Bonjour vingt-et-un!

Hi everyone!  My spring break has definitely been an adventure.  On Saturday, the 23rd of April, I got up before the sun and hopped on a train to Lyon, and watched the sun come up through the train window.  The train was delayed just before arriving at the station, so once I arrived I rushed to find the train across town to the airport.  Upon arriving at the airport, I rushed to find the EasyJet terminal, which was tricky because they were outside the main part of the airport, in a gigantic tent.  But when I went to check in, I was told check-in had closed 15 minutes before.  I went to talk to someone else about getting on the next flight to Bristol, which unfortunately was not until the next day.  So after waiting in several different lines, making several international calls to both my Aunt in Bristol and my Dad in Oklahoma where it was the middle of the night, waiting for the plane to finish boarding and take off so I could "officially" be counted as having missed the flight, and waiting for lunch break to end, I got a ticket to Bristol for the next day, which was Easter Sunday (or Pâques as they call it in France).  So all I had left to do was find a hotel room and figure out what to do while I was stuck, by myself, for 24 hours in Lyon, France.

Luckily, there was a hotel right across the street.  It wasn't the cheapest hotel, but it wasn't too outrageously expensive, plus it was clean, safe, and close.  So I booked a room, took a little nap (I had had a very long day, after all), and then set out to explore Lyon.  I took a train to downtown, the same one I had taken from the train station upon arrival in Lyon.  I wandered around and took some pictures.  Lyon, I found, is a true mix of the old and the new.  Not only do they have the traditional French architecture, but they have the glass skyscrapers of modern cities.

Lyon

The next day, I arrived at the airport very early.  Even so, I STILL almost missed my flight, due to long lines to get our passports stamped before we got on the plane.  But luckily I didn't, and finally I was on my way to Bristol!  When I arrived, it felt like such a relief to hear people speaking English, and read signs in English.  It was not a relief when the first thing that came down the luggage conveyor belt was a broken suitcase handle.  Luckily it wasn't mine, so I collected my entire suitcase and went through customs pretty quickly.  Then I was met by Auntie Molly and Uncle Peter, and my cousin Clare and her husband Richard, whom I hadn't met before.  It was wonderful to be with family!

The first thing we did, in our vacation (they were all on vacation too), was visit Bath.  The city Bath, England was named after the ancient Roman bathhouse that still exists there, in excellent condition.  I first heard about Bath in reading Jane Austen.  In her book Northanger Abbey, the main character, Catherine Morland, spends several weeks in Bath, and goes to The Pump Room regularly to socialize and meet Henry Tilney (<3).  Besides that, I've heard about it from my sister, who visited Bath a couple years ago, so it was really cool to see.

a view of the Bath, with the Bath Cathedral in the background

Richard, Clare, Uncle Peter, and me sitting by the bath

The Pump Room

After Bath, we packed up for several days and headed north toward the Lake District and Lake Windermere.  What a beautiful countryside!  Uncle Peter, Auntie Molly, Clare and Richard checked into the quaint b & b where they were staying, and because they were already full when I decided to go, I checked into the hostel where I stayed.  The hostel actually turned out to be really nice; it was an old manor house in the middle of nowhere, practically empty, and they served a full English breakfast. :)  Then we took a boat tour of the lake; it was beautiful!

This is Wray Castle as seen from Lake Windermere

Unfortunately I had a bad cold the whole time we were in the lake district; probably something I caught on the plane due to a low immune system from having some kind of bug for a couple days shortly before I left.  But I wasn't about to let that stop me; there was too much beautiful country to see.  We went to see Wray Castle; it's a newish castle that was built by a doctor as a "surprise present" for his wife, using her fortune.  When she saw it, she hated it and didn't spend one night in it.  Now it's been sold and is being turned into a hotel.  It doesn't sound like a very romantic honeymoon getaway to me.

Wray Castle

Beatrix Potter's House

We also went to see Beatrix Potter's House.  It had a lot of original furniture, and it was really cool to compare the house to her drawings and see where she got a lot of her inspiration.  Then on the way back to Bristol we stopped by Hardwick Hall, which is also known as Malfoy Manor.  That's right, it's the mansion that was seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the Malfoys' house.  Of course, it was really a much brighter place than it appeared in the movie.  It was really beautiful.

Harwick Hall (that's a coffee cup in my hand, just in case you wondered)

 Later, Clare, Uncle Peter, Auntie Molly and I went to Lacock Village.  It's an entire village that's owned by the National Trust, which is some kind of program in the UK that preserves old places for tourism.  We walked around the quaint old village, and looked in Lacock Abbey.  Some parts of Lacock Abbey were used as parts of Hogwarts in various Harry Potter movies.  It's very beautiful, and incredibly old.

A fluffy cat in front of a quaint cottage in Lacock village

A corridor in Lacock Abbey; Harry Potter fans might recognize this beautiful architecture

A room in Lacock Abbey; this beautifully arched ceiling was used in the Harry Potter films as well

Then on the first of May, we heard about the death of Osama Bin Laden.  Since I've been out of the country so long, I feel a little out of touch with things that are happening back home.  Of course, this made world-wide news, and it affects everyone, especially Americans traveling abroad (or so they say).  Honestly I haven't felt any less safe than usual, I haven't been attacked by a terrorist yet, and I'm not going to let any travel warnings stop my adventures.  But I will have to be careful and stay away from protests.


Later Clare's brother Carl came over, with his wife Caroline and their twin daughters Charlotte and Chloe.  It was so nice to meet all of them, and the girls are adorable!  We all went to the zoo together, and then we went out to TGI Friday's (the British version), where we ate dinner and then sang happy birthday to the twins, whose birthday is a little after mine, and to me.  So the waiters asked everyone in the restaurant to sing to Charlotte, Chloe, and Chloe, which was kind of funny, and then we ate cake.

The next day we went to a may fair.  It was cool to see how they celebrate May Day in England (even though we went on May 2nd; maybe the fair lasts a couple days?)  But we listened to the band, walked around some, and I got a Doctor Who action figure for 40 pence. :)

The May Fair

The Doctor (10th; my favorite!)

Then, May 3rd was my 21st birthday!  Clare cooked me the traditional pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, a birthday tradition in my family.  Clare is an excellent cook, and she can make some very American-tasting pancakes!  Uncle Peter took me to old downtown Bristol, and we walked around, had some lunch, saw the University of Bristol, the Bristol Cathedral, and had some traditional cream tea.  Cream tea is afternoon tea with scones that have clotted cream and jam spread on them.  It's very good and very rich!  So I had an excellent birthday.

The next day, I got on a plane to Prague to meet Martin, a friend of my dad's.  I stayed with him and his wife and two daughters for three days, and visited Prague.   It was incredible!  By the way, I can't say it was awesome, because in Czech the word that sounds like "awsome" means "eight," and I was told that if I were to go into a bar and say "awesome" they would bring me eight beers.

The first night I was there, we went to see the Prague Castle.  It was closed, so we couldn't go in, but it was all lit up and very pretty, and I took a lot of pictures of it, and of the Cathedral which is sort of surrounded by the castle.

looking across the river in Prague at night

Prague Cathedral, inside the castle

Artwork on the cathedral

back view

The next day we saw the Praque Exhibition Grounds, which was very beautiful, and unfortunately the building had been partially burned down a few years earlier.  They were preparing for a marathon that was going to happen that weekend, after I was gone.  We also walked through a beautiful garden by the Prague Castle.  There were peacocks; it was quite lovely.  We ate lunch at a sushi bar where the sushi came on a conveyor belt and you could just grab whatever plate looked good from where you were sitting at your table.  It was delicious and entertaining!

Prague Exhibition Grounds

Gardens by the Castle

the ceiling just next to the gardens

at the gardens; under the arches you can see where the ceiling picture was taken

sushi lunch

Later, we went inside the castle.  We walked around the cathedral; it was very beautiful; lots of Gothic architecture.  We also went in a part of the castle where the horses came inside for indoor jousting.  It was very beautiful, and the balconies had some amazing views.

inside the cathedral

view from a castle window

the jousting hall

the king's chapel in the Castle

Also, we went to the Petrin lookout tower, which is sort-of Prague's version of the Eiffel Tower.  Basically, it's like the top of the Eiffel Tower built up on the top of a hill.  So, it's not the entire Eiffel Tower, but from the bottom of their river to the top of their tower it's as high as from the bottom of the Seine to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  

view of Prague Castle from the tower

View of St Charles Bridge from the tower

One evening, we went out with the whole family, including both daughters.  We climbed to the top of a clock tower to look out at the city at nightfall, and then we went down and watched the clock chime.  It was really a show because it was an astronomical clock and there were statues that moved, and it was really complicated.  The amazing thing is how old it is; it was first built in 1410!

the astronomical clock

view of Prague Castle at nightfall from the clock tower

The last day we did some touring in the morning, and also watched some French movies.  Then in the afternoon, I left on a plane for Paris.  I stayed in a Hostel in Paris (so I wasn't alone; I had people to hang out with some of the time).  Between the two walking tours I did and my wandering around alone, I saw Pont Neuf, L'Arc de Triumphe, The Bridge of Love (I forgot the traditional name for that one, but of course I remembered the romantic one lol), the Champs Elysees, The Eiffel Tower, and the Orangerie (impressionist museum, including The Waterlilies).  I had a great time!  Then I hopped on a train back to Clermont-Ferrand.  I arrived around 10, very tired, and very sore.  I collapsed in bed and managed to wake up for my 3pm class the next day. :) 

Pont Neuf

Bridge of Love

Les Champs Elysees

L'Arc de Triumphe

Cafe where Amelie was filmed

Sacre Coeur Cathedral

Moulin Rouge (I didn't go in)

La Tour Eiffel

The Water Lilies

So I have survived another marvelous adventure.  I have also survived 21 years of life.  I think those are both pretty cool.  So now that I've spent all day writing up this blog post and uploading pictures, I think I'll go take a walk before it gets dark.  Honestly, as amazing and incredible as this semester has been, it's also been very long.  Sometimes, the best part of an adventure is coming back home afterwards.