Seeing the sights!

So this weekend I think I visited one of the most STUNNING places on Earth! On Saturday my friends and I journeyed to Bath, England (About a 2 hour train ride from my Uni) and arrived in Paradise. The city of Bath is located in the English countryside, so it's surrounded by plush greenery, breathtaking hills and beautiful trees. It has the subtle glory of the countryside complete with steep hills that remind me of San Francisco. Now...we all know that the countryside is gorgeous, yet what makes Bath ESPECIALLY incredible is it's city. It has beautiful European architecture, yet it is incredibly clean with some of the coolest shops you can imagine. (With the addition of some of your high-end stores.) I think what makes it the most intriguing is that it has a great combination of old and new.

Now for the history...Bath, England is known of for it's ancient Roman Bath's and incredible Roman architecture. Someone told me that for centuries the Romans visited Bath's bubbling springs, which spew thousands of GALLONS of boiling hot water everyday! Pretty cool I think :-) Once I visited the Bath museum I was in shock. The Roman architecture still stands strong with several large, Roman Baths filled with turquoise blue waters. Inside of the museum I saw several artifacts used by the Romans that were especially intriguing.

While exploring Bath, I also visited the Bath Abbey church...which again was GORGEOUS. I have no idea how a town can have such an abundance of incredible sights. The architecture in the church stood high, graced with detailed pillars and gracious sunlight...I was once again speechless. After seeing the sights in Bath Abbey, we visited the Fashion Museum that host's some of the most remarkable fashions from every era. It was so cool to see the variance of styles; and possibly how styles emerge from another decade.

After we saw the museums, my friends and I decided to break into groups and explore all parts of the city. AGAIN, I couldn't take my eyes off it. The picturesque streets, beautiful parks, and amazing shops we're enough to get my mind buzzing for hours. In the middle of the day I stopped and had some tea. (Pretty British of me). The small cafe was called "Tea Emporium" where I had a sip of "Hawaiian Cocktail" tea...well it was so good that I had to buy a bag to share with people in the states!

Bath is probably one of the most amazing areas I've seen so far...truly a gem of a city. If there was a place similar to there in the states I'm sure it would be publicized all over!

Throughout the rest of the weekend I went to London (twice) and did some sightseeing! In one day I saw Buckingham Palace, House of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, and Greenwich...which really only took a couple hours :-) That's the thing about London, it's SO incredibly historical and interesting AND it is easy to get around. On Sunday I went to one of the markets in London to do some shopping, and the selections we're great! I'd have to say that the London markets are similar to Canal Street in NY...except there are ORIGINAL artwork and products that are unique. I'd say that some of the items you find are pretty rare...which is so cool.

At Uni school has been great. I would say that now I have the flow of classes down and they are so far so good! All of my classes are interesting in different ways, I come to lectures excited and ready for what I'll learn next. In my free time I've been hanging out with Brits and joining some cool societies. I recently joined Insanity Radio (student radio) society and applied to be a presenter (meaning that I'll have my own show). I was accepted to the station and now I have a show on Wednesday's about "American Pop". I'm still deciding on catch title for my show, yet I'm excited! The show should be for two hours on Wednesday afternoon and everyone in the states can listen to it through the radio. I will be sure to post a link to the website with exact dates and times as soon as possible :-)

This weekend I'm journeying off to North England to go on an Adventure trip with my program IFSA-Butler. There I will be exploring the area and the outdoors while doing some cool activities! I'm excited to see more of England; it's great to see all parts of this incredible country!

Until next time,
Ari <3