Warwick and Oxford

This day was so much fun. We went to Warwick Castle and the college town of Oxford. They have turned Warwick Castle into a sort of amusement park. There are people dressed up acting like medieval charcters and wax figures of people inside the castle. It was good fun. 

Ah man I hate when that happens. 

Just some casual peacocks wandering around in the garden.

Me making potions in my witch cauldron obvi. 

Helpful tip for traveling abroad. Flirt with the workers. They dig American girls. Then they will let you do cool stuff like hold medieval armor and see secret passage ways. That's right. I saw a secret passage way that most visitors don't get to see. Scoreboard: Hannah-1. British boys-0. 

Thanks a lot, Stewart. I'm so glad you thought I was pretty. 

Hanging with all my friends in the castle. Playing a spot of poker, you know the usual. 

Crusty sisters mirror pic.

Behold... THE MIGHTY TREBUCHET!

I'm artsy okay

I just love her. Also why don't we have plush grass like this in Texas?? I love you, Texas, but your grass is itchy and lame.

Looking over all of my peasants. 

MY KINGDOM.

My choir director, Doctor Rohwer. (Not sure if I spelled that right but too lazy to check.)

Update: Rapunzel is still trapped in her tower. 

And then on to Oxford we went! 

Some important building.. 

Another important building. I'll have you know, I did listen with intent ears when Stan was explaining each building. I just didn't take the liberty to write each one down and I have a terrible memory. 

The Great Hall. This is of course what the Hogwarts Great Hall was modeled after. 

Dumbledore where you at??

I fit right in at Oxford.

Tee hee. 

Yes this was quite the eventful day! Also, it was freezing at Oxford. And I was wearing a dress and a light jacket. It was torture. But it was totally worth it. 

P.S. Do you like my Cath Kidston dress that I bought in York??? Thanks, I quite like it, too. 

I Accidentally Called Shakespeare Overrated

This was the day we went to Stratford Upon Avon. It was a lovely time. Whilst walking through Shakespeare's childhood house, I said, "I always think it's funny when a whole town is a tourist attraction because of one person." The people around me turned with dropped jaws. One lady was so offended. She very rudely asked me, "Do you even know what he did? That's a pretty stupid statement." I, being the loving and respectful young woman I am, glared back at her with a sassy face and replied some remarks I am not too proud of. I would just like to state to the universe that I don't think Shakespeare is overrated or that we shouldn't want to visit his birthplace and whatnot. I was merely remarking that it is a bit comical that this whole town thrives because of one man who lived hundreds of years ago. The town itself is nothing extra special, but William Shakespeare made it a desirable place to visit. There. I have spoken my peace. 

I thouroughly enjoyed Stratford! Guess what. I bought my prom dress there. I know that sounds a bit crazy but it was beautiful and unique and no one in Texas will have it. It is flowy so it was easily packed in my suitcase. I love it. 

So yeah. Back to the important stuff. 

This is the church Shakespeare is buried in ft. Alex and Brian, two boys in my choir. Thanks for the graceful and unintentional photobomb. 

This guy is called Shakespeare's ghost. I innocently walked up to take a picture with him. He reached out and grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. As you can see in the picture on the left, he leaned in to whisper in my ear, "I'm gonna have you." Yes. The picture on the right is my terrified reaction. He then jumped towards me. I quickly started walking away, but my friends all shouted for me to turn around. I swiftly turned and he was right behind me reaching his arms out. It was terrifying. I'm sure you're all thinking, "It's his job to be creepy. Don't be such a wimp." But let me tell you, I observed him with several other people before and after I took the pictures and he did nothing of the sort. I had to walk past him later to get to a store and he pointed at me and stared until I walked into the store. YIKES. 

Shakespeare's childhood home.

Our awesome tour guide, Stan the Man. Check out our matching hats. All the cool people are wearing them. 

Anne Hathaway's garden. This was called a willow something romantic I don't remember but it was cool. They have a bench inside and if you push a button, a voice starts reading Shakespeare's romantic sonnets. 

We just laid down in the grass for like 15 minutes. It was paradise. 

KITTY.

The beautiful canal in Stratford. Everything in England is so picturesque. 

I want to go back!! 

I LOVE YORK

We traveled to the medieval town of York. Can you tell that I loved it? It was so cozy. It realy felt like I was stepping back in time! The city is surrounded by walls from the medieval times. The buildings are super old. I felt like I was in Shakespeare's time or something. It was so beautiful. Oh and did I mention the amazing shopping there? I spent more money than I probably should have at the Cath Kidston store.. LOVE. Since we had this trip on the calendar for almost a year, I saved up that whole time. I saved all my Christmas and birthday money and any other money I recieved. I ended up taking $1,400 to England. I was soooo happy to have that much money because I knew I would want to shop. So I didn't have to worry about how much money I was spending. I could just buy things that I wanted and be guilt free! I was quite proud of myself for saving up that much and it was so awesome to spend it. But I didn't spend it all so now I have a good amount of extra spending money. ;)

Anyways, enjoy my pictures of York. 

A crappy view of the medieval wall.

Wait where am I again? Amsterdam maybe? 

That's the church we sang in. Isn't it beautiful??

The famous York Minster. It is the largest gothic catherdral in Northern Europe. My pictures don't do it justice! It's magnificent! I seriously can't wrap my brain around how they built these incredible buildings so long ago without our modern technology! It boggles my mind!

Beautiful stain glass inside the York Minster. On the ohter side is the Great East Window. It is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world! Unfortunately, it has been removed for cleaning so we didn't get to see the real thing. How crummy is that?? :'( It takes 10 years to clean because there are so many little bits and pieces. Talk about dedication and patience. But we did see a life size picture of it in place. It is HUGE. 

Some more views inside the Minster.

Ah. the lovely Shambles.

The Crusty Sisters (my gang) went to a lovely little tea room called Betty's Tea Room for a spot of tea. It was so quaint and cute. 

I had to enjoy some tea for myself of course! I had herbal peppermint tea. Yummmm. Note my raised pinky. I'm a true Brit.

A beautiful ruined abbey.

I got to wear my raincoat! ISN'T IT ADORABLE??? I love it. Can I let you in on a little secret? I got it at a thrift store for 10 bucks. It is a London Fog coat that sells for about $100. Yeah, I've got thrift shopping skills. *que Macklemore song* 

I hope you liked my York pictures. I feel like these pictures weren't as exciting. But don't worry, my next post will be very exciting! Brace yourselves for pretty flowers, creepy Shakespeares and awesome hats. If that doesn't intrigue you, what the heck does??