OBU in London #19 - August 5 (Aberlady and Dirleton)

Packing up at Seabreeze

Saydi & Sierra enjoying the
cold Firth of Forth

July 16 – August 14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England 

This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month in England with a group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University.  Dr. Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty colleague) and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a faculty-led Study Abroad that spent four weeks on the ground in London teaching OBU courses to OBU students while being immersed in the culture and

history of Great Britain.  These are our stories!

Dirleton Castle entrance

Sunday, August 5 – Aberlady Church and Dirleton Castle

Slept in a bit, then had another great breakfast at Seabreeze, including a nice pot of tea.  Saydi and Sierra wanted more time at the beach, which we were happy to do!  They picked up seashells, and we enjoyed the sun, sea air, and breeze. 

Dirleton's rookery
for carrier pigeons

One of the strangest trees ever!

At 10:45, we drove 25 miles east to Aberlady to attend Aberlady Parish (Church of Scotland).  It was a lovely worship service in a beautiful classic parish church.  The people were very welcoming and gracious.  I got to talk to the organist afterward; he showed me their pipe organ.  He offered to let me play it – I foolishly declined!  Silly goose. 

After church we drove to Dirleton Castle, a partly ruined castle built in the 1300s.  We were able to explore every crevice of the remaining castle – the most freedom we’ve had in a castle!  It’s not as big, but the freedom

Main drawbridge

to wander was nice. 

Then on to the Scottish Seabird Center, right on the east tip of the Scottish coast.  Good view of Bass Rock, a famous massive white rock in the ocean that is the nesting place for gannets.  We ate at a famous food truck – The Lobster Shack – a famous

Vanessa framing the castle

local stop run by three young men who were deemed quite cute by our three girls.  Yummy food (again).

 

Then it was back into Edinburgh, and a somewhat stressful drive through the downtown festival crowd to return the car to Enterprise.  We made it – barely – but didn’t

Lunch @ Lobster Shack

have time to do any Scotland souvenir shopping.  My three girls were not too impressed with that. 

Famous Bass Rock

Uneventful train ride back to London – we enjoyed watching the coast go by as we went to Berwick, and we watched more scenic countryside than we had on the way up.  Arrived back at Pickwick about 11.  FaceTimed with the kids briefly, then headed to bed. 

Pipers outside the Scottish Seabird Center

OBU in London #18 - August 4 (Loch Ness)

Our room at Seabreeze B&B

Breakfast @ Seabreeze

July 16 – August 14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England 

This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month in England with a group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University.  Dr.

Journaling at Breakfast

Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty colleague) and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a faculty-led Study Abroad that spent four weeks on the ground in London teaching OBU courses to OBU students while being immersed in the culture and history of Great Britain.  These are our stories! 

Saturday, August 4 – Loch Ness!

View from our room

Today was a day of ups and downs, missed opportunities, redeemed mistakes, and reminders. 

Beach by Seabreeze, Edinburgh

We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning overlooking the glittering Firth of Forth.  Went downstairs for breakfast, which was in a charming dining room.  Breakfast was delicious – smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast; yogurt, croissants, tea, and orange juice.  Our hostess, Selma, was lovely and gracious.

We adjusted our starting schedule to allow Sierra and Saydi time to explore the beach and hunt for shells.  Admittedly, I really enjoyed the cool ocean air as well.  Nice start to the day.

OBU in London #17 - August 3 (to Scotland)

July 16 – August 14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England

This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month in England with a group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University.  Dr. Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty colleague) and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a faculty-led Study Abroad that spent four weeks on the ground in London teaching OBU courses to OBU students while being immersed in the culture and history of Great Britain.  These are our stories! 

Friday, August 3 – The Royal Military Tattoo, Edinburgh

Soft-shell crab burger

Today we headed to Scotland with Sierra and Saydi.  We left at 7:00 to walk to King’s Cross in plenty of time for our 8:00 train to Edinburgh.  I wasn’t able to read or write on the train as easily as I thought I would.  I dozed a bit, though. 

Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties!

Edinburgh Castle in the distance

Arrived at 12:20, wandered (getting lost) to the Enterprise to pick up our rental—mostly so we could leave our bags in the trunk.  We left the car in the parkade, then walked up to “The Royal Mile”—the very trendy tourist section of town.  We were really focused on getting lunch, but quickly got overwhelmed by the crowds!  The “EdFringe”—the Fringe Festival Edinburgh—is in full force (August 2-24), so there were street performers throughout the area (they even had streets shut down to vehicle traffic) and massive throngs of tourists and crowds.  A good reminder of Edmonton’s Fringe Festival! 

OBU in London #16 - August 2 (The Mousetrap)

July 16 – August 14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England

 

This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month in England with a group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University.  Dr. Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty colleague) and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a faculty-led Study Abroad that spent four weeks on

the ground in London teaching OBU courses to OBU students while being immersed in the culture and history of Great Britain.  These are our stories!  

Thursday, August 2 – The Mousetrap!

Class this morning—one of these days I’ll have to say more about that!  After lunch, the group went to two museums—the Museum of Natural History and the Victoria & Albert Museum.  I have had a lot of OBU responsibilities pile up over the past month, and also needed to get the London budget updated, so I stayed at Pickwick and worked all afternoon—I finished just barely after supper, right before our group left to see “The Mousetrap,” an adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel, and the longest-running play in history.  We went to St. Martin’s Theatre, a 15-minute walk away, in the theatre district.  The play was lots of fun—my deductive conclusion (whodunit) was grossly incorrect!  Good times.  Late night—after returning from the play (about 10PM) we had to pack for our weekend in Scotland, as we head off first thing in the

Vanessa with Allison F & Rachel B

morning! 

 

OBU in London #15 - August 1 (Oxford)

Leaning Building!

July 16 – August 14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England 

This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month in England with a group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University.  Dr. Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty colleague) and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a faculty-led Study Abroad that spent four weeks on the ground in London teaching OBU courses to OBU students while being immersed in the culture and history of Great Britain.  These are our stories!

Wednesday, August 1 – Oxford! 

Early morning – 6AM departure!  As expected our young lady whose sister attempted suicide did not come – she was finally sleeping and getting some much-needed rest.  Vanessa had already planned to stay behind, and offered to do laundry for the team: 4 bags of “gifts” were left outside our door for her to take care of. 

  She let our remaining student sleep until about lunch time.  Then the two of them went to Nando’s for lunch, and to Primark to shop for a bit.  Good company and calm after a tough night.

The rest of us … on to Oxford!  6AM departure to the tube to Marble Arch, where we caught the 6:30AM “Oxford Tube”—a double-decker bus from London to Oxford City Center.  The bus took about 90 minutes altogether.  We got there in plenty of time for our 9AM tours—Lindsey took 4 students on a guided extended tour of the famous & extensive Bodleian Library; the other 13 of us did a walking tour of town.  Our guide was young – a 2^nd-year history major.  She knew her stuff, and was very cheery and pleasant.  We learned some about the town history, including its use as a

temporary castle.  We saw several of the famous colleges, including Balliol (Sir Peter Wimsey’s) and Trinity – the old rivals! 

OBU in London #14 - July 31 (Parliament)

July 16 – August 14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England

This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month in England with a group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University.  Dr. Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty colleague) and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a faculty-led Study Abroad that spent four weeks on the ground in London teaching OBU courses to OBU students while being immersed in the culture and history of Great Britain.  These are our stories!

Front facade of the Palace of Westminster

Tuesday, July 31 – Parliament! 

Class this morning.  I was able to sleep in a bit.  With the weather turning nicer (about 25 today), sleeping at night comes easier.  BUT, when we leave our windows open, we are besieged by cigarette smoke throughout the night.  Our room faces the front (Bedford Place), and sucks in the smoke from the street level.  Employees at the hotel next door are constantly smoking on their steps during breaks.  We have been unpleasantly surprised by how many people smoke in London (and in the UK in general).  And we pay the price.  My allergies have been suffering. 

But, today our fans came – so we’ll be able to have airflow and cooler air without leaving our windows open.  Yay!

This afternoon we walked to Parliament (The Palace of Westminster) for a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament.  Our guide was a very knowledgeable and well-spoken lady, Pauline.  Starting in the House of Lords, we saw the Royal Procession Rooms, the debating and voting chambers of both Houses, and then the Great Hall at he entrance.  The tour of Parliament included a lot of fascinating history about the development of English democracy.  Re-ignited my love for politics (and history – this whole trip has made me want to study more history!).