Happy Bastille Day!

Bastille Day always brings me happy memories of summer travels in France and sitting on the banks of La Maine River to watch the amazing fireworks display at the Chateau d'Angers.

Mini Travel Tuesday!

I'm so close to being done with my marketing certificate... I'm on the 6th course out of 7! It's been fascinating and I've learned a lot, but I can't wait to have more time to focus on blogging again! In our course discussions this week, we've been talking about introducing products to the international market. It made me think of when I was in the UK (exactly 6 years ago!!!) and without my Mountain Dew, I had to switch to Fanta Orange. I bought a bottle from a street vendor and got a Russian version instead! I wanted to bring it home, but alas, there was absolutely no room in my luggage!

Fun memories!

-Robin

Travel Tuesday: Studying and Traveling

Oh man, my much delayed Travel Tuesday post!

Jumping back in with my Study Abroad experiences...

I love this place!

Once we got to Harlaxton, it was an often frenetic pace of going to classes at the Manor and going to London for shows and touristy fun.  There were so many days of falling asleep in class because we'd gotten back super late the night before.  I remember waking up when I started falling out of my chair one morning.... and I never fall asleep in class!

Travel Tuesday: I want to go to Ireland

My Travel Tuesday post got overshadowed in my priorities this week by St Patrick's Day, but I wanted to at least do a little post.  So in the spirit of the day, here's someplace that I want to go, but haven't yet.  Ireland.  Like a lot of people in the US, I'm mostly of Irish descent.  So many of us have lost track of our heritage through the generations and I think it'd be wonderful to go tromping around the homeland of a good chunk of my ancestors.  There's even a town called by my (uncommon) last name! I tried to swing it a few times when we were en route to England, but alas, it never happened.

Image via The Travel Tester on Pinterest

Travel Tuesday: My Study Abroad Home, Harlaxton

After a few days in London seeing the sights and some West End shows (possibly falling asleep in Hecuba with Vanessa Redgrave, oops), it was time to travel on to our final destination, Harlaxton College, formerly Harlaxton Manor.

I don't know that anything could have prepared me for experiencing the manor house for the first time.  We arrived in Grantham (home of Isaac Newton and Margaret Thatcher!) by train.  We crammed into a bus and headed towards what would be our new home for the next month.  I remember the bus driver telling us to look for the manor as we drove towards it and all of a sudden seeing it rising out of the trees like a dream.  I had never seen anything like it.

Harlaxton Manor, barely visible as it appears from the trees.

We lost sight of it as we turned off the main road and drove through fields of poppies.  And then there it was again, in front of us. It was amazing, this new castle home of ours.

Harlaxton Manor, bathed in evening sun.  I believe I took this picture just after we arrived!

The bus pulled in the circle drive in front of Harlaxton and we all piled out.  Once we'd moved in, we would use a back door by the kitchens to enter and exit, but for our arrival, we were welcomed through the front door.  It felt like we were guests to a 19th Century party!  We hauled our luggage into the manor i.e. I dragged the sixty-pounder.  For most of our comings and goings, there were staircases to access our rooms, but since we all had luggage, we "got" to ride up in our old school cage elevator.  Never again.

Travel Tuesday: Getting to England (and Some Safety Tips)

I missed my Travel Tuesday post last week because I was hard at work getting this order finished up and in the mail for a wedding later this month.  The bride has promised to submit her pictures to the blog afterwards and I can't wait to see!  The order is on its way to her (already in Washington, should be delivered soon), so it's back to Travel Tuesday for me.

After getting packed (for better or worse), it was time to go!  Arriving in London was magical for me and it's still one of my favorite cities.  The way everything just seemed so similar yet, at the same time, totally and completely different from the States was incredible.  Even the air was different (I'm assuming a combination of exhaust and no Florida humidity).  

We stayed in London a few nights before we would head on to our final destination, Harlaxton College.  While in London, we stayed at the Corus Hotel.  It's a nice hotel with a great location right on Hyde Park and I'd recommend it.  Our room was fairly small with two twin beds.  I still remember laying in bed that first night with the windows open (unlike home, nice weather and no A/C), listening to the sounds of the street below.  I was hooked on traveling.

Travel Tuesday: Packing tips

As I mentioned in my last Travel Tuesday post, my study abroad trip to England was my second trip overseas and my first as an "adult"(as much as you can be as a college student).  It was a life-changing experience and I LOVED it.

Before I could fly there though, I had to pack, of course.

Travel Tuesday: England

My blog is all about design for weddings and home, but I've noticed that my love of travel is sneaking in a lot and I think I'm going to embrace it.  After all, I think world influences and all my pictures of architecture can be sort of relevant!  So with that being said, I'm starting Travel Tuesday.  It's going to give me a good excuse to go through my travel photos and write about some of the highlights of my travel experiences, including some great tips for traveling on a budget.