Here's a recap for the past few days:
Friday - Arrived safe and sound.
After a long trans-Atlantic flight sitting next to two very loud people and behind a small child who rocked the seat every three minutes, I landed safely in Heathrow. Customs were a breeze. The officer was very nice who was more interested in what I was actually studying than if I was going to ever leave the country. She only looked at my passport - all those copies weren't even needed! I got my one large suitcase, but my little red one never came up to the carriage. Finds out, it was rerouted to Chicago to London, so I had to wait an extra hour and a half for that in the baggage reclaim. But, I did get it eventually and meet up with the Harlaxton group in terminal 3. Side note: I got my cardio for the day by trying to get to terminal 3. I walked at least a mile in tunnels underground from terminal 1, then I had to push my luggage cart up the ramps to the arrivals at terminal 3. I was sweaty by the end. Waited for everyone to arrive, then loaded up and departed for Harlaxton.
After a nice nap on the coaches, Bronwyn woke us up for the first view of 'home'. My goodness. The pictures I am about to post don't even compare to seeing it in person. It's truly unbelievable.
That's the view from the gates closest to the manor. The full drive is about a mile long with a gatehouse about 1/4 a mile from these gates, but they are currently restoring the gatehouse. They are hoping to reveal the gatehouse this semester, while we're here!The rest of Friday was filled with exploring (pictures at end of post) and unpacking.
Saturday was a busy day with lots of orientation meetings and such. We had an opening convocation ceremony with an address from the Principal, Dr. Gordon Kingsley. He is an amazing, hysterical little man who says pretty much whatever he's thinking. More meetings, a little more exploring, then we went into Grantham, the closest bigger 'city' to Harlaxton.
Harlaxton has a little village that was built at the end of the manor drive. There are quite a few houses, a pub (more on that later), and a church (also, later). But Grantham has more than one pubs, a market on saturdays, and other citystuff. It was nice, lots of walking involved, and we hit up the local grocery store. I got the necessities: lemon squash (delicious), hobnobs, cadbury chocolate (so cheap here), and laundry detergent (the only thing I actually needed).
Came back from Grantham, dressed up some, and went to high dinner in the Long Gallery. This was fun as well. Sat with Kaitlin, a girl from UE that I knew previously, and a whole bunch of strangers. But it went well! We weren't boring or quiet, so it was good.
After that, we walked to The Gregory, the pub at the end of the lane. They have a nice seating area outside. A good time was had, and we walked the mile back to the manor freezing. The wind had sprung up after we left. But seeing the manor all lit up at night was definitely worth it.
Today, I got up a little early to go to the welcome service at Harlaxton Church. The church is over 800 years old, complete with cementary. Dad, we're going to there to take pictures. It's old and beautiful and open during the day. The churchgoers were very nice, and Dr. Kingsley presided over the service.
I just finished brunch, and I have to go run to more orientation things. Classes start tomorrow!
Pictures:
The Gold Room. I have class in here!
The Conservatory. It's so nice in here.
Side view of the manor, from the gardens. If you're looking from the gates, this is the right side of the manor.
View from the top of the hill right in front of the manor. Pretty countryside!
They have all sorts of roses here. And there are tons of blooms.Much love!
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