A U.K. Adventure

Trip Advice

1) what you enjoyed most about the trip 

I enjoyed all of our side trips and really getting to see England, It is such a beautiful and intriguing country and i am glad I got to see almost all of it.
2) what you enjoyed the least

Food is always a struggle but I made due, I also felt like our time in London was a little stretched, I personally loved London but would have maybe liked to have gone to a few more places insted of 3 days in London when I didnt do as much.
3) suggestions for next year

I would love to have had more Brit Rail, and I also would have liked a trip to Paris as well, I went but it is such an easy side trip to make, I know the other group had a hard time in Paris but it is such a wonderful city and I think it is a worthy side trip.
4) advice for next year's students about what to do, not do, what to bring, etc.

Keep in mind that it is almost like a Florida winter while you are over there so make sure to pack acoordingly. I loved punting in Cambridge and also I liked Lincoln and Chester, I would have liked to spend more time in Chester. I also regret not bringing my Laptop, although it can be quite a hassle it is still so nice to have for assignments. Take advantage of the Brit Rails and really see England because it is a fabulous place. In Bath eat at Las Iguanas Mexican Restaurant it is so worth it and so good. Also if you are in room 511 at Harlaxton look for a notebook started by girls in 2001 it has great advice and is just all around fun to read, write in it. Throw theme parties at the Bistro they make your stay in Grantham more entertaining. Enjoy the fact that you are in England because you only live once.

More of London Town.

June 1,2009
Today was Emily's last day :( we went to the Tower of London and took the tour, we also got to see the crown jewels which is my personal favorite. After the Tower we went to Yo! sushi for lunch, I liked it but their portions were really small so you had to eat a lot of sushi and therefore spend alot of money to feel full, after lunch Emily and I went to M&S and got a muffin because we were still hungry. We got to eat our muffin on the steps of St. Pauls cathedral where Princess Diana got married. The we went to Greenwich, to see an open air market. We didnt see an open air market but we got to see the filming of Gulliver's Travels with Jack Black. I didnt go up to the observatory because it was going to rain, but most of the group did. Then we went back and got ready for Emily's fairwell celebration at the Hard Rock. After dinner when we were picking up our suvinor cups a man let us into the Hard Rock vault and we got to see Freddie Murcury's chair, Jimmy Hendrix's guitar and so many other things. Then we came back and had another party in the lobby.
June 2,2009
Today I slept in late, and then went to lunch in the park with Jeff and that crew, after that i came back and got dressed for the play. Then Dani, Meg,Bivins and I left for Harrods so I could buy a few more suviniors, Then we ate ice cream at the Candy Bar. After that we went to the theater where Mamma Mia was showing and I got a student ticket for £27.50 and my seat was 6 rows back! Then we ate dinner in Chinatown which was fun. After dinner we went into some touristy shops and then we were off to the Theater, I had already seen Mamma Mia years ago when it first came out so seeing it again after the movie was great plus the price was right and my seat was amazing, then we came back and went to Tesco to buy water and other various and usundry things, while in tesco these two american boys were making fools of themselves asking what the best british snack was, the mistaked me for being british and i found out they went to the University of South Carolina, it was so cool to be mistaken for being british even though they were kind of being jerks. Then we came back to the hotel and compared theater notes with everyone.

More Of London

May 31,2009
Today was a total tourist day, I woke up and went to see the changing of the gaurds which would have been fun if it wasnt hot and my camera didnt die, but at least i saw it. The Rachel and I went to lunch at subway which was sooo good i loved it. After that we went to the eye so Rachel and I could get tickets for later that night. Then we saw parliment,big ben, we couldnt get into westminster abbey because it was closed but we went to piccadilly circus and saw a spain festival. After our touristy day we came back to the hotel and got ready for dinner with 2 of the hotel employees who turned out to be so fun and nice, a group of us went to the Pizza buffet. Then Rachel,Dakota and I left to go on the London eye, we go to go up right at sunset and got so so many good pictures, after that we came back and there was a full on rager with all of our group going on in the Lobby so i joined in.

Bath and London Blogs

May 26th,2009
Today we left Wales for Bath. Wales was an interesting experience and i think it is something i will need to do over again when i am older. We got to Bath and had lunch in a pub, my quesadillas had a gross and rediculous amount of salsa in them but they were'nt bad. Our Hotel is heaven and so cute. At 3:30 we go and see the Roman Bath's that was so much fun, I love the history on the Roman Empire and the Bath's were beautiful. After that we shopped around and went to a Mexican restaurant called Las Iguanas which i found out about through a book in my room at the Manor. The Food was so good I had a Chimichanga and i think it is one of the best chimichangas i've ever had. After dinner we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.
May 27,2009
Today was a miserable day. It is freezing and raining, not an ideal day at all. even though it is raing we still go to Stonehenge. Stonehenge is a must see but there isnt anything there. After Stonehenge we went to Wells a small town near Stonehenge. Finally we went back to Bath and Dakota,Bivins,Emily, Meghan, Dani and I all went to the Fashion Museum which was so facinating we got to try on corsetts and see fashion through the ages which i loved. We got back and went to Dinner and then we went to the grocery store and bought ice cream.
May 28,2009
Today we leave Bath for London, I will miss Bath it was so beautiful. We go into town one last time but unfortunatly the shopping in Bath isnt so great because everything is sooo expensive. We ate lunch at subway which was suprisingly good and cheap as well, then we are off to London. When we got all checked-in in London, Emily,Chelsea,Juanita,Meg,Dani and I went to find a Primark and when we got there it was insane it looked like it was the end of the world sale. We decide to go tommorrow and go off to find food. We ended up at a tex mex place in Notting Hill. Later we are in the Lobby and Rachel, Jeff and that crew rush in and tell us that they are going to "some club called Mahiki", ok Mahiki is a big deal Prince William and alot of other famous people go there and i really wanted to go so i was sooo jealous. I am sitting there and rachel comes in and tells me that they have space for one more and i can go. I think my heart stopped, i tore through my room and threw on a dress and was off to Mahiki. The Barnett's Concierge had called and made a reservation so we get up in line and tell them that we have 6, then they ask for ID and since i wasnt 21 i couldnt get in so we all left because me, bivins and james were too young. then we just came back to the hotel this will forever be known as the night i almost went to Mahiki.
May 29,2009
Today we went to High Tea at Harrods. Harrods is a crazy place i cant even begin to describe it, it is like Saks and Bloomingdales in New York put together. We go up to high tea in our little dresses and of course take tons of picture, i felt very posh. afterwards we decided to try to find tickets to Spring Awakening and after going to several ticket booths we go to wait in line at the box office. We were literally the next people to get tickets and they sold out. then i went out to this bar called Zoo with Emily, Cortney, Jess, Daniel and Dakota. It was fun but then it got sooo crowded. I was really hungry and so I went into a Burger King and the guy at the cashier next to me asked me why i was in London on holiday and at a burger king. I thought it was so funny.
May 30,2009
Today my grandpa's friend got me two tickets to the Trooping of the Colour which is in celebration of the Queen's Birthday (unfortunatly the queen wasnt there) It was so awesome. Then I got on a train to Cambridge to see my Aunt and Uncle. It was so much fun and i would have liked to spend more time there. After i got back i came back to the hotel and went to sleep i was so tired.

The Babysitter's Club

Response Essay 3 May 21,2009

Tourism and photography go hand in hand; I cannot imagine not taking pictures on a vacation, it would drive me crazy. In Steve Garlick’s article “Revealing the Unseen: Tourism, Art and Photography” he brings up some very valid and interesting points about tourism photography. Although he brings up valid points the dryness of the article makes very hard to read. I really enjoyed his views on why tourism photography is problematic, last summer I worked at Sea World and saw tons of tourists everyday, everyone of them always had a camera, where I think that tourism photography becomes a problem is when tourist taking excessive pictures bothers everyone else. One point he brought up in the article that I found was “‘to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. . . . It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge – and, therefore, like power’.” When you take pictures on vacation you take pictures so that you can evoke the memories you’ve created while on vacation and like the quote says putting yourself into a picture makes you feel like you know what it is about and you are there and that knowledge is power. Another assertion the article made was how a photograph “conveys the appearance of participation in the situation –‘having a transforms a person into something active, a voyeur.’” If you think about what he is saying, when you go on vacation, having a camera has power over whether or not you remember the trip and who you show the pictures to.
When I am on vacation I take pictures simply because I love too. If I didn’t take pictures I would have to rely on someone else on the trip that did. I take pictures on vacation because I want to remember what I felt in the exact moment I took the picture, forever. I think that taking pictures on vacation is a ritual that is rarely broken, taking pictures can be a way to also keep love ones who didn’t come with you in the loop.
When I am taking picture I don’t focus on any one thing, if I like it I take a picture of it. Something I found interesting in the article was the piece on Nepal’s rules on taking pictures of locals, I agree with Garlick when he says that receive literature on respecting locals “can go some way into restoring the balance between the tourist and the cultural other.” When I am on vacation I take pictures of everything even locals, I heard once that some parts of Africa do not like their picture’s being taken because they feel like you are taking part of their soul away. When I am on trips I especially like group photos so you can always remember who you were there with. When I am at school and home however I tend to take fewer pictures, unless I am going somewhere special with my sorority, family or friends. I am always around my house and school so there isn’t much I need to remember for the time being.
After I take pictures I usually put them all on my computer and then Facebook. In today’s Facebook society you sort of expect to sign on and see all of you friend’s adventures and so in turn you want to share your adventures as well. Facebook is a great tool for keeping up with people’s lives and sharing pictures enables you to do that on an everyday basis.