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.

Edinburgh, my favorite weekend so far

I spent last weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland and it was amazing. We were on a field trip throughout the city on Friday and went on a tour of the Scottish Parliament, the Queen's palace, and the Edinburgh castle before being let loose on our own. The city was definitely better than I had expected and it was so huge. I ended up staying in a hostel Friday and Saturday night with 13 other people from the group. It was quite an experience having so many people in one room but it was awesome. I took plenty of random cityscape pictures which I will post below, as well as some others. I spent literally all of Saturday afternoon in a cafe with three friends and it was the most fun I have had in a long time. Most people would look at such a thing and consider it a wasted afternoon in an amazing city but I disagree, memories were made that I will never forget. I ate breakfast Sunday morning in the famous Elephant House Cafe which is where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. After that I spent the day roaming around town soaking up the sites and sounds of bagpipes. To top off the weekend a few of us climbed to the top of the Scot Monument which involved walking up a narrow spiral staircase with more than 280 steps. It was pretty creepy but the 360 degree views of Edinburgh, the mountains, and the north sea were stunning. Right before hopping on the train back to Alnwick I stopped in a pub with some friends to try Scotland's traditional dish called Haggis. Most tourists are put off by the dish because its main ingredient is sheep stomach but I couldn't say no to the opportunity. I must say it was actually very tasty and it went down well with a Coke, I would definitely eat it again.

I am heading back to Newcastle for a day trip this Friday with some of my usual road trip buddies to do some shopping and sight seeing since I was only able to visit the city for a few hours the first time around. There is a coastal boat tour on Saturday so I am planning on getting in on that as well. It was gorgeous outside today so hopefully that lasts into the weekend. It was also 80 degrees in Paris today so I am crossing my fingers that it stays that nice for the next few weeks, I will be there soon!











Cheers!

A trip to Hadrian's Wall and the Lake District

Here are some pictures from this past weekend. The first few are from Hadrian's Wall and I have one picture of our Hostel in the Lake District (the pic with the boat) and lastly some shots from a mountain top. Leaving for Edinburgh tomorrow!

Good morning!

It is about 10:40am Wednesday morning and I am in between classes so I thought I would give a brief update on my life in the castle. I am taking 5 classes here, Mass Communications 420, 436, and 438 as well as social sciences 204 (a British History course) and an International Studies course which is comprised of weekly field trips on Fridays. Along with classes, we all have cleaning duties that are to be done every Monday and Thursday afternoon in an effort to keep program costs down. Some of the duties include kitchen cleaning, bathroom cleaning (gross), vacuuming, and garbage collecting. I feel like I got off pretty easy, my duty is to wait for everyone to finish cleaning and bringing there garbage to the back door and I simply bring it all outside to the dumpster, not too bad. Furthermore, I am also enrolled in Work Study which means I do odd jobs and random tasks for Wade, the residential director for the castle. There are 9 others in work study as well so the work load isn't very demanding although wade says it will pick up. One of the jobs I do quite frequently however is nightly rounds. Since I have experience being a Community Advisor on campus Wade felt like it would be helpful if I coordinated rounds. Luckily there are 4 of us on rounds duty so we have been alternating nightly. It all feels kind of overwhelming right now since I am not in a routine yet but it is bearable.

We have our first field trip this weekend to the Lake District which is known to be the rainiest area of England but one of the most beautiful. It will be my first experience staying in a hostel as well and we will be there until Saturday night. Not quite sure what to expect. We will take part in some organized activities but can do as we please for the most part. A week from this Friday will be our day trip to Edinburgh, Scotland which is where we flew in. A lot of us, myself included, have booked hostels in downtown Edinburgh for that whole weekend so it should be a lot of fun. I will update you more as the time comes. In the meantime here are a few pictures from Newcastle this past weekend. I was only able to stay there for a few hours so I will definitely go back, it was amazing.


A huge line of people snaking through the streets, not sure why but it was funny




And lastly, the view from my bedroom in the castle...

Snapshots around town

Here are some pictures to give you a better idea of what the town is like outside of the castle... tiny streets, town hall, the Alnwick marketplace, the Alnwick gate tower, churches and cottages, and back to the castle at dusk.

Hello from Alnwick

After a full day of flying, 2 layovers (the first in Ohio, then again in New York), and a 2 hour bus ride from Edinburgh, Scotland to Alnwick, I have finally arrived at the castle! I am still feeling a little bit of jet lag but that hasn't stopped me from already enjoying this experience. The plane rides were exhausting but once we broke through the clouds and began our decent into Edinburgh, Scotland, that's when the excitement really started growing. After winding through the hills we made a final turn and this is what I saw outside my window... click it to enlarge

This is our front door...

And our backyard...


Kodak moments are everywhere!





There are plenty more amazing pictures which I hope to share shortly. Also, I spent an afternoon in Newcastle this weekend and have some nice pictures from there as well as around town here in Alnwick.

So far things are going great, the people in my group are awesome and so are the faculty and castle staff. We have already been getting to know our way around town and meeting some of the locals. It is a very tight knit community here in Alnwick and the residents (minus some of the teenagers) are quite welcoming and helpful. Classes officially start August 24th so it will be interesting to juggle school and travel. Personally I have been holding up very well. I am having a hard time getting used to the exchange rates and such but as far as culture shock goes, issues have been minimal. I hope to have a bit more of a routine from here on out so I expect to be able to update my blog more frequently, stay tuned!