The North: York, Preston & Liverpool!

Road trippin' through England!!


Last Thursday we left on our first trip as a group. It was so much fun anticipating leaving the center for a few days break. We really had no idea the details of what we would be doing, but we were told to pack warm...and they were right, the north is much much colder than it is here in London. Here is what we did...


We left Thursday morning early and had a five our bus ride to our first stop: Fountains Abbey! This is a very old abbey where monks used to worship and live together. The Christian monks that lived here took three vows: to be celibate, live in poverty and be obedient. But at this particular abbey, they also took a vow of silence and were continually praying. They lived alone in individual rooms and only spoke once a day where the Bible was read in the center gathering area of the abbey. Can you imagine that?! That is so crazy! A very different way to live...The abbey fell in 1132, and all that is left is ruins.


I loved it that we were able to see the abbey in ruins. The surrounding area is green and the ruins are beautiful. It was one of the most beautiful, peaceful places I have ever seen. We were able to take tons of pictures there and enjoy walking the grounds of this once important place of worship.










After we were finished seeing Fountains Abbey, we got back on the bus and drove an hour into a city called York. Other than London, York has been my favorite city to stay in and see. I just love it so much! We did not get in until 6ish to our motel, so we had very little time to see the city before many things closed which I was sad about. We saw much more on Friday...We checked into our motel, which I thought was pretty nice! Clean, comfortable, and a nice warm shower made our stay a successful one. We stayed at a motel called the Ibis. After checking in we went and saw Shambles Street, which is the oldest shopping street in England. New York was named after this street in York. All the shops were closed, but it was definitely something we needed to see before we left York...check that off the bucket list! After we saw Shambles we asked a local where a good place to eat was, and he gave us a great little pub to go to! It was absolutely perfect. It was a quiet atmosphere and great food. I wish it was in London, I would be there all the time...
We walked outside from dinner and it was freezing! We hurried home to warm sweats and all got together to finish the night with cards and lots of laughs :]
Friday we got up early and packed out stuff to leave. Before we loaded the bus we had the opportunity to explore York in the daylight and visit York Minster. We walked this long wall in the middle of York that leads over a bridge to this beautiful cathedral. Services are still held there today and we had an hour and a half tour learning about all of the symbolism and history behind it. It is the biggest cathedral in England. There is a bigger one in Liverpool, but it is not as old. The cathedral has been through many fires and much restoration has had to take place. It was gigantic and it was great to see more of what York has to offer. It is a smaller city compared to the other cities I had seen in England, and I loved it!





Back to the bus for what was going to be a very long day. We arrived 2 hours later in Preston, England. When we stepped off the bus the cold hit us. It was bitter cold, and everyone was freezing. Little did we know we would be on a church history tour for the next 4 hours walking from site to site. It was neat to hear about the church history in England and see the different sites of significance. By the end though we were very worn out from shivering and trying to keep warm with no success. We were happy to be done with our tour and drive to the Preston Temple! We drove in and saw the England MTC, which is right next to the temple. There was a beautiful sunset and we got out for a few minutes to walk to grounds and take pictures. It was another hour drive into Liverpool where we stayed Friday night.





We were all so excited to stay at the Ibis in Liverpool. We checked in and went straight to take a hot shower because we had been out in the freezing cold for hours on end and had yet to get warm. Were we then going to go back out in the cold?! I don't think so! My roommate and I went down to the lobby restaurant to get something to eat and apparently everyone else had the same idea. Twenty of us ended up eating in the lobby and enjoyed being warm and filling our stomachs.
The rest of the night we stayed in talking, eating all sorts of fun things, and laughing until we cried. That night was one of the most memorable thus far this semester. So much fun!!

Saturday morning we explored Liverpool! The Beatles Museum was right across the street from our hotel, and it was surprisingly very well done. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about the classic group! It was neat to see how each member contributed, how the Beatles grew in popularity and then split. The gift shop was filled with everything you could ever want with the Beatles on it...so if you are a fan, you would have been in heaven!! After that we walked around Liverpool before getting on the bus for our 6 hour drive home. Liverpool completed the long road trip to the NORTH!








First road trip: check.


Sunday was a day to catch up on sleep and rest from our few days of crazy traveling. I was called to be the Primary Secretary and it is so much fun working with so many cute kiddos at church every week! :]


This week we are doing something fun every day...so I will be blogging a ton.
Coming up: Plays, the Opera, Houses of Parliament, and University of Cambridge :]