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P6250152
Originally uploaded by midgetwithasword

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Ok guys!
I'm off for the wilds of Europe. Well, the civilization, actually. We land in Dublin at 16:45 tomorrow, and from there the adventure begins. Today, London treated us to a heat wave. We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave.... hmmm. So we've been out and about, transporting luggage, getting kicked off the Tube due to signal failures, being fed by a Cambodian woman (my friend's aunt), and now off for last minute post office runs and such.
This evening, it's out to the pubs for one last drink. We're starting at a pub where Bill Clinton once ordered a beer, but didn't have any money to pay for it, and then to the good ol' Queen's Arms for a final good bye.

It's been a great semester and I'll try to keep up the blogging as much as I can, though it won't have pictures attached. But you can all see them when I get home. Thanks for reading and commenting this semester. Hope you all enjoyed my travels.
Much love to all,
Becca

I'd like to introduce you all to Horatio, my new pocket watch! He came into my life on Thursday, but is currently residing with my in-laws so I won't get mugged in Europe. We're looking for a long, happy life together. Now I just need to find a vest.





(Hope you're happy now, Mom!)

I'm taking my computer to the in-laws today, so posting will remain erratic, and photos may be rare. But I'll see what I can do. There will be at least one wrap-up post, as I still have a load of laundry to do. 

I thought I'd give you a little glimpse of my travels for the next month:

Start off in Dublin, with a stop over in Belfast

Then on to Barcelona

Up to Paris, with a side track to Giverny

Over to Bruges, followed by a day or two in Amersterdam

Then across to Berlin

Down to Prague

Down and across to Rome

A ferry over to Athens, a day trip to Delphi, and a few days on Crete

Back up to Venice, then gradually across to Budapest

Pretty crazy. I'm very, very excited. It is going to be a great, whirl-wind trip, but Greece will be slow and easy. 

Alright! I'm off to the see the in-laws. It will be a good day, me thinks. Though the trains may be packed, given that half of London has the weekend off. 

"The the spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to love" Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Locksley Hall

"April is the cruelest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring 

Dull Roots with spring rain."

T.S. Eliot, the Wasteland.

It's spring here in London, and has been for about a month now. April is upon us, which is good and bad. In the two days, I've walked through at least five parks.  On Thursday, a few friends and I went to the John Soane museum. If you've never been, make this your first stop on your next trip to London. It is amazing. This man was an architect and built this house to fit his... slightly eclectic tastes. You walk in through a narrow little corridor, and then have the option of branching off to about four different narrow little corridors. And then again. And again. The ceilings are very high and have skylights at the top, so the perspective is very distorted. The best part however, is just the sheer volume of stuff on the walls. Everything you could think of is on these walls. Over 6,000 books, pieces of sculptures from Rome, busts of any one famous, death masks, stained glass, plans for a new Parliament house, etc, etc.  Even a skeleton! 

This man, it appears, was not on an even keel, to put it mildly. 

So we had tons of fun in the morning! I touched Sir Robert Walpole's writing desk. (For those not major history nerds like myself, Walpole was Britain's first Prime Minister, though at the time they didn't call it that.) It was serving as a display table. Just sitting there. So I had to. 

Then we had a picnic in Lincoln's Fields,  and watched a man do an hour routine of yoga/ti chi/ made up moves. Unfortunately, we had no, ah, pic-a-nic basket. 

And then we walked from Leicester Square home. The Tube map is tricky, and makes it seem like this walk is Huge. But! It was only 3 miles. On a beautiful day, going through parks almost the entire length of the walk, it was quite pleasant. 

Yesterday, we thought it was such a great idea, we did it again. We spent the afternoon eating cheese and bread, and drinking wine (or cider) in St. James's park, right next to Buckingham Palace. Yeah, that's right. We chilled in the shadow of Buckingham Palace. Then we wandered up to Holland Park, and found the (in)famous Adventure Park! It does really exist! Unfortunately, it was such a nice day, it was fully populated by kids, so we couldn't go in. But now that we know where it is, we will be back. 

Today, I'm off to the Portabello Road Market, on a quest for a pocket watch. I'm going to check out the shops here, and then possibly return to the Royal Observatory. But this will be my one memorable souvenir of London. Now I just need to find a vest with pocket for my watch. Keep an eye out, yo. 

So this has been spring in London. But now we're close (12 days, scary!) away from finishing, and the most amazing college experience ever will come to an end. That's why April is the cruelest month, for me at least. I really am not ready to leave. I love London, I love the museums, the pubs, the parks, the people watching, the pedestrians...sorry. I was about to add a very, very tasteless joke, but I'll refrain and spare you all. 

But Europe is next on the horizon. Hopefully, it will be just as great. I just bought my Eurorail pass. Woo! First stop, though, Ireland. Yay! Ireland! (ha!)

No pictures this time, sorry. I didn't have a camera with me, but I see if I can rustle up a few from other people. 

FYI

New Photos are up on flikr! Go check it out. We have Edinburgh (the castle, Arthur's Seat), and soon, Greenwich. I'll put up as many as possible, but I'm about out of space.(And the internet is not working at all, so there are only three pictures from Greenwich. Sorry.)

Enjoy!

This picture is of me with Admiral Nelson, outside of the Trafalgar Pub. We enjoyed a few pints on the Thames, I tried Wlesh Rarebit(tasty!) and then checked out the National Maritime Museum. They have Nelson's outfit worn on the day he died, bullet hole and bloody stockings included! It was crazy!

The Best City in the World

So on Thursday morning, we went to Edinburgh, Scotland. It turned out to be amazing. At this point in the trip, most of us are annoyed with each other, and in particular, I think the four girls in my room are about at the end of their ropes. That's the problem with only each other for company. So, understandably, we were all a bit apprehensive about the trip. We got in at about 2, and went to the Whiskey Experience. What a way to start our time in the land of Whiskey. We learned how they make whiskey (though we didn't get to tour a brewery) and then learned how to taste it. It was pretty intense. I learned that I like whiskey from the Lowlands a lot more than everyone else, who prefers it from the Highlands. But, coincidentally, the underlying taste from Highland whiskey is the same smell that gives me migraines, so that's out, due to bad associations. Then we went to dinner at a pub called Deacon Brodie's. Apparently, Robert Lewis Stevenson got his idea for Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from this Deacon, who was a good guy during the day, and a robber at night. There was tons of drama! at dinner, and we separated for the evening, in an effort to cool everyone down. 

Friday, we had a bus tour of the city and then toured Edinburgh castle. It was not as dressed up as Windsor, but it was good enough for me. We saw where James VI was born (he later became James I of England), and where Mary, Queen of Scots lived. We also saw a map grossly mislabeled. In the city of Edinburgh, home of smart people like Walter Scott, Adam Smith, and David Hume, as well as a massive university, they apparently cannot tell where on the map Edinburgh is. Who ever made this map, labeled Edinburgh where Glasgow is. Hmm. not the brightest.

Then we had Dim Sum. I always want to try new things, and we have a girl who is Chinese, and always wants to go to Dim Sum. Unfortunately, there's never anything I can eat there. I suppose I like American Chinese because they usually have veggie options, and the real stuff doesn't. 

after lunch, I laid on the grass for about 45 minutes, just in enjoying the sun. It was great. Then I did some homework, and we went to dinner at a french place for dinner. It was another situation of few veggie options. But I got a good goat cheese on bread thing. 

The next day, though, was the best! We woke up super early and climbed Arthur's Seat, which is the highest point in the surrounding area. We could see all the way to the Firth of Forth, which is the best geographical term ever! It was a group of about 8, and we  started off seeing the ruins of the Abbey of St. Andrew, and then hiked up further to the top. It was once a volcano, so it was rocky and I felt like a mountain goat. At the top you could see so much! It was just 360 degrees and super windy. We walked to another hill top and then walked back down. The whole time, Molly, Parasa and I did a stunning rendition of the Sound of Music, with a grand finale of Edleweiss. It was great, believe you me. We included spinning 'round and everything. 

Then we went to the the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter. The Elephant House hasn't given into the press, and doesn't really mention it. But it has amazing food which is really cheap. I had a brie, apple, and red current baugette, with a cranberry smoothie. Tasty! I felt so relaxed after that hike. We walked along the Royal mile, and then I took a nap. Then we had a pint and went to a Mexican place for dinner and drinks. It was so good! I had some tasty nachos. Every one was really impressed, because no one expected to ever find good Mexican here. 

Today we're on our way home. It will take us six hours, two trains and a coach. Ugh. We got up early to enjoy our last day in the city, but everything was closed! It was shocking and a bummer. But now we're on the train, and I'm taking a break from writing my essay.

And now I'm home! Isn't it amazing how the internet works that way? We just had the craziest journey home. Right after I wrote the above, our train suddenly terminated in the middle of no where. But of course, we couldn't hear the conductor tell us that, so we sat around stupidly for a few minutes, and then followed a mass exodus to another train. We lost our seats, of course. Then we had to get off the train two stops later and take replacement coach services for an hour, and then get back onto another train to travel 25 minutes into King's Cross. I nearly got cut in two as we raced to jump on the train just as it left. Then, I got stuck in between two cars as I was trying to go to the loo. Scariest moment of my life, but thankfully there was a man on the other side who helpfully pushed the "Door Open" button a few times... 

Then we hoped on the Piccadilly line, then caught the bus to the Royal Albert Hall so we had a five minute walk instead of 20. Long night. 

Some pictures are uploaded to flikr. There's a video, too! I won't have time to tag it, so I'll let you know that it's a 360 of the top of Arthur's Seat. Pretty neat. I was balanced precariously on the top of a jagged rock, so I apologise for the shakiness. 

Ok, so just a warning. I smashed my middle finger on my right hand two nights ago. So any typos involving the letters j,u,i,o,k,l,n,m, or the comma and period? Not my fault! It just hurts to type properly, though I am trying. Any other typos, I will take full responsibility for. Grammar? Now that's out the window, because I refuse to fix the above dangling preposition. Ok... I will take full responsibility for any other typos. Happy?
And photos on flikr are being turned as we...erm. type. Hoxton is done and I'll get to Cambridge in a minute.

So where was I? Somewhere in the Cotswolds, it was pouring down, Dad and I were bickering. Right

So the next day(Thursday?), we stayed in the same area. We saw a huge iron bridge. Apparently, it was built by a Quaker, so he stipulated that the Royal Family would always have to pay a toll, just like everyone else. There's a picture of Prince Charles in about 1970 paying a half penny to cross. Pretty amusing. I'm sure that there's some think about the wonders of the Industrial Revolution, blah blah blah. Me? I'm concerned with the juicy stuff. We then moved on up to Coventry, where we saw the cathedral, which is a modern building. The church, St. Micheal's, was bombed during the war, and they didn't rebuild. So this is one of the newest cathedrals I've ever seen. Right as we got there, three police (they were really community support officers) had to escort a man out. As he was leaving he said "you're not going to arrest me, are you?" which was amusing. But no, they promised they wouldn't if he went with them. Then we found a place to stay for the night. The lady at the desk directed us to a thai place "up the slip road, past the barrier that isn't really a barrier because it's broke, across the highway, and up the road." And let me tell you. Best Thai ever. Really. Even better than TV. Dad said so, too. It was like walking right into Thailand. I'm still having cravings for it. And it was in the middle of nowhere!
Friday, we headed to Norfolk, with a brief stop in Cambridge. It was a really nice day, and we saw King's College and Trinity college. We took pictures of all the flowers and pretty architecture. Then we went to Norfolk and met up with our friends Alan and Sarah. They are super nice. If you'll all recall, I went up to see them a couple weekends ago. It's not as worrisome when your parents are there, too. We went for a drive along the coast, and I showed off my amazing memory. Every time we go up, Alan askes us similar questions, and I got them all right. Bam! I am so good! Even Mom said so.
On Saturday, there was a steam gala in the area. Yup. A steam gala. Care to ask me about steam engines? Because this weekend, I went to the steam museum in kew. So I've been immersed in steam for an entire week. The original steam engines pumped water out of mines because England has a high water table, so it's hard to keep everythign dry. The original pumps had an efficiency of about .5%. Then James Watt came along.... never mind.
The steam gala was a ton of steam trains. If you're really interested, ask my dad. He likes that stuff, and will talk your ear off. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Saturday afternoon, mom and I left dad and ventured out with a friend. I took a nap in the car. Then we went to her house and made dinner. I read a book. Can you tell I had reached my socialibily quota for the week? No? Well, then.
Sunday, we headed back for London. The Transport Museum has a repository of all their additional vechicals and stuff in Acton, and it's only open once or twice a year. And guess what? This just happened to be the weekend! So we went and looked at old tube cars and buses and stuff. And then a hurricane swept through, and mom and I thought it would be a good time to leave. Turns out that half an hour later, the curator of the museum gave a talk on the posters of the Underground. Which is what I'm doing for my research paper. Wow. Talk about bad timing. Or Karma. I'm still wondering what I did wrong.
So that was Spring Break! Everyone else went to Amserdam, which was wet and not fun. So I ended up having a better time, I think.
This last week in class, we went to Hoxton, which is an artsy area. As you might guess from the pictures. It was nice to walk around. I love our Global City class because so far, we've only been in the class room three times. It's a good way to see the city and go places we wouldn't usually go. Tomorrow, we're going to a mosque, and all the girls have to cover their hair. Apparently when the group went last year, it turned into a rant about the evils of western culture. So we'll see how this goes. I'm afraid that my professor doesn't go out of her way to focus on positive Islam, instead she feeds into the stereotypes of fundamentalism. It's a bit worrying. I'd rather just talk about the Sufis. Good old Sufis.
Anyway! My laundry is almost done, so I'm off. Go enjoy my pictures!

Plus!

And now there are photos on flikr. I'm thinking about moving photosites because I can't have more than 200 photos, but for now, that's where they are. Sorry they're not turned yet. In a few days, they will be, but right now, I'm snuggling up with the HMs Indefagitable and one Lieutenant Horatio Hornblower. Most excellent!

Also! That last post was dedicated to Ms Mary Mac, who got me off my butt and on to updating. 

Thanks, cous!

Spring Break Part One!

Well, it's certainly been a long time, hasn't it? Well, I did go on Spring Break with the parentals last week. I'll recap that just briefly. 

So mom and dad arrived on Friday. It was the warmest day since I've been here. So I walked around Hyde Park for the better part of two hours. It was nice to see so many people out! The last time the park was so full was the snow day. I'm sure there's some epic connection to be drawn from that about Londoners and their weather, but I'm not feeling up to it. And then I made myself the best sandwich ever, and just as I take my first bite, there's a really annoying knock at the door. I think about ignoring it in favor of my cucumber/red pepper/two cheese and mayo on wheat, but think better of it, because it will just keep happening. And guess who it is! My parents. So then we go walk around Kensington Gardens, then retire to their place (up five flights) for hot coco and birthday present. Best conversation ever. Thanks for the salt seester! We went to dinner somewhere, I'm sure. But I can't remember.

On Saturday, we followed a William Morris trail across London. Morris was the founder of the English Arts and Crafts movement, which was a backlash to the Industrial Revolution, and the deskilling of labour. We started off at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in the tea room decked out in full A&C style. Then we went upstairs to the design section, which was quite difficult due to various works and repairs. You would think that they wanted to trap us! We then went to All Saints on St. Margaret Street, off of Oxford Circus (where I got my shoes!). It is a Catholic Church in an A&C style. It was almost entirely tiled, top to bottom, walls included. Mom and I played Name Your Saints. It's funny how you absorb a popular memory of random things. So we could name St Catherine because she has a wheel (I think she was martyred on one..wait..yes, wikipedia supports me), and there's a British firecracker called St.Catherine's Wheel. And I read about it in Harry Potter when Fred and George leave Hogwarts in the fifth book. Funny how these things stay with you, eh? So then we went to Morris's house where his printing press still is. We watched some one make a print, and looked through books of fabric designed by Morris and his daughter, Jane. After that, we went down past Tooting Bec (yes, I got a photo!) to Merton Abbey Mills, an old mill sight that was the the location of a few A&C mills and factories. I got a giant bowl. I hope it survived the trip home. 

Then we had dinner with Paul Havelka.  Yeah, I know! I've now seen him more here in London than in all my memory. We went to a tasty Thai place. 

Sunday, we went to Kew Gardens. It was very pretty, if a bit cold. The coolest part was the hot house with more orchids than I've ever seen in my life.  Then we went to the transport museum. I've been there once before, but I'm doing a project on the art of the Underground, so I was happy to have mom pay my entrance fee to take notes. We left dad after about an hour to try and see Twelfth Night. But apparently, they were sold out for the next two weeks. I guess they make a pretty good business selling over-priced tickets to poor, desperate tourists who are willing to wait in line forever. The lady told us tickets would be £32.50, and using all our pocket change and one piece of lint that looked like 50p, mom and I managed to make it up. Turns out the tickets were £32.50 each. Oh. So instead, I bought mom some tea in the crypt at St.Martin of the Fields. It's been spiffed up since the last time I was there. Which is very bizarre, if you think about it. A crypt. Spiffed up with a circular elevator and everything.  Then we went to the National Portrait Gallery and sat in front of the Seurat (The Bathers) for about 15 minutes. Then Van Gogh. The Monet. Can you tell our feet were tired?

Then dad was late. Of course. I think I was the most timely of the bunch, this go around. 

Monday we left London. My description will now get increasingly less descriptive. 

Monday, we went to Devon. It was pretty, if a bit wet. Dad met a business contact in BFE. 

But it was prettier than that. We saw some moors and stayed the night at a pub where the dog was allowed up on the seat with you. It was the old court house, and they had a coat of arms from Charles II, and a Tudor frieze from before that. Just chillin' in a room. Hey there, history. Oh hey there, Becca. 'Sup? (This will become some what of a theme of this trip.)

So Tuesday was similar. But add in gale force winds, more moors, and buckets of rain. I think I can honestly say it was pissing down rain when we arrived in the Cotswolds, and not feel bad. Mainly because it was. We ate at the Mermaid, because it was the only reasonable place in town. Mom, dad and I had tasty, tasty cider. Dad and I bickered (see the subject of 'themes' a few lines up).

I'll leave the scene set at pouring rain, because it will be the last time we see it for the trip. 

Now, I'll go fix the colors of the blog because some people apparently can't handle it. 

Try and comment will you? Hey Grandma! Will you comment, too, so I can see if it still works for at least one person?

To be continued....

 

To tide you over

I'm off on Spring Break with the parents this week. Not only am I behind a week on blogging, but I might not have chance to catch up for a while. But if you'd like to see pictures of Bath and the City of London, here ya go: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/midgetwithasword/AnAmericanStudentInLondon

Bath was my birthday weekend, and The City was during school last week. Yeah, that's right. We walk around the city for class. This place rocks.

P.S. I still can't figure out the comments. The only person they work for is my grandma. Go figure. 

Odds and Ends

Alright. So the photo situation is thus: I have used up my limit on flikr for the month, and have no desire to pay $25 for more space... So right now I'm trying to upload my photos to Google's flikr, Picasa. I'm not sure how to direct you to the site, but I'll figure it out. I have about 100 photos from Stonehenge, Bath, and the City of London. Plus some more from Oxford. There will be no complaining, dear internet, about a lack of photos. I'm surprising myself, even.

Item two of business: I've heard that no one can post comments. The comments work just fine for me. Hmm.. I'm not sure what to do about it. I'll try and work on it.  Okay, I turned off the word verification, so comment away!

Now on to more interesting topics. I would like to apologize for the length of the last post. I was doing laundry at the time, a process which requires at least two hours, and I got shafted out of my dryer. So I had plenty of time on my hands. Any one who knows me knows that I hate, hate, hate laundry, and having it be a three hour plus ordeal, is very painful. In addition to the time, the only available washer/dryer was on the fifth floor. No joke. There was one available (the other set being used by the maids in the basement, and I don't begrudge them that at all) up five flights of stairs, while the computer lab was down in the basement. Not a fun hike. 

Wait. Didn't I say I was moving on to more pleasant subjects? Right. 

So this weekend, it was my birthday. That was exciting, though I have no photos to prove it. I met my brother in law for the morning at the Haywood Art Gallery. We saw an exhibit that showcased things that change perception: things like optical illusions, freeze-frame photography (I'm pretty sure I just made that name up), famous events that changed a nation's perception of the world, or events spun by the media to give a certain perception. It was thought provoking, though I must admit that I did much of that thinking right now. The coolest part was a silver TARDIS, which when photographed from the right angle, made it look like it was fading away. Very neat. 

We then went to lunch with my b-i-l's sister and husband. I had a pesto, artichoke heart, tomato concoction. Tasty. We then walked along the Thames, and I got an early morning call from my parents. It was early morning for them, not me, thankfully. I would like to note here that I am now considered an adult in every sense of the word, and promise to always be responsible. I'm 21, not 12. 

In the afternoon, we found a pub which unfortunately had all the personality of a hotel bar. Of course, this was 2 in the afternoon, which may have contributed to the problem. A few of my brother-in-law's  friends stopped by, and by the time we left, the place was hopping. They nicely walked me home, though I think it was mostly a ploy to use our bathroom. That may have been one of the best parts of the night. My roommates, expecting just me, are treated to three terribly awkward British men instead!

That was all that really happened for my birthday. Earlier in the week, we had a pizza party for February birthdays, which included tasty cupcakes! (Though I will admit, dear internet, that they were not as good as yours.) And pizza! And Gin and Tonics! And Kings Cup with my professor! (If you don't know what Kings Cup is...well. Don't worry. You aren't missing out.) And cider! And cider! And people who finished at least half of every drink I had, so I didn't end up drinking much at all! 

So I really had a three day jubilee. It was quite nice. 

Moving forward to the weekend. 

On Saturday, we got up at 6 in the morning and went to Oxford. Holy snot balls, Batman. This is what I had been waiting for. I can safely say that February 21st (conveniently Alan Rickman's birthday) was the best day I've had so far on this trip. We took the train, which only took 50 minutes, and was only £20. But Oxford just felt right. It reminded me of when I first stepped out of the car when I was here October 2006. I'm trying to come up with a metaphor, but they all seem not quite right, but I'll go for the best one. It's like when you've been in bed all night, and slip out just for a minute in the morning, maybe to use the loo, or turn off the alarm. But then you go back to bed, and there's still the indent of where you've been laying all night, and it's still nice and warm, and it's Saturday morning, so you're allowed to drift off again into a hazy dream land where anything is possible. It's so easy and comfortable to slip back into place. 

That's what the England countryside is like for me. It's a warm blanket that has a perfect spot waiting.

We had a Blue Badge Guided tour of the city in the morning, which mostly involved seeing some of the colleges of Oxford. I'm sure most of you know this, having read far too much, but I'll explain it anyway. Oxford is the university, but it's made up of 35 colleges, 30 of which accept undergraduates. There is not particularly one college that is better than the rest, and they all teach every subject, so you don't go to say, Christ Church for science, and New College for history. Everyone teaches everything. This means that students choose their colleges for silly reasons, such as food, or proximity to pubs, or where their friends are going. This also means that, if your college of choice is at full enrollment, but you're a good candidate, the selection committee can recommend you to another college that still has room. 

So we saw the Bodleian Library, the oldest library at Oxford, Christ Church, the Radcliffe Camera, and much, much more. I have pictures! They're up on flikr, but not labeled! It's like a guessing game. What fun! Seeing the colleges sort of made me want to go to Oxford, though I know I wouldn't be up to it. My academic style has certainly changed in the last three years, and I don't think I could stand such rigour. That's not to say that I couldn't do it, just that I wouldn't want to. 

In the afternoon, we split up into groups to explore the city. First, we tried to walk along the Oxford canal and find a spot for a picnic. No such luck. What appears on a map to be a grassy knoll usually ended up being college land where you weren't allowed on the grass. I guess they don't have Frisbee here. Otherwise, all grass would be walkable. Or maybe they have a really intense ultimate team, and the untouchable grass is an obstacle. In any case, we could not find a place to sit to save our lives. We ended up walking off the map. Talk about a disconcerting experience. 

I'm joking; we didn't feel a thing. By walking off the map, we found the new site of the Oxford University Press. Yes, I took a photo. Yes, I am a history major. Yes, I am a nerd. We then stumbled upon the St Sepulchre's Cemetery. It was opened in 1849, as an overflow cemetery. It was then closed in 1945, presumably due to a lack of space. Today, it's not well taken care of, which I think enhances its mystery. It is full of ivy and flower covered tombstones.  It was peaceful and huge. And now according to wikipedia, there is no St Sepulchre. And here I thought that the poor man just had a terrible name. There are however, four St. Severuses. (Severi?). Just some trivia knowledge for you, dear internet. 

We ended the day with a pint, of course. Then we hoped on the train home, and I watched the sunset for a little, then fell asleep. Oh transportation, why are you so lulling? 

So that was just Friday and Saturday! Sunday will be coming shortly!

Hey there, just letting you know that there are more pictures up on flikr from my day in Oxford. It was the best day EVAR. More on that later. I've now reached my uploading limit for the month of february. That's unfortunate, so I'm sort of looking for other places to host my photos. But for now, go see Oxford. There are about 60 photos, and none of them are properly described right now. I'll get to all that, eventually. Tomorrow, I'm off to Bath and Stonehenge, but some photos might only end up here. 

Anyway! I'll write more later, but I'm off to shower, eat, and sleep. 

I'm so far behind! (Hence the length of this post)

Hello all, sorry I'm a bit behind in updating... But this week has been a bit busier than last.
What have I done this week? Hmmm...
On Friday, the rest of the group went to the Tower of London, built by William the Conquerer in about 1068 ( I am fudging that number, so don't quote me on it.) It's since been used by several kings and queens, and is most famous for being a prison for those high class citizens accused of treason-- like Thomas More and Anne Boylen. In fact, it's where most of these high class citizens were also beheaded. No, even in medieval times, the rich and famous did not have to suffer the double blow of being locked up and being locked up with poor people. Heaven forbid.
But today it is a museum where the Crown jewels are kept, which you can view on a convienent moving sidewalk, so you don't have to walk while admiring the best of British pomp and circumstance.
I elected not to go, having been there before with my mom. We saw the jewels, took at tour with a strangely dressed man, and booked through so we could have time to go to the National Gallery. It's all about your priorities, you see. And I'll take Constable, Hogarth, Monet, and Seurat over an over-priced, written for the lowest common denominator version of British history. Not that I'm an elitest. Never.
Instead, I hopped on a bus for Norfolk, which is the county right on the eastern 'bump' of England. It's about two hours away by car, three and half to four by bus. For some strange reason, the bus leaves from the north side of the Thames, but then travels south of the river for wee bit, then comes back north, for no apparent reason. I'm told that it's faster to go on the south side of the river, but given how long it takes to get anywhere, I can't understand why they think that taking a huge detour (about twenty to thirty minutes) is really going to save them much time. But that is the beauty of England, I suppose. They're wonderful at just muddling along. It may have been faster to travel on the south bank of the Thames ten years ago, so they'll stick to it, just because that's what they've always done.
So after four hours and ten minutes on a bus, I arrived in the town of Fakenham, population 8,000. I was half an hour late, at best.
We have family friends in Fakenham, so they were there waiting for me. It's amazing how you can be transported to a whole new world and still be on the same island, yet you've only traveled a few hours. I've been living with college students for the last month and half. I've eaten off of plates, out of tupperwear, haven't even bothered with a plate. I drank from the carton when we had no glasses, I've eaten grilled cheese four days in a row for lunch (I was particularly uninspired that week).
And then bam! I'm in a world where I have to think about which knife to use, where to put my butter, what to do with my hands, remember the proper way to hold a knife and fork (not to mention actually remembering to use both items), remember how many times it's proper to offer to lend a hand, and where to sit, and wonder when should I sit, and what should I do when both of the hosts have left the room, but have declined any and all help in the kitchen, and most importantly, I have to remember not to use phrases like "frankly, we pulled it out of our---" well, I suppose I should remember not to use that phrase in other places, too.
You see now, dear internet, that this was not a totally relaxing time in the country. It's always hard for me to be proper. I confess that Americans really are much more causal, and I often feel large and clumsy when it comes to more formal occasions, even if the occasion is simply spending a weekend with family friends in their Georgian home in the countryside.
I also have to confess that I was supremely grateful for having read Miss Vanderbilt's Guide to Etiquitte in the few days before I left. It remedied most of the problems I described above, though I also wish I could have brought it with me for handy reference. Please pass on my thanks, dear internet, to the appropriate parties.
On Friday night, we had a nice night in, and I got the most sleep I've had in a week. I also caught a cold. Or rather, the cold finally caught up to me. Everyone in the flat has been sick all week, and I had a sore throat on the ride up to Fakenham. I think that a week of no sleep, due to roommates who like to stay up until four in the morning, and until two with the lights on, made my sickness inevitable. But I had a nice little cocoon of warmth and stayed in bed until 9:30. Early for me, late for them.
On Saturday after our leisurely start, we went to Norwich, which was once the second largest city after London. Until the Industrial Revolution when Manchester and Birmingham (I'm guessing on the second one), with their factories, textiles, and coal took over, Norwich remained a booming agricultural town with about 50,000 people. But by the 19th century, industrialisation was the name of the game, and poor old agraian Norwich couldn't keep up.
We walked around for a while, visited the last remaining cobble stone street, had a tasty "apple warmer" (aka apple cider), and then headed up to the castle. It some what after the Tower of London, but it is much the same in that it is rather...cubical. What remains of the castle, the keep, looks like a giant, single colored rubics cube. But when you climb up to it, it offers a great view of the city. Inside, it is a castle museum, but also offers a regular museum housed in an addition. In 1152, King Henry spent Christmas at the castle, and going by the exhibit in the keep, that's the only exciting event to have ever happened, in all Norwich castle's history. It was later turned into a full prision, with different styles of confining prisioners through out the centuries. I was constantly annoyed with the exhibit, from an editor's position. The word choice and sentence sturcture was designed for second-graders, none of whom would want to spend time reading when they could be running around making a racket on the wooden floors. They should have written for about a four grade level, as that seemed to be about the age when kids would even look at the exhibits. It was poorly formatted, which was distracting and there were several sentace fragments, which didn't help my distraction. Not that I'm an elitest. But I do expect a lot from museums, given that there are a lot of talented people without jobs who could create simple, yet engaging exhibits, given half a chance. Also, I expect that any one who is creating a museum exhibit at a major museum, such as this one, to have a college education. And having a college education usually involves knowing that a sentence needs both a subject and a verb, otherwise it doesn't make much sense.
But the rest of the museum was lovely. There were two art galleries, one with a large collection of teapots, and another with several watercolors by the members of the Norfolk school, who were known for their Norfolk skies, and churning waters. There was also a section on Boudicca, the 1st century Icendi warrior queen who led a rebellion against the Romans (and nearly kicked them out of Britain!). The museum also had a large collection of stuff they dug up in and around Norfolk. Now that would be quite the exhibit. "Some Stuff that we Found". There were coins and belt buckles, rings and braclets. Just stuff.
Then for dinner (we had all forgotten it was Valentine's Day), we went to an Italian place, and met up with more friends of the family. It was good. I got pizza with artichoke hearts, black olives, goat's cheese, some other kind of cheese, and rocket (salad). Except the restaurant didn't have the salad in brackets, so I thought it was "rocket and some other kind of cheese" as in...two cheeses. Imagine my shock, when they actually meant lettuce. I know, right? But it was good none the less. And it was good to chat.
Sunday, I caught the 10:25 bus home, and despite my best intentions to do homework and write a letter, I fell asleep for most of it. I was quite sick at this point, and I've never been good at staying awake in the car, as all of my family can attest to.
So this week, we had our first real assignment due, a five-six page paper for our Diaspora studies class. I finished mine last week, so that I could go to Norfolk, but some people were doing it the night before. It's nice to see that somethings don't change a bit. Then in class, we had to go around the room and talk about our papers, not something that's ever done in the states. And now I can see why. We all knew about each other's papers, given that we all live together, and it was boring to listen to other people talking about poorly written papers, and it was boring to talk about our own poorly written papers. Furthermore, the subject of these papers was one which we had beaten until it was dead. several times over. And our papers had little chance for original insight, so why make it worse?
Tuesday was the most trying day of the trip. Combine stressful Monday night, with semi-interesting, but far too long morning class, and a trying afternoon, and it's understandable that everyone in my room was in their pjs by about 7. No joke. I curled up with a cup of tea and Midshipman Hornblower, and had a relaxing evening.

So there you go! That was my weekend. I'll update in the next few days with my three day celebration leading up to my 21st birthday!

Photos

There are new photos up on flikr. You should all check them out. Also! will some one try commenting on this post? I've heard that my blog hasn't been accepting comments, so I changed some settings, but I don't know if they work yet. So tell me how much you miss me. Or wish me Happy Birthday a week early. 

I'm off to Norfolk this weekend, so I'll post about that when I get back. It's been a quiet week around here, so not too much to report. 

One Month

It's our one month anniversary of being in London, and I feel like I've hit a brick wall.  For the first month, everyone got along great, we went out and about at every opportunity, pub crawled, didn't worry about homework, and in essence, continued our winter break. 

But now we've all had a month to settle in, and things are not running as smoothly. It's amazing what people will put up with for a month, while they're still shell-shocked. It's frustrating to have people complaining 24/7 about things that don't really matter. But it's equally frustrating to be in a group of people who aren't respectful of each other. I'd only like to say that 14 people + 1 kitchen= a night mare for those with OCD. As in, myself. 

So what cool things have I been doing?

Today, I went to the National Gallery, and saw some awesome paintings. It's my favorite museum and I loved being five feet away from Seurat's Bathers (though of course, it looks better from 10 feet away). I also loved their collection of Monets, Constables, and Hogarths. I didn't even know Hogarth did anything besides prints. You learn something new everyday.

I also was chatted up by an Italian boy who was selling me pizza, as was his duty as a good Italian boy. I was all on my lonesome, for some good quality me time, and randomly ran in to two of my flat mates. I didn't know that they would be out, nor them I. How crazy is it that in a massive city the size of London, we would run into each other? Bizarre, I tell you.

Also this week, we had a snow day!! It was very exciting, and for the first time in a long while, I was excited for the snow. My roommate, a flat mate, and I went to Hyde Park and made a punk rock snowman. Then, we left for five minutes, and some punks knocked it down. Those jerks. My roommate and I walked down to Sainsbury's which was an amusing experience, and trecked  back home. Let me tell you, a mile in the snow and back is rough work. We hit the pub with a couple of friends at about 3:30, and had an enjoyable afternoon playing Rummy 500, drinking cider, and watching the snow fall. It was a most excellent day. I've had three snow days in the the past three months, and all of them have been worthwhile. 

We only had school on Tuesday this week, but I wasn't terribly motivated to make the most of it. We were supposed to go to Stonehenge and Bath today, but that was cancelled due to bad weather in Bath. Originally, a few of the girls and I were planning to go to Dublin on this five day weekend, but the Bath trip cancelled our plans. So in the end, nothing about this week worked out right. Instead, we sat around the house, because it was freezing outside. Wednesday, we did go out to the Camden Markets, where I got an adorable purple plaid jacket. Friday, we went to Portabello Road Markets, which are mostly food on weekdays, but no one would make up their minds, and it was terribly cold, so we ate at a pub instead. I plan on returning for the falafel and olive bar in the coming weeks. 

Speaking of the coming weeks, next weekend, I'm off to Norfolk to see some family friends, and I'm very excited for it. Then the week after, it's my birthday, so I expect to have a good time, too. 

That's it for now; I uploaded new photos from the snow day to my flikr account, so click the link to the left for some snow pics. Hopefully, I'll add a few that Molly, my roommate took, of me and Mike with our creation. 

My favourite photo so far

P1010033
Originally uploaded by midgetwithasword

This is an advertisement that you can see all my photos at flikr, under the user name midgetwithasword. There's a slide show on the side, which I think links through. I'll be adding more pictures whenever I have faster internet, I promise

Why the British are Awesome

So I went out to dinner tonight with an old family friend who works as a flight attendant and stays right down the road from me when he's in London. It has been very, very chilly here lately, even snowing on and off today. I hoped to catch the 49 down the street to save me 10 minutes of icy walking (hey, it's free for me, so why not?). But as I was walking out my flat, I noticed the bus was already in the turn lane at the corner, with a green light. I booked it down the street, only to miss the bus by about 20 feet... or so I thought. But then the bus stopped, and I was able to hop on (sometimes, bus drivers are mean and won't let you on if you run up and they've already shut their doors. Just a heads up.).  So I move to the back, and stand next to a 50ish gentleman, who is about ready to get off. Right before his stop, he turns to me and says, "I saw you running for the bus, so I pushed the stop button, even though it wasn't my stop. I'm glad you made it on."

How nice is that? See, that's what  I love about the British. They are so unassuming, and private, but they will do nice things like that, and are usually very polite about everything. So I thanked this gentleman, and he goes the extra step and wishes me a very enjoyable evening. I believe he actually he really used those exact words. 

I was astonished about how polite and nice he was. I know that nice is a word that is overused, and it's hard to really know what it means anymore. It's like cute. What does cute even mean? It can describe animals, boys, babies, and cars. What does nice mean? It describes people, suits, cars, and other material objects. 

But I think that there isn't a better word for this gentleman. He was nice. He went out of his way to help a stranger out, just because. Because it's cold outside, or I was running, or maybe he thought I was cute. Who knows? 

In any case, he certainly endeared me to the British even more.

Because I can't describe it myself

Here's a quote about London that I found particularly appealing, in a book I'm reading called "London: The Biography" by Peter Ackroyd. It's a behemoth at 779 pages, and I'm 76 pages in. 

 A 19th century American, James Russell Lowell once described London thusly:

"I confess that I never think of London, which I love, without thinking of that palace which David built for Bathsheba, sitting in hearing of one hundred streams-- streams of thought, of intelligence, of activity. One other thing about London impresses me beyond any other sound I have ever heard, and this is the low, unceasing roar one hears always in the air; it is not a mere accident, like a tempest or a cataract, but it is impressive, because it always indicates human will, and impulse, and conscious movement; and I confess that when I hear it I almost feel a if I were listening to the roaring loom of time."

That's definitely how I feel some times, especially about the sound. It is so loud constantly. I love the sound of traffic right out my window, which is surprising. It's a constant, reassuring sound, and I love listening to it at night. Funny, given how hard it used to be for me to sleep. I suppose that it's more lulling than bad guitar or loud talking. 

We all watched the Inauguration together, and had a rousing round of cheers at the time, as well as arguments over Rick Warren, the oath flub, Prayer and God in the state and what ever else we thought to argue over. It need not be mentioned that we all started imbibing various at around 4 pm. But it seemed fitting at the time. 

So what else have I been doing besides toasting our new president? I went to classes, which are good, for the most part. I'll blog about that later. We went to the London Transport Museum! as part of one of my class. That was pretty good, though I wish I would have had more time... we only had about an hour and a half. And we all know that I love transport more than that. 

We've been out to various clubs and pubs. I think I've been to about 5 different pubs, from the Goat Tavern, to the Gloucester Arms, the Imperial Pub, The Queen's Larder,  and many more... we also went to a fairly upscale cocktail bar last night, in the furthest reaches of Zone two, Islington (ish), Drinks were two for one, which  was nice. I got some awesome heels, but they killed my feet. We walked all over last night, which is not what they are designed for. 

And that's all for now, I think. We'll see. 

Protests, Victoria and Albert

On Friday, we had a meeting with the FIE people, which was a bit boring. We also probably did some other things, but I can't really remember. 

Over the weekend, we had a free day on Saturday, where we went downtown for a while in the freezing cold. It was seriously below freezing, and we all quickly came home. We saw Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and the Thames. Briefly, of course. That night, we enjoyed a few drinks down at the pub, the Gloucester Arms.

There were massive protests right outside our flat, over the Israeli bombing of Gaza. It was intense, and highly uncomfortable to be an America walking through the crowd. Many of them blamed America for supporting Israel, as well as Israel. Many kids weren't allowed through for several hours, though the group I was with had perfect timing, so we left soon after it started and got back right before they  brought in the cavalry (no joke, they did actually sweep the streets with cavalry). A couple police officers were injured, and one was knocked unconscious. 

Just to give you an idea of how close we actually were: we could see the unconscious police officer right out our window.  They also knocked out a few windows from the shops down the street, including a Starbucks, which of course, was the one to get international press. The Israeli embassy is right down our street, and is entirely blocked off with bobbies out in front all the time.

Sunday morning, we  had a walking tour of the area. Turns out we're technically across the street from Kensington Gardens, as Kensington Palace is less than a mile from our place. Hyde Park is right next door, and they sort of connect to each other. We walked through the Park, to the Diana Memorial (described by our guide as a 'glorified moat'). We also went around Kensington, and saw the place where the riots had been. 

In the afternoon, we had a guided bus tour of London, were we saw the sights and got out at Buckingham Palace and near Tower Bridge. It was pretty run-of-the-mill, though the guide was a really amusing 50-ish lady with purple hair. 

School started Monday, I'll post later.

I went to the Victoria and Albert today with two other kids on the trip. That place has so much packed into it, you cannot do it in one trip. We saw the medieval casts of effigies and doors and archways, jewelry, silver, painting, and tapestry. For some strange reason, the tapestry room smelled terrible! So we only spent a bit of time in there. 

We'll go back in the future for sculpture, iron work, Asian art, and tons more. 

Woo! Packed days!

First Post!

So I've been in London for three days now. I'm surprised that everyone thinks that I've done tons of things already. But I'll confess that these last three days have been pretty mellow. The first day, I stayed at my professor's flat but it was really cold, so we didn't really venture out, except for dinner. We ate at a tiny, hole in the wall falafel place, which was cheap and tasty. 

Yesterday, we moved in. After sleeping through my alarm, I got a bit of a late start to the day. We walked to my dorm, which is literally across the street from Hyde Park (hence the name of this blog). I will have proof tomorrow, as you can see the park from my window. I'm in a room with three other girls, which will be interesting. We are right next to the Dutch embassy, and can see into their offices. Our bathroom is tiny and we have the smallest one in the whole apartment. The girl with a single has a larger bathroom that we do.  We also have the most number of people in our room, so this is especially troubling. Thank goodness I don't have an extensive routine in the morning. 

Last night we went to The Goat's Tavern right down the road for dinner and a drink. Tasty. So that was a good way to start the night. Tonight I'm  just taking it easy, but every one has plans for Saturday night revelry. We plan on going to the Natural History Museum tomorrow, which is only a short distance away. Today I ate breakfast in Hyde Park, which was nice, but freezing. We seem to have a cold snap right now, and I'm decked out in my long underwear, several layers, scarves and gloves. Our house is really old, and the heat doesn't really work, so it's quite chilly right now. Hopefully it will warm up in the next few days. 

We also just received our stipend, which is over double what it was expected to be, which is a very nice surprise! It means more money for things like theater, or concerts as well as food and maybe travel. The Royal  Albert Hall us just down the road, which is convenient. 

So life is good right now, but I'm still a bit too tired to be communicative.