The Proposal

As if the title didn't give it away already, Anna and I are now officially engaged....and she said yes....as if you were worried. So here is how it all went down....

To start, I have to say I am impressed that no one spilled the beans on this whole thing because so many people knew about it!! Friday night, Derek said I had to get up early and work for my birthday present, since last Wednesday was my birthday. Of course I was not thrilled but I now know it was worth it! So Saturday morning, Derek got me up around 7:50. I had barely gotten up, just put in my contacts and put my hair up. I was also wearing my rain coat and had my pants all rolled up since it had been raining that morning so I’m sure I was a sight to see.
In the car he gave me a slip of paper with a clue on it. He said I would get clues for the general area but then have to use the GPS to find the specific location for the next clue. So basically, it was a geocache type scavenger hunt. The first spot was at the Tulip Toren. There was the first geocache with the next clue and a piece of red paper with some bible verses on it. Later on I realize that all the pieces, when put together, are a large heart, cut into pieces, with different verses of 1 Corinthians 13 on them. The rest of the locations were on Central’s campus with each geocache having the clue for the next location and another piece of the heart. The second spot was by the pond, third by the lower chapel, and the fourth under the Welsh flag in front of Weller.
The final spot was by the tree in front of the library which is where we first met. The tree is used for one of the jails when we play capture the flag over the whole campus. While playing 3 years ago, Derek rescued me from that jail, which was the first time we had met and held hands. And the rest, of course, is history. Anyhooter, back to the proposal. When we got to the tree, there was the X-men Origins movie on the ground. And I love X-men so I was excited for the movie, but he told me I had to open it up. The ring was taped around the small circle you have to push the DVD around to get it to click into the case with the last piece of the heart that said “Love never fails”. I start tearing up right away as he starts his proposal. Of course I cry quite a bit as I am a sap and he even starts a bit as well. After some hugging and kissing, I do manage to get out a yes through all the tears. Derek then proceeds to sing me Mark Schultz’s “1000 Miles” song. We listened to this song on the way home from a Mark Schultz concert and I had mentioned how much I liked it and how good it would be for a wedding (and I will probably have it played or sung at our wedding…). So, if that wasn’t enough, Derek then tells me that a few people may be watching. At that point he looks towards the chapel and his mom and dad, my parents, and Beth Baker Basler start coming towards us. They had been hiding around the chapel, watching the whole thing. At one point, we even walked right by them when going from the chapel to Weller and I didn’t see them. In fact, they had even planted the X-men DVD case by the tree so the ring wouldn’t be sitting out there for someone else to pick up, so that was good planning! From there, we took some pictures and talked for a bit while I was letting things sink in, which I still don’t think they have completely!
All in all, I was impressed with the entire thing and I LOVE the ring. Everyone involved did a great job, so thanks for all your help in the planning and the actually proposal! We don’t have a date set yet but it will be next summer some time. We will try to keep people posted on things are going with the planning but if you have any questions, just ask! Thanks again!!

We Are HOME!!!

After a long journey, we finally made it home. We went to Manchester Friday night and spent the night in the airport with about 8-10 other Central students. Some of us got some shut eye but others just played cards and hung out. We did use the check in scales in the terminal to weigh out luggage. Of course they were all overweight so we had to do some adjusting. I think other than some lotions and other liquid things, we were able to fit it all in our carry-ons or in other people's bags. Our flight finally took off about 10:35. We got a full meal and then another snack/meal, watched movies, slept, and 8 hours later we were in Chicago. We didn't have any troubles getting through customs or getting our luggage! My parents were there to meet us and we drive back to Oxford where Derek's mom, Amy, and my brothers were waiting with a home grilled meal ready to go. We had grilled pork and fresh vegetable salads. It was delicious!! Afterward, a bunch of family came out for dessert before Derek and his mom left to Pella. They also made it back safely so all is well.
So even though we are very tired and probably a bit smelly, it feels great to be home. We are ready to spend some time in Iowa, enjoying all that it has to offer! We still have more pictures ad stories so this blog is not done even though we are both home. But of course since, we are here, and we would love to hear from you and catch up with all that has been happening. Let us know if you have any questions about this last semester!! Well, considering that it is 6:40am back in Bangor, I think I am going to head to bed. Glad to be home and hope to see everyone soon!

Last Post from Wales

Well folks it has been 144 wonderful days since we wrote our first blog. We have done a lot and gone through a lot in that small amount of time. Many of you back home and even to us it may seem like forever since you have seen or spoke to us. It feels as though we just got settled in and used to our surroundings. We have just got figured out many new things and adjusted to a new way of life. We are now coming back home and again we will have to readjust. The biggest difference at first will be the time change.
These past few days since we returned from Poland we haven't done much except pack, take some last few pictures, and prepare for our return home. Last night we all went out together and had one last supper together with Tecwyn. It was good time for everyone. We hung out the rest of the night and just enjoyed being together for one last time in Wales. Today we packed up boxes and suitcases and ate any food we had left over. Anna and I had very little food left we planned the meals out just right. Tonight we are ordering pizza from the Pizza House one last time.
We are heading to the airport tonight in Manchester at 8:16 and spending the night there for our flight at 10:40 tomorrow morning. There are about 15 of us Central students going to the airport tonight the other five will leave early tomorrow morning for the airport. Anna and I will arrive in Chicago at around 1 o'clock. Anna's parents are picking us up and then we are driving back to Iowa City where my mom will meet us. It will be another long day of traveling. If there is one day that we are ready for a long day of traveling it will be this one. It has been a long sobering day. Packing everything up and saying good bye to Tecwyn.
We are ready to get home. We don't have much money left and our parents would both like us to be home. We are for sure going to miss Wales and the people we met here. We will probably be back at some point in the future, not any time soon though.
I would say that we are anxious and excited. I don't think that we will get much sleep tonight especially in the airport.
This is by no means our last blog we will let you know when we make it back to the United States and how things go our first week home. We also have a few more pictures to put up. We would just like to thank you for your prayers, letters, emails, and for following our journey, even though it may not have been very easy at times. We have fully enjoyed the opportunity to not only be abroad especially in Wales but also to be able to share it with all of you. It makes the experience so much more enjoyable if you have friends and family to share it with you even though you are six hours and 3,500 miles away.
SEE you in the states!!!

Krakow, Poland

Well we will try not to end our whole semester and expeience abroad on a sour note. It seems like a sorrowful trip to take especially the last week we are in Europe but it is worth the experience and time to honor those that suffered and died. However, to ignore and disregard the tradgedy of the Holocaust and the effect WWII had on the whole of Europe would be far worse.
We started off the day with a short... one hour bus ride out to Auschwitz KL 1. The Auschwitz camp is actually divided into three camps. Auschwtiz 1, Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau), and Auschwitz 3. We only visited 1 and 2. There isn't much left of Auschwitz 2, Auschwitz has been turned into a museum and most of the buildings are still standing. The reason we chose to see Auschwitz I suppose over a camp that was still standing or complete today is the fact that this is where close to 2 million people lost their lives and stands as a remembrance to the evil and extent of mass murder that was the Holocaust. This is were the Germans executed the Final Extermination.
We had a two hour tour of Auschwitz 1 and then a short break and drive to Birkenau and a 20 minute tour there. Auschwitz 2 is the more recognizable of the two because of its size and entrance. At Auschwitz 1, an old Polish Army barracks, their is one crematory and many brick buildings and storehouses used for the prisoners. As I said there wasn't much at Birkenau so you were just looing at the bunks and barracks and the buildings that were left trying to piece the picture back together of 100,000 prisoners being held there. It was a humbling experience going through all of them and trying to imagine what it would have been like there 55 years ago. It is hard to think of what living through all of that would have been like, or even today what people are going through. It puts a lot of things in perspective as you are actually at the place where these things took place. However there wasn't much of Europe that wasn't touched during the war either so you could literally be about anywhere. We had a good night just hanging out and we watched a movie, The Pianist. I had already seen it so the rest were surprised by its intensity however considering we were in Poland it was somewhat fitting I suppose.
We are flying out tomorrow at 10 am and should be back in Bangor at around 9 pm so it will be a day full of traveling however it will be relaxing. We have a straight trip back to Bangor from London with no changes. Then we have two days in Bangor before we will head to Manchester to fly out. It is getting late the sun rises early. Later.

One Last Adventure

Saturday afternoon we went geocaching over on Anglesey one last time. We had a geocoin and a travel bug to drop off before we left. We only found one of the three that we looked for. However it was a beautiful day outside and it gave us one last chance to get out and about Wales before we left. We also took a quick video tour of Bangor when we got back. Last night we hung out with everyone and played cards and just enjoyed out last weekend here in Bangor. They had the Summer Ball last night with bands and a small ferris wheel however it was rather expensive at 45 pounds a piece, so few of us went. Everyone had a good night. Today we after we went to church we have been packing and getting things ready for coming home. We did some laundry and also tried to finish up what little food we had left. Tomorrow morning we leave at 7 for London from there we will fly out to Krakow Poland. We have all day Tuesday there and then we will come back on Wednesday. After that we have all day Thursday and Friday and we will be leaving for the Manchester airport on Friday night at 8 to fly out the next morning at 11. It is getting down to the last few days. There aren't very many students around Bangor anymore and so things have quieted down quite a bit. We are excited about coming home but at the same time we feel we have just gotten settled in and adjusted to living here. One of my flat mates is coming over to America for the summer to a camp in Chicago so there is a possibility that I might meet up with her for a day or something sometime. It is getting late and we have to finish up things yet. Catch ya later.

Exams have ended

(The only picture that Anna is remotely looking at the camera)

Well it has been a long week so far however it is finally over. It is nice warm sunny day today and also everyone finished up exams. Anna had her last one this afternoon and my last one was on Wednesday. They both went very well and as expected so that was good. We haven't been doing much this week except preparing for the tests and trying to get everything sorted before we head home and for the trip home. We just have a short paper to turn in for Tecwyn and then we are done. We did however take a break from all the excitement yesterday to go white water rafting. This was separate event from Outdoor Pursuits because we didn't go during it and there were a fair amount of us that wanted to go. We went to a place called Bala. It was about an hour and half away from Bangor. We left at 11:30 and then we got time on the river from 2-4 in the afternoon. This gave us time enough for four runs. There were a total of 14 of us and so we split up into two rafts. We got all suited up with wet suits and helmets and about a 15 minute intro to the rafts and to what we would be doing and then we were off. It was my first time rafting however Anna has gone before. It wasn't a real difficult or challenging run. They use a 1-5 scale for rating the level of rafting runs and this was a 2. We had a great day though. The weather even cooperated and it was sunny and relatively warm. My raft had some pretty good runs and we had a good time splashing the other raft. Anna's raft had a good day as well, they had a trainee leading their raft however he did a fine job. We only lost one person the whole day and he fell out of my boat during one of the big spills. Our leader quickly snatched him up and got him back in the boat. All in all a good relaxing afternoon.
We have the weekend to finish packing up and then we head for Poland on Monday for a day on Tuesday and then we return on Wednesday night. Have two days and then we will be headed for home.

Snowdon Ascent

Yesterday there were ten of us who climbed Snowdon. Seven of us took the toughest route while three others took a walking path up to the summit. Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales and the tallest minus the Scottish Highlands. So it just so happens to be the busiest mountain in Britain according to some. The weather was near perfect so the paths were packed with people. It was a bit windy during some parts depending on the shelter of the mountains. There were steady streams up and down the mountain all day. We took the bus to LLanberis and then took another bus to the Pen Y Pass where we started out journey.
It began on a foot path that was pretty rocky but when the trail split into two different trails you could either continue on the foot path or go up and over a few other peaks. These peaks were more for people who had been "mountain walking" (according to outdoor pursuits standards) before. Of course we decided to do the tougher one! It was quite a bit of scrambling up to the peaks of the mountains where then it was climbing/walking along the top ridge of the mountains. When we say top, we mean it was about a couple feet wide with drop offs on both sides. Just to let you know how bad it was, in looking at different routes up Snowdon online, this is the one to have the most fatal accidents each year... (don't worry mothers, we all survived!) We kept moving pretty quickly as one of the Central students with us had to be back for a train to Manchester that night since he had to head back to the states the next day. We never really stopped for lunch but kept our stops short and snacked throughout the day.
After about 3 hours of walking/climbing/scrambling, we finally made it to the top of Snowdon. When I mentioned that it had been a bit windy in certain spots during the climb, it was a completely different story on the top of Snowdon. Since it is the highest point in Wales, there is nothing else protecting it from the wind so it was extremely windy! If you weren't careful, you could have been easily blown over with a big gust. You could really see for miles on the top though. It was a bit hazy though so we couldn't see Ireland. Knowing that we had to keep moving, we headed down the mountain on the foot path that goes back to Llanberis. It only took about 2 hours to go down but it was the windiest on this foot path! One student that was with us lost his glasses during one gust. They were taken right off his face. We looked for awhile to they could have flown anywhere, so it is a good thing we only have a few weeks left. We ended up meeting up with the three people that took the foot path originally and finished walking down with them. After a full 5 hours, we had completely climbed Snowdon.
We took the bus back to Bangor, got cleaned up, and helped Swaff get his things packed up and ready to leave. We walked down with him to the train station to see him off and in doing so, I found 40 pounds!! It was sitting right on the platform where the trains come. So between Derek and I, we have found 60 pounds and lots of odd change. :) Off course, being tired from a big day, nobody did much last night. I watched a movie with some girls and Derek puttered around and went to bed pretty early. All in all it was a great day. Climbing Snowdon was on our list of things to do before we left and now it is checked off. Still a few things left to do but we are thinking we will get most of them done! ~Anna

Home Stretch

We made it back safely from Barcelona which was a great time to just relax and not have to think about school for a bit. Last Sunday night we fly to Barcelona but the flight was late enough that we had to catch a taxi to our hostel. The name of the hostel was Barcelona Dream Hostel but of course since we had a two bed room it was basically a closet sized room. You had to move out of the way to close the door because the bed was right in front of you when you walked in. It worked out though because breakfast was included and it was super close to a metro stop so we got everywhere very easily. It was about a 10 minute walk to the beach from there but we went to a different one to lay out because the other one was nicer. Monday it was a bit rainy and cloudy so we just explored Barcelona and went to the market. It was amazing to have fairly cheap fresh fruit and vegetables! We did walk down to the beach that was close to our hostel both nights and just played around in the sand and the waves. Of course the water was freezing but we did get in the second day. Tuesday was gorgeous and sunny so we went to another beach and just hung out. It was pretty full with people with quite a few topless women. There were also tons of people walking around offering massages but they were like 5euros so we passed on those... We did take our sun screen so neither of us are lobsters! After laying out for the afternoon we stopped and got paella at a restaurant. The paella wasn't too bad, it had a bunch of mussels and shrimp in it. Then we also got a second plate to go with it but of course neither of us could remember enough Spanish to know what our choices were. Derek got fried fish, literally little fried fish on a plate with a small side salad. Then I got rabbit and snail... :( Derek ate my snails but the rabbit wasn't too bad. Of course I didn't know it was rabbit until we got back and looked it up. O well, that is all part of the experience I guess. Wednesday morning we made an early lunch and headed back to Bangor. We finally made it in late last night about 12:30.
Today has been a day of catching up on things. I turned in my Psychology of Sports Performance paper this morning and both Derek and I are working on our two papers that are due tomorrow. Derek has his macro economics test tomorrow afternoon. Then he has a test next Wednesday and I have one next Friday. A couple of people from the Central group are leaving this weekend so we are heading out tonight and tomorrow with them. Other than that, we are starting to get things packed up and ready to go home. There are plans to climb Snowdon on Saturday with a group of people as long as the weather holds out. The last thing we will be doing is going to Poland with 3 other Central students on June 2-4 to visit Krakow and Auschwitz. It will be a depressing last trip but is when people could go and when the tickets were cheap. We will get back on Wednesday the 4th and then head to the Manchester airport late Friday night, the 6th. So we are down to our last few weeks. As long as the tests go well, it should be a good end to our study abroad experience. But of course until we are home, we will continue to keep you updated on how things are going so keep on checking in!

We have arrived in Barcelona!

Well as you can tell it is early in the morning. We just got into our hostel a short time ago. We had some flight delays but we made it to Barcelona. We got everything figured out so far. We spent Saturday morning through mid afternoon exploring Camden, literally. We were both surprised at how big and maze like it was. We were not expecting that. We had a good time checking out all the shops. There were some pretty eccentric places. We checked out No. 10 Downing Street as well. That was pretty much our day. We just chilled for the evening and tried to get some rest. This morning (technically yesterday morning) we left the court house...... yes we spent two nights in a court house. It was a court house that they turned into a hostel. It was pretty sweet actually because they most of the court rooms intact and they also left the cells intact. We weren't adventurous enough (nor did we have the money) to stay in the cells for a night. It was cool nonetheless. Well we left around 10 ish and made our way towards the train station that would take us to the airport and along the way we attended the Mattins service at St. Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral was one of the most ornate ones we have been to yet I think. It was a really good service and the murals, statues, and decorations we just amazing. After that we ended up catching some lunch at the station and hanging out there before we left for the airport were we hung out for the remainder of the afternoon before our flight. The Ryanair tickets counters experienced computer failure so we spent around a hour waiting around to check-in. Other flights almost didn't make there departure times. We had plenty of time however but our flight was still a little later than expected so it is rather late now. We will keep you up to date on how the rest of our Barcelona experience goes.

Tour Guides for a Day

We had a great last day for our outdoor pursuits. The weather was amazing however it was a little windy. My OP group was going to go kayaking however we ended up going together with Anna's OP group for the day. We ended up just sea level traversing, swimming, absailing (repelling), playing games, and barbecuing. We played butt wrestling, WAA!, nose jousting, and many other crazy games. It was a good day to just lay out, hang out and chill together. It was a bitter sweet moment because we all really enjoyed it however I suppose it must come to an end sometime. We were running out of things to do as well but who says you can't do something twice. It will be nice not having to wash and rinse all the salt water out of all your clothing every Thursday though.
We got into London last night after a few delays. Mostly because we missed a connecting train because our train was late due to sheep on the tracks.... imagine that. We got into our hostel at about 2 but we did get to finally ride on a double decker bus however.
Today we spent the day with the Central Group that is going to Malawi Africa for two weeks on a mission trip. They got into the airport around 12:30 and then their flight took off around 7 tonight. Anna and I went with half of them because we waited for awhile longer for someone to come in on a later flight. We had a chance to show them Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster, and the parliament building. They were tired after being up for almost 24 hours and they had another 6 hourish flight tonight to make it to Africa. We were able to show off our big city navigation skills and also what we have learned since being here so many times.
We have all day tomorrow and the morning on Sunday to chill in London before we head to Barcelona Sunday night. We will probably make to a few parts that we haven't seen yet. Them being Camden Market and No. 10 Downing St. Nothing real big or taxing. We have gotten into the habit of hitting up the fast food joints, i.e. Burger King and McDonalds, for their free internet, of course you then have to get ice cream.
We are all set up for our trip to Barcelona. We will just show up eat the cheap fruit, nuts, and fish. The rest of the time we should just be hanging out on the beach taking in the rays, maybe this time with some precautions.

Hoping to Relax...

Just letting you all know that tomorrow right after we get done with OP, we will be heading to London and eventually to Barcelona. We aren't heading to Spain until Sunday evening but we going to be meeting up with the Africa mission trip people from Central that are going through London. They have an 8 hour layover so we will be going to connect up with them and hear all their plans for the next 10 days or so. We are pretty excited to see our Central friends!!! Then we are hoping to have a couple of days just relaxing in Barcelona by laying around and enjoying some sun. But don't worry, we do have the sun screen packed this time! We will be back in Bangor next Wednesday evening.
Tomorrow is our last day for outdoor pursuits though. Both of our groups are having a fun day in which we choose what we would be doing. Derek's group is doing some sea kayaking and climbing. My group will be going to the beach and surfing but also taking some kayaks if people want to do that instead. Both of our groups have gotten makings for a BBQ/picnic lunches. So we will be grilling out for lunch on the shores of the Menai Strait and on the beach. I think most people are pretty sad about not having OP anymore because we are all having such a great time. But we have had one person already head home for her graduation and people are slowly starting to leave as it gets closer to the end of the semester. So things are wrapping up.
I had my first final on Monday and let me tell ya, the UK testing system is intense! Tests are in the biggest lecture halls with like 6 or 7 other classes and you have admission forms and people standing around you watching the huge clock in the front of the room. Then you can't leave in the first 30 minutes or the last 15 minutes of the test to keep from distracting people. If you feel sick, they have a special little room you go to. All in all, the tests are the same but how you take them is just pretty serious. Other than my other test on the 30th, I just have 3 papers and some journals to do in the mean time. Derek has a test on the 28th and 2 papers as well. So we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Breathe....

Well we have made it back to Bangor for a few short days. After all of our recent travels and experiences we have a little time in order to catch up on things and catch our breath before we head back out for a couple more trips. Exams start today. Anna has one this afternoon at 2 and one on the 30th of May. I have mine on the 23rd and the 28th of May. We have our last outdoor pursuits this week as well. After not having a computer in our rooms we are finally getting caught up on Blogs and pictures so there a quite a few new picture albums up. My mom brought us over a another laptop that will get us through the semester so we are able to stay in touch with people and also do our studies. We have been blessed with amazing weather the past few weeks and it looks like it should continue for awhile as well. Enjoy all the new pictures and blogs.

Cardiff

This past weekend we were in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. It was the first time we have been to south Wales. It is a beautiful down here. On the way down we stopped at several places including Hereford and Tintern. Bulmer's cider is brewed in Hereford and there is an old Abbey in Tintern. Saturday morning we had a tour of Cardiff Castle and then a tour of the Millenium Stadium. The Cardiff Castle was pretty impressive because it was fully furnished victorian style mansion and had themes from many places from across the world. The Millenium Stadium was cool. It it the largest stadium in the UK and holds most of their important events. The FA Cup, and Rugby games. They also hold huge concerts, sporting events and conferences there. They don't quite stand up to stadiums in the US but it was cool to just go there anyway. We ate lunch down in Cardiff bay where I managed to complete the Harry Ramsden's Challenging fish and chips. That afternoon we visited the Welsh National history Museum. I would compare it to living history farms in Iowa. They have villages and buildings going back through history explaining and showing how life was lived. They have a working farm, bakery, and grinding mill. There is also an area with gardens and a large mansion. Tecwyn lived and worked here for about 16 years. Last night we spend the night out with everyone hanging out and having a good time before we had to leave today. Several people are leaving early and so this is their last weekend. Today we are just going to a museum for about and hour and then going back to Bangor. We really hate to see the weekend end because it was a last big group event and we have a good time together. On the way home we stopped at Hay-on-Wye (Hay on Why) home to one of the largest collection of second hand books in the world. The have over thirty shops full of books. The town is also known for its self proclaimed king, Richard Booth and one of the largest festivals in the UK, Hay Festival of Literature and Arts. We had a good long afternoon here because after lunch we returned to the bus and it wouldn't start. We had to wait around for about 2 and half hours until they were finally able to get it started. So we made it home at about 8.30 Sunday night several hours later than anticipated.

Bath Spa

I am going to back track a little because I just got around to putting up some pictures from my mothers trip over here. She was here two weeks ago. The first day we went to Caenarfon Castle and then headed to London for several days. While in London we met up with Anna's roommate from the fall and she took us to a lot of places. We visited Westminster, Big Ben and the Parliment building. We then went on up to trefalger square and leisaster square. We saw some of the major cinemas where they have film premieres in London. We also saw the Globe and the original sight of the Globe Theatre. We walked across the Millenium Bridge as well. That night we went to the musical Wicked. It was a really good performance. It was quite a different atmosphere than in America but it was really good show. That Sunday morning we attended a service in the Westminster Abbey and that afternoon we just relaxed. Sunday evening my mom and I left for Bath. We had a good time there. We were there for two days. The first day the weather was really good. Monday morning we took a canal tour after checking out some gardens and the Royal Crescent. We toured the Roman Baths and we tasted the water from the spring. That night we ate at a local pub. One thing we had to do before we left was go and experience the real spa. On Tuesday we spent two hours in the morning enjoying the natrually warm and mineral filled waters of the spring in the Thermea Spa. We got to sit in a roof top pool overlooking Bath and there was also a ground floor pool as well. The thing that was probably the most different was a room with four large scented steam chambers; lavander, frankincense, and two other scents that I can't remember. I wasn't the only guy in there either. There were quite a few of them other being more willingly then some it seemed. It was quite relaxing and we didn't want to do much after that but we went to several museums anyway. We visited Sally Lunns, the fashion museum and also a museum on the history of Bath itself. We stayed in a really nice B&B and had a full english breakfast both days. The beds were really nice and I'm definitely not used to be staying in places that nice. We spent Wednesday in Liverpool with Anna. We stayed in a really nice old hotel in Liverpool as well and it wasn't expensive at all. We basically just took the Magical Mystery Tour of the Beatles and visited all the places that were significant to them throughout their lives. Thursday morning my mom flew home and Anna and I had outdoor pursuits.

Kilts, Hairy Coo, and Nessy - What do they have in common?

Well if you guess Scotland you would be correct. We were in Scotland this past weekend. We had Monday off because it was the Bank Holiday. It was a really busy weekend. We had great weather and it was in the high 60s. We left Friday morning for Glasgow at 8 and then we when on to Edinburgh and got there around 2:30 or so. That night we just wondered around and sat a small pub and caught up on some email and stuff. On Saturday we went to St. Andrews. It was a very small town but it was cool to make it there. We did visit the golf course and even got to play it. Well sort of, we played the miniputt course, called the Himilayas. It was cool though. We walked on the beach. We also did some geocaching but were really unsuccessful because most of the ones we were close to were multi caches and we didn't have time for them. After lunch we went to a small botantical garden and then came back to Edinburgh. Saturday and Sunday night we stayed with a friend of mine from Pella, Ashley Pavlat. We had a good time hanging out with her. We had a chance to catch up and then share with her what is going on at Central, she graduated from Central as well. Sunday we walked up the Royal Mile, and also around the outside of Edinburgh castle. We had lunch in a nice park just below the castle. On the way back to Ashley's place we ran into her and her roommate who were headed to a movie. So Anna and I tagged along and we ended up seeing Made of Honor, it was good considering, but hey part of it took place in Scotland so how fitting is that. Anna and I were going to leave Sunday night for Glasgow and then go on a tour to the Highlands on Monday but being the Bank Holiday weekend all the hostels were booked full. So we stayed in Edinburgh and we went on a tour from there. The tour lasted from 8:30 in the morning until 8:30 at night. It was a good tour. Most of it was a driving tour however we did make stops for pictures and also for food. We had an hour and half break at Loch Ness. There were some really awesome views and we were pumped full of history as well. It got up above 70 degrees during the middle of the day so that made it a really nice day for us to be out. We got back today a little after noon. Anna had class tonight and she is doing laundry. The rest of the week shouldn't be too bad. The weather is supposed to stay really nice and so we will probably be in t-shirts most of the time. Friday we leave for Cardiff with all the Central people for the weekend.

Can't think of a good title...

The last week or so have been pretty busy catching up on things and then also preparing for others. In outdoor pursuits last Thursday, I went sailing and Derek went surfing. We used smaller sail boats so we each had our own. We didn't have enough for everyone so I was paired up with the other smallest person in our group. Which worked out really well becuase when you were on your own boat it was fun but it was kinda boring cause there wasn't anyone to talk with. We went sailing in the Menai Strait and the morning was pretty easy but when the tide turned after lunch, the water was very choppy. It was enough that John, our leader only had two sail boats in the water at a time. This was fine becuase only a few people actually felt comfotable out there in the rough waters. I did get a bit queasy again due to the constant motion of the water... From the sounds of it, surfing went really well as well. Derek was more tired than he has been any other OP day because they were constantly swimming or trying to surf. He got up on the board pretty early on in the day and some of the others in his group didn't get up much if at all. He did get a good rash/rub on his neck from his wet suit rubbing salt water on it all day. It looked pretty red and then getting some sun on it this past weekend sure didn't help things.
Linda, Derek's mom, made it to Bangor on Thursday as well. We were able to show her around and go to Caenarfon Castle on Friday before heading to London. We staying in Vandon House again with Beth and Zach. We went to all the sites with Beth as our guide. Saturday night, we went to Wicked, which was amazing! If I was studying in London, all my money would be going to tickets for musicals! Sunday morning we went to church at the Westminster Abbey Cathedral which was pretty neat with the all boy/mens choir. Then we rested up Sunday afternoon before Derek and Linda took the train to Bath. They stayed there yesterday and today visiting the Roman Baths. I came back to Bangor Monday morning to go to my classes yesterday and today. Tomorrow I will be joining them again in Liverpool to tour around and go on the Beatles tour. Derek and I will be heading back to Bangor tomorrow night and Linda will be going to Manchester to catch her flight on Thursday.
I think that my OP group will be either surfing or outdoor mountain climbing and Derek's group will be either outdoor mountain climbing or sailing again but with individual boats this coming Thursday. It all depends on the weather! Then this Friday Derek and I are heading to Scotland. We have a long weekend with Monday off due to the "bank holiday" here in the UK and it will be something to take Derek's mind off missing his first Tulip Time in his 21 years of life. We will be visiting Glasgow, Edinburgh, and then hopefully St Andrew golf course and Lochness. Other than that, we are just finishing up with classes and preparing for final tests and papers.

Backpacking

Alright here is a picture for all of you were wondering how we traveled Europe over break. This was taken in Venice as we were waiting for a bus to the airport. It pretty much sums up the way we were feeling at the time. We had been walking for quite awhile. Those bags were not exactly light either but I suppose that is our fault. I'm sure we would all do it again in a heartbeat though.

Castle, $$, and French Fry Sandwiches

Today we had our first fieldtrip since spring break and it was great to get everyone together again. We also had a few guest, Jen Stewart and Katie's parents, join us for the day. We started off by going to Conwy and walking around the town on the walls that surrounded the town many a couple hundred years ago. Then we got a guided tour of the Conwy castle. This was the first castle of all the castles that we have visited that we got a guided tour. Tecwyn has it planned this way so that we do our own exploring in the castles at the begining of the semester and then have questions for the guide when we do actually get a tour. The Conwy castle was a very strategic castle for defense even though the king only stayed there one time. While we were walking through Conwy, Derek found 20 pounds, which would be $40. So that made his day since it paid for lunch. :) We stayed in Conwy for lunch before heading to Llandudno. It is hard to pronounce unless you have heard the town name be said so go to the following link and you have a better idea of how it is said. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/llandudno
There we rode a tram up to the Great Orme, the ancient world's largest copper mine. It is a mine that is from the bronze age and was just discovered in 1987. It was pretty sweet because our tour guide was the guy that was the first guy to send in samples to get the dates of when the mine was used, so he knew his stuff. We were able to walk down into the mine and go through quite a bit but they are still exploring more and more of the mine as it is very extensive and archeologists are taking their time so they don't miss a thing. Of course we all wore hard hats as we walked through the mine. At times it was shorter than I was and it was only wide enough for us to go through in single file throughout the entire part that we were allowed to walk through. After going through the mine, we had a few hours to explore the town of Llandudno because even though we have been there before, we were only allowed enough to spend time out on the peir the last time we were there. If you look at the pictures in the Snowdonia album, that is where the last two pictures were taken. Derek used his findings to buy some dress shirts that were on sale. He figured they would work really well for his intership this summer.
On the way back to Bangor, we stopped at the neighboring town where the movie theater is so a few students could go to a movie tonight. Now we are back and have been to the ultimate frisbee social, eaten frech fire sandwiches (they only brought us french fries and bread since there weren't many people), and are now catching up on emails in the lab. Of course it is right about 11 so they are going to be kicking us out soon. We will work on getting the pictures up later this week when we get another computer, of our own, when Derek's mom gets here on Thursday. Tomorrow we may be heading to Chester to watch the Central students play rugby depending on the weather. If not, it will probably be another Sunday afternoon of writing papers... and naps. :)

Eathquake!!

No, we did not have another earthquake but you did back in the Midwest. We were surprised to see that a 5.2 earthquake had hit somewhere in south Illinois with some claiming that they aftershock could be felt in Des Moines, Iowa about 5 hours later. Crazy.

We had so many nices days this week with sunshine and the warmth of the sun but today however it is rather chilly. The sun hasn't been out and the wind is blowing so it has been a little colder but it is not raining. We did have a great day yesterday for OP. Anna went sea traversing and had a great time. She said it was the thing she has liked the best that we have done so far. I went sailing a 20 foot boat. We split the group in half and so we had 4 in one boat and 5 in another. It was the first time I had ever gone sailing. It took awhile to get used the notion of the boat rocking so much and getting used to all the jargon and new concepts. Being from a landlocked state we don't have much exposure to the sea with tides and winds. I compare it trying to learn to drive a car for the first time only you can't just put the brakes on and stop. There is a lot going that you need to be aware of when you are out there. It was a little windy at times but it was a good day all in all. Next week we will do smaller boats and sail by ourselves. Yeah we will definitely need some prayers for that one. Today Anna and I showed Jenifer Stewart, a Central Study Abroad rep, around Bangor. Tomorrow we are heading to Conwy Castle and a few other places. Hopefully it warms up a little and the weather cooperates.

First week back

Well we are over half way through our first week back. I am done with one of my classes and the other we have started reviewing for the final exam. Anna's classes have been going well and she still has reading to do for most of them. There hasn't been a whole lot going on really. We have been reading a lot and have been enjoying the amazing weather we have been having. It has been really warm and it hasn't rained hardly at all since we got back and we have been able to just wear light jackets all day. Spring is on its way because all the trees and bushes are budding and some of them are blooming even. I believe that Anna and I are going sailing tomorrow for outdoor pursuits which should definitely be a great time. It is supposed to be a little colder which won't matter too much as long as we don't end up in the water. There is a college rep. coming this weekend so we all have to be on our best behavior.... no not reallly we know her so we will have a good time. Anna and I are introducing her to Bangor on Friday and then having some coffee with some of the other students. On Saturday we are headed over to Conwy and Llandudno which is just up the coast, she will also be attending the trip with us. Anna just got back from playing some volleyball and I was out tonight for awhile with some of the frisbee players. That's all we have for now.