Horseback riding in Wales

Hello everyone!

I'd forgotten how long it's been since I've last written and I apologize for leaving you with such a cliff hanger about Cambridge and my interview.

As I'm sure you by now know, the interview went really well. I got a really good feeling about the company and they all seem cery nice and eager to help me learn and gain experience.

As far as my trip to Cambridge, it went wonderfully. The weather was very cooperative and Mother Nature provided us with a nice warm sunny afternoon perfect for punting. We had a short guided tour and then we were given time to grab lunch and wander on our own. We all met up in the afternoon around 2:00 and went punting. It was so nice to be able to sit down, relax, and still get to see Cambridge.

This past weekend I went horseback riding in Wales. It was such an awesome trip! Wales is beautiful. The trip I went on was set up through BU and they took care of arranging and booking our train tickets and accomodation. We were each responsible for getting to Paddington Station and getting on the train and then finding everyone in Wales to catch a group taxi to the lodge. I was a bit nervous since I had no clue who was going on the trip so I was travelling completely alone, but I am comfortable enough that I know how to get on and off the correct trains. The ride over was about 2.5 or 3 hours. I forced myself to stay awake the whole way so I could enjoy and appreciate the countryside we passed through. It was rather obvious once we'd crossed into Wales. I'm not sure how to explain it, but somehow you just knew you were finally outside London, and then the signs in both English and Welsh confirmed my suspicions.

The town we went to was Swansea. Once I got off the train I saw a group of girls circled together looking confused so I assumed they must be a part of the BU group. Turns out I was correct and I was surprised to discover there were only 7 students, myself included, that came on the trip. There were also two young staff members that brought along family members making us 11 in total. Once we all found eachother and used the restroom, we made our to the group taxi. Our train left London around 4pm so by the time we arrived in Swansea it was dark. We were in the taxi for about 30 minutes driving through the middle-of-no-where countrtyside when they driver stops and asks us if we know 'where exactly this place is'. We ended up calling the owners of the lodge who gave him directions and we continued driving through the pitch black countryside. The road we were speeding down was only wide enough for one vehicle so when we would occassionally come head to head with another car it became a game of chicken...who was going to finally back up on the twisting road with a cliff on one side so the other could pass? It was quite the adventure getting there. We finally drove through a small river in the taxi and we were on the grounds of our lodge. The place we were staying was absolutly beautiful and quaint. It is called Parc-Le-Breos and it is a 19th century hunting lodge that is family owned and operated. They served us the most amazing home cooked food in a nice warm dining hall and showed us to our rooms. All 7 of us students shared one room and after we put our things away we went and sat outside to enjoy the cold fresh air. It was freezing, we could see our breaths, but it was still so nice to get away from the city noise and lights. It was beautiful to see the stars again. the family also owns a dog names Sharp so she came out to play with us. We were all rather tired and had to get up for breakfast and a full day of riding by 8 so we tucked in early.

Breakfast was just as amazing as the previous night's dinner had been. They offered a full Welsh breakfast or pretty much anything you wanted. After eating we headed outside to find the sun glistening down on the soft yellow, dew covered fields.

After snapping a few photos, which do the area's true beauty no justice, we went to the tack room. Here we eaited for the other couples to join us for our day of riding. We were lined up in order of experience, the majority of the group being beginners and then we filed one by one into the tack room to collect a brush,bridal and the name of our horse. I got Kim. She was a sweet, rather chunky, white horse, but she was such a good girl. We then went in, put the bridals on our horses and started brushing them down for our ride. This was not only to get the horses ready to go out but for us to get to know our horses, feel comfortable with them, and most importantly show them who is in control. Then we went back to the tack room and got our saddles and mounted up. They gave a brief instruction on how to 'rev up' your horse, where the 'breaks' where etc. The lady instructing us was so cute. Her name is Olive and she is one of the owners of the house. We rode around for a few hours and then stopped for lunch at a pub down in town. We had about an hour to rest and then we got back up and continued on our trek. It was all so pretty.

When we got back and got our horses all washed down the girls and I decided to go exploring. We walked through the fields and back roads until we found a sign for the beach. It was SO BEAUTIFUL. Wales is just stunning. There are so many hills/mountains, cliffs, huge beaches, castle ruins. It is just breath taking. We got some quick pictures and then it was time to head back for dinner. Dinner of course was amazing and we had a delicious choclate cake for dessert. Olive ordered us a cab to take us into the 'big town' since she thought us youngins would want to 'get off the farm for awhile.' The cab dropped us off by the pier and we walked up to the town and stopped at the local pub, The White Rose. We sat there for awhile recapping the day's adventures. We were all exhausted from the long day so we headed back around 10 and went to bed.

Sunday we didn't have to meet our cab until 1:00 so we got up early for breakfast and then 3 of us did some more exploring. We found the path back up to the highest point in Gower, which was a part of the trek we had done on horse. It was nice to walk it though, a little less stressful. We took a lot of picutres overlooking the beach and the countryside and then we just took some time to sit and appreciate it all. We then headed back down to the lowest point, the beach. This time when we went down the tide was out so the beach was huge and amazing. We wandered through the marshy parts, poked at little creatures that got stuck in the small tidal pools, walked through some caves, and then played on the beach. The water was really cold, but the views and everything around us was just so amazing you couldn't help but feel amazingly happy and run around like a 5 year old. By the time we made our way back to the farm we had enough time to grab our bags and take a few more picutres of the horses and it was time to go. The cab got us a bit after 1:00 and we got to the station about 10 minutes before our train left. I think I slept pretty much the whole ride back. It was such a fun but exhausting weekend.

When I got back into London it was around 5:30 and I called my friend Shanna. Shanna is a friend I've danced with for years and she is studying at Oxford for the semester. She came a few days early though so she could get to explore London. Anyways, she is spending 2 nights with me so I called her to let her know I was on my way back to my flat. She's been staying with another friend in London and they were finishing up dinner, which worked out perfectly since we had people over at our flat working on our marketing project. We were just about done with our meeting when she came.

It's so weird to think I'm almost done with my classes. I have my marketing project to present this Thursday. It counts as 35% of my grade so it's a little stressful getting it all together. I also still have one last paper to write and then my 2 finals to take next week.

Today after class I took a short nap and started working on typing up this hugely long blog. When Shanna got back I took she and her friend to my favourite creperie and I showed her where the museums are near me. They both loved the food. Shanna and I took a nice long walk back past the park and I basically took her in a big loop to show her around South Kensington a bit. After I finish this blog I need to work on my marketing project and then I'm taking Shanna out to the area I was in this summer and my favourite pub there, since she has yet to go to a pub here in England.

I think tomorrow I will take her around central London to go see all the 'typical' London places e.g. Big Ben, Parliament, London Eye, Buckingham Palace etc. and then at night we have another group meeting about our marketing project.

So, I'm sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. Things have just been a bit crazy around here. I am having an absolutly amazing time though and I really enjoyed Wales. It would be the perfect place to go for a part of a honeymoon, so cute and quaint and quiet. Well, I'll try to get my photos online so I can add my links in here. Hope everyone is well! I love you and miss you all.

Update

Sorry I haven't written in awhile. There really isn't a whole lot to report back about. My classes are going well. Four hours can be a bit lengthy but the tutors are great. The weather has been much nicer this past week. It's only threatened to rain and will sprinkle every now and again. Today is a lovely day. The sun is shining, nice bright blue skies, and it's rather warm, well relatively speaking. I spent a lot of time in the park this week. I try to stay out doors as much as possible when we have good weather. The other day I was sitting in sort of a secluded spot near the back of Kensington Palace and all of a sudden this helicopter lands in the filed infront of me and the police come and escort two people into the palace. So, I don't know who these people were, but it was kind of cool to watch.

The other night my roomies and I went out to our local pub, Builder's Arms just to get out of the flat for awhile. We had a lot of fun chatting and bonded a bit more. Last night one of my other roomies and I went back to Tottenham Court Road to The Court. When I was up in the bathroom I started talking to these two girls who said they go to Huron! I told them I was there over the summer and I asked if anyone else was there with them, and two of the guys I was pretty close with were there! It was so nice to see them again. After the pub closed all 6 of us went back to Byng. It felt like home. We all stayed up and chatted til late into the morning and at that point my roomie and I decided to just stay up to wait for the tube to open rather than spend loads of money on a cab. So we all sat around talking, listening to music and just having a good time. We watched the sunrise and then around 7 am my roomie and I made our way back to Kensington. It was so nice to see everyone at Byng. Josh and some of his friends were actually planning on coming to our pub on Sunday so we're going to go meet up with them again after Cambridge.

Well, that's pretty much it. Like I said, not a whole lot to tell about. I'm going to Cambridge on Sunday, meeting up with Josh and his friends, and then doing some more research for my marketing project and that's about the extent of my plans. On Monday I have my interview right after class at 2:30. I'm getting a bit anxious about it but I know it will all go over just fine. I'll definitely be writing about Cambridge and whatnot on Sunday and then I'll be sure to write and tell you all about the interview and how that all works out. Time to go! I'm taking my roomie for crepes in South Kensington. Yummy!

Walks on rainy days

Heya!

I went for a walk this afternoon to find DDA. It is actually rather easy to get to. I took the district line to Fulham Broadway and then it was about a 20 minute walk from there. It is a really nice area and not dodgey at all. The actual complex is really nice and right along the Thames. There are restuarantes, pubs, cafes, Marks and Spencer, and all kinds of places right there. There is also a really nice walkway all along the bank of the Thames. The Business Exchange is on the ride side of the complex. I couldn't go in since it's a Saturday and they doors are always locked and require a key entry or a pin code. I could see through the doors though and I saw DDA on the board in suite 14 so I know I was in the right place. I still haven't heard back from EUSA as to when my interview will be, but they are trying to get it for sometime this week or Friday, 19 September. I think I'll really like it there. The EUSA woman I spoke with seems to know Spenser, the head of DDA rather well and it sounds like the intern they had over the summer really enjoyed his/her time there. The woman told me Spenser is quite a character and really likes interns that are proactive and step right in and want to help. She seemed rather impressed with me and she seems to think we'll get on great. I asked her what the dress code was like there and she said it is rather casual. She said Spenser is always in jeans except for when there is a client. I asked her what would be appropriate to wear to the interview and she said just a nice pair of slacks and a smart top would be just fine, a business suite isn't necessary, but if I have one feel free to wear it for the one and only time. So, I guess you won't have to worry too much about the blacks matching perfectly or the skirt being 'too tight'. After I found Imperial Wharf I walked back toward the tube station, which is also very nice. (There are a lot of shops and cafes in there too.) I walked past it to see what was further down the road. I tried to follow the majority of people since I figured they would be going to 'the good places'. It is really nice. It's much quieter than Kensington and has a much different feel from the other areas I've been in, but I like it very much. It's been misting most the day but as I was wandering it began to rain quite heavily so I headed back to the tube.

I got back on the district line and headed toward Edgeware to get off at the High Street. From there I walked to Waterstones, which is conviently located across the street from my favourite local Starbucks. They still have a lot of 3 for 2 book tables so I perused the secletion of favourites but, as usual, I couldn't pick a book since they all sound like the same story but with different character names. I finally found the Twilight series and I picked up the third book Eclipse. In the states they only have the first two books in paperback, but they had Eclipse in paperback here and it was much cheaper. I paid 7 pounds for it. It costs around $20 or so in the states. Anyways, I bought the book and headed over to Starbucks. I read the first chapter there and then left so a group of women could all sit together to chat. It was quite crowded in there this afternoon. I walked back to Lexham, dried off a bit, and here I am writing this blog, which actually started out as an email, but has clearly gotten too detailed to just be an email.

After staying in most of yesterday everyone was itching to get out of the flat, despite the bad weather. Lyndsey was having trouble with her mobile so she went to the store to try and have it fixed; Carolyn (girl in the middle in photo) went to Imperial College to join the gym there; Mari (girl on the right in photo) went to Notting Hill and is out for a run; Allie is off wandering aimlessly; Alyson went off exploring; Melissa went on the day trip planned by BU; and Meena is staying with her cousins for the weekend.

Well, I suppose I should try and get some more of my marketing reading done while everyone is away and it is still relativley quiet.

Hope all is well stateside!

London weather

I've been pretty busy trying to get all settled in and adjusted to classes. Thursday morning I had my first class. It was long, four hours, but I like the professor very much. You can tell she really loves her job in marketing. I also had an interview thursday afternoon with EUSA, the company that is in charge of my internship placement. The people there were very friendly and said that this summer's students had an excellent time interning at the company I will be with. I also had to run around and pick up my textbooks and whatnot. Luckily the library owns multiple copies of my book so I didn't need to buy it, seems like it would have been a waste of money to buy a book I'll only use for 5 weeks.

All in all, everything is going quite well here. The weather has been rather nasty. According to the news, we'll have a lot more rain and wind coming this weekend making this past August one of the darkest and wettest on record. I don't mind the cold, wind and rain though, not yet anyways. It's sort of refreshing. I could do without the rain. Actually, my hair could do without the rain, I don't mind it. It's just nice to feel autumn again. It's been about 3 years since I've actually been able to feel and see the seasons change. It's early still but some of the trees are beginning to drop their leaves here.

Last night we had a 'start of semester' party at a nightclub in the area of London I spent most of the summer. It was alright. BU rented out a VIP room which was really nice, but we didn't get to meet any locals that way. We spent a few hours there and then we went to The Court,a pub I went to a lot over the summer. The girls all really liked it there since it's all young local people.

This morning I slept in a little since my class got postponed until next Friday and then I headed down to Starbucks to get some of my marketing reading done. It's been raining all day so we've all been laying kind of low. Most of the girls decided to go out tonight though. They wanted to go back to The Court. It is like a hurricane outside so I opted to stay home. It's realllly windy and POURING rain. They are going to be soaked by the time they get home.

I'm really hoping the weather will at least clear up a little bit this weekend so I can go find my internship place. I was supposed to have the interview this coming Friday, but I had to have them reschedule it since my class got moved to that date. Now I'm not sure when my interview will be, but I think EUSA is trying to make it for some afternoon this week, so I'd really like to know where it is I'm going.

Well, that's pretty much all that's been going on. Even though the weather hasn't been great, I'm still super happy to be back here.

London Part II

Here I am, back in London! :]

I had a very good flight over. We arrived early in London but had to circle for awhile due to really thick fog. Both the bags I checked arrived in London with no problems. I got on the tube and took it to Gloucester Road. When I got on the tube the weather was just a bit grey. By the time I had to get off, however, it was POURING rain. By the time I completed my 15-20 minute walk I was soaked through and my arms felt like rubber from lugging my bags. I think I was the first person to arrive.

My flat is really nice. Much better than the place I stayed this summer. I am, once again, on the top floor, and yet again, there is only a half floor above me which is occupied by guys. Basically the way the building is set up there are about 7 flats. Basically each flat is like a multiple bedroom flat. My flat, for example, is like a 3 bedroom apartment. When you walk in the door there is a 'long' narrow hallway. To the right of the entry is a double room, the living room, and our kitchen. To left, is another double and the quad in which I live. The two double rooms share a bathroom located in the hall, while the girls and I in my quad have a bathroom in our bedroom. We also have a small balcony off our room with a lovely view. I'm really glad I chose the quad. Our room is much larger than the doubles and we have a lot more closet space.

So, in a nutshell, I live with 7 other girls. They are all very nice. Allie, a girl in my flat from Duke, is in all the same courses as me. Mari is also in the advertising track, but she is doing different electives. My roomies and I get along really well. Carolyn, Lyndsey, and Alyson are my roomies. Carloyn and Alyson are doing the psychology track and Lyndsey is studying film. Most of the girls I live with are seniors.

So far we really haven't done that much. We had to go on a boat tour yesterday. It was interesting but it's been really cold and rainy. Then last night we had a pub night at the Builder's Arms to meet other people in the programme. Today we had an orientation programme all day. It was rather dry and like all orientation programmes. Tomorrow should be even more dry...we have 5 lectures from 9-4 to sit through. They are interesting but they are all exactly like the courses I took this summer and the course I took with Dr. Piper.

Well, time to go! So happy to be back in London!!!