Flying with Harry Potter

After this one I will finally be caught up with all of my trips thus far.  Last Saturday Cory, Amanda, and I went on the Give it A Go trip to Alnwick Castle.  It is currently the winter home of the Duke and Dutchess of Northumberland.  It was a long 3 hour bus ride each way but we all slept both ways.  Today it is mostly known because scenes from the first two Harry Potter movies were filmed there.  Most notably, the grounds were used when Harry learned how to fly.  Since it was opening weekend for the season it was also the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and they had people dressed up as Harry, Hagrid, and Dumbledore.

Where Harry learned to fly

After a brief tour of the grounds, we headed into the castle to look around.  Unfortunately we weren't able to take pictures inside but I can tell you it was magnificent.  My favorite room was the library with floor to ceiling bookshelves all around the room.  It was really interesting because while the castle is a historical castle that has been around for centuries, it is still used as the house for the Duke's family.  For example, in the library along with the ancient bookshelves there was also a plasma TV.  There were also pictures of the family scattered around the Castle in addition to the older paintings.

Alnwick Castle from the back

We also went on a walk through the town of Alnwick.  It was similar to many of the other small towns I have visited around England.  Since it is so close to the Scottish boarder many of the people in the town spoke with accents that were more similar to Scottish accent than the usual English one.
There was also the Castle Gardens but if we wanted to go see them it would've cost us an additional 9 pounds.  Obviously we chose to forgo the gardens but managed to sneak a peak at the magnificent fountain.  It also prevented us from being able to go into the tree house as well.  Instead we took a walk up to the Dutchess's View of the Castle and the surrounding area it was amazing.

Awesome looking tree house we couldn't go in

That night we celebrated Cory's 22nd birthday by going to Pop Tarts, the Saturday club night at the Union.  It was a lot of fun.  Most of the music they played was from the 80's and 90's so nothing that we've heard at every other place we've been to since arriving at Sheffield.

Tomorrow I am off for my Easter Break tour around Southern Europe.  Cory and I will be spending time in Greece, Italy, and Spain.  I'm really excited to get to the warmth and not have to worry about any type of school work!

Castles, Ghost Stories, and Harry Potter

After returning home from Amsterdam I vowed that I wouldn't go on another weekend trip until I left for my Easter break trip.  However, I found myself in search of of someone to go to Edinburgh with the following weekend.  By Wednesday evening Amanda and I had booked train tickets and a hostel. Aiming for the 11:20 train out of Sheffield, we arrived at the station with 5 minutes to spare.  Unfortunately, we still had to pick up our tickets and there was a long line so we missed the train.  Luckily, we hadn't booked a specific train and were able to take any train during the day.  So we headed across the street to a pub for lunch while we waited for the 12:20 train.  This time we made sure we got to the platform on time to make the train.  After almost 4 hours on the train we finally made it to Edinburgh.

View of Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street Gardens near the train station

With directions from the hostel website in hand, Amanda and I headed out of the station in Edinburgh in search of the Art Roch Hostel.  Trusting Amanda's sense of direction since she had been to Edinburgh before we headed off in the direction of the castle.  Well apparently Amanda really didn't know where she was going and led us in the opposite direction of the castle.  After a few minutes of walking, we headed back to the station to start from the beginning.  This time it only took us 10 minutes to find our hostel.  The hostel was located in the Grassmarkets and had a great view of the castle once you stepped out of the door. That night there was a "band" playing at the hostel, and I use the term "band" very loosely.  It was really just a group of 4 guys who took turns playing the same guitar and singing.  For all we know they might've been a band but just didn't want to play together, either way they weren't the best singers/guitar players I've ever heard.  There was also a pub crawl that night that had been organized by the hostel so we decided to join in on that.  It was only 2 pounds and we got free entrance into 4 bars and a club where we got a free shot.  For only being 2 pounds it wasn't bad but definitely not as good as the one in Amsterdam.  Edinburgh is apparently a popular place for stag and hen (bachelor and bachelorette) parties as well.  We saw several between Friday and Saturday night.  A common sight was for the bachelor to dress in a costume as well.  We think this is why there was an Oopma Loompa on our pub crawl.  I kid you not he had everything from the green hair to the orange skin and bushy white eyebrows and while overalls.  I wish I had gotten a picture but I didn't feel like being a super creep.

Vick jersey at one of the pubs we went to

Saturday morning we headed off to go on a free walking tour of the city.  It was run by the same company that had done my tour in Amsterdam.  The tours really are a great was to see the city.  Since the tour guides only work for tips they are usually very energetic and knowledgeable about the city and really trying to make sure you have a good time.  Again I was fortunate to have a native.  This time it was Andrew from Scotland who was studying Scottish history at the University of Edinburgh.  We went mostly stayed on the Royal Mile but strayed off it a few times to see different sites.  The Royal Mile, in the Old Town, is an approximately 1 mile long road that stretches from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyrood, the former palace of Mary, Queen of Scots and is also where the Queen Mother stays when she is in Edinburgh.  In the middle of the Royal Mile there is an old building where whenever there was news in for the city to hear someone would climb up to the top and call people to gather around to listen. The announcement was always made 3 days after it was official because often times that's how long it took for news to get to Edinburgh.  It is still used today and the news is still reported 3 days late.  The latest news they had was when Prince William got engaged.  Three days after the engagement was announced someone climbed to the top of the tower and called out the news for all to hear (even though everyone had already heard).  We didn't  go into the castle since Amanda had gone in before and said it was very similar to Warwick in the content it had.  Before leaving for Edinburgh Aleese had also told me that for the price going inside wasn't really worth it.  We did walk up to the top of the Royal Mile to get an up close view and went into the gift shop.

Edinburgh Castle

There are also lots of ghost stories associated with the city of Edinburgh.  One of which was the story of Molly Dickinson who was set to be hanged to death and was.  However, while the driver was taking her coffin to her grave he heard movement coming from the coffin.  When he opened it Molly Dickinson was awake laying in the coffin and because of double jeopardy she was unable to be hung again since she had been declared dead previously.  There is now a pub in the Grassroots named after her!  Another story is where 2 men went around Victoria Street killing prostitutes and druggies and sold their bodies to the local medical school for money.  They were only caught when they had killed a well known prostitute and one of the medical students recognized her and knew that she had been perfectly healthy the night before.  Edinburgh is also home to the original Jekyll and Hyde.
I also continued my tour of Harry Potter sites! First up was the Elephant Cafe where J.K. Rowling penned much of the first 2 books.  Edinburgh is also home of George Heriot's school, the school which she modeled her vision of Hogwarts after.  Next to the school is the graveyard where J.K. Rowling often went walking through for inspiration for names of characters.  Among the names we saw were Thomas Riddle and a McGonagall.

The real Hogwarts

That night we went on a ghost tour which really wasn't all that good.  The guide mostly just told us the same stories we'd heard during the day.  After the tour though we had a true Edinburgh treat, a deep fried Mars Bar.  It really just tasted like a melted Mars Bar (which by the way is just a Milky Way, also here a Milky Way is what we call a 3 Musketeer.  This confuses the Aussies very much since technically they're all made by Mars Chocolate.  However, after further research the founder of Mars chocolate in the US sent his son to the UK with the Milky Way recipe where he started producing the same bar under the name Mars Bar.)  The next day we walked down to the Palace of Holyrood at the end of the Royal Mile.  On the way back up we stopped at at vegetarian hot potato shop for Veggie Haggis Baked Potatoes.  Haggis is a traditional Scottish food, I never got to try the real thing, but the veggie haggis was really good.  The ride home was another 4 hour train ride but I spent most of it sleeping so it wasn't too bad.

Palace of Holyrood

If You Hear a Bell Run like Hell

After my weekend in Manchester I had to quickly get ready because I was heading to Amsterdam the following weekend with some of the other exchange students.  Not that there was much of a variety in our group though, it was all Americans and Australians.  While many in our group were excited about Amsterdam because of the tolerance laws, I was more excited because my dad's family is Dutch and I hadn't been there since I was very young.
For those of you who don't know, the Netherlands is known for its tolerance policy towards soft drugs.  This dates back to the time when they had a huge problem with hard drugs.  So instead of focusing on going after people doing soft drugs like marijuana they developed a tolerance policy where as long as you weren't doing hard drugs they would leave you alone.  By doing this drug use decreased significantly.  If you do go to the Netherlands and would like to smoke, you go to a coffeeshop, but if you just want coffee you go to a cafe.  It is also known for it's Red Light District.  This is the part of the city were prostitutes pay for a window space for a certain amount of time.  Yes this is legal in Amsterdam, however, pimping is illegal, all of these women are self employed.  One of the oldest churches in Amsterdam is also right around the corner from the district.

Where we went for drinks for St. Paddy's Day

We arrived in Amsterdam on St. Patrick's Day and luckily for us Maddie's Dutch friend from one of her classes was on our flight.  She was able to help us navigate through the airport and onto the correct train before heading home herself.  While we got on the train alright, we still had to take a tram from the train station to the hostel.  Only knowing what tram number we had to get on, multiple times we considered just using googlmaps to help us.  Eventually we saw the tram we needs and hopped on.  Everyone else around us swiped some transportation card as they got on but since we weren't from the city we didn't have one.  We also had not seen any place to buy one so we quietly sat down and figured if we needed to buy a ticket someone would find us.  By the time we made it to the hostel area no one had approached us and we hopped off the bus and headed to the hostel.
After a quick dinner in a small Italian restaurant many people wanted to head to a coffeeshop right away.  Personally, I was thinking that since it was St. Patty's Day I would rather drink and luckily I found another who felt the same way.  We all headed to Leidseplein (pronounced similarly to Led Zeppelin). So while most of our group headed to the coffeeshop Maddie, Patrick, and I started to head to a nearby bar.  Only we didn't make it to the bar, instead we headed out to walk around the city.  Amsterdam at night was beautiful.  The canals were all lit up up and it was just amazing.  By the time we made it back to the bar the others were leaving the coffeeshop.  So we headed to the only bar in the area decorated for St. Patrick's Day.  After a few drinks we headed back to our hostel.

Canal lit up at night

The next morning we woke up so we could head to Dam Square for a free walking tour through the city.  a few of us stopped by a cafe to get breakfast on our way to Dam Square.  The four of us split 2 delicious and huge pancakes, one with strawberries and one with bacon and cheese.  We then met up with the rest of the group and squeezed into the free walking tour.  Technically we weren't supposed to be on the tour since groups of 10 or more needed to have preregistered but they let us on as long as we split into two groups.  Not a problem for us we just wanted to see the city.  My group was lead by Nouschska and luckily for us she was a native of a small town outside of Amsterdam so she was a real Dutch girl.  Often times the tours get led by English speaking students who are in the city either studying or took a holiday and never went home.  Nouschska was a student of Dutch history and an amazing tour guide.  We saw lots of things on our tour including the coffeeshop where scenes of Oceans 12 was filmed, the Red Light District, the outside of Anne Frank's House, the original offices of the East India Trading Company, and several secret churches.  We also learned lots of interesting facts about the city as well.  The houses along the canals are all very narrow as to fit as many along the canal as possible.  The price of the house also depended on how many meters wide the house so some guy made the narrowest house known which was only about a little under 2 meters (I believe) and someone still lives in it!  Another thing about many of the houses along the canal, they're all slanted forward.  The genius Dutch people realized that since their houses were very narrow there would be no way to move things into the house through the stairs so instead they would move things in through the window.  They built hooks at the top of the houses to be used to pull things up so they could go through the window.  And since the large items would greatly swing while moving things in the Dutch built their houses slanted as to leave more space for the items to swing.  It was until many years later they realized they could make this space just by lengthening the bar on which the hook was placed.

Delicious bacon and cheese pancake

Narrowest house in Amsterdam (the one in the middle)

Another thing about the Dutch that we learned throughout the weekend was that they love their bikes!  And hence the name of this blog, if you hear the bell, run like hell.  Cyclists will ring their bike bell if you are in their way and you better move fast in order to get out of the way.  Unfortunately, it's often hard to figure out on which side the bike will come.  We all had many close calls with getting run over but Maddie had a full on encounter and didn't move fast enough and got run over.  If you do have a bike make sure it's locked up or it will most likely end up stolen or tossed into the canal.  We were told that the canal has 3 layers, the water, the dirt ground, and a layer of bikes.  Over 25,000 bikes are removed from the canal each year because of this.  The amount of time you've lived in Amsterdam is not measured by the years you've been there but the number of bikes you have gone through since arriving.  4-5 bikes easily translates into 1-2 years!  Bikes aren't the only things on the road though, you also have to watch out for the trams too!  Elizabeth had many close encounters with them as you can't hear them until they are almost right behind you.  We also witnessed a little boy on a bike almost get run over by one as he was crossing the rail and froze when he saw it coming at him.  Luckily the trams are able to stop and did so just in time.

Bikes along the canal, hope they're all locked onto something!

Amsterdam also had a number of museums that we wanted to see.  On Friday we went to the Anne Frank Museum which was located in her father's old work building where their secret annex was hidden.  While the area itself was larger than I had pictured in my head while reading the book, I don't think I would ever choose to live an area that small out of my own choosing (although my room in Blacksburg I believe is smaller than some of the rooms but I have it to myself and am free to leave it when I choose).
Saturday we ventured to the Rijksmuseum, which showcases Dutch history and art.  I was particularly excited to see the Rembrandt exhibit because my dad's great uncle had donated 2 portraits to the museum, however, I was only able to see one of them on display.  The rest of the museum was fantastic, I could've stayed in there for hours if the rest of the group hadn't been waiting for me.  After the museum Fiona, Trista, and I got some Wok to Walk and sat in Vondelpark to eat and wait for the rest to finish up at the museum since they had started much later.

Rijksmuseum

The evening we went on a bar crawl that Nouschska had recommended the day before.  For 18 Euro we got into 4 bars and one club.  We also got a free drink at each of the places, either wine, beer, or a Jager shot.  There were almost 200 people who went on the bar crawl so they split us into 2 groups.  It turns out the leader of our group has been living in Amsterdam for six years but was originally from San Diego.  It was a fun night for all of us but we were ready to head to bed so we could wake up early for our final hours in Amsterdam.
Sunday morning we woke up early because we had to check out of the hostel by 10am.  We stored our bags at the hostel while we headed to the Van Gogh Museum.  The museum not only had Van Gogh paintings but also those of people who had inspired him and who he'd taught.  Unfortunately we were running out of time so I was unable to see the Picasso exhibit they had on display for a couple of months.  The museum is one of the places I hope to be able to visit on a return trip to Amsterdam.  Yes, it's already been decided I will be returning to Amsterdam and the Netherlands and I can't wait!

You're Not an Exchange Student

The weekend after Liverpool I had a nice little surprise.  Well not really a surprise, since I knew it was coming, but Roy came to visit me during his spring break.  He arrived Saturday morning but because of jet lag we just hung out for the day and I showed him around Sheffield for a bit.  Of course there's not too much to see besides the University and the city center but it was still nice.
The next morning we headed out to go to York.  Some of the girls in my flat had gone a couple of weeks earlier and said it was a quaint little town.  We made it to the station just in time to get on our train and for it to leave (it was the first of many trains I have narrowly made).  Unfortunately, in my rush to leave, I had forgotten my rail card.  Not the worst thing that could've happened but I did have to pay the difference between my student price and the regular price.  Our first stop in York was York Minster.  Since we were there on a Sunday there was a service going on so we weren't able to go inside but we were able to view its majesty from the outside.  From there we roamed the streets, got lunch from a pasty shop, and walked down the Shambles.  The Shambles is said to be the most picturesque/typical English street in the UK, or so the tour guide said as we walked past one group.  We also saw the castle tower, we didn't go up because we would've had to pay.  We also walked along the Ouse River and back through the town in our attempt to find Betty's Tea Shop.  We weren't able to find Betty's so we just headed back to the train station to go to the Train Museum.  While there were many interesting trains at the museum the highlight was getting to see the Hogwarts Express!!!  I saw it through the window and patiently waited to finish seeing all the royal trains before heading out to see it.  And so started my Harry Potter sights adventures (don't worry there will be more to come!!)  Another Harry Potter York fact is that they used the train station bridge to film where Hagrid gave Harry his ticket for the Hogwarts Express in the 1st movie.

Me and the Hogwarts Express!!!!!

The rest of the week wasn't too eventful.  We hung around Sheffield a lot and Roy got to see where I live and meet my flatmates and friends.  On Tuesday we went with my flatmates to the Sheffield United game.  They are the Sheffield team in the higher division but had been playing terribly so far this season. Luckily we were there on a winning night!  Of course it only took us incredibly long to get to the stadium.  We weren't sure where we were going exactly so we followed googlemaps on Laura's phone.  A couple abandoned looking streets later we made it to the stadium.   On Wednesday we went to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, which would've been a lot more beautiful if it had been later in the spring when the flowers had bloomed.  It was still pretty nice though, it had an amazing view overlooking the city that was incredible.  That night we went for cocktails with my flatmates, well the girls got cocktails Roy got a beer.  Laura had been to the Bowery before and introduced the rest of us to one of the most amazing drinks ever, but I don't think I'll ever be able to find it in the states.  I can't even remember what was in it but it was essentially a liquid Toblerone on ice, hence the name of it being a Snoblerone.  I haven't gone back for another one yet but I will and I will be watching to see how it is made.

Me and the fossilized tree in the Botanical Gardens

Since Roy was flying out of Manchester on Sunday we decided to spend the weekend in Manchester, we left Friday afternoon after I'd finished class and we got dinner.  We woke up Saturday morning and took a taxi to the Manchester City FC stadium.  We had hoped to try to tour the Manchester United Stadium but they had a home game that evening and don't do tours on game day.  On our way tot he stadium our taxi driver asked us if we were heading to the game that night and when we told him no he tried to get tickets for us but was unfortunately unable.  The Manchester City FC stadium was amazing.  The team is currently in 3rd place in the Premier League behind United and Arsenal.  We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Manchester.  There's not a whole lot to see in the city but pleanty of shopping to be done (not that I did any).  For dinner we headed to the Hog's Head Pub to watch the Manchester United game.  We apparently didn't get there early enough and it was already packed.  Luckily while Roy was getting drinks I was able to snatch up a table as a group of people left.  If we couldn't have gone to the game itself, being in a pub in Manchester was the next best thing, it erupted every time United scored and thankfully, United won the game.

Roy and the Manchester City FC stadium

After Roy left the next morning I proceeded to spend approximately 4 hours at the Manchester Picadilly train station.  Apparently, there was work being done on the tracks heading towards Sheffield in the morning.  Every time they would show Sheffield on the board and put a platform next to it I would get my hopes up.  Then about 10 minutes before the train was supposed to come they would switch it to say that the bus would be arriving in 10 minutes.  I had purchased a round trip ticket so I didn't want to buy another ticket for a bus so I chose to just wait it out.  I found out later in the week when I was talking to one of the guys in one of my philosophy classes that since the bus was running instead of the train I could have used my train ticket to get on the bus.  Oh the joys of the train system here.  At least this time I remembered my rail card!

Beatlemania!!

Following a long day in Warwick and Stratford, Amanda and I headed out the next day (Feb 27) for another day trip this time through our Uni to Liverpool, home of the Beatles.  As excited as I was about going to Liverpool it didn't quite meet my expectations.  The Beatles museum was amazing though!  They had everything from before they were actually the Beatles right up until they broke up, and even beyond.  I saw John Lennons glasses, his piano and guitar from Imagine, the Abbey Road recording studio, a Yellow Submarine, and all sorts of merchandise.  There was also replicas of Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, Eleanor Rigbey's grave, and the Cavern Club stage where they played 292 times!  After the museum we headed to the actual Cavern Club where the Fab Four played.  It had been relocated across the street when it closed several years ago but is now back in the original location and rebuilt using the original bricks.  It's still home to many live concerts by many people.  Across from it is the Cavern Club Hall of Fame where all the band names of people who performed at the Club between '57 and '73 as well as some 90's bands all have their names engraved into bricks.  Inside the club there was a band playing and a bunch of people just hanging out.  Almost every inch of brick in the place had been signed by people who have passed through the club wanting to be a part of history.  Unfortunately, none of us knew that we'd be able to sign the wall and had nothing to write with.
After the Cavern Club we thought it might be nice to hit up the World Museum (mostly I saw that it had an aquarium so I wanted to go).  The museum was a bit of a bust, their idea of an aquarium was just a bunch of Nemo fish and some others, no sharks.  On a different floor though, I was pleased to find a section about saving the sharks complete with several shark jaws!  The rest of the museum we went through very quickly, mostly because we had to head back to catch our bus.
Key Points learned that day included never travel with a large group of indecisive people.  Amanda and I   were hanging out with several other exchange students and it took forever for us to make a decision.  Not all aquariums have sharks, or animals larger than my hand for that matter.  If I ever go back to Liverpool I'm doing the Beatles Magical Mystery  Tour that actaully takes you to all the sights in Liverpool, including their childhood homes, school, Penny Lane, and Strawberry Fields.

Shakespeare and Castles

Ok so I've been jumping around a bit because I went to Chatsworth before we had our snow day and Fairy bread, but I'm moving on.  Two weeks after visiting the Chatsworth House, my flatmate Amanda and I headed out to Warwick and Stratford-Upon-Avon with a group called Don't Be A Tourist.  Essentially they organize trips for exchange students (nonexchange students can go as well).  They provide the bus and often entrance into the major attractions is included in the price.  We were set to meet the bus at 8:30 at the student union for Sheffield Hallam.  Fortunately, the Hallam union is easily identified and after waiting for a bit some other girls from Hallam showed up.  Since it wasn't one of the trips through the Sheffield Uni union Amanda and I were the only ones going from our school.  About 30 minutes after the bus was supposed to show up we hear someone yelling to us from across the street, it was our tour guide.  Apparently the bus wasn't able to turn down the street to pick us up in front of the union, not really sure why not but I guess the bus driver was having difficulties.  Unfortunately Sheffield was the last stop before Warwick so the bus was already full, Amanda and I were forced to separate.  But no worries, our tour guide had a fun bus ride planned for us.  It started with a nice little round of speed chatting where we'd move around our seats to get to know some of the other people going on the trip.  Clearly what we all wanted to instead of just having a nice quiet ride where we would be able to get some sleep.  We also formed groups and took a quiz on Shakespeare since we were heading to his birthplace.  Finally, we were able to sleep after the quiz and a short stop to stretch our legs.

Warwick is a small little town home to Warwick castle.  Amanda and I walked around the castle and grounds.  After the castle we walked around the town.  There's the Lord Leycester Hospital that was built in the 1100's and is now used as a retirement home for ex-servicemen.  We also stopped by the Collegiate Church of St. Mary, a Church of England parish that was also built in the 1100's.  It currently houses (I believe) the altar cloth from Queen Elizabeth's coronation and is where J.R.R. Tolkien was married.

St. Mary's Church

After Warwick we hopped back on the bus and headed off to Stradford-Upon-Avon, a town that has really embraced its role as the home of Shakespeare.  Everywhere we went there was something that had to do with Shakespeare.  We opted out of entering the house where he was born and chose to just view it from the outside.  I'm sure it might've been interesting but not 8 pounds worth of interesting.  We also saw the home Shakespeare's daughter and the Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare, his wife, daughter, and her husband.  When we got to the church it was already closed for the day, but by less than 10 minutes.  Luckily with a little smooth talking from our tour guide we were able to get in.  After the church Amanda and I went for a walk along the river Avon and saw Shakespeare's Royal Theater.  We also popped into a wizard store where they had wands and a little cafe in the back that sold Butterbeer.  Unfortunately, the cafe was closed for the day but we were still able to walk around the store.  The British really have embraced the wizarding world, you can see evidence of the Harry Potter influence everywhere.  I also experienced my first afternoon tea.  We stopped by a cafe and got cream tea, which included a pot of tea and a scone with jam and cream.  After that we headed back and rested up because we were heading to Liverpool the next day!

Shakespeare's Grave (he had to pay for it himself!)

Back to February

Ok so I know it's been awhile since my last update and I'm sorry.  Lots has happened since the evening of fairy bread fun and snow and I apologize.  In 2 weeks I leave for Easter break for a little over 3 weeks.  Hopefully before I leave I will be all caught up.

Back in February I took a day trip to the Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.  It was about an hour away by bus.  I went with my flatmate Cory and her friend from home who is studying in Newcastle this semester and was visiting Sheffield for the weekend.  We woke up early with hopes of heading out to the Peak District.  None of us were too sure as to where to go so we asked the info booth at the Interchange and they gave us a list of places that we could go and which buses to take to each location.  Seeing the Chatsworth House we vaguely remembered the name and headed on our way.  Once we got there we were dismayed to find out that the house was closed for the winter and we were unable to go inside.  However, we were still able to walk around outside and through what had been the stable.  Unfortunately, it was also raining so the grounds were muddy so we weren't able to explore as much as we would have liked.
For those who don't know the Chatsworth House was used for scenes in Pride and Prejudice and the Dutchess.  It was where the shot the outside of Pemberley, Mr. Darcy's home.  Chatsworth House itself was also mentioned in the movie.

Chatsworth House undergoing minor renovations

Snow, Groceries, and Fairy Bread

On Saturday I was awoken to the excited screams from my Aussie flatmates.  We had snow!  Now I love snow, but my snow excitement was nothing compared to theirs, especially Amanda's.  On our way out on Friday night she was telling everyone about how it was supposed to snow.  In turn, everyone told her that it wasn't going to snow and even if it did it wouldn't stick because it the ground would be too warm.  All she wanted though was one day where it snowed and she got it.  There was less than half an inch but it was enough to cover the ground.  Living in Australia they had each seen snow only a couple times in their lives.  Katrina, my flatmate from Hong Kong, had never seen snow before at all.  It was fun to watch them all get excited about something that's usually at least a yearly occurrence in Virginia.  

Today was an exciting day for me, I got my groceries delivered!  Ok, so I felt incredibly lazy having my groceries delivered but it really was so much more easier than stopping on my way home from class.  I feel like I have gone there every single day to get something.  That and the store closest to my flat doesn't have a huge variety and I can never seem to find what I want.  It took me 10 minutes to find the chocolate chips on Sunday and there are only 4 aisles in the store.  The other convenient thing was that I can only carry so much back from the store on my way home from class.  This way I was finally able to get some of the things that should last me awhile.  Hopefully now the only things I will need to stop on the way home for are milk and other items that I go through pretty quickly over here. 

It was also Fiona's birthday today.  She lives in the same building as me but on the other girls flat 2 floors up.  She lives with one of the VT girls.  As she is also from Australia Amanda decided to make her a traditional Australian birthday treat that most kids have, I believe, instead of cake on their birthdays.  And I was introduced to Fairy Bread.  It's really not hard to make at all.  All it is, is a slice of white bread, you butter the bread, and sprinkle the dot sprinkles on it.  No baking or doing anything else, that's it.  I was pretty skeptical about trying it but it really wasn't bad at all.  In fact it was quite good!  So watch out if I'm going to be around for your birthday, chances are I'm just going to make you Fairy Bread instead of getting you a gift or baking you a cake:)

Hockey is a Family Sport

On Saturday I went to the Sheffield Uni winter varsity hockey game.  Now Sheffield doesn't actually have any varsity sports, mostly it's just the equivalent to a mix of intermural/club teams at home.  From what I can tell you have to try out to be on the team, but the teams don't play other schools (at least I don't think so).  So this was an exciting event because every winter they have the winter varsity games where Sheffield Uni (my school) plays against Sheffield Hallam (a school closer to the city center).
So apart from the fact that this was a once in a year event (there's also spring varsity but different sports) I didn't have to pay for my ticket.  Granted the regular student price was only 3 quid, I still didn't have to pay for it.  One of my flatmates (Amanda) had won 2 tickets earlier last week at the activities fair.  On Saturday morning she received an e-mail saying to go to entrance B to get a yellow band.  Well we took the tram to the arena bummed that we got to the free buses too late but luckily we didn't have to pay on the tram because it was too crowded for the ticket person to get through.  When we got to the gate the woman there didn't seem to know what was going on.  Amanda's name wasn't on any of the lists.  At first I was concerned that we weren't going to be able to get in, but Amanda told her that she had won tickets and got an e-mail telling her to go to that gate, which was true.  I guess the woman didn't know what else to do but she gave us VIP passes and led us to the VIP room.  There we were able to get free drinks and food in between periods.  This was nice since neither Amanda or I had eaten lunch.

My VIP badge:)

The game itself was quite fun.  It was the first hockey game I had ever gone to.  I would think that a NHL game might have been more exciting but it was still good.  We played well but ended up losing in the last couple of minutes of the game.  We had a group that led some cheers that were quite interesting, such as "We go somewhere you don't go, Uni, Uni.  We go somewhere you don't go, University! University! University! We go somewhere you don't go University"  I was a little confused by this since both schools are universities.  Amanda and I got on the wrong bus going back to campus but it was just going to one of the other student villages.  It was a quick walk back to our flat and we weren't the only ones who had made the mistake!

Go Uni!

Lecture Hall A is not Lecture Hall 1

We started classes on Monday and so far they've all been alright.  Nothing too interesting about any of them.  I was so proud of myself that I had made it to all my classes on time and didn't get lost once!  Well that all went downhill today.  It was my last different class of the week and it was in a building that I'd previously had class in as well.  I also thought it was in the same room as before.  But it wasn't.  The class had already been moved once but to a building much closer to the central part of campus.  In fact all my classes are right off of the main road that goes by the student union.  For some reason I assumed that lecture theater A was just another name for lecture hall 1.  All my other classes had been in lecture theaters identified by number not letter.  So I walked down to the class, first time I walked into theater 2 realized my mistake and walked out.  Then I walked into theater 1 but the previous class was still going on so I scooted back out to wait in the hall.   While I was waiting two other students came over to me to ask if I was waiting for the philosophy lecture and I said yes.  We chatted for a little while, he asked where in the States I lived, then realized it didn't really matter because when I told him Virginia he said he wasn't really sure.  But he did know where DC was do that helped him a bit.  There wasn't a lot of people waiting so we thought maybe it was going to be a small class.  I saw other study abroad students who I knew were in the class and they were waiting as well.  When the class ahead of ours got our we all went in and sat down.  A couple more people came in and sat down as well.  Minutes went by and it came time for class to start, that's when we started wondering that maybe we were in the wrong spot.  One of the girls checked her e-mail and saw lecture theater A.  So we all trekked back up to the main floor and followed signs to lecture theater A.  The building we were in was like a giant maze.  We had to turn go through doors and then head back downstairs.  I was so glad that it was not just me and that full year Sheffield students did the same thing.

Other than that my classes have been pretty uneventful.   I've talked to a couple different people in my classes, all of which are nice.   The work doesn't seem like it will be too difficult.  In one of the departments I'm taking classes in they divide up their semester, so I am only taking this class for 6 weeks!  Luckily it's my earliest class as well, so one week down only five more to go:)  Also in this same class if you are late the prof makes you sit in the front row so she can call on you to answer questions.  Needless to say if I'm going to be late to class I just might not go!  It's also interesting because I am taking first year courses because those were what I needed.  Everyone in the classes seem surprised when I tell them I am a third year.  Yes, if I tell people I am a junior they just look at me like I've said the most bizarre thing.  Some other differences, the classes are set as far as day and time but will vary from day to day.  Like my one class, I have at 4:10 on Tuesdays in the Hicks building and I have it again on Wednesday at 12:10 in the Biology building.  Other classes are similar so it was confusing when I was trying to figure it out.  Also we get a week off in March for reading week before midterms.  We also get three weeks off in April for Easter break, and a week off in May before final exams for another reading week!

Don't smoke in the hotel rooms

So on Saturday Elizabeth and I had to check out of our hotel.  Only we had to check out by noon but couldn't check into our accommodation until 2.  Therefore our solution was to people watch from the lobby until her friend picked her up to go shopping and I had a taxi called.  One of the most interesting things we witnessed was a group of guys who were checking out.  Apparently they had been smoking in their room.  There was a no smoking policy in our hotel.  Needless to say when housekeeping had gone through their room, they noticed the smell.  As they were checking out the woman at the front desk kept asking them which one of them was smoking.  All of them denied that they had smoked in the room.  It started getting busier so the woman called someone else down to deal with him.  This guy basically yelled at them saying that they had to pay the 100 pound fee from smoking in the room because it is illegal in England to smoke in the rooms.  Eventually one of them coughed up the money (by the way 100 pounds is approximately 150 US dollars).  Elizabeth and I sat there the entire time trying not to laugh.  Later while I was sitting waiting for my taxi another group of girls came in and turned to one another wondering if they were allowed to smoke in their rooms.  I think one had even lit up in the lobby before they all headed outside.  When my taxi finally arrived he wasn't entirely sure where he needed to go, he asked me and I of course had no idea either!  We eventually made it where I checked in and moved in.  Did I mention it was raining during this time so I had to walk from the taxi to the Edge (where I was checking in) and to my flat.  Granted it wasn't far but I still got pretty wet.  Although, I was luckier than some people who had to walk further to their flats, and my taxi driver got my suitcases out of the taxi for me.

Orientation Part 2

So Friday morning Elizabeth and I were feeling a bit more comfortable on our walk to the student union.  We stopped at the local Gregg's (which is basically a sandwich place) and got muffins for our walk.  Only it was so cold outside we weren't able to eat them until we got to the Union.  But don't worry, we had plenty of time to eat them.  Apparently, on Thursday afternoon (the part of orientation I missed) we were told the earlier we got there the faster registration would go since we'd be in the first group.  Well Elizabeth and I were a bit over eager and were the first ones there.  The staff was still setting up and told us to come back in about half an hour.  When we got back there was a bit more people but we were still in the first group.  Not that it helped me.  In order to get registered at Sheffield we had to get our courses approved by someone in the department (the tutor) and s/he had to sign off that they approved us for that particular course.  There were about 4 departments that weren't going to be there and 2 others that weren't going to be there until much later.  Of course only 1 of mine was there when I got there.  The good news is the tutor who was signing our forms said that the class was relatively easy.  After that though I had to wait over an hour for the philosophy department to get there, and when he did he didn't have everything he needed so he left and had to come back.  Then I should've gone to the psychology department to them to sign off.  In order to do that I had to go to the psych building and find the tutor.  After spending awhile looking at the psych time table I cam to the conclusion that I thought the class I wanted to take was going to overlap with another.  So I decided to cut the trip out of my schedule and take another philosophy course.  I still couldn't register for my cell and molec class until 1:(  But I found some other girls, one who I had already met (Hannah from Austria) and Krizia from UNC Chapel Hill.  So the three of us got an authentic British lunch of fish and chips with mushy peas.  For those who don't know chips are actually fries (so far I've only had steak fries) and crisps are what they call chips.  After lunch we headed to the molecular bio department to get our form signed.  We were on a time crunch b/c we thought we needed to register by 2!  Only no one knew where the tutor was who needed to sign it.  We got the same answer from everyone we talked to, 'oh I saw him a couple of minutes ago but I don't know where he went.'  That was real helpful, but we found another group of students who were meeting with a different prof who said he would sign our forms, he was in charge of the regular 1st year students.   Once he signed we rushed to where we thought we needed to go only to find out they weren't there anymore.  Luckily someone pointed us in the direction of the regular registry office and we quickly got registered.  I also finally got my student ID and my password for the internet on campus!!!  We made it back in time for the afternoon orientation session.  It wasn't much more exciting then it had been on Thursday.  They made us do 'speed chatting' to try to meet new people, but I had already met everyone around me!  After that Elizabeth and I headed back to our hotel.  We made a quick stop so I could get a mobile.  I could finally communicate with people here.  It had been so frustrating telling people that no I hadn't gotten my phone yet since that seemed to have been the first thing they all did.  Friday night was a bit calmer than Thursday.  And by a bit, I mean it was the total opposite.  Neither of us really wanted to go out, it was cold and windy and rainy.  We didn't even leave the hotel for dinner.  By 9 or 10 we were both falling asleep reading our books and just turned off the light and went to bed.

I know I posted about my room the other day but here are the photos!

A view of my room from the door

My bathroom that likes to flood whenever I take a shower.  It's such a pain that there is nothing separating the shower area from the rest of the loo:)

My picture collage that I put up on the cork board behind my desk:)  I brought so many pictures!

Who said orientation was mandatory??

On Thursday and Friday we had our orientation to the school.  Elizabeth, one of the other girls from Tech who I was sharing a hotel room with, and I headed out Thursday morning for our 20 minute walk to the school.  While I thought I was being brilliant by copying out directions from the hotel to the school, it only works if you are able to follow them.  Again we ran into the difficulty of the streets not being clearly marked.  Every once and a while we could catch a name of a street and see where it was on my list.  Most of our walk was just hoping we would eventually make it pretty close to the school and we would be able to follow signs.  Every time we saw a street name name we'd do a little celebration that we were at least headed in the right right direction.  We finally made it, only asking directions once and that was just for the building we were looking for.  They had a brief introduction to the school and the program which wasn't to exciting, then we broke off into groups by what we were studying to take a tour of the campus which only lasted about half an hour.  If you were to ask me where anything was I would have no idea so it wasn't too helpful.  We then had about 2 hours for lunch before we had to go back to the other part of orientation.  After we finished lunch part of my group and I headed downstairs to get some drinks because it is apparently not uncommon for people to start drinking in the middle of the day.  Well turns out not only were Sheffield students drinking in the middle of the day, they were drinking a lot.  Let me try to put this in perspective, the student union itself has at least 3 bars and all 3 were packed.  Granted it was the last day of their exams so they had reason to be celebrating.  I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that they have bars as part of their student union.  That is something you would never see in the states.  From there we decided that the rest of the days orientation events would be just as exciting as the mornings and we headed off to more bars.  In total we hit 4 bars where most of the group had 5 pints.  Personally I decided to pace myself knowing that we would be going out later that evening and only had one drink.  After dinner that night we met up with a larger group of people at a place called Vodka Revolution.  It was buy one round get the 2nd round for a quid. Which basically meant you got your drink and you another one at the same time for just a pound more.  You could order any drink they had, which included their stick of 6 shots.  So 2 of the guys I was with each ordered a stick and got their second for a quid.  Our table then had a total of 24 shots to split.  However, the size was really about the size of a half shot.  The guys took most of them.  Our orientation leaders were there as well and one of them came up as the guys were walking over to our table with the shots and said "now this is what we like to see".  They all then decided to head to another bar, but it was in the opposite direction of my hotel so I just headed back to my hotel for the night.
One thing I've noticed about Sheffield and maybe Europe in general since I was hanging out with a bunch of Europeans, is that drinking and drinking a lot is part of their culture.  It seems that people here just go out and drink every night and it's not just a beer or two.  Also, the girls when they go to the club wear really short dresses and 4 inch heels without any type of coat.  I walked past one club on my way back to my hotel on Thursday and they were all just lined up and looked freezing.  I mean I was freezing and I had on a coat with tights and a scarf.  Some other things I've learned, they have the equivalent to a Dollar Tree/Store but it's called Poundland.  ATM machines are cashpoints.  Sweatshirts/Hoodies are jumpers.  They drink a lot (in case that hasn't come across yet).  Ta is thank you and cheers can be used in several different ways (hello, goodbye, thank you, etc).  They don't seem to notice the rain.  I've seen very few umbrellas since I've been here and it's rained everyday so far.

Finally Settled (well sort of)

So today was the day that I was finally able to move into my apartment.  It's interesting because they are called apartments but are more of a cross between apartments and dorm rooms.  On the plus side, I have my own room which includes my own bathroom.  Our floor also has a kitchen and common area all smushed into one.  It has 2 couches, 2 refrigerators, an oven, a toaster, and a microwave.  Other than that it doesn't have anything except for a place to eat.  I also finally have internet!!  Except I have to use an ethernet to connect to it and the one they provide is max 3 feet long so I can only sit at my desk to get it.  But my desk is rather spacious and has shelving above it.  I also have a wardrobe that is a fair size only it doesn't have drawers, just shelving and hanging space.  I haven't quite gotten used to the switches here.  In order for me to turn on the light I have to click a switch, but it goes down.  This gets really confusing when I walk out of my room because my bathroom and room light switches are right next to each other and I can never remember which one is which.  I also have to flip such switch in order for my outlets to turn on as well.  I am enjoying my apartment so far.  I am living on a flat with 5 other girls; one from Hong Kong, 3 from Australia (Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne), and one from Canada.  Four of us ventured out into the city centre earlier today to get some essentials.  I needed bedding and towels mostly.  I got everything I needed for just 40 quid, which is good considering I got a lot of stuff.  Here they won't just sell you a comforter, you have to buy a duvet and then the duvet cover to go on top of it.  The genius people for designed the bags for the store however decided that it would be a great idea to use paper bags.  This seems a bit odd considering how much it rains here.  I'm fairly certain it's stopped raining for about 1 hour since Thursday evening.  Needless to say as I was getting off the bus my bag decided to rip from being so soggy.  Luckily I was still on the bus not the street.  After returning to our apartment we walked out to the grocery store so get some essentials and dinner.  They used plastic bags there but they weren't fun to carry back since they were heavy and it was a bit of a walk.  We then just spent the rest of the evening hanging out in our kitchen area.  There was a lot of noise which we thought was coming from upstairs and when we went to investigate it was actually coming from outside where a group was getting ready to head to the bars.  We watched them through the window for awhile until they realized and started pointing up at us!  Some quick notes about our Australian counterparts.  Even they don't really like Vegemite, although one of them brought it with her.  They are freaked out by s'mores, Corey, the girl from Canada, and I had to explain that they really were good and graham crackers aren't really crackers more like cookies.  We also explained to them how to play flip cup.  A couple of years ago they got a Costco where they could buy Solo cups and they became really popular for a while since Americans used them.  Now one of the bars in, I think, Melbourne uses them to serve their drinks.  That's all I can really remember now.  I have to head out tomorrow get more stuff, like kitchen stuff (we took plastic silverware from the coffee station at the grocery store to use for tonight :)  I'll post more tomorrow hopefully about orientation and the past couple of days.

Hotel view and other interesting facts

So I think the view from my room is pretty cool, it overlooks what I think is part of the city centre?  Any way the 2 pictures below are from looking out my room.

And this is the view inside my room.  Not too interesting mostly  standard hotel room.

However, the room is a lot smaller than a regular hotel room in the States.  It basically fits the 2 beds and enough space to walk along the sides plus a long desk and the bathroom (toilet).  Which by the way comes with shampoo and body wash but they are in bottles that are connected to a frame on the wall so they can't be taken.  Again different b/c most US hotels just have the mini sample bottles for you to use and take.  Another thing that is different is that in order to get electricity to my room, I have to have my key card plugged into the wall.  That took me forever to figure out.  I kept thinking that something was wrong with my converter and I was doomed!  I realized I wasn't doomed when I went to use the toilet and the light wouldn't turn on.  But then I was thinking oh no the woman at the check in counter asked if I needed anything amenities and I said no, did she mean I had to pay for electricity too?? I realized that that was a bit ridiculous and they wouldn't make me pay for electricity.   That's when I saw this little box on the wall that kind of looked like my key card could be placed in it.  So I tried it and immediately the air kicked in and I tried the lights and they worked!!!  I'm glad I found it or I would just be sitting here in the dark, or would've looked like an idiot going down to the desk to see if I had to pay for electricity:) 

Planes, trains and walking

So I have finally made it to England!! ( or the land of fish and chips if you're Diana:))  My long trip started out yesterday evening, I left Dulles at 6pm.  Not a drop of ice was in sight as mom, dad, Cait, and Kim dropped me off.  I had been worrying al weekend that we were going to get another ice/snow storm right before I felt and I was going to be stuck.  Luckily though, the ice that had come the night before had melted and more wasn't due in the area until midnight.

Dulles prior to takeoff

Goodbye Virginia! See you in 4 months:)

Nothing too exciting happened on my trip over.  I was excited because the airline had amongst their movies the 5th Harry Potter as well as Monsters Inc. and Lilo and Stitch.  Needless to say I was able to watch all three on my way over.  I tried to sleep on flight but was only successful in getting about 3 hours max in.  Even though I had a 3 hour layover I didn't want to try to sleep out of fear that I would would miss my second flight.  They only announced the gate I was flying out of 30 minutes before the doors to get on would be closing and they don't tell you when they announce it.  I had to make sure I was watching the screen for when my gate showed up.  Luckily it was very close to where I was and I didn't have to go to separate terminal.
Once I landed in Manchester I had to get my bags which wasn't bad, but carrying 2 large suitcases from one end of the airport to the other while having an incredibly heavy backpack on was not a lot of fun.  I was successfully able to buy both the 16-25 yr old railcard as well as my train ticket into Sheffield.  Since genius me forgot the passport size photos I had printed out earlier this month, I had to cut up the one pictures I had the was supposed to be for my room.  The guy at the ticket counter noticed that the shirt that I had on in the picture was an American football jersey and he commented on it.  I told him yes, it was from the school I go to.  Then he started talking about how American football was big at the Universities in the states and that his favorite team was Michigan, he was there wasn't a real reason why but he liked them.  I told him that my aunt had graduated from their rival Michigan State and he asked me where I studied and I told him Virginia Tech.  What he said next struck me, he asked wasn't that where the tragedy had happened a couple years ago and I told him yes.  I was slightly surprised that they had heard about it all the way over here.  I know that when it happened it was news all around the country, I just never realized that it had made it to other parts of the world as well.  He was very nice and told me exactly where I needed to go to catch my train and when it would be leaving.  Even then, I wasn't completely positive that I had gotten on the right train since the only notification about it was outside on the board.  Instead of saying the train stops at certain locations, the train announces where it will be calling at, I guess it makes sense.
Getting off the train in Sheffield was interesting because I had put one suitcase up in the luggage area while I kept one with me.  However, I was sitting on the opposite end of the cart and had to drag my large suitcase through the other people who were getting off and wanting to use the door close to where I was sitting but not where my suitcase was.  I finally made it off the train and realized that one of the other students from Tech had been on the same train.  The two of us walked through the station together.  Since my hotel was close to the station I decided to walk there instead of taking a taxi whereas his was closer to the school and grabbed a taxi.  So another thing I've noticed about England, or at least Sheffield, the street names aren't very noticeable.  Unfortunately for me the directs of have from the train to the hotel are given in the street names.  Not only that but I realize I'm going to have to pull them up this large hill.  This hill normally would not have been a problem but I was toting along 2-50lbs suitcase plus my backpack and purse.  Again I was very fortunate and someone noticed that I was struggling and offered to help me.  I graciously accepted his offer but when I told him where I was headed he didn't know where it was:(  Using my excellent sense of direction (which I really don't have so it was sheer luck) I was headed in the right direction and was quickly able to find my hotel.
At the hotel I was once again lucky and was allowed to check in an hour and a half early.  After a quick nap since I was exhausted I've been exploring things to do in Sheffield via the internet and a magazine that was in my room.  I would go out and explore but I'm content to sitting in my bed and not having to worry about getting lost by myself on my first night here.  Besides I have a whole semester to explore!