Battlefield Trip to Ypres: Day One

Hello Bloggers! 

As you may know I went to Ypres at the end of last week and came home on Saturday. I have written a blog for my University and I thought I'd share my trip with you all! I've split it into separate posts for each day as some are quite long! 

Hope you enjoy!

Ypres: Day One

Thursday 19th February 2015

6 am

We were sat on the coach far too excited for our impending adventure. I was so tired (my alarm had gone off at 4.30am), however we had it lucky compared to the Cumbria students who had been on the road since 3 am. I sat next to my fellow Disney lover Jess whilst Carmen sat at the back with Danny. As always I hadn't thought ahead about what to do to keep me occupied for the 6 hour drive to Dover. I plumped for falling in an out of sleep (bad choice as I developed terrible neck ache).

1 pm

Fast forward and we're sat on the ferry which I'm NOT used to, and cannot decide if I like it or not. Carmen, Jess, Danny and Me headed straight for the canteen and grabbed food. Ferry food is SO expensive! I paid £5 for children's fish and chips, but I was hungry so I didn't have a choice. After we'd finished our grub we headed up to the top deck to look outside. Cold, wet and windy! We didn't stay out long! Was nice to see some sun after a lot of bad weather. For the rest of the ferry ride we collapsed on some sofas and chilled out.

Carmen, Dan, Jess and Me on the Ferry.

3 pm (ish)

We set out to find our hotel. Now I'll be honest here I really don't remember the drive from Calais to Ypres as I was in and out of sleep. When we did leave Calais the weather was beautiful, although I did know it wasn't supposed to last. Rain had been forecast unfortunately. I couldn't wait to get to our hotel and check in. We'd travelled nearly all day and I was so tired...I honestly just needed my bed!

5 pm (ish)

We finally arrived at the Novotel. I had stayed here before with my family. It was lovely when I'd last stayed so I was looking forward to staying here again. Our room was huge and we had 2 singles and a double. After allocating beds between me, Jess and Carmen we got ready to head out for dinner and then to the Menin Gate. 

6 pm

We headed out as a group, the square looked rather beautiful at night. I was really looking forward to sharing this experience with my friends, even though I had visited before. We had dinner at Den Anker and although we didn't get to choose what we had for dinner I was determined to try something. We were served Flemish Stew (which is beef in an ale gravy) with chips and salad. Bottles of water and cola were also provided on our tables and for pudding we were given choc ices. Steve informed us that if children were on this trip they would be given and it was important we experienced so it was important of what kind of food they would get. Personally it was not something I enjoyed, however I am glad I tried it.

8 pm

Our next stop was the Menin Gate Memorial for the missing. This was something I attended last time I was in Ypres, however the weather was a lot warmer. For those of you who are thinking of visiting Ypres, going to this ceremony held every evening at 8pm should be top of your list. It's quite overwhelming how many people turn up each evening to pay their respects. It's definitely moving, even though I didn't see as much this time because of my height, but the message is still there and the emotion. A speaker shared a story about one of the soldiers who had lost his life during the war and his name was now on the walls of the gate. The Last Post is held and a moments silence to remember all those who gave their lives. Three of our students lay wreaths and then we assembled for group photos afterwards. Steve pointed out a few names he had researched, highlighting the importance of sharing personal stories.

Jess's photo of the beautiful ceiling of the Menin Gate

Thanks to Jess for this photo of Carmen and I

Menin Gate

9 pm

We had had such a busy day so we headed for the shop for snacks and then back to our hotel room. We got in our pjs and snuggled on the bed to watch Mean Girls. We also downloaded a new game called 'Heads Up' which I recommend you download. It's only 79p from the App Store. It's a great game to play with friends and made us all laugh. Jess, Carmen and I didn't know each other that well prior to this trip so playing games like this helped us get to know each other and feel more comfortable around one another.

Unlike many of the students we called it an early night because we had a really busy day planned on Friday.

Stay tuned for Day 2

"The rest is still unwritten"

Megan

Thank you to Jess and Carmen Sharman for letting me use your fabulous photos! So glad that through this trip we became closer as friends. Definitely a memorable and wonderful experience.

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Friday Favourites: Tick Tock Unlock

Hello Bloggers!

So a few weeks ago I went with my family to Tick Tock Unlock. My parents had gone to an escape game in Budapest and had really enjoyed in, so when they returned to the UK my Dad tried to find one here for us to do as a family. Tick Tock Unlock had a lot of good reviews so we decided to give it a go and see if we could escape!

Sam came in and met us and explained the game in detail so we knew what to expect and how to work the locks. She is in charge of the game whilst we are in there and was able to give us extra clues and help via the screen in the room. This proved to be really helpful to us when we were getting stuck or going down the wrong route with the clue. You get an hour in the room to escape and the clock is displayed so you know how long you have left. I can't really tell you anymore because then it would ruin the clues and therefore pointless going! It's better not to know what's going to happen because then the experience is better. We were in a group of four which I felt made it easier because then you can use all your different to skills and split clues which should help you get out of the room faster. For example my brother is really good at maths so he'd do those clues and I'd try and find stuff as I was pretty useless (oops) I tried though!

They're opening a new place in Liverpool which means that you all must go and check out the new site and let me know what it's like!

This is so much fun to do with friends, family or even work colleagues! I would definitely do it again and would love to for my birthday. 

We did escape with 3 minutes to spare (I honestly was ready to give up because I thought it was impossible)! It took us ages to crack the last code.

They take your photo afterwards and it goes on their Facebook page so keep your eye out! Literally loved doing this with my family, it was so much fun.

I hope that if you have chance to check out this place you do because I highly recommend it. I'll leave the links below so that you can see the website and their Facebook page.

Links

Tick Tock Unlock- Website

Tick Tock Unlock- Facebook

"The rest is still unwritten"

Megan

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Kim Kardashian Hollywood

This game has been noticeably popular all over social media. As my best friend was playing it I had also downloaded the app and begun playing myself. I can't even remember how long I've had this game but I have found it so addictive and I don't know why! The concept of the game is rather easy. Kim allows us to take on the lifestyle of a model (male or female) and allow ourselves to feel like we're rich when really we're nowhere near that lifestyle in reality and some end up spending some of their money making Kim richer. I have to admit I liked the game at first but as time has gone on it has begun to consume my life and I've noticed some flaws in the game itself.

As I am training to be a teacher I completely understand how easily children are addicted to games and how much it can become something of a focus in life for them. This game sends out such bad messages about the modelling industry. We live in a world today where people care too much about their body and unfortunately this game reinforces it. My friend was playing the other day and the characters in the game said she should get plastic surgery if she wanted to become more famous and get more jobs. That is such a bad message to send to teenagers, especially if they are vulnerable! This is the main problem I find with this game. It is so unrealistic. This game only allows you to make your character skinny, tall and undeniably beautiful. There is no sense of reality in there what so ever and where that may have been an appeal to some people I can tell you it isn't to me! There are such things as plus size models and I can tell you they are also just as beautiful and successful so why can't my character be curvy like Beyoncé? I shouldn't have to change my image to get more famous and it certainly isn't a message we should be enforcing upon the youth of today.

Despite the game being addictive (I can't even explain why) the updates seem to make lagging and game crashing worse. It's annoying when stars go missing or you mean to press 'hello' instead of 'charm'. This game seems hell bent on trying to get you to spend money in some way. It hasn't worked on me though. I feel forking out £69.99 for 'K' stars to buy hairstyles and clothes to be excessive and such a pointless waste of money! 

This game was fab for a few weeks but I'm slowly tiring of it eating up my battery and pinching half of my day, not to mention completely screwing up my sleeping pattern. What can you take from this post? Well just think if you agree with the message it is sending to young children. Let's be honest, most young girls have iPhones early and are able to access this app easily. Of course they would download it if they worship Kim Kardashian. However, should we really allow children to be exposed to such an unrealistic game, which seems to suggest the idea that if we ever want to be models or perfect we have to alter ourselves? This is far from wrong and I'm sure if North was old enough Kim wouldn't want her daughter trying to change herself to be somebody else.

Love who you are and embrace your body. 

What do you think of the Kim Kardashian game? 

"The rest is still unwritten"

Megan