Week Three: A trip to the north of England and Scotland!

Well this past week has been quite an adventure around the country and in Scotland! To start, I was sick all week, with a rather nasty cold. While this was irritating and exhausting, I did my best to not let it stop me, and continued exploring and seeing everything, which might not have been the best idea, but I am in England, I cannot let sickness stop me! It rained for maybe 4-5 hours in total during this trip, which was amazing because our directors kept saying it would rain, it was just a matter of when. But we had gorgeous sunny weather with us otherwise, though it did get a bit cold.

On Monday, we left in the morning and drove to Chester, where we stopped and explored the Roman wall that circles the city, and to just explore the area. It was very pretty, and right along the river. After Chester, we continued on to Liverpool, home of the Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum, the Beatles, and where the first LDS Missionaries landed in England to share the Gospel. So a very historic city! It is hard to describe in words the feeling that the museum brought, especially the International Slavery Exhibit. It was heart wrenching to see more fully the horrific nature of slavery, especially as it still occurs today in the world, though it is not necessarily called that. The museum made me want to act, to do something to help those that still live under tyranny. It had a very sobering effect. In particular, there was a video that I watched that showed a boy who lived with his parents working at a brick kiln in India to pay his father’s debt. The boy just wanted to play, and go to school, but his circumstances said otherwise. The boy was eventually able to get help and leave, but not until he had gone through horrific experiences and conditions. That’s all I will say on that, but it was very eye opening and sobering.

On Tuesday, we drove from Liverpool to the Preston Temple, and were able to walk around the temple grounds. It is a very pretty temple, and the grounds are filled with beautiful flowers. It was very peaceful. After, we went to Preston, and went on a church history walking tour of the town. It was really neat to see where the first converts to the Church in England were baptized in the River Ribble, and to see the monuments that people had placed to commemorate various moments in the Church’s history. It’s very beautiful and serene, and it was a lovely morning to walk around and look at things. That afternoon we got back on the coach and drove a few hours to the Lake District! It was beautiful there! Absolutely gorgeous! When we arrived, we hiked partway up a hill/mountain to get a better view of the lake, and it was so stunning! We explored the town, and found tons of sheep! This was also our first hostel experience of the trip… every other night we stayed in a hotel, but… for our time in the Lake District we were in a hostel. Let’s just say that I prefer hotels. Everything just felt kind of gross at the place, so it was a good thing we really only had to sleep there. It also rained a bit when we were first exploring, but otherwise the weather was rather clear!

Wednesday was our day focused on the great poet William Wordsworth. We were able to go to the Wordsworth Trust, and have a workshop with the Curator there. It was so neat! We learned more about Wordsworth and his life, and about the process of making books and we were even able to hold a first edition of Lyrical Ballads, written by Wordsworth and his friend Samuel Coleridge. It was so neat!! I love Wordsworth and his poetry, so this was an amazing experience. We then saw his grave, and I recited the poem that I had memorized for one of my classes, “Surprised by Joy,” written to the memory of the daughter that he (Wordsworth) lost. Her grave was also nearby. It felt really powerful and it was touching to me to have been able to recite it there. We walked among the daffodils, and then hiked to Rydal Mount, which is where the Wordsworth family moved when they grew too big for Dove Cottage. We toured both homes, and they were neat to see. I just loved being able to see the areas Wordsworth took his inspiration from for his poetry, and to be where he walked. I really think there is a power in visiting places of literary inspiration, as well as where authors lived, to get a better sense of who they were.

On Thursday, we left the Lake District, and headed to Scotland!! We arrived around noon in Edinburgh. Once we got there, we decided to go as a group to hike Arthur’s Seat, which is a mountain where you can see the whole city from the top. It was steep, and my cold was really bad at this point and prevented me from having the energy or air to make it all the way to the top, but I got most of the way there! And it was a beautiful sight! You could see all of Edinburgh, as well as the water and even farther beyond that! We had a list of places to visit for our classes, so after our hike we went to the Writer’s Museum, honoring Scott, Burns, and Stevenson, and then we went to The Elephant House, which is the café where J.K. Rowling first penned the Harry Potter series!!! It was so neat to be there! We also went to the churchyard where she had gotten some of the inspiration for character’s names, and we found Tom Riddle! We went to the Walter Scott Monument, which is huge, and to another monument as well. We also went to St. Giles Church, which is large and ornate. And in the evening, I went with a friend on a free ghost tour… it was unique. Interesting, but unique. So we kept pretty busy when we got there, and explored all around the city. It is a beautiful city!

Friday morning we went as a group to Edinburgh Castle, and toured it. It is huge! We saw the crown jewels, held a sword, saw war memorials, and learned more about Scotland’s history, which is pretty neat. Afterwards, we went back to The Elephant House, and took pictures and got souvenirs, as well as food. It was pretty good! We then went to the People’s Museum, which honors ordinary people, which is pretty cool! We did some shopping, and then we had to get back on the road. We drove for a while, and stopped at the England/Scotland border to take pictures and stretch our legs. We were in two places at once! Two countries! Our drive then continued to Hadrian’s Wall, which is just remains of a wall that once stretched 66 miles across the border, and was built by the Romans to keep the Celts out. Then it was back on the coach for several more hours, and we did not arrive at our hotel, the nicest one of the trip, until late.

Saturday we went to Bronte Country in Haworth, and the Haworth Parsonage where the Bronte sisters grew up. It was a neat little area, and it was fun to explore the moors and then the little town nearby. We then got back on the coach, and drove for several more hours until we arrived back in London around 7:30 that evening. It is good to be back! Overall it was an amazing trip, with gorgeous scenery, once in a lifetime opportunities, and good experiences. While my sickness was not fun, I still loved being able to travel and see new things, and learn and explore!