Windsor Castle and Errands

Windsor Castle

Nando's - Niall (1D's fav place)

Me, with the guard that spoke to Kirsten!

 After a bit of jet lag (waking up at 5:00 AM and trying to go back to sleep), Kirsten and I eventually were ready around 10:00 AM to go with Vera to Windsor Castle. We debated between going here or to Winchester and in the end decided that Windsor would be the better choice. Sadly we had a bit of rain this morning but it burned off about half way through our trip.


Instead of taking the audio tour or using a tour guide, Vera showed us around the castle. It was good fun, but quite a lot of walking. We saw the State rooms as well as St. George's Chapel. Vera was kind enough to treat Kirsten and I to this adventure, but regularly it costs £15.50 for student tickets. FACT: Be sure to bring ID with you everywhere you go. You will get discounts.

Royal Guards

Windsor is typically the weekend home for Her Royal Majesty. Some cool facts to know are the initials you see on everything represent which monarch it was built for or by. Ex: Queen Elizabeth II would look like E II R. Elizabeth II Royal is what it stands for. You see this a lot on thrones and carved into the walls. One thing you should do when you are going through all the different rooms is LOOK UP! The ceilings are fantastic and very ornate. One room has all the crests from various families. The paintings were brilliant to look for. Something new that I learned about was the Order of the Garter which was started by Edward III and still continues today. 

When the flag is flying, it means the QUEEN is in

I wish I could have done the towers tour or the kitchen tour, but those were sold out. Because this trip wasn't planned I was unable to purchase any tour tickets, but I highly suggest if this is a place you wish to visit that you book a tour and pre-pay for tickets to skip the lines and guarantee your tours.

St. George's Chapel

After touring the castle, we headed over to St. George Chapel. Here we were lucky enough to have a youth orchestra playing a concert. We sat for a few songs and then continued our walk. It was very pleasant to have a nice ambiance as we walked through the chapel. The stained glass in this Chapel is stunning. Mainly it is of the Saints. Many monarchs have been laid to rest in this chapel. The Queen's mother and father are both buried here. Most shocking and amusing to me was that the remains of Henry VIII were also laid in this chapel. I am a HUGE fan of anything that is Tudor related. I even did my 5th grade biography project on Elizabeth I. Finally, we took some pictures with the guard. It was so shocking when he spoke to Kirsten! They are not supposed to talk and can get in a lot of trouble for that! Never in all my times coming to England have I seen one speak before. It was utterly shocking.




When we had finished our touring of Windsor Castle,we headed out to get some lunch. We ate at a place called Drury House which is a very old looking restaurant. Kirsten and I both had "traditional" fish and chips, but Vera told us that these weren't traditional at all because they were not beer battered and had American looking french fries. Even if they weren't traditional, they were quite good. I also had the homemade lemon tart for dessert which was absolutely fabulous. 

Errands

T-Mobile guys hooking it up.

Kirsten and I had a few errands to do today that I suggest you do before you get to school. They are as follows:

• Buy a phone or a SIM card
• I suggest T-Mobile, but there are other good plans out there. Just be educated about what to look for before you go into the provider
• Side note: the lads were quite nice who worked there :P
• Be sure if you bring a phone it is unlocked so that you can use a UK SIM card
• I paid £35.50 for my phone + 70 international calling minutes, 300 UK texts, and 60 international texts. 
• I will have to add more money to next month, but I think with my parents coming to England for the Olympics this plan will serve me quite well. There are also cheaper options.
• Buy a student rail card
• This costs £28 to purchase but if you plan on using the trains often it will save you SO MUCH money
• Kirsten and I are going to London tomorrow and because of the pass we only had to pay £14 for a round trip tickets!
• Kirsten exchanged her money at a post office
• If you haven't exchanged your currency yet, do it at a post office. They are quite helpful and usually have very good rates compared to other companies that will try to rip you off

Other Things

Finally, I purchased 3 CDs at HMV. HMV has some great deals typically on CDs and I personally love British music. I bought Ed Sheeran "+" and both Olly Murs albums. Both of these artists I would HIGHLY recommend you check out. I will also be stopping by HMV again in London because I want to purchase the One Direction singles. FACT: In England they sell the singles with cool cover art and extra music you won't get on the CD. If you are an avid CD collector and big fan you can get some great stuff. HMV also carries fun posters.

Off to London in the morning to sit for Wicked tickets!

Pre-departure and Arrival

Kirsten and I sitting in the United Alliance lounge until our flight

Pre-departure

I spent the entire week before leaving for my UK adventure doing my usual fan girl shenanigans including attending the Magic Mike premiere (the plot is not the greatest, but the dancing is to die for and honestly I would pay again just for that) as well as doing all my pre-reading for my Business Creativity and Innovation class and my International Business and Ethics course. I always suggest doing any recommended reading in advance because I have been told often professors will use this reading for their first few lectures and you don't want to be completely lost on the first day! 

Because I go to the University of California, Irvine (UCI), I had only been done with my finals a little over one week before I departed to arrive three days in advance of the program. Knowing this, I have been planning my trip since I found out I had gotten into the program in early January. Applying early and getting my response over Christmas break has allowed me to plan a trip to Holland to visit my cousins and enabled my family to make a definitive decision that they would buy tickets for the 2012 Olympic Games. I highly suggest for the Pembroke-King's Programme you apply ASAP in order to get the best housing for your situation and plan accordingly.

Here are some of my tips (coming from a fairly well travelled anglophile) of what you should do before you leave:

Before you leave:

• Create a binder with all your travel documents, schedules, syllabi, etc. I have found that putting tabs based on the categories of things you want to do is most helpful. 
• Find websites that give you walking directions of places you wish to go if you are worried about losing your sense of direction. There are many helpful sites that assist with this. (As I use my maps I will post the various sites I have used)
• Create a clear budget of what you are spending on. Outline what you have with you on hand and how much you are willing to add to that while abroad
• Plan ahead, know what it is you want to be doing and how you will be doing it. This helps you stay less stressed once school picks up
• Buy a neck or belt pouch to put under your clothes. You can find these at any 
• Purchase all your converters. Fun Fact: for any heating appliances such as a straightener or a blow dryer you need a duel converter. 
• DO YOUR PRE-READING! 

From Right to Left (Me, Vera, Dave) at their home in Basingstoke

Arrival

On Wednesday, June 27th, I woke up at 7:30 AM in order to make last minute preparations for going across the pond. I got a massage to help me de-stress at 8:00 AM and then ran all my errands including buying gifts and cards for McFLY (one of my favorite bands) as well as books for the flight and Dave and Vera's grandchildren.I finished up packing my carry on with all my chargers and plugs. I purchased a new set of of converters from a travel store where they were very helpful in figuring out what would work best. As a girl you are always afraid to bring good appliances because they could get blown out. FACT: it is smart to purchase all your toiletries once you are in the UK because it is less to put into your checked baggage. Sainsburys has some great deals and I recommend it. You can also purchase a cheap blowdryer if you feel so inclined. I bought all my essentials when I arrived including a blowdryer for only 60 pounds. 

The flight from LAX to London Heathrow was about 9 hours and 30 minutes. It was a very quick flight in comparison to other flights I have been on. FACT: For those of you who get motion sick like me, I suggest taking plan sickness medicine before flying. I had a direct flight and it can get very claustrophobic on long flights. Also bring a neck pillow because they make it much easier to fall asleep. 

Upon arriving my mom's family friends, Dave and Vera picked Kirsten and I up. We have spent the day watching EuroCup, shopping for essentials, and having a great meal. Tomorrow we plan to figure out our phones, go to Windsor, convert some dollars into pounds, and buy our rail cards. More fun advice and insight then!

Events from today:

• Obamacare was upheld by the US Supreme Court
• Flash flooding occurring in the Midlands, England
• Italy defeated Germany in the quarterfinals of EuroCup
• David Beckham told he will NOT be on the GB Olympic Team but he will remain an ambassador