Last Thursday I along with the other 44 Baylor students headed to the train station at the crack of dawn. Literally I mean the breaking of day because the sun doesn’t rise here until 8:30 and that’s when we were told to be at the train station. It’s a 45 minute hike to the train station from my dorm, so we all opted for the handy local bus system. I went through a little re-culture shock once we were all on the bus. Having already been to Scotland and very accustomed to their local transportation, I assumed the bus drivers here would be the same friendly smiling helping people like the Scots. Nope. The bus driver got irritated at us because we do not know any Dutch (at this point we had only been in Holland for 2 days). In case you’re wondering, I am currently learning to read and speak Dutch. Nothing is written in English, though they speak it very well, so as I learn what things mean while in the grocery store or class I am slowly building my once zero knowledge of the Dutch language.
We hopped onto the train no problem and had one train switch about 2 hours later. Once we were going under the English Channel, I turned the iPod on and slept soundly. It’s not like there was any scenery to watch pass by; it’s a dark unlit tunnel under a body of water. About 2 hours after being on that train, we arrived at St. Pancras Station in London. Wow, London! After Amanda and I checked into our hotel room at the Harrington Hall in South Kensington (for those of you familiar with London), we sprinted to the Tube. The Tube is the English way of saying underground railroad or subway. We and a couple others from our group got off at Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square. Some information on Leicester Square, it is a good place for restaurants and half price ticket agency thrive here. I believe I counted 8 on one side of the square. I’m telling you, they are everywhere. Each one claiming theirs is the better price. With only having 24 hours to do whatever we wanted apart from the group, Amanda and Rachel and I go to one of the half-price ticket stores. After talking with the kind woman behind the counter about several different shows, we bought tickets to see Wicked for only 25 pounds (about $35). Needless to say, we were ecstatic! I might add that jumping around in pure excitement may have occurred.
We had a couple hours before the show, so we headed off to Trafalgar Square to see the National Gallery and find a place to eat dinner. After running around Trafalgar and taking some ridiculous photos, we starting hunting for the dinner portion of the evening. In the end, we headed back to Leicester Square and ate at a Tex-Mex restaurant called Chiquita. No, chips and hot salsa was not served with the meal. No the spicy chicken tasted like it had been dipped and cooked in sugar. Yes they did have jalapeños, and you can believe that I ate each one they gave me. Trying to not stand out more than necessary, the three of us headed to Oxford Street where the theatre for Wicked is held. After shopping to kill time, we found the theatre and an adorable coffee café. We are missing our dear Common Grounds back in Waco, so we grabbed a cup of koffie (that’s how they spell it here) and sit outside. The weather was a little chilly, but our coffee did its job in warming us. Earlier that night we had received one of the London newspapers, so we sat outside sipping our coffee reading the paper while enjoying the soft night’s air. Oh we felt like London locals!
As we walked up to the Apollo Victoria Theatre, we each took turns taking pictures with the famous Wicked poster and entrance. It’s a must when you get to see a show you have heard so much about. The theatre was beautiful in the lobby, especially in the actual theatre. A few more overly excited pictures and the show begins. You think you know and understand this musical by only listening to the soundtrack? Negative. Wicked was such a great performance and story line! Most certainly, this musical is now in my top ten list of must-see-live-shows. 
Having had a long productive day, we headed back to the Tube and our hotel. Much to our surprise, the night had one more thing in store for us. After I get in the shower to get ready for bed, I discover that the drain is not working like it should. I think to myself, “Okay, take a quick shower and then figure this out”. Well the water rose faster than I had expected. All of a sudden I was frantically trying to turn all of the faucets off and open the drain somehow. 
Seeing that I was getting nowhere, I called for Amanda. She came running in thinking I had fallen and something terrible had happened. I just looked at her and said, “Help please. I don’t know how to make the water stop”. With ease Amanda turned all the faucets off just as the water was amount to spill over the brim. We thought we had figured out the drain and expected the water to gone the next morning, but no it was certainly still there. Even worse, the water was grayish black due to all of the soot from the Tube. Gross.
Having had a long productive day, we headed back to the Tube and our hotel. Much to our surprise, the night had one more thing in store for us. After I get in the shower to get ready for bed, I discover that the drain is not working like it should. I think to myself, “Okay, take a quick shower and then figure this out”. Well the water rose faster than I had expected. All of a sudden I was frantically trying to turn all of the faucets off and open the drain somehow. 
Seeing that I was getting nowhere, I called for Amanda. She came running in thinking I had fallen and something terrible had happened. I just looked at her and said, “Help please. I don’t know how to make the water stop”. With ease Amanda turned all the faucets off just as the water was amount to spill over the brim. We thought we had figured out the drain and expected the water to gone the next morning, but no it was certainly still there. Even worse, the water was grayish black due to all of the soot from the Tube. Gross.Early Friday morning a group of seven and I head back out to Leicester Square too see what kind of deals they had going on with all the shows that night. After a few minutes of trying to get tickets to Phantom of the Opera, we decided to see Stomp. The minute we had our tickets in hand, the seve
n of us were off to the London Tower where the crown jewels are held. Upon arriving we find out that there is an entry fee (just like anywhere else on this continent). Three decide they want to see it while the other four of us decide to start making our way to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. After getting directions telling us to go over the London Tower Bridge (beautiful) and taking a right it was a “short walk around the corner:. I have already explained how a “short walk” goes. An hour and a half later the four of us are still not at the Globe Theatre and hungry for lunch. We eat at Pizza Express (a nice pizza place with delicious Italian food) only to be joined 10 minutes later by our friends who had taken the Tower of London tour. It turns out there was a much easier way than walking…oh well.
n of us were off to the London Tower where the crown jewels are held. Upon arriving we find out that there is an entry fee (just like anywhere else on this continent). Three decide they want to see it while the other four of us decide to start making our way to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. After getting directions telling us to go over the London Tower Bridge (beautiful) and taking a right it was a “short walk around the corner:. I have already explained how a “short walk” goes. An hour and a half later the four of us are still not at the Globe Theatre and hungry for lunch. We eat at Pizza Express (a nice pizza place with delicious Italian food) only to be joined 10 minutes later by our friends who had taken the Tower of London tour. It turns out there was a much easier way than walking…oh well.After lunch we saw London in a very condensed amount of time. Here’s how it went, Globe Theatre and a tour of the Globe. Second, walk and
take the Tube to see Westminster Abby. Westminster was already closed for the day, so lots of picturing taking outside of the gates occur. Big Ben follows with multiple pictures as well. Houses of Parliament we saw from the outside, and while we were there we were lucky to see a strike going on. Living in a small town both at home and at school, I don’t see this kind of stuff a lot. Last stop before Stomp was Buckingham Palace where the English queen resides. We watched the guards outside the palace for a bit and then headed back to the heart of London. Getting lost on our way to the Stomp Theatre, dinner did not happen. Stomp was good minus the fact we sat in a restricted view where the top balcony came over half of the seats on the floor. Oh well, at least we got to see most of it! After the show we ate at a Portuguese restaurant name Nandos. Every bite was delectable. Off to bed and half flooded bath tub once again.
take the Tube to see Westminster Abby. Westminster was already closed for the day, so lots of picturing taking outside of the gates occur. Big Ben follows with multiple pictures as well. Houses of Parliament we saw from the outside, and while we were there we were lucky to see a strike going on. Living in a small town both at home and at school, I don’t see this kind of stuff a lot. Last stop before Stomp was Buckingham Palace where the English queen resides. We watched the guards outside the palace for a bit and then headed back to the heart of London. Getting lost on our way to the Stomp Theatre, dinner did not happen. Stomp was good minus the fact we sat in a restricted view where the top balcony came over half of the seats on the floor. Oh well, at least we got to see most of it! After the show we ate at a Portuguese restaurant name Nandos. Every bite was delectable. Off to bed and half flooded bath tub once again.
Saturday was the organized Baylor groups’ trip to Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Bath. Salisbury Cathedral was first on the agenda. Beautiful is an understatement to describe this church. So much history and breathtaking architecture! At the Cathedral they hold one of the four in-tact Magna Cartas in known existence. After seeing the church and expanding my knowledge of 15th century church life, we headed to Stonehenge.Before getting to Stonehenge our tour guide told us to not be disappointed but to remember how this site has remained a mystery for thousands of years. If one did not know any history on Stoneh
enge, then you would think it’s just some rocks in a circle at the coldest and windiest hill top. Having learned a little about Stonehenge, this site was very neat! Those slabs of rock are huge and have stumped researchers and historians since its beginning. Stonehenge was built in the time before the wheel and the rocks that make up the site
are from Ireland and Wales. That is quite a long way away even with the invention of the wheel. We all ran for the café to get something warm because no matter how many layers of clothes you were wearing, you were freezing cold.Final stop was Bath (pronounce Baath). When the Romans came to Bath, they discovered these pools of hot mineral water that seeped up from the ground. They built baths around these waters, and people would come here to heal ailments that may have been hindering there bodies. Every structure in Bath is created in Georgian style. There are strict rules on building requirements here. Each building must be the same height and doors can only be painted white, blue, or black. Nothing else. After eating a quick lunch and deciding to not take the long tour of the bathes, we stumbled upon the Jane Austen Centre. Jane Austen is one of Amanda’s heroines, so we had to see it. Come to find out Austen wrote a couple of her novels while residing in Bath, although it was the city she liked the least. Bath claims her as their most renowned visitors. On a tight schedule, we head back to the bus and begin the 3 hour drive back to London.
Since we didn’t know what time we were going to be back in London, we had not tried to get any show tickets. After visiting 3 theatres to see if there were any last minute tickets, the four of us (Rachel, Amanda, Chris, and I) settled on eating and heading back for a good night’s sleep. No worries, I successfully did not flood the tub this night.
Having a couple hours to accomplish one last minute site before the train left, I woke up early and headed to Abby Road with a few others. Once there, we attempted to recreate the famous Beatles title cover, but Abby road is an intersection without a stoplight and a plethora of traffic. After risking our lives for a picture, we decided to sign the Beatles tribute wall next to the road along with the other thousands of visitors. (In the pic, I am the last person in the line.)
The Tube has certain lines that are closed on Sundays, so it took us a little bit longer to get to the train station than before. On our way I wanted to stop by at the British Library. I’ll admit that I am a nerd but I did not want to go to just see their book collection. Ever since I was little, I have always wanted to see the Bible or even a portion of it in its original letter. (You can ask my parents. It’s what I wanted to do for the longest time.) Well the British Library has on display two chapters from the book of Hebrews on the original papyrus! I contained the excitement of not jumping up and down, but I can assure you it was the first thing that I went looking for. Also on display is the Gutenburg Bible. A little history lesson , the Gutenburg Bible is not only the first Bible to ever be printed by a press but the first book EVER to be printed on a press. So cool!! In addition, I was able to see a couple of Beethoven’s own hand writing of some pieces of his, and beside Beethoven some of the Beatles handwritten lyrics were on display. The handwriting was a little sloppy, but still neat to see. I saw that “A Hard Day’s Night” was written on the back of a greeting card – how funny. Seeing the time we literally we had to run to catch the train on time.We arrived tired, having seen a good amount of London in such a short time, safely back in Maastricht. Not having spent a Sunday in Maastricht before, we come to find out that everything (even the grocery stores) are closed. The only thing open was a Dominoes. Rachel, Chris, Amanda, and I split a large four cheese pizza because we couldn’t read anything else on the menu. It turns out that one of the four cheeses that they include in that package of four is Blue Cheese. Nasty. We are hungry nonetheless and eat what we can. Everything is an experience for sure (even if the company is from America).
Amanda and I started our first full week in Maastricht well; we overslept mandatory breakfast. That’s okay we were in desperate need of the extra sleep anyways. It is now Thursday; a full week ago I was on my way to London. Now I have completed my first week in another country. Here is what I’ve come to learn so far. Having a class at 7pm, I tend to pay better attention. All of the classes are 2 hours long and meet twice a week. In the 2 hour time frame of class, the professor gives a 5 minute break. I really enjoy this because you get so much more accomplished in one sitting. At Maastricht University, they teach on a problem-solving method. The professor has an interactive lecture that lasts about an hour. Then the rest of the time it is discussion and presentations. Some people may not like this approach, but I learn much more in actually doing something than just listening to someone tell me all I’m supposed to know. Yes this creates a good amount of homework, but it is all applicable to the class. What I read is what I need to know to participate in class the next day so that I can contribute to the discussion for the day.
Finally, I will be boarding a train in a couple hours for Berlin, Germany, where I will be spending the first part of my weekend. We are all on our own now. Rachel, Amanda, and I are the three musketeers out to discover more of this continent. On Saturday we will take another train to Cologne, Germany, and head back home to Maastricht on Sunday evening. This way we have Monday morning and afternoon to finish any leftover homework that we have not accomplished on the trains. Thank you for reading all the way through, and I hope you enjoyed hearing about some of my adventures and maybe got a good laugh. I am staying quite busy, but there are plenty of times to think about what else is going on outside of here. As always, thank you for all of your prayers and support!!
Daughter of the King,
Kaitlyn
Daughter of the King,
Kaitlyn
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