so week one in england really turned out a success. as my friend the rev (mr. derek dixon) pointed out, "glad you're taking the circus on tour." precisely, my friends.
clifford's tower is quite an amazing piece of historic architecture. it was really mind-numbing to see something so old, something that we can not experience in the states. when i think of old, i think of the cobblestone on main street or pracna. this tower is from around the 13th and 14th century. kind of different than the 1850's.
that is the tower ^
view of york from the tower ^
some hamline friends inside the tower ^ (jake, dylan, alyssa, erin, dylan)
after the tower, we hit it hard wednesday. i ended up going to the clubs with a few people, including tom, roberta, amy, and vivian. we actually hit a bar first, then went to a club but roberta couldn't get in because she forgot her id. i never get id'd here, mainly because i'm almost twenty-five and more than likely older than the bouncers that are checking the ids. we did order some pizza when we got back, and eventually decided on what we were getting after a little cultural barrier. viv, roberta and i were looking to get the pizza's together and share because it would be quite cheap, and they wanted to get margherita pizza. well, in the states, we know margherita pizza is served with big slices of tomato on it. as most know, i hate big slices of tomato. so i was pleading that we should get at least one just cheese. they couldn't figure out why i would want a pizza like that. turns out, the margherita is a cheese pizza in america. just tomato sauce and cheese. us americans and our crazy, fancy pizza toppings. side note: the pizza was ordered from "viking pizza" which helped me feel a little closer to home.
on friday, the hamline group toured the fabulous york minster. i really do not think words can describe how amazing this gothic cathedral is. amazing doesn't cut it. but it was. and more. it was really hard to take pictures in there due to the lighting as well as the day being quite dark and cloudy outside. i tried and managed to snap a few good ones. while we were there, a visiting high school choir from argentina performed an impromptu performance. it was just a great feeling to be in such a magnificent place hearing beautiful music. our tour guide told us that the minster has amazing acoustics, and that a certain note (he couldn't recall which one) can carry for up to seven seconds after it is sung. quite the place. you could probably spend a full eight hours exploring the minster and still not see everything it has to show. for some information on the minster, click here. i don't want to have to type everything i learned.
outside the minster ^
the nave ^
you can fit an 18 story building under this point and it would just touch the ceiling ^
the five sisters window ^
the ceiling of the chapter house ^
the main entrance to the minster ^
as you can see, my pictures are not the best. but check out the link i added to the wiki page. they have some great photos that do the minster much more justice than my photos.
friday night was one of the best we have had so far. we pretty much started the party again in derwent with most of the hamline crew and the derwent crew that we have been hanging with. we all decided to take the bus downtown to do a little bit of bar hopping. on the bus (a double decker one, and yes, we were on the top) we broke out in acapella karaoke (boni tyler-total eclipse of the heart and journey-don't stop believing). the group was getting rowdy. we chilled at the first bar a bit (i can't remember how long) and then went to our old faithful, the vudu lounge. there our group merrily drank away until around 3am, and then we cabbed or walked home. (this point of the night is a bit of a blur). the group weeded out a bit when we got back and only a few of us were left drinking in the derwent second floor (for you yanks third floor) kitchen. my back was hurting a bit (if you know me and my herniated disc, this means my nerve was getting pinched as well) and my thumb was getting a bit numb. viv, who was wearing my sweatshirt and military hat for reasons i can not recall, tried to pinch my thumb to see if i could feel it, which i couldn't really. then she (again for reasons unknown) bit it. well, it was a hard bite that actually punctured my thumb and caused me to start bleeding quite a bit. now this was all in good fun and i don't blame viv one bit for what happened (it was around 5:30am at the time). but needless to say, it provides a great story to tell my grandkids.
the next morning, i woke up and found that i was sleeping in jake's extra bed in his room because all i had was a t-shirt on. i basically had taken off all of my layers last night at various times (including my western shirt at the bar). well, the western shirt was still at the bar, and that meant that so was my id and bank card and student id and meal card were in there as well (i forgot to bring my small wallet and was using the snap pocket in my western shirt so i wouldn't "lose anything.") jake and i realized this as it was 1:30 in the afternoon. we first thought that viv must have had my shirt, but that ended up being false (she did have my hoodie and hat). after numerous phone calls, the club had found my items and through hamline teamwork, we recovered everything that evening (thanks alyssa).
that night (saturday), we all ate at the punch bowl and i had a pie (turkey, stilton cheese, and a port cream sauce). it was amazing. i have never had a pie like this (almost like a chicken pot pie). i can get used to this british food.
we went to scarborough on sunday and it turned out to be a pretty sweet day. i'll post more about this next time, with pics of a pretty sweet castle. i now know that one of my main goals in life is to live in a big castle. with cannons. and archers.
No comments:
Post a Comment