Continuing on this journey through the last six months...next up is the month of traveling post-L'abri.  Once again I'll share by way of photos.

Dorset

Immediately following the end of term, nine of us traveled to the southern coast of England for a weeks stay.  We rented a cottage and spent our days wandering through fields and pastures and coastlines.  Now I will try my best not to romanticize this time in Dorset, but really, it was incredible.  I enjoyed every moment of it and was so thankful to be with friends from both of my terms at L'abri.  It was the perfect way to gradually ease me out of that community.  

Here's our cottage.  It was beautiful, in a great location and three stories - plenty of room for all nine of us - and best of all, it was cheap!

Here is how we would start each day...with a feast!  Different people would rotate preparing breakfast and dinner, this morning was french toast with eggs, and here we are eating together around the table.  

So here is how we spent the majority of our days:  walking...

 

Along the cliffs and down to the water...

Steven dances at Dancing Ledge.

We would break for a picnic lunch usually of cheese and bread.

More walking...

It was stunningly beautiful.  Pictures simply do not do the landscape justice.  

In England all footpaths are public, going through people's pastures and fields, we were free to roam them all.  This allowed us to see lots of animals.  My favorite - the little baby lambs! 

A wise looking goat.

Kari found a friend in this baby miniature pony.  So cute.

Once again, I must emphasize  how beautiful this was!  See those castle ruins way in the background?  Well that's Corfe Castle and one of the days we made the trek there.  We then road the steam train half-way back to save our feet.

Steven found a rope swing.

And I found a friend at a local pub.  His name is Nobby and he is amazing.

We flew a kite.  This picture is perfect.

And on one of the last nights we lit these Chinese paper lanterns and sent them out to sea.  

I loved Dorset.

Holland

From Dorset Kari and I flew to Holland to stay with our friend Laura.  We were there about four days and Laura was an amazing host.  She showed us a night in Amsterdam, a day in Utrecht and a day in her hometown of Rotterdam.  I kind of blew it on the whole taking pictures front - but here are a couple.

This is Kari (on the left) and our friend Laura.  Here we are in a park in Rotterdam.

And now this is me, on a Pancake Boat.  Yes, it is called a Pancake Boat, and it is a big tourist attraction, and it was amazing.  You ride this boat throughout all the dams in Rotterdam and have all you can eat pancakes with endless toppings.  I'm enjoying my pancake with a Hoegaarden beer - when in Holland, do as the Dutch do.

And here we are riding bikes.  Rotterdam has got to be the most bike friendly city I have ever seen.  The bike lanes are huge and equipped with their own streetlights.  The weather was beautiful so we took a bike tour of the city.  Stopping at all of Laura's favorite spots along the way.  We also managed to see a few windmills!

Hungary

Next Kari and I were off to Hungary.  We were meeting up with some of the friends we had left in Dorset and also with a few of our Hungarian friends.  There were five of us visiting, and the magical Marta was able to get us a flat to occupy.  Marta's gracious friend (who was living out of town) let us stay in her centrally located flat for the week.  It was incredible.

Here are Fruszina and Alida, two sisters from Hungary who visited L'abri throughout my time there.  They were our hosts and tour guides.  Both of them were wonderful in showing us around Budapest and the surrounding areas.  They took time out of their busy working schedules and showed us such an incredible time.  After my short 3 days with them in Hungary I was desperate to stay longer - there was so much to see, take in, and enjoy.

 

This is the Opera House, which is gorgeous...

And this is the finale of the opera we went to see.

Here I am on the famous Chain Bridge.  It connects the Buda and the Pest sides of the capital city.  It was so beautiful at twilight.

This is Kari and I being serenaded at a gypsy restaurant.  Notice the disparity in our responses - Kari loved it, and I tried to hide under the table.

The Baths!  A favorite local past time is going to the Baths.  This place was huge.  Here we are in one of the several outdoor baths, the temperature of this one was lukewarm.  There were other outdoor pools all at varying temperatures.  The warmest one was equipped with built in chess boards, these were all occupied by old Hungarian men.  There was also a huge building which wrapped around the pools, this building was full of baths and saunas of different temperatures.  I've never seen anything like it.  This was a girls day full of baths and sunbathing.

Well, I just think these pictures are funny.  Kari and Fruszina had a dandelion war.  Then they turned on me.

And here is the whole crew - well almost, Marta and Danny are missing.  This picture was taken right after the oh so clever Fruszina tried to sneak us into a historical church.  She thought we should see it, but none of us wanted to pay the fee.  So she attempted to lead us through the back door as some other tourists were headed out.  Fruszina pushed all the Americans in first so that when the security guard came (which he did, immediately) she could distract him while we looked around.  I have no idea what she was saying to him, but it gave us a good five minutes to look around at the beautiful architecture before getting kicked out.

Hungary was a great time.  Being so brief it left me aching for more, I would love to go back someday.

And so there is my post-L'abri traveling adventures.  I can't believe it has already been two months since I arrived back to the great state of California.  Although these posts are quite delayed, and are recording the recent past rather than the present, I think it is a good exercise for me.  A way to begin to process and document this time of my life.  These last few posts have been my virtual scrapbook - and I love scrapbooking.  

So as it turns out, I'm pretty much crap at this whole blogging thing.  Its been months with not a single post.  In an attempt to make up for my prolonged absence I've decided to share some pictures from the past six months of my life.  So prepare yourself for an onslaught of photos. Starting with the day to day of my second term at L'abri.

Life at the Manor House...     

Here is a reminder of where I called home.  After watching leaves fall and flowers die throughout the winter, it was beautiful to see everything come to life in the spring.  

The Helpers...

These are the helpers.  Students my first term at L'abri, these five made the transition into being pillars of the community.  Planning meals, doing laundry, maintenance, chopping wood, building fires and being in charge of the work crews each day.  They are incredible and I love them each dearly.  Here they are wearing their Team Zissou hats.  Each individually knitted by our friend and former helper Anna of Portland. 

umm...other stuff...

Helen, Elizabeth and I.  The three of us are long-timers, each staying for two terms as students.

A discussion lunch in Marta's flat.  This was my favorite meal and one of our last formal lunches.  Notice the flowers and candles?  Although we eat together everyday the helpers and workers never failed to make it a beautiful event.  Really, it's these small things that are so meaningful.

Dinner in the dining room.

This is my friend Kari.  I love her and I love this picture.  Sunny days got everyone excited and playing outside.  

And this is Marta.  Remember her?  My tutor.  I am positive I would not have made it through this time in my life if Marta would not have been there to carry me.  I miss her terribly.

And this is a Valentine I received from my dear friend Kristin.  It arrived at the manor exactly on Valentines Day, and I was overjoyed.  So thoughtful that Little Bird.

Tea Time...

These tea times are a big part of the day, as they break up the blocks of time designated for work and study.  There is a lot of laughter and a lot of volleyball.  And when the weather is poor, and we are forced indoors, speed scramble is the game of choice.

It Snowed!!!

In January we were treated with the most snow fall Hampshire had seen in fifteen years!  Everything was blanketed in white and breathtaking.  Many snowball fights ensued.

High Tea...

Here are some of the talents displayed at my favorite time of the week.

Fiona of Ireland taught everyone an Irish jig, which Alasdair and Helen followed with some lessons in Scottish Highland dancing.  We all tried to pick up the steps, but I must say we kind of ended up just moving our feet around  quickly and laughing a lot.

The Swedes singing a folk song and doing a traditional Swedish folk dance to celebrate the coming of summer, or spring, or something like that.  Stefan struggled with the words, and the dance moves, and it was hilarious.  

The Hawkley...

The Hawkley is generally everyone's favorite pub.  It is small, full of interesting local people,great local brews, and often live music.  Many Saturday nights were spent here.  Half of the appeal is the journey to get there.  It is at least an hour walk one way.  Groups of people trekking along footpaths through fields and fields that are lit by the moon and millions of stars.  Great times.

Ali's Kebab...

I am convinced L'abri must keep Ali in business.  Ali is the man who runs this kebab stand along the side of the road, literally in the middle of nowhere.  Nothing on either side of him, his truck is there nightly, and is frequented by L'abri students.  It is a definite pit stop on the way home from the Hawkley.

Work Day...

Last term it was picking and peeling apples, this term it was manning the burn pile.  A smokey, smelly and fun job.  And this is Wesley in his flip shades.  Included purely for a giggle.

And Some Little Outings...

These are some day or weekend trips I took throughout the term.  Either on our day off, or for a mid-term break.

Selbourne...

We walked to a quaint village nearby.  When I say "nearby" I mean it took us about 4-5 hours to walk there, thankfully it was a beautiful day of perfect weather.

So this picture just makes me laugh.  The donkey looks fake, which it wasn't, and with his video camera and map around his neck Steven looks like a dad on vacation, which he isn't.

This is where we stopped for a picnic lunch of sandwiches and cheap wine.  It wasin a stunning little valley full of flowers and fallen trees.

And this is in Selbourne.  This creek is behind an old church and graveyard (which we toured) and down a steep hill (which some rolled down).  I attempted to jump this creek (a misguided bout of bravery) and fell on my face pulling Alasdair, who tried to catch me, down with me.  It was really funny, and painful.

London...

Some family friends of Helen have a flat in London and were kind enough to offer it to her for a weekend that they were away.  We readily took advantage and had a wonderful time.  A perfect break from the intensity of L'abri.  We gave our brains and emotions a break and explored London.  Here we are at Camden Market.

Lovely Kari cooked us dinner one night.

Isle of Wight...

Five of us decided to spend one of our last Thursdays at the Isle of Wight.  Alasdair had a car and was kind enough to drive.  So we took the ferry over and spent the day exploring.

It was absolutely beautiful.  The perfect day.  Definitely one of the days I treasure most from my time in England.  We drove around the island, adventured by foot, played on the beach, picnicked on a cliff, ate ice cream, made daisy chains, and as can be seen above, Kari danced.

Scotland...

40 minute walk to the train station, 1.5 hours on the train to London, ten hours on a megabus - and we were in Scotland!  Helen, Wesley and I took a weekend trip to Glasgow.

  

Lunch with friends.  They were attempting to pick Rachey up...but as can be seen, they failed.  But don't worry, she's not dropping the pose.

We got to attend Helen's dads 50th birthday party.  A dance party where Wesley proceeded to dance for approximately 3 hours straight with a collection of middle aged women.  They loved him!  I loved the whole hilarious scene.  And Helen simply kept repeating, "This is so weird.  What is happening?"

Wesley and I traveled to Edinburgh for the day.  We met up with Alasdair (who lives there) who was kind enough to give us a grand tour.  Here are the boys posing on a would-be rival to the colosseum, if the capital of scotland had ever finished the monument.