Warwick

Current city: Warwick. Pronounced War-ick. Ws tend to be silent here, such as in Warwick and Keswick.

Well, last I wrote was our first day in York. Yesterday (5/15) we had another day in York, which was very enjoyable and we all liked it a lot. We started out the day by walking around the medieval wall in York and then went to the Jorvick Viking Museum. If you didn't know (which you probably didn't, since I didn't until I was enlightened yesterday), York was raided and plundered and settled by Vikings, who named it Jorvick (Yor-vik) and the settlement has now been excavated and there's a museum. Which is actually a mix between a Disneyland ride (think Star Tours and then Peter Pan) and the Medieval Club. IT ROCKED. haha. I think everyone should have that experience when they go to York, simply because it was so awesome. Then after the ride, it actually turned into a real museum, but we all thought it was funny with weird wax animatronic people.

Then we had some free time for lunch, during which it rained. It's been fun to enjoy the rain since we never get any in ID or UT it seems. I mean, it gets a little cold sometimes, but for the most part we just like it. Then we went to Barley Hall, which is an excavated medieval home. That was pretty cool. John Bennion liked our guide a lot and laughed at all his only slightly funny jokes. John tells a lot of cheesy jokes, which remind me of Dad's. Yes. It's great.

We had some more free time then, during which we wandered shops. I bought a scarf off the street that I'm absolutely in love with for only a couple pounds, wandered Shambles (which was supposedly the inspiration for the movie interpretation of Diagon Alley), and bought flowers with Christine and Janet that we wore in our hair to the theater.

My free time was cut short by grocery shopping time. We all have assigned days to be leader, assistant leader, cook and assistant cook. They're spread out, but during these days you get to help cook. And when you're cook, you get to plan the meals and go shopping and everything. I was going to make mac and cheese, but I didn't have time due to the play, so we did chilli instead. I had lots of help from my helpers and other friends (everyone here is great and will just jump up and help with anything; they're all really great). We ended up putting together chili and salad for people very quickly. The shopping, travel time, prep, eating and clean up all got done in 2 hours. Why yes, we ARE that impressive.

Christine did my hair really simply for the play, with the flowers, but we all felt really ridiculously attractive (Lisa: insert my "I look good" face here) walking down the streets of York all gussied up. I wore my scarf. And it was awesome. AND THE PLAY! I love Twelfth Night. It was awesome. Olivia wasn't as good as I wanted her to be, but the Duke was ridiculously attractive, and Viola was a wonderful actress (Lis, I was also thinking of you during the entire play). I even enjoyed the Sir Toby scenes and Malvolio--who was fantastic, probably the best--which is odd because I don't enjoy reading those as much, but they were very well done.

Today we woke up early and drove here to Warwick, about 3 hours in the coach, during which we mostly slept. THat's what we tend to do on the coaches, because we're always up really late, and up really early, and spend the days constantly moving. So whenever we see our friend Terry, the coach driver, we enjoy his company with a snooze. FYI, Terry has a really odd earring.

Then we explored Warwick Castle, which is like Madam Tussad's and full of freaky wax figures and stone spiral staircases (which are cool going up and terrifying to go down). I hung out with Christine (who is like my soul mate), Bentley and Katy A. We almost winked at a cute archer and Bentley briefly dated a peacock (don't worry, we made sure it was female). We dressed up in Victorian garb, wandered, put on armor helmets...basically Disneyland again. but without the rides this time. :)

For lunch, we fulfilled Bentley's dream of eating in a pub and then we found the hotel. Yes, we're in a hotel here. It's kind of ironic. It's a life of luxury in some ways. BUt you think a hotel would imply a lift. Nope. Still had to lug the suitcase up 2 flights of stairs (which is more than we usually have to do in the hostels) and there isn't any internet but wireless. So Janet and I wandered around and found the only internet cafe in town, because the library was closing by the time we got there. It's actually a really cute little pub. There's sheets of music on the walls and old instruments and stuff. But yep! We talked to a very friendly lady about our trip in a shop and went into antique shops and such. Very fun, relaxed day.

This next week is going to rock. Church tomorrow (always grand), then Stratford (including a production of Julius Caesar), Oxford and Jane Austen's home. Also, no hostels. Only hotels and B&Bs. But I really don't mind the hostels. It's just nice to have a change from the blue comforters. :)

I think that's about it. It's been nice to actually be writing a long post for you all instead of just briefly trying to cram everything in. Um, if you want to see pics (not from me, since my camera is still dead) and read things from other people's perspectives, check out the group blog www.beowulf2virginiawoolf.blogspot.com. It's a little behind at the moment, but hey, we're in England. We're busy.

Ah. I love it here. So so so much. Everything we do is just fun and/or funny and/or educational and the people are great and I'll miss them so much and I'll miss this great country and just everything. England is wonderful. But Janet's waiting for me, so it's time to go now. Time to go catch-up on all the reading I'm really behind on before I need to write my paper that's due Wednesday. Eh, who does homework in England? :)

Love you all, and Cheers!