Nottingham and Stamford

I have officially been at Harlaxton for three whole weeks; it feels like a lifetime… but in a good way! The last time I blogged I had just come home from a great weekend in London with 125 of my fellow classmates. Since then, I have basically been buried in my schoolwork, covering hundreds of years of British history, learning about the different parts of the brain and their functions (psychology), and all of the events that led up to the beginning of WWI. I don’t think I’ve ever been in the library so much in my entire life! I joke that I should just bring my mattress down here because I basically live here… It’s crazy. But hey, I get my work done!

Don’t go thinking it’s all work and no play; we work really hard during the week so we can go out and travel on the weekends! Last Saturday I went into Nottingham, a nearby town and the home of Robin Hood, with a few friends of mine. I successfully rode on a train for the first time (even though we almost missed it because of a late taxi!). After about 30 minutes on the train we took to the streets of Nottingham with no concrete plan. We visited Nottingham Castle and saw the best view of the city for free! We then traveled toward Old Market Square, which is basically the center of the city and a hub of shops and restaurants.  After walking around for a bit and grabbing a bite to eat, we ran into another group of Harlaxton kids and we all took the bus to Wollaton Hall (“Wayne Manor”) where part of The Dark Knight Rises was shot. We then ventured back to Old Market Square to get a little bit of shopping in at Primark, AKA the best store ever. It’s basically like a huge Forever 21, but with even more variety. I bought two lovely scarves for £8 to keep me warm this winter! To complete our trip, we visited the oldest pub in England, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. It’s been open since 1189 AD! Afraid that we would miss our coach bus back, we only had time to look around for a few minutes (no drinks) before heading back to Grantham. Once back in town, a huge group of us went out to celebrate one of our friend’s birthdays! I had a very busy day indeed.

Then yesterday, a lot happened as well. I was offered the position of one of the six Harlaxton Ambassadors for this semester. Basically, I’ll be helping out/representing the college at different events at the manor such as lectures, performances, and receptions. I may even be able to give a few tours while I’m here! After class was finished for the day, I went on an optional field trip to the nearby town of Stamford. It was such a cool place; it was so medieval it didn’t even seem real! That’s one thing I’m having trouble adjusting to here: I can’t get over how old everything is. It’s hard to wrap my mind around it! A group of us walked around, visiting different medieval churches, wonderful bakeries, and even the gravesite of Daniel Lambert, Britain’s fattest man! Once we returned to the manor, the students involved in Meet-A-Family had a very nice reception with our families. My mum was the only one that could make it, but we made dates to spend time with both parents in the future! (The boys are both off to college now.) Harlaxton wrapped up the night with some karaoke down in the bistro!

Tomorrow we are all taking a British Studies field trip to Lincoln, where we will visit the Lincoln Castle, Cathedral, and go on a Roman walk. Then Saturday and Sunday I’m traveling to Edinburgh, Scotland with three other friends from WKU. I’ll try to be better at blogging in the future and will definitely post once I get back from my trip on Sunday. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!