Week Five: Trip to London!

Big Ben and The Parliament Building

After our trip to Barcelona, it was nice to be back home in Ambialet! This week was a typical week. On Monday we had classes with Dr. Woods and Dr. Lynch throughout the day. Tuesday we had French class along with our Religious Studies class later that night. Wednesday we had our trip to Moissac, France. Thursday we had French again and shortly after French we started our journey to England.
I don't like cities at all. I prefer the country side where it's quiet and more laid back, but London was something else! I now have a favorite city! We flew into London in the late afternoon and spent most of the evening trying to find our hostel and find somewhere to eat after our journey. The next day started early at 8am! We started off by taking a guided tour bus through London to get an idea of where everything was! I was in disbelief that was in London, especially when I saw Big Ben, the Parliament Building, and Westminster Abbey! For lunch we stopped at the Sherlock Holmes Pub and enjoyed fish and chips! Later we saw a museum, traveled more on the bus, and then took a cruise from Big Ben to the Tower of London down the Thames River!

Guard at Buckingham Palace

The next day we took a trip down to see Buckingham Palace and saw the changing of the guards! I've never seen anything like it! It was this long drawn out process, but they had a marching band playing, the guards marching down the street and into the palace gates! I was right outside the gate so I had one of the best views! After the changing of the guard, we walked around Big Ben and the Parliament Building to get a better view especially since it was sunny out!

London Phone Booth

On our last day in London, we took the metro across London to see Abbey Road where the Beatles crossed! It was really neat to see it in person and we were able to do our own walk like the Beatles! This proved to be the hardest staged picture I've ever participated in since it is an active street. We managed to get our pictures and before we new it we head off to Harrod's for an hour. Harrod's was this huge seven store building with every shop imaginable! It was very easy to get lost! We stopped for Lunch near the King's Cross station where we later saw platform 9 and 3/4! I was really excited to see this since I read and loved all the Harry Potter books! To end the day we took a tour of the British Museum, stopped at a local pub for fish and chips one more time, and then started our journey back home. I hope I get a chance to visit London again in the near future! I didn't want to leave!

Week Four: Trip to Barcelona!

Between inner and outer walls of Carcassonne

I told myself that I would try and record my blogs weekly since writing a daily blog would be too much and there wouldn't be enough time to do so. This past week was very busy so I'm late in writing my blog for the week.

This week past week was very exciting! On Monday October 4th we traveled to Notre-Dame de la Drech for the feast day of St. Francis. We were welcomed by the Franciscans of the parish and then received a tour of the small museum they had. After our tour of the museum we had a five course meal with them and a few of the parishioners! I tried for the first time goose liver on a sweet bread and loved it! When lunch was finished we ventured up the bell tower where we had a chance to play the bells! It was so much fun!

Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona

On Wednesday we traveled to Carcassonne where we saw a medieval castle! It was the first castle we saw that wasn't in ruins! We toured the outside wall and eventually ventured inside where we visited the Cathedral that was of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture. There was so much to see and unfortunately one day is not enough to see everything! I hope in the near future to return to Carcassonne!

After our trip to Carcassonne, we traveled to Barcelona and arrived Thursday morning. We visited Gaudi park and the Cathedral of Sagrada Familia! This Cathedral was by far the most interesting Cathedral we have seen! The Cathedral has been under construction since 1882 and is planned to be finished in 2025! At the end of each afternoon we had some free time to do whatever we wanted before dinner. I spent two afternoons at the beaches of Barcelona where on the second day I went swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! After dinner we spent our times walking the La Ramba and checking out local attractions!

Beaches at Barcelona

I could say and show more pictures of the sites I've seen thus far, but seeing the sites in person is absolutely breath taking and mind boggling! Pictures and stories just don't do these sites any justice!

Week Three: Trip to Conques!

Conques Cathedral

Another week flew by in the blink of an eye! This week was a very busy week as we traveled to Conques, France and saw the medieval village. In the village we saw another Cathedral and learned about the different styles in architect before we left. This one was very different from the others we've seen so far. Above the door of this Cathedral was a depiction of what the day of judgment will look. We had to take a step back and really analyze what was going on in the depiction. After viewing the Cathedral we ventured inside a museum to see a religious relic that pilgrims would travel long distances to see. A lot to see with so little time!

Castle Ruins

Today after studying french for a few hours, Lauren and I decided to go see the castle ruins of Ambialet. We had to climb a very steep hill and walk along a narrow path. The walk up to the ruins was about 15 minutes. We ventured around and were amazed by the sight of the ruins and enjoyed a great view of the monastery across the way. Although there is not much left of the ruins, it was interesting to see how steps and walls were still intact. After our visit to the ruins, we climbed further up the mountain side. Just as we rounding a corner, there would be more of a hike waiting for us. Finally after another 15 minutes, we reached the top of the mountain where we had a spectacular view of Ambialet and the monastery. We were able to see that the monastery is on one of the smaller mountains within the ranges. After a short break and taking lots of pictures we headed back down the mountain and made it back to the village in roughly 20 minutes.

Ambialet from above the castle ruins

When we arrived back at the monastery we ended the day by having dinner and baking snicker doodle cookies. I was happy that I had a chance to bake something since I miss cooking and haven't cooked since we left the USA. As this week comes to an end, I'm looking forward to week coming up since this is the week we travel to Barcelona, Spain!