Hello Friends! I accomplished Part 2 of Part 3, and made it to Kew Palace and Gardens! This was the second place my aunt wanted me to visit, and so this Saturday (Friday? finals are destroying my brain...) I went! It was extremely beautiful. I wish I had discovered it earlier so I could have made more trips. Regardless, here is the video I made you!
Kew Palace was home to George the 3rd (who lost the colonies) and his wife, Charlotte. It seems sort of silly that Britain lost what I would consider seemingly "weak" colonies, but as I gained a deeper understanding into George's life, I started to understand why. He and Charlotte had 15 children together and were quite happy when he was not troubled by his psychiatric illness. They spent a lot of time at Kew Palace living a "simple" life and walking around the gardens. Supposedly, they would see local folk on their walks and treated them as neighbors. They were very family oriented, and wanted to live a simple life. I see how George could have shut himself away from what was happening for the countryside. After seeing the gardens and the surrounding land, I couldn't really blame him.
So today I went on a very exciting journey! I couldn't wait to make a video, and upload it for you until tomorrow- so here it is tonight! I didn't have any classes today, so I took a train out to Hampton Court Palace and spend the day there! HCP isn't one of the most popular sites, but it is definitely one of the prettiest. It was the palace of King Henry the 8th ("Henry) and Anne Boelyn. In time, William and Mary added Baroque wings on to the Tudor style palace. They were followed by George II and his wife Caroline, who created embellished the palace in the Georgian style. While the building was not uniform, it was very interesting and exciting to walk through periods of history as they happened.
The main reason I documented my journey through videos was because I wanted my "aunt" to get the full experience! She came a few months ago, but we didn't have time to see HCP, so I made this video for her!
I few side notes... I am sick and quite sniffly through this video, so please excuse me. Also, I'm not the best camera women so the footage is a little shaky, but I thought it would be fun and better than just pictures! This was not helped by the fact that I was unsure if I was allowed to take pictures or not, so I took a lot of "sneaky" pictures incase they told me I had to turn my camera off! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! I had quite a fun time editing and uploading this video.
Click on HamptonCourtPalace.mov to open it in YouTube and view it a bigger window!
This is only Part 1 of 3 places I am determined to go see before I leave... check back in later, and hopefully I will have made the other two. Not sharing what they are just yet! :)
Over this past weekend, I went to Stockholm to visit my Dad. Considering I haven't seen him in a few months, I was very excited to see him. I have been to Stockholm a handful of times, and the beauty of the city and the country as a whole never ceases to take my breath away. Stockholm's beauty, and gorgeous weather, was probably intensified by the fact that it had rained for the entire week in London before I went. Nevertheless, Stockholm is a beautiful city, and I couldn't help but snap a few pictures!
Taken from the Arlanda Express, which took me into Stockholm City.
This was at a park next to our hotel. The pink trees are cherry blossoms, and they seemed to never stop. They look a bit greyed here, but in person they are a vibrant pink.
This was taken as I was walking back from the park. I thought the vibrant yellow and blue was amazing.
Dad and I went on a 3 hour boat tour of the beautiful archipelago. I actually took this photo during the summer, but the weather was just as beautiful and all of the boats were out.
I hope you enjoyed these pictures! I only have three weeks left before I head back home, and have a few more day trips planned! I will be sure to upload some pictures and tell you all how it went! While I am excited to see what I can in these last few weeks, I am quite ready to go home and see my family!
