It looked nothing like The Waldorf-Astoria for starters....just better

I can't believe I'm saying this, but the semester is really winding down...today though was a full schedule with a lot of stuff to do that needed to get done before I leave for the states.
First of all, since Rome I've been hanging low, writing my term-ending papers for all of my classes and getting the bulk of my school work done for the last two weeks here.  Soo, this morning with my loyal travel companion Sarah, went to Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn.  She was the third wife of Henry VIII, and was beheaded by him for alleged infidelity / not bearing him a son.  The Castle was bought by William Waldorf Astor at about the turn of the century to refurbish it for potential access in the future.  You might recognize "Waldorf" as a name, that's the same name from the famous and posh Waldorf-Astoria hotel chain.  Anyway though, this American investor - Astor - put millions of pounds into refurbishing The Castle to look as close to what it did in the 1500's, when the Boleyn family resided there.  The Castle itself was never built to be especially formidible, built primarily as a home, not a defendable position per-sey.  It was beautiful to say the least; the grounds were amazing to walk through, and The Castle itself was really cool to see.  There was also a lake that we walked around, which was also really cool.  I took sooo many pictures today, take a look:

Why was I reading The Sun....bad life choice

of course the sign towards Hever Castle would point right into a field with a small herd of cattle

First sight of Hever Castle

The uhh, "outer" moat

what does this flag mean...I think it's Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII's coats of arms together, idk though

Yew maze...pain in the butt

Italian Garden.....

......Still Italian....

...Looking for that water...

...found it!!!

We were totally gonna take a boat out, but like it was windy

babies!!!!!!!!

I saw no sheep here, probably about the only place I didn't see 'em

After leaving Hever Castle, we went to nearby St. Peter's Church, the burial place of Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne.  This small church has had a rector since 1500, and the church standing there today was built in the early 1700's.  We were allowed to take a couple pictures, and I donated 50p to the church technically for a couple postcards (there wasn't anyone around at the end when we were about to leave so I could have taken them as I'm sure many people had previously).  The church is small, and as I found out their regular congregation is also thinning too.  I left the 50p in the box because this small church has no endowment for refurbishment like Westminster Abby, St. George's Chapel or Notre Dame.  St. Peter's Church I think deserves that.  I might not share their faith specifically, but I respect them for leaving their doors open 365 days a year for any and all visitors to come through their doors, either for worship or to simply take a look around.  We both signed our names to the visitors registers at the end: "Andrew Wine, Saratoga Springs, New York, U.S.A.;" a register filled with thousands of names since the first date entered - 2000.  Here are some of the pictures I got there:

Grave of Thomas Boleyn

memorial to men of Hever & Edinbridge who fought and died for the crown during WWI and WWII

I forgot to mention that to get to the castle from the station we had to walk through half a dozen fields, some had animals in them....

I love baby sheep / lambs!!

On a whim - can you believe it, I did something on a whim? - when we got back to London Sarah and I went on the London Eye, the massive Ferris Wheel that dominates the London skyline by Westminster.  We weren't sure when we were going to go, but we figured we were in the area, so we might as well.  It was awesome!!!!  We went at about sundown, so half day, half night because we weren't sure which would be better but it was a lot of fun anyway.  I got a really good bird-eye view of London.  Here are some of the pictures I took there too:

the line wasn't 3 hours...more like 10 minutes!!

Victoria Tower to the Left with the flag on it and St. Stephen's clock tower (Big Ben) to the right

BT Tower in the background and Embankment National Rail / Underground station in the foreground

The domed building is St. Paul's Cathedral...I was totally there!!!!

Big Ben on the left and Westminster Abby on the top right

The Admiralty...where Churchill's war rooms are

Waterloo National Rail Station...they filmed The Bourne Ultimatum here!!

almost to the top

Sunsets from Waterloo Bridge apparently I'm told are awesome, so I had to look at it myself to confirm this, and I sure wasn't disapointed:

All in all, it was a lot of fun.  I haven't really sat still and done nothing since Spring Break, but the train ride back from Hever was almost an hour, and I took some time to reflect on the last three and a half months.  I'll talk about this more before I actually depart for home, but in general, I don't ever want to have regrets, and I think I can honestly say that I have no regrets.  In a nutshell, this has been an amazing experience, one that I can't imagine ever being able to match again.  I've made some great friends here and - I hope - matured as an individual.  I do hope these posts have helped paint a picture of what I've been doing, because it's sure helped me to quantify what I've accomplished in sum this semester.

“We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes…It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know - no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice - in this world, and the next.”

~Pres. Barack Obama on the shooting at Fort Hood

I don't know if you remember this, but there was a shooting a couple years back at the U.S. military base in Texas, but the reason I picked it is because people think that this "Me Generation" is a step back from the Greatest Generation, that there are too many cultural divides, too much selfishness and all that.  I know this is really got nothing to do with this post specifically, but I guess I feel passionate that there is hope, that people of different cultures and religions can work together to sort out a kind of reasonable existence.  I don't know, maybe this is just hot air on my part, but I agree with The President that greatness is before our very eyes.

Stay Tuned....