Days abroad: 75
Days until my return: 24
Days of sun: 35
Days of rain: 25

It is now the end of week 10, which means there's two weeks until finals (week 12) and then the final week of fun in France! But enough about the future, and onto the past couple weeks.

We went to Birmingham and Chatsworth House one weekend and then to Dublin last weekend. Chatsworth House is the setting for many movies, including both Pride and Prejudice movies and The Duchess as well. Birmingham was really cool because it got me into the Christmas spirit. There was a Christmas market, a huge Christmas tree and Christmas lights too, so it was really cool to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF CHATSWORTH HOUSE

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF BIRMINGHAM

We spent Friday to Monday in Dublin, taking a bus tour around the city and then another tour to Dublin Bay and a castle in Ireland. It, too, was decked out in Christmas decorations, so I'm now really excited for Christmas. Paris at this time of year should be amazing!

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF DUBLIN BAY AND AN IRISH CASTLE

Days abroad: 42
Days until my return: 57
Days of sun: 25
Days of rain: 15

It's been a while since I last posted and much has happened. It seems that in the past, my calculations were waaaay off as far as how many days there were left. But now they are corrected, so it seems that the halfway point is coming soon! And here's my much needed update:

At the end of week 3 (two weekends ago), Megan, Samantha (another UCI girl who also goes to UEA) and I got on a train and traveled 6 1/2 hours to Edinburgh, Scotland. We got off the train at 9:30pm and headed to our hostel, which turned out to be not even 2 minutes from the station. The hostel was awesome: the reception was in the pub (which was the first floor of the hostel), so after settling in our room, we went back down for some food and drinks. There was a cover band there as well, they were great and played all the great classic rock songs!

Saturday morning we got up, had the free breakfast in the pub and then headed to Glasgow. We took a sightseeing bus tour, so we got to see more of the city than we ever thought we would. Plus, there was a football (soccer) match that day; it was Scotland versus Norway, so every man we saw were in kilts. Our bus tour guides, who were women, said that everyone hoped for a very big gust of wind. Hehe. When we got back to Edinburgh that night, we walked around the area of the city called New Town and then we had a chinese buffet. After that, we went to the pub under the hostel and then it was off to bed to rest up for the next day.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS OF GLASGOW

Sunday we got up and, after another breakfast at the pub, we headed toward Edinburgh Castle. It was amazing, one of my favorite places so far. Plus, the view from the castle is beautiful. Then, after a few hours at the castle, we walked down to the Royal Mile, which is a famous street that leads to the castle and also St. Giles Cathedral is there. We went into the cathedral, the architecture was so intricate. After that, we went to get some lunch at this place called "The Baked Potato Shop"... guess what it sells? If you didn't say potatoes, I can't help you. After that, we walked to New Town to see the National Portrait Gallery and shop a bit before our train came in, and then we embarked on the 7 1/2 trip back. What a weekend!

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF EDINBURGH

Now on to the end of week 4, last weekend: Liverpool and Southport. We got to stay at Doreen's cousin Janet's house, which was absolutely amazing. They are such kind people to take us in like that! It was wonderful. Liverpool was on Saturday and it was awesome. Megan and I spent the day being major Beatles fans. We went to "The Beatles Story," a museum that's basically a timeline you can walk through. There was also a considerable amount of time spent at the museum's store as well! Then we left and went to the bus stop for the Magical Mystery Tour!! They were late because the actual Mystery Tour bus broke down, so they had to get another one. We saw all their childhood homes and even got to have a drink at the Cavern Club, where they played 292 times.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS OF LIVERPOOL

Sunday was fun because we got to relax and walk around Janet's town, Southport. It's on the western coast off the Irish Sea, so we've now seen both the west and east coasts! We walked on the pier and looked at the little shops, it was all very quaint and cute.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF SOUTHPORT

This week I have essays and labs to do, so I need to get to work and FAST. I think I'll stop typing and go work on something. I'm not sure what we'll be doing this weekend, but we'll have to plan it relatively quickly because the weekend is coming up!

Days abroad: 15
Days until my return: 93
Days of sun: 9
Days of rain: 4

So Megan and I decided we wanted to go to London again for the weekend, and it was perfect because Laura was able to meet us at the train station on Saturday at noon, when our train got in. So the three of us went on the tube then walked to our hostel, which proved to be a long, tedious trek. After checking in and dropping off our bags, we went to Buckingham Palace! We waited in line and bought tickets to tour inside, and we walked around the State Rooms. From there we walked through this beautiful park with geese and swans to the London Eye. After dinner at a Chinese buffet, we bought tickets for the London Eye and got in line. Once we got on the London Eye, it was just after sunset, so the view was breathtaking. After that, we went back to the area near our hostel and went to a restaurant Laura knew of called Giraffe for drinks and dessert. I had an apple martini, it was great!

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS OF BUCKINGHAM PALACE AND THE LONDON EYE

After sleeping in the uncomfortable hostel bed for 5 hours (Megan and I were even placed in totally different rooms), we got up Sunday morning, had the free breakfast at the hostel, checked out and went on our way. First stop? ABBEY ROAD. It was AWESOME. We took so many pictures there! Then we went to a Beatles store and then a rock n roll store and bought a lot of stuff. From there we went to Harrod's, which Laura calls "the department store to end all department stores" and it is so true. You could live in there and you'd have a happy life. It is certainly for the wealthy though, so we mostly just looked. We bought sandwiches then walked to Hyde Park and had lunch. After that, we walked back to Harrods and had ice cream in one of the food halls and it was AMAZING. Then we went to the Tower of London and only had about an hour to tour it, but Megan and I made it work. Laura had already been so she walked around outside and went to the London Bridge instead. Then we went back to the train station, said our goodbyes to Laura and headed back to the dorms. Even though the weekend was awesome, it was nice to get some sleep in my own bed.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS OF ABBEY ROAD AND THE TOWER OF LONDON

It's raining here now, even though when I went to class at noon it was sunny outside. The weather in Norwich is fickle, completely unpredictable. It's certainly nice that I don't have anymore classes today, I can sit inside and enjoy the rain.