Ended the Weekend Epic-ly.

I'm not quite sure epic-ly is a word but there is a large possibility of me trying to coin it. It's such a useful adjective in a place such as England, where the buildings, cliffs, people, tea and scones and pretty much everything.... except studying are EPIC.

Since the post on Friday, I have been to an additional tea trip. It was pretty amazing. I didn't know that it was the oldest tea house in Brighton until I was already there, clad in tea attire in a room filled with blue and white china on the walls, and tables. (There will be pictures later, a friend has them). Let's just say this tea house must have stayed open so long due to their tea and huge scones. Literally imagine putting your hands together in an oval shape with only the finger tips touching...if your hand size is "normal-ish" then that's the size of the scones. Needless to say, I only needed one scone that day.

The weather the past few days has been gorgeous if you can tell by my outfits. My mom informed me that all the photos she remembers seeing so far have me in the London Fog trench coat my sister lent me. It makes sense considering it's been dreary, foggy and chilly basically all the time. This weekend it was sunny, warm, and just beautiful. I spent two days in Brighton this weekend (the closest town/city to our university), and the weather finally showed how lovely it can be here.

But what really made me appreciate the landscape here was my 10 MILE HIKE today. Yes, capital letters needed to be used because I don't think I have ever done a 10 mile hike. My hikes from years of Girl Scouting could not compare. You'll see in the photos how amazing the views were. But in truth, the photos do not give justice to the beauty of this terrain. Our tour guide was amazing and so knowledgeable, she made you appreciate the scenery even more. Even though where we hiked is not the "White Cliffs of Dover", they have been filmed as such. Dad, they used these cliffs and scenery in James Bond, I thought you would appreciate that. The beach was full of pebbles which wasn't great for bare feet, but was such a lovely place to have our packed lunches. The hike included the Seven Sisters (basically just massive, historical, and important hills). I imagined the hike to be much more painful than it turned out to be. The conversations with new friends, and view made it a day in the park, a very large national and protected park. But as much reapplying of sunblock that was done, I still ended up with a few tan lines from my KAPPA DELTA shirt (yeah, I had to represent my letters of my sorority in one outing where pictures were sure to be plentiful). Maybe I'll be cool enough to end up in our slide show for recruitment.

This week is sure to be filled with studying. Which I'm feeling a bit better about. But this week also has so many adventures already in store. Be prepared to soon hear about my trip to The Globe Theatre to watch "A Midsummer's Nights Dream". I'm pretty excited since its at The Globe, awesome, and this is my favorite Shakespeare play. I not only read it in high school, but owned a copy that my mom read to me when I was around ten (I'm not sure what happened to it since the birth of my nephews and moving, a lot of books seemed to vanish). Also, on Friday I will be going to a "proper" English Breakfast and later a "proper" tea time, epic would be my descriptive word. On Sunday I will be going to Bath and Stonehenge. I hear that Stonehenge is literally just a bunch of rocks (I thought maybe there would be an awesome surrounding area but I hear it's just grass). But, bath should be sure to impress, so obviously I'm exited. I'm told the area has maintained its true historical nature and should feel like I'm in the times where Roman Baths were used.

Although I may not sound super stoked about every single hour here on the phone (intended for my parents), the weekends here are absolutely amazing. It would be hard to describe properly what traveling here is like. I will be calling you after I finish typing, but surprise, I planned a trip to visit Dublin. I guess I just couldn't stay away from my roots and the plan ride was too short and cheap to pass up. Clearly, I'm excited to experience Dublin and Temple bar at an age where I can legally enjoy a cider in a true Irish Pub. Don't worry dad, I will call the family to see if they will be around that weekend :]

I'm still missing my true New Mexican food over here, but I guess I can live without until I get home. I may regret this but...mom washing dishes will be a little less painful since I won't have to do the cooking as well.

I miss and love everyone back at home.
<3

The tea place behind the hill of our flats. 

Getting warmed up on the epic hike. 

Our Guide Maria is in Orange 

I wanted to be in front? Idk what happened here. 

A small church in front of our tea place Friday. 

Look at this grass!

It was an awesome adventure to tea. 

Making Caiti proud with my jump photo

Lets just say this was one of my first jumping photos. 

It was the only cool Yoga pose I could think of and manage on a cliff. 

awesome view. 

I fall after trying a handstand, clearly this would be my response. Loved it. 

Had to try for the first time on a Seven Sister hill in England, pretty close before I fell. 

Those seven steep declines scared me, but we all handled them like a boss. 

Stevie is all about the panorama picture (it's the location of our first time tea time)

We thought it would be a cute idea to hold hands? We haven't made up our minds on that one.