Update

I have been so busy the past few weeks! Catching up on everything I've done is going to take so long! The weekend before our fall break we went horseback riding in Chianti, Tuscany! It was such an incredible experience and the perfect way to see the beautiful, rolling hills of Tuscany. After horseback riding, we returned to Perugia for the week-long Euro Chocolate Festival!!! People from all over Europe come for the delicious Perugian chocolate. I've never seen this city so packed and busy. It was absolutely insane! I drank some of the best hot chocolate of my life and saw some awesome chocolate sculptures. There was chocolate liquor, chocolate beer (Guinness with chocolate), chocolate for your dogs, chocolate covered anything you could dream of...etc. The city literally smelled like chocolate when you walked outside. I was in heaven. During this week, we unfortunately were all taking midterm exams. After the exams were over, we had a 10 day fall break! I went with my friend Mattie to England. I had an absolute blast!
We arrived in London and went straight to our lovely flat in SoHo. It was amazing; so much nicer than we had imagined! The location couldn't have been better. The next day we went to Buckingham Palace, briefly watched the changing of the guard, and then explored all of Hyde Park! I've never been to a more beautiful park in all my life! We walked all through the park and saw Kensington Palace and gardens, Holocaust Memorial Rose Garden, Peter Pan statue, and the Marble Arch.

We also took a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath! It was a wonderful day. The weather was perfect and it was so nice to not have to worry about scheduling and catching trains. The Roman Baths were so awesome and the city of Bath was so cute and tranquil! It was also really cool to see the hometown of Jane Austen.
The other day trip we took out of London was to Canterbury and Dover. Canterbury was great and I loved the cathedral. Dover was soooo great though! It is located on the southern coast of England close to the English channel. We visited the medieval Dover Castle and saw all the old secret war time tunnels. As a history minor, I loved learning more about the English perspective of the wars and how very different and close to home the wars were for them.
After exploring as much of London as we possibly could over the next few days, we went to Thriplow Farm just outside of Cambridge where Mattie's extended family live. This was probably one of my favorite parts of our visit to England. Cambridge is AMAZING! I would die to be able to study at Trinity or King's College. I've never seen a more beautiful campus. Thriplow Farm was also incredible. I had my own bedroom which overlooked the huge backyard and the horse pastures. Every morning I woke up to the sounds of horses and leaves rustling in the breeze! I enjoyed home-cooked meals 3 nights in a row and actually loved taking a break from pasta and pizza!
England is absolutely phenomenal and I can not wait to return and see more of the U.K.!