 |
| Entrance to Alnwick Castle Those defending the castle would open this door to lure in those trying to seige the castle. |
Today we woke up to have yet another tour of Alnwick. This time we did an historical tour around the city with our guide Phillip. We started the tour in front of the gates of the castle. He told us a story how they used the castle's draw bridge as a defense mechanism against those trying to seige the castle. They would lure in the attackers, and close them in, while those defending the castle were above and poured hot oil on them. It sounded pretty brutal!
 |
| This is a view from where the draw bridge would be located if the moat still existed |
 | ||
St. Michael's Church - a historic parish church with roots in early Saxon times: it's highlights include medieval tombs and painted roof-bosses, and beautiful stained glass windows
 |
 |
| Emblem of archangel St. Michael |
 |
| The pant in town |
 |
| Sir Henry Percy "Harry Hotspur" 1364-1403 This statue was erected to commemorate the 700 year anniversary of the Percy family in Alnwick |
The tour continued on throughout the town--he told us interesting historical facts and tidbits about the town. It was definately nice getting this historical view on the town verses the quick run through we had previously.
 |
| Center of Alnwick |
Following the tour, we finally got to meet our homestays! I'm going to be honest I was really nervous. However after meeting my homestay, I realized it was silly to feel that way. Being Alnwick is a small town, we have to share our homestays with another student(I share my homestay with Leah). My homestay's name is Sue Simpson. Sue lives in Alnwick in a flat very close to the castle. She loves to garden and chit chat. She was the nicest lady I have ever met. She lives in Alnwick, and is now retired. Sue used to work for a school as what we would call a Vice Principal. She now volunteers to work in the Gardens of Alnwick. She was so much fun and talkative.
Following the meeting of our homestays, a group of us that it was time for us to relax, so we ventured out to the local pub known as the Hairy Lemon. Yes I know the name sounds a bit ridiculous, but it is very nice inside and the patrons and staff are all very friendly--as one of children from Zeb's(a student on the program)homestay works there. It was a great way for us to unwind and reflect upon the first few days in Alnwick.
Monday, January 10 - Thursday, January 13, 2011
There isn't a whole lot for me to write about for these days except they pretty much followed like this:
class, lunch, class, dinner, homework, bed. Not too exciting during the week. Every once in a while we would hit the town and venture to see what Alnwick has to offer.
class, lunch, class, dinner, homework, bed. Not too exciting during the week. Every once in a while we would hit the town and venture to see what Alnwick has to offer.
The only real exciting thing I should mention was Leah and I met with our homestay Sue on Wednesday evening at 6:30pm. We showed up to her flat, which was sooo adorable! She has a cat, which I was so excited to see. However I don't think Suzie liked me too much! We had a wonderful meal, and she made us try one of her favorite liquours-a type of almond whiskey-it was definately not something I would try again!
Following dinner, we just sat and talked about ourselves. It was so much fun, and nice to get out of the castle and enjoy good company. We decided that Wednesday's were going to be our nights to meet from now on--I can hardly wait till next Wednesday because we are having a dinner and movie night!
No comments:
Post a Comment