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Published: January 18th 2009
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Wow, I don't even know where to start right now. I think I should be voted worst blogger as I haven't updated this page since November 1. Oops! I guess I will try to start with where I left off, more or less, and remember as much as possible.
Early November was not all that busy as far as extra fun things go. I was very busy, however, with school, tutoring, and salsa lessons. I had began to help out teaching in a class of upper level English learners plus I was hired as a private tutor for a brother and sister, Carlos and Lucia. Carlos is 16 and Lucia is 13, and both are actually very good at English. The salsa lessons were something through the school that one of the other students was teaching. We had a lot of fun with them and actually got to perform at the school's talent show in December.
On November 14 we had another excursion with the school, this time to Segovia. It was absolutely spectacular. We had a guided tour through a very pretty castle and also got to go around the city. Segovia is in a more mountainous area
that is also very green, a beautiful site. There is a Roman aqueduct that is 15 kilometers long, was built about 2000 years ago, and just stopped being used in 2005 to help preserve it longer. It's very cool and definitely a tribute to Roman architecture.
The following weekend Nati, Karen, Ashley, Laura, and I decided to do a little tour of the British Isles. We flew out very early on Thursday morning and went to Dublin first. In Dublin we walked around, got our fill of American style food, and found the pubs. We didn't get to see tons, but we fit in what we wanted. Then around 6 o'clock the next morning we went back to the airport to fly over to Newcastle, UK. We were there half the day and then took a train up to Edinburgh, Scotland for the other half of the day. We all really liked both cities, but in distinct ways. Newcastle is much more modern of a city, but it was relaxed and close to the coast. The houses along the coast were very cute, and we stopped in a charming little coffee shop that is right on the beach. Edinburgh
was much smaller than I expected, but nice nonetheless. Nati, Laura, and I walked up a big path that took us to a high cliff overlooking the city, and it was an absolutely gorgeous view of the city lights. Karen and Ashley were not up to the walk or braving the cold, so they decided to do some shopping and looking around in the city. Then we tried to go to a castle, but it ended up being closed so we only took pictures.
That evening we boarded another train to start our journey to London. Our route was Edinburgh to York, York to Leeds, and Leeds to London. It was possibly the longest night of my life thus far. There were not actual stations to go inside during the layovers, and it was COLD! We tried to wrap up as best as we could, but it was hard to stay warm. We renamed the "warming houses" where we could wait "iceboxes" because they didn't keep anything warm. When we were waiting in Leeds we got so cold that we were getting a little worried, so we decided we were going to try to walk fast and warm up.
Segovia
Gorgeous view! A worker saw us and probably thought that we were mad or storming him because we were walking so quickly and right towards him. Before we even paid him any attention he went and made arrangements for our train to be opened up so we could sleep for a while in a warm place. Then a man brought us cups and bottles of juice and water. They were very nice and we were thankful for there sympathy.
The next morning, after what seemed like days, we arrived in London safe and sound. We found Platform 9 3/4 (from Harry Potter) and took pictures, then found a McDonald's so Ashley could have her McDonald's breakfast that she had been missing, and went to our hostel. We slept for a while and then got ready for the rest of the day. That evening we saw the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Big Ben and Parliament, and then went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. The next morning Nati and Laura departed to find Stonehenge, but Karen, Ashley, and I wanted to stay in the city and look around more there. We went to Kensington Gardens, Buckingham Palace and park, walked around
the city, and then in the evening we met Nati and Laura at the London Eye. We ate at a Pizza Hut before getting a train to Luton to sleep in the airport and take a very early flight back to Madrid. Oh, traveling on a college budget is fun, but I don't know if I would ever be that crazy again. We had a blast but it took a whole week to recover!
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