So many adventures in one day

Today was lovely! Besides the fact that I had to leave my family for the whole entire day, I did in fact have great adventures today. Our first stop was the Sandham Memorial Chapel where we saw the art work of Stanley Spencer which was inspired by his experiences in WWI. That was incredible. I feel so lucky to have been able to see and experience these historical sites in real life. Once in a life time experience.

Here are some of the paintings inside the memorial.

Amazing.

Then we went to Jane Austen’s home. Which was, of course, very fun for me. I love Jane Austen. Her home was adorable but I particularly loved her Garden. I am very partial to quaint Gardens. I hope to have one of my own someday. We all had a good time taking pictures and messing around. Poor Clark (The only boy on our study abroad) had to live through many fake engagement pictures. So silly. Sometimes I wish I were born in the 1800s. Life back then was much simpler. I often imagine what it would be like and when I read books written by Authors like Jane Austen I feel as though I can live a little bit of that life style through my imagination. Thank you Jane Austen for the wonderful Novels that you provided for the entertainment of millions.

My English class is all all about Jane Austen. We study her stories, characters, time period, and style of writing. It is so much fun! Our last assignment was to compare Elizabeth Bennett to Emma Woodhouse. We have to go through the book and find specific examples to prove how they are similar or how they are different depending on which side we were assigned too. It really is quite delightful and makes for a fun homework adventure. What better homework could you have than to read books like Emma and Persuasion. The class is not easy by any means. Finding concrete evidence for some of the assignments take so much time... I mean think about it. We have to have actual passages that can prove our point so we have to pretty much go through each book every assignment page by page. It's time consuming but entertaining none the less. We had to make a Jane Austen blog for our class where we would match quotes from the book to pictures we have taken on this trip. That was a fun project as well.

Here are a couple posts from my Jane Austen Blog:

"It did not appear to her that life could supply any greater felicity" -Northanger Abbey

"But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them..." :) -Pride and Prejudice

"There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not in my nature.' -Northanger Abbey

"... for a fine Sunday in Bath empties evert house of its inhabitants, and all the world appears on such an occasion to walk about and tell their acquaintance what a charming day it is."

Anyways....back to business...

Our next stop was the Salisbury Cathedral.

Oh first, I should warn you that I have an obsession with doors. Is that weird? Maybe.

Here are a few of my favorite from today.

And here are some pictures of this gorgeous cathedral:

Next Stop: Stone Hedge!! Oh yes, all of us girls were excited to see this. I saw Stone Hedge when I was younger but it had been so long so of course it was like seeing it for the first time. We were all in such a happy mood so we ran around in the grass and wind and took lots of fun, silly pictures. This place is amazing. Historians still don’t know for sure what it really is but each rock weighs several tons. What? How did they get them there? Beats me. Some think that they put it together for religious purposes. Whatever the reason, it is a wonderful little piece of History that we all get to enjoy today.

I really love the girls on my study abroad. We have such a good time together. Adventures like these are always more fun when in the company of good friends.

L to R: Whitney Robinson, Amanda Allred, Emily Roberts, and I

I got home just in time to catch a tube and RUN and I mean RUN through the streets of London to meet up with my family at the Broadway show, Legally Blonde. I got there just in time. It was hilarious. I wouldn’t recommend it as the top show I have seen but it was funny for sure. AND if you are going to London and can only see one or two shows, don’t see this one. There are plenty that are better, with more inspiring stories and music like Les Mis and Lion King (Personal favorites). But nonetheless we had a blast and laughed hard. Very entertaining. So glad my family is here with me! Nothing could make me happier.