We've been home for a while now and are feeling the effects of our trip all the time!
We've gained so much from it and we've both written our college essays about this amazing experience :)
If you'd like to read them - contact us!
We have a program coming up on January 11 at the library in Pittsford. So if you'd like to hear us talk about the trip some more, come visit!
We can't wait to get traveling again!
I hope you all enjoyed reading about the Ariel and Emily World Tour (Part One, obviously.)
Emily
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
London and Home - not the last post!
The last few days in London were just as exciting as the first. But first and foremost - WE'RE HOME! After missing our flight to Burlington due to (probably) volcano-related delays we had an eight hour layover in Newark and arrived home at 1 A.M. your time, 5 A.M. London time. Being home is quite strange. First of all, I haven't seen Ariel now in about six hours. That seems quite unusual after not leaving her side for 3.5 months. Second of all, the culture feels odd and familiar all at once somehow. When I was in the mall the other day, for example, I couldn't help but notice how American everyone was; it was just little things, like different mannerisms, but it makes a big difference. I also ate with my hands one of my first nights home. No forks allowed when it comes to wings in America.
Remember that we have some presentations coming up! Dates for public presentations will be announced in a separate post.
Now I'll talk a little about the rest of our week in London. We visited the London Bridge over the River Thames (the only bridge downstream from Kingston until 1929) and were surprised at how boring and industrial it looked; it's the latest in a succession of bridges in this spot. It's fairly modern as it is from 1973.
So we walked upstream slightly to find the Tower Bridge, which is an absolutely gorgeous, ornate suspension bridge.
We, later that day, walked to the Westminster area to see Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye.
The Houses of Parliament are where the House of Lords and the House of Commons meet. The current palace was designed by architectural team Barry and Pugin and construction began in 1840 and was only completed after many setbacks in 1870.
There we saw the building's clock tower, nicknamed Big Ben after it's largest bell. It is massive - the third largest freestanding clock tower in the world!
Also in the area was the Westminster Abbey cathedral. It was absolutely giant. One of the coolest parts was knowing that a plethora of coronations had taken place there in the past.
After that we visited the London Eye. I personally think of it in the same way that I think of the Eiffel Tower. It's not incredibly attractive, actually, it's quite the monstrosity, but it's given London a symbolic landmark the same way the Eiffel Tower is now arguably the most recognizable Parisian landmark. We didn't ride, because it was ridiculously expensive just for a big Ferris Wheel. Instead, we went to the nearby Film Museum. It mainly focused on commercially successful movies and actors and housed a huge collection of movie props, scripts, etc...
We took some time to visit Buckingham Palace. We weren't able to see the changing of the guards; there was a special event that day (we are still trying to find out what it was), but we got to see the guards doing their marching routine back and forth in perfect synchronization in front of the palace.
The Tower of London is also very cool. It's very historic. In fact, it's the oldest building used by the British government and houses the crown jewels. Definitely worth a visit.
On our very last night, we saw Billy Elliot in London's West End Theater. It was absolutely amazing. I laughed, I cried; I was engaged the entire time. The dancing was particularly impressive and the music (Elton John) was also beautiful. I definitely recommend it and I'm sure Ariel would agree.
Look out for some more posts...
We've got one coming up announcing presentation dates and one FAQ/summarizing conclusory post on the way!
Remember that we have some presentations coming up! Dates for public presentations will be announced in a separate post.
Now I'll talk a little about the rest of our week in London. We visited the London Bridge over the River Thames (the only bridge downstream from Kingston until 1929) and were surprised at how boring and industrial it looked; it's the latest in a succession of bridges in this spot. It's fairly modern as it is from 1973.
So we walked upstream slightly to find the Tower Bridge, which is an absolutely gorgeous, ornate suspension bridge.
We, later that day, walked to the Westminster area to see Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye.
The Houses of Parliament are where the House of Lords and the House of Commons meet. The current palace was designed by architectural team Barry and Pugin and construction began in 1840 and was only completed after many setbacks in 1870.
There we saw the building's clock tower, nicknamed Big Ben after it's largest bell. It is massive - the third largest freestanding clock tower in the world!
Also in the area was the Westminster Abbey cathedral. It was absolutely giant. One of the coolest parts was knowing that a plethora of coronations had taken place there in the past.
After that we visited the London Eye. I personally think of it in the same way that I think of the Eiffel Tower. It's not incredibly attractive, actually, it's quite the monstrosity, but it's given London a symbolic landmark the same way the Eiffel Tower is now arguably the most recognizable Parisian landmark. We didn't ride, because it was ridiculously expensive just for a big Ferris Wheel. Instead, we went to the nearby Film Museum. It mainly focused on commercially successful movies and actors and housed a huge collection of movie props, scripts, etc...
We took some time to visit Buckingham Palace. We weren't able to see the changing of the guards; there was a special event that day (we are still trying to find out what it was), but we got to see the guards doing their marching routine back and forth in perfect synchronization in front of the palace.
The Tower of London is also very cool. It's very historic. In fact, it's the oldest building used by the British government and houses the crown jewels. Definitely worth a visit.
On our very last night, we saw Billy Elliot in London's West End Theater. It was absolutely amazing. I laughed, I cried; I was engaged the entire time. The dancing was particularly impressive and the music (Elton John) was also beautiful. I definitely recommend it and I'm sure Ariel would agree.
Look out for some more posts...
We've got one coming up announcing presentation dates and one FAQ/summarizing conclusory post on the way!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
It's our last week of the Ariel and Emily World Tour, Part 1 - Europe and Israel! Wow, that's a long title. Either way, we currently have about two days left to enjoy more of London before heading back to Vermont. So far, we've been packing our last week full! Since we've been doing so much, I'll try to just highlight the more interesting things.
So far, we visited three nice museums: the National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of London, and the British Music Experience. My favorite of the three was the British Music Experience; it was really interactive and focused on British music from the 1940's onward, especially the British Invasion in the U.S. The museum was packed of band artifacts, including a drum head from the Yardbirds, a jumpsuit from Mick Jagger, handwritten lyrics by David Bowie, and so much more! It was amazing! We also went to a nice concert at the same place with a guitarist and violinist duo.
Of course, we've been getting in a little bit of London shopping, since it's known for huge department stores. We spent some time at Harrod's and Selfridge's, both of which were extremely expensive and had everything from a giant lime green plaster horse to imported caviar. It was so overwhelming; we didn't even really know where to start with it all. We did also visit more reasonable stores, including the Topshop flagship (so many cute clothes!).
Since Emily and I are both big Harry Potter fans, we decided to try and find some of where the story in London takes place. We visited a cafe on Tottenham Court Road, walked around the Charring Cross area, found where the Leaky Cauldron and entrance to Diagon Alley would be, and also saw where they filmed the visitors' entrance to the Ministry of Magic. In case you don't know what this means, I'll give a short explanation of each place.
When Harry, Ron and Hermione fled from the Death Eaters in the beginning of the seventh book, the ended up escaping at a cafe on Tottenham Court Road.
The Leaky Cauldron is a pub for wizards near Charring Cross. Through this pub, there is a brick wall area which provides the entrance to Diagon Alley, a wizard shopping street. We actually found a pub near Charring Cross with a brick wall behind it.
The scene in the movies where Harry Potter and Mr. Weasley enter to the Ministry of Magic (wizard government) building was filmed also near Charring Cross.
Well, that's basically what we've been up to, and we have a schedule for the rest of the week including the London Bridge, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, the Tower of London, and seeing Billy Elliot at the West End theater (London's version of Broadway). Such a fun and busy last two days!
See you soon!
Ariel
So far, we visited three nice museums: the National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of London, and the British Music Experience. My favorite of the three was the British Music Experience; it was really interactive and focused on British music from the 1940's onward, especially the British Invasion in the U.S. The museum was packed of band artifacts, including a drum head from the Yardbirds, a jumpsuit from Mick Jagger, handwritten lyrics by David Bowie, and so much more! It was amazing! We also went to a nice concert at the same place with a guitarist and violinist duo.
Of course, we've been getting in a little bit of London shopping, since it's known for huge department stores. We spent some time at Harrod's and Selfridge's, both of which were extremely expensive and had everything from a giant lime green plaster horse to imported caviar. It was so overwhelming; we didn't even really know where to start with it all. We did also visit more reasonable stores, including the Topshop flagship (so many cute clothes!).
Since Emily and I are both big Harry Potter fans, we decided to try and find some of where the story in London takes place. We visited a cafe on Tottenham Court Road, walked around the Charring Cross area, found where the Leaky Cauldron and entrance to Diagon Alley would be, and also saw where they filmed the visitors' entrance to the Ministry of Magic. In case you don't know what this means, I'll give a short explanation of each place.
When Harry, Ron and Hermione fled from the Death Eaters in the beginning of the seventh book, the ended up escaping at a cafe on Tottenham Court Road.
The Leaky Cauldron is a pub for wizards near Charring Cross. Through this pub, there is a brick wall area which provides the entrance to Diagon Alley, a wizard shopping street. We actually found a pub near Charring Cross with a brick wall behind it.
The scene in the movies where Harry Potter and Mr. Weasley enter to the Ministry of Magic (wizard government) building was filmed also near Charring Cross.
Well, that's basically what we've been up to, and we have a schedule for the rest of the week including the London Bridge, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, the Tower of London, and seeing Billy Elliot at the West End theater (London's version of Broadway). Such a fun and busy last two days!
See you soon!
Ariel
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Cold water, old churches, and controversy.
So I've got a couple things to update y'all on.
We spent the weekend in Newquay (pronounced noo-kee) at the beach where we had a lovely apartment with a view of the ocean.
We met some more of David's friends who were all very sweet but were absolutely crazy to go in the water. Actually, Ariel went in too. She tried surfing, which was very brave of her and was able to successfully catch some waves!
We also spent a day in Exeter. It's a university town with lots of great shopping and some historic buildings such as the Exeter Cathedral which was completed in 1400.
Today, there was an important election in England for majority control of Parliament. Correct us if we're wrong, English politics are rather confusing. For the past 13 years the Labour Party was in power and this election will determine its fate. Gordon Brown is running for reelection with the Labour Party (though it seems unlikely that he'll win) against the Conservative David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg. If all goes well, results will be in first thing tomorrow morning.
That's all for now! Stay tuned for our last week!
xxx
₤mily
We spent the weekend in Newquay (pronounced noo-kee) at the beach where we had a lovely apartment with a view of the ocean.
We met some more of David's friends who were all very sweet but were absolutely crazy to go in the water. Actually, Ariel went in too. She tried surfing, which was very brave of her and was able to successfully catch some waves!
We also spent a day in Exeter. It's a university town with lots of great shopping and some historic buildings such as the Exeter Cathedral which was completed in 1400.
Today, there was an important election in England for majority control of Parliament. Correct us if we're wrong, English politics are rather confusing. For the past 13 years the Labour Party was in power and this election will determine its fate. Gordon Brown is running for reelection with the Labour Party (though it seems unlikely that he'll win) against the Conservative David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg. If all goes well, results will be in first thing tomorrow morning.
That's all for now! Stay tuned for our last week!
xxx
₤mily
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Devon
Place of the Week
Dartmoor! It's a moorland National Park known for it's Tors, which are like giant rock hills and are used in the "Ten Tor Challenge", a competition for people between 14 and 21 (including school groups) can walk distances often up to 50 or 60 miles!
And did I mention there are PONIES?!
Food of the Week
Fish 'n Chips!
We were staying right near the coast, so the fish was very fresh. This is a very popular meal right around Devon so it's only appropriate that this should be our food of the week.
London -
So we're currently in Gerrard's Cross, just outside of London. We got here by bus...it was a long ride but went without a hitch. More about London once we actually explore the city!
Dartmoor! It's a moorland National Park known for it's Tors, which are like giant rock hills and are used in the "Ten Tor Challenge", a competition for people between 14 and 21 (including school groups) can walk distances often up to 50 or 60 miles!
And did I mention there are PONIES?!
Food of the Week
Fish 'n Chips!
We were staying right near the coast, so the fish was very fresh. This is a very popular meal right around Devon so it's only appropriate that this should be our food of the week.
London -
So we're currently in Gerrard's Cross, just outside of London. We got here by bus...it was a long ride but went without a hitch. More about London once we actually explore the city!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Guest Blogger
Jolly Ho! My name is David Chamberlain and I am from Devon in 'Ye Olde England'. Ariel and Emily have been living with me for two days now and I am sick and tired of them. I mean seriously, skype at 2am? Anyway... they've visited Dartmoor which is our equivalent of yellowstone except much less interesting, seen Kick-ass in a British cinema and been to the most amzing place in the world, Milton Keynes (this is our equivalent of Birmingham Alabama, by which i mean scummy). They also made fun of my work outfit, apron and my clip-on tie from Waitrose which is our equivalent of Wholefoods except it hasn't got health foods and it's where rich people go to laugh at peasants. I tried to introduce them to British comedians but as most of them are from up North they couldn't understand the accent. Tomorrow we are leaving at 8:30 to go to Newquay which is a haven for young people and surfing in England and three of my friends are also coming which will mean extra bullying for Ariel and Emily. They also visited my school yesterday and i'm pretty sure they hated it. They were also ignored by people because of the fact that they are American but i forced them to talk and the problem was resolved. If you want a cheap laugh then just ask the girls to video me saying stuff in a funny accent. Toodle pip, cheerio.
Dave x
Dave x
Friday, April 30, 2010
A little bit of everything!
Since we last wrote, we had two more days in Wellingborough, one day of travel to Devon, and now we've been here for almost a day. Here is a little recap of what's been going on and a few weeklies.
One of our days in Wellingborough, we went to Cambridge, which is home to England's second oldest university. It was a little like most other college towns (students riding bikes everywhere, people studying for exams currently, etc.) although with the added charm of it being founded in 1209. The other day in Wellingborough, we visited Stoke Bruerne and saw the canal locks in action. It was so cool seeing the water level raise so much in such a short time. Walking along the canal was gorgeous, and it was so fun to look inside of the boats and see the tiny kitchens and such.
Overall, we've found England to be similar in looks to New England, with small towns, brick houses and lots of the same place names. Basically the biggest difference we've noticed so far is how much older everything here is. It's amazing to think that it's perfectly normal for buildings here to be over 500 years older than the United States.
We spent our first full day in Devon at the local high school with our host. For me, I found this school to be much different than the others that we visited in how they interacted with us. At the Hungarian high school, not many of the students' English was well enough to have a proper conversation, and at the international school in Switzerland, so many of the students were American, so it was just like meeting a new classmate. At the English school, however, we found that a few people (jokingly) refused to talk to us because we were Americans. However, we were forewarned that they might not be that friendly, but it was all in a good-natured way.
So now onto the Weeklies! Since we were only in Wellingborough for half a week, we decided to combine the weeklies from there with the ones from our week in Devon.
People of the Week
We interviewed both of our Wellingborough hosts this week.
Name:
Issa
Harry
Where were you born?
Issa: The east end of London. I'm a Cockney, although Harry has the Cockney accent.
Harry: London
What is your favorite place in England?
Issa: London
Harry: Derbyshire
What is your favorite English food?
Issa: Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
Harry: Roast Lamb
What is your former job?*
Issa: Most recently, the Equal Opportunities Coordinator at Northampton University.
Harry: A printer
What are your current hobbies?
Issa: Working with children, being a School Governor**, line dancing, swimming, and reading.
Harry: Riding my motorbike, photography, gardening, and watching football***.
What are some places you've traveled to together?
Israel, American, Australia, the Far East, Europe, including Italy, France Portugal, and many more places.
What is your favorite place in the world?
Issa: The Italian lakes
Harry: New England
Anything else?
"When you first asked us to host you, we were surprised by your age. Most English kids don't do something like that until 18 or so."
* - Issa and Harry are retired.
** - School Governor is a bit like School Board in the U.S.
*** - In America, it's soccer.
Word of the Week
Although it's all still English, they do use different words for certain things. For example, in England they might say, "Let's use the zebra crossing to get to the other pavement." In America, we would way, "Let's the the crosswalk to get to the other sidewalk." There are also certain words they pronounce differently, like "zeb-rah" instead of "zee-brah". Overall though, it's great not to have as much of a language barrier as certain other countries.
More soon!
Ariel
One of our days in Wellingborough, we went to Cambridge, which is home to England's second oldest university. It was a little like most other college towns (students riding bikes everywhere, people studying for exams currently, etc.) although with the added charm of it being founded in 1209. The other day in Wellingborough, we visited Stoke Bruerne and saw the canal locks in action. It was so cool seeing the water level raise so much in such a short time. Walking along the canal was gorgeous, and it was so fun to look inside of the boats and see the tiny kitchens and such.
Overall, we've found England to be similar in looks to New England, with small towns, brick houses and lots of the same place names. Basically the biggest difference we've noticed so far is how much older everything here is. It's amazing to think that it's perfectly normal for buildings here to be over 500 years older than the United States.
We spent our first full day in Devon at the local high school with our host. For me, I found this school to be much different than the others that we visited in how they interacted with us. At the Hungarian high school, not many of the students' English was well enough to have a proper conversation, and at the international school in Switzerland, so many of the students were American, so it was just like meeting a new classmate. At the English school, however, we found that a few people (jokingly) refused to talk to us because we were Americans. However, we were forewarned that they might not be that friendly, but it was all in a good-natured way.
So now onto the Weeklies! Since we were only in Wellingborough for half a week, we decided to combine the weeklies from there with the ones from our week in Devon.
People of the Week
We interviewed both of our Wellingborough hosts this week.
Name:
Issa
Harry
Where were you born?
Issa: The east end of London. I'm a Cockney, although Harry has the Cockney accent.
Harry: London
What is your favorite place in England?
Issa: London
Harry: Derbyshire
What is your favorite English food?
Issa: Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
Harry: Roast Lamb
What is your former job?*
Issa: Most recently, the Equal Opportunities Coordinator at Northampton University.
Harry: A printer
What are your current hobbies?
Issa: Working with children, being a School Governor**, line dancing, swimming, and reading.
Harry: Riding my motorbike, photography, gardening, and watching football***.
What are some places you've traveled to together?
Israel, American, Australia, the Far East, Europe, including Italy, France Portugal, and many more places.
What is your favorite place in the world?
Issa: The Italian lakes
Harry: New England
Anything else?
"When you first asked us to host you, we were surprised by your age. Most English kids don't do something like that until 18 or so."
* - Issa and Harry are retired.
** - School Governor is a bit like School Board in the U.S.
*** - In America, it's soccer.
Word of the Week
Although it's all still English, they do use different words for certain things. For example, in England they might say, "Let's use the zebra crossing to get to the other pavement." In America, we would way, "Let's the the crosswalk to get to the other sidewalk." There are also certain words they pronounce differently, like "zeb-rah" instead of "zee-brah". Overall though, it's great not to have as much of a language barrier as certain other countries.
More soon!
Ariel
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