

Windsor Castle, and the Roman Baths

One of the next trips I took was to Windsor Castle. The is the Castle that the current Royal Family currently lives in for part of the year when they are not at Buckingham Palace in London. The castle was amazing! It was so beautifully decorated with a large chapel attached to it. The chapel there is where the Family goes to Easter Service. The tour included a history of the Royal Family and a history of England as a whole. It was here that I learned of England's youngest queen, who was 9 months old, and was later killed at age 12. We also got pictures with a guard. They do not move!!

That same weekend we went to visit the Roman Bath houses. They were discovered because a woman's house we flooding and they could not figure out why. When they dug down, not very many feet,they discovered what appeared to be an underground bath house, and it was. The bath house was just room after room of large rooms with warm water flowing from natural hot springs. Many years ago these baths were believed to be the social spot of the area. People would through many valuables into the baths to honor gods. A lot of these things are on display now throughout the tour. At the end there is a dining area where you can have tea, and there is a fountain there that flows from the hot spring (and it filtered now) and you can pay to have a glass of water from it. I took one sip, but it was very gross!

Scotland

The first trip we took out of England was to Edinburgh Scotland. We saw the Edinburgh Castle, as well as the shops in the town. It was a very cute little town. There was also a farmers market there that we went to. One of the traditional dishes of Scotland was Haggis. I chose to try this, along with some of the other girls that I was with, however I did not choose to know what it was until after I ate it, and I was glad because there is no way I would have ate it. Here is the definition of what it is: sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. Surprisingly it was not as gross as it sounds, but I don't think I will be eating it again anytime soon.

The other thing that I did while I was there was have a kilt made for myself. That is the true Scottish attire, everyone wears one whether you work at a fast food place, or in a business setting! There were also many people playing bagpipes all over the street, almost like people play music over here for money on the streets.