scotland & york!

The first day of our trip we visited Mr. Darcy.

Ok, Chatsworth house. {aka Pemberly from Pride and Prejudice} but it was still amazing. I can't believe that people lived in these houses.

just trying to copy all of the modern art. WHY IS THERE MODERN ART RUINING THIS PLACE

my two favorite Hannah's #hannahsquared

she's a rebel

the ACTUAL statue from the movie... and that sign says "please do not kiss". dang it.

perfectly candid. hilariously scary.

this is proof that modern art ruins life. what even is this? STOP

& we stopped by the Burghley House- said to be the greatest Elizabethan house in England! wow. it was beautiful.

fun fact of the day: driving in a coach on tiny roads leads to hiting poles, rocks, and other cars. and yes, all of the above happened. it's a party, I'll tell you.

do you see how close the gate was? it took us AT LEAST ten minutes to get in, get stuck, back out, go through the other side.

Tuesday- we spent the entire day in York! Next to Kendal (this post), York was my favorite English town we've been to. We spent the day wisely... complete with homemade chocolate bars and afternoon tea! It's vital to know that York is basically the birth place of chocolate as we know it. {and SIX MILLION kit kats are made per day. yeah. hence the reason England has way better kinds of Kit Kats}

this was quite the lunch... please appreciate how large my sandwich is. and please appreciate lisa's chicken salad sandwich that was literally chicken salad on a sandwich. bread + lettuce + chicken

York was one of the three most powerful viking cities! This was actually one of the best museums we've been to {which is saying a lot} It was an interactive, theme-park type ride! {we were told it was York's version of disney land... if so, that's pretty disappointing, but whatever.}

The Shambles!

Afternoon Tea- so classy.

Part of our "Story of Chocolate" tour was learning the proper way to taste chocolate!

making our own candy bar!

I was a little excited.

late to Evensong... running through the streets. and laughing the whole way

We then went to Evensong in York Abbey. Wow. I was amazed. I talked to the Priest afterwards for quite awhile. It's fascinating learning about other's beliefs and how they interact with their church doctrine. It made me so grateful for a church that is the same no matter where you are, but it also made me so fascinated about other beliefs. If it was possible, I honestly think I could study Theology. That priest was so interesting!

Evensong was such a cool experience. Looking around that cathedral, I realized why people were so devoted to their church a couple hundred years ago. These cathedrals are astounding. And when you think about the standard of living and the homes of most of the church members, how great would spending your sunday in such a grand church be? I was really sad to see that our study abroad group made up well over 3/4 of the audience. York has a population that's thousands of people more, but no more than 15 people can show up to a wonderful evensong. Sad, but I still really enjoyed it!

it's official... I love mosaics.

My favorite part of this church was the Chapter House! 

Thursday we headed to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne-

Seriously the BEST purchase I've ever made.

aimee and I took a detour down to the ocean. it was pretty great.

We also stopped by Fountains Abbey. Fountains Abbey was one of the greatest monostaries during it's time. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. the deal is, I don't think I've ever seen something as eerily beautiful as ruins of an abbey filled in with bright green grass.

We also stopped by Whitby Abbey {yes, the one from Dracula}. It was another beautiful ruin, and right on the coast!

{I think I may be getting my days confused? eh. oh well.}

We got to go to Hadrian's Wall! Handrian's wall was built in 122 a.d. {yeah, almost 2000 years ago} to keep out the people of the North {what is now Scotland, but were the Pict people} and contain the people in the South. The area we stopped at was the gate through, housing 300 Roman soldiers for protection. The wall doesn't look impressive, but it once stood 8 feet tall. WOW. so cool! it stretched the entire length of the island.

We also had the opportunity to go to Evensong at Durnham Cathedral! {I'm 99% positive I'm posting things out of order..}

This evensong was just as good, if not better! And I got to talk to another priest, so that was cool.

THEN SCOTLAND. GUYS. SCOTLAND IS THE BEST.

friday we literally wandered Edinburgh. We started with a group and by the end of the day, Hannah and I {there are two hannahs. very confusing, I know} were having the time of our lives, buying china in little antique shops and wondering into super fancy chinese restaurants. I love Edinburgh more than London. yes, you read that right. If you follow me on twitter, you would've seen this... but Friday was probably one of the best day's of my life. I mean, we didn't really take pictures, but just trust me. it was amazing.

Also... HARRY POTTER DREAMS COME TRUE.

look at this place.

Edinburgh from the top of Arthur's Seat!

We started this day by hiking {yes, hiking in rainboots. try it sometime} to the top of Arthur's Seat.

just some men in kilts waiting for the bus.

The Elephant house bathroom

this was the cafe that JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book, and we had lunch there.

the man who showed us around the Greyfriars Graveyard... the place that quite a few character names came from

TOM RIDDLE.

Hannah's three pound umbrella was not the best...

see what I mean by fancy chinese food? 

and to top it off, it was called "Karen's Unicorn"

Saturday we stopped by one last house {which I can't remember the name of} and then drove 8 hours home!

And that was our second week trip!