Now, as I already mentioned before, I am very different from the rest of the group. What is fun in their eyes definitely differs from what I call a good time. And that goes for the Kenyon program director as well. Let's just say that she planned our little trip to Glastonbury for time for us to relax...and in her words, to go away for a weekend for a soul cleansing.
Other people in the group loved hearing that, but to be perfectly honest, my soul is spick and span and I do not need a weekend in hippy-ville/witch county to figure this out. My idea of a fun weekend is traveling the cities in Europe filled with culture and history, not going to a rundown rural town with nothing to do past 5 pm. But there I was. In the middle of nowhere at 5 pm with nothing to do because the entire town closed down before sunset.
However, the day was not so bad as a whole. When we arrived, we checked into our bed and breakfast (although we couldn't check in right away because the owner of the bed and breakfast was giving clients deep tissue massages and life structuring lessons...), but once we eventually put our suitcases down and got some lunch, we were off on a group hike up the Tor. Looking up at the top of a mountain and seeing the Tor on the very top, I thought there was no way I was actually going to climb such a hill, especially since I did not dress for the occasion. There I was in Glastonbury about to go on a hike up the Tor wearing flats, tights, a dress, and a trench coat. I didn't even bring a scrunchy for my hair. Unprepared for such an adventure, I thought back to the time I went on a camping trip with my AP Biology class my senior year. For some reason I did not pack appropriately that time either. For our camping trip senior year, I got the time and date mixed up, not realizing that we were leaving straight from school, leaving no choice but having to wear the same outfit all weekend in the woods. My outfit: tights, dress, and boots. But because it was a little rainy, I didn't want to wear my boots and ruin them, so I borrowed one of my classmates tennis shoes and wore mens shoes, size 11, all weekend. So at least walking up the Tor, I was not in as bad a shape as that, although it would have been nice if I had packed a pair of tennis shoes for the hike.
But once walking up the Tor, it was not as bad as it looked, and I was actually glad I was in tights and a dress because there was nothing constricting the air flow to my skin, keeping the sweat to a minimum.
Here I am making the pilgrimage up to the Tor.
I finally made it to the top!
Once I made it to the top of the mountain, the view was worth the climb. It was beautiful to see all of the green from above.
And there is the first group picture of the Kenyon-Exeter students and Professor all together.
So I have to admit, the Tor was pretty awesome. But after the Tor, we were on our own to do as we wanted, except that there was absolutely nothing to do. The shops closed at 5 pm, and we didn't get back from the Tor until 4:45, so after walking around the entire town of Glastonbury within 10 minutes, we decided to eat a VERY early dinner, and at that, eat very slowly in order to take up as much time as possible.
By 8:30 pm, we were done with dinner and dessert and had no other choice but to head back to our bed and breakfast. When we got back, my friend and I had been changed to a different room, and to my surprise, it was somewhat of an upgrade. Not only was the room beautiful, but the bathroom was to die for. I haven't bathed in a normal size shower since winter break when I was home, so I was ecstatic to see that our upgraded room had a shower where I could actual put my arm out in front of me without hitting the sliding door. Take a look:
So after the warmest, longest shower that I have taken in over two months, it was still pretty early in the night. But realizing that I haven't been getting very much sleep at all since I've been back this semester due to traveling somewhere new every weekend, I decided that going to bed at 10:30 would be considered a luxury for the night, rather than being frowned upon as being boring. But at my age, I can run on very little sleep without it being much of a problem. That's why 10:30 pm to me seems boring. Because one day I know that 10:30 is going to seem late, and when I come to that point in my life, I want to look back on my glory days and remember all the fun I was having at what is soon to be my future bedtime. But I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
So after a very good night's sleep, we woke up early on account that our bed and breakfast was serving food at 8:30 am. Mad that I couldn't sleep in longer since there was really nothing to do anyway, I was delighted by the breakfast because not only was the owner of the bed and breakfast a great cook, but also because she had the most incredible jam to spread on toast. Now, what could be better than Loganberry jam? If you ask me, it has the best name and the best flavor. Loganberry is really sweet, but also has a zip at the end, very much like all Logan's of the world are. I ended up asking the owner of the bed and breakfast where she bought the Loganberry jam, and after learning that Loganberry is very rare and expensive, I wasn't surprised at all that it was homemade; as Loganberry should be. Loganberry is truly one of a kind.
After breakfast, I headed over to the Abbey, an old church left of ruins, but with its chapel in touch and still up and running. And the Abbey was beautiful. Beautiful architecture, ponds, and of course, the Abbey holds the burial tomb of King Arthur.
So the Abbey turned out to be pretty amazing and although I still had hours to kill in Glastonbury before we headed to our hotel near Stonehenge, I was grateful that I had enough time to visit the ruins of the old church. And with a close family friend recently passing away, I was overjoyed that I was able to light a candle and say a prayer for her in the Abbey's chapel since I was unable to fly back to Los Angeles for the memorial service. After the Abbey, I decided to not just look at the little stores around town, but to actually enter and see what each place had to offer. And to be perfectly honest, I wish I hadn't. But again, I think I was the only one in the group that felt out of place; and the phrase 'out of place' is putting it lightly.
The first store we went into was a wizardry store. But not the joke, fun kind of store that mimics the items from Harry Potter, but rather, this store took itself seriously. Caldrons, wands, broomsticks, wizard hats. Anything having to do with wizards, they had it, and anything that seemed the least bit creepy, they had it. One of the stores that we stepped into had a full-fingered ring that actually bent with your finger, and nonetheless, had a very pointy tip at the end that extended from the finger. I thought it was weird while others thought it was "so cool". Also, it freaked me out that the store owner said that if you wear that ring, you can draw blood with the tip of it. That right there was a deal breaker for me, but others didn't get it not because it was so very creepy, but because it was either too big for their little finger, or because it was too expensive. But no matter the price, I would NEVER have even thought of purchasing such a scary finger, even if the storeowner was giving it to me for free.
After some more hippy stores and wicken shops, I finally came to what I thought to be a normal boutique, although the rest of the group left that store early to head to another witchcraft place. However, I was able to find some cute stuff. Finally, it was time to leave the 'soul healing' city of Glastonbury and head to our hotel near Stonehenge because the next morning, we were waking up before sunrise to see the sight. Everyone else on the bus ride to Stonehenge was very zen, while I was jamming to the tunes of my ipod. Coincidentally, when the song, Strawberry Fields Forever, by the Beatles, came up on my ipod, my Professor asked who in the group would like to stay in the Beatles suite when we get to our new hotel. Now, I love the Beatles and if you didn't know this before, you now know that my middle name, Michelle, is named after one of the Beatles songs: Michelle, My Bell. And when my Professor said Beatles suite, she didn't mean that the hotel just named one of their suites after the Beatles, but rather that the Beatles actually stayed in that suite on May 2nd, 1965 when they were filming HELP. So as soon as my Professor asked the question, my arm shot up in the air faster than the speed that my dad drives on the freeway; sorry dad, but it's true...
Because my hand shot up so quickly, I snagged the Beatles suite for the night and not only was excited to be able to sleep there, but also to brag to my dad, my mom, and their entire generation of friends who grew up with the Beatles. Check out the suite, it was pretty sweet!
The bathroom was the coolest part. The walls were a giant collage of different newspaper headlines and pictures of the Beatles. It was quite and art decoration.
But my claim to fame in staying in the suite is definitely the fact that I showered in the same shower that the Beatles showered in (unless they are like some people I know and do not shower on a daily basis...) But still, it's pretty cool to be able to say that I have been naked in the same place that the Beatles were naked in. If only it were May of 1965...but that would be a whole different blog post...one that I probably wouldn't want to make public.
After a three course meal (but not a very good one to say the least), I was exhausted and ready for bed, especially knowing that I had to be up and alert at 5 am to go visit Stonehenge in order to watch the sunrise over the formation.
However, sleeping in the Beatles suite was not so sweet. The bed was awful and because I was sharing the bed with a night kicker, I decided to just take the extra blanket from off the bed and sleep on the floor instead. Although the carpet was not much more comfortable from the springy mattress, I was happy to have my own space and not have to share my sleeping area with another. Not many hours passed before my alarm was ringing at 5 in the morning. Usually it is Logan number two who awakens at an hour as early as this, however, since I was getting up to see a magnificent sight such as Stonehenge, I was in a good and happy mood, not even feeling the least bit tired off of only a few hours of sleep.
With our hotel only being a mile away from Stonehenge, we were there in literally five minutes. Driving up to Stonehenge, I was a little disappointed because from the road it looked as if the stones themselves were the size of people, making this formation not a true alien story. But somehow we were able to go into the center of the Stonehenge and stand inches away from the formation, allowing me to see the sight up close and once again, believing in the aliens. From far away, the rocks look little, but standing next to the stones, they are giant.
It was truly an amazing thing to be able to stand so close to such an infamous cite known all around the world. And not only was I standing in Stonehenge, but I was there to watch the sunrise over the stones, adding to the brilliance and beauty of such a historic figure.
Stonehenge pre sunrise.
Stonehenge post sunrise.
But because we were there so early in the morning, it was freezing! We got there a little before 6 am and stayed until about 7:30 am. Even with gloves and a hat, I stole a bit of sleeping bag to try and warm myself up.
And we were able to get our second group picture in!
So although the weekend started off a little slow and strange in Glastonbury, I can't complain about a trip to the Tor, the Abbey, and of course, the famous Stonehenge. Although this weekend was much slower and calmer than what I'm used to, it was nice to go to bed early (I say this as it is 2:21 am in the morning for me right now), and not really have to be stressed about anything (except for the fact that I have a Spanish exam that I should have been studying for). Although I didn't have any inclination to visit Glastonbury and will probably never go back to that town again, I am glad that I was able to experience a town of true wickens (people who actually think they are witches), because it made me feel a whole lot more normal about myself.
I can't believe that the first week in March has already passed, and it actually makes me quite sad to think that very soon, this will all be coming to an end. But because I practice what I preach, I am not even thinking about the end, but rather I am living in the moment. And although this moment I am a bit stressed (I have a Spanish exam and an English presentation this week), I am also so excited because this upcoming weekend I am going to be traveling to Brussels, Belgium. I went to Belgium last semester, but I stayed in Bruge without ever making it to Brussels. Although I planned this trip to Belgium not necessarily to visit Brussels, I am overjoyed to think that Thursday I will get on a a two hour train ride to another country. So the real reason I am going to Brussels is for this European rave thing called Sensation White. Senation White's motto: Celebrate the Night, Dress in White. It's catchy, simple, and to be completely honest, I like it. I have my white outfit and white tennis shoes and although I will be very tired next week when I get back, expect a blog post. Sensation White starts at 9 at night and goes until 9 in the morning. We'll see how long I make it, but it should be fair game seeing that when I was in Madrid I stayed out until 9 am....
Glastonbury = weird, boring, but also quaint and relaxing.
Stonehenge = a must see for all!
Sensation White = I'll give you the details next week and until then, wish me luck on my schoolwork!
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