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!)