Monday. Went and got my official library card to the Senate House Library here in London and did some research for a presentation I had to do for Barnaby (Art & Architecture). We each had to present on a painting of our choosing from the Tate Britain that was done between 1700 and 1900. I chose a John Singer Sargent piece called "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose." Anyway, that was why I was at the Tate on Sunday (I think I may be repeating myself here). And that was why I finally got myself together and went to the lib on Monday. Went to College Arms Monday night and Jemma our bartender friend invited us to go to a Soul Club with her and Johnna (I dunno how to spell her name), one of the other barmaids, on Thursday, so that's the plan!
Tuesday was cool. Class with Susie in the morning (Life & Culture), and we talked about the monarchy. Afternoon we grabbed fish and chips at this place near class that apparently is in John's tourist book, called the Friar's Delight, and it was truly delightful. Afternoon we went on a tour of Parliament that was SO COOL. We couldn't take pictures inside, but it was beautiful. We got to go into the House of Commons, House of Lords, the Royal Robing Room (where the Queen puts on her robes to do the opening/closing of Parliament ceremonies), the rooms where members of Parliament go when they're voting (they leave the chambers and go to either the left or right to vote yes or no), andddd other things. Anyway, it was interesting, and our guide was excellent. Cool stuff. When we got back to the flat, we all had lots of stuff to do. Finishing up our presentations for Barnaby and reading Henry IV part 2 for classes today.
During a break from working, I was hanging out with the boys and trying to explain Wawa to them. For ONCE, they were receptive to believing that Wawa is actually as incredible as we all know, and John went to far as to tell me that, "it doesn't sound like a 'glorified convenience store,' it sounds like a magical emporium of deliciousness!" I can hardly think of a better way to describe it.
Presentations this morning were great, and Jean let us out very early from Shakespeare this afternoon (beautifullllll) so I got to nap before heading back to the Globe tonight to see Henry IV part 2. Adding to the normal fun of getting to stand for 3 hours to watch a play, we finally got some real London-style rain. It was a constant rainfall of varying intensities over the course of the play. Thankfully, we were well-prepared and had on raingear. Didn't stop us from getting wet anyway (somehow my sleeves always manage to get soaked at the bottom, so my hands were pruney and frozen by the time I got back to the flat). Cold, wet and tired from another long day, we tramped back. And I've been sitting here in HQ blogging for the last 3 hours or so. I got distracted by skype. Which is a good thing because I got to talk to Adri AND Catherine Huyette! Mark of a good night :)
It's now 3:10am, and I'm going to bed. Night!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Why I Like Old People Better & Espionage
The Grand Scottish Tour for me only included two places: Glasgow and Edinburgh. In my next life (or just later in this one), I would love, love, love to go travel about the Highlands in Scotland, but it didn't happen on this journey of many, many steps.
Chase and I departed Thursday afternoon from the flat. Our train left from King's Cross at 3, so we had ample time after class to eat, pack and get ourselves there. John, Hayes, Chase and I grabbed some paninis at a little Italian sandwich place that we pass on our way to Holborn Tube Station that seems to only be open for lunch, Monday-Friday. Anyway, they make really yummy paninis there, so we popped in. Made our way back to the flat and had so much time that I ate and packed and had time to sit around remembering things I had forgotten to pack (rare occurrence that I have the time to remember things I've forgotten). Arrived at the train station without much ado, and off we went! Most of the train ride was long and boring, but towards the end we had these really spectacular views of the coastline that made (in my eyes, if not Chase's) the 5 hours on the train worthwhile.
Arrival in Glasgow was without fanfare. Walking to the hostel was pretty sketchy; I was definitely glad to not be flying solo. We discovered almost immediately that Scotland really IS hilly, and we got a workout trekking up and down hills to our accomodations. We kept passing these small herds of juvenile (delinquent?) boys, and my feeling that I was glad to not be alone only inensified as we walked. Got to the hostel safe and sound, and found out that the owner (who I talked to when I booked our stay) forgot to put us in "the book." Meaning we didn't have a room. BUT, not to fear, they were in the process of refurbishing another building across the road to turn into another hostel, so we were put up in a bedroom with two of the workers (they stay in town for 4 nights of the week and then go back to their respective homes for the weekend). Which was cool and all, except that one of them (two huge Russian dudes) snored like a FIEND. I'm serious. Never in your life have you heard snoring this loud and varied and punctuated with gross throat-clearing. GROSS. So Chase was supremely frustrated and ended up climbing down from his bunk bed and poking the guy like 10 times to get him to stop. I, for one, was just glad that he didn't punch Chase in the face and go back to happily snoring (he was HUGE!).
Next morning we were up pretty early to get free breakfast and head out (left bags at the hostel for later pick up). We went to the city necropolis (read: GIANT cemetary on top of a GIANT hill) and wandered around there for a while. This is where liking old people better first makes its appearance. As of approaching the necropolis, I was feeling creeped out by the city, was bothered by the fact that Glasgow is a city of people who REFUSE TO MAKE EYE CONTACT, and was just sort of generally energy-less. That is, until I passed a really nice old man on my way into the necropolis who was walking his dog. We chatted briefly, but it wasn't even our conversation that made the difference. It was his openness and his smile and the fact that he LOOKED at me. I didn't realize just how much I rely on that human connection in my everyday interactions. I couldn't understand half the things he was saying because his accent was SO thick, but we talked about his dog and he asked about my walk and he just sort of restored my faith in people. So, thus rejuvinated, up I trekked to the top of the necropolis. Where there were incredibly beautiful views of St. Mungo's Cathedral at its base and of the surrounding city and towns. It was so beautiful that I kept snapping pictures with my phone....and then realized that it might be weird/morbid that I was taking photos of a cemetary... and then decided that I didn't care.
Left the necropolis and went down to check out the church. Beautiful inside, and I really liked the plaque that they had posted just inside.
After exploring the church we headed to lunch at a place called Waxy O'Connors. Nice enough place, but notable because our server talked to us about Gaelic football and hurling and their differences (and how even guys who play both sports disagree ALL the time about rule discrepancies, in large part because they share the same season of play, and a lot of times guys will play on a team for each sport, necessitating some tricky every-other-weekend-scheduling). Interesting.
Trekked on to the botanical gardens at the complete opposite end of the city.
Somewhere along the lines we passed a square in the center of Glasgow with a larrrrrrge monument to Sir Walter Scott. He's a big deal, here in Scotland.
One thing I will say about monuments here in Europe: they are almost universally tall columns with a statue of the MAN they celebrate chilling at the top. I'll counter myself almost immediately with a monument in Edinburgh to, again, Walter Scott (I told you he's a big deal in Scotland). That one looked like a mini Gothic cathedral. But I digress (I'll post pics of that at the opportune moment in this post).
OK, so post-botanical gardens we headed back to the hostel. Chatted with the owner for a while (a totally California Scotsman with loong hair and a vocabulary more likely to be found on a naval cruiser than in a hostel) and then left for the bus station. No snags there, but a nice bus station attendant let us go on the earlier bus to Edinburgh since we were there so early. Thanks again Mr. Attendant!
Got into Edinburgh and immediately had better vibes from the city than I EVER got in Glasgow. About 5 minutes after checking in to the hostel and trekking up all 6 stories to get to our room, another American kid, David, popped in and was as excited to meet us as we were to meet him. Turns out he's from the same part of Atlanta that Chase is from; small world!? So the three of us bopped around for the night. Went to a little pub around the corner that had won the 2009 Edinburgh pub of the year and I hung out with (the title makes a reappearance!) an old man at the bar and we talked for probably a good 45 minutes about Scottish food and beer. For example, neeps and tatties? Yeah, those are turnips and potatoes. We also met two guys (sidenote: I was, besides the barmaid, the only female in the establishment. Which was tiny, granted, but it was still somewhat overwhelming, and I was grateful when 3 girls walked in to hang out with a big table full of guys on the other side of the bar) who were studying at the University of Edinburgh. A guy from Geneva, and one from Chile. They're roommates, and after they left the pub they were headed to club... so we, of course, joined them!
Espionage. AKA the name of the club we went to. It was a 6 level underground restaurant/bar/club. Ground floor and first underground floor were restaurant, and the 4 levels under those were dance floors and bars, each with its own DJ! So we, naturally, went straight down and danced our butts off. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've missed dancing. So we had a blast and then headed back to the hostel to rest up before another long day of walking.
Woke up and went straight to it. First stop, Gothic Scott Monument.
Lots of steps, but totally worth it for the views we had of the city. Four levels to stop and admire from, and a tiiiiiny spiral stairwell. Which leads me to this musing on Europeans: they HAVE to be skinny in order to visit half of the scenic overlook sights in Europe (or at least the UK). Because half of them are at the top of monuments like this one. With narrow little passageways like this one:
Hiked up to Edinburgh Castle only to find a line that FAR exceeded my patience. So we saw the outside of the castle but I never actually made it inside (Chase did later in the day when we split up, and said that it was cool but prrobably not worth the 14 pound entry fee that still applies as their "summer price" until October 1, so I'm ok with it). Left the Castle and walked away via the Royal Mile where we saw this:
Off to the other side of the city to climb ANOTHER massive hill (seriously, start a work out regimen before you ever decide to visit Edinburgh. Or don't be cheap, like me, and pay to take a bus tour) with more spectacular views that made the burning in my entire lower body worthwhile.
After leaving this hill, I was spent. Two days spent traipsing up and down interminable hills and layering and de-layering depending on whether or not the sun was out finally wore me down enough that I threw in the towel. Oh, but not til after we walked halfway to jebip down a random sidestreet that Chase claimed was the shopping street in Edinburgh. Lithe maybe? Or Liffe? Something like that. And maybe it is a big deal, but saving my feet from falling off was a bigger deal to me at that point. I don't regret it. At that point, we split up. I headed back to the hostel to grab some chicken fingers and Chase went to the Castle. We both made it back at approximately the same time, so we went to Pizza Hut for dinner. True story: Pizza Huts here are classy places. Real menus, clean tables, staff that seats you when you walk in. The pizza is exactly the same though (DELICIOUS). After dinner we literally went straight back to the hostel and straight to bed. It was about 8:30 by the time I had brushed my teeth and packed my things. And I passssssssed outtttttttttt. Slept beautifully, but going to bed so early wasn't ENTIRELY lame because we had to be out by 6:30 this morning to make it to the bus station to get to the airport for our flight at 8:15.
Made it back safely without major difficulty, and I decided to head to the Tate British to do some research for a project I've got coming up in my Art and Architecture class. On the floor was this cool mosaic that I liked (I like the sentiment of it, really)
Got to skype with Mom-Mom(!), Andrew, Mom and Dad... was so nice seeing Anj and Mom-Mom (and M&D but I see them more regularly on skype). Went to dinner with John and Hayes to a place called Nando's that makes some yummy chicken, and then came back here to skype. The boys are playing Pokemon and WOW on their computers and can't understand why I'm laughing at them. They're nerdy, but so am I. Just definitely NOT in a video game kinda way. So while I blog, they game. I think we're going to go grab a nightcap and catch up on each others' weekends.
Last comment. In the early aughts in the States, the status symbol car was the Hummer, right? Yeah, well here, if you're pretty sure that you're a big deal, you drive a Bentley. Sometimes a Porsche (which you'll see in the States, too, fair enough), but big deal means you drive a BENTLEY. Done.
Chase and I departed Thursday afternoon from the flat. Our train left from King's Cross at 3, so we had ample time after class to eat, pack and get ourselves there. John, Hayes, Chase and I grabbed some paninis at a little Italian sandwich place that we pass on our way to Holborn Tube Station that seems to only be open for lunch, Monday-Friday. Anyway, they make really yummy paninis there, so we popped in. Made our way back to the flat and had so much time that I ate and packed and had time to sit around remembering things I had forgotten to pack (rare occurrence that I have the time to remember things I've forgotten). Arrived at the train station without much ado, and off we went! Most of the train ride was long and boring, but towards the end we had these really spectacular views of the coastline that made (in my eyes, if not Chase's) the 5 hours on the train worthwhile.
Arrival in Glasgow was without fanfare. Walking to the hostel was pretty sketchy; I was definitely glad to not be flying solo. We discovered almost immediately that Scotland really IS hilly, and we got a workout trekking up and down hills to our accomodations. We kept passing these small herds of juvenile (delinquent?) boys, and my feeling that I was glad to not be alone only inensified as we walked. Got to the hostel safe and sound, and found out that the owner (who I talked to when I booked our stay) forgot to put us in "the book." Meaning we didn't have a room. BUT, not to fear, they were in the process of refurbishing another building across the road to turn into another hostel, so we were put up in a bedroom with two of the workers (they stay in town for 4 nights of the week and then go back to their respective homes for the weekend). Which was cool and all, except that one of them (two huge Russian dudes) snored like a FIEND. I'm serious. Never in your life have you heard snoring this loud and varied and punctuated with gross throat-clearing. GROSS. So Chase was supremely frustrated and ended up climbing down from his bunk bed and poking the guy like 10 times to get him to stop. I, for one, was just glad that he didn't punch Chase in the face and go back to happily snoring (he was HUGE!).
Next morning we were up pretty early to get free breakfast and head out (left bags at the hostel for later pick up). We went to the city necropolis (read: GIANT cemetary on top of a GIANT hill) and wandered around there for a while. This is where liking old people better first makes its appearance. As of approaching the necropolis, I was feeling creeped out by the city, was bothered by the fact that Glasgow is a city of people who REFUSE TO MAKE EYE CONTACT, and was just sort of generally energy-less. That is, until I passed a really nice old man on my way into the necropolis who was walking his dog. We chatted briefly, but it wasn't even our conversation that made the difference. It was his openness and his smile and the fact that he LOOKED at me. I didn't realize just how much I rely on that human connection in my everyday interactions. I couldn't understand half the things he was saying because his accent was SO thick, but we talked about his dog and he asked about my walk and he just sort of restored my faith in people. So, thus rejuvinated, up I trekked to the top of the necropolis. Where there were incredibly beautiful views of St. Mungo's Cathedral at its base and of the surrounding city and towns. It was so beautiful that I kept snapping pictures with my phone....and then realized that it might be weird/morbid that I was taking photos of a cemetary... and then decided that I didn't care.
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| An example of a pic from the necropolis. |
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| Plaque |
Trekked on to the botanical gardens at the complete opposite end of the city.
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| Botanical Gardens (or just Botanic Gardens according to the signs outside) |
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| Neat carnivorous plant from the botanical gardens |
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| Walter Scott. He's kind of a big deal. |
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| Cool clock outside the bus station |
Got into Edinburgh and immediately had better vibes from the city than I EVER got in Glasgow. About 5 minutes after checking in to the hostel and trekking up all 6 stories to get to our room, another American kid, David, popped in and was as excited to meet us as we were to meet him. Turns out he's from the same part of Atlanta that Chase is from; small world!? So the three of us bopped around for the night. Went to a little pub around the corner that had won the 2009 Edinburgh pub of the year and I hung out with (the title makes a reappearance!) an old man at the bar and we talked for probably a good 45 minutes about Scottish food and beer. For example, neeps and tatties? Yeah, those are turnips and potatoes. We also met two guys (sidenote: I was, besides the barmaid, the only female in the establishment. Which was tiny, granted, but it was still somewhat overwhelming, and I was grateful when 3 girls walked in to hang out with a big table full of guys on the other side of the bar) who were studying at the University of Edinburgh. A guy from Geneva, and one from Chile. They're roommates, and after they left the pub they were headed to club... so we, of course, joined them!
Espionage. AKA the name of the club we went to. It was a 6 level underground restaurant/bar/club. Ground floor and first underground floor were restaurant, and the 4 levels under those were dance floors and bars, each with its own DJ! So we, naturally, went straight down and danced our butts off. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've missed dancing. So we had a blast and then headed back to the hostel to rest up before another long day of walking.
Woke up and went straight to it. First stop, Gothic Scott Monument.
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| Scott Monument. We CLIMBED THIS. |
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| That's my foot so that you've got a point of reference for JUST how narrow that little passage was. Also, there's just one way up. And that way also serves as the way down. So imagine SHARING that passageway with the random people going in the opposite direction. I don't know how they don't have more deaths from people getting stuck in this little passage and asphyxiating. |
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| Edinburgh Castle as seen from the Scott Monument |
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| This seemed like the quintessential Scottish picture, to my way of thinking. What do you think? |
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| THAT IS A UNICORN HOLDING THE SCOTTISH FLAG. I want to be Scottish. |
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| View from the top |
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| "Edinburgh's Folly" a monument that the city couldn't raise the funds to complete beyond these 12 pillars. Pretty view of the sea behind, though. |
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| The last bite of an amazing raspberry almond bar that I had for breakfast at the airport |
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| "If the fool would persist in his folly, he would become wise" |
Last comment. In the early aughts in the States, the status symbol car was the Hummer, right? Yeah, well here, if you're pretty sure that you're a big deal, you drive a Bentley. Sometimes a Porsche (which you'll see in the States, too, fair enough), but big deal means you drive a BENTLEY. Done.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Scotland
In Scotland with netbook computer. Brought cable for charging said netbook. Forgot plug converter. So I'm briefly using the hostel computer to say.... nothing. I'll catch you up when I return to the south.
THE OT IS THE OG!!! GO ORANGE TEAM!!!! (non-Hendrix reader note: today is the Black/Orange swim meet at Hendrix. I am traditionally an Orange team member)
THE OT IS THE OG!!! GO ORANGE TEAM!!!! (non-Hendrix reader note: today is the Black/Orange swim meet at Hendrix. I am traditionally an Orange team member)
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Who gets sick in London, anyway!?
I do, apparently. Been feeling under the weather for the last few days and was finally able to keep some food/water in my system. Didn't go to my first class this morning (sorry, Barnaby!), but it was a good thing because they walked all over creation; would not have sat well in a body that had only managed a few crackers in the previous 24 hours. After spending close to 18 hours mostly in bed, it was good to get out into the sunshine for a brief walk to the classroom for Shakespeare. Jean was feeling under the weather as well, so she cut class a bit short. Went to Waitrose (a more "American-style" grocery store than Sainsbury's), and found a broader range of crackers to choose from. Basically stocked up on sick food. Apple juice, crackers, bananas, jam, and nutrigrain bars (not really sick food, but I'll be happy to have them when I'm back to 100%). Ate some toast with raspberry jam tonight, and drank a kiddie, straw-bedecked apple juice which was delicious. So things are looking up. As well they should, because Chase and I are going to Scotland this weekend! And by weekend, I mean tomorrow!
So Scotland. I would like to say that I'll be searching out Nessie while in Scotland, but the Highlands where Loch Ness is located is really, really far from Glasgow/Edinburgh where I'll actually be staying. So no Nessie for me. Chase and I have spent the last while finishing up bookings of our hostels and buses etc, so we're really truly going. Woot! Don't have much else to say, really.
Will keep you posted.
So Scotland. I would like to say that I'll be searching out Nessie while in Scotland, but the Highlands where Loch Ness is located is really, really far from Glasgow/Edinburgh where I'll actually be staying. So no Nessie for me. Chase and I have spent the last while finishing up bookings of our hostels and buses etc, so we're really truly going. Woot! Don't have much else to say, really.
Will keep you posted.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Pub crawl = more new friends!
So the C.H.A.S.E. pub crawl was a raging success, if I do say so myself. Everyone seemed to be having as much fun as I was, we got to hang out with Danni (the other USC girls joined us a bit later, as they were off chilling with Benedict), Jacob came to crawl with us, and we met more people! At College Arms I met an Irish guy named Shane who was in town for the weekend taking a Chinese massage class. He's an acupuncturist with a really interesting life story (part of which I got on Saturday, part last night, but more on that later), and he was just a generally nice guy. Excellent conversationalist. I tried to convince him to go to the next pub with us, but he declined because of the prospect of 8 hours of class the next day. Fair enough.
On to Pillars of Hercules where Ruthie and I were talking to a guy and girl outside about hair styles in London. They also very kindly took a picture of the group of us. The Angel was uneventful, but Jacob met up with us on our trek between Angel and Shakespeare Head (the 3 pubs prior were small places, so the group decided we needed to go to a bigger place. Since none of us have been to the Square Pig, we opted for the familiar. Hayes arm wrestled a random guy, I talked to a random crowd of people (and took a picture with them), and the USC girls arrived!
On, then, to The Enterprise which was (OH NO!) closed! We took a group photo outside to prove that we'd made it to all 5 pubs, and then realized that the USC girls live in Flat E in our building (AN E!!!!)! So we headed back to the flat, and headed up to Flat E to complete the C.H.A.S.E. pub crawl. Fantastic :)
All in all, an excellent night.
Next morning was a slow one. Generally lazed about in HQ (the boys' flat), and worked on a British media project we've got due tomorrow. Got to skype with the momma and the poppa AND Cassandra, so that was success. Decided that I was not in the mood to cook for myself, so Hayes and I headed to the College Arms to grab dinner. I ordered a bowl of soup that I IMAGINED being broth-y with chunks of ham and individual peas in it. What I received was actually mushed up peas. Not my favorite, but the bread was fantastic. Also, Shane was there! So while Hayes and I ate, he hung out with us and we chatted about all sorts of random things. He told us about hurling (an incredibly violent, fast-paced sport that lunatics here play... youtube it), and we compared Irish/American stereotypes. We had a really nice time, and as we were finishing up we found out that his class runs one weekend/month, so he'll be back again! I gave him my email address and he's going to email me next time he's in town so he can hang out with us. So fun! He also gave me advice about where to go over fall break when I travel to Ireland.
Woke up and have been reading Brave New World for most of the morning. Surprisingly good; I would still be reading it if I could find my copy and hadn't had to steal Hayes' (which he, reasonably, needed to read himself). So I think I'll continue the hunt for that.
Another successful weekend in London!
On to Pillars of Hercules where Ruthie and I were talking to a guy and girl outside about hair styles in London. They also very kindly took a picture of the group of us. The Angel was uneventful, but Jacob met up with us on our trek between Angel and Shakespeare Head (the 3 pubs prior were small places, so the group decided we needed to go to a bigger place. Since none of us have been to the Square Pig, we opted for the familiar. Hayes arm wrestled a random guy, I talked to a random crowd of people (and took a picture with them), and the USC girls arrived!
On, then, to The Enterprise which was (OH NO!) closed! We took a group photo outside to prove that we'd made it to all 5 pubs, and then realized that the USC girls live in Flat E in our building (AN E!!!!)! So we headed back to the flat, and headed up to Flat E to complete the C.H.A.S.E. pub crawl. Fantastic :)
All in all, an excellent night.
Next morning was a slow one. Generally lazed about in HQ (the boys' flat), and worked on a British media project we've got due tomorrow. Got to skype with the momma and the poppa AND Cassandra, so that was success. Decided that I was not in the mood to cook for myself, so Hayes and I headed to the College Arms to grab dinner. I ordered a bowl of soup that I IMAGINED being broth-y with chunks of ham and individual peas in it. What I received was actually mushed up peas. Not my favorite, but the bread was fantastic. Also, Shane was there! So while Hayes and I ate, he hung out with us and we chatted about all sorts of random things. He told us about hurling (an incredibly violent, fast-paced sport that lunatics here play... youtube it), and we compared Irish/American stereotypes. We had a really nice time, and as we were finishing up we found out that his class runs one weekend/month, so he'll be back again! I gave him my email address and he's going to email me next time he's in town so he can hang out with us. So fun! He also gave me advice about where to go over fall break when I travel to Ireland.
Woke up and have been reading Brave New World for most of the morning. Surprisingly good; I would still be reading it if I could find my copy and hadn't had to steal Hayes' (which he, reasonably, needed to read himself). So I think I'll continue the hunt for that.
Another successful weekend in London!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Long weekends will really wreck a budget
Henry IV at the Globe was PHENOMENAL. Hilarious. Incredible acting, best show that we've seen so far (and considering that we're now up to 4 shows, that's fairly legitimate). Prince Hal was played by an actor who we saw in the movie "The History Boys," so it was really cool seeing him up on stage; I felt like I already knew him because I'd seen him before. It reminds me, Mom, of how we always talk about the actors at People's Light and Theater (lovely family theater in Malvern, PA.. check it out) as if we know them. So that was pretty cool. Also, Chase was absolutely CONVINCED that Hotspur was Jake Gyllenhaal, but, alas, was wrong. All this being said, standing for 3 hours is KILLER. I felt like Dad, talking to the guys about how my knees and back hurt from standing for so long. We survived, though, and saw (or, really, as Jean would say, "heard" as "audience" comes from "audio") an excellent play.
Thursday's class with Dr. King was lovely; we got a bit sidetracked and ended up talking about British youth for a long time. Oh, which reminds me. I forgot to mention that on Tuesday night, we saw another play. Punk Rock. It was good, but upsetting; it follows a group of 6th form (aka seniors in high school) students and deals strongly with school violence. The playwright wrote it in reaction to Columbine. So heavy stuff. But we started talking to Dr. King about what he thought of the play during our break, and it ended up spilling into a lengthy dialogue about violence in British youth culture. Very interesting. Beyond that, more discussion of Animal Farm and 1984.
Thurs evening, we celebrated the return of the weekend by going to the College Arms. The USC girls joined us, and a bunch of UofL students that we've met over the past few weeks were there as well, so it turned into a very international evening. Met this really cool girl, Shahinda, and had fun dodging a creepy older man who kept trying to buy us drinks. He was harmless, but it was fun bonding with her over that. An Irish guy that frequents College Arms taught me the words to Molly Malone, so Hayes and I have been singing it constantly.
Friday was pretty chill. Woke up and had a major hankering for a British Museum hotdog (there's a vendor outside who sells these great hotdogs with fried onions. mmmm delicious), so John and I headed that way. He's been wanting to go to this tooootally geeky store, Forbidden Planet, that sells comic book/video game/star wars/star trek/cartoon merchandise. So we had fun finding that and he had fun drooling over the stuff for sale (example: he bought a tee shirt with a picture of a Tie Fighter (I think that's what it's called) from Star Wars, pictured over a background of plans for how to build one). Not gonna lie, we both bought stuff. I just didn't have as hard of a time walking away from it as he did. Went out to dinner with John, Hayes and Jack; grabbed some tasty Italian food that we didn't have to cook ourselves... woo! Watched a movie and hung out for the evening.
Today I decided that we were too much like bumps on a log yesterday, so Chase, John, Hayes and I rallied and headed out. Because the Pope has decided to descend on London, and because there are crazy people out there who make death threats against him, EVERYTHING has been tied up. Half the tube lines aren't running at all, and of the ones that are running, many have broken up service. I wanted to go to Hyde Park to see the open air service that Benedict was doing, but then I found out that it required tickets that needed to be bought a month ago. Nix that plan. So we headed in the opposite direction and went to the Tower Bridge. In THEORY, this is Open House Weekend in London. Meaning that many museums and tourist attractions that would normally charge admission fees are waiving them. So while Tower Bridge and Tower of London were both on that list of free things, we discovered upon arrival that you had to pre-register and that those attractions weren't going out of their way to help people find the cheapest way to get in. End of story, we didn't go into either of those museums. We did, however, have front row seats to watching the Tower Bridge being raised for an approaching boat. Pretty cool.
Back to the flat to prepare. Prepare why, you ask? Because it's Chase's 21st Birthday, that's why! A week or so ago, Chase asked me to be his official birthday planner. I told him that I'm not a good planner, and Ruthie called me out and said that I'm full of crap, that I am the Mom Planner. So I took on the job. In my sleep (I don't consciously have these strokes of brilliance), I came up with the following plan: do a pub crawl to pubs that spell out Chase's name! So the plan, as it stands, is to go to the following:
Thursday's class with Dr. King was lovely; we got a bit sidetracked and ended up talking about British youth for a long time. Oh, which reminds me. I forgot to mention that on Tuesday night, we saw another play. Punk Rock. It was good, but upsetting; it follows a group of 6th form (aka seniors in high school) students and deals strongly with school violence. The playwright wrote it in reaction to Columbine. So heavy stuff. But we started talking to Dr. King about what he thought of the play during our break, and it ended up spilling into a lengthy dialogue about violence in British youth culture. Very interesting. Beyond that, more discussion of Animal Farm and 1984.
Thurs evening, we celebrated the return of the weekend by going to the College Arms. The USC girls joined us, and a bunch of UofL students that we've met over the past few weeks were there as well, so it turned into a very international evening. Met this really cool girl, Shahinda, and had fun dodging a creepy older man who kept trying to buy us drinks. He was harmless, but it was fun bonding with her over that. An Irish guy that frequents College Arms taught me the words to Molly Malone, so Hayes and I have been singing it constantly.
Friday was pretty chill. Woke up and had a major hankering for a British Museum hotdog (there's a vendor outside who sells these great hotdogs with fried onions. mmmm delicious), so John and I headed that way. He's been wanting to go to this tooootally geeky store, Forbidden Planet, that sells comic book/video game/star wars/star trek/cartoon merchandise. So we had fun finding that and he had fun drooling over the stuff for sale (example: he bought a tee shirt with a picture of a Tie Fighter (I think that's what it's called) from Star Wars, pictured over a background of plans for how to build one). Not gonna lie, we both bought stuff. I just didn't have as hard of a time walking away from it as he did. Went out to dinner with John, Hayes and Jack; grabbed some tasty Italian food that we didn't have to cook ourselves... woo! Watched a movie and hung out for the evening.
Today I decided that we were too much like bumps on a log yesterday, so Chase, John, Hayes and I rallied and headed out. Because the Pope has decided to descend on London, and because there are crazy people out there who make death threats against him, EVERYTHING has been tied up. Half the tube lines aren't running at all, and of the ones that are running, many have broken up service. I wanted to go to Hyde Park to see the open air service that Benedict was doing, but then I found out that it required tickets that needed to be bought a month ago. Nix that plan. So we headed in the opposite direction and went to the Tower Bridge. In THEORY, this is Open House Weekend in London. Meaning that many museums and tourist attractions that would normally charge admission fees are waiving them. So while Tower Bridge and Tower of London were both on that list of free things, we discovered upon arrival that you had to pre-register and that those attractions weren't going out of their way to help people find the cheapest way to get in. End of story, we didn't go into either of those museums. We did, however, have front row seats to watching the Tower Bridge being raised for an approaching boat. Pretty cool.
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| Tower Bridge |
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| OPEN SESAME! |
- The College Arms
- Pillars of Hercules
- The Angel
- The Square Pig/Shakespeare Head (to be determined)
- The Enterprise
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Chocolate, Kodachrome, and Shakespeare
This is going to be a boring, chocolate-induced post.
At this exact moment, I am noshing on a Hershey's LARGE chocolate bar that darling, love of my life (platonic but pure), incredibly wonderful Adri gave me before departing. As I mange, I keep thinking about how Mom Savarese (her Mom) said that I could put the bar to good use by eating some of it before going out, seeing as sugar puts me in a good mood almost without fail. And when I'm in a good mood, I generally am friendly. Or more friendly than I usually am. Which is sort of obnoxiously friendly. This morning I said "bless you" to a construction worker that I was passing on the street, and he very kindly grinned at me and thanked me. I was pleased with myself, and then noticed my professor chuckling, and when I shot him a sort of inquisitive look he informed me that "people in this country are not used to such friendliness." So I told him that people in the Illadelph aren't so friendly, either, but that it's all my mother's fault for socializing me so effectively as a small child. He laughed again. This whole exchange then led to a conversation with Chase about snow(ice)balls being thrown at Santa etc. BUT, point of this story, I am happy to report that I don't even NEED the chocolate bar to be obnoxiously friendly and to meet people. Oh, happy day!
When I titled this post, I was listening to Kodachrome. I think I was listening to it when I wrote yesterday's post. May even have mentioned it. Am now listening to Cat Stevens and am getting into my Peace Train groove. Which is really just as groovy as Paul Simon.
I think I'm a little delirious. Three hours trekking around London enjoying the architecture is exhausting, and then speed-reading Henry IV before class in the afternoon and then three MORE hours, this time spent sitting in a warm, comfortable classroom talking about Shakespeare... well, it's enough to make any person a bit zonky. I intended to come downstairs to nap (and to get away from the boys' argument about whether or not Jimmy Page stole his music), but then came the chocolate, and the Paul Simon, and now I just don't know. AND NOW BILLY JOEL!!!! Come out Virginia, don't let me wait....
Anyway. Back to the Globe Theater tonight, this time to see Henry IV. 3 hours standing in the audience. God help me.
At this exact moment, I am noshing on a Hershey's LARGE chocolate bar that darling, love of my life (platonic but pure), incredibly wonderful Adri gave me before departing. As I mange, I keep thinking about how Mom Savarese (her Mom) said that I could put the bar to good use by eating some of it before going out, seeing as sugar puts me in a good mood almost without fail. And when I'm in a good mood, I generally am friendly. Or more friendly than I usually am. Which is sort of obnoxiously friendly. This morning I said "bless you" to a construction worker that I was passing on the street, and he very kindly grinned at me and thanked me. I was pleased with myself, and then noticed my professor chuckling, and when I shot him a sort of inquisitive look he informed me that "people in this country are not used to such friendliness." So I told him that people in the Illadelph aren't so friendly, either, but that it's all my mother's fault for socializing me so effectively as a small child. He laughed again. This whole exchange then led to a conversation with Chase about snow(ice)balls being thrown at Santa etc. BUT, point of this story, I am happy to report that I don't even NEED the chocolate bar to be obnoxiously friendly and to meet people. Oh, happy day!
When I titled this post, I was listening to Kodachrome. I think I was listening to it when I wrote yesterday's post. May even have mentioned it. Am now listening to Cat Stevens and am getting into my Peace Train groove. Which is really just as groovy as Paul Simon.
I think I'm a little delirious. Three hours trekking around London enjoying the architecture is exhausting, and then speed-reading Henry IV before class in the afternoon and then three MORE hours, this time spent sitting in a warm, comfortable classroom talking about Shakespeare... well, it's enough to make any person a bit zonky. I intended to come downstairs to nap (and to get away from the boys' argument about whether or not Jimmy Page stole his music), but then came the chocolate, and the Paul Simon, and now I just don't know. AND NOW BILLY JOEL!!!! Come out Virginia, don't let me wait....
Anyway. Back to the Globe Theater tonight, this time to see Henry IV. 3 hours standing in the audience. God help me.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The End of Dublin
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| Yes, that is a real rainbow. A double rainbow. If that's not a s sign that you, too, should visit the Guinness Factory if you ever have the chance, I don't know what is. |
I have to say, there was a grave omission in my last post. The omission was thus: the Guinness factory was AMAZING. I didn't adequately convey that in the two sentences I devoted to our tour and tasting. So take my word for it... if you decide to pop over to Dublin, ever, you really must visit the factory to get a real picture of the city. I mean, anywhere downwind of the storehouse, the smell of roasting barley and hops completely permeates. Plus all the really interesting facts about Arthur Guinness himself that are found throughout the 7 STORY TOUR. Plus the entire portion dedicated to advertising. Really it was just incredibly interesting, and I was so glad to have borrowed Dad's copy of "The Search for God and Guinness" this summer (this is a side note, but if you have any interest in the connections between religious groups and the gradual social shift from appreciating beer as a moderate alcohol to the more Puritanical take of all alcohol being inherently evil, READ THAT BOOK).
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| FULL ON DOUBLE RAINBOW. As seen amidst buildings on the Guinness Factory property. |
Anyway. Sunday morning started a new "longest day ever." We had to check out of the hostel at 10:30, but thankfully could leave our luggage in a lock-up and hang out there later in the day. Left and headed back towards Phoenix Park. We ended up splitting up (basically for the first time), and Hayes, John and I ended up enjoying a leisurely morning in the park/lunch in Heuston Train Station/stroll to the James Joyce Center. Eventually, exhaustion overtook us and we headed back to the hostel to wait for the other 3 (we had agreed to meet up at 5), and then began our incredibly exhausting journey back.
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| Foot bridge to town in Holyhead |
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| WWI memorial in Holyhead |
Train got us back to Foggy London Towne around 8:15, 8:30am. Headed back to the flat and PASSED OUT. Once I regained consciousness around 3pm, had to do some classwork (?!?!) and read Mrs. Dalloway. Virginia Woolf is such a cheery writer.
Class this morning, and some really excellent pasta for lunch as I write this. Rocking out with some Kodachrome (Paul Simon, anyone?). Now I get to upload 100000 pictures. In reverse chronological order. Enjoy!
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| So the top floor of the factory has a 360 degree view of Dublin. It's called the Gravity Bar, and it's where I had the most perfectly poured Guinness I probably ever will (I learned on the tour that it takes 119.5 seconds to pour a perfect pin of Guinness). As shown, said beer and said view. |
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| Advertisement |
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| St. Patrick's Cathedral |
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| The rosiest-smelling rose I've yet encountered in my relatively short life. Outside St. Patrick's. |
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| Dublin Castle (the garden had this really cool contemplation maze bricked into a large green. Of course, I neglected to take a picture of said "really cool maze." Typical.) |
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| Just a friendly reminder... :) 5:59 pm in Dublin = 12:59 pm in Phila and 11:59am in Conway. In case you're feeling Irish patriotism that day. |
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| River Liffey in Dublin |
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| John, Me, Chase, Ruthie, Jack, Hayes. Dublin crew in the Jameson Distillery |
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Back to London Pics.
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| The Old Bailey (remember, remember...) with the Millennium Bridge spanning the Thames in the foreground. |
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| Tower Bridge (if memory serves), as seen from the Millennium Bridge |
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| A DIFFERENT full on, double rainbow. This one seen in London. Since I started this post with a rainbow, it seems appropriate to end it in similar fashion. |
Sunday, September 12, 2010
The Last Long While...
OK so Tuesday night, Hayes, Hillary, John, Chase and I went to Soho. Hung out for a while, decided that much of Soho was smelly and generally gross, and headed back to Bloomsbury.
Wednesday was the longest day yet (which is saying something). For art and architecture we went to the British Museum and then to the National Gallery off of Trafalgar Square. Lonnnng class. Back to the flat and then to the river to see The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe Theater. Which was cool, except for the fact that it's a 2.5 hour long play and we were...standing. The whole time. Looooooong time. Anyway, the wives were fantastic, and the play itself was a lot of fun. Easy to understand, easy to laugh at, good times had by all. On the way back to homebase, we convinced Dr. King to stop for a pint with us. Excellent :)
Thursday we had just one class to get through before LEAVING FOR IRELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(note: I'm sitting in my hostel in Dublin right now, and I'm just as excited now as I was on Thursday. Pretty sweet, if I say so myself) So Dr. King let us out a little bit early on Thurs because he kept us late on Tuesday, and Chase, Jack, Ruthie, Hayes, John and I headed straight to the train station from class. Went from Euston station to Chester, Chester to Holyhead (in WALES!), and then took a ferry from Holyhead to Dublin port. Total travel time: approximately 8 hours (if you include the time that we spent wandering around Dublin bc none of us had thought to bring a city map, and the bus station was sadly lacking in efficient maps). Long day. We stopped at a pub called O'Shea's that was recommended to us by a guy at our hostel, Andy, and had some really excellent food. Came back and basically passed out from pure exhaustion.
Woke up Friday morning feeling much better rested but ANNOYED. Why, you ask? Because there were small children screaming and crying and generally throwing bratty tantrums in the lobby of our hostel. So Ruthie and I woke up from their bellowing (the boys' room was upstairs) and got to enjoy some breakfast before the gentlemen joined us. Headed out around 10:30 and just started walking. In our travels we passed a sign directing us towards the Jameson distillery; who were we to ignore the beckonings of fate? So away we went, and enjoyed the tour of the Jameson Irish Whiskey distillery. A cool thing that they do is offer a whiskey comparison opportunity. In the case of our tour, 4 men and 4 women were selected to do a taste comparison of Jameson, a well-known Scotch (which turned out to be Johnny Walker) and a well-known American whiskey (which turned out to be Jack Daniels). It just so happened that Ruthie, Jack and (DRUMROLLLLLLLL) me were selected to participate! Long story short, we enjoyed ourselves immensely and shared an international whiskey moment with a Swedish guy and his wife, and were surprised with certificates declaring us Irish Whiskey Tasters. After Jameson, we headed to the Phoenix Park and napped (I did at least) under the giant obelisk commemorating (we think) the Battle of Waterloo. According to John, it's called the Wellington Monument. I'm inclined to believe him. Headed to the zoo and decided we didn't want to spend the money to go in. Oh, also ate lunch in a pub called Bakers. Fantastic bacon cheeseburger.
Everyone had dinner at an American 50s style diner called Eddie Rocket's, but I was still incredibly full from lunch so I just had a root beer float. Hung out at the hostel while they digested dinner, and then went across the street to a pub called Doyle's. Met some cool guys, hung out for a long while, generally had a ton of fun.
Up this morning and headed to Trinity College and poked around a bit. Explored an art exhibit there, and wanted to see the Book of Kells but didn't want to pay 8 Euros to do it. Robbery. Then headed towards St Patrick's Cathedral and decided that I would pay to get in (if I can pay for pubs, I should be able to pay for a sweet church. Even if it's Anglican. Kidding. But really.). Beautiful building. Next to the Guinness Storehouse to do the tour and have a beer. The most perfectly poured Guinness and the most delightful beer head that I've ever experienced.
For dinner, John, Hayes and I headed to an Italian place that we had passed the day before. I had this amazing Penne Marinara (calamari, mussels, tuna and prawns in a tomato sauce with penne pasta). We were way under-dressed, but oh well. Now all the kiddos are clamoring to use this computer because it's the only one we've got with us. So on that note, fare thee well!
PS. I forgot the cable to connect my phone (thus, pictures) to computer, so pictures will go up when I return to London.
Wednesday was the longest day yet (which is saying something). For art and architecture we went to the British Museum and then to the National Gallery off of Trafalgar Square. Lonnnng class. Back to the flat and then to the river to see The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe Theater. Which was cool, except for the fact that it's a 2.5 hour long play and we were...standing. The whole time. Looooooong time. Anyway, the wives were fantastic, and the play itself was a lot of fun. Easy to understand, easy to laugh at, good times had by all. On the way back to homebase, we convinced Dr. King to stop for a pint with us. Excellent :)
Thursday we had just one class to get through before LEAVING FOR IRELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(note: I'm sitting in my hostel in Dublin right now, and I'm just as excited now as I was on Thursday. Pretty sweet, if I say so myself) So Dr. King let us out a little bit early on Thurs because he kept us late on Tuesday, and Chase, Jack, Ruthie, Hayes, John and I headed straight to the train station from class. Went from Euston station to Chester, Chester to Holyhead (in WALES!), and then took a ferry from Holyhead to Dublin port. Total travel time: approximately 8 hours (if you include the time that we spent wandering around Dublin bc none of us had thought to bring a city map, and the bus station was sadly lacking in efficient maps). Long day. We stopped at a pub called O'Shea's that was recommended to us by a guy at our hostel, Andy, and had some really excellent food. Came back and basically passed out from pure exhaustion.
Woke up Friday morning feeling much better rested but ANNOYED. Why, you ask? Because there were small children screaming and crying and generally throwing bratty tantrums in the lobby of our hostel. So Ruthie and I woke up from their bellowing (the boys' room was upstairs) and got to enjoy some breakfast before the gentlemen joined us. Headed out around 10:30 and just started walking. In our travels we passed a sign directing us towards the Jameson distillery; who were we to ignore the beckonings of fate? So away we went, and enjoyed the tour of the Jameson Irish Whiskey distillery. A cool thing that they do is offer a whiskey comparison opportunity. In the case of our tour, 4 men and 4 women were selected to do a taste comparison of Jameson, a well-known Scotch (which turned out to be Johnny Walker) and a well-known American whiskey (which turned out to be Jack Daniels). It just so happened that Ruthie, Jack and (DRUMROLLLLLLLL) me were selected to participate! Long story short, we enjoyed ourselves immensely and shared an international whiskey moment with a Swedish guy and his wife, and were surprised with certificates declaring us Irish Whiskey Tasters. After Jameson, we headed to the Phoenix Park and napped (I did at least) under the giant obelisk commemorating (we think) the Battle of Waterloo. According to John, it's called the Wellington Monument. I'm inclined to believe him. Headed to the zoo and decided we didn't want to spend the money to go in. Oh, also ate lunch in a pub called Bakers. Fantastic bacon cheeseburger.
Everyone had dinner at an American 50s style diner called Eddie Rocket's, but I was still incredibly full from lunch so I just had a root beer float. Hung out at the hostel while they digested dinner, and then went across the street to a pub called Doyle's. Met some cool guys, hung out for a long while, generally had a ton of fun.
Up this morning and headed to Trinity College and poked around a bit. Explored an art exhibit there, and wanted to see the Book of Kells but didn't want to pay 8 Euros to do it. Robbery. Then headed towards St Patrick's Cathedral and decided that I would pay to get in (if I can pay for pubs, I should be able to pay for a sweet church. Even if it's Anglican. Kidding. But really.). Beautiful building. Next to the Guinness Storehouse to do the tour and have a beer. The most perfectly poured Guinness and the most delightful beer head that I've ever experienced.
For dinner, John, Hayes and I headed to an Italian place that we had passed the day before. I had this amazing Penne Marinara (calamari, mussels, tuna and prawns in a tomato sauce with penne pasta). We were way under-dressed, but oh well. Now all the kiddos are clamoring to use this computer because it's the only one we've got with us. So on that note, fare thee well!
PS. I forgot the cable to connect my phone (thus, pictures) to computer, so pictures will go up when I return to London.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The River and More New Friends
Sunday afternoon, went for a walk towards the Thames River with Hayes, Chase, John and Laura. Basically just wandered about down around Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and then crossed the river and saw some street performers under the London Eye (the massive ferris wheel thing overlooking the Thames).
Returned to the flat after our walk and spent much of the night catching up on reading. Finished 1984 and started Animal Farm.
Monday morning we had our first "Politics of the British Novel" class with Dr. King, and after class, we worked on finalizing plans for a trip to Dublin that we're taking this weekend. John, Chase, Hayes, Jack, Ruthie and I are going to stay together (Hayes found a sweet deal at a hostel for 6 people to share a room), so we're headed out Thursday after class! Went to the train station to buy our tickets, and then stopped for some libations on our way back to the flat. I had a fantastic conversation with two little old men in the pub. They told me about how back in the day, Guinness was given to anyone who went to the hospital. I responded that "Guinness is, after all, good for you," and one grinned and informed me that "It's good for your sex life, too." Classy, hilarious, slightly-inappropriate old men; I reiterate... pub-going is a definite study in culture :)
Nothing exciting going today, probably, so I should probably do some laundry. I need clean socks. (See?Life isn't ALL pubs and fun here =] )
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| Trafalgar square at an angle |
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| Hayes (outside) and John (inside) modeling proper use of a London red phone booth |
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| Big Ben! |
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| A brilliant example of the beautiful cars that roam about London (this is for you, Anj) |
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| Parliament and Big Ben from across the Thames |
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| "Headeless" street performers |
Monday morning we had our first "Politics of the British Novel" class with Dr. King, and after class, we worked on finalizing plans for a trip to Dublin that we're taking this weekend. John, Chase, Hayes, Jack, Ruthie and I are going to stay together (Hayes found a sweet deal at a hostel for 6 people to share a room), so we're headed out Thursday after class! Went to the train station to buy our tickets, and then stopped for some libations on our way back to the flat. I had a fantastic conversation with two little old men in the pub. They told me about how back in the day, Guinness was given to anyone who went to the hospital. I responded that "Guinness is, after all, good for you," and one grinned and informed me that "It's good for your sex life, too." Classy, hilarious, slightly-inappropriate old men; I reiterate... pub-going is a definite study in culture :)
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| John. That's all. |
Yesterday, most of the students apparently moved back in to the University of London, so "our" pub was having some good deals. Frugal students that we are, we took advantage of the sales, and ended up meeting more new people! Kavey, Delaney, Antony and another guy whose name (sorry!) we forget are all law students at U of L, and we had a lot of fun discussing the dispersion of American culture (music primarily) into London's. They were lots of fun. Delaney was telling me about growing up in Wales... made me want to visit for sure.
Watched "The History Boys" in Brit L&C this morning, stopped at Sainsbury's (grocery store) on our way back to the flat and I made myself a FANTASTIC tomatoe and mozzarella sandwich on a baguette that was still hot when I sliced into it. Oh yeah. Be jealous.
Nothing exciting going today, probably, so I should probably do some laundry. I need clean socks. (See?Life isn't ALL pubs and fun here =] )
Sunday, September 5, 2010
New Friends!
Last night we went to a new pub, one recommended to us by one of the girls who did Hendrix-in-London 2 years ago, called the Marleborough Arms. Early in the evening, one of the USC girls who lives in our building popped in to the boys' apartment to see what our plans were for the night. Apparently, most of their group headed to Scotland for the weekend, but a few had stuck around London. Long story, two of the girls, Dani and Maria, ended up going out with us, and they were super cool. Both from LA, but different from each other. Maria was what I imagine an LA girl would look like; super together looking and wearing shoes that make me faint even thinking about walking a block in. Dani was uber chill, down-to-earth and my kinda person to hang out with. Their group is headed to Dublin next weekend (as we're planning to!), so we've already promised to go out together next weekend. Some of the guys got their phone numbers (nice work, gentlemen), so we're good to go in terms of contacting them. Fun!
Also, new favorite drink: glitter bomb. Goldschlager and red bull. Try it, you'll love it. Learned it from our bartender friend, Jemma (we met her the first night we were in town, and she's an excellent reference for new drinks, and good deals at pubs around town. Nice.)
Found the Catholic church last weekend when we went to Camdentown Market ( did I mention how cool that market was? because it was phenomenal. so many vendors, so many cool things to buy, so many opportunites to blow through money...), and managed to find a mass schedule online last night, so I hit up my first mass in the UK already today. The priest gave a homily that was completely relatable, and I kept wishing that people who hate on the Catholic church could listen to it and realize that it's not a ridiculous antiquated institution, but a community dedicated to just spreading the love, man! I was thrown off by the songs, though, and the hymnal didn't have the music written, just the lyrics. So I kinda wung it. I think some of the girls are going to join me next weekend, but I didn't give them much notice this morning, so I flew solo for today. In all, a good experience.
Maybe going to head towards the river for a wander about this afternoon, but til then, FOOD!
Also, new favorite drink: glitter bomb. Goldschlager and red bull. Try it, you'll love it. Learned it from our bartender friend, Jemma (we met her the first night we were in town, and she's an excellent reference for new drinks, and good deals at pubs around town. Nice.)
Found the Catholic church last weekend when we went to Camdentown Market ( did I mention how cool that market was? because it was phenomenal. so many vendors, so many cool things to buy, so many opportunites to blow through money...), and managed to find a mass schedule online last night, so I hit up my first mass in the UK already today. The priest gave a homily that was completely relatable, and I kept wishing that people who hate on the Catholic church could listen to it and realize that it's not a ridiculous antiquated institution, but a community dedicated to just spreading the love, man! I was thrown off by the songs, though, and the hymnal didn't have the music written, just the lyrics. So I kinda wung it. I think some of the girls are going to join me next weekend, but I didn't give them much notice this morning, so I flew solo for today. In all, a good experience.
Maybe going to head towards the river for a wander about this afternoon, but til then, FOOD!
Pictures from Stratford
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| Anne Hathaway's Cottage (AKA Shakespeare's home base) |
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| Sitting under an arbor at the Cottage |
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| Man made of vine at the cottage. Clearly hard at work. |
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| Jester statue on the street outside of Shakespeare's birthplace. |
Saturday, September 4, 2010
A Few Days Later...
OK so clearly I'm behind in the times. I've now had three of my four classes, my professors are AWESOME. On Tuesday, we had a crazy busy day. We had our first class, British Life and Culture for 3 hours in the morning, and then spent the entire afternoon in orientations for the Senate Library, for our flats, for the ULU (University of London student Union). Never ending. Everyone was teasing me because we walked by ULU and I caught a waft of the chlorine smell coming from the pool that's in the basement and got EXTREMELY excited. Wanted to swim. A lot. But anyway, I got to see the pool during our orientation at ULU (pronounced "you-loo"), and I may end up swimming every once in a while.... or maybe not. I dunno. I'm in London, so I'll wing it :)
Tues night we had a "social" with our new professors (Susie is Brit Life and Culture, Barnaby is Brit Art and Architecture, and Jean is Shakespeare). Holy COW, it was fun. Jean is hilariousssssssssss, and we decided, over beer/wine, that we were going to get along quite well. Again, it's fun to be able to enjoy a drink with dinner, and even, apparently, with our professors.
Weds we had Art and Architecture, and watched some extremely bizarre short films concerning both modern architecture, and antiquated stuff (mostly stuff erected by the druids, so burial mounds and stone monuments for studying lunar motion). Lunch break, in which Hayes, John and I carried some boxes of stuff for Dr. King (*more on that later), and then back to class for Shakespeare. Jean is an actress, and I swear, she's got a love affair with Shakespeare. She ADORES his plays, and gushed about him for most of class. It was ok though, because she got us really psyched for the trip that we then took on Thurs to Stratford upon Avon (AKA Shakes' hometown).
45 minute walk to the Tube (AKA the Underground... have I covered that already?) on Thurs morning to head to Stratford, mostly taken because we're all trying to be frugal whenever/wherever we can to save up for traveling (lengthy side note at this point: I am SO GLAD that I spent the entire summer working at Episcopal with Mom, saving up and being a bump on a log instead of taking fun weekend trips. At the time, it was incredibly annoying having to say no to invites from people from school asking me to visit them, but now I'm glad that all that money can go to work paying for weekend trips in Europe! And to pubs. Let's be real.). 2 hours to Stratford, and we went straight to the bed and breakfasts where we were staying (as you may realize, one B&B would not hold the 14 students plus Dr. King plus Jean, so we were spread out over 3). THIS is where that "carrying heavy boxes across Bloomsbury for Dr. King during our lunch break on Tuesday comes in: Hayes and I got SINGLE BEDROOMS! So I had my own double bed (fantastic mattress), plus my own bathroom, and Hayes had his own bedroom, but had to share a bathroom with two of the other guys (Jack and Chase) who were in a double in the same place. So the four of us were in our own little B&B, and it was great.
Toured around Stratford in the afternoon, and went to see The Winter's Tale in the evening. Went to a pub called The Golden Bumblebee afterwards with John, Hayes, Chase, Ruthie, Jack and some of the girls ("some of the girls" ended up leaving pretty quickly though, but it was basically all 14 of us for a while there). Hung out for a while and then headed back to the B&Bs through a park and appreciated the fact that we could actually SEE the stars (as opposed to in London, where they look more like smudges on the sky-ceiling). Had a beautiful night's sleep, up at 8:30 to my home cooked breakfast, courtesy of Iain and his wife (our host and hostess; super nice people. The boys and I chatted with Iain for a while after breakfast about American TV, and he told us about how so many people in his neighborhood woke up at like 4 in the morning to watch the finale of Lost... it was broadcast all around the world at the same time... and how Brits love the show Prison Break), and then walked to Anne Hathaway's cottage to see Shakespeare's house. Bit of a trek, but it was a beautiful day. Actually warm, instead of the basically winter weather that we've been doing in London all week.
Back to Stratford this afternoon, and John, Hayes and I went to this Italian place on Sicilian Avenue (it's got stone columns at either end. Nice.) and had the most incredible food. I don't even know WHAT mine was bc they brought me the wrong thing, but I was so ravenous that I just ate it anyway. But damn. Some kind of chicken, and the way it was cooked, it had a crisp crust sort of thing (not a breading, just the way it was cooked), and was in this wine sauce, and had FRIED POTATOES ON THE SIDE! Fried potatoes, like HOMEFRIES. But cooked with rosemary. Oh. My. Goodness. Beautiful.
Now am back at home base. Everyone's upstairs playing games (I can hear them through the floor), so I'm going to head back to society. Thanks for listening :)
Tues night we had a "social" with our new professors (Susie is Brit Life and Culture, Barnaby is Brit Art and Architecture, and Jean is Shakespeare). Holy COW, it was fun. Jean is hilariousssssssssss, and we decided, over beer/wine, that we were going to get along quite well. Again, it's fun to be able to enjoy a drink with dinner, and even, apparently, with our professors.
Weds we had Art and Architecture, and watched some extremely bizarre short films concerning both modern architecture, and antiquated stuff (mostly stuff erected by the druids, so burial mounds and stone monuments for studying lunar motion). Lunch break, in which Hayes, John and I carried some boxes of stuff for Dr. King (*more on that later), and then back to class for Shakespeare. Jean is an actress, and I swear, she's got a love affair with Shakespeare. She ADORES his plays, and gushed about him for most of class. It was ok though, because she got us really psyched for the trip that we then took on Thurs to Stratford upon Avon (AKA Shakes' hometown).
45 minute walk to the Tube (AKA the Underground... have I covered that already?) on Thurs morning to head to Stratford, mostly taken because we're all trying to be frugal whenever/wherever we can to save up for traveling (lengthy side note at this point: I am SO GLAD that I spent the entire summer working at Episcopal with Mom, saving up and being a bump on a log instead of taking fun weekend trips. At the time, it was incredibly annoying having to say no to invites from people from school asking me to visit them, but now I'm glad that all that money can go to work paying for weekend trips in Europe! And to pubs. Let's be real.). 2 hours to Stratford, and we went straight to the bed and breakfasts where we were staying (as you may realize, one B&B would not hold the 14 students plus Dr. King plus Jean, so we were spread out over 3). THIS is where that "carrying heavy boxes across Bloomsbury for Dr. King during our lunch break on Tuesday comes in: Hayes and I got SINGLE BEDROOMS! So I had my own double bed (fantastic mattress), plus my own bathroom, and Hayes had his own bedroom, but had to share a bathroom with two of the other guys (Jack and Chase) who were in a double in the same place. So the four of us were in our own little B&B, and it was great.
Toured around Stratford in the afternoon, and went to see The Winter's Tale in the evening. Went to a pub called The Golden Bumblebee afterwards with John, Hayes, Chase, Ruthie, Jack and some of the girls ("some of the girls" ended up leaving pretty quickly though, but it was basically all 14 of us for a while there). Hung out for a while and then headed back to the B&Bs through a park and appreciated the fact that we could actually SEE the stars (as opposed to in London, where they look more like smudges on the sky-ceiling). Had a beautiful night's sleep, up at 8:30 to my home cooked breakfast, courtesy of Iain and his wife (our host and hostess; super nice people. The boys and I chatted with Iain for a while after breakfast about American TV, and he told us about how so many people in his neighborhood woke up at like 4 in the morning to watch the finale of Lost... it was broadcast all around the world at the same time... and how Brits love the show Prison Break), and then walked to Anne Hathaway's cottage to see Shakespeare's house. Bit of a trek, but it was a beautiful day. Actually warm, instead of the basically winter weather that we've been doing in London all week.
Back to Stratford this afternoon, and John, Hayes and I went to this Italian place on Sicilian Avenue (it's got stone columns at either end. Nice.) and had the most incredible food. I don't even know WHAT mine was bc they brought me the wrong thing, but I was so ravenous that I just ate it anyway. But damn. Some kind of chicken, and the way it was cooked, it had a crisp crust sort of thing (not a breading, just the way it was cooked), and was in this wine sauce, and had FRIED POTATOES ON THE SIDE! Fried potatoes, like HOMEFRIES. But cooked with rosemary. Oh. My. Goodness. Beautiful.
Now am back at home base. Everyone's upstairs playing games (I can hear them through the floor), so I'm going to head back to society. Thanks for listening :)
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