Saturday, July 31, 2010

To the Lake District, Glasmere, and Edinburgh

Thursday: To Lake District, England

After studying poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge, I was very excited to spend some time strolling along one of the lakes in the Lake District - a place where many poets found inspiration for their writing. Before leaving Stratford for the Lake District, I checked my e-mail and learned that my dear grandmother passed away early in the morning on Tuesday. I love her very much and I will miss her, but I know that she is happy.

So, like Tuesday, Thursday was a very reflective day for me. I spent the evening walking and talking with Janelle and Lauren. I had some tears, but tried to hide them. Our hostel was basically on the lake and it was very nice to hear the water as I felt asleep. I felt very peaceful.

Later that night I felt very sick and nauseated.

Friday: Exploring Lake District/To Edinburgh, Scotland

The next morning in the Lake District, I woke up and still felt pretty ill, but decided to go on a little walk with Chloe. We found this National Trust land so we entered the gate and then explored inside. There were a couple of swans that let us get about five feet close to them, so we sat and watched both for awhile. Then we went wading in the lake and played on a rock.

When we got back, we packed up and got ready to go to Glasmere for gingerbread and to see the daffodil fields that Wordsworth wrote about in his poems.

The gingerbread was pretty nasty. It wasn't gingerbread cookie, it was literally ginger bread. I gave all that I bought away to people who actually enjoyed it. The ginger and me being sick made me feel even sicker as we travelled the four or so hours to Edinburgh. It was an enjoyable ride, though, because the girls and I had a lot of fun just talking and sharing ideas. :) I like my friends!

Saturday: Sites in Edinburgh

I LOVE SCOTLAND! It's so beautiful and I can see the ocean from Castle Rock. I learned that Castle Rock is actually an old volcano that caved off one end. Originally, there was a lake around the rock, but they drained that away in the 1700s and now there is a cute little park. I think I would have liked the lake, but the park was pretty cool, too.

So here is a list of things we did today:

*Saw Edinburgh castle
*Bought something awesome for my boyfriend because his grandma and ancestors are from Scotland
*Went to Greyfriar's Cemetery
*Ate at the Elephant House (this is famous because the author, JK Rowling, started writing Harry Potter while eating in the back room of this cafe).
*Saw a few monuments for famous writer people
*Went to the Sir Walter Scott monument
*Shopped but didn't really find anything. I think I am trying to save for when I get back to the United States. I want to go through all of my clothes and give what I don't wear either to Deseret Industries or my sisters. Then I will find some things that I really think look great on me and get those instead of trying to find something here that I will need to lug back home.
*Ate dinner at the hostel
*About to go up to Arthur's Seat :)

Love you!

Jazlyn

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