Cheers!
So, this should be my last e-mail from Europe to all of you. We leave Bristol
tomorrow morning at 7am (eek) to go to Belgium for the next week. I'm really
going to miss Bristol-Julie & Rich, the neighborhood, the house, the people
who actually speak English, the cars on the wrong side of the road, the free
food, the free internet... But I'm looking forward to Belgium too. We didn't
know anything about it at all, but we looked up some information and talked to
Jane's sister who's been here and such. We're going to be in Bruges for 3 days
and Brussels for 2. We didn't even know what language they spoke before-but
apparently I may get more practice using my French. Hmm...I'm not really sure.
Anyway, it'd make more sense for me to write about what I have done instead of
what I may possibly be doing. I think I left off with Tuesday night and The
Rivals. On Wednesday afternoon we went and saw Berkeley Castle. It's the only
castle in the UK which has had the same family living in it the entire time.
Mr. and Mrs. Berkeley actually still live there (not lord and lady, because
the castle and the title are passed down different sides of the family).
Thursday was our last day of class at UWE. None of us had any attention span
at all, so we played hangman and doodled a lot during class. Luckily we got
out early though, so that was nice. A lot of the group went out last night,
but Lyndy, Jane, and I decided that we'd rather stay in and hang out here.
Dinner was crazy last night too-it was like a show in itself. Rich's son was
there, and when they were telling a story about one of his friends, that
friend walked in too. And Fiona was there (Julie's daughter), and then she had
a friend at the door who didn't come in-and then came back with a different
friend. And there was someone else at the door who was asking for money for
the disabled. And we got to hear stories about Laurence (Julie's
son) "caroling for the elderly" and keeping the money for himself, a lap dance
club Rich used to own or something, and...I don't even remember everything
else. It was entertaining-and quite long too. Oh-and Louis and his friend were
outside drinking beer, smoking pot, and eating ice cream at one point. We
found it quite odd, but Julie and Rich just acted like it was completely
normal. Anyway, that was our odd dinner.
Today (Friday) was our last day in Bristol, and we had the day to ourselves.
Jane, Lyndy, and I planned a trip to Stonehenge, because it's not too far and
it's something we wanted to see. It's kinda neat how it's so normal for us to
just plan a trip around Europe somewhere all on our own. Anyway, we had to
take a bus to the centre of town, walk to the rail station, take a train to
Salisbury, and then take a bus to Stonehenge. It ended up working out really
well and getting us there on time. We walked around, got an audio guide
thingy, and took a few pictures. It was something cool to see once I think. We
ate our packed lunches there and were able to head back earlier than we had
planned. We had to wait almost an hour for the train once we got back to
Salisbury, but it wasn't too bad. It was nice to just watch the countryside
and see all the different kinds of houses and trees while we rode along. And
then instead of taking a bus back to the house, we decided to walk back from
the rail station. It was a nice walk-and good to see Bristol by foot one last
time. It took us about an hour and a half, but it didn't seem too bad. I
really like Bristol...but I think I've said that before.
Well, at this time next week I'll be a couple hours from home. Maybe I'll send
an e-mail about Belgium once I get back, but...we'll see. Anyway, hope you've
all enjoyed listening to my rambling these past few weeks. I'll be home soon
to share pictures and more stories in person to whoever's interested. :o)
Miss you all and hope your summers are fantastic so far. Hope to see you all
soon!
Love,
Sarah
tomorrow morning at 7am (eek) to go to Belgium for the next week. I'm really
going to miss Bristol-Julie & Rich, the neighborhood, the house, the people
who actually speak English, the cars on the wrong side of the road, the free
food, the free internet... But I'm looking forward to Belgium too. We didn't
know anything about it at all, but we looked up some information and talked to
Jane's sister who's been here and such. We're going to be in Bruges for 3 days
and Brussels for 2. We didn't even know what language they spoke before-but
apparently I may get more practice using my French. Hmm...I'm not really sure.
Anyway, it'd make more sense for me to write about what I have done instead of
what I may possibly be doing. I think I left off with Tuesday night and The
Rivals. On Wednesday afternoon we went and saw Berkeley Castle. It's the only
castle in the UK which has had the same family living in it the entire time.
Mr. and Mrs. Berkeley actually still live there (not lord and lady, because
the castle and the title are passed down different sides of the family).
Thursday was our last day of class at UWE. None of us had any attention span
at all, so we played hangman and doodled a lot during class. Luckily we got
out early though, so that was nice. A lot of the group went out last night,
but Lyndy, Jane, and I decided that we'd rather stay in and hang out here.
Dinner was crazy last night too-it was like a show in itself. Rich's son was
there, and when they were telling a story about one of his friends, that
friend walked in too. And Fiona was there (Julie's daughter), and then she had
a friend at the door who didn't come in-and then came back with a different
friend. And there was someone else at the door who was asking for money for
the disabled. And we got to hear stories about Laurence (Julie's
son) "caroling for the elderly" and keeping the money for himself, a lap dance
club Rich used to own or something, and...I don't even remember everything
else. It was entertaining-and quite long too. Oh-and Louis and his friend were
outside drinking beer, smoking pot, and eating ice cream at one point. We
found it quite odd, but Julie and Rich just acted like it was completely
normal. Anyway, that was our odd dinner.
Today (Friday) was our last day in Bristol, and we had the day to ourselves.
Jane, Lyndy, and I planned a trip to Stonehenge, because it's not too far and
it's something we wanted to see. It's kinda neat how it's so normal for us to
just plan a trip around Europe somewhere all on our own. Anyway, we had to
take a bus to the centre of town, walk to the rail station, take a train to
Salisbury, and then take a bus to Stonehenge. It ended up working out really
well and getting us there on time. We walked around, got an audio guide
thingy, and took a few pictures. It was something cool to see once I think. We
ate our packed lunches there and were able to head back earlier than we had
planned. We had to wait almost an hour for the train once we got back to
Salisbury, but it wasn't too bad. It was nice to just watch the countryside
and see all the different kinds of houses and trees while we rode along. And
then instead of taking a bus back to the house, we decided to walk back from
the rail station. It was a nice walk-and good to see Bristol by foot one last
time. It took us about an hour and a half, but it didn't seem too bad. I
really like Bristol...but I think I've said that before.
Well, at this time next week I'll be a couple hours from home. Maybe I'll send
an e-mail about Belgium once I get back, but...we'll see. Anyway, hope you've
all enjoyed listening to my rambling these past few weeks. I'll be home soon
to share pictures and more stories in person to whoever's interested. :o)
Miss you all and hope your summers are fantastic so far. Hope to see you all
soon!
Love,
Sarah