My final post

Well, this brings me to an end of posting about my trip. The journey home was just your average flight and adjustment to the time difference. I loved the trip, and can't wait until I have the chance to go back to Europe for another one. However, I am very happy to be home. I love the weather here (hooray for sunshine!), the people that I missed so much, and the familiarity of home. It's been so much fun to share my journey with all of you. I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks for taking the time to read my blogs and look at my photos! :)

Liverpool

Our last stop on the trip was to visit Liverpool, England, to see where the Beatles originated. We took a bus tour titled "The Magical Mystery Tour." The bus drove us around and showed us the houses where each of the band members grew up, special places mentioned in their songs (such as Penny Lane and Strawberry Field), and other significant buildings in their lives. We also went to The Cavern Club, which is the pub where the Beatles played over 200 times throughout their career, so they were there before and during their journey to fame. There were Beatles themed shops, signs, statues, and memoirs everywhere. I'm sure those who live there get quite annoyed with it all, but it was very interesting for us tourists.

The city of Liverpool was not that interesting. It's mostly an industrial city that's known for its crime. Apparently it's been cleaned up in the past few years and isn't dangerous anymore, but it still holds a stigma that most English avoid. The Beatles definitely created quite an income for the city from tourism though.

If you're a Beatles fan and want to see photos from Liverpool, here they are: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2199316&id=30308465&l=1885bb9931

Scotland

After we traveled through southern England, my family went up to stay in Scotland for a few days. We stayed mostly in Edingburgh, which is one of the neatest cities I've been to. It's surrounded by the gorgeous Scottish mountains, has tons of character and old buildings, and is filled with history and things to do. We spent a lot of time walking around, took a guided walking tour of the city, went into Edinburgh Castle, tried out a few of the pubs and restaurants, enjoyed listening to the bagpipers everywhere, and did some shopping. There was still so much of the city that we didn't get to discover because of its size and the amazing amount of things to do while there. Some of the highlights were having tea at the same place where J.K. Rowling wrote the first few chapters of Harry Potter on napkins (back when she was poor), the walking tour of the old sights and hidden places of the city (and hearing many interesting stories about the history there), visiting the castle (which actually was used in battle many times), and just exploring the city.

One day while in Scotland, we decided to take a day bus trip to the Highlands. We went through Glascow and a few small towns on our way. We also stopped and took a boat tour on Loch Lomond, which is the lake that the famous song names. The mountains around Loch Lomond are breathtaking. We stopped in Aberfoyle, which was a very tiny town that is apparently known for its wool. They had a sheep herding demonstration when we arrived, only they showed it to us using mallard ducks. The Border Collie ran around after about 6 dugs and herded them through tunnels and over a bridge when commanded to do so. It was very interesting. We then drove through a scenic national park with absolutely beautiful views. It's hard to describe how amazing it was. The mountains are so green, the mist from the clouds gently hangs over the mountains, and there are rivers, valleys, and cattle spread throughout the mountains to finish off the view. I took many pictures of it, so you can have a sample of what it was like. We ended the trip at Stirling, which is a history town with a castle. We didn't go into Stirling Castle, but looked at the outside of it. The William Wallace (the guy from Braveheart) monument can be seen from Stirling Castle, so there are photos of that. We walked around Stirling a little and looked at the Church of the Holy Rude, which is where Mary Queen of Scots' son was coronated as an infant (after she was exiled for her Catholic faith). There were other neat historic buildings in the town as well. The day trip was totally worth it, and definitely an adventure!

For pictures of Edinburgh (and more stories to go with the photos): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2197088&id=30308465&l=0fe2b4bae3

For pictures from the day trip to the Highlands: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2197120&id=30308465&l=6a74fb0cab

Bath, England and Cardiff, Wales

I went with my family to Bath, England to see the Roman Baths that are there. Hot springs naturally flow here, so the Romans (dating back to B.C.) travelled here and built stone buildings around them. They used this as a vacation place and as a sacred place to sacrifice and worship their pagan gods. This means it's one of the oldest buildings in England. The hot springs still come to the surface here, and you can feel the heat over the pools. It was interesting to walk through the ruins of the building and see the baths. The Bath Abbey was right outside the Roman Baths, so we also looked inside. It was a beautiful old church. Then we walked around the town of Bath, and saw many of the old stone buildings. Jane Austen also lived in Bath for a few years, so there's a Jane Austen Center there that we went into.

Then we took a train to Cardiff, Wales. We went to Cardiff Castle, which was right in the city. The castle mostly was a place where rich people lived in history. There were castle walls, a large open space in the center, a keep in the center, and the Victorian House, which is where the rich lived. The castle never really saw battle, but still has lots of history involved. More information about the castle is in the captions of my photos.

For pictures of this trip, click here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2196847&id=30308465&l=aae08e831b