Yesterday was my last real day living here. :'( Its sad that the time here is closing. I am already missing life here and I'm not gone yet! Yesterday was beautiful. It was sunny and hot. What a perfect end to my stay here. Kenilworth Castle is in ruin, but it is magical. It is different then any castle I have been to. It is this really cool red colour. Amy and I were wondering if it was red because of time or if it had been that colour since the beginning. They had a bunch of activities for children so Dylanie and Lucas had a pretty fun time. They had little stories of Robin Hood that kids could act out while people told the story. They also had a "Victorian" beach ( It was just sand surrounded by authentic looking Victorian beach chairs.), Knight training (Kids had blow up swords and fought each other.), Games, and I think that was it. :D After Lanie and Lukie were done with the activities we wondered around the castle and Elizabethan gardens that opened just a few weeks ago. The castle and gardens were just beautiful. We took a bunch of pictures so hopefully Amy will put them on her blog. :D:D:D:D
It was a perfect last day. Except for the fact that Amy accidentally forgot the sunblock, so we were burned by the time we left. lol I have a few bad burns. Well, they aren't super, super bad, but they're bad enough. :D
In the end it was, as my Dad would say, " A good time had by all". hahaha
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
May 25 2009 - Tudor festival
On Monday Amy took us children, Myself along with Dylanie and Lucas, to the Tudor Festival that was going on in Stratford at Mary Arden's Farm. ( I think I have already told you this, but Mary Arden was William Shakespeare's Mother....) It was way fun. It was a reenactment of a Tudor wedding. We saw people preparing food and clothing and garlands. In the farm house around lunch time, a bunch of the reenactors were eating an authentic Tudor lunch. It reminded me of when My family and I along with our friends the Waddell's did a American History trip and we went to Plymouth, and my friends and I walked around the houses and saw people eating their supper. That was such a great experience. :D For lunch we bought some homemade tart, pie, hog roll (really good by the way) and banana bread. YUM! I almost bought this Tudor wash ball for my friend Maddie....but it was 4 pounds for a small ball of soap. It was pretty cool though. Sorry Maddie!! I still love you. :D
After the Tudor festival we went to Nash's House. Nash's house was the house that Shakespeare lived his last years in. He died in that house.... It was cool. The KNOT gardens were really cool. I told my Mom that we should have one...or two. lol :)
We had a lovely time. :D
Last night was book group. It was at Sara Bowman's house. (Sara, Dave and Harriet live in the CUTEST cottage! It is also really old. The oldest part on the house is from the 1400's.....I think....lol) We discussed The Book Thief. I LOVE this book! I have learned quite a bit from it. I believe its a classic that should be read at LEAST once on someones lifetime. I had a great time. I knew most of the women their personally. I am thinking of trying to set up one with my friends when I get back.
Till I post again,
McKenna (Sorry, but sometimes I am really goofy..... :D)
After the Tudor festival we went to Nash's House. Nash's house was the house that Shakespeare lived his last years in. He died in that house.... It was cool. The KNOT gardens were really cool. I told my Mom that we should have one...or two. lol :)
We had a lovely time. :D
Last night was book group. It was at Sara Bowman's house. (Sara, Dave and Harriet live in the CUTEST cottage! It is also really old. The oldest part on the house is from the 1400's.....I think....lol) We discussed The Book Thief. I LOVE this book! I have learned quite a bit from it. I believe its a classic that should be read at LEAST once on someones lifetime. I had a great time. I knew most of the women their personally. I am thinking of trying to set up one with my friends when I get back.
Till I post again,
McKenna (Sorry, but sometimes I am really goofy..... :D)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
April 7 - MY BIRTHDAY!!! *WOOT*
April 7th one of the best days of the year.
We packed up our stuff and then drove around Bath one last time. We went and took pictures of the Circus and the Royal Crescent. Fun stuff. The we went through the Cotswold's to Sudeley Castle. On our way through the Cotswold's we stopped at the quaint town called Tetbury where Amy and Kristian and their family had gone over Christmas. Its prettyful. :D
The weather was Sunny but a little bit windy when we got to Sudeley Castle. The reason we went to Sudeley castle was because we are related to someone who had the castle......but that is wrong. My Mom and I looked at this time line and saw that, yes our ancestors have something to do with Sudeley castle, we are not in the direct line. Our ancestors didn't get the castle, there older brother did...or something like that. lol Mom, Grandma and I went on a tour of the living quarters of the people that live there now. I loved it!! I think its so cool to be able to see a really old castle being lived in. You see baseball caps, pictures of people stuck into the bottom of century old paintings, modern books, laptops, cell phones....the list goes on. :D As we were going into one of the rooms, a boy (The future Duke of ______.....I don't remember. ) We exchanged a few words...and when I few....I sadly mean few. lol :D He was nice. I was blushing because I had just interpreted his piano paying. ( Which was REALLY good by the way.) But in My defense, I was told to go into the room. I didn't just walk in there for fun....just so ya know. :D
So he left soon after I walked in so the tour could get on with.
After Sudeley we went to Warwick castle. It was so fun. Although they have kind of made it like a fair, its still really quite amazing. You can go up onto the walls and see everything..... It was magnificent. We went and walked around the castle and saw thee rooms how they were in the Victorian times.... I think. Mom, Emmalyn and I were the ones that went up on the walls and towers ad the down into the dungeons. Talk about sweet. When we were done walking about the towers and walls, we went to go find everyone else. But when we were out in the courtyard there was nerly anyone there. It was like a ghost courtyard. (lol) We walked around trying to find them, when all of a sudden there were hundreds and hundreds of people all coming from this one road. We looked for them in the multitude, but we couldn't see them. So after wandering around a bit more we decided to go back to the courtyard. We found them in there. It turns out that they went and saw a Trebuchet shoot a fireball! I was so bummed I missed it! They said it was really cool. Warwick Castle was closing so it was time to leave.
On to thhe Theatre!...or Stratford-Upon-Avon. :D
Next we drove to Stratford and went and saw William Shakespeare's Birthplace. It was awesome. It was strange because there were all of these modern buildings and then *BAM!* Shakespeare's house in between them. Its cool. After that we went own to the Shakespeare Theatre to see if we could catch a play. Mom got us ( Emmalyn, Grandma and I) tickets to go see A Winter's Tale. I was REALLY,REALLY sad and disappointed that Mom couldn't go with me. I would have liked it way more than the arrangement that happened. But James was still feeling unwell so Mom didn't want to leave him. I almost cried when I left them at the restaurant where we ate........ But that time has passed. No use crying over spilt milk. But I am mad still. Your aloud to be mad that you spilt the milk. I am mad that she couldn't come. It would have been a more amazing experience if Mom did go.....
We went and ate at some place close by because we didn't have long until the play started. So Mom said that we would have a Nice Birthday dinner the next day. :D:D
The play was amazing. It was done really well. What can you say when its the RSC? Nothing except AMAZING! One of the actors is someone I admire as an actor. He is talented. His name is Sam Troughton. He has been in a few films, TV shows, and Stage Plays. He is good. I wanted to try to meet him afterwards, but the dream was crushed. I'm sorry but I can't into detail. But the chance was SO there. It was in my grasp.....and then crushed right in front of me. :'( *sigh*
It was a pretty good 15th birthday. Several of my Friends emailed me. (THANKS GUYS!! It meant a lot!) Most of them were in English. hehehehehe :D
We packed up our stuff and then drove around Bath one last time. We went and took pictures of the Circus and the Royal Crescent. Fun stuff. The we went through the Cotswold's to Sudeley Castle. On our way through the Cotswold's we stopped at the quaint town called Tetbury where Amy and Kristian and their family had gone over Christmas. Its prettyful. :D
The weather was Sunny but a little bit windy when we got to Sudeley Castle. The reason we went to Sudeley castle was because we are related to someone who had the castle......but that is wrong. My Mom and I looked at this time line and saw that, yes our ancestors have something to do with Sudeley castle, we are not in the direct line. Our ancestors didn't get the castle, there older brother did...or something like that. lol Mom, Grandma and I went on a tour of the living quarters of the people that live there now. I loved it!! I think its so cool to be able to see a really old castle being lived in. You see baseball caps, pictures of people stuck into the bottom of century old paintings, modern books, laptops, cell phones....the list goes on. :D As we were going into one of the rooms, a boy (The future Duke of ______.....I don't remember. ) We exchanged a few words...and when I few....I sadly mean few. lol :D He was nice. I was blushing because I had just interpreted his piano paying. ( Which was REALLY good by the way.) But in My defense, I was told to go into the room. I didn't just walk in there for fun....just so ya know. :D
So he left soon after I walked in so the tour could get on with.
After Sudeley we went to Warwick castle. It was so fun. Although they have kind of made it like a fair, its still really quite amazing. You can go up onto the walls and see everything..... It was magnificent. We went and walked around the castle and saw thee rooms how they were in the Victorian times.... I think. Mom, Emmalyn and I were the ones that went up on the walls and towers ad the down into the dungeons. Talk about sweet. When we were done walking about the towers and walls, we went to go find everyone else. But when we were out in the courtyard there was nerly anyone there. It was like a ghost courtyard. (lol) We walked around trying to find them, when all of a sudden there were hundreds and hundreds of people all coming from this one road. We looked for them in the multitude, but we couldn't see them. So after wandering around a bit more we decided to go back to the courtyard. We found them in there. It turns out that they went and saw a Trebuchet shoot a fireball! I was so bummed I missed it! They said it was really cool. Warwick Castle was closing so it was time to leave.
On to thhe Theatre!...or Stratford-Upon-Avon. :D
Next we drove to Stratford and went and saw William Shakespeare's Birthplace. It was awesome. It was strange because there were all of these modern buildings and then *BAM!* Shakespeare's house in between them. Its cool. After that we went own to the Shakespeare Theatre to see if we could catch a play. Mom got us ( Emmalyn, Grandma and I) tickets to go see A Winter's Tale. I was REALLY,REALLY sad and disappointed that Mom couldn't go with me. I would have liked it way more than the arrangement that happened. But James was still feeling unwell so Mom didn't want to leave him. I almost cried when I left them at the restaurant where we ate........ But that time has passed. No use crying over spilt milk. But I am mad still. Your aloud to be mad that you spilt the milk. I am mad that she couldn't come. It would have been a more amazing experience if Mom did go.....
We went and ate at some place close by because we didn't have long until the play started. So Mom said that we would have a Nice Birthday dinner the next day. :D:D
The play was amazing. It was done really well. What can you say when its the RSC? Nothing except AMAZING! One of the actors is someone I admire as an actor. He is talented. His name is Sam Troughton. He has been in a few films, TV shows, and Stage Plays. He is good. I wanted to try to meet him afterwards, but the dream was crushed. I'm sorry but I can't into detail. But the chance was SO there. It was in my grasp.....and then crushed right in front of me. :'( *sigh*
It was a pretty good 15th birthday. Several of my Friends emailed me. (THANKS GUYS!! It meant a lot!) Most of them were in English. hehehehehe :D
Day 6 Bath
Our first night in Bath, we dumped our stuff at the B&B called Auqua Sullis and then drove around city centre for a while. Bath is so beautiful! The buildings are gorgeous! I can see why its been so popular for ages! I could definitely live there. After driving around we headed back to the hotel to decided what we were going to do for dinner. Kristian got McDonald's' for Himself, Dylanie, Lucas and Emma, While Mom, Amy, Grandma and I decided to go out to eat. We ended up eating at the pretty nice place called The Moon and Sixpence.
The address is 27 milsom Place Bath BA1 1BZ
and the telephone number is 01225 320088
( I don't know why I told you that.....but there ya go. lol)
We ate really late. It was around ( I don't really remember the time...but it was really late) 11:00 by the time we got back to the B&B.
April 6 2009
The next day James, who had been getting sick, was not doing well at all. So Mom went to the hospital with him. While she was in the hospital Kristian, Amy and there kids, plus Emmalyn and I went and did stuff. Grandma didn't come. We had a really good time. We went to the Fashion Museum and then to the Jane Austen Center. Both were really cool. The Fashion Museum had clothes from hundreds of years ago to today. The Jane Austen Center had a exhibition about her life in Bath. After we were done my Mom called and was ready to be picked up from the hospital. So we went and got her then went back to the B&B to get Grandma. With everyone gathered together we headed to the Roman Bath's. They were unbelievably cool. I really wish I could show you! The water was warm....I touched it even though it said not to..... *cough* :D:D After spending an hour or so in the Bath's we went next door to the Pump Room. I bet you have seen it in a few movies. Amazing Grace for example.
The Pump Room is a Cafe and is where you can drink the water that the Roman's said would heal you. I tried it........I wouldn't recommend it. lol I have this video of me drinking it. I try to put it on here when I get back to the states. :D After the Roman Bath's and Pump Room we got lunch on our way to the Abbey. The Abbey was cool....but it looked a lot like the previous ones we had been to. :D (The cathedrals ad Abbey's here look practically the same...so if you go an see 6 of them...it gets boring after a while. But they are really cool. :D) For dinner we ate at the Tapas...I thought it was pretty good. But it took forever to get the courses....
All in all it was a great day! OH! I almost forgot! We went and got fudge after the Abbey and then to Sally Lun's bun shop and bought a few of her huge rolls.....of buns. lol Look her up on Google....but only if you want to. lol :D
The address is 27 milsom Place Bath BA1 1BZ
and the telephone number is 01225 320088
( I don't know why I told you that.....but there ya go. lol)
We ate really late. It was around ( I don't really remember the time...but it was really late) 11:00 by the time we got back to the B&B.
April 6 2009
The next day James, who had been getting sick, was not doing well at all. So Mom went to the hospital with him. While she was in the hospital Kristian, Amy and there kids, plus Emmalyn and I went and did stuff. Grandma didn't come. We had a really good time. We went to the Fashion Museum and then to the Jane Austen Center. Both were really cool. The Fashion Museum had clothes from hundreds of years ago to today. The Jane Austen Center had a exhibition about her life in Bath. After we were done my Mom called and was ready to be picked up from the hospital. So we went and got her then went back to the B&B to get Grandma. With everyone gathered together we headed to the Roman Bath's. They were unbelievably cool. I really wish I could show you! The water was warm....I touched it even though it said not to..... *cough* :D:D After spending an hour or so in the Bath's we went next door to the Pump Room. I bet you have seen it in a few movies. Amazing Grace for example.
The Pump Room is a Cafe and is where you can drink the water that the Roman's said would heal you. I tried it........I wouldn't recommend it. lol I have this video of me drinking it. I try to put it on here when I get back to the states. :D After the Roman Bath's and Pump Room we got lunch on our way to the Abbey. The Abbey was cool....but it looked a lot like the previous ones we had been to. :D (The cathedrals ad Abbey's here look practically the same...so if you go an see 6 of them...it gets boring after a while. But they are really cool. :D) For dinner we ate at the Tapas...I thought it was pretty good. But it took forever to get the courses....
All in all it was a great day! OH! I almost forgot! We went and got fudge after the Abbey and then to Sally Lun's bun shop and bought a few of her huge rolls.....of buns. lol Look her up on Google....but only if you want to. lol :D
April 5 2009 - Day 5 of our amazing tripq
After a lovely B&B breakfast in Salisbury, we loaded up and drove to STONEHENGE!!!! It was pretty cool. It was Amy and Krisitan's 3rd time.... lol I liked it. I had this audio thing that I listened to, so it made it a little bit more exciting.
I'm sorry, but I don't have pictures from this point on. :'( My camera will not let me put the pictures onto the computer. So they are trapped there until I get home and have someone look at it. :'( Lets have a moment of silence shall we.............................................................. OK, that was good. I feel better now. :D
After STONEHENGE we went to another cool place with free standing stones called AVESBURY!! I think I liked Avesbury better. You could actually walk up and touch the stones. We have some good pictures of us with the stones. ( But of course my stupid camera isn't working!!!.......sorry, I apologize for the outburst...) There were sheep EVERYWHERE. They were all around the stones and field. There were really cute lambs!
They also had some museum stuff that was pretty cool. Some ancient artifacts and such.
Once we had filled ourselves with there beauty of the green hills and wondrous trees around the stones, we headed for the B&B in Bath.
Next stop Bath!
I'm sorry, but I don't have pictures from this point on. :'( My camera will not let me put the pictures onto the computer. So they are trapped there until I get home and have someone look at it. :'( Lets have a moment of silence shall we.............................................................. OK, that was good. I feel better now. :D
After STONEHENGE we went to another cool place with free standing stones called AVESBURY!! I think I liked Avesbury better. You could actually walk up and touch the stones. We have some good pictures of us with the stones. ( But of course my stupid camera isn't working!!!.......sorry, I apologize for the outburst...) There were sheep EVERYWHERE. They were all around the stones and field. There were really cute lambs!
They also had some museum stuff that was pretty cool. Some ancient artifacts and such.
Once we had filled ourselves with there beauty of the green hills and wondrous trees around the stones, we headed for the B&B in Bath.
Next stop Bath!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Othello
Last night Amy and I went to the Shakespeare play Othello playing at a baptist church in Oxford City Centre. When we first showed up to the theatre, we got our tickets but couldn't go sit down because they were fixing some technical stuff. So we went outside and sat down on some steps nearby. We sat there for a while waiting for the doors to open. While sitting there I was soaking it all up. :D it is so cool! I love Oxford. Its hard to describe it. I find it hard to describe most things here..... Brilliant, Magnificent,Quaint, Old, Beautiful, Timeless,History, Overwhelming, Grand, Amazing, Magical, Romantic (lol)..... Those are just SOME of the words I think of when it comes to England. Sorry, back to Othello. When the doors opened Amy and I went to go find our seats. When we did....we weren't so pleased. Our seats were 5 and 6, but there was an organ in between them. So we laughed about that. The seats themselves were horrible! There was a HUGE bar in the way so it was hard to see. We went downstairs to see if we could possibly have seats next to each other, and they told us that the gentleman that had the seat next to 6 just moved, so we could take that. So we did. But we still had a horrible view. When they announced that the play was to start in 5 minutes, we laughed. There was hardly anyone there! Or at least up on the balcony. So we decided that we would move to better seats if they didn't fill up. The seats didn't fill up, so Amy and I moved down to the first row of the balcony. I think we had the BEST seats in the whole theatre...church. :D The play it self was really good. I thought the acting was great. Though when it first started the actors did this weird dance thing...so I was a little nervous. But it was all good. :D The actors were really in character. For example, at one part, Othello had a mirror in his hand and he was shaking it really hard, and the mirror part fell out. It didn't bother him at all. There were a few more instances like that. During intermission, Amy and I shared a cinnamon and sugar crepe. It was yummy. I have a feeling I might have a few more in France.... (hehehehe..but not to many, 'cause I don't want to get fat/sick....) After the play, which I will say again was really good, we headed for the bus stop. There were quite a few drunk people. This one girl was so drunk she couldn't walk. I'm glad I have standards that keep me away from stuff like that. The bus ride home was.....well, there were a bunch of males with...lets say, limited vocabulary...If you know what I mean. ( Thanks for the description Amy. lol) If not, we don't need to go into it. :D
Today we went and saw Bolt at the cinema because they do a kids showing. (The child has to pay 1.30, and the adults get in free. Its cool.) I liked Bolt. I saw it last week, but the kids I watched it with were kind of loud, so I missed a bunch of it. After Bolt, we went and got some lunch. Dylanie and Lucas wanted BK, so we went through the drive through. Kristian and I ended up eating cheeseburgers at this stand/trailer, and Amy had a few bites. I wasn't feeling the greatest afterwards... After our food was consumed, we went into a shoe store to get some flip flops for Kristian and I. I found some cute Roxy ones. They didn't have any in Kristian's size. So we went to another store and looked around. Kristian found some flip flops and bought them. We decided to check out one more store. They had a bunch of Vans on sale.....so I got a pair. Its this cute pink and purple checkers. :D:D:D I like 'em. We also tried yet again to find some sandals for my trip in a week...no such luck. There was one pair, but they sadly weren't the most comfortable. Amy suggested that Dad and I can go somewhere in London. So hopefully we can find some there.
Avere un giorno felice!
McKenna :D
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Day 4 Dover,Salisbury, and my cousins b-day.
The Next day we rose bright and early and traveled on to Dover. It was a foggy day. It got more so as we traveled to the coast.
It was a shame it wasn't clear skies. If it was, we'd have been able to see France.
I'm the one with the yellow cap, Kristian has the backpack, and Amy is the one in the vest.
Pictures if the cliffs.
Emma lLeaned over the edge to take a pic....*shiver*
NEXT TO SALISBURY
When we arrived in Dover we headed strait for Dover castle. It was a really cool place. We didn't get to go into the actual inside of the castle because it was closed, but we did the WW 2 tunnels ( REALLY COOL) and the OLD roman tunnels and walked around the outside of the castle. It was cold, but really fun.
Here are some pics!
It was a shame it wasn't clear skies. If it was, we'd have been able to see France.
The picture is of one of the many harbors. Do you see how high up we are??
JFYI We weren't supposed to take pictures of the tunnels. Sorry!!
I'm the one with the yellow cap, Kristian has the backpack, and Amy is the one in the vest.
THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER
After Dover Castle we made our way to the cliffs. It was awesome! It was also pretty scary. It was really high up and it was windy and the path was close to the edge.
Everyone collected some fragments of the cliffs, took some pictures and then headed back to the cars.
Everyone collected some fragments of the cliffs, took some pictures and then headed back to the cars.
Pictures if the cliffs.
Emma lLeaned over the edge to take a pic....*shiver*
NEXT TO SALISBURY
We then drove from Dover through Romsey on to Salisbury. We stayed in Salisbury at a B&B for
the night.
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