School has been going well. I've been working on readings, etc. Last week we went on a field trip through Dickens London. Truthfully most of it was torn down during the 19th century so there wasn't much to see. We got to go through the Temple, which is where all the lawyers offices (chambers) are. Saw Fleet St. and also saw a church that I guess was the best place to pick up prostitutes. It was a really interesting walk. Also at the time my camera decided to die on me. It was rather tragic.
A few hours before Steph and I left for the weekend I went to the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) with my friend Liz. There were some pretty amazing things there, and such a hodge podge of things ranging from jewelry, to statues and paintings and furniture.
This past weekend I went on a Horseback riding trip in Wales, in Gower. We REALLY lucked out on the weather. We took a train from Paddington in London to Swansea, Wales. We ended up in a B&B called Parc-Le-Breos. That first night we divided up into rooms. I got into a quad, and with some skill in rock-paper-scissors, I won myself a queen size bed for the weekend. Besides the room having NO heat, it was rather nice. That first night we all relaxed, watched some British TV (interview with Tom Cruise...) and the movie Man of Fire.
The Next day was full of riding. I landed myself on Joe. I nicknamed him Joe the Plumber Horse :-D. We had to brush them down, and they did the hard stuff regarding the saddle. About 10 minutes into the ride some dogs spooked a horse and the girl riding it met the groun unexpectedly. She was alright and able to get back on the horse. After that I was somewhat tense, and the feeling of my arms attests to my nervousness. Riding English was different. I had been used to Western, but I actually liked English better. Anywho, the rest of the ride was uneventful. The blue skies overlooking the bays and ocean, along with the hills and farms and sheep made the whole thing very beautiful. Along the way we also passed some wild ponies. I didn't know they had them in Wales. After a couple hours, we had lunch in the cultural center there and then hopped back on for a stroll for a little bit. Once we were back all of us were exhausted (there were 12 girls). We showered, had dinner and then went into "town". There was a pub called the White Rose which was nice. We had some good chats. At 10 we called it a night and went back and more chatting happened, but I was so dead from riding. My arms still hurt.
The nest morning around 10, my friend Stephanie and 3 other friends we made on the trip went on a hike/walk down to one of the beaches and then up to the ruins of a castle from the 13th century (???). We again lucked out on the weather and spent 3 hours wandering around, running on the beach barefoot, watching rock climbers and soaking up the sun.
The ride back to London was uneventful and we made it back in time to attempt to get some homework done before classes today (monday).
Tomorrow I get to go on a field trip to Chealsea football stadium for my History of London Popular Culture class and then on Wednesday I have another field trip for my British Politics course in Westminster. I don't know what the Westminster walk entails, but I've seen most of it a million times so hopefully there will be something new.
Here are some pictures
Me and Joe
On the Trail
Three Cliffs
Me :-)
Castle Ruins
Where we stayed
