an interesting day

Today I didn't have any classes, so what did I do instead? Well, for most of the day, I did what I do every day. No, that's not trying to take over the world. That means sitting around in my room, surfing the internet, listening to OTR or music, and doing some studying.

Around 1:00 I decided this would not do for the rest of the day. There are still some glitches with my finances, so I thought I'd head to campus and try to take care of those things, then go into town and go on a tour of Lancaster Castle for £4. After getting a few things sorted out on this end, I came back to my room and tried to call Zions Bank in Idaho Falls before realizing that it was still only about 8:00 am there, and the bank didn't open until 9:30.

So at that point, I finally headed into town. I was getting a little worried that I wouldn't make the last tour, and I didn't. I was about 5 or 10 minutes late for it. But I figured that was OK, I could still wander around the castle, and maybe still take some pictures. Boy, did I!

The route I took up to the castle happened to lead most directly to the Lancaster Priory and Parish Church, which is right next to the Castle. It was very nice up there. Very peaceful, removed from the hustle and bustle of the city center, only a few blocks away. Anyway, I took a few pictures of the priory, walked all the way around the castle and took pictures of it as well, and after about an hour or so walked back down into town. There I bought some dinner and did a little shopping. I found a great sweet shop. I had seen it while I was eating supper, and thought I would go take a look and maybe take a picture of the sign, just because it was so British. ("Sweet shop" instead of "candy store", you know ...) When I got to it, though, the first thing I thought was, "It's Honeydukes!" (That's a Harry Potter reference for those who are currently thinking "Huh?!") I went in and got some treacle toffee, some sherbet lemons, and some Kendal mint cakes, all of which are great! Kendal mint cakes, as you might guess, are from Kendal, which is where one line of my ancestors lived when they joined the church and eventually emigrated to Utah. They're not cakes in the sense of spongey things made with flour, but they are a kind of hard-but-softish candy, formed into little discs (cakes). They come in white and brown, but I only tried the white kind today.

Then I did a little shopping in town. I still don't have an umbrella (!), and I thought I would look in Marks & Spencer for one, but they only had black ones, and I made myself swear not to get a black umbrella. I already have far too much black, and it's time to branch out. I did find some small containers, though, to keep laundry change in, and one to keep some butter in so that I can put it in my cupboard and have some soft butter when I want it.

Tomorrow I'm going on a trip to Robin Hood's Bay and Whitby, sponsored by the GSA. I am planning to hang with Fu Pei, a girl who's doing my program and happens to be in all my classes too. We have little tutoring sessions every now and then where we ask each other about the things that are confusing us. It's nice. She's from China, and she's very sweet. I'll be glad to have someone around that I can talk to.

I have posted several pictures from today's excursion into town on my website.
the Lancaster page
**If this link doesn't work yet, don't worry -- it will in no time!