Sorry that we have been a bit MIA but we have had a crazy course schedule and a major paper and presentation to prepare for. However, class is now over so we will be able to catch up on the last few days of our summer here in London.

Friday morning we woke up bright and early to load onto the coach buses. We had a long drive to our hostel in Yorkshire. Once in Yorkshire, we had a tour of the York Minster. This was a beautiful church with a stained glass window the size of the Wimbledon tennis court. We then had a few hours to explore the city. We stopped at a market where we had some of the best mini donuts. We wandered around the streets, popping into little shops along the way. Before we left we stopped at a York’s Chocolate Story. They had a huge selection of chocolate and of course we had to get some. York was such a cute little town. We then drove to the hostel where we checked in before heading out for dinner. We found a small Asian restaurant just a few minutes away from our hostel. There was a 30 minute wait so we went to the pub across the street for a drink before dinner. The food at the restaurant was vey good but the service was so slow we were there for almost 3 hours. After dinner we were all so tired from the long drive and exploring the city that we went up into our rooms and knocked out.

Saturday morning we had the complementary breakfast in the hostel before loading back up on the coaches to head out for the day. Our first stop was at the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey. It was so cool to explore what used to be such a beautful building, but all thats left of it are a few walls and rocks. There were a few sheep on a farm nearby so some of the students tried getting their attention by playing music. I guess sheep don’t like Queen or One Direction! Our next stop of the day was Whitby. This was a cute seaside town. When we got there we were all so hungry so we found a fish and chips restaurant call Magpie. This was probably the best fish and chips we have ever had. Then we walked the pier to the end. It was very windy and the pier was incredibly old so it was a little scary. We then climbed up a huge hill to explore more ruins and to get a view of the entire town below. There was a huge graveyard overlooking the ruins and the town. The graveyard was so old it was kind of eerie. We spent the next few hours exploring the town. Unfortunately it started to rain so for our last hour we went to a small cafe and had ice cream. We then got back on the coaches to head back to the hostel. On our way back we stopped by a hill that lead to a huge field. It was a nice break from the drive. Once back at the hostel we went back to the pub from Friday night. We shared some pizzas and had a drink before heading to a Church Club. This was a club a few minutes from the pub that was inside an old Church. It was so much fun. A ton of people from our program were there so we had a great time dancing and hanging out with them. We got back to the room around 2 in the morning, showered, and went straight to bed.

Sunday morning we had breakfast again in the hostel. We then packed up the room to checkout and head back to London. On our way back we stopped at the Chatsworth House and Gardens. This was a beautiful home that revolved around dogs (which obviously we enjoyed). The ceilings and rooms were stunning. The gardens outside were just as incredible. We took a break from exploring to have lunch at the cafe outside the house. After lunch we walked to the fields where a ton of sheep were roaming around. Unfortunately just like last time, the sheep did not want anything to do with us. What we thought would be a fun time walking with the sheep turned out to be the sheep running from us and us walking carefully with every step to avoid the poop. It was then time to head back to the coaches to finish our drive back to London. It was such a fun weekend hanging with our flatmates, making new friends, and exploring new towns. -SYD & SAM