Under Construction

Hello all,

My laptop screen fried a few weeks ago and as a result I cannot upload pictures/use my computer for anything. I hope to get the remaining pics posted sometime after I get home so keep a look out in December.

Off to Switzerland

I know it has been awhile so I will try to bring you all up to speed. Below are some random pictures from our week long trip to London. Not much to show because I made the mistake of not charging my camera before the trip. It was a pretty packed week with very little free time as almost everything on the schedule was mandatory. We saw things such as the Tower of London, the London Bridge, Tower Bridge (the iconic bridge that most people assume is the "London Bridge"), various museums, Parliament and Big Ben, and much much more. We also went to see the musical, Wicked. I never gave musicals a chance in the past but I thought Wicked was absolutely amazing. Those of us studying mass communications were also taken to Weber Shandwick, one of the world's leading public relations firms. Overall it was a great time, I only wish we had more flexibility to explore on our own and really soak up the sights and sounds on a whole new level.

Since then, not much has happened. As I write this I am in the second week of our two week break. I had nothing booked or planned for last week because I wanted to leave it open for spontaneous day trips. I spent a night in Edinburgh early last week and a night in Newcastle as well. I fly from Newcastle to London tomorrow to meet a friend who has been in Ireland for the first part of the break. From London we are flying to Switzerland where we will spend three nights in Lucerne. I am very very excited. The down time has been nice but being one of only 4 or 5 students in the castle at a time is kind of maddening. It should be a great rest of the week.

Bear with me

I realize I have not posted in quite awhile and a lot has gone on since then. I have pictures that I have yet to pull from my camera and stories to tell to bring you up to speed, all of which I hope to do very soon. Once I have the time I will get the posts rolling ASAP so stay tuned.

Ghost Hunters filming in the Alnwick castle??

It's October and that means Halloween is right around the corner. It's no secret that this castle is haunted (myself and others have had a fair share of odd experiences here) and while talking with some security guards about stories of ghosts, they dropped some exciting news. Apparently a ghost hunting/paranormal investigation TV show is supposed to be filmed here on the 19th. They didn't tell us what show it is or if it's the 19th of this month but regardless, it is definitely something to look forward to. There is a show in the States on the Scifi channel called Ghost Hunters so it very well could be them but there is also a similar UK based show here so who knows.

I will keep you all posted on what happens and when. Hopefully we will be able to witness the filming otherwise it might happen during our 2 week break. In other news... I will be leaving for London bright and early tomorrow morning (boarding the bus at 5:45am to be exact) and will be there until next Thursday. It will be quite a busy few days as they have planned a ton of mandatory trips, tours, etc. We also have free time and some optional activities as well, one of them being heading to the theater Monday night to see the play Wicked. I know nothing about the play but I heard it's amazing so I figured it would be pretty awesome to see it in London. I will update soon with pics and info!

Random Update

Hello all,

It's a rainy morning here at the castle so I thought I would blog briefly in between classes. The weather is finally beginning to feel like Fall here but not nearly as cold as it is back in Minnesota. Alnwick winters are nothing like what we are used to but snow is still possible in small amounts. I have my first 2 tests this week and then we are off to London on Sunday. We will be there until the following Thursday and at that time I think I will be heading back to Paris for that weekend, I will know for sure within the next few days. Nothing else is really new here. Tourist season is almost over at the castle so the Duke will be moving back in with his family pretty soon. He has already made a few visits here over the past few weeks, it's pretty cool catching glimpses of members of the family here and there.

I will post pictures from London once I return, as well as pictures from wherever I end up the following weekend.

Amsterdam

Sights from Paris

Sorry for the delay everyone, spent this past week getting back into the swing of things with classes and such. We had our first week long break from the 19th to the 26th and I spent the first half in Paris and the second half in Amsterdam. Below are some pictures from Paris, I could have spent the entire week there. Aside from the initial culture shock and the lack of English speakers, it was very easy to gain comfort from the city and its residents.