Woke up for English breakfast, minus the sausage, then we had to finish packing and getting everything together to be out of the house by 11. I tried to quickly finish Pride and Prejudice, but I still had about 30 pages left. Oh well, it’s not like I don’t know how it ends. We somehow got all of our American sized luggage into the English sized cars and pulled away from our English cottage right on time at 11. We had time before the ferry, so we went back to the Osborne house to walk around the walled garden and have some tea. We had to wait in line for the ferry for about an hour, and the ferry was also about an hour, but I just sat and listened to Taylor Swift and read Thomas Paine. Then Elli’s parents dropped us off at the National Express station, made sure we got our tickets for Poole, and said goodbye. Elli and I both wanted McDonald’s but didn’t want to drag all of our stuff, so I ran down to get us food and came back with just enough time for us to stuff our faces before our bus arrived. The bus ride was only about an hour and the English countryside was beautiful. Then we waited for a short time for our bus to Broadstone, and then another short bus ride and we were there. I met Elli’s grandparents as they loaded the car with our huge suitcases, and then we walked to their house because we wouldn’t fit in the car, and Elli wanted to show me around. We walked through downtown Broadstone, and then through the woods in her granny’s neighborhood. When we arrived, we got settled and I got a tour, and we sat around talking a bit until dinner was ready. I survived my first dinner of steamed cabbage and shepherd’s pie, which had cooked carrots in them, and I ate ALL of it. And we also had delicious dessert, then we showered and settled in some more, then we head out for a walk through the heath. It was beautiful! It reminded me of English movies where people wander through the country side, and I literally felt like Elizabeth Bennett out for a country walk. We watched the sunset and there were other people out walking their dogs, and finally we wandered until we found the neighborhood roads, but Elli got lost and didn’t know where we were, so we turned around and went back through the heath and by the time we got back it was dark. It was decided that we are going to church in the morning...my favorite. I have a feeling I’ll be going to bed early tonight since it’s only 10:30 and I’m already tired and there’s no facebook to keep me up until 2am.
Michigan State University: Classical Republicanism in Rome and Florence, Italy, Summer, 2011
