First day in London by Ashley Brown

Woke up early, we wake up early every morning but this morning was the worst despite my going to bed at 8:30pm last night. The train ride from Grantham to King's Cross Station was fun, sort of like Am Track, not at all what I had expected. While we were there it seems as though I may have offended the lady working in the station by saying "thank you" after she checked my ticket and passport; which would be normal American courtesy, however, that may not be the case here. It took about an hour to arrive in London from Grantham, which is about 100 miles.

When we arrived in London, we went on a sight seeing tour, which took up the majority of the day. It was my first experience on a double decker bus and most of our group sat on the top. We had an excellent tour guide that was very informative and friendly. We saw many sights and took a lot of pictures. Unfortunately my camera battery died. What we saw included the place where Paul McCartney met Linda Eastman, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, a pub that Charles Dickens used to drink in, and many others. I learned that that Geoffrey Chaucer is buried at Westminster Abbey, which would be interesting to visit.

Our last stop was the Tate Modern Art Museum, which I personally didn't find too appealing, but I don't like modern art. I don't like it because I don't find the qualities that make it art, however some critics would argue that point. Afterwards we headed back to Grantham, some of us want to a local pub and others came back to the manor.

We had a great day and now we get to have a little bit of rest and start over tomorrow.

A view of the Castle with the Cathedral in the background

One of the Stations of the Cross in the Cathedral

Sharing the day in the Conservatory - Tuesday

Wednesday at Lincolnshire

As I'm sitting here gazing out the window at the front entrance of Harlaxton, I can't help but be reflective of the day we experienced. From our "thrilling" dash to the town of Lincoln, to the moment we arrived back in time for the dinner meal, our day was full of excitement. We began the morning with our tour guide, Kay Lamb, who showed her love of the Lincoln Castle and the history held within its walls. Kay was very colorful in her descriptions of the beginnings of the Castle with King William of Normandy who had conquered England. Lincoln Castle built in 1068 was one of the first royal castles he built to control this new kingdom. This Castle has been used as a court and prison for more than 900 years. Unfortunately, it also served as the "hanging" location for the town of Lincoln. We scaled the stairs to the medieval tower of Cobb Hall which served as a prison, defense tower and public execution site. Kay carefully explained every purpose of the tower especially as being used as the site of hangings. These public executions were often a very anticipated social event for the community - often with 20,000 people observing the hangings. On a more cheerful note she detailed the romantic story of King Edward 1 and Eleanor whose love story surpassed none other. We had our sack lunch on the beautifully manicured lawn and enjoyed the lovely English gardens. We were also able to view an original Magna Carta document. The afternoon was enjoyed with a tour of Lincoln Cathedral built by the 12th century bishop, Saint Hugh. He was noted for protecting Jews and not be afraid to confront Kings Henry II, Richard and John. The Cathedral's stained glass windows were breathtaking. Our guide was very thorough in his explanation of the reason why the Cathedral was such an important part of the lives of pilgrims. After a quick trip to the gift shop, we head back to Harlaxton just in time for the dinner meal - Italian - to our delight. We plan to make it an early night, but since daylight lasts until almost 11:00 p.m., we often find it a little hard to turn in early. Oh well, somehow we always seem to be rested for the next day's travels.

Pictures from the Garden at Belvoir Castle

Our friendly friend from the Belvoir Castle

The Conservatory at Harlaxton

Landscape around Harlaxton

Day 3, June 10, 2008 "Kansas did it"

After a full night's sleep everyone seems to have a little bit more energy this morning. We attended a British Cultures class this morning and learned quite a lot about Victorian Country House Estates. The Harlaxton Manor is considered a Victorian Country House Estate.

It was very interesting to learn a little bit about the politics and land ownership over here in England. It is definitely different as compared to the USA. We also learned that the wheat grown over in the USA played a vital role in the downfall of the Victorian Country Estates.

Next we went to Belvoir, pronounced 'Beaver', Castle. All I can say is Wow!! It was just phenomial. We couldn't take any pictures of the inside but it was very ornate in some of the rooms. This definitely fit one's image of what a castle looks like. I have included some of the images of the outside.




Tonight we are supposed to be getting a guided tour of Harlaxton. It should be great.



I have to say that we are all pretty tired at this point. I don't think that we have fully recovered from the jet lag. And one more point, we think we drive fast in America, come to England, and just hang on!!

We made it to England!!

We finally made it! After a rocky start with bad weather, running the O'Hare 5K, and not sleeping on the plane....my first trip out of the country was great! I knew someday I would have to get on a plane and I'm so lucky to have experienced this with such a great group of people. Let's just say on the flight to Chicago, my nerves got the best of me and the tears started to fall. All the emotions I was feeling just came out in tears. No screaming, just tears. The feeling is not something I wish to experience again and thankfully by the time we were on our jumbo jet to London, I was feeling much better.
After arriving in London we still had a two an a half hour bus ride to Harlaxton. Our driver, David, was very nice and funny. He definetly wanted us to enjoy the "country side" (by the way...it looks like Kentucky). But once we finally approached Harlaxton...what a site. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful view. The manor is breath taking. A quick tour of the small village of Harlaxton and we were up the drive to the manor. We received a very warm welcome and soon were eating our first meal there, finding our rooms, and exploring the manor. Day one in England was quickly under our belt and the fatigue won over. After being awake for nearly thirty-one hours...a few of us hit the sack early.
To best describe how I felt through the whole ordeal of flying for the first time and stepping foot on English soil...where to begin. It is a trip I will never forget and one I will always be thankful for.

It's finally here....oh really? Not so fast.

The theme for today is hurry up and wait.

We all arrived with various family in tow prepared to say our goodbyes. Bad weather in Chicago put us on an earlier flight so we quickly hugged and kissed our loved ones and hurried through the gate. Alexis' daughter had a hard time saying goodbye to mommy. Once on the flight we suffered through the in flight instructions and Jo started deep breathing exercises to deal with first flight jitters.


Just as the plane was waiting for final clearance we received word from Chicago that all incoming flights were delayed; we disembarked and began the process of negotiating our way to Heathrow. Stay tuned for further details.

By the way, Paul is no longer the only male in the group, check out the red head on Christi Bailey's shoulder! Andy is already causing trouble.