Last Day in Bath

Brennan promised to practice being mature. I think it's working!



The Geeks at Avebury



Brad in front of one of the houses used in the filming of Harry Potter!



Stonehenge.... Awesome

Our best day yet!!! We began the day by boarding our tour bus in Bath. We had a surprise to find our tour guide, Tim, was hilarious. We started our tour by driving into Castle Combe and taking a nice stop to enjoy the sights. We took plenty of pictures of the nice, quiet village. One cool thing at Castle Combe was that a few scenes from "Harry Potter", "Wolfman" and "Doctor Doolittle" were filmed there. After loading back up on the bus, we headed out for Avebury. Avebury is like a bigger twin to Stonehenge, but is much less commercial. You can walk right up the the stones and wander around inside the stone circles. After taking many pictures and getting plenty of sheep droppings on our feet, we left for Lacock. Lacock was somewhat like Castle Combe but much bigger. We stopped for lunch where we all enjoyed delicious food. After lunch, we took a peek at a nice bakery on our way through and got some candy and sweets. We also were able to see a few more places where Harry Potter scenes were filmed. Following Lacock, we made our way to Stonehenge. Stonehenge was our favorite part of the whole day. It was amazing! Every sight would send a tingle up your back. Several hundred pictures, and three full trips completely around the site, and we reluctantly headed back to the bus. Finally back in Bath, we are tired and happy. Looking forward to London tomorrow....
Sincerely, Eli, Brennan and Gitaine

Pictures!

This post only contains pictures of our day in Bath. The previous post is about what we actually did.



A gorgeous view over the Roman baths



Mike looking dumbfounded at the Royal Crescent



After touring the baths, we all got to drink some of the 'curative' water from the underground spring. Eli's countenance portrays the feeling we all felt after drinking the hot, metallic-tasting water.



Candid camera!

This post just contains pictures of the last few days in Bath. The previous post is about what we did today.

Another Great Day in Bath

Today was yet another adventurous day in the town of Bath for the Latin Geek Squad. We spent the whole morning touring the ancient Roman baths, which give the town its name. There, Gitaine gave an amazing report that included handouts that we all got to take home. We were all amazed by the ingenuity of the Romans, who were able to build these marvelous public baths without the use of high-tech gadgets and power tools. We then had lunch at a great little restaraunt before touring Bath Abbey, a huge church that dominates the city square. We also visited the oldest house in Bath, built in 1482. After all this excitement, we meandered back to our homw. We stopped at various shops along the way, including a music store because Christianson was going crazy since he had gone so long without being able to play a guitar. We finally got back home, and are now unwinding from our exhilirating day. We'll also put up some pictures! Hope you enjoy!
Sincerely, Brennan, Christian, Eli, and Gitaine

Journey to Bath

A view from one of our windows overlooking Bath


Today we started our journey to Bath. Before we left we all graciously said goodbye to our wonderful B&B owners Yvette and Norman. We took a train from Carlisle to Birmingham which was about a three hour ride. Then we connected to another train from Birmingham to Bristol which was around an hour and twenty minutes. After that we connected to one last train from Bristol to Bath Spa which was about seventeen minutes.
When we arrived in Bath, some of us were pleasantly surprised about the warmth because of the humidity. We were told that it is supposed to rain tonight, so hopefully we will get to finally see some. Finding our way to the place we are staying at is the first time we have not gotten lost to any of our places that we have stayed at. The place that we have here is five stories. We found a very nice Italian cusine restaurant to eat at. They had many choices for food and dessert. They have a four out of five star rating. I think it is the best place we have eaten the entire trip. After dinner we went to a grocery store a few blocks away from us down the street. We are all enjoying the new places we are staying at.
Sincerely,
Christian & Brad

Hadrians Wall and Vindolanda

Today began, as usual, with us waking up, getting dressed, etc. When we were finished with that we went down to breakfast. For breakfast we had: croissants, pineapple, cheese, mango, muffins, and ham. After breakfast we went down to the lounge and got ready to go. We then went outside, where we boarded a mini-bus that we rented, and began our journey towards Hadrian's Wall. Our first stop was Housesteads, a Roman fort along the wall, where Eli gave an excellent oral report. After leaving Housesteads, we hiked along the wall for a few minutes, took some pictures, walked back to the bus, and left. The next destination was Vindolanda, the Roman fort, where an excavation was currently in progress. Christianson did a wonderful oral report on the fort that educated everyone. We saw a more in depth view of Roman life in the accompaning museum along with the ancient fort. Our final destination was Birdoswald, where Christian gave his oral report on the Birdoswald Roman fort. Throughout our time on our mini-bus we got some great pictures of Hadrian's Wall. The weather has been great for all the days we have been here (not a drop of rain for the entire week). Once our time using the mini-bus was up, the driver drove us back to the shopping center near the B&Bs. We spent aout 15 minutes looking for a place to eat but most were not serving food at the time, so we had to settle for a place called Fats. The food there was terrible. The nachos were doritos covered in sweet and sour sauce. Once the food finaly came we were so hungry we almost didn't care what the food tasted like. After a tasteless meal, we headed home where we got some long needed rest.

Sincerely,
Eli, Gitaine, Conor, and Brennan

Wonderful Day in the Beautiful English Countryside

Today we started off our day with an excellent traditional English breakfast. In this breakfast we had sausage, bacon, poached eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, baked beans, and some very nice tea. Then we all took a leisurly train ride to Penrith, where we took a bus to Keswick which is a small town in the Lake District. While in Keswick we walked around the town a little along with going to see the greatest, most infamous muesum in all of Britain (drumroll)..... the Pencil Museum. After that thrilling adventure, we walked over to a restuarant called Pheasant. We all had some different assortments of red meats and seafood. To top off the dinner we had some wonderful chocolate sticky pudding and fudge cake. Then we all headed home to our wonderful B&B.
Sincerly,
Christian, Brennan, and Eli

From Edinburgh to Carlisle

As we awake on a cloudy Saturday morning to the sound of bagpipes, it is time to brush our teeth, comb our hair, and prepare for the long train ride to Carlisle that is to come.
The trip to Carlisle is a long and tiresome trip. First we must pack and have our tea to prepare for our day. The actual journey starts with a hike through Edinburgh to the train station. Then we must board our crowded train.
On the train ride we did homework, saw a lot of sheep, and found out that in Britain the Lays chip brand is called 'Walkers'.
Once the train ride was finished we set out to find the B&Bs. As usual, we walked right past it the first time around... After we returned and talked to the people who owned both B&Bs we went up to our rooms to rest.
We hung around in the rooms for a while until we had to go to see the bus station and the tourist center. Brennan was jokingly mocking our map holder and was forced to take leadership. he did great and everyone loved him!*
Time went by until we went to The Beehive Pub for dinner. Most of the people got a hamburger or fish and chips. After dinner we returned to the B&Bs, and so I am now writing the blog to inform you of what we did today. Consider yourselves informed.

Conor B. and Brennan H.

*Brennan wrote this
*We are sorry we do not have any photos at this point.

Day 3 in Scotland

Today was a great day! We started the day by taking a long walk to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The entire place was amazing, but we think our favorite spot as a group was the Holyrood Abbey. It was the ruins of the church that used to exist on the grounds. Afterwards we hiked Arthur's Seat, which is the highest of seven hills in Edinburgh. On the way up we saw St. Anthony's Chapel. Although the chapel is in ruins, it is still very beautiful. When we reached the top there were many gorgeous views looking over Edinburgh. After the descent we headed off to lunch. We stopped to shop at a couple stores on the way and picked up souvenirs. At lunch, all of the kids tried haggis, which is ground up sheep stomach... we all loved it (except Brennan,) followed by eating sticky coffee cake and cheesecake. After lunch we headed out to The National Museum of Scotland. Our group mainly looked at the Roman artifacts. We were even able to translate a few passages from them. After all that we headed back to the apartments for some needed rest. Today was our last day to tour Edinburgh. Tomorrow we will be setting off to our next destination, Carlisle.

Sincerely, Eli and Brad.

Pictures from Scotland

A view from Calton Hill



Walter Scott Monument



Some flowers near Prince's Street Gardens



One of the amusing exhibits at the Camera Obscura museum. Don't worry, it's just an illusion!

Scotland, Day 2

We began the day with a leisurely stroll up Calton Hill. There we had a magnificent view of Edinburgh, and we saw the Scottish equivalent of the Parthenon in Athens. We then went to the Walter Scott Monument, a huge, towering spire, which we climbed for another magnificent view of Edinburgh. We were able to listen to a street musician performing on his bagpipes while we climbed the 287 steps, inspiring us on. Afterwards, we took a stroll through the Prince's Street Gardens, which is the most photographed park in Europe. We then returned to the Royal Mile, the "main street" of Edinburgh, where the kids went on a tour of a Camera Obscura. There we had a lot of fun with the different illusions and exhibits. After this excitement, we ate dinner at a fancy restaraunt. On the way home, we passed through a mall and did some shopping like the locals do. We are now resting at our apartments from our tiring day. We'll post some pictures in the next post.
We look forward to some more exciting days here in the British Isles! Best regards, Gitaine

Edinburgh Adventures

Today was our first real day in Scotland. We went on a double-decker bus tour, and saw all the highlights of Edinburgh in an hour. After that, we went to see Edinburgh castle. We all had a great time and learned a lot at this historic monument. Afterwards we saw a textile factory, and searched for our ancestors' clans' kilt patterns. They we had some delicious Indian cuisine (we're saving the haggis for tomorrow) and are now calling it quits for the day. Hopefully tomorrow we will have some more fun experiences.
Love, Gitaine and Brad.

We are here and everyone is safe and sound. The jet lag has kicked in and it is 2 a.m. but everyone is deeply asleep except Mike and I. We will post pictures later, but let me assure all parents that students are doing great! This is an incredibly beautiful city and in a few hours when everyone gets up, the adventure will begin in earnest!