I decided to dedicate a blog to telling you my favorite things about England and my least favorite things:
Favorites:
1. Different culture to experience.
2. Beautiful landscapes.
3. Wonderful pastries.
4. Apple crisps and aero bars.
5. Lots of candy stores.
6. A lot to see.
Least Favorites
1. Driving on the wrong side of the road.
2. No ice in drinks.
3. No free refils.
4. Small portions of food.
5. Toilets not restrooms which are hard to find.
6. Public transportation.
Friday, 5 June 2009
London
So we did all of the touristy thing in London and heres a brief on what we saw:
Big Ben; well everyone knows you can't go to london and not see Big Ben. It's gorgeous and massive and it lights up at night which gives it a completely different look of beautiful.
London Eye gives you an unbelievable view of the city but it's definetly a pricy attraction. You can see everything and it even makes Big ben look small when you get to the top.
West Minster Abbey; we didn't go in because t cost 15 pounds but we went to the shop and took pictures outside. It was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen and massive doesn't even begin to describe it's size.
The British Museum; We saw mummies, the Rosetta Stone, and pieces of the Parthenon... what more can you ask for?
London is full of tourist attractions expensive food and more.
Big Ben; well everyone knows you can't go to london and not see Big Ben. It's gorgeous and massive and it lights up at night which gives it a completely different look of beautiful.
London Eye gives you an unbelievable view of the city but it's definetly a pricy attraction. You can see everything and it even makes Big ben look small when you get to the top.
West Minster Abbey; we didn't go in because t cost 15 pounds but we went to the shop and took pictures outside. It was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen and massive doesn't even begin to describe it's size.
The British Museum; We saw mummies, the Rosetta Stone, and pieces of the Parthenon... what more can you ask for?
London is full of tourist attractions expensive food and more.
Wicked and Chicago
I was privileged enough to be able to see two shows while in London. The first show I saw was Chicago and I saw it at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. It was amazing and we had second row seats which we got for only 20 pounds; the show ended up being sold out. It was a long show but had a great story and the singing was awesome. The second show I saw was Chicago. It was different then Wicked but still amazing and the best part is that Jerry Springer was in it. I didn't expect much out of him but he did a pretty good job who knew that Jerry could sing. Our seats were not as good in fat they were pretty awful but it wasn't a full show so we got to move after the first song. The tickets we bought came with dinner at the Fire and Stone which included pizza and a drink so that was convenient. In between dinner and the show we went shopping and saw street performers. One of them stuck their whole body through a tennis racket.
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Wales and Bath
Let's start with Wales. It is gorgeous to say the least the scenery and everything is beautiful. But as far as excitment goes theres not a whole lot to do. The hotel... well we have no shower so that's not cool and we had to shower in the gym but they had a nice indoor pool which was a nice break from the cold. We went to a caslte, a village, and the deep mines which was a long but fun day.
Bath is nice it has a lot of shopping but it's pricy. The Roman Baths were nice to see and we got audio guides which tell you everything so that was cool. We went to a mexican restaraunt called las Iguanas which eneded up being nothing like a real Mexican restaraunt; but the sangria was good.
We saw Stone Henge which was cool but it was pouring down raining so we didn't stay long.
Bath is nice it has a lot of shopping but it's pricy. The Roman Baths were nice to see and we got audio guides which tell you everything so that was cool. We went to a mexican restaraunt called las Iguanas which eneded up being nothing like a real Mexican restaraunt; but the sangria was good.
We saw Stone Henge which was cool but it was pouring down raining so we didn't stay long.
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Trip Advice
What I enjoyed most about the trip: I liked that we had rail passes to go see things on our own and make our own adventures. I also like the group trips which were pre-planned because I feel like I got to see things that I would have otherwise not seen.
What I enjoyed the least: Sometimes Grantham can be somewhat of a boring city so you have to find things to entertain yourself; luckily we had lots of side trips planned for us and the rail passes so it wasn't a huge problem.
Suggestions for next year: I think it would be cool if the trip included a few nights in Paris. We also could use maybe another day or two in Scotland because I thought it was beautiful but we didn't get to stay long. We went to cambridge and it was a beautiful city so maybe the whole group could take aday trip their.
Advice for next years students:
* If you want to go out at night in Grantham you will need taxi money; DO NOT WALK HOME!!!
* Bring warm clothes and a rain coat; an umbrella won't last long with the wind.
* Take a trip to go punting in Cambridge.
* Planned theme parties for the Bistro while in Grantham you will save money and they are lots of fun. (we did a toga party, a pj party, and a formal fairwell party for our last one)
* Go shopping at Primark; it has cheap cute clothes. Lincoln has a lot of cute shopping areas.
* Make sure you are friends with everyone on the trip and don't be afraid to meet new people.
* Don't forget a converter; it stinks and you can't buy them here.
* If you get a chance visit the Harry Potter Castle in Alnwick it costs 10 £.
* Send post cards early on in the trip they take a while to get home.
* Use a phone card they are cheap and easy.
* Go to a beer fest if you can.
* Bring a laptop... the manner has a computer lab but yout travel a lot and it's nice to have internet. The Caslte and every hotel has wireless.
* Spend a Saturday night in New Castle.
What I enjoyed the least: Sometimes Grantham can be somewhat of a boring city so you have to find things to entertain yourself; luckily we had lots of side trips planned for us and the rail passes so it wasn't a huge problem.
Suggestions for next year: I think it would be cool if the trip included a few nights in Paris. We also could use maybe another day or two in Scotland because I thought it was beautiful but we didn't get to stay long. We went to cambridge and it was a beautiful city so maybe the whole group could take aday trip their.
Advice for next years students:
* If you want to go out at night in Grantham you will need taxi money; DO NOT WALK HOME!!!
* Bring warm clothes and a rain coat; an umbrella won't last long with the wind.
* Take a trip to go punting in Cambridge.
* Planned theme parties for the Bistro while in Grantham you will save money and they are lots of fun. (we did a toga party, a pj party, and a formal fairwell party for our last one)
* Go shopping at Primark; it has cheap cute clothes. Lincoln has a lot of cute shopping areas.
* Make sure you are friends with everyone on the trip and don't be afraid to meet new people.
* Don't forget a converter; it stinks and you can't buy them here.
* If you get a chance visit the Harry Potter Castle in Alnwick it costs 10 £.
* Send post cards early on in the trip they take a while to get home.
* Use a phone card they are cheap and easy.
* Go to a beer fest if you can.
* Bring a laptop... the manner has a computer lab but yout travel a lot and it's nice to have internet. The Caslte and every hotel has wireless.
* Spend a Saturday night in New Castle.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Bike Riding at the Manor
DISASTER! That is about the only word needed to describe it. First, we got lost trying to find the bike shed which should have been our first sign to give up. But of course our 
determination over powers and we persist. We open the creepy shed only to find 10 bikes which haven't been used in a long time. We also found out that these bikes were made giants and that is not an understatement. Two bike were normal heights... Juanita got one and the other one was missing a pedal. So everyone claimed their gigantic bikes. Courney and I were left with 1 gigantomungo bike and the worlds smallest bike. So she took the small one and I took on the monster. We tried to keep up with everyone but it seemed impossible since Courtney couldn't pedal without hittin
g herself in the face and everytime I stopped I had to remount the mountain. Eventually the group left us in the dust and we could no longer see them. We tried to find them but they were no where to be found. So we tried going on our own adventure which didn't last long. It must have been less than a block when I hit the ground and the bike had a hard fall too. A random lady came over to see if I was ok. I was but the bike wasn't; the chain had come off it's track and the tires were making funny noises too. We decided it w
as a good reason to head back. On the way home we saw a dead squirrel. ) : We made it back and turned in our key. The lady at reception asked me if anything was wrong with the bikes and I told her they were only for tall people but she insisted to me that it was because another group had taken all the good bikes. I told her that the other group was with us and that they were not tall enought for any of the bikes either but she looked at me like I was crazy and continued to tell me about this "other group." I was frustrated so I went to laundry.
determination over powers and we persist. We open the creepy shed only to find 10 bikes which haven't been used in a long time. We also found out that these bikes were made giants and that is not an understatement. Two bike were normal heights... Juanita got one and the other one was missing a pedal. So everyone claimed their gigantic bikes. Courney and I were left with 1 gigantomungo bike and the worlds smallest bike. So she took the small one and I took on the monster. We tried to keep up with everyone but it seemed impossible since Courtney couldn't pedal without hittin
g herself in the face and everytime I stopped I had to remount the mountain. Eventually the group left us in the dust and we could no longer see them. We tried to find them but they were no where to be found. So we tried going on our own adventure which didn't last long. It must have been less than a block when I hit the ground and the bike had a hard fall too. A random lady came over to see if I was ok. I was but the bike wasn't; the chain had come off it's track and the tires were making funny noises too. We decided it w
as a good reason to head back. On the way home we saw a dead squirrel. ) : We made it back and turned in our key. The lady at reception asked me if anything was wrong with the bikes and I told her they were only for tall people but she insisted to me that it was because another group had taken all the good bikes. I told her that the other group was with us and that they were not tall enought for any of the bikes either but she looked at me like I was crazy and continued to tell me about this "other group." I was frustrated so I went to laundry.
Response Essay 3
To be honest I thought the article was difficult to get through but I did think that it brought up some interesting points. Tourism photography really is an art and I had never really thought about how different it is to what we normally consider to be photography at home.
The assertion made about technology and photography I found to be particularly interesting. Garlick says “The camera, as an instrument of modern technology, can be seen as not only framing particular slices of life, but also playing a part of the enframing of the world.” This is interesting because he is talking about how the camera itself is the modern tool which relates different locations not just the technology you may be photographing.
When I am a “tourist” or when I am on a vacation to somewhere I take a lot more photos then I normally would. I also take pictures of things that are completely random such a stores, objects, or even strangers. I do this because I want to remember the experiences I had while traveling; I want to remember what made the place that I traveled to different then what I am used to while at home.
The pictures I take while traveling are completely different then those that I take while at home or school. When I am at a place that I am familiar with, such as my home, I see my surroundings almost every day. I’m not going to forget those things therefore I don’t need to take a picture to remember them. However when you are traveling you see many unfamiliar things and in order to remember those things and places you need to take pictures because you might not get to see them again otherwise.
Garlick said “Memory is crucial in the process which brings this about, and it seems necessary to acknowledge today that the visual and technological re4cording of our experiences as we travel through our lives, whether that travel is tourism or not, has a significant role to play in the production of memory and, thus, of who we are.” I wanted to include this quote because it perfectly describes why many people take photographs, especially when touring. The people and the places that we see and the experiences we have are what makes us who we are and we photograph these things to look back and clearly remember what has happened.
After I have taken my pictures I first put them onto my computer. I also put them on facebook in order to share them with others. I want to share my pictures with my friends and family so they can see the things I have seen and so they can see what I have been up to. I also make back up disks of all my photos because they mean a lot to me. They are my experiences and a memory of them.
I enjoyed treading the part of the article about traveling being an art and in a way I guess it is and as Heidegger says it is “a means of world- making.” I take that to mean that it is making the world be what it is. Traveling is a natural form of filling curiosity it helps the world to be what we know it as.
The assertion made about technology and photography I found to be particularly interesting. Garlick says “The camera, as an instrument of modern technology, can be seen as not only framing particular slices of life, but also playing a part of the enframing of the world.” This is interesting because he is talking about how the camera itself is the modern tool which relates different locations not just the technology you may be photographing.
When I am a “tourist” or when I am on a vacation to somewhere I take a lot more photos then I normally would. I also take pictures of things that are completely random such a stores, objects, or even strangers. I do this because I want to remember the experiences I had while traveling; I want to remember what made the place that I traveled to different then what I am used to while at home.
The pictures I take while traveling are completely different then those that I take while at home or school. When I am at a place that I am familiar with, such as my home, I see my surroundings almost every day. I’m not going to forget those things therefore I don’t need to take a picture to remember them. However when you are traveling you see many unfamiliar things and in order to remember those things and places you need to take pictures because you might not get to see them again otherwise.
Garlick said “Memory is crucial in the process which brings this about, and it seems necessary to acknowledge today that the visual and technological re4cording of our experiences as we travel through our lives, whether that travel is tourism or not, has a significant role to play in the production of memory and, thus, of who we are.” I wanted to include this quote because it perfectly describes why many people take photographs, especially when touring. The people and the places that we see and the experiences we have are what makes us who we are and we photograph these things to look back and clearly remember what has happened.
After I have taken my pictures I first put them onto my computer. I also put them on facebook in order to share them with others. I want to share my pictures with my friends and family so they can see the things I have seen and so they can see what I have been up to. I also make back up disks of all my photos because they mean a lot to me. They are my experiences and a memory of them.
I enjoyed treading the part of the article about traveling being an art and in a way I guess it is and as Heidegger says it is “a means of world- making.” I take that to mean that it is making the world be what it is. Traveling is a natural form of filling curiosity it helps the world to be what we know it as.
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