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Well, I wasn't going to update this blog until after my visit to Stratford-upon-Avon on Monday, but the last few days have been great, and my visit today to Warwick Castle was so awesome I couldn't help but talk about it. I'll start where I left off though: Thursday. Thursday was a bit of a relaxed day. I did some reading and went on a historical walk with one of the teachers (and only one other student showed up for this one haha) that looked at some historical sites from the time of the execution of three famous Christian martyrs in England. There was a dispute over Protestantism and Catholicism and these poor guys lost and got burned at the stake. I am putting up some pictures of these sites and of the big monument that was built for them in town. Friday, after class, I set out to explore Oxford on my own. I started at the Museum of Natural History (dinosaur skeletons, a working bee-hive incorporated into the wall, etc.) and an attached museum that I forget the name of. It was really cool though because it had man-made things from waaaaay back and then on into the 16, 17, 18, and 1900's. It was like stepping back in time. Next, I went to the Bodleian Library of Oxford University. I had just gotten my student card, so I went in under the premise that I was going to "read" in one of their reading rooms (which I did for about an hour or so). I failed to mention to the man up front that I was really going to explore until I found the library that was used to film the "restricted section" of the Hogwarts library in Harry Potter (and find it I did!). Next, I climbed a church tower and got some great views. I also ran through the covered market, but since I'm not much of a shopper, it didn't last long. Lastly, after reading a little longer in a nearby park-ish area, I went to an Evensong service at Christ Church. It was a beautiful, mostly choral music service, mixed with some old and new testament readings. Very cool. Just before it started, I was able to do some more sneaking to get a picture of the stairway that was filmed for Harry Potter for scenes leading up to the Great Hall of Hogwarts. That brings us to today, Saturday. I set out this morning to explore Warwick, England and its castle on the advice of Worcester College's porter, who told me it was a "right proper medeival castle" and that I should visit it. I was not disappointed. It was beautiful, and huge, and very interactive! I went on a "haunted house" type walk through the dungeons that had rooms with themes like "Black Plague Room" and "torture room". Some poor kid left the thing crying his eyes out because a "witch" showed up in the last room with some strobe lights flashing around her (I'm not going to pretend I wasn't scared too though!! Ah!). I also got to walk along the castle walls, see a "bird of prey" flying demonstration, a bow-and-arrow demonstration, the state rooms that the Earl of Warwick used, and some other cool stuff! To cap it all off, on my way back to the train station, I saw a random museum on the side of the road and went in. Turns out, part of it was dedicated to the Warwick Regiment of the British army (which happens to be Mongomery's ["Monty's"] regiment) and it contained several interesting things. Overall, it has been a great few days and I am continuing to pile up a good deal of very cool experiences. Until next time!
Taylor
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