English Study Abroad

Over the first have of my Fall 2013-14 semester at Brigham Young University- Idaho, I attended what they call the English Study Abroad or the ESA. We had several meetings on campus and through skype before we left to plan and perpare for our trip.

We met in the Salt Lake City airport at 7 in the morning on September 11th, and we flew to Chicago. After a few hours of waiting in Chicago we flew to Dublin, Ireland. When we arrived our wonderful bus driver Bart drove us to a little town called Ennis that we stayed at for two days. While we were staying in Ennis, we had the opportunity to visit Malahide Castle which is one of the most haunted castles in Europe, The Cliffs of Moher which are better known as the Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride, we took a ferry to Inis-Mor and the Aran Islands and we took a bike ride around the island.  On the island there is an old fortress of some sort; it is called Dun Aengus. They don't know if it was a living space or a watch tower, or a battle spot, but the cliffs there are right on the ocean and when the waves beat on the walls it sounds like thunder. It was absolutely breath taking. 

We then moved onto Dublin, Ireland. While we were there we got to attended church, (we are all LDS or Mormon.) we also went to the Bru Na Boyne valley and saw the "Mound Tombs" Knoweth and New Grange.

After all of this excietment, Bart drove us to the Ferry. We all boarded and we were off to England!
We arrived on the coast of Wales and Bart drove us in his Coach (bus) through Wales. We stopped in Chester, Wales and explored a bit of the town. There my friend Shelley bought two first edition Harry Potter novels for 8 pounds!!! What a steal! Then we were back on the bus and we arrived in Bradford, England. We stayed there for three nights. While we were in Bradford we got to see the home of the Bronte sisters, The moors that inspired Jane Eyre, and the Chatsworth house.

Chatsworth is where they filmed Pemberley for the 2005 Pride and Prejudice film. The house itself is absolutely gorgeous and the grounds are amazing! We also got to visit York. While we were there we got to explore the York Minster and the town. York is one of the most haunted cities in Britain, and there are a lot of haunted tours. Unfortunately I didn't get to go on one. While we were there we attended Evensong, which is a worship service where they sing songs and prayers and give a sermon. It was very interesting and very beautiful.

We then moved onto Salisbury, England. We saw the Cahterdral there and we visited Jane Austen's home. While we were there we also saw Stonehenge. I really want to go in depth about what I learned there but I will save that for another post! But my goodness it was such a sight to see. Those huge stones that came from miles away and no one really knows what they were used for or why they are there. It was a very interesting experience. We also saw the Glastonbury city and Abbey.

We then moved onto LONDON!!! We actually stayed in Hounslow, which was about a 30 minute tube ride out of London. While we were there we did so many amazing things. We went to church in London and then explored the city a bit. The next day we went to the Harry Potter Warner Brothers London Studio.

Let me tell you, that was a dream come true. I LOVE Harry Potter. It was so amazing! As we were leaving we saw part of the pirate ship they were using to film the newest (they really should stop) Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We saw Windsor Castle, which is the official residence of the Queen of England. I saw The Phantom of the Opera, A Doll's House play, and Les Miserables. I saw The London Tour, The National Gallery, The Cartoon Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey (I have a funny story I will post about this), I saw the London Eye, but never got to ride on it (I'm still bitter about this), We went to Camden Market which is a huge flea market! We attended The Globe Theater and got to see MacBeth performed there. ( I will post about this separately as well).

We then traveled to Stratford-upon-Avon. Upon our arrival we saw the Royal Shakespeare Company perform Hamlet. That was such an amazing experience. We then moved into our B&B and it was so nice to be in a home setting rather than a hostel. We attended church in Oxford, England. While we were there we got a tour of the Universities that are there and the city. We also saw Einstein's chalkboard. We went back to Stratford and saw Anne Hathaway's Cottage (she is Shakespeare's wife), the River Avon trail, The birth place of William Shakespeare, his burial site and his and Anne's eldest daughter's home, Holscroft.

After this we took the coach back through Wales, then boarded the ferry back to Dublin. We stayed there for two more nights. While we were there we got to see the Book of Kells which is in Trinity College. The library there is my absolute favorite library of all time and I got to be in it! It is just so amazing, I was there and I still can't believe it's real! We then got to explore Dublin a little bit more and then we were back on the plane to Chicago and then to Salt Lake.

I learned so much about myself and my love for the Emerald Isles was strengthened and I love the people so much. I love the culture there and I am so grateful that I had this opportunity!

- Sydney