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.