Hey, though I'd post some pictures of the Loire

Hey, sorry I don't have a ton of time but I thought I'd just post some pictures of some of the chateaus we've visited today and yesterday...

Here's yesterday when we visited Chateau Amboise and today when we visited Chenonceau (sorry they were doing construction work on the side) The place had some awesome gardens...and a really cute 18th century farm!and finally here's a shot of Langeais. The chateau itself was closing, so we didn't get to explore, but we went up a little hill and got a great shot of the little cathedral as well as the chateau and bridge in the background!ahhh, Christie, you'd love it here!

France + Yay, it's Nikki!!!

Yay, so London was a blast. Dad and I spent a couple days hitting a bunch of major museums like the British, Science, and Victoria and Albert Museums. And boy were they HUGE!!!! On average we limited ourselves to about three hours at each one, roughly about when our feet would give out.

But then it was on to Paris via the Chunnel!!!! (chanel + tunnel) ...which wasn't all that amazing. But hey, at least we can say we've been through it. Anyway, the next day we picked up Nikki and hit Versailles and the Eiffel Tower before finally letting her crash. The next day we hit the Louvre where we checked out the Mona Lisa and after stopped by at the famous Notre Dame cathedral. For dinner we took an awesome dinner cruise where Dad insisted I post this photo for you all... Finally, yesterday we rented a car and now we're in Tours within the beautiful Loire river valley! Time to hit some Chateaus!

Last day in Swansea...

sigh, sad day...

Swansea, you've been fabulous!! Goodbye Kerry, goodbye Rosie, goodbye Naomi, goodbye James, goodbye Martin, goodbye Charlotte, goodbye Mia, goodbye Austin, goodbye Britiney, goodbye Whitney, goodbye Will, goodbye other Rosie, and Bernie, Jodie, Emma, and Emilie!!

Love you guys lots!!
~Patricia

Stonehenge!!

...couldn't leave the UK without seeing it

So Dad and I took a day trip out to the town of Salisbury to hit the all famous site, Stonehenge. Although lots of people I'd talked to over the year all said Stonehenge was kind of a drag, I though it was really cool! We got lucky with yet another gorgeous day (who knows how long that'll last) and Dad finally brought his camera and insisted on sending me a couple photos and insisted that I put them on my blog (oh ya, am I getting back at you for rubbing salt in the wound all day long with the camera cord incident... you watch your back...)

*grphpmmphs... so here's Stonehenge... grudgingly I guess it's a pretty good shotAnd here's a shot of a little bit of Salisbury itself. It's really a beautiful little townand oh look, it's Dad with that one kid who keeps getting in all my photos! (hmph, it's not enough that he had to harass me all day, but he had to insist on making me post a shot with her and her crazy hair...)I love you, Dad <3

Well, we're still in Swansea and lovin' it!

Hi all!

Now, while we were originally supposed to have left Swansea by now, Dad and I decided to stay a few days extra before heading out for good just cuz Swansea's so awesome! Yesterday, being granted a beautiful warm sunny day, Dad and I walked from Swansea down to the Mumbles following the coast and kept going... and going... and going. And man was it amazing!! We found this really cool little coastal trail that went all the way down to Langland and Caswell Bays at which, both of us suffering from rather nasty blisters on our feet, decided to call it a successful day. It wasn't until I sat down at my computer though when I realized that the camera cord for transferring pictures to my computer... was at that moment being shipped to the states after mistakenly identified as the cord for my Wacom tablet... which kind of stunk... cuz now I have to wonder where THAT cord is. I promise we took some great pictures though, and I'm not just trying to get out of posting picture of me with my old man!

So, the tragedy unveiled, I chose to continue my life as best I could, the next day, being today (I'm updating promptly for once!) taking the special Gower Bus on a tour of the Gower penninsula (quite a bit of which, I must say, I slept through having not gotten much sleep the night before thanks to a bad case of hay fever). At the end of the line, we ended up at Rhossili bay, a huge, clean beach surrounded on all sides by tall cliffs. Although we got rained on towards the end, it was an amazing site! On the eastern most point was Worm's Head, a little cliff jutting out into the ocean. It's cool because it's only reachable when the tide is at its lowest, giving only a small window of time to cross the rocks, have a look around (not that there's really much to see) and scrambling back to safety. Out of consideration for our wounded feet, Dad and I didn't bother with the crossing, but we certainly enjoyed the view! (*sob, sob... my... *sob... precious... *sob... pictures... *sob, sob)

Welcome to Swansea, Dad!!

Okay, well I guess the welcome to you directly has already been given, but for everyone else out there, my Dad just got into the UK today and thus my last trip before heading home officially begins!!!

Next stop, Munich!

Alright! I'm trying to cram these all in before I leave, so here's Munich. We didn't stay for very long, just a day and a half, but we took a cool (aka free) walking tour around the snowy city. We thought we had thrown off the snow by coming back to Germany, but guess not... Anyway, take a look! Munich was famous for meticulously photographing every part of the city, so when/if it was destroyed in the WWII bombings, it could be restored to its original glory.Here's one of the cathedrals that has a rather interesting story behind it. Sorry, you'll have to google it if you're curious, but it involves its architect making a deal with the devil about not being able to see any windows...hm... honestly I didn't take all that many pictures in MunichHmph, oh well, then it was on to Rome via night train! (a rather... interesting experience I must say)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Hope you have a fun birthday and I'll see you Wednesday!!

Love,
Patty

Okay, it's about time I moved on to Salzburg

Ah... I think Salzburg was my favorite city...

We started out by taking a Sound of Music tour (yes I know it was about the cheesiest thing we could have done, but hey, it took us to a ton of really cool places!) where we hit a bunch of locations where Hollywood filmed the movie. See how much you can recognize...

This first one may be a little trickyBut how about this one?or this one? (no not the person in it. It you can't get that one I'm not sure you should be reading this blog...)try this oneThink you got them? Well here's the answers: first, the back of the Von Trapp family's home, or more specifically the lake behind the home (a different location was used for the front); second, the family's rather romantic gazebo; third, where Maria and the children did that last bit of the Do-Re-Me sequence; and lastly, the church where Maria and the Captain were married, which is actually not in Salzburg at all, but a little village outside the city.

Oooh, but that same day, we took a tour of the salt mines of which Salzburg get's it's name (Salzburg translating to 'city of salt'). Check out these, um, cool (?) suits we got to wear!And we got to slide down these cool shafts in order to get to the deeper levels! They snapped a photo of us as we went down. Mia has the original, but I conveniently snapped a picture of it before parting ways... somehow I got stuck being in front...But the next day we finally got a break from the snow and I took some time exploring the city on my own in order to hit a couple museums. I spent most of my time though, getting sidetracked by the beautiful scenery (although I did in fact eventually make it to the museum of modern art). Take a look at how gorgeus the city was!and some moreand more
And I found the graveyard where Mozart was buried. I know that sounds creepy, but trust me, the cemetery was beautiful! (a lot better than the one on Edinburgh that's for sure!)Oh, and here's Nonnburg Abbey!Okay, one last shot of the city and I'm done...Awe shoot, but I need to show you the fortress too!We all had a great time! (I think I was laughing at someone in the background in this one...)And next up, it's back to Germany for Munich!

Six days to go plus my first taste of the NHS!

The countdown continues and only six days remain :(

Not to much to report only that the last few days I've been packing my things to be shipped out Tuesday. Mostly though, I've been spending as much time as I can with my awesome AWESOME friends, Kerry and Naomi. They're rather adamant about getting out of pictures for me to post, but gosh darn it, I'm determined! At least Naomi got a few pictures in when I was invited down to her home a few months back, but I still need to get Kerry! Kerry, if you're reading this, be warned!!!!

But anyway, a few days ago (okay, more than a few... like last Monday) I got my first taste of the UK's National Health Service, or NHS (no, not the National Honors Society, that's for US High Schools...). It wasn't anything serious, just that my knee had been bothering me for a few weeks and I finally gave in and decided it was time to get it checked out. So anyway, back to the story, the NHS is amazing! For those of you who are unfamiliar, the NHS offers free health service to anyone in the country, including foreign students. You just walk right in, register with the doctor (which, rather alarming, though, doesn't even require a valid ID) and away you go, no co-payment or anything! It's really amazing that anyone and everyone has access to free health care.

Although the NHS gets a lot of hike about having bad doctors, the ones on campus were great. After a very educational discussion with my doctor, I came out with a bad case of runners knee (google it if you're curious) which was causing me a fair bit of pain and worry. Unfortunately, while I normally would have been referred directly to a physiotherapist for some helpful exercises to strengthen my knee, since I was leaving, I just kind of have to grin and bear it (and google those helpful exercies). The good news is that it's slowing but surely on the mend and it should be fine for my last big trip to Greece with my folks next week!

Exam 3: Ancient Technology and Engineering

O... M... G... !... !... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yep! Went swell and now I'm all done...

... and the countdown to goodbye begins... :(