Category: 2019 Harlaxton

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Harlaxton Day 3: Austen, Keats, and Stonehenge

July 25, 2019 | 2019 Harlaxton, 2019-2020, Avatars, Jocelyn Martin, Study Abroad | 1 Comment

Our first field trip day! Where do I begin? We started off the day with a two and a half-hour bus ride out to Chawton to see the Jane Austen House Museum. We saw the house she lived in from 1809 – 1817, which is the same house she wrote and published most of her major works. While in Chawton, we also visited the church that Jane Austen worshipped in. This church is also where many of her family members were buried.

After this stop, we then ventured into Winchester where we explored the Winchester Cathedral, which, fun fact, is where Jane Austen was buried. The cathedral had beautiful architecture and was complete with an abundance of burials inside the church. Those buried in the church were either great religious figures or important people throughout history. We then went on the same footpath that John Keats walked whenever he wrote the famous poem ‘To Autumn.’ 

After all of this physically taxing adventuring, we were able to sit down and relax for an hour or two while being driven to the Stonehenge, our final stop of the day. Once we arrived at Stonehenge, we were given the option to either walk twenty minutes in the heat or be driven down in a nice air-conditioned shuttle. I was with a group of friends, and reluctantly walked the path. While I have to admit that the scenery was stunning, my legs didn’t care as they ached the whole journey, as serene and beautiful as it was. Stonehenge itself was blocked off with rope, so my lifelong dreams of running through it were absolutely crushed. In all seriousness, the stones were absolutely breathtaking and incredibly crowded. It’s so mind-boggling to think about the creation of the Stonehenge, that a few of my peers are convinced that it is the work of aliens. I commemorated the lively day with a new English Heritage themed Monopoly for my Monopoly collection. We all then rushed back onto the bus to begin our long journey back to our residence hall.

Jocelyn

Jocelyn Martin

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By Gatton Academy

Harlaxton Day 2: Jet lag, gone. Adventures, await.

July 23, 2019 | 2019 Harlaxton, 2019-2020, Avatars, Michael Givens, Study Abroad | No Comments

After a full night’s sleep and a filling breakfast, everyone is back to being wide-eyed tourists. The feeling of waking up in one of the biggest cities in the world was amazing. The possibilities of fun and experiences are endless. Before we could begin exploring the city though, we had to have our first class of the summer semester. 

Each class is three hours long and lasts from 9 AM to 12 PM. During this class time, we started off by reading and analyzing the John Keats poem, “On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer.”  We followed this by discussing the themes of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Our final task was to discuss our upcoming essay regarding a social difference we observe while we travel around London.

Once class let out, my group and I headed to search for lunch. Due to our residence’s central location in London, almost everything you could need, including the tube station, is within about a 20 minute vicinity. We found some great sushi about 10 minutes away and then begin to plan the rest of our day.

We settled on heading to The British Museum. The museum was amazing! It became apparent right away why this was an international monument. A few of the galleries included Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, the Middle East, and Africa. Some of our favorite sections were the old coins, Vikings, and the famed Rosetta Stone. They even had real mummies in the Ancient Egypt gallery. After three hours of wandering around and admiring the history within those walls, we headed out for dinner.

We took our first tube ride of the day and headed to Leicester Square. We settled on a traditional English pub and had a great dinner. Afterwards, we walked around and looked at shop windows while enjoying some ice cream. We actually stumbled upon the theatre with the production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. 

London is amazing and we have enjoyed every second. Here’s to many more tube rides and great meals!

Michael 

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By Gatton Academy

Harlaxton Day 1: Arrival

July 22, 2019 | 2019 Harlaxton, 2019-2020, Avatars, Jack McCoun, Study Abroad | 4 Comments

The best feeling of any flight is the feeling of the wheels hitting your destination. After eight hours of being on a plane, the Gatton Class of 2020 landed in the London-Heathrow International Airport on July eighteenth. Immediately after arriving, we grabbed our bags, headed through customs, and passed into the United Kingdom. Right from the start of the trip, we had a pure British experience; riding in a double-decker bus. On the way to our accommodations for London, I sat in the front seat on the top level on the bus and watched as we journeyed through the dense streets.

The city felt like a concrete jungle, encapsulating us in a vast array of buildings. There were so many sights that I had not seen in the United States. One of these was that all of the cars in the UK had their driver’s seat on the right side instead of the left. In addition, there were very few fast-food restaurants in the heart of the city. People were also generally very to themselves, more concerned with their day than the city and its tourists. Once we arrived at our accommodations, we stored our luggage and ventured out once more into the city to find a place to eat lunch. London is a very diverse city with multiple cultures calling the city home. After searching for a good restaurant online, my friend friends and I chose a place that served poke. The food was unlike anything I had in America and was full of foreign flavors.

After lunch, we headed back to our home for the week so that we could unpack. Once we had returned, I went to my room to empty my belongings and rest. London is five hours ahead of my home in Kentucky so I was very tired. After eating a British supper at our accommodations, we headed for a screening of a film. The film, which was adapted from the Jane Austen book Persuasion, helped to close our busy day. By the end of the night, we were all ready for bed, and the next adventure on our long journey.

Jack

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By Gatton Academy