The Countryside, the Beach and a Punting Adventure

This is a story about a British girl who was lucky (or unlucky) enough to meet four awesome American girls. Well, not really, but that is technically where our story begins.

Austin, Caitlin, Libby and I met our friend Beth the weekend that the Freshers moved in. Over time, we became quite good friends with her. As we all became better friends, the idea of us going home with Beth for a weekend was brought up. After it came up a a few more times we figured this was actually going to happen (and not some casual suggestion not actually intended to pan out) and so we began making plans. We had been encouraged to visit friends' homes to get the full British experience and Beth is pretty awesome, so I couldn't wait.

When the weekend finally rolled around, we boarded a bus to Cambridge with our backpacks as well as wine and Cadbury Roses for Beth's parents. Beth picked us up from the coach stop (she'd gone home the night before) and drove us to her home in Suffolk County after a quick stop at Tesco for some necessities (Pimm's, Bailey's and sweets).

Side note: when we were checking out the woman made a big deal about checking everyone's ID to confirm that we were all in fact 18 years of age. Caitlin even had to go all the way out to the car to get hers. I guess I understand the idea, but if you are of age you should be able to buy what you want, regardless of the people you are with. What if you are just shopping with your little brother? Or on the flip side, what if (like me) you're just the youngest of your friends. When I get home and most of my  friends are 21 do I just have to never go shopping with them? I just think it's stupid. If an underage person has found a legal person to buy them alcohol, you can't stop it. They'll just exchange at a different place. Carding the entire group won't really help in the long run. Okay, rant over.

Anyway, we got to Beth's house and got the grand tour. Her house is in the country and is absolutely beautiful. We also got a tour of her land where her family has horses, chickens and other crops and animals. We don't really spend much time outside of cities because Oxford is obviously a city and we primarily just travel to other cities: Edinburgh, Dublin, Cardiff, London etc... so it was nice to go for a walk in the clean, fresh air. It was refreshing.

That evening we made something that I was looking forward to trying as soon as Beth told me about it. It's called Eton Mess (after the famous boarding school) and one of its main ingredients is one of my personal favorites: meringues. Basically, take double cream and whip it up, add in crushed meringues and raspberries (or strawberries in our version) and mix it all together and you have Eton Mess. When we were at Tesco we accidentally bought extra thick double cream and we weren't sure it if was going to work. Beth's ten year old brother Henry (who was helping us) had some wise words during this confusion: a somber "I think you made the wrong decision." It was absolutely hilarious. And luckily he and Beth were able to figure it out, so we had an awesome Eton Mess for dessert that night. We played some Table Tennis with Henry, had dinner, hung out by the toasty fireplace and worked out sleeping arrangements and before long we were in bed, excited for the next day.


Saturday we took a road trip to Aldeburgh Beach on the coast of England. Although Suffolk is called the sunniest county in England, it was a rainy and cloudy day. It was still a lot of fun and made for an authentic English experience. They don't really have sandy beaches in Britain so it was a pebble beach. For our purposes this was really nice because we didn't get sand in our shoes. Sometimes walking on a beach can be such a pain. But no sand=no problem. We threw rocks into the water and skipped stone and then enjoyed the beautiful tiny seaside town.

And of course we couldn't go to the beach without eating fish and chips, so we got some to go from "The Golden Galleon". Beth even got mushy peas for us to dip our chips in, which is apparently a thing to do here.  We ate in the rain on a bench overlooking the beach.  I just felt right, sitting on the beach, eating fish and chips, feeling the rain on my head and just soaking in the British experience.

While we were eating, because they know I really don't like birds, my friends joked about knocking my chips on the ground so that the (strangely large) seagulls would swarm. I laughed and then proceeded to accidentally spill the rest of my chips. Figures. The seagulls started to gather around, keeping their distance but eyeing me (or rather my chips) purposefully. Any time another joined the stake out, the rest would squawk at him, trying to scare him off. As we finally left, I watched them fly at the chips, devouring them until no more than one minute late the chips were all gone and so were the seagulls. It happened so fast that I didn't even have time to snap picture.

After that we explored this interesting building (almost like a military fort) that was just a mystery to us. No sign except one mentioning the "privacy of guests", I still have no idea what it is. I think it's now accommodation you can rent out but that doesn't explain what it used to be and what its purpose used to be. Walking around the structure, I suddenly heard Beth crack up laughing. Walking towards her, I soon understood. Sitting in a window, surprising me, was a tiny dog. The absurdity of this tiny dog at this mysterious fort was too much for us and we couldn't stop laughing.

After that we piled back into the car, stopping for a typical road trip picture at a sign for the town called Snape. We stopped off at Beth's sister's field hockey game for a bit and then a pub for a drink where I was surprisingly good at darts before returning to Beth's house. It was a great road trip!

Back at Beth's we got to see Beth in her element--riding her horse Marmite. It was really cool watching her jumping because we knew how much she loved horses (she studies Equine Science and Thoroughbred Management) and she looked at home in the saddle. It was a treat to see this side of her. After they finished their jumping practice, Libby and I got a turn to ride Marmite as a warm down for him. I think I rode a horse once or twice as a child, but I don't really remember much about it. It was an interesting feeling, sitting on an animal and working together with it. Granted most of the time Beth was just leading us, but I was able to signal Marmite to stop, go and turn a bit which was a little bit scary but a lot of fun.

After our horse experience, we retreated back into the warmth of Beth's house. Beth's parents us for dinner a delicious roast: broccoli  potatoes and carrots, chicken and of course gravy. It was one of the best meals I've had in a while. Absolutely delicious.

We spent the evening with Beth's family watching British television including X Factor UK and Take Me Out, my newest guilty pleasure obsession. It's a dating show where a man comes down the "Love Lift" and then thirty women keep their lights on if they like him and switch them off ("if you're turned off, turn off") if they don't want to go on a date with him. This goes on for three rounds: first impressions based on style and music, a video about the guy narrated by him and then either a talent a or a friend of the guy's commentary on him. If they guy gets though all three rounds with lights still on he gets to choose who to go on a date with. Each episode features four guys and videos from the dates of the previous episode's pairs (so obviously I had to watch the next week as well to see how the dates went, and so my fascination was born). Interestingly, they tried a US version this summer and although it is hugely popular in the United Kingdom, I'm pretty sure it crashed and burned in the United States. And after watching an episode I can see why: the single girls who recur in every episode until they find a man, while endearing in the UK version are just plain annoying in the US version. Plus, George Lopez just doesn't have the same cheesy amazingness as the very Irish Paddy McGuiness. So yeah, the UK version is much better.

Later that evening one of Beth's friend named Daniel, who we'd met in Oxford when he came to visit Beth, came over to Beth's and we spent the evening drinking Baileys and talking about anything and everything. For dessert, Beth and Dan put together a spreading consisting of mango, Eton Mess, and about six kinds of ice cream including Bake Alaska complete with tiny white chocolate polar bears. We were all very impressed by their effort. Altogether, it was an awesome night with delicious food, hilarious entertainment and great company.

The next morning we decided to spend some time in Cambridge before catching our bus back to Oxford. Now, I might be a bit biases, but I think that Oxford is a much better city than Cambridge, no matter what anyone says. It seemed as though Cambridge was a bit more commercial than Oxford. I know that it's supposed to have great shopping so maybe most people consider that an advantage but given that I can't afford Burberry or Polo Ralph Lauren, it doesn't really effect me at all.

We walked by a few of the Cambridge colleges but we saw most of the colleges in a more Cambridge like way: punting! It was a nice enough day for November with the sun shining and the cost was right so we figured it was something we just had to do. It turned out to be the perfect end to our weekend with Beth. We punted along the River Cam and got to see the backs of he colleges that line the river. This may sound like a sketchy way to see the colleges--why would you want to see the back of a building?--but it's Cambridge University, so of course the entire buildings are beautiful and elaborate. The Backs is actually a place to see, even featured on post cards.

Trying to punt the "right" way. 

Punting was certainly an experience. I had an awesome time but then again I was just sitting there , so it was pretty easy for me. Beth was our punter extraordinaire and she did a really good job. And let's just say we're really original punters. About five minutes into our trip we realized that we were punting opposite from everyone else. Most people (aka everyone) stand at the back of the punt and punt forward that way. We, being original, free thinkers punted from the front so that we and the rest of the punt were behind Beth. Once we realized we were doing it wrong we tried to turn around but our punt just did not want to go that way. We would get turned around and then it would just turn us around again. Oh well, we were doing fine anyway. Well, on the way down the river at least.

When it was time to get back up the river to retrun the put, it got a little more complicated. We just could not get the punt the stay straight. But luckily we had the paddle which Libby and Austy expertly used to keep us in the right direction.  We ran into some branches and nearly collided with a few  other punts but they were being punted by professionals so they were able to avoid us. I was actually surprised by the number of punts out and about given that it wasn't necessarily warm out. I can't even imagine how crowded it must be during the spring and summer.

We did get a few strange looks from other punters (yet only two offered advice) but we just embraced our unique style, decided it was the "Oxford way". I was really glad that we had the opportunity to go punting because it is a quintessential English activity, especially in cities like Cambridge and Oxford.

After that it was back on the bus to Oxford. We had an amazing time being show around Suffolk County by a local, especially one as awesome as Beth, and this was one of my favorite trips we've taken.

The Chance of a Lifetime

The chance of a lifetime. It sounds like such a cliche. But its just so fitting that I can't help but use it.

The chance of a lifetime. Highlight of my year. Dream come true. I don't think I truly understood these phrases until I came here. My time abroad has been all of these things and more. And I am grateful every day that I took the leap to come here.

I have been able to do and see things that always just seemed like an impossible (or rather improbable) dream. If you told me two years ago that I'd be travelling all around England, taking overnight buses to Paris and spending my birthday in Spain (more on these two trips soon!) I wouldn't have believed you. But sitting here today I can tell you I've done what I thought I'd never do. And that's amazing to me.

And through my time here, I've come to realize quite a few things about myself, about life and about the world. Studying abroad effects so much more than just the here and now. It effects the way you live your life moving forward as well the way you see the world in so many ways.

Normal life carries on, even when abroad. Annoying things happen to all of us in everyday life--we have work to do, and responsibilities to live up to--and we accept it and move on. I've had great nights, exciting experiences and hung out just like I would at home, but I've also had not so great days.  And when they do happen, they seem so much worse because they're happening here. "This isn't supposed to happen during my amazing semester abroad," I can't help but think when bad things happen. But that's just it. It is. Life didn't just freeze when I came here. I'm living here for four months. Key word: living. So matters of everyday life will come up while abroad because this isn't a vacation, it's life. When you go on vacation you really want everything to go right for you. You don't want to have trouble with anything and you want things to run smoothly. But here I'm going to class, living my life not as a tourist but as a temporary resident. My time here has been amazing, but not everything is super fun, all the time. I've come to realize that some days are just lay in bed and watch Netflix kind of days. And that's okay.

It's okay to be disappointed by trips or experiences.  When I got to England and first started blogging, I was afraid to admit when something disappointed me. As I read through posts on my personal blog that I wrote about our heritage trips when I first arrived, I am amazed with how different the blog reads from the way that I actually perceived the trip. Take Stonehenge for example. This landmark disappointed me beyond belief. As I walked up to those amazing rocks I felt nothing. It wasn't special to me. As I look at the postcard I bought there, I feel I get the same thing out of looking at a picture of Stonehenge that I did by seeing it in person. This isn't what my blog post said. I think I was afraid that if I said something wasn't amazing that my entire trip would be unamazing. And this isn't true. I was so stuck on the fact that I needed to paint a picture of absolute marvel about every sight I saw, or else people would think I was being ungrateful. But not particularly enjoying Stonehenge isn't about being ungrateful. I was grateful that we were taken there because it's just one of those things you do when you go to England and now I can say I've seen it. Admitting that Stonehenge didn't thrill me isn't about being ungrateful, it's about being real. And along those lines, blogging isn't about painting the picture that you think your friends back home want to see, it's about telling it like it is. And I believe that as my blog as evolved, I have allowed myself to be more honest in my description of trips and events. While I still have some trouble accepting that I didn't enjoy something as much as I thought I would (especially if it cost money) I have come to understand that disappointment isn't something that you can avoid while travelling. It's something you'll run into no matter where your travels take you. And accepting that is the first step to moving on and thinking instead about what you did enjoy.

There's always more to see. Confession time: When I made plans to study abroad in Oxford, although I knew that I wanted to be in England as my hub, I was most excited about going to see other countries. But I will say now that I've been here for a while that the time I've spent travelling around England has been a highlight of my trip. Purchasing the BritRail pass was the second best decision I've made about studying abroad, the first being studying here. Because we had eight days of train travel with the BritRail, we were able to see places that we probably never would have gone (and we got to ride on trains, which I love.) Would we have been able to enjoy the sweetness of Cadbury World or seen the awesome looking buildings of Winchester had we not purchased the BritRail pass? Probably not. I've really gotten to see England, and there is so much more to do than you can even imagine. I know this sounds like a pointless platitude, but it's true. Once I started looking at different places to visit with our passes I realized there is so much more than the normal British tourist attractions.

When it's time to enter the "real world" I'll be ready. I will be the first to admit that High Point spoils its students in terms of accommodation--food you can't complain about, free laundry and very nice dorm rooms. I've been worried recently that once I graduate and get my own place, that I'd be unable to adapt to the normal annoyances of the "real world" but my time in Oxford has calmed my fears. I've never been much of a cook, but in order to save money, we have been having a lot of dinners at home. We each cook once a week and I've learned how to budget for meals and make balanced meals for the four of us. I've become a lot more independent while here, not having to rely on my parents to go to the grocery store or even a car to get around. My computer recently broke and I've had to deal with the aftermath of that--taking it to an Apple store, getting into contact wit  a Mac technician to determine the problem and securing a laptop to use for the rest of the semester--with minimal help from my parents because they're not here to help. They've been working on it in terms of what to do once I get home, but I've had to deal with it in terms of the here and now, and I think I've done a good job. Going along with this idea of independence  I've also learn that I can plan trips, book tickets, find train times and get myself around a foreign city without the help of my parents. Because any other time I've really traveled has been with my parents, after our first trip I was pretty proud of myself for pretty much getting back in one piece.The most valuable thing I've learned while studying abroad is that I am capable of taking care of myself and supporting myself and I know that I won't drown when I enter the "real world".

I could see myself living here. When I first came here, I loved it instantly, but I kept saying that I could never live here. I loved everything about being here--the people, the city, the sayings, the experience--but I had closed off my mind about someday living here for one simple reason: because I hate standing out. I felt like the minute that I opened by mouth, everyone knew I didn't belong here, and that makes me extremely uncomfortable. Whenever I contributed in class, I felt like everyone turned around to see who had the unfamiliar accent and for some reason I convinced myself that this means I could never live here full time. After being here for over three months, however, I've realized something important: "Who cares?" Being different isn't something to be ashamed or afraid of. The British people I've gotten to know here are intrigued by the fact that I am American (a concept I find difficult to grasp) and I've come to realize that the fact that I speak with a different accent shouldn't stop me from talking. And really, although I believe my accent is here to stay, if I were to live in England, I would begin adopting inflections, phrases and the knowledge and in time people wouldn't think I was a perpetual tourist. I would become a part of the community I lived in, and an accent doesn't stop that. I don't really know if I would ever actually move out of America to live in England for a few years; I don't think I'm actually enough of a risk taker for that, but I could definitely see myself living here for an extended period of time. And I think that even the acceptance of that idea means that I've come a long way from when I first arrived.

It will be hard to leave. Four months is a long time. Or so I thought before I came here. I figured that by the time it was time to leave, that I'd be ready. That I'd be counting down the days until I had a break and got to see my family again. I thought I'd want to leave. But I don't really. I mean, I do want to see my family and my friends and I am anxious to get back to HPU but at the same time, I wish time could freeze. I wish I could have a little more time to soak in the experience of being in England. I wish I could see more, do more, experience more. I wish my time in Great Britain didn't have to end.  Because I feel like I just got here, like I just found my bearings. I just stopped staying "french fries" and I've finally stopped translating everything into dollars in my mind. I know what places I like, I know where to shop, and I know how to navigate the city centre. I've finally felt like an actual member of the Oxford community. I finally feel like more than just a tourist.  I'm just getting started here in England, and I feel like a concerto abruptly stopped in the middle by the conductor. What would have come next? How does it resolve? What beauty are we missing out on? I guess we'll never know.

But what we do know, I suppose, is that the beginning was beautiful and amazing and something never to be forgotten. And in the end, that's what we need to hold onto. Not the "would'ves" or the "could'ves" but the memories and the experiences. And England has certainly given me a lot of those.

-Amy x

P.S. Don't worry, this doesn't mean the end of my blog. Keep checking back until the end of next week (and possibly beyond) to continue reading about my adventures.

Fashion Forward

As my time here in the UK winds down, I've been thinking about what I will miss the most about being in the UK and I couldn't help but think about the fashion.

One of the aspects of English culture that I would most like to bring back home is the fashion. I am fairly conservative fashion wise—both in the sense that I only really ever wear clothes that my grandmother wouldn’t be offended by and that I don’t really tend to take very many risks—so I don’t really mean the London fashion scene but rather the tendency to always look polished and presentable. I don’t own any sweatpants, I own a total of three pairs of yoga pants (which I rarely ever wear out of my apartment or house), I can go weeks without wearing tennis shoes (or trainers as they’re called here) and even though I buy t-shirts when I go on vacations and trips, I don’t find myself wearing them very often. I like cardigans and nice skinny jeans and skirts, and I love wearing boots and flats. I’m just not really a casual dresser. Here in England, I have noticed that people tend to look more put together on a daily basis. You don’t really see that many people wandering around in sweats and a hoodie and it isn’t often that you notice that someone clearly just rolled out of bed for this class. And I’m not saying that I think that everyone should spend hours in the morning looking the best they possibly can—I don’t wear makeup, I don’t spend any more than a minute on my hair any given moment, and I usually get dressed in under 5 minutes. It’s really just all about the actual clothes that a person decides to wear any given day. It seems as though the English are less likely to look out the window, say “It looks yucky out, I think I’ll just wear sweatpants today” than Americans are.


I was speaking with some friends here about fashion and differences between American and English clothing and one of them asked about what guys tend to wear in America. We answered that usually guys will be seen in jeans and a t-shirt, maybe a polo shirt. I then commented that you wouldn’t normally see guys dressed as nicely as Dan was: a light purple button down rolled up to the forearm, nice jeans and really nice leather shoes. Our friend Beth laughed and said that for Daniel, this is dressing down. I think this highlights the difference between home and here.


One of the things I noticed first about Beth is that she always looks put together. Whether its her shoes, or her cute coat or just a scarf, she never looks like she just threw something on so that she could leave the house. It seemsas though she dressed for a purpose, and I like that about her. And I kind of want to steal all of her clothes. And I feel that way about a lot of people I see walking in the street.

Twp things I really want to get are a tweed blazer and something with elbow patches. Really, preferably I'd like a tweed jacket with elbow patches, but I won't be too picky.I have acquired some new clothing since I've been here.  I got an interestingly patterned sweater skirt, a Union Jack skirt, a nice shirt with bows on it (I'm obsessed with bows!) and a fun striped sweater with a few different patterns such as dark maroon and teal with colorful speckles. This isn't something I would normally wear, but that's part of why I got it. I wanted to go a bit out of my comfort zone, and now I love it.

My friends and I have a joke here--if you've ever wanted to try some crazy fashion statement out, do it here in England where it's accepted. People wear some of the most random things here, and it just seems to work. So now is our time to test the water. . This is our change to pioneer a new style! Because if we go home and people look at you strangely, you can just say "I studied in England this semester, and this is all the rage there". Just kidding, of course.

One sort of risk I took (a risk for me at least) is illustrated in this picture. For starters, I am rocking so many layers: you can't see it, but I'm wearing a blouse, a cardigan and a blazer. And a skirt and tights. Another fashion statement I contemplated a lot was the socks. I'd gotten these cute socks at Primark because I needed higher socks for my boots but it occurred to me that I could wear them with my Sperry's over my leggings and that would be really cute because of the classic English design on them. I don't really know if it worked or if everyone thought I was an idiot, but I just owned it and that's all that mattered.

But what it all comes down to is that I personally love when people dress nicely. Over the summer, I had expressed to my friends that I wanted to focus my personal style more towards looking “smart” (not in the sense of intelligence but rather in the sense of put-together). And I came to England to find that the style I’ve been trying to make my own is exactly the trend in England. So, as you can imagine, I was pretty pleased about that. I still wear jeans, of course, but this past month I have found myself in dresses, skirts, cardigans, blouses and blazers much more than in years past, and I don’t stick out because of it. I do think, though, that if I were to go back to America and just go to hang out with friends in their apartments continuing with the style I have solidified while here, that I may look a little overdressed, so I would really like the tendency to dress nice all the time to come to America.

Expectations Are a Funny Thing

I was expecting so much out of our recent trip to Winchester and what I got was pouring rain, a waterlogged boot and a Christmas Market without power. So yeah, not what I was expecting. But that's not to say that it wasn't a good trip; it was certainly an adventure.

We made plans to go to Winchester for our 7th BritRail day. I'd seen online that Winchester was supposed to be an amazing city around Christmas and even my Mom knew that when I mentioned to her that we were going there for the day. I have to say that the Christmas Market really let me down. But that could have been because the power was out and without Christmas music playing it was hard to get into the spirit. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. And add in the rain, and it was a bit of a disappointment.

Oh, the rain. It rained all day, never letting up and I discovered that there was a gab between the bottom of my shoe and the sole and therefore my right foot because soaking wet. For a while there it felt like my socked foot was walking in a puddle, there was so much water in my boot. "Step, splish, step, splash," I walked through Winchester. Remind me again why I sent my rain boots home with my parents? Despite my submerged right foot, I quite enjoyed the time we spend wandering around the sites of Winchester.

We started at the Winchester Castle Great Hall where King Arthur's famous round table is kept. I walked in, quite confused. It was just an empty room. "The Round Table is supposed to be quite large," I thought, "so where is it?" Then I discovered the problem: I was expecting (those pesky expectations) for the table to be set up like an actual table,a proper table. But no, the Round Table was hanging on the wall. Mystery solved. I guess it makes sense because this way we could truly see the whole table at one time.

Also in the Great Hall is a gate given in honor of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Pretty much anywhere you go in England you can find places named after or built in honor of the royal family. You just can't avoid it.

While buying my Great Hall postcard the man at the till saw my Sherlock Holmes button from 221b Baker Street and told me about a Sherlock Holmes book set in Winchester. I love when locals share interesting facts or trivia about the area that isn't readily available or highlighted in guidebooks or on TripAdvisor.

Then we were off to the Christmas Market at Winchester Cathedral. As I said before, I was let down my the Christmas Market pretty much the moment I saw it. It just seemed... smaller than it seemed like it should be, and they weren't even selling that much Christmas goods. It was crowded, yet quieter than it should be. But there is a bright side to every situation: I did get some delicious hot cocoa with The Works: whipped cream, a Flake bar and marshmallows. My sweet tooth thanked me for that.

Once I'd finished and disposed of my cup, we left the cathedral close in search of Wolvesy Castle--some ruins that are supposed to be quite interesting. We thought that if we just took this one road and then this one that we would eventually find it. Nice try, Amy. (I'd actually printed a map of Winchester out in prepration for this very moment but of course I forgot it. What a waste of 5p.) We couldn't find Wolvesy but we eventually found ourselves back on the main road so we were able to find our way from there. We found a sign for Wolvesy Castle pointing along the river. A walk is always better when it's along a river. Unless it's absolutely freezing, I suppose but luckily, although it was raining, it wasn't too cold, so it was a pleasant walk. Also--walks always seem shorter when they are along a river as opposed to on the road. I wonder why that is?

Entrance to Winchester Cathedral grounds

We got to the castle ruins, read the information sign and found that the castle grounds were closed for the day. This was a bit of a bummer--nothing really seemed to be going quite right on this day trip. Just down the road is Winchester College, which is the longest continually running school in Britain. We didn't get to go in because you have to do so on a tour which were weren't in time for (and more realistically because you have to pay for it  which we did not want to do) so we peeked in and went on our way. We walked back through the cathedral grounds (which was actually quite beautiful) and onto High Street to get some food.

All I wanted was some soup on this rainy day and as we walked into a cafe I knew that something was finally going to go my way. The cafe looked like your typical way too brightly lit sandwich shop but when we ventured into the downstairs seating area it was quite cozy: an array of tables and filled with comfy couches. It had fun city themed decor and surprised me as a great place to hang out and escape the rain.

After lunch we tried to find an indoor Christmas market we were handed a flier for earlier before we had to get back to the train station. However, because we didn't have a map we couldn't find it. I'm sure it was just a few steps further than we went but I suppose it wasn't to be.

We got back to the train station to find that our train had been cancelled . We've taken the train a lot and this is the first time this has happened to us. We didn't really know what to do. After looking at each other bewildered for a few moments, we shook it off and started looking for Plan B. We got in the ticket line and when it was our turn, I had a less than pleasant conversation with the man at the booth.

"Hi, we're trying to get back to Oxford and our train was cancelled. What route should we take?" I asked.

"Take the 18 after and change at Basingstoke and Reading," he replied, speaking very rapidly. And that combined with his accent, I didn't fully understand him, and when it comes to train stations, you can't just nod along and hope you heard correctly.

"Pardon? Can you repeat that?" I requested.

He sighed. "Take the train that leaves at 18 past four and change at Basingstoke and Reading," he said, as if I was an idiot. Now this is an unfamiliar route for us so I wanted to be sure. And the way you confirm that you correctly understand something is repeat back what they said they way you understand it. So that's what I did.

"So we got off at Basingstoke and then get on a train to Reading. And at Reading, we get off and catch a train to Oxford?" I confirmed.

His response? A rather rude "that's what I said, isn't it?"

This is probably one of the only off putting interactions I've had with a British service employee. Well, it was bound to happen eventually.

As we tried to locate the mysterious 4:18 train we discovered why our train was cancelled: crew shortage. I think this is the lamest reason ever for transportation to be cancelled. Did someone just not show up for work? Don't you have stand-in employees? Austin rationally pointed out that it's possible that the missing crew were supposed to get to the starting destination of our train on trains that were cancelled due to flooding because of all of the rain. Okay, good point Austy. I'll give you that one.

Anyway, even though we had to take three different trains, had to run to make our train to Reading (during which I lost my umbrella) and had to wait 30 minutes at the Reading station, we only get home about 20 minutes later than we would have had not been cancelled. And that's the beauty of train travel.

Close up of one building's wall. 

So, my day in Winchester wasn't exactly what I thought it would be, but it was fun, especially seeing a new city. And the city really was beautiful. Many of the buildings were made of what appeared to be brick and a smooth, semi-transparent glass like stone, combined. It made the buildings look so interesting and your eyes couldn't help but dance when you looked at the wall. I have to admit, I was overly fascinated by the buildings. I thought they were totally awesome and I'm so glad I got to see Winchester because of them. So, I can't complain, can I?

You Had Me at Free Chocolate

After we went to Cardiff and Chislehurst Caves, we had three more days of our BritRail pass left, so I took to the Internet to  find some fun locations for day trips. In this sense, our BritRail passes are a great asset because they forced us to go to less obvious places and allowed us to go to placeswe may not have found otherwise.

As I searched Trip Advisor, I saw reference to a place called Cadbury World. Um, yes please. You had me at Cadbury. If you don't already know I love sweets. And I love Chocolate World at HersheyPark so Cadbury World sounded like a great use of a day. Upon further investigation I found that the tickets were only £10 and it's just outside Birmingham--an easy train ride from Oxford. At this point, I knew we were going. I mean, I still had to ask my flatmates, but it was pretty much a definite in my eyes.

My friends recognized my genius in this respect, we purchased tickets online and the next week we were on a train towards Birmingham.

Sidenote: it was Remembrance Day and we were on the train at 11AM but we did not have a moment of silence, which disappointed me. I was looking forward to experiencing this about Remembrance Day because I'd heard so much about it but I guess because of the business of travel, they don't incorporate into the train system. I mean, I would understand if we were at a station at that time, but we weren't, we were just whizzing through the countryside so it wouldn't have been that difficult to have a moment of silence. 

We had to change trains at Birmingham to get to Bourneville where Cadbury World is located. Luckily, the path from the Bourneville Station to Cadbury World was very well marked so we got there on time for our time-entry ticket of 12:50. We got in line and waited for our Cadbury chocolate experience to begin.

And me tell you, our adventure began on a very sweet note: when we entered we each were given a full size Curly Wurly and a full size Crunchee bar. Free candy? Yes, please! They sure know how to put me in a good mood!

The first part of Cadbury World started at the very beginning-in Latin America where chocolate originates. It was an Aztec rainforest and we learned all about how Cortes brought chocolate to Europe and we saw how chocolate was integrated into society. We then jumped forward to the Cadbury family and their foray into the chocolate business. This involved a 4D film on how chocolate is made: our benches shook as the cocoa beans were ground and it got extremely hot as they were roasted. It was a whimsical approach to the topic.

Next up was the packaging plant, which unfortunately wasn't in operation that day. But good news, we each got a full sized Cadbury Dairy Milk when we entered, so I really couldn't be too upset. It was interesting to see the packaging machinery, but because they weren't actually running there really wasn't much to see. There was, however, an interesting sign on the walls that featured a drawing of a man propelling from the ceiling with a diagonal line through it. No propelling from the ceiling? Damn, that's what I was planning on doing. Why would you need a sign that says that? Well, we were in Bourneville, so, the home of Jason Bourne, right? Well not really, but it was frequent joke between Caitlin and I (we love Matty D) during the trip.

After the packaging plant was the Abracadabra ride where we all sat in a little car moving through various scenes of personified cocoa beans. Yes, it was as weird as it sounds. To be honest, it was actually kinda creepy. Funny, but creepy. Especially since the little cocoa beans weren't even cute. Just creepy. As we exited the ride and entered the next room we were handed a small vial and spoon. It was filled with pure melted chocolate. Heavenly. This day just kept getting better and better. We walked through "Advertising Alley" which was interesting to me as an advertising student. The problem was that because I'm not British it wasn't as relevant because I didn't know the actors or the famous adverts. We don't really have Cadbury in the US, thus no Cadbury commercials.

I did learn, when I was at Cadbury World, that Cadbury owns a lot of other companies and makes candy other than chocolate. They make Britain's (sub-par) version of Sour Patch Kids and they also own Trident and Halls and some other confectionary enjoyed in the US. I also learned just how many chocolate products Cadbury makes when we got to the massive Cadbury store. I already ahd three free chocolate bars so I didn't really need any more but of course I bought more anyways! :) I bought a few different kinds to get a sampling: Freddo Frog, Fudge, Cadbury Caramel Dairy Milk and a massive Cadbury Oreo bar. This candy and a postcard only came out to about £2. It was awesome.

The last part of our chocolate adventure was Essense. This was where we learned all about how the secret recipe of Cadbury Dairy Milk through a strange little video. After the video we got to "concoct our own chocolate  combination." Basically, we got to choose one mix in (marshmallows, shortbread, white chocolate and about three other potions) and then they poured warm liquid chocolate on top. And it was free. So yeah, it was awesome and delicious and chocolaty. We sat at picnic table outside near a train engine to enjoy our chocolaty creations and reflect on how this was the best £10 we'd ever spent.

As we walked back to the train we learned all about how awesome it was to work for the Cadburys in the 1900s. They were actually a Quaker family and believed in positive working conditions, kindness and loyalty. They had sports ground and great facilities for workers and even baths for the girls to learn to swim. It was actually company policy to allow women to learn to swim on company time. All in all it sounds like a great place to work, like an olden times Google.

We got back to the Bourneville Station and returned to Birmingham not long after. We explored Birmingham a bit, went to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. As we walked to the museum Caitlin jokingly said "Maybe they'll have a Waterhouse painting," to Austy. John William Waterhouse is Austy's favorte artist. It was said in jest but there happened to be a travelling exhibit containing three massive Waterhouse paintings. Also cool was an exhibit about Birmingham's history on the top floor where it presented Birmingham to you as if you were arriving for the first time in the 1800s. It was a very cool way to learn about history. We didn't get to spend long there cause it was closing, but I wish we couldn't stayed longer. We had dinner at a pub and went on our merry way back to Oxford.

As we enjoyed our Cadbury chocolate on the train home I couldn't help but think my trademark "Best day ever!" Or rather, sweetest day ever. :)

Good Eats

I have to say, I was pretty nervous about food before I came here. I am an extremely picky eater (and yes, the italics was necessary for emphasis, that's how picky I am) and pretty much like normal, simple food. And I wasn't sure how readily available that would be here. I was also worried about buying said food. Because food is expensive.

But luckily, we've actually been doing a really good job keeping costs down. Because we don't have a meal plan here, High Point credited us back $2,800 for us to use on meals which comes out to about £1,700. And I think all of my flatmates are currently going well under budget. This is because we eat most of out meals in. We actually have a dinner schedule:

Sunday: Caitlin
Monday: Austin
Tuesday: Libby
Thursday: Amy

Wednesday is an open day that is usually used as a make up day when we are travelling or unable to eat in on somebody's assigned day. For the most part, this means we only really go out once or twice a week, sometimes even less than that. It also means we are eating a good amount of familiar food. I have been trying some new things though, since the girls have a much more sophisticated palette than I do. I've made Macaroni Casserole, Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken, Cheesy Ritz Cracker Chicken, Chicken Nuggets and Rice and a few other things, and Caitin, Austin and Libby have made a variety of things as well: Enchiladas, Eggplant Parmesan, Burritos, Stir Fry. And we actually almost always have a vegetable with out meal as well. So we are definitely not the examples of starving college students. But that's because we cook for each other and any one given meal we make for all four could actually end up being less than one person at a pub or restaurant.

We do eat out sometimes, however. We've eaten at quite a few restaurants and pubs in Oxford and I could find something I would eat on pretty much any menu. I'm not about to try anything super adventurous but I've found I can eat successfully over here.

I have to say though, grocery shopping can be difficult. It seems as though nothing is where you expect it to be. For starters, the eggs aren't refrigerated and can usually be found near the flour. I mean, I guess it makes sense since they're both being used for making, but I'm just so used to them being in the cool section. At one Tesco we went to I think there were at least three different baking sections. I looked everywhere for brown sugar and had just about given up when I discovered a third area where baking supplies are kept. The set up just doesn't make sense. But I guess Brits probably come to America and are confused by our grocery stores, so there ya go.

There are a few British snacks and sweets I've fallen in love with. My first British food obsession was a snack food cracker called Cheese Savories that are a little bit like Goldfish but ten times better. Seriously, they're delicious. I can eat half a bag in one sitting, and the bags are pretty big. I've also become entranced with a number of British chocolates and sweets like Kinder Bueno Bars (a chocolate candy with hazelnut cream inside), Tangfastics (sour gummies) and Maoams (multi-flavored sweets like Starbursts). Speaking of Starbursts, the ones they sell here have Blackcurrant as a flavor. I never thought of them changing flavors based on where they are selling them. And I can tell you that I don't like Blackcurrant. At all. I've also been eating Meringues nonstop here. I know that they sell Meringues at home, but they are so readily available here and only a pound and they come in conveniently shaped nests and are just plain delicious and I love them. I think I might have a bit of a problem.

Caitlin and I have recently fallen in love with an milkshake place called Shakespeare's. Get it? SHAKESpeare's. Don't worry I didn't get it at first either. But now I think it's the best name ever. Anyway, their milkshakes are delicious--the first time I had a Skittles milkshakes and the second time I had one of their Christmas milkshakes--Candy Cane. And they also have specialty milkshakes for each of Shakespeare's plays such as Othello (Aero Mint, After 8 and Marshmallow topping) which Caitlin had, Comedy of Errors (Skittles and Bubblegum Millions with Popping Candy topping) which I had and some others that sound great like Merchant of Venice (Kinder Bueno, Ferrero Rocher and a Malteaser topping) and All's Well That Ends Well (Reese's Cup, Toffee Crisp and Minstrels topping). Caitlin and I have joked that if were were here for all three years of our degree we definitely would have tried to work our way through the menu.

I've also been training myself to say the proper words for food here. For example, cookies are called biscuits unless they are chocolate chip in that case they are called cookies. Wait, what? That doesn't make sense. Also, it seems like crackers are also called biscuits. It's just plain confusing. There's also the whole fries/chips/crisps thing. French fries are called chips here and our chips are called crisps. But every time I finally get the hang of it, I'll go to a restaurant where they call them fries and I have to start all over again. Seriously, it's exhausting.

Overall, I'm faring quite well across the pond in terms of food. Of course, I miss Captain Crunch and Sour Patch Kids and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups but I'm surviving and I'm able to find new and even better sweets over here (and let's be real, candy is the most important food group) so that has been awesome.

But now I'm going to miss Kinder Buenos and Maoams when I return to the States. It's a hard knock life.

Man-Made Caves and Poor Man's Time Square

The weekend we went to Cardiff we decided to take another day trip. Last time Caitlin was in England she went to  his place called Chislehurst Caves. After some research we found it was only a quick train ride out of London and that it only costs £5 so we determined it would be a fun and not too expensive excursion.

So, Caitlin, Austy and I headed to the train station in the morning all bundled up since the weather had gotten colder. When we got into Paddington we had to take the Tube to London Charing Cross to catch the train to Chislehurst, where the caves were located. We decided that Caitlin and Austin should buy Oyster Cards since tube fare is cheaper and easier when using an Oyster. I already had one from my time in London with my parents and I needed to top up. The ticket office line was long so we were once again able to experience the annoyance of the tube money machines. We knew from previous experience that these machines do not like our American cards and so we had to pay in cash. By the time Austin and Caitlin reached the front the realization was made that this particular machine only took coins--no notes--and since we don't carry around £20 in coins we had to go to the ticket window anyway.

At this point I'm afraid we're going to miss our train (but then again I'm always afraid we're going to miss out train) and so we hurried down the stairs and onto the proper line. We ended getting there in plenty of time and were the first ones in our train car, but better safe than sorry, right? As our train left the station, and then London, we got a wonderful view of Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye (as well as the Shard, which I discussed in my earlier blog post). We got to Chislehurst in no time at all and it was a short and very easy walk to the caves.

The caves were actually really cool and well worth the £5 entrance fee. These are man made caves (so no stalactites or mites in sight) and they have served many purposes. It was used by the Romans and the Druids a long time ago and more recently it was used as a music hall where artists like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin have played. Because of the acoustics of the cave I can't even imagine how awesome that must have sounded.

But the more important and practical use was as storage and shelter during the First and Second World Wars. During the first it was just used to store ammunition but during the second it gets really interesting Thousands of people lived down there during the war. They had very uncomfortable bunk beds (and a mailing address to go with each), a little store, shower facilities (only able to be used every once and a while because there were so many people) and anything else they may have needed. It was essentially a little town underground which I thought was pretty much awesome. They even had a hospital and it was the only one in England not to lose a single patient during the war. Pretty impressive for being underground, I'd say.

And during the war, because of the threat of bombs they would have to turn out all of the lights in the evenings. Let me unpack that for you: even though the caves are however far underground, enemy planes would still be able to spot the light from the sky if they were left on. Crazy, I know. So every night at 9pm, every single light would turn off, submerging the entire cave in darkness. And we were submerged in total darken for a minute or so during the tour and let me tell you, it was not fun. I would have hated to spend every evening that way.

After the tour finished, we headed back into London to walk around a bit and get some lunch. It was an easy and pleasant walk to Covent Garden on which we learned that Edith from Downton Abbey is currently on the West End starring in Uncle Vanya. We got to Covent Garden, which was all decorated for Christmas and walked around for a while looking for a candy shop that Caitlin wanted to show us. I didn't realize that Covent Garden was so big. We'd eventually given up and decided to find something to eat when we stumbled upon it. Hope and Greenwood was a very cute candy store where I got Toffee Crumbles and Caitlin got Cherry Bakewells as well as my newest obsession--Pear Drops. We were all rather proud of ourselves that we were able to find it.

We then had lunch at Bella Italia before heading towards Piccadilly Circus. We walked through Leicester Square (where the TKTS booth is) and went into the giant M&M Store. What I found interesting about the M&M Store was that the one in New York and this one were quite the same except for one major difference. In the one in New York, all of the cheesy knick knacks said I<3NY. In this one, the trinkets weren't about London, they were about the UK in general. There were Union Jacks everywhere. And while I'm sure the NYC store had some American Flags, probably not to the same extent as the Union Jacks here.

When we finally made it to Piccadilly Circus it seemed to be that the Piccadilly Circus and Leicster Square combo forms a bit of a poor man's Time Square. They tried--an M&M Store, TKTS, giant screens covering the buildings, tons of restaurants, gimmicky stores, located near the theater district--but you can't quite replicate Times Square, even in London. Sorry. It was fun to walk around and see everything though.

After a quick tube ride back to Paddington Station we were back on the train to Oxford. It was a good day, exploring a cool attraction, perhaps a bit off the beaten path.