Greetings from Bath, England! I have arrived safely and am settling into my new home at 19 Northampton Street, which is up an incredible hill overlooking the rest of Bath. I will admit, though, that I am absolutely exhausted and the full experience has yet to hit me. My plane flight went well; I left Newark at 9:30pm on a massive Boeing 747 on Virgin Atlantic, but didn't get a wink of sleep, I was too excited. Then, after running around Heathrow trying to find some traveling companions, my friend Sam and I finally got on a train to Paddington Station, and then another to Bath Spa, finally arriving around 1:3opm British time. From there, we were taking to our houses. 19 Northampton is a twenty minute walk from the city center and the Nelson House, where I will be taking my classes. This will be a bit difficult in the rain and snow, but we are going to try and figure out the bus system to make life a bit easier! There are seven other students living in my house, but I have the top floor, shared with my roommate Audrey, and flatmate Sara. We have a gorgeous view of the city.
And the sun came out! After unpacking and getting settled, we went downtown to grab something to eat, as none of us had eaten all day long. Ironically, we ended up going to Cafe Rouge, the same restaurant I went when I went with Dad and Cindy to Manchester last year. It was good, and hit the spot. Today is a bank holiday apparently, which made it a bit difficult to get some of the essentials (hair straightener, dryer), so we'll just have to persevere until tomorrow. We also walked around downtown a bit, exploring some of the sights. The Royal Crescent is beautiful!
The entire town is made of the same stones, and all the houses are beautiful and unique. I wish we could have spent more time exploring tonight, but we are all dead on our feet and have to be up at 7 am tomorrow (!!!) to begin orientation. We are going to a bunch of different presentations to introduce us to the city and all that it offers. I'm planning on volunteering at the Bath Cats and Dogs Home if I have time, but I don't know how that will work as we already have FOUR PAPERS due at the end of the week. Insane! I'm expecting my classes to be challenging, but I'm hoping they will still let me have free time to hang out with friends, explore the city and travel the rest of the UK and Europe. Already, we are planning weekend adventures to Germany, Spain, Norway, Prague, Dublin, and of course, London.
And the sun came out! After unpacking and getting settled, we went downtown to grab something to eat, as none of us had eaten all day long. Ironically, we ended up going to Cafe Rouge, the same restaurant I went when I went with Dad and Cindy to Manchester last year. It was good, and hit the spot. Today is a bank holiday apparently, which made it a bit difficult to get some of the essentials (hair straightener, dryer), so we'll just have to persevere until tomorrow. We also walked around downtown a bit, exploring some of the sights. The Royal Crescent is beautiful!
The entire town is made of the same stones, and all the houses are beautiful and unique. I wish we could have spent more time exploring tonight, but we are all dead on our feet and have to be up at 7 am tomorrow (!!!) to begin orientation. We are going to a bunch of different presentations to introduce us to the city and all that it offers. I'm planning on volunteering at the Bath Cats and Dogs Home if I have time, but I don't know how that will work as we already have FOUR PAPERS due at the end of the week. Insane! I'm expecting my classes to be challenging, but I'm hoping they will still let me have free time to hang out with friends, explore the city and travel the rest of the UK and Europe. Already, we are planning weekend adventures to Germany, Spain, Norway, Prague, Dublin, and of course, London.Getting over here definitely takes a lot out of you. Handling customs, dodging cars that are on the wrong side of the road, figuring out the crazy shower, and hiking up miles of cobblestone streets. But, once I regroup, I'll be tackling my next project: the UK Cell Phone. We'll see how that goes. Here are some more pictures from my first day in England, although nothing really exciting happened. This week, as I meet more people and see the rest of the city, I'm sure I'll have more stories to share.
Cheers!
The Circus
Part of the common room at 19 Northampton St.
My side of the bedroom...I actually don't have enough clothing to fill all the space!
