Portsmouth

This morning we left for our final field trip to Portsmouth. We first stopped at the hill that overlooks the city and the sea, so we could all see the fantastic view! There are unique buildings and all of the ships far out on the horizon line look like battle ship game pieces. While we walked down this hill we could get an even closer look. Then David and I decided to race each other up it- he beat my by only a hair, but he also had a head-start and didn't have a purse bouncing around- so I think I win.

Then we went into the city to see the museums and ships. Our first stop was a ferry tour in which we got to see many naval ships and learn about what they had done, or had the capability to do. We also viewed the shoreline and the cool buildings and structures one can see. Then we went to tour the H.M.S. Warrior which was really beautiful and we were free to explore the entire ship. Then we toured H.M.S. victory which is the ship Nelson led in the battle of Trafalgar. It was also in this ship where he was shot and later died. They put his body in a wine barrel to preserve his body and bring him to land (the journey was about 3 months). His body was actually greatly preserved, the gross thing is that may sailors drank from the wine barrel later as it was expensive! Yuck!

We also went into some museums to learn about this history of the boats. Here we even got to touch and smell rope from the 1500's which had been buried at sea with the H.M.S. Mary Rose. The main museum was closed so that was a bummer. In the small museum they have a traveling show and when we were there it was the costumes used form the Les Mes movie, as a great deal of it was filmed in Portsmouth. 

Then we rode home. On our way home we pulled into Highclere Castle in hopes to see it. This is the castle where Downton Abbey is filmed, and you may know that this is my favorite show. I was super excited to see it! And of course we got to the gate and the security guard said no visitors were allowed today as it was in use! He would not even let us out of the bus to take a picture from the distant gate! I was super bummed, but at least I can say I have been to the location- I am just going to tell myself it was because they were filming ;). 

Oxford

Yesterday and today we have spent our afternoons walking around Oxford, trying to find new areas we may have yet to explore. Yesterday I found the Harry Potter series in the Blackwell's Bookstore and was excited because it was the first time in person I had seen the first one titled, "The Philosopher's Stone" rather than the 'sorcerous'.



Today we noticed that fountains are starting to have running water in them! This was a nice change to see as we are not used to it since it has been so cold!

Then today the 3 of us went walking on the other side of the Thames (as opposed to the Christ Church Meadows side) to see what we could find. We saw many fancy boat houses that the University uses for their rowing teams. We also stumbled upon a field with a cool bush-type gate so we went over to see it and take pictures with it. Then, as we were leaving David and I hopped a fence to get out (because our gate was locked) and Kelsey thought she found a hole to go through but sadly she got stuck and ripped her nice jean on barbed wire!! But overall we've had a nice couple days and tomorrow we have our last field trip to Portsmouth! 

Summerton

Today after classes David, Kelsey and I walked to Summerton, which is basically a little area on the outskirts of Oxford that is less populated but has some unique little shops. We browsed through some stores while we were there. We liked looking through the thrift stores to find unique things, thrift stores here are much different! Perhaps it was also because Oxford is a really nice city anyways, but the stores are cleaner, more organized and have really nice stuff!! Kelsey found a really cute necklace that was only a pound! Then David bought a dessert at a shop and then we walked back to our hall.

After we came back David and I decided we wanted to keep walking to enjoy the day a feel the sunshine! It has not been very nice weather for us so it was a little treat! So we walked through the university parks and gardens! All the spring flowers were in bloom so we really enjoyed them and took some pictures!

Then we had dinner in our hall, which was.. interesting tonight. Then after dinner we went to a fancy restaurant/bar called Brown's with a group of our friends and we all just talked and sort of re-grouped I guess after we had all returned from our Easter trips! 

Finally Spring?

Today I got done with classes around 3. After I was done David, Brittany and I went for a walk. Kelsey was not feeling well so she stayed back in our room. The three of us went for a walk to a park that our advisor, Dr. Donnay recommended checking out. It was a huge area with many ponds and lots of room that would be fun to have activities at. We decided to walk along a footpath that followed the Thames. The river was a brilliant green color and it was gorgeous! We followed this path for a couple miles and then just sort of ended up near the High street.

Next we decided to tour the oldest college of Oxford University, Balliol College. This college was founded in at least 1263, but probably earlier. This college is where Adam Smith, John Wycliffe, and Audlous Huxely attended. The area is really cool and it basically looks like a castle. It has beautiful little gardens and nice areas for students to relax and study. It was worth it to see for only a pound.

After this we went to this huge bookstore called Blackwells. This is by far the biggest book store in Oxford. It is seriously enormous. I honestly believe they carry every book you could ever want. After we left the bookstore David went to another bookstore while Brittany and I went to some little shops near it. We went into one an sampled some flavors of fudge- it was so tasty! We felt bad though because it was much to expensive to buy even one piece! But while we were there we got to watch a worker making some and he was shaping it in a heart formation.
He said that he was to the part where he was 'adding
the love'.

Then Brittany and I lost David, and without cell phones we searched for a while but then we just decided to go back to our dorm and hope that he showed up eventually, which he did, haha. Then we had dinner and then David, Brittany, Kelsey and I played Oh Shoot- a card game- in mine and Kelsey's room. It was a lot of fun!

Last Day in Prague (Easter Sunday)

Well for our last day we really wanted to find a church service but we couldn't find one that was not in Czech or Latin, so that was unfortunate. But we did sit in the Easter square and listened to all the the Easter Bells and ceremonial music. It is really cool how much they celebrate Easter here, nothing compares to this in the states. I bought a mini Easter stick to celebrate the day!

We went to the Jewish Quarter today and the first stop we went to was Memorial Hall. In it are tens of thousands of names painted alphabetically on the wall of those who were killed during World War II. In the list of names I found one person with the last name of Kodet (Kotekt) and this was interesting to me because my Grandma Jo's maiden name was Kodet and her family was from Bohemia so it got me curious if that person was some distant relative (even though I don't know of anyone in our family who was Jewish). Also in this memorial were drawings hung that were colored by children, and this was really hard to look at. Children had pictures of being kicked out of their schools, having to use communal showers with adults, and places they missed that were outside of their ghetto.

Our second stop was the Jewish cemetery. This is older that world war two era when Jews were first forced to ghettos to be separate from Christains. They were only allowed so much space and therefore in their cemetery the headstones are literally on top of each other and falling over. They have no idea how many people are actually buried here because there are too many to tell. We also looked through many synagogues and that was also interesting. David had to wear a Yamaka through everything too!


After we had lunch we went to Sts. Cyril and Methodias Church to see the museum and Nazi bullet holes. There reason there are these bullet holes is because of the parafighters who were hiding in the krypt after they assassinated Hydrich. They assassinated him because he was a really evil, high ranking Nazi commander in charge of the SS for Czechoslovakia and they didn't want him hurting people and controlling their area. (The assassination actually took place out of Prague and actually really near to the hotel we are staying in!) Nazis were furious after the assassination and once someone leaked that the parafighters were being hidden in the krypt they killed everyone but 10 people in the town are near that church in retaliation. They also shot out the windows of the church and broke into the krypt to kill the parafighters, but the parafighters committed suicide before the Nazis could get into where they were. I have a picture where you can see the bullet holes, and I also included one with me sticking my finger in one to show how deep they are.

 After this we went back to the Easter celebration in the square and walked around to enjoy our last evening. We then had dinner and headed back to our hotel early to pack and get a goods nights rest before our early flight!

Exploring Prague

Today our entire plan was based off of seeing the Jewish area of the city, but we were ignorant of the fact that Saturday is their holy day and therefore everything was closed! So we just went with it today to see where we would end up and we saw so much and had a lot of fun! First we hiked up a hill to see the Metronome monument which is placed where there used to be a statue of Stalin that overlooked the city, which was taken down when they became a republic.

Then we walked over towards the castle grounds again because our tickets worked for two days. Here we found an old toy museum that we looked through. There were so many old bears, dolls, trains, cars, robots, horses, and Barbies! I loved the Barbie section! My favorite part from it was the 1998 section because I remembered which ones from it I used to own!









After this we walked down the hill off the castle grounds and searched for somewhere to eat lunch. We went to this place and I got tomato soup again, haha. It was very good! Then we walked up another steep hill and headed toward Petrin Tower. This was built after the Eiffel tower, and kind of looks like it! It is a quite the hike up to the tower itself and a great work out. Then we climbed the tower which provided the best view of the city. After we climbed down the tower we took this thing called a slide which was a cart that was part of the transportation system down the hill we hiked up to get there.

Then we walked over to see the Dancing House which is only apartments but it is really famous architecturally because it is so unique. For all of you Pinterest users, you may have seen this on your news feed before!

Then we walked back to the Old Town Square to explore it and the Easter Market more. We went into a wax museum which was kind of cool and a fun break. Then we ate authentic polish sausage on baguettes! It was delicious! After dinner (we were still in the Easter market) we went to this little sable in the middle and fed some sheep and lambs, I've decided I would also like to be a sheep farmer some day. We also saw a famous large painted egg! It was beautiful, the painting depicted all of the seasons in a year.

Then we kept walking around the Easter market and watched some Czeck children singing and dancing and playing instruments. Their concert was of traditional czech song and dance. We all loved it! They were terrific and so fun to watch!

Prague

Well after a loud and sleepless night in our hotel we were a little bit more than worried with our hotel selection and very tired. But we were excited to actually get into the city to look around. First we took the Subway in and climbed up to the Prague Castle. The castle itself dates back to 3200 bc, at least and maybe earlier. Inside the caste are a couple churches and one, St. Vitus Cathedral was the most beautiful church I had ever been in. The stained glass in there was tiny mosaic pieces and they were all gorgeous. It is also the most decorated church I have ever been in! The castle itself is also really cool and it was crazy to see who all had lived in it through the years! We also think the Prime Minister is who occupies a quarter of it now, and we saw his motorcade today too. The views from up where the castle were really amazing! This city is really beautiful!

Then we had lunch and walked down to the old city center. Here we saw the Wenscles square and saw the old astronomical clock! Here the easter market was set up and it is absolutely amazing! There are so many unique things to try and see. The wooden painted eggs are everywhere and so beautiful! The trees and benches are all decorated with bright ribbons and eggs and the streets are busy with people enjoying it. This is definitely the time of year to go to Prague.

After we saw the square we went to see St. Charles bridge. It is the oldest bridge in the city and probably one of the oldest in Europe. It was very pretty and busy with people. The top of the bridge is decorated with statues and there are certain ones you are supposed to touch when you walk past because it is lucky! Then we struggled to find the Lennon wall, but we did eventually find it. It was SO colorful and fun to see! There are many talented graffiti artists out there! I can't believe that people decorate that wall appropriately and that almost all of it was Lennon focused.

We did quite a bit today and I even had my first Schnitzel and potatoes! I loved it! I really did love what we did today and all that we saw. It was a struggle navigating without english and without street signs, but we made it. I'll have to admit it's really been a big culture shock coming here, especially since they have only been out of the Soviet Union less than 30 years. I now realize that this will be the most unique/culture shock area I will go on my entire study abroad experience, and I will have some unique stories to share with family for sure...