The week after Barcelona

Being back from Barcelona was kind of a downer. Don't get me wrong, I love London, but Barcelona was so amazing that being back to class and cold London was not ideal.

Monday we had class and just hung out during the day until it was time to go see the play The Madness of King George. This play was actually really good. It is about George III and how he goes mad due to his porphyria. His first bout of madness is overcome, and that is what the play covers. I discovered I was very emotionally invested in it and thus I thought it was very good.

Tuesday was fairly uneventful until we went to the Tate Modern. It was...interesting. Its all modern which just breeds some funky stuff, but there were some really amazing pieces. I could have stayed in there forever just figuring out each piece and painting and reading about them, but we were limited on time, but I'll probably take another visit there on another day.

Wednesday there was really nothing to report. Just a normal day of class and wandering around...

Thursday was also average until later in the evening. We got tickets to a Brandenburg Concerto by candlelight at St. Martin in the Fields. It was amazing. The musicians were insanely talented and although it could have been a little more “candlelit” it was very very good. There were some issues with people there who stared at us and seemed rather disgusted with our presence...but aside from that it was enjoyable.

On Friday we all got up very early for another weekend trip. We got on the bus and went to Avebury – its similar to Stonehenge but the rocks form a circle around the city which were presumably for protection or something until suspicion arose and then some were destroyed.

You can kind see the rocks in the background too

 We got back on the bus and went to Bath. Here we went through the Roman Bath museum. It was really cool and interesting but slightly overwhelming because of how much information was available. Also, sadly I think a lot of us are a little museumed out and it has taken away from the excitement slightly...still it was cool. We got to drink the “healing water” at the end which tasted metallic and disgusting but hey its all about the experience right? Maybe I added on years to my life or something because of it. ;)

Baaaaath!

 From Bath we went to a Welsh Museum. It was gorgeous! We walked all around these grounds and garden areas. Granted it was cold but it was still beautiful and the highlight of the day. Here are some pics!

So pretty

Welsh ducks

 From there we drove to Cardiff and checked in to our hotels. They were sketchy and not the cleanest...Mikelle and I are pretty sure ours had poo on the walls...but it was somewhere to sleep I guess. Haha. Annie, Ashley, Becca, Mikelle, and I went to a pub and got dinner and then we ended up in our room talking for a long time after before we finally went to sleep.

The next day was...dun da duh! My birthday! We got up and got ready and after being sung Happy Birthday on the bus we drove to our first destination: Stourhead. Stourhead is basically like this manmade garden area that isn't meant to look manmade and it is gorgeous. For those Austen fans, parts of the newest Pride and Prejudice were filmed there, and it is gorgeous. I'm obsessed with that P&P so this was a perfect place to spend my Birthday morning...just look...

The bridge she runs across after she founds out Darcy came between Bingley and Jane

And there it is! The rain scene location! So excited!

After Stourhead we went to Stonehenge. I have heard some pretty negative reflections on this which weren't entirely untrue, but considering I had very low expectations going in, I thought it was pretty cool. You don't get to be very close to it and it was really cold and windy while we were there and started raining towards the end so that could have been pretty miserable and not worth it, but it was still pretty cool and we made it fun by doing things like this...

Mikelle and I at Stonehenge!

Next we drove to Chawton...aka the town that Jane Austen spent the last years of her life. She wrote her last novels here, and it is the burial place of her mother and sister. We went through her house and walked around the little town in the rain. It was cool and looking back I wish I had bought some things in the little shop, but it was cool to be there and it proved to be pretty fun.

After that we got back on the bus to return home, after fixing up the “wet-rat” look we were all sporting we went out to dinner for my birfday. We went to this delicious Italian restaurant down the street from us and then got a pazooki at pizza hut then went back to the center and watched Pride and Prejudice, squealing at the parts we had been earlier that day. Overall, it was a great Birthday that begun in Wales and ended in London. :)