Sorry I didn’t post a blog last night (29 July 2009). I was really tired and had been up working on papers and really just needed to go to sleep. That was easier said than done as there were girls singing in the kitchen but I was too tired to get up and tell them to be quiet.
As you may or may not have seen from the pictures I got up we went on a Thames river cruise yesterday. It was a wonderful cruise down the Thames looking at some things we had seen and some new things we hadn’t. Even seeing the familiar sights of the Globe and the Tate Modern from the river was exciting. Our cruise ended in Greenwich but unfortunately the Observatory was closed so we didn’t get to stand in two hemispheres at once. I may try to do that on Friday when I have time. It’s only a tube ride away! I won’t go into great detail about what we saw because I pretty much cover it in the pictures I uploaded and I can’t remember what all the buildings are. Usually I’m pretty good at remembering but there was so much. London has gone through major transitions even within the last decade with their new financial district being built in Canary Warf, a once not so pleasant place to be that has now been transformed into a place of business and commerce. Some of the buildings they have built there are quite impressive as most of them are mostly glass. They don’t have the industrial look that some other parts of the city still have.
I only have a few days left here. Tomorrow is Friday and the next day I will be on my way home to good ol’ South Carolina. I am so ready to be home and to sleep in my own bed with no sounds of jackhammers going on outside my window and no singing coming from the kitchen. I will have that for at least a few weeks after I get back and then the freshmen will move back in… and then I think I might prefer the jackhammer!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Park Hopping
Today was a wonderful day. We were suppose to go to the National Portrait Gallery and do a tour but when the tour started there so many people in the group – it wasn’t just ISA – and it was hard to hear what was being said so most of us ended up leaving. I felt bad because Pippa had met us and took us there and everything but there is so much to do in this city that I haven’t done so I went walking… for almost four hours. The National Portrait Gallery is in Trafalgar Square so I went onto the square and snapped a few pictures of a live statue, a lion, and a man in a white body sock thing. He was on the plinith that is empty in the square as part of the city’s living art thing they are doing over the summer. He was just standing there. Very odd.
Then I headed over to St. James’s Park, walked to about the middle of the park, and then headed toward Buckingham Palace. I took random turns every once in a while to keep it interesting, snapping pictures of the water fowl, and flowers. I walked around the front of the palace, and then walked through Green Park which is really close to Wigram but I went the opposite direction and headed toward Hyde Park.
Hyde Park is about twice the size of Green and St. James’s put together and then some. It’s huge. Technically its two parks separated by a bridge that traffic travels over but either way I walked the whole thing and never in a straight line. I saw the gate with the lion and unicorn, the Princess Diana Memorial Water Fountain, and Peter Pan, the Italian Gardens, and the Elvin Oak, and a carousel. I found what think is the Queen’s Temple on the map. At night I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it.
There are large chunks of Hyde I never saw and will have to see another trip. Speakers’ Corner is still on my list for a Sunday afternoon. There is the whole other side of the lake that runs through the park that I never went to because there were certain things I wanted to see. There was also a statue I saw from afar that looked like a guy falling off his horse that I think was what my map called the “Physical Energy Statue.” Sounds interesting. When I was trying to find a Tube station to get back to Victoria I was really close to Piccadilly but that is not something you so with almost zero energy.
It was a long day and I still have two papers to outline. I could have spent all those hours doing that but I needed just me time. Every once in a while I would stop on a bench and rest my feet and people watch. I saw a lot of families with small children. When I was at the Peter Pan statue there were children climbing all over it and it made me smile.
Tomorrow is the ISA Farewell Dinner and Cruise on the Thames. It should be fun, sad, and a reality check. We only have three days before we leave for the States!
Then I headed over to St. James’s Park, walked to about the middle of the park, and then headed toward Buckingham Palace. I took random turns every once in a while to keep it interesting, snapping pictures of the water fowl, and flowers. I walked around the front of the palace, and then walked through Green Park which is really close to Wigram but I went the opposite direction and headed toward Hyde Park.
Hyde Park is about twice the size of Green and St. James’s put together and then some. It’s huge. Technically its two parks separated by a bridge that traffic travels over but either way I walked the whole thing and never in a straight line. I saw the gate with the lion and unicorn, the Princess Diana Memorial Water Fountain, and Peter Pan, the Italian Gardens, and the Elvin Oak, and a carousel. I found what think is the Queen’s Temple on the map. At night I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it.
There are large chunks of Hyde I never saw and will have to see another trip. Speakers’ Corner is still on my list for a Sunday afternoon. There is the whole other side of the lake that runs through the park that I never went to because there were certain things I wanted to see. There was also a statue I saw from afar that looked like a guy falling off his horse that I think was what my map called the “Physical Energy Statue.” Sounds interesting. When I was trying to find a Tube station to get back to Victoria I was really close to Piccadilly but that is not something you so with almost zero energy.
It was a long day and I still have two papers to outline. I could have spent all those hours doing that but I needed just me time. Every once in a while I would stop on a bench and rest my feet and people watch. I saw a lot of families with small children. When I was at the Peter Pan statue there were children climbing all over it and it made me smile.
Tomorrow is the ISA Farewell Dinner and Cruise on the Thames. It should be fun, sad, and a reality check. We only have three days before we leave for the States!
Bucingham Palace and Queen
After class today I went back to Wigram and changed into the dress I had been planning on wearing for the show tonight. We weren’t going to have enough time to change in between going to Buckingham Palace and going to dinner before the show. Plus you never know if you’ll run into the Queen. We didn’t but you never know!
I thought Buckingham was much better than Windsor, although I ended up with a lot less pictures. Once again I couldn’t take pictures inside the building but I took pictures of the outside once the tour was over. I bought a souvenir book so I could remember to tell you certain things. I also took some pictures of pictures in the book so I could show you some of the things I saw today. Not everything because that would be basically reprinting the book but it’ll give you an idea of how beautiful it was. I didn’t buy a book for Windsor because I wasn’t real impressed with it to be honest.
After Buckingham we went to a bar called 101 near the theatre for “We Will Rock You.” The whole place was purple. It was fabulous. We celebrated Kelsey’s birthday and had some drinks, dinner, and dessert – the three Ds? At 7:20PM we headed over to the theatre… Here is the synposis they for it online:
The time is the future, in a place that was once called Earth. Globalisation is complete! Everywhere, the kids watch the same movies, wear the same fashions and think the same thoughts. It’s a safe, happy, Ga Ga world. Unless you’re a rebel. Unless you want to Rock. On Planet Mall all the musical instruments are banned. The Company Computers generate tunes and everybody downloads them. It is an age of Boy Bands and of Girl Bands. Of Boy and Girl Bands. Of Girl Bands with a couple of boys in them that look like girls anyway. Nothing is left to chance, hits are scheduled years in advance.
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. But Resistance is growing. Underneath the gleaming cities, down in the lower depths live the Bohemians. Rebels who believe that there was once a Golden Age when the kids formed their own bands and write their own songs. They call that time, The Rhapsody.
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see. Legend persists that somewhere on Planet Mall instruments still exist. Somewhere, the mighty axe of a great and hairy guitar god lies buried deep in rock. The Bohemians need a hero to find this axe and draw it from stone. Is the one who calls himself Galileo that man?
He’s just a poor boy. From a poor family. But the Ga Ga Cops are also looking for Galileo and if they get him first they will surely drag him before the Killer Queen and consign him to Oblivion across the Seven Seas of Rhye. Who is Galileo? Where is the Hairy One’s lost axe? Where is the place of living rock?
Anyway the wind blows.
I thought Buckingham was much better than Windsor, although I ended up with a lot less pictures. Once again I couldn’t take pictures inside the building but I took pictures of the outside once the tour was over. I bought a souvenir book so I could remember to tell you certain things. I also took some pictures of pictures in the book so I could show you some of the things I saw today. Not everything because that would be basically reprinting the book but it’ll give you an idea of how beautiful it was. I didn’t buy a book for Windsor because I wasn’t real impressed with it to be honest.
After Buckingham we went to a bar called 101 near the theatre for “We Will Rock You.” The whole place was purple. It was fabulous. We celebrated Kelsey’s birthday and had some drinks, dinner, and dessert – the three Ds? At 7:20PM we headed over to the theatre… Here is the synposis they for it online:
The time is the future, in a place that was once called Earth. Globalisation is complete! Everywhere, the kids watch the same movies, wear the same fashions and think the same thoughts. It’s a safe, happy, Ga Ga world. Unless you’re a rebel. Unless you want to Rock. On Planet Mall all the musical instruments are banned. The Company Computers generate tunes and everybody downloads them. It is an age of Boy Bands and of Girl Bands. Of Boy and Girl Bands. Of Girl Bands with a couple of boys in them that look like girls anyway. Nothing is left to chance, hits are scheduled years in advance.
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. But Resistance is growing. Underneath the gleaming cities, down in the lower depths live the Bohemians. Rebels who believe that there was once a Golden Age when the kids formed their own bands and write their own songs. They call that time, The Rhapsody.
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see. Legend persists that somewhere on Planet Mall instruments still exist. Somewhere, the mighty axe of a great and hairy guitar god lies buried deep in rock. The Bohemians need a hero to find this axe and draw it from stone. Is the one who calls himself Galileo that man?
He’s just a poor boy. From a poor family. But the Ga Ga Cops are also looking for Galileo and if they get him first they will surely drag him before the Killer Queen and consign him to Oblivion across the Seven Seas of Rhye. Who is Galileo? Where is the Hairy One’s lost axe? Where is the place of living rock?
Anyway the wind blows.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Cambridge
I got up early this morning, showered, dressed, waited for Aubrey to get back from church and then we headed to Hyde Park… but we did not make it to Hyde Park. Every weekend that we have been here there have been major closures of certain Tube lines and always the Victoria line which is the one we use to get to and from class. In fact, in pretty much runs through the center of town. When this line is closed you have to jump through hoops to get where you need to go in London – at least I do. The Victoria line we were expecting to be closed because it had been closed the last two weekends we have been in London. We were not expecting almost half of the other lines to be closed or have partial closures. What a mess! This made getting to Hyde Park with enough time to go to Speakers’ Corner and get something to eat before meeting everyone at King’s Cross an impossibility. Instead, we got off at Covent Garden and had lunch at a restaurant in the middle of the Sunday market and got to watch a man on a unicycle do a comedy act for a large crowd. This is apparently something else that you need to do on a Sunday, not just Speakers’ Corner. Covent Garden has a big market in the middle of the square and they have just about everything there.
Soon, though, we were fighting the crowds again to get to King’s Cross. We got there in plenty of time but some other people in the group had trouble getting to the station even though they had left with plenty of time. We ran to the train and were barely able to find seats. Not everyone ended up in the compartment. It was ok, though. We made it. The ride to Cambridge was about an hour long so I read the whole way. Cherie, who was sitting behind me, had her ear talked off by this American she was sitting next to on the train. Apparently, he reeked. I couldn’t smell anything but Aubrey had been standing behind them before she got a seat and she said it was pretty bad. I have never seen Cherie without a smile on her face but for half an hour after we got off the train she had the most disgusted look on her face. Maria had some perfume with her so Cherie put some on to get rid of the smell of the guy. By the time we had walked to the middle of town Cherie was doing fine again.
Cambridge is quite an impressive place, aside from the university which I get to in a minute. When we got to where we were going to meet our guide we had about twenty minutes so Maria let us wonder around the Sunday market. If I had had more time I think I would have bought something just because it was such a cool little market. Well, I say little but it was much bigger than Pendleton’s by a lot. There was everything you could imagine. One stall sold rubber stamps, another stuffed animals made from wool, another candles. There were people selling, soaps, glass art, pies, ostrich burgers – yes, ostrich burgers – and veggies, fruits, fish, meat… it was amazing. Aubrey bought an apple pie.
Soon we were back at the meeting spot with our guide Chris. Our guide up until this pint had been Steve but Cambridge and a few other places only allow their own guides to give tours. Just like Steve had a special pendant he wore when giving tours, Chris had one, too, stating that was licensed to give tours in Cambridge. Out first stop was the building that housed the physics laboratory for a hundred years. In that building many wonderful things were discovered. The most important thing was Watson and Crick DNA. After their breakthrough they went down the street and around the corner to a pub called The Eagle and were heard whispering rather loudly that they had discovered “the secret of life.”
Next stop was Pembrook College. Now you might be thinking, “Caitlin, I thought you were going to see Cambridge University. What’s this Pembrook College business?” Well, Pembrook IS Cambridge. Well, a part of Cambridge, anyway. In the States when we divide to university into colleges each college has an overall “theme” you might call it with departments which focus on specific parts of that “theme.” For example, Mom and Dad are in the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences and their department is the Department of Entomology, Soils, and Plant Sciences. However, over here Cambridge is the university and each college is an independent school all its own which led me to wonder what was the point but that’s what they do. Silly English. So each college has an English department, science, department, math department, etc. Each college has a campus and set of dormitories – that’s what they call them over here; it’s apparently taboo to call what students live in dormitories in the States, which I think is silly because that’s their original name – and their own communities and teams yet all are part of Cambridge University. You can either apply to Cambridge itself or apply to a specific college if you are confident in your academic ability.
In the middle of Cambridge there is the Senate House. This is where all grades are posted at the end of every term on big glassed in announcement boards. This means everyone can see your grades. Students have been trying to get this changed for a number of years, but think it’s a great motivator. On the less serious side of things, we also learned about various pranks which have been pulled by students. There have been instances where students will climb to the tops of buildings because the closet mountains are about 200 miles away – hey, the people that built Stonehenge didn’t see this as a problem – so they made do with what they had which were tall buildings. You would know when someone had climbed a building because they would leave things like umbrellas on top of the structure. There is also a challenge to jump from one of the dormitory windows to the top of the Senate House because they are so close together. This has been banned. In fact, the university has put up barriers on some buildings to stop people from climbing them. There is a statue of King Henry VIII over the entrance to one of the courtyards with him holding a golden orb and a scepter. The scepter use to also be golden but it has become a prank to steal it and replace it with a wooded chair leg. When we were there the chair leg was there. Chris told us that at this point they have stopped replacing it because there’s no point.
Next to this building is an apple tree. This is the only monument to Sir Isaac Newton at the university but I think it’s a very fighting one. The tree was grown from seeds that came from the tree of Newton’s parents’ home where Newton first discovered gravity. Darwin was also a student of Cambridge but I never got over to see his grave. It’s on the list of things to do next time I’m here and there will be a next time!
After our tour we went on a punting river cruise. Punting is like the gondolas in Venice, Italy only they don’t sing to you and anyone can do it, even if you have no idea what you’re doing. There are companies that take groups out which we did but anyone can rent a boat and take it out. There were several near misses with people almost falling into the Cam River. For the most part, though it was pretty peaceful. Our punter did tell us another story about one of the chapels. It has two spires in the back and a student climbed one and put a traffic cone on top. Scaffolding was erected to get it down. It took quite a while to put the scaffolding up. The night before they were going to the cone down the student climbed back up and put the cone on the other spire. In all it took them nine to take the scaffold down and rebuild it by the other spire. Classic. One bridge we passed was originally built as an experiment to see if it would stay up itself with nothing but wooden pins to keep it up and some good engineering. Eventually, it was made permanent. Another bridge is the Sigh Bridge. Originally bridges like this were used to link a courthouse to the jail. The prisoner would sigh as he went over the bridge. At Cambridge the bridge links where the students take live to where they take examinations. Mom told me that when she was at Cambridge for the International Conference of Urban Pests (ICUP) she stayed in one of the dormitories close to the bridge and had a paper plane fight in the dining hall. I can’t remember if she said the Brits started it or not…
When our tour of the river was done we had some time to do a little shopping. Some people went to get hoodies but I went to the Cambridge Press bookstore to look around. All the books were pretty expensive but it was cool to see the Entomology books they had there. There was one book about insects and forensics. Soon shopping time was over, though, and we went to The Eagle – where Watson and Crick went – and had dinner. Then we headed back to the train station and from there to King’s Cross.
Even though Aubrey was clearly tired and probably would have preferred going straight back to Wigram she stayed with me and went on my last stop of the day – Platform 9 ¾. There was a crowd of people waiting their turn but eventually I got my change to pretend to push the cart into the wall. Unfortunately, I was wearing Slytherine green and not Hufflepuff yellow but when I come back one day I will do it right with my Hufflepuff scarf.
And that was my day. A very long day but a wonderful one. Tomorrow is Buckingham Palace and “We Will Rock You” the Queen musical. See you then!
Soon, though, we were fighting the crowds again to get to King’s Cross. We got there in plenty of time but some other people in the group had trouble getting to the station even though they had left with plenty of time. We ran to the train and were barely able to find seats. Not everyone ended up in the compartment. It was ok, though. We made it. The ride to Cambridge was about an hour long so I read the whole way. Cherie, who was sitting behind me, had her ear talked off by this American she was sitting next to on the train. Apparently, he reeked. I couldn’t smell anything but Aubrey had been standing behind them before she got a seat and she said it was pretty bad. I have never seen Cherie without a smile on her face but for half an hour after we got off the train she had the most disgusted look on her face. Maria had some perfume with her so Cherie put some on to get rid of the smell of the guy. By the time we had walked to the middle of town Cherie was doing fine again.
Cambridge is quite an impressive place, aside from the university which I get to in a minute. When we got to where we were going to meet our guide we had about twenty minutes so Maria let us wonder around the Sunday market. If I had had more time I think I would have bought something just because it was such a cool little market. Well, I say little but it was much bigger than Pendleton’s by a lot. There was everything you could imagine. One stall sold rubber stamps, another stuffed animals made from wool, another candles. There were people selling, soaps, glass art, pies, ostrich burgers – yes, ostrich burgers – and veggies, fruits, fish, meat… it was amazing. Aubrey bought an apple pie.
Soon we were back at the meeting spot with our guide Chris. Our guide up until this pint had been Steve but Cambridge and a few other places only allow their own guides to give tours. Just like Steve had a special pendant he wore when giving tours, Chris had one, too, stating that was licensed to give tours in Cambridge. Out first stop was the building that housed the physics laboratory for a hundred years. In that building many wonderful things were discovered. The most important thing was Watson and Crick DNA. After their breakthrough they went down the street and around the corner to a pub called The Eagle and were heard whispering rather loudly that they had discovered “the secret of life.”
Next stop was Pembrook College. Now you might be thinking, “Caitlin, I thought you were going to see Cambridge University. What’s this Pembrook College business?” Well, Pembrook IS Cambridge. Well, a part of Cambridge, anyway. In the States when we divide to university into colleges each college has an overall “theme” you might call it with departments which focus on specific parts of that “theme.” For example, Mom and Dad are in the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences and their department is the Department of Entomology, Soils, and Plant Sciences. However, over here Cambridge is the university and each college is an independent school all its own which led me to wonder what was the point but that’s what they do. Silly English. So each college has an English department, science, department, math department, etc. Each college has a campus and set of dormitories – that’s what they call them over here; it’s apparently taboo to call what students live in dormitories in the States, which I think is silly because that’s their original name – and their own communities and teams yet all are part of Cambridge University. You can either apply to Cambridge itself or apply to a specific college if you are confident in your academic ability.
In the middle of Cambridge there is the Senate House. This is where all grades are posted at the end of every term on big glassed in announcement boards. This means everyone can see your grades. Students have been trying to get this changed for a number of years, but think it’s a great motivator. On the less serious side of things, we also learned about various pranks which have been pulled by students. There have been instances where students will climb to the tops of buildings because the closet mountains are about 200 miles away – hey, the people that built Stonehenge didn’t see this as a problem – so they made do with what they had which were tall buildings. You would know when someone had climbed a building because they would leave things like umbrellas on top of the structure. There is also a challenge to jump from one of the dormitory windows to the top of the Senate House because they are so close together. This has been banned. In fact, the university has put up barriers on some buildings to stop people from climbing them. There is a statue of King Henry VIII over the entrance to one of the courtyards with him holding a golden orb and a scepter. The scepter use to also be golden but it has become a prank to steal it and replace it with a wooded chair leg. When we were there the chair leg was there. Chris told us that at this point they have stopped replacing it because there’s no point.
Next to this building is an apple tree. This is the only monument to Sir Isaac Newton at the university but I think it’s a very fighting one. The tree was grown from seeds that came from the tree of Newton’s parents’ home where Newton first discovered gravity. Darwin was also a student of Cambridge but I never got over to see his grave. It’s on the list of things to do next time I’m here and there will be a next time!
After our tour we went on a punting river cruise. Punting is like the gondolas in Venice, Italy only they don’t sing to you and anyone can do it, even if you have no idea what you’re doing. There are companies that take groups out which we did but anyone can rent a boat and take it out. There were several near misses with people almost falling into the Cam River. For the most part, though it was pretty peaceful. Our punter did tell us another story about one of the chapels. It has two spires in the back and a student climbed one and put a traffic cone on top. Scaffolding was erected to get it down. It took quite a while to put the scaffolding up. The night before they were going to the cone down the student climbed back up and put the cone on the other spire. In all it took them nine to take the scaffold down and rebuild it by the other spire. Classic. One bridge we passed was originally built as an experiment to see if it would stay up itself with nothing but wooden pins to keep it up and some good engineering. Eventually, it was made permanent. Another bridge is the Sigh Bridge. Originally bridges like this were used to link a courthouse to the jail. The prisoner would sigh as he went over the bridge. At Cambridge the bridge links where the students take live to where they take examinations. Mom told me that when she was at Cambridge for the International Conference of Urban Pests (ICUP) she stayed in one of the dormitories close to the bridge and had a paper plane fight in the dining hall. I can’t remember if she said the Brits started it or not…
When our tour of the river was done we had some time to do a little shopping. Some people went to get hoodies but I went to the Cambridge Press bookstore to look around. All the books were pretty expensive but it was cool to see the Entomology books they had there. There was one book about insects and forensics. Soon shopping time was over, though, and we went to The Eagle – where Watson and Crick went – and had dinner. Then we headed back to the train station and from there to King’s Cross.
Even though Aubrey was clearly tired and probably would have preferred going straight back to Wigram she stayed with me and went on my last stop of the day – Platform 9 ¾. There was a crowd of people waiting their turn but eventually I got my change to pretend to push the cart into the wall. Unfortunately, I was wearing Slytherine green and not Hufflepuff yellow but when I come back one day I will do it right with my Hufflepuff scarf.
And that was my day. A very long day but a wonderful one. Tomorrow is Buckingham Palace and “We Will Rock You” the Queen musical. See you then!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle was quite impressive. There is a lot of history there. St. George’s Chapel was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed inside any of the buildings or rooms. I wish I could have shown you all the beautiful things I saw today but you’ll just have to see for yourselves one day! I am up for another trip if you do!
I am afraid that there isn’t much to tell about my trip to Windsor. I wish had had more time to explore and do more of the things they offer. I didn’t get to see Mary’s dollhouse. I did get to see some very impressive ceiling paintings of Queens, Kings, and food. Apparently back in 1992 there was a fire that damaged some of the rooms I saw today including the room where the crests of the all the knights are on the ceiling in the castle. They were able to put everything back the way it was. In one room they simply picked up each of the floor boards and put them back turned over so you can’t see the fire damage. I am assuming they weren’t too badly damaged if that’s all they had to do.
In the room with the crests on the ceiling some of the crest are just blank white shields indicating that those knights fell out of favor somehow either by committing a crime or doing something else the monarchy didn’t approve of at the time. Their shield is left up so that everyone will always remember what they did. There were numbers by all of the shields which I am guessing I could have put into my audio guide and it might have told me who they all were but I didn’t really have time otherwise I think I would have listened to them all. Another reason to go back one day.
After the tour some about half of our group went back to London on the train and the other half went to the town of Eton which is connected to Windsor – it’s a town and a castle – by a bridge over the river. We saw the college and then another half went back and the rest of us went to have dinner at this place called Brown’s. I have a meat pie thing and a new cider – Aspalls. It was Sweeter than Strongbow but I liked it. After that we caught the train back to London. I read my book on the way there and on the way back. It’s getting better! Look up the author Matthew Pearl if you want a good literary mystery.
Now it is time to post the pictures from today and then go to bed. Tomorrow after Aubrey and a few other people go to church we’re going Hyde Park to see the debaters and then most people in our group are going to Cambridge. See you all tomorrow!
I am afraid that there isn’t much to tell about my trip to Windsor. I wish had had more time to explore and do more of the things they offer. I didn’t get to see Mary’s dollhouse. I did get to see some very impressive ceiling paintings of Queens, Kings, and food. Apparently back in 1992 there was a fire that damaged some of the rooms I saw today including the room where the crests of the all the knights are on the ceiling in the castle. They were able to put everything back the way it was. In one room they simply picked up each of the floor boards and put them back turned over so you can’t see the fire damage. I am assuming they weren’t too badly damaged if that’s all they had to do.
In the room with the crests on the ceiling some of the crest are just blank white shields indicating that those knights fell out of favor somehow either by committing a crime or doing something else the monarchy didn’t approve of at the time. Their shield is left up so that everyone will always remember what they did. There were numbers by all of the shields which I am guessing I could have put into my audio guide and it might have told me who they all were but I didn’t really have time otherwise I think I would have listened to them all. Another reason to go back one day.
After the tour some about half of our group went back to London on the train and the other half went to the town of Eton which is connected to Windsor – it’s a town and a castle – by a bridge over the river. We saw the college and then another half went back and the rest of us went to have dinner at this place called Brown’s. I have a meat pie thing and a new cider – Aspalls. It was Sweeter than Strongbow but I liked it. After that we caught the train back to London. I read my book on the way there and on the way back. It’s getting better! Look up the author Matthew Pearl if you want a good literary mystery.
Now it is time to post the pictures from today and then go to bed. Tomorrow after Aubrey and a few other people go to church we’re going Hyde Park to see the debaters and then most people in our group are going to Cambridge. See you all tomorrow!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Stonehenge & Bath
Stonehenge was absolutely amazing! A lot of people have told me that they didn’t get what the big deal was or they didn’t think it was all they great I learned so much about it that I didn’t know and even though I had little more than an hour I could easily have spent another hour there. Before you even see Stonehenge you see the Burrows. They are in the middle of fields or on the edge of the woods but they are everywhere. These Burrows are burial mounds. They remain untouched by the farmers who own the land they are on; I heard it was because it was bad luck to disturb them, though our tour manager didn’t say anything about it one way or the other. Some of the mounds even had fences around them. There are several in Stonehenge that are not so obvious that I will point out when I post the pictures and one that is. I even saw them quite a few miles away from Stonehenge. When I saw they are everywhere I mean EVERYWHERE.
There are plans in the works to put a tunnel under Stonehenge where the highway is so that it cuts out the noise pollution from the road and puts Stonehenge in the middle of a field like it would have been when it was originally built. I think this would make such a difference. The noise from the highway really does disturb the overall feel of the ruins, though it is still very impressive. I know one day I will go again, especially because in about 10 years it will be a whole new experience with the highway underground and they have plans to put the visitors’ center 2 miles away from the ruins. I have a pamphlet on it that I will show you guys when I get back. It has a diagram of Stonehenge, telling you what the different stones are, hopefully I remember what they mean when I post the pictures and do the captions.
Our tour guide told us before we got there that the Druids, though they celebrate the changing of the seasons at Stonehenge, didn’t actually build it. It as another culture and people who were responsible well before the Druids showed up. There is an old Druid who frequents the ruins and tries to get people to sign a petition to restore Stonehenge to the Druid people. He had a vision, the story goes, that God or a god told him he was the reincarnation of Arthur Pendragon – yes, THE Arthur Pendragon - and was charged with restoring Stonehenge back to the People – aka the Druids. He wasn’t there when we went today. It was raining and also according to our tour manager Arthur is a fair weather Druid.
I feel like I could go on and on in true Bellinger fashion with all the things I learned today about Stonehenge but I will save some of the other things so for the captions and move onto the Bath part of the trip. Yes, Aubrey and I had gone to Bath before but this time we skipped the actual Roman Baths and went wondering around town. We ate at a wonderful little tea house that has gluten free deserts – I got pictures – and I had the Ploughmen’s Lunch with was very filling and included a freshly made baguette (sp?). *sigh* It was lovely. The Earl Grey didn’t hurt either. Then we found a little fudge place. The moment you step across the threshold the smell of freshly made fudge hits you and you’re trapped. You HAVE to buy fudge and we did. Aubrey got a Clotted Cream and a Cappuccino and I got an Irish Cream and a Chocolate Chip. We still have some left and I am try to make it last but it’s hard. I can’t bring any back so I’m gonna have to finished it… There was another sweet shop that was cool but we didn’t get anything in. There was, though we never made it there, a brewery called Bellringer that I wanted to check out but it’s on the very edge of town and we wouldn’t have made it back to the bus and been able to see everything else we wanted to see. It’s just another thing to add to the list of things that I’ll do when I come back – and I WILL come back to England again.
The day ended with a stop at the Duke of York pub when we got back to London. This is a pub near the Victoria Tube Station that we’ve both wanted to try. It was wonderful and we had a little bit to drink but managed to get home safe and sound. Now I must sign off so I can post the pictures and go to bed. Tomorrow we leave for Windsor Castle with the ISA group at noon and it will be a long but exciting day. See you tomorrow!
There are plans in the works to put a tunnel under Stonehenge where the highway is so that it cuts out the noise pollution from the road and puts Stonehenge in the middle of a field like it would have been when it was originally built. I think this would make such a difference. The noise from the highway really does disturb the overall feel of the ruins, though it is still very impressive. I know one day I will go again, especially because in about 10 years it will be a whole new experience with the highway underground and they have plans to put the visitors’ center 2 miles away from the ruins. I have a pamphlet on it that I will show you guys when I get back. It has a diagram of Stonehenge, telling you what the different stones are, hopefully I remember what they mean when I post the pictures and do the captions.
Our tour guide told us before we got there that the Druids, though they celebrate the changing of the seasons at Stonehenge, didn’t actually build it. It as another culture and people who were responsible well before the Druids showed up. There is an old Druid who frequents the ruins and tries to get people to sign a petition to restore Stonehenge to the Druid people. He had a vision, the story goes, that God or a god told him he was the reincarnation of Arthur Pendragon – yes, THE Arthur Pendragon - and was charged with restoring Stonehenge back to the People – aka the Druids. He wasn’t there when we went today. It was raining and also according to our tour manager Arthur is a fair weather Druid.
I feel like I could go on and on in true Bellinger fashion with all the things I learned today about Stonehenge but I will save some of the other things so for the captions and move onto the Bath part of the trip. Yes, Aubrey and I had gone to Bath before but this time we skipped the actual Roman Baths and went wondering around town. We ate at a wonderful little tea house that has gluten free deserts – I got pictures – and I had the Ploughmen’s Lunch with was very filling and included a freshly made baguette (sp?). *sigh* It was lovely. The Earl Grey didn’t hurt either. Then we found a little fudge place. The moment you step across the threshold the smell of freshly made fudge hits you and you’re trapped. You HAVE to buy fudge and we did. Aubrey got a Clotted Cream and a Cappuccino and I got an Irish Cream and a Chocolate Chip. We still have some left and I am try to make it last but it’s hard. I can’t bring any back so I’m gonna have to finished it… There was another sweet shop that was cool but we didn’t get anything in. There was, though we never made it there, a brewery called Bellringer that I wanted to check out but it’s on the very edge of town and we wouldn’t have made it back to the bus and been able to see everything else we wanted to see. It’s just another thing to add to the list of things that I’ll do when I come back – and I WILL come back to England again.
The day ended with a stop at the Duke of York pub when we got back to London. This is a pub near the Victoria Tube Station that we’ve both wanted to try. It was wonderful and we had a little bit to drink but managed to get home safe and sound. Now I must sign off so I can post the pictures and go to bed. Tomorrow we leave for Windsor Castle with the ISA group at noon and it will be a long but exciting day. See you tomorrow!
Harry Potter & Chinatown
Today(23 July 2009)did not start for me until about 10:30AM when my alarm went off. I love not having class on Thursday this week. I have only had one really day of class which was Monday. Tuesday was the Globe Theatre day, Wednesday I had a migraine so I didn’t go to class, today (Thursday) we had off because we spent all day at the Globe on Tuesday and there’s no class on Fridays.
I was going to do laundry this morning but I forgot that Thursday morning is when the house cleaning staff does all the laundry for the building so I had to wait until tonight which is why I am still awake at what is 12:15AM for me. Of course, if I don’t do the blog and picture now they won’t get done because tomorrow… well, I’ll save that for the end of this blog.
After I puttered around for most of the morning I met everyone at the Waterloo Train Station and we went to the IMAX theatre to see “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” The first 12-15 minutes was in 3D which I thought was kind of funny. I won’t give out any spoilers except to say that it was very cool to see certain sights in London that I had seen in my weeks here, like the Millennium Bridge, Tate, Modern, and The Globe. I thought that they handled the movie very well and hung onto the themes and story lines that were important, although I was sad there wasn’t more Quittach. I cried when a certain character died just like when I read it so many years ago. Harry Potter has meant so many things to me since I first read about the Boy Who Lived and he has come to mean so many things to so many people that it’s hard to see the hard times for him. You want him to succeed in everything but just like with the wars we face today there are loses and sacrifices that no one seemed to have thought of at the start, people you thought couldn’t or wouldn’t ever be gone. I think this is why Potter transcends being children’s books and becomes something more.
Enough philosophical ranting… after the movie we took a Tube to Chinatown and had dinner. Well, Echo, Aubrey, Erin, Kelsey, and I had dinner. It was fun to walk around and look at the different restaurants. I think we might go back to try Korean food. I had Hot and Sour Soup. The stuff at home is better but it wasn’t bad. Nothing can be as bad as Rainbow Garden soup. They get everything else so well, it baffles me why they get soup so wrong.
When we got back Erin and I doubled on laundry and shared a machine. She offered to pay for the dryer but I told her I’d be doing my laundry anyway so not to worry about. Then Aubrey came over and we booked our trip to…. *drum roll* … STONEHENGE! I knew I would find someone who would want to go. It’s only £49 for the whole trip whereas if we had taken the train it would have been over £100. Not cool. It’ll be an all day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Yes, we have already gone to Bath but this will give us more time to see the parts we didn’t before. Aubrey and I really wanted to roam around the city more than we got to before with everyone else. This is going to be awesome. I am so excited. We have to get up early but we can sleep on the bus and it’ll be so worth it.
See you all tomorrow!
I was going to do laundry this morning but I forgot that Thursday morning is when the house cleaning staff does all the laundry for the building so I had to wait until tonight which is why I am still awake at what is 12:15AM for me. Of course, if I don’t do the blog and picture now they won’t get done because tomorrow… well, I’ll save that for the end of this blog.
After I puttered around for most of the morning I met everyone at the Waterloo Train Station and we went to the IMAX theatre to see “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” The first 12-15 minutes was in 3D which I thought was kind of funny. I won’t give out any spoilers except to say that it was very cool to see certain sights in London that I had seen in my weeks here, like the Millennium Bridge, Tate, Modern, and The Globe. I thought that they handled the movie very well and hung onto the themes and story lines that were important, although I was sad there wasn’t more Quittach. I cried when a certain character died just like when I read it so many years ago. Harry Potter has meant so many things to me since I first read about the Boy Who Lived and he has come to mean so many things to so many people that it’s hard to see the hard times for him. You want him to succeed in everything but just like with the wars we face today there are loses and sacrifices that no one seemed to have thought of at the start, people you thought couldn’t or wouldn’t ever be gone. I think this is why Potter transcends being children’s books and becomes something more.
Enough philosophical ranting… after the movie we took a Tube to Chinatown and had dinner. Well, Echo, Aubrey, Erin, Kelsey, and I had dinner. It was fun to walk around and look at the different restaurants. I think we might go back to try Korean food. I had Hot and Sour Soup. The stuff at home is better but it wasn’t bad. Nothing can be as bad as Rainbow Garden soup. They get everything else so well, it baffles me why they get soup so wrong.
When we got back Erin and I doubled on laundry and shared a machine. She offered to pay for the dryer but I told her I’d be doing my laundry anyway so not to worry about. Then Aubrey came over and we booked our trip to…. *drum roll* … STONEHENGE! I knew I would find someone who would want to go. It’s only £49 for the whole trip whereas if we had taken the train it would have been over £100. Not cool. It’ll be an all day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Yes, we have already gone to Bath but this will give us more time to see the parts we didn’t before. Aubrey and I really wanted to roam around the city more than we got to before with everyone else. This is going to be awesome. I am so excited. We have to get up early but we can sleep on the bus and it’ll be so worth it.
See you all tomorrow!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Globe & Jack the Ripper Tour
What a day (21 July 2009)! Instead of normal class we headed to The Globe Theatre and out class did a tour. When we were actually taken into the theatre seating there was a rehearsal for a show called “Helen.” I wasn’t allowed to take pictures because of legal reason but it was pretty cool. To simply be in the Globe and watch actors do their thing was so exciting. Once the actors left we were allowed to take as many pictures as we wanted and I did so be sure to look at those. Likewise right before the performance and during intermission when the musicians were playing I got some shots was well. It was so overwhelming in a way to actually be there with other people and have the show going.
The show itself was phenomenal! I have seen “As You Like It” twice before now. Once was in Greenville and the park by the river during the Shakespeare festival in the summer. Elizabeth Colson was Rosalind and Chris was Oliver, Orlando’s older brother. The second time I saw was in Orlando at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre when Chris was doing his internship there. He was the singing person. I don’t his character had a name – correct someone if I’m wrong. I loved both those performances but this was so different. I can’t say it was better because it was just different. Seeing a show in the Globe and then comparing it to regular theatre is really apples and oranges. I will say that the Globe’s Touchstone was fabulous! He was so funny and played with the audience a lot. Orlando wasn’t bad either and neither was his acting… I have to say it was a very attractive bunch to be sure. Even the older gentlemen were very handsome. Touchstone, Orlando, and Oliver were really… “hot” is the only word I can really think of that properly explains it. Sorry to the guys reading this but you’d say the same about the ladies, I’m sure. Beyond looks, though, the cast was wonderful. It was obvious they were having as much in their roles as the audience was in watching them.
After the play was the Jack the Ripper Walk. Steve was our tour guide for the last time sadly. He has been so wonderful. I was thinking he’d be with us in Cambridge but they don’t allow any tour guides but their own, even in the city. I think that’s a little strange but whatever. Anyway, the tour was really cool. He took us to some of the places where the murders happened. One of the murder spots was actually mark with a “4” and a circle around it. This was for Catherine Eddowes, I believe. The Square is named for her, or at least the painted sign on the brick building said it was. It was a little eerie to be standing where these grizzly murders took place. I am not able to regale you in all the details of the Ripper murders 1) because my feet were killing me and that doesn’t lend itself to being able to pay attention enough to hold in all that information and 2) because there is so much information! I mean, I think Steve didn’t tell us half of what he knew. Anytime a question was asked he’d give these long responses. Besides there are whole books on the subject of Ripper and no one is any closer to figuring out who it was that did them.
We went to an Indian restaurant on Brick Lane after the tour and had some of the best food I’ve had since I’ve been here, although my tongue was briefly on fire for about five minutes. It was Aubrey’s birthday and the restaurant people were actually trying to get her drunk because that’s what they do when it’s someone’s birthday. They even gave her a free bottle of wine to take back with her – to her room, not the States, obviously. Everyone was stuffed by the time we left. We were going to go to a Moroccan dance club but everyone was so tired so I think we’re going to do that next week.
Another short blog I’m afraid.
The show itself was phenomenal! I have seen “As You Like It” twice before now. Once was in Greenville and the park by the river during the Shakespeare festival in the summer. Elizabeth Colson was Rosalind and Chris was Oliver, Orlando’s older brother. The second time I saw was in Orlando at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre when Chris was doing his internship there. He was the singing person. I don’t his character had a name – correct someone if I’m wrong. I loved both those performances but this was so different. I can’t say it was better because it was just different. Seeing a show in the Globe and then comparing it to regular theatre is really apples and oranges. I will say that the Globe’s Touchstone was fabulous! He was so funny and played with the audience a lot. Orlando wasn’t bad either and neither was his acting… I have to say it was a very attractive bunch to be sure. Even the older gentlemen were very handsome. Touchstone, Orlando, and Oliver were really… “hot” is the only word I can really think of that properly explains it. Sorry to the guys reading this but you’d say the same about the ladies, I’m sure. Beyond looks, though, the cast was wonderful. It was obvious they were having as much in their roles as the audience was in watching them.
After the play was the Jack the Ripper Walk. Steve was our tour guide for the last time sadly. He has been so wonderful. I was thinking he’d be with us in Cambridge but they don’t allow any tour guides but their own, even in the city. I think that’s a little strange but whatever. Anyway, the tour was really cool. He took us to some of the places where the murders happened. One of the murder spots was actually mark with a “4” and a circle around it. This was for Catherine Eddowes, I believe. The Square is named for her, or at least the painted sign on the brick building said it was. It was a little eerie to be standing where these grizzly murders took place. I am not able to regale you in all the details of the Ripper murders 1) because my feet were killing me and that doesn’t lend itself to being able to pay attention enough to hold in all that information and 2) because there is so much information! I mean, I think Steve didn’t tell us half of what he knew. Anytime a question was asked he’d give these long responses. Besides there are whole books on the subject of Ripper and no one is any closer to figuring out who it was that did them.
We went to an Indian restaurant on Brick Lane after the tour and had some of the best food I’ve had since I’ve been here, although my tongue was briefly on fire for about five minutes. It was Aubrey’s birthday and the restaurant people were actually trying to get her drunk because that’s what they do when it’s someone’s birthday. They even gave her a free bottle of wine to take back with her – to her room, not the States, obviously. Everyone was stuffed by the time we left. We were going to go to a Moroccan dance club but everyone was so tired so I think we’re going to do that next week.
Another short blog I’m afraid.
Camden Town
Today (20 July 2009)was both wonderful and frustrating at the same time. This morning a got up, got dressed, and ready for the day and then sat down at my laptop so I could post for all you fabulous people the pictures I had promised from yesterday. The reason they weren’t posted yesterday was because the internet was being mean and Facebook kept telling me that the upload had failed. No matter how many times I tried it just wasn’t happening. I decided to wait until the morning which usually ends up working. Nope. This morning the upload took so long I had to leave my laptop on – which I haven’t done since I’ve been here – and when I got back… UPLOAD FAILED. GRRRRRRR! Not a happy camper. I tried at least four more times until I had a brain wave. Why not upload only a few at a time? So far this technique has worked but keep your fingers crossed.
Camden Town was the trip today. Basically, back when London was just London and hadn’t swallowed up all the other towns in its path yet, there was Camden Town. It’s the “alternative” part of town meaning that if you’re into dressing in black, chains, nose rings – not the studs, ladies – spiked hair with colors or anything that may turn the heads of people around you and make your parents wonder where they went wrong Camden Town is for you. Ok, not everyone is like that… there are also quite a few hippies there, too. Here you can haggle with the vendors and buy anything you want. Seriously. I’ve been told it’s like Canal Street in New York City. I have never been to Canal Street in New York City so you’ll have to take the other person’s word for it. It’s mostly clothes and bobbles but there are some really good buys there… like the three bags of loose leaf tea I bought. Ok, before you start pulling your hair out, Mom, let me explain! This tea was cheap, even by US standards and it smelled sooooo very lovely. Besides, I’m in England! If I’m gonna buy tea it should be here, right? And yes, I have way too much tea – by other people’s standards, not mine, obviously – at home but this is special tea. Tea that I can only get here. And that’s all I bought today. I swear! Well, other than food. I have to eat.
Food! Ok, so there’s this restaurant called Gilgamesh in Camden right in the heart of the market. This place is amazing! It’s Assyrian food which is amazing stuff. However, the food is only secondary to the dining experience in my opinion. On the outside of the building there on these hand carved decorations on the wall. Actually, it’s the whole wall. When you go in the building you realize that’s all the walls are – these wooded carvings. Inside the dining area you think you’re in a sultans dining room. There are comfy chairs around tables and some tables have these circular cushion seats so everyone can sit down. I’m having a hard time explaining what it looks like but you’ll be able to see what I mean when I post the pictures. I even took pictures of the bathroom. You laugh now, but it was really cool. Oh, and I make sure to make a note of it in the pictures but the entrance to the women’s bathroom is a bit PG-13/R. I mean, it’s not… well, you grown-ups with kids look at it and then decide. It was pretty so I took a picture of it. I don’t normally go around taking pictures of nude women… see that just sounds bad but just wait til you see it. I am not helping my case, am I? I’ll shut-up about the bathrooms now.
That was Camden Town, though. After that Aubrey and I went back to Wigram, did our own thing for a while, went to Sainsbury – the grocery store – and got dinner, because eating out has been taking a major tour on our wallets. The cider hasn’t helped any either. I have to say, though, I am not someone who drinks a lot. I would have the occasional drink every now and then but the comment made most people has been that I drink too slowly, even the drinks I end up liking. Since I have been in London I have developed this craving for Strong Bow cider. I am NOT turning into an alcoholic – which is what all the alcis say, isn’t it? – but I just really like the cider over here. If you have ever had Woodchuck then you think of cider as being this overly sweet girly drink most likely. If all you’ve had is Woodchuck then you would think this but REAL cider is so much better and I wish we had Strong Bow in the States. Plus, having a pint with a friend at the end of a long day is such a nice way to end the day. Now I know why Esso is so awesome on a Friday. I just enjoyed seeing everyone but it’s the beer, too, which I never got but if you substituted cider for the beer – which I am NOT suggesting we actually do because I think I might get tarred an feather so suggesting we drink anything other than light beer – I would be there every Friday and even n days that weren’t Friday.
Ok, I am going to end my alcoholic rant now – I’m not an alcoholic, just a cider-holic. Is that a word?
Camden Town was the trip today. Basically, back when London was just London and hadn’t swallowed up all the other towns in its path yet, there was Camden Town. It’s the “alternative” part of town meaning that if you’re into dressing in black, chains, nose rings – not the studs, ladies – spiked hair with colors or anything that may turn the heads of people around you and make your parents wonder where they went wrong Camden Town is for you. Ok, not everyone is like that… there are also quite a few hippies there, too. Here you can haggle with the vendors and buy anything you want. Seriously. I’ve been told it’s like Canal Street in New York City. I have never been to Canal Street in New York City so you’ll have to take the other person’s word for it. It’s mostly clothes and bobbles but there are some really good buys there… like the three bags of loose leaf tea I bought. Ok, before you start pulling your hair out, Mom, let me explain! This tea was cheap, even by US standards and it smelled sooooo very lovely. Besides, I’m in England! If I’m gonna buy tea it should be here, right? And yes, I have way too much tea – by other people’s standards, not mine, obviously – at home but this is special tea. Tea that I can only get here. And that’s all I bought today. I swear! Well, other than food. I have to eat.
Food! Ok, so there’s this restaurant called Gilgamesh in Camden right in the heart of the market. This place is amazing! It’s Assyrian food which is amazing stuff. However, the food is only secondary to the dining experience in my opinion. On the outside of the building there on these hand carved decorations on the wall. Actually, it’s the whole wall. When you go in the building you realize that’s all the walls are – these wooded carvings. Inside the dining area you think you’re in a sultans dining room. There are comfy chairs around tables and some tables have these circular cushion seats so everyone can sit down. I’m having a hard time explaining what it looks like but you’ll be able to see what I mean when I post the pictures. I even took pictures of the bathroom. You laugh now, but it was really cool. Oh, and I make sure to make a note of it in the pictures but the entrance to the women’s bathroom is a bit PG-13/R. I mean, it’s not… well, you grown-ups with kids look at it and then decide. It was pretty so I took a picture of it. I don’t normally go around taking pictures of nude women… see that just sounds bad but just wait til you see it. I am not helping my case, am I? I’ll shut-up about the bathrooms now.
That was Camden Town, though. After that Aubrey and I went back to Wigram, did our own thing for a while, went to Sainsbury – the grocery store – and got dinner, because eating out has been taking a major tour on our wallets. The cider hasn’t helped any either. I have to say, though, I am not someone who drinks a lot. I would have the occasional drink every now and then but the comment made most people has been that I drink too slowly, even the drinks I end up liking. Since I have been in London I have developed this craving for Strong Bow cider. I am NOT turning into an alcoholic – which is what all the alcis say, isn’t it? – but I just really like the cider over here. If you have ever had Woodchuck then you think of cider as being this overly sweet girly drink most likely. If all you’ve had is Woodchuck then you would think this but REAL cider is so much better and I wish we had Strong Bow in the States. Plus, having a pint with a friend at the end of a long day is such a nice way to end the day. Now I know why Esso is so awesome on a Friday. I just enjoyed seeing everyone but it’s the beer, too, which I never got but if you substituted cider for the beer – which I am NOT suggesting we actually do because I think I might get tarred an feather so suggesting we drink anything other than light beer – I would be there every Friday and even n days that weren’t Friday.
Ok, I am going to end my alcoholic rant now – I’m not an alcoholic, just a cider-holic. Is that a word?
Monday, July 20, 2009
Canterbury & Dover
Yesterday was a long day but well worth it! We traveled to Canterbury and Dover today. What amazing places! Canterbury was cool to visit because I had read Canterbury Tales in school. Getting to visit a place you have read about is quite an amazing experience. When you first drive into the city it doesn’t seem like it still reflects the Canterbury you had read about but then you round a corner and there’s this medieval town laid out before you complete with minstrels – well, people playing music for money – and taverns. I don’t know if Chaucer would recognize it or not but it was quite wonderful. Steve, our guide, took us on a little walking tour of the city and then we got to roam on our town for about an hour.
Unfortunately the cathedral was closed to visitors because it was Sunday and services were going on but I got pictures of the outside. The Jesus you see wasn’t added until the 1990s. I think he looks a little creepy but that’s just me.
After that we took a boat ride on the river. Now when I say river I mean stream because what they have passing for a river is not much bigger than the creek in Camelot back home – not the English Camelot, obviously. Our guide on the boat tour was George and he is actually from Canterbury. The river tour was very nice. There are quite a few nice little gardens sprinkled throughout the city and we got to see a good many of them. We also saw where they are building the new Marlowe Theatre, which at the moment doesn’t look much like a theatre and is a building which George described as being one of the ugliest. It has its frame up yet so I guess I can’t judge too harshly. There are theories that Marlowe wrote some of Shakespeare’s plays. This is ridiculous. He was killed before much of Shakespeare’s plays were written. He was stabbed in the eye however there are people who believe he somehow survived this and escaped to France and wrote plays from there. I think not.
Dover was probably the most extraordinary of the two sites we saw today. The chalk white cliffs are massive and on a clear day you can see clear to France and her chalk white cliffs which use to be joined to England’s. Tectonic plates in action. Atop the cliffs is a castle, which has had parts of it in place since the time of the Romans. They had a lighthouse that later got incorporated into the chapel which was built next to it. We didn’t actually get to see the castle part – the Keep – because the wind was so bad. You see the castle is pretty much open to the air with no ceiling or roofing to protect you from the elements. My guess is – and I’m sure Steve told us at some point – that the Germans had something to do with this. The point is, now if the wind is really bad then it will sometimes create vortexes inside the unprotected part of the Keep which causes people to be in danger of their lives or at least limbs. I think it would have added something to the tour but no one else did. Oh well.
Under the castle is the really cool part, though. During WWII the English built a series of tunnels under the castle. It’s quite amazing. The system was never discovered during the war. This is also where rescuers where dispatched to Dunkirk to rescue British soldiers off the French shores. Walking through the tunnels was a little eerie because I kept picturing people from before I was born rushing through the halls. The whole time they are so close to being discovered and destroyed but they are told not make any real personal connection to the people they were working with. Can you imagine? I would go nuts – well, more than I already am.
Unfortunately, Facebook won’t upload at the moment so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. You’ll have to take my word for how beautiful these places were today.
Tomorrow it’s back to class and then Camden Town. See you all then!
Unfortunately the cathedral was closed to visitors because it was Sunday and services were going on but I got pictures of the outside. The Jesus you see wasn’t added until the 1990s. I think he looks a little creepy but that’s just me.
After that we took a boat ride on the river. Now when I say river I mean stream because what they have passing for a river is not much bigger than the creek in Camelot back home – not the English Camelot, obviously. Our guide on the boat tour was George and he is actually from Canterbury. The river tour was very nice. There are quite a few nice little gardens sprinkled throughout the city and we got to see a good many of them. We also saw where they are building the new Marlowe Theatre, which at the moment doesn’t look much like a theatre and is a building which George described as being one of the ugliest. It has its frame up yet so I guess I can’t judge too harshly. There are theories that Marlowe wrote some of Shakespeare’s plays. This is ridiculous. He was killed before much of Shakespeare’s plays were written. He was stabbed in the eye however there are people who believe he somehow survived this and escaped to France and wrote plays from there. I think not.
Dover was probably the most extraordinary of the two sites we saw today. The chalk white cliffs are massive and on a clear day you can see clear to France and her chalk white cliffs which use to be joined to England’s. Tectonic plates in action. Atop the cliffs is a castle, which has had parts of it in place since the time of the Romans. They had a lighthouse that later got incorporated into the chapel which was built next to it. We didn’t actually get to see the castle part – the Keep – because the wind was so bad. You see the castle is pretty much open to the air with no ceiling or roofing to protect you from the elements. My guess is – and I’m sure Steve told us at some point – that the Germans had something to do with this. The point is, now if the wind is really bad then it will sometimes create vortexes inside the unprotected part of the Keep which causes people to be in danger of their lives or at least limbs. I think it would have added something to the tour but no one else did. Oh well.
Under the castle is the really cool part, though. During WWII the English built a series of tunnels under the castle. It’s quite amazing. The system was never discovered during the war. This is also where rescuers where dispatched to Dunkirk to rescue British soldiers off the French shores. Walking through the tunnels was a little eerie because I kept picturing people from before I was born rushing through the halls. The whole time they are so close to being discovered and destroyed but they are told not make any real personal connection to the people they were working with. Can you imagine? I would go nuts – well, more than I already am.
Unfortunately, Facebook won’t upload at the moment so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. You’ll have to take my word for how beautiful these places were today.
Tomorrow it’s back to class and then Camden Town. See you all then!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Cheddar and Bath
I told you all yesterday that hopefully today would make for a much more interesting blog than the previous days’ and I was right! Today’s trip was to Cheddar to see the gorge and caves and then it was off to Bath. There is so much to tell; this might be a long blog but it is all worth hearing about – or at least I think so! I was much more awake today than the last few days which I think has made all the difference.
The bus ride to Cheddar was a long one. It took about 2.5 hours to get there. Certain people who shall remain nameless pretty much complained the whole way there which was REALLY annoying to those of us set on enjoying themselves. It seemed everything was too far, or the AC wasn’t cold enough, or we’re getting back too late, etc. This is typical of a large group of people I suppose but it was obvious that some people’s trip was brought down by the attitude of these few individuals. This is sad really, because it was a fantastic trip. Right. Shut up, Caitlin, and tell us about this wonderful trip of yours. On it.
The ride to Cheddar was almost as exciting as the rest of the day. About 45minutes out of London I saw a wind turbine! I snapped a few pictures as we drove past. I still think one of those would look great on Kite Hill or by the organic farm with a big orange Tiger Paw on the side or on one of the arms… As we past Bristol I saw three down by the port. It was pretty awesome. The thing that was even cooler was across the port you could see two bridges. One was the same kind as the golden gate bridge and was the old bridge across the River Avon. The other was the new bridge. I can’t think of another bridge I’ve seen that it looks like except maybe the one that goes across the Savannah River in Georgia. Both bridges were in operation because neither by itself could handle to load of cars traveling across them. And what would all these people be traveling to and from that you’d need TWO bridges? Wales, of course! Just over the river you could spot Wales. It was so close, yet so far away! One I will get there but not this trip.
Cheddar itself is a small town – smaller than Pendleton and Central – which is nestled next to this beautiful gorge. There are multiple places to get tea, though I only got a picture of one of them. Some tea houses even had small tea gardens behind them where you could enjoy your tea. If we had had more time I would have gone into one but I didn’t so I couldn’t. I did, however, stop by one of the shops which sold scones in bags. I got two bags and figure they will last for the next week and serve as breakfast. There are four in a bag and though I have already eaten one, I still have seven left. That coupled with the tea and clementines should make for a wonderful start to any day. *sigh* If only I could do this every day.
While waiting for Maria to return with tickets I was snapping pictures of the part of the gorge you can see from the entrance to the first cave when I looked to my right and spotted the strangest bug I had ever seen! It looked like a ladybug but a thousand times bigger and it had curly blonde hair. It was, of course, a little girl with a ladybug poncho and I immediately thought of Lesley’s little girl Emily. If I had seen one I probably would have bought one for her – a poncho, not a little girl. Emily asked Lesley to ask me if the bugs were the same here. I haven’t seen many except for the one in line today but I have had my eye out for them just for her. Hopefully, there will be some on display at the Natural History Museum when we go.
The caves were very impressive although a little touristy. I was thinking they would be like Stumphouse where it’s pretty dark and damp and you need to bring your own flashlight and the floor is rocky. The caves had side rails, guided tours with handheld sets that you held up to your ear – I should have gotten a picture of one because they had them at Bath, too – and the floor was paved. Despite this the rock formations were real enough. I wish I could describe them better but it’s hard to do unless you’ve seen caves formations before and even then I imagine every cave is different. Because I wasn’t able to get pictures using my flash, I’m afraid the pictures I took are a little blury so they won’t give you a good idea either of what the caves looked like. I did use the flash for one picture but it was more of a distraction/diversion tactic than anything. I don’t want to ruin the surprise so you’ll just have to look at the pictures to know what I am talking about!
After the caves we had about a half hour to roam around on our own. This is when I bought the two bags of scones. I also got some postcards so some of you will be getting Cheddar postcards soon. I did sample of the different kinds of cheddar in some of the shops and my favorites were the whiskey and bleu cheddars. I didn’t buy any because I knew I would eat them while I was here and I was pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to go on the plane with me. There was a part in the first cave where you saw cheese being cured which reminded me of Stumphouse and Clemson’s bleu cheese, not that they make it there anymore but it’s the same basic idea.
The bus ride to Bath was another hour or so. The scenery was lovely, though, and I kept expecting the bus to go around the corner and have the Shire nestled into a hill side or something. The land was quilted into farmland with trees lining each field. The soil was a funny color, too, like the soil in Iowa. It was this dark brown color. Very odd…
Bath is a beautiful city. It’s all made out of sandstone which is quarried nearby and all the buildings are made with the same sort of architecture style in mind. Very classical – like the Romans who first built there. The symbol of the city is the acorn. The story of why shows how around about this association is. There was pig raiser who was tending his pigs. These pigs had a bad skin condition and were in poor health. One day he took them to edge of a valley where they liked to frolic in the muddy waters there. He realized that when they did this their skin condition got better. Eventually he decided to try the waters himself because, you see, he had leprosy. Some might argue that his skin probably was a bit more serious and that it made no sense for the waters to work the same way as it had for the pigs but this is legend. You don’t argue with legend. Of course, the waters clear up his little minor skin problem. This is when the baths were first discovered. It was another few hundred years before the Romans came. They built pipes and baths out of – you guessed it – lead. Silly Romans. You would think they’d learn a little faster but I guess they were too busy with their Empire to notice they were all going crazy from lead poisoning. After their inevitable fall the Saxons decided baths were silly and ignored the site. Then some other people came and built on top of the Roman stuff because they didn’t realize the Roman stuff was there which I find hard to believe. I guess they noticed eventually but when that was I don’t know.
The whole I time was there I kept thinking about a picture Dad took of Mom and Aunt Debbie when they were in Bath many years ago. It made me a little homesick because I wished I could have them here with me but at the same time it was a comfort to know that they had been here too so a part of them was still here. Corny, I know, but when you’re homesick even the smallest connection helps you.
As I type this blog up on Word I am noticing I have hit the 3 page mark so I will end my blog here. Tomorrow should bring another long blog and many pictures to enjoy.
The bus ride to Cheddar was a long one. It took about 2.5 hours to get there. Certain people who shall remain nameless pretty much complained the whole way there which was REALLY annoying to those of us set on enjoying themselves. It seemed everything was too far, or the AC wasn’t cold enough, or we’re getting back too late, etc. This is typical of a large group of people I suppose but it was obvious that some people’s trip was brought down by the attitude of these few individuals. This is sad really, because it was a fantastic trip. Right. Shut up, Caitlin, and tell us about this wonderful trip of yours. On it.
The ride to Cheddar was almost as exciting as the rest of the day. About 45minutes out of London I saw a wind turbine! I snapped a few pictures as we drove past. I still think one of those would look great on Kite Hill or by the organic farm with a big orange Tiger Paw on the side or on one of the arms… As we past Bristol I saw three down by the port. It was pretty awesome. The thing that was even cooler was across the port you could see two bridges. One was the same kind as the golden gate bridge and was the old bridge across the River Avon. The other was the new bridge. I can’t think of another bridge I’ve seen that it looks like except maybe the one that goes across the Savannah River in Georgia. Both bridges were in operation because neither by itself could handle to load of cars traveling across them. And what would all these people be traveling to and from that you’d need TWO bridges? Wales, of course! Just over the river you could spot Wales. It was so close, yet so far away! One I will get there but not this trip.
Cheddar itself is a small town – smaller than Pendleton and Central – which is nestled next to this beautiful gorge. There are multiple places to get tea, though I only got a picture of one of them. Some tea houses even had small tea gardens behind them where you could enjoy your tea. If we had had more time I would have gone into one but I didn’t so I couldn’t. I did, however, stop by one of the shops which sold scones in bags. I got two bags and figure they will last for the next week and serve as breakfast. There are four in a bag and though I have already eaten one, I still have seven left. That coupled with the tea and clementines should make for a wonderful start to any day. *sigh* If only I could do this every day.
While waiting for Maria to return with tickets I was snapping pictures of the part of the gorge you can see from the entrance to the first cave when I looked to my right and spotted the strangest bug I had ever seen! It looked like a ladybug but a thousand times bigger and it had curly blonde hair. It was, of course, a little girl with a ladybug poncho and I immediately thought of Lesley’s little girl Emily. If I had seen one I probably would have bought one for her – a poncho, not a little girl. Emily asked Lesley to ask me if the bugs were the same here. I haven’t seen many except for the one in line today but I have had my eye out for them just for her. Hopefully, there will be some on display at the Natural History Museum when we go.
The caves were very impressive although a little touristy. I was thinking they would be like Stumphouse where it’s pretty dark and damp and you need to bring your own flashlight and the floor is rocky. The caves had side rails, guided tours with handheld sets that you held up to your ear – I should have gotten a picture of one because they had them at Bath, too – and the floor was paved. Despite this the rock formations were real enough. I wish I could describe them better but it’s hard to do unless you’ve seen caves formations before and even then I imagine every cave is different. Because I wasn’t able to get pictures using my flash, I’m afraid the pictures I took are a little blury so they won’t give you a good idea either of what the caves looked like. I did use the flash for one picture but it was more of a distraction/diversion tactic than anything. I don’t want to ruin the surprise so you’ll just have to look at the pictures to know what I am talking about!
After the caves we had about a half hour to roam around on our own. This is when I bought the two bags of scones. I also got some postcards so some of you will be getting Cheddar postcards soon. I did sample of the different kinds of cheddar in some of the shops and my favorites were the whiskey and bleu cheddars. I didn’t buy any because I knew I would eat them while I was here and I was pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to go on the plane with me. There was a part in the first cave where you saw cheese being cured which reminded me of Stumphouse and Clemson’s bleu cheese, not that they make it there anymore but it’s the same basic idea.
The bus ride to Bath was another hour or so. The scenery was lovely, though, and I kept expecting the bus to go around the corner and have the Shire nestled into a hill side or something. The land was quilted into farmland with trees lining each field. The soil was a funny color, too, like the soil in Iowa. It was this dark brown color. Very odd…
Bath is a beautiful city. It’s all made out of sandstone which is quarried nearby and all the buildings are made with the same sort of architecture style in mind. Very classical – like the Romans who first built there. The symbol of the city is the acorn. The story of why shows how around about this association is. There was pig raiser who was tending his pigs. These pigs had a bad skin condition and were in poor health. One day he took them to edge of a valley where they liked to frolic in the muddy waters there. He realized that when they did this their skin condition got better. Eventually he decided to try the waters himself because, you see, he had leprosy. Some might argue that his skin probably was a bit more serious and that it made no sense for the waters to work the same way as it had for the pigs but this is legend. You don’t argue with legend. Of course, the waters clear up his little minor skin problem. This is when the baths were first discovered. It was another few hundred years before the Romans came. They built pipes and baths out of – you guessed it – lead. Silly Romans. You would think they’d learn a little faster but I guess they were too busy with their Empire to notice they were all going crazy from lead poisoning. After their inevitable fall the Saxons decided baths were silly and ignored the site. Then some other people came and built on top of the Roman stuff because they didn’t realize the Roman stuff was there which I find hard to believe. I guess they noticed eventually but when that was I don’t know.
The whole I time was there I kept thinking about a picture Dad took of Mom and Aunt Debbie when they were in Bath many years ago. It made me a little homesick because I wished I could have them here with me but at the same time it was a comfort to know that they had been here too so a part of them was still here. Corny, I know, but when you’re homesick even the smallest connection helps you.
As I type this blog up on Word I am noticing I have hit the 3 page mark so I will end my blog here. Tomorrow should bring another long blog and many pictures to enjoy.
Friday, July 17, 2009
British Museum
I wish I knew how not to be so tired at the end of the day but today was another day of being exhausted. I’m hoping I’ll be better tomorrow but if anyone has an idea about how to overcome this exhaustion I’m all ears.
There was no class today since it was Friday so I slept in and then went to Regent Street and met Aubrey and Echo at Hambley’s which is the huge toy store here in London. I found three or four different stuffed animal lemurs… I may have bought one. Can you blame, though? I mean, how many toy stores have options of what kind of lemur you can buy? Not many in the States, that’s for sure.
After that we met everyone else by the Tottenham Court Tube Station and headed over to the British Museum. It was pretty cool. The inside structure of the building was pretty interesting all by itself with the big cylindrical thing in the middle. Aubrey, Erin, and I spent most of our time looking at the Egypt exhibits. I got some cool pictures of Our Beloved Hathor and a giant Scarab beetle. Then it was to the gift shops and bookstore to see what money we could spend. I actually didn’t get that much but there were a few things I wanted to get for people – not saying who – and so that’s what I did. Certain birthday boys, though, are VERY hard to shop for, by the way. Some helpful pointers would be great.
Aubrey and I went back to the Old Monk – I got a picture of the outside this time. It was a short day. I know these blogs haven’t been too interesting the last few days but I will try to remedy that this weekend. There should be a lot to tell with Bath & Cheddar Gorge Caves on Saturday and Canterbury and Dover on Sunday.
See you tomorrow!
There was no class today since it was Friday so I slept in and then went to Regent Street and met Aubrey and Echo at Hambley’s which is the huge toy store here in London. I found three or four different stuffed animal lemurs… I may have bought one. Can you blame, though? I mean, how many toy stores have options of what kind of lemur you can buy? Not many in the States, that’s for sure.
After that we met everyone else by the Tottenham Court Tube Station and headed over to the British Museum. It was pretty cool. The inside structure of the building was pretty interesting all by itself with the big cylindrical thing in the middle. Aubrey, Erin, and I spent most of our time looking at the Egypt exhibits. I got some cool pictures of Our Beloved Hathor and a giant Scarab beetle. Then it was to the gift shops and bookstore to see what money we could spend. I actually didn’t get that much but there were a few things I wanted to get for people – not saying who – and so that’s what I did. Certain birthday boys, though, are VERY hard to shop for, by the way. Some helpful pointers would be great.
Aubrey and I went back to the Old Monk – I got a picture of the outside this time. It was a short day. I know these blogs haven’t been too interesting the last few days but I will try to remedy that this weekend. There should be a lot to tell with Bath & Cheddar Gorge Caves on Saturday and Canterbury and Dover on Sunday.
See you tomorrow!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Abbey Road
You guys have no idea how lucky you are to be getting a blog from me today. At the moment I am about to fall over on my keyboard. I didn’t do a lot today but I haven’t been sleeping too well since there are these obnoxious kids that are on my hall – not just students are here but families and other travelers, too – and they run up and down the hall at all hours of the night. So annoying.
Today was a very relaxing day, though. It was pretty much a Friday for me since class only goes Monday to Thursday here. There is always a bunch of people go out right after class but today Aubrey and I needed some serious chill time so we went back to our rooms, napped, and showered and felt much better afterward. Then we met up with Jamie and Echo and went to Abbey Road. I did get some pictures of me crossing the street but they aren’t very good. I may have to go back. Echo didn’t know how to zoom with my camera and it’s actually a busy street so I didn’t want to hold up traffic so I could the perfect shot. I may go back later. I have three weeks after all. After crossing Abbey Road we went looking up and down the street for the Beatles café that Jamie said was there somewhere. We went from one end of the road to the other and found no café. There was a nice English bloke we asked for directions and I thought he was going to walk past us but he stopped and walked with is most of the way and then pointed out the rest of the way to us. The café turned out to be attached to the St. John’s Wood Tube station we had arrived at to get to Abbey Road in the first place. We felt like idiots but we found it. It’s really teeny tiny with not much to it. They sell coffee, soda, some pastries, and Beatles memorabilia. I actually didn’t buy anything because it was more of a buy something just to buy something thing and I had a picture of the place so I passed up on spending money.
After that was had to fight our way onto a Tube car. We must have passed on at least five Tube trains before we found one that would hold us. Jamie and Echo got on one and then Aubrey and I waited for another two trains before we could board. I thought it was just rush hour traffic because it was around 6PM at this point. When we caught back up with Jamie and Echo they told us that there was a fatality on one of the lines so they had to divert a bunch of lines to other stations. I don’t know what happened but I’m sure it’ll be in the papers tomorrow.
When we got back we went out looking for a place to get fish and chips but Aubrey and I decided we didn’t want any so we got food at the Old Monk again – it’s like I like that pub or something – and had dessert, too. Of course I have my cider – Strongbow – and by the time I got back I was about to fall over but I thought that I still might have enough in me to post a blog at least.
This weekend we have some fun excursion planned. Friday is the British Museum, Saturday is Bath and Cheddar Gorge Caves, and Sunday is Canterbury and Dover. They should be fun.
Today was a very relaxing day, though. It was pretty much a Friday for me since class only goes Monday to Thursday here. There is always a bunch of people go out right after class but today Aubrey and I needed some serious chill time so we went back to our rooms, napped, and showered and felt much better afterward. Then we met up with Jamie and Echo and went to Abbey Road. I did get some pictures of me crossing the street but they aren’t very good. I may have to go back. Echo didn’t know how to zoom with my camera and it’s actually a busy street so I didn’t want to hold up traffic so I could the perfect shot. I may go back later. I have three weeks after all. After crossing Abbey Road we went looking up and down the street for the Beatles café that Jamie said was there somewhere. We went from one end of the road to the other and found no café. There was a nice English bloke we asked for directions and I thought he was going to walk past us but he stopped and walked with is most of the way and then pointed out the rest of the way to us. The café turned out to be attached to the St. John’s Wood Tube station we had arrived at to get to Abbey Road in the first place. We felt like idiots but we found it. It’s really teeny tiny with not much to it. They sell coffee, soda, some pastries, and Beatles memorabilia. I actually didn’t buy anything because it was more of a buy something just to buy something thing and I had a picture of the place so I passed up on spending money.
After that was had to fight our way onto a Tube car. We must have passed on at least five Tube trains before we found one that would hold us. Jamie and Echo got on one and then Aubrey and I waited for another two trains before we could board. I thought it was just rush hour traffic because it was around 6PM at this point. When we caught back up with Jamie and Echo they told us that there was a fatality on one of the lines so they had to divert a bunch of lines to other stations. I don’t know what happened but I’m sure it’ll be in the papers tomorrow.
When we got back we went out looking for a place to get fish and chips but Aubrey and I decided we didn’t want any so we got food at the Old Monk again – it’s like I like that pub or something – and had dessert, too. Of course I have my cider – Strongbow – and by the time I got back I was about to fall over but I thought that I still might have enough in me to post a blog at least.
This weekend we have some fun excursion planned. Friday is the British Museum, Saturday is Bath and Cheddar Gorge Caves, and Sunday is Canterbury and Dover. They should be fun.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The London Eye
Today was a much more leisurely day than the last few have been, especially yesterday! I had class at 10AM and we finished up Henry V and then started on Marlowe’s Edward II. Not familiar with anything by Marlowe other than Faust but I enjoyed the play. I like Shakespeare better but it was good to look at this play to understand the timeline of Henry V and what led up to it. I think it might have made more sense to do Marlowe’s first since it happened first, though.
After class Aubrey and I went back to the dorm, dropped our school stuff off and then went to find some lunch. We went down the street the Old Monk pub is on and found out it’s a really neat little side street. There were a couple of pubs like the Old Monk – which I have been meaning to get a picture of so you guys can see it. I have been there twice now - and bakeries. The bakeries are pretty small and when you hit lunch time it gets crowded but it is well worth crowds, especially for the meat pasties, which is what Aubrey and I had for lunch. We didn’t eat them right away, though because we walked the rest of the way down the street. There were more pubs and bakeries but it’s also a pedestrian street so there were vendors that sold things like touristy shirts, shoes, fresh fruit, etc. There were stalls that had Caribbean food and other food that was cooked on the spot. We would have stayed longer but we were both in need of a nap so we found a little green park – which seem to be all over, not just the big royal parks – and ate our pasties and people watched, then went back to Wigram and took a nap. When I got back I was finally able to post the pictures from yesterday, which I hope everyone has gotten a chance to see by now. I have also already posted the ones for today so go take a gander.
Then it was nap time. I hadn’t taken a nap since I had gotten here because I’ve been afraid that it would disrupt my sleeping cycle but if I hadn’t I think I would have fallen into my dinner tonight. I slept from about 4Pm to 5PM and then met with Aubrey to walk to the London Eye to meet the part of our group that was going on it. The Eye is quite impressive. From afar it doesn’t look like it’s moving but it is and it never stops moving. It seems a lot faster when you’re trying to get about 10 people from your group into one of the pods and nobody is quite sure what is going on. It made for a comical memory. The pods are oval shaped and offer a 360 degree view of London. When we got higher and I could see Buckingham Palace I realized that I am about a 5-10 minute walk away. The Queen is my neighbor! I wonder if she would let me use a cup of sugar? My cousin – who shall remain nameless *coughTARAcough* - suggested that I ding song ditch the Queen.
The best view, though, came after dinner when Aubrey, Jamie, and I were walking back past the Eye. The Eye was lit up and across the River Thames Parliament and Big Ben were lit. It was beautiful. The night air was cool and a light wind was blowing. I could have stood there all night and just stared and watched people. London is a wonderful city and I could see myself living here. I realize now why Tara didn’t want to leave. I know I will be back again.
Tomorrow should be a fun day. It’s the last day of class for the week and since we don’t have an evening excursion planned a bunch of us are going shopping or window shopping on Oxford Street – a mile of shopping – and then it’s off to Abbey Road!
After class Aubrey and I went back to the dorm, dropped our school stuff off and then went to find some lunch. We went down the street the Old Monk pub is on and found out it’s a really neat little side street. There were a couple of pubs like the Old Monk – which I have been meaning to get a picture of so you guys can see it. I have been there twice now - and bakeries. The bakeries are pretty small and when you hit lunch time it gets crowded but it is well worth crowds, especially for the meat pasties, which is what Aubrey and I had for lunch. We didn’t eat them right away, though because we walked the rest of the way down the street. There were more pubs and bakeries but it’s also a pedestrian street so there were vendors that sold things like touristy shirts, shoes, fresh fruit, etc. There were stalls that had Caribbean food and other food that was cooked on the spot. We would have stayed longer but we were both in need of a nap so we found a little green park – which seem to be all over, not just the big royal parks – and ate our pasties and people watched, then went back to Wigram and took a nap. When I got back I was finally able to post the pictures from yesterday, which I hope everyone has gotten a chance to see by now. I have also already posted the ones for today so go take a gander.
Then it was nap time. I hadn’t taken a nap since I had gotten here because I’ve been afraid that it would disrupt my sleeping cycle but if I hadn’t I think I would have fallen into my dinner tonight. I slept from about 4Pm to 5PM and then met with Aubrey to walk to the London Eye to meet the part of our group that was going on it. The Eye is quite impressive. From afar it doesn’t look like it’s moving but it is and it never stops moving. It seems a lot faster when you’re trying to get about 10 people from your group into one of the pods and nobody is quite sure what is going on. It made for a comical memory. The pods are oval shaped and offer a 360 degree view of London. When we got higher and I could see Buckingham Palace I realized that I am about a 5-10 minute walk away. The Queen is my neighbor! I wonder if she would let me use a cup of sugar? My cousin – who shall remain nameless *coughTARAcough* - suggested that I ding song ditch the Queen.
The best view, though, came after dinner when Aubrey, Jamie, and I were walking back past the Eye. The Eye was lit up and across the River Thames Parliament and Big Ben were lit. It was beautiful. The night air was cool and a light wind was blowing. I could have stood there all night and just stared and watched people. London is a wonderful city and I could see myself living here. I realize now why Tara didn’t want to leave. I know I will be back again.
Tomorrow should be a fun day. It’s the last day of class for the week and since we don’t have an evening excursion planned a bunch of us are going shopping or window shopping on Oxford Street – a mile of shopping – and then it’s off to Abbey Road!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Paul, Will, and Henry
Today was the longest day so far. On my way to class I stopped by Starbucks – only because the British version of Starbucks (Nero Café) was in the opposite direction from the Victoria Tube – grabbed what ended up being coffee – they had no tea! – and walked with Aubrey to campus. The two of us have become very good friends and she’s a wonderful person. We agreed to meet at Eat – the place with the meat pies – for lunch. Class was wonderful today. We talked about Henry V. I hadn’t been able to get a hold of a copy of the play but I pretty know it by now. When Clemson did it Chris was Henry and I helped him with his lines and saw the production multiple times. In my British Cultural History class we watched the Kenneth Branough version and talked about it and how it differed from the original script. Tomorrow, though, I am leaving early to grab that play and the others I’m going to need.
After class I met Aubrey at Eat, had lunch, hopped on the tube and headed for the City of London – as opposed to the City of Westminster where Wigram House is located. This is the center of the financial district but also the old part of London that was destroyed in the Fire of London. We began at the tube stop where we met our guide. He took us to St. Paul’s Cathedral but not before we stopped to look at a church across the street which had been bombed during the Blitz in World War II. The church itself has been gutted but the steeple still remains. I can’t remember the name of it at the moment. It was left standing as a reminder. It was really beautiful. St. Paul’s was beautiful, too but it was obviously so much bigger. While the Westminster Abbey was the Royals’ church, St. Paul’s was the people’s church. During WWII this church protected by four or five firemen and women who literally stood on top of the dome and made sure the place didn’t catch on fire. There is a memorial to all firefighters not far across the street because of this, although it has the names of all London firefighters who have died on duty.
After St. Paul’s we crossed the Millennium Bridge – which appears in the new Harry Potter movie. When it was first opened it so many people walked across it at once that it wobbled and had to be closed down the same day so they could fix it. To this day, we were told, Londoners called the Wobbly Bridge. After you cross the bridge you are right in front of Tate Modern. This is really cool because on the other side you have St. Paul’s. Old and new. Ancient and modern. Quite impressive. We walked through Tate briefly but didn’t look at any of the exhibits. I plan on going back later in the trip to go through it.
Next it was onto the best part of the day in my opinion… *drum roll*… THE GLOBE!!!! I was so excited. You can see across the Thames before you get on the bridge and I about had a fit when I saw it. If you ask Aubrey she would probably say I did have a fit. I mean, it was right there! Shakespeare was the reason I was in London and here I was at the Globe. I’d even be back to see a play there! The only disappointing thing was that it’s surrounded by all these other buildings which look like they’re trying to squish it. I had always thought that the Globe that stands there now was the second one because the first burned down in a fire. Nope. It’s the third Globe. The second, for whatever reason, was torn down because authorities had a problem with it. Like I said, I don’t know that the deal was. About 50 or 60 years ago an American came over expecting to find it. He was a real Shakespeare buff. He built the Globe that tourists come to see now. YEAH! An example of an American doing something good for England! I really wanted to run up to it and hug it but that can wait until I go with my class to see As You Like It.
The next cool thing we saw was a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship The Golden Hind. My immediate thought was: Hey! I know a relative of yours! Of course, I’m referring to Clemson’s own Tim Drake, who was a student of my mom’s back in the day and is now working at the university himself. It was pretty cool to be able to pull this history back to an actual person I knew.
Next was another church that I can’t remember anything about other than Shakespeare’s brother is buried there and then it was on to an area with a bunch of shops that use to be where the boats would come in to dock. I think they did this when they needed repairs or were unloading, or something. I really thought I would be able to remember more of this information but it was a long day. Once we looked at this we walked past the City Hall and then onto Tower Bridge – NOT the London Bridge! Tower Bridge was created to be a part of the Tower of London which was originally the castle of the king of England. Then it was a prison. It was very impressive but I didn’t get to see all of it, like the Bloody Tower. We did, however, get to see the Ravens being fed. That was cool. These ravens are tied to a myth about the tower which says that if the ravens leave the tower, the tower will fall and the king will go with it. Ever since Charles II heard this the ravens have never been allowed to leave. Their wings have been clipped, although if I got fed large chunks of meat every day, I don’t think I’d leave either – sorry, Lesley.
Our tour concluded at the place where the beheading of a few of Henry VIII’s wives were executed. The way to remember how all of his wives died is: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Now don’t ask me who they all were. When our tour concluded we went in to see the crown jewels. I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures of those which was sad but to be honest they really are something you have to see for yourself. Soon after the place closed – everything closes at around 6PM here, except the pubs, of course! Aubrey and I headed back to Wigram, freshened up, and then went back to The Old Monk pub where we had gone on our first day. I had a Strongbow cider and a sandwich. It was great but the cider made me really tired. I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch which had been at 1PM and it was then around 8PM.
Now it is time to go to sleep and get ready for another day. Tomorrow I have class and then at 6PM it’s the London Eye!
After class I met Aubrey at Eat, had lunch, hopped on the tube and headed for the City of London – as opposed to the City of Westminster where Wigram House is located. This is the center of the financial district but also the old part of London that was destroyed in the Fire of London. We began at the tube stop where we met our guide. He took us to St. Paul’s Cathedral but not before we stopped to look at a church across the street which had been bombed during the Blitz in World War II. The church itself has been gutted but the steeple still remains. I can’t remember the name of it at the moment. It was left standing as a reminder. It was really beautiful. St. Paul’s was beautiful, too but it was obviously so much bigger. While the Westminster Abbey was the Royals’ church, St. Paul’s was the people’s church. During WWII this church protected by four or five firemen and women who literally stood on top of the dome and made sure the place didn’t catch on fire. There is a memorial to all firefighters not far across the street because of this, although it has the names of all London firefighters who have died on duty.
After St. Paul’s we crossed the Millennium Bridge – which appears in the new Harry Potter movie. When it was first opened it so many people walked across it at once that it wobbled and had to be closed down the same day so they could fix it. To this day, we were told, Londoners called the Wobbly Bridge. After you cross the bridge you are right in front of Tate Modern. This is really cool because on the other side you have St. Paul’s. Old and new. Ancient and modern. Quite impressive. We walked through Tate briefly but didn’t look at any of the exhibits. I plan on going back later in the trip to go through it.
Next it was onto the best part of the day in my opinion… *drum roll*… THE GLOBE!!!! I was so excited. You can see across the Thames before you get on the bridge and I about had a fit when I saw it. If you ask Aubrey she would probably say I did have a fit. I mean, it was right there! Shakespeare was the reason I was in London and here I was at the Globe. I’d even be back to see a play there! The only disappointing thing was that it’s surrounded by all these other buildings which look like they’re trying to squish it. I had always thought that the Globe that stands there now was the second one because the first burned down in a fire. Nope. It’s the third Globe. The second, for whatever reason, was torn down because authorities had a problem with it. Like I said, I don’t know that the deal was. About 50 or 60 years ago an American came over expecting to find it. He was a real Shakespeare buff. He built the Globe that tourists come to see now. YEAH! An example of an American doing something good for England! I really wanted to run up to it and hug it but that can wait until I go with my class to see As You Like It.
The next cool thing we saw was a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship The Golden Hind. My immediate thought was: Hey! I know a relative of yours! Of course, I’m referring to Clemson’s own Tim Drake, who was a student of my mom’s back in the day and is now working at the university himself. It was pretty cool to be able to pull this history back to an actual person I knew.
Next was another church that I can’t remember anything about other than Shakespeare’s brother is buried there and then it was on to an area with a bunch of shops that use to be where the boats would come in to dock. I think they did this when they needed repairs or were unloading, or something. I really thought I would be able to remember more of this information but it was a long day. Once we looked at this we walked past the City Hall and then onto Tower Bridge – NOT the London Bridge! Tower Bridge was created to be a part of the Tower of London which was originally the castle of the king of England. Then it was a prison. It was very impressive but I didn’t get to see all of it, like the Bloody Tower. We did, however, get to see the Ravens being fed. That was cool. These ravens are tied to a myth about the tower which says that if the ravens leave the tower, the tower will fall and the king will go with it. Ever since Charles II heard this the ravens have never been allowed to leave. Their wings have been clipped, although if I got fed large chunks of meat every day, I don’t think I’d leave either – sorry, Lesley.
Our tour concluded at the place where the beheading of a few of Henry VIII’s wives were executed. The way to remember how all of his wives died is: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Now don’t ask me who they all were. When our tour concluded we went in to see the crown jewels. I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures of those which was sad but to be honest they really are something you have to see for yourself. Soon after the place closed – everything closes at around 6PM here, except the pubs, of course! Aubrey and I headed back to Wigram, freshened up, and then went back to The Old Monk pub where we had gone on our first day. I had a Strongbow cider and a sandwich. It was great but the cider made me really tired. I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch which had been at 1PM and it was then around 8PM.
Now it is time to go to sleep and get ready for another day. Tomorrow I have class and then at 6PM it’s the London Eye!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Harrods, Harry, and Hagrid
Today was a wonderfully busy day. I had my first class meeting for Shakespeare. My professor is Deirdre Osbourne. She’s actually from Australia but has now lived in England longer than her home country. We’ll be studying Shakespeare’s Henry V (which I have seen many times when Chris was in it at Clemson University), Romeo and Juliet (which I could care less about because it’s been done to death), The Tempest (which I did in my British Cultural History class last semester), As You Like It (which the class will also see at the Globe on the 21st), and selected sonnets. On top of the Shakespeare we’re also studying Edward II by Christopher Marlowe, The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster, and The Roaring Girl by Thomas Middleton & Thomas Dekker. It should be fun. I’m pretty excited.
After class today I went back to Wigram to get ready for High Tea at Harrods. It was a Tube ride and a short walk from where I was in Westminster. I passed under the Wellington Arch which backs up to the Buckingham Palace. We have been to the palace already but we’ll be going again on the 27th, the first day it is open to the public during the summer.
Anyway, I walked with some other girls and we met the rest of the group at the Hyde Park Corner Tube Station. We got to walk through Hyde Park a little but we were running a tad late so we didn’t get to really enjoy it but I will be going back at some point during my three weeks here.
Harrods was amazing. I had scones, clotted crème, finger sandwiches, and tea. It was filling and incredible and I wish I could have snuck some scones back to Wigram with me… they don’t make then like that at PBD. I mean, the ones at PBD are good but these are better. The rest of the time at Harrods was spent walking from floor to floor. Six floors of shopping. I thought I did pretty well considering my track record with buying things I don’t need on trips like this. I walked away with a new tea-for-one teapot that says “Harrods” on the side and a tin of loose leaf Earl Grey. This is of course on top of the tea I already bought that I don’t have a mug for yet… don’t judge! Oh, the other wonderful thing I did… *drum roll*… I got picture taken with Harry Potter and Hagrid – well, at least the Lego versions of them. Harry was near the Georgian restaurant we ate at with a little Potter display next to him and Hagrid was on the toy floor in the children’s bookstore. They were both quite impressive. I can only imagine how long it took to put them together. You Hagrid took days!
I also went up and down the Egyptian escalators and saw the Diana memorial at the bottom floor. It was a little weird actually. Go to my London photo album to see the photos but it’s basically a picture of her and the guy she was with who also died and then there’s a wine class and this diamond ring he gave her. At least, this is what the American tourists said next to me. Apparently the guy’s family owns Harrods or something like that. Eh. It was ok.
After that I wondered around a bit with Aubrey. We found this place called Pet Kingdom. It’s this giant section devoted to all things for your pets. They even had kitties and puppies there! It reminded of Emily when she was in New Zealand and would visit the animal shelter near where she was staying so I made sure to take some pictures for her. Then it was back to Wigram for a shower and then I went the pictures and wrote this blog. I was going to go into things I noticed about the British versus Americans but I’m too tired for that now. I’ll be sure to write about it tomorrow, though… or at some point.
After class today I went back to Wigram to get ready for High Tea at Harrods. It was a Tube ride and a short walk from where I was in Westminster. I passed under the Wellington Arch which backs up to the Buckingham Palace. We have been to the palace already but we’ll be going again on the 27th, the first day it is open to the public during the summer.
Anyway, I walked with some other girls and we met the rest of the group at the Hyde Park Corner Tube Station. We got to walk through Hyde Park a little but we were running a tad late so we didn’t get to really enjoy it but I will be going back at some point during my three weeks here.
Harrods was amazing. I had scones, clotted crème, finger sandwiches, and tea. It was filling and incredible and I wish I could have snuck some scones back to Wigram with me… they don’t make then like that at PBD. I mean, the ones at PBD are good but these are better. The rest of the time at Harrods was spent walking from floor to floor. Six floors of shopping. I thought I did pretty well considering my track record with buying things I don’t need on trips like this. I walked away with a new tea-for-one teapot that says “Harrods” on the side and a tin of loose leaf Earl Grey. This is of course on top of the tea I already bought that I don’t have a mug for yet… don’t judge! Oh, the other wonderful thing I did… *drum roll*… I got picture taken with Harry Potter and Hagrid – well, at least the Lego versions of them. Harry was near the Georgian restaurant we ate at with a little Potter display next to him and Hagrid was on the toy floor in the children’s bookstore. They were both quite impressive. I can only imagine how long it took to put them together. You Hagrid took days!
I also went up and down the Egyptian escalators and saw the Diana memorial at the bottom floor. It was a little weird actually. Go to my London photo album to see the photos but it’s basically a picture of her and the guy she was with who also died and then there’s a wine class and this diamond ring he gave her. At least, this is what the American tourists said next to me. Apparently the guy’s family owns Harrods or something like that. Eh. It was ok.
After that I wondered around a bit with Aubrey. We found this place called Pet Kingdom. It’s this giant section devoted to all things for your pets. They even had kitties and puppies there! It reminded of Emily when she was in New Zealand and would visit the animal shelter near where she was staying so I made sure to take some pictures for her. Then it was back to Wigram for a shower and then I went the pictures and wrote this blog. I was going to go into things I noticed about the British versus Americans but I’m too tired for that now. I’ll be sure to write about it tomorrow, though… or at some point.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Walking Around London
I have finished my third day abroad and my second day in London. So far I love it. I awoke this morning around 10:30AM. I felt pretty good and after a shower I felt even better. For breakfast I grabbed a breakfast bar I had gotten the day before and chilled until it was time to head downstairs to meet everyone else to head over the Regent Campus of University of Westminster (UW). This is also where my class will meeting which not where I originally thought it was but it’s just as easy to get to and doesn’t take nearly as long so I can sleep in a little bit on days I don’t want to walk. Anyway, we were there for the ISA Orientation and will be back tomorrow for the UW Orientation.
After the orientation session a group of us went to find some lunch. We found a great little deli called Eat – which is a chain I believe – and got out food takeaway. This means that you don’t get charged for the service of serving it to you so it’s cheaper. This is different than “to go” which means you’ll eat it out on their little patio. I had a meat pie which I took a picture of and then took a picture of someone else taking a picture of their food to prove I wasn’t the only one doing it. We ate in this little park that didn’t have a name on the map. It was full of pigeons and people. The weather was great, though so none of us cared. It has been in the 70s since I got here yesterday which is my favorite temperature.
Once we were done with lunch we all met back at the building we had been in for orientation and went for a very long walk around the city. We walked to Chinatown, Leicester Square (pronounced “Lester”), Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, a restaurant for dinner, and then Prince of Wales pub for a UW summer school student meet-up thing. I didn’t actually talk to any of the other students. The only reason I went was because they gave us one free drink. After that I came back here to Wigram House and sat down to upload pictures and write this note.
As far as the other participants go there are about 15 or so of us and out of that there are 2 boys. Cliques have definitely formed among the group. There’s the “popular kids” another group that doesn’t really fir any stereotype I can think of and then my group, the dorks. It’s an awesome group if I do say so myself. We’re sticking together and looking out for each other.
People have been pretty friendly, although one guy was a little creepy. he just started a conversation with us in the middle of one we were having but luckily Maria was there so we were good. Another guy actually touched my butt but I think he was drunk - or pissed as they over here. I wouldn’t have thought it was on purpose except afterward he and his friends were laughing were laughing about it like they had dared him to do it. If it had been anything more I would have done something about it. And when I say “do something about it” I mean hit the guy. I mean I would have had 10 + girls to back me up. ;)
Tomorrow is the first day of classes and the UW Orientation and Lunch. After class I am headed to High Tea at Harrods, so I will be sure to report back on that at the end of the day. Hope all is well in the States.
After the orientation session a group of us went to find some lunch. We found a great little deli called Eat – which is a chain I believe – and got out food takeaway. This means that you don’t get charged for the service of serving it to you so it’s cheaper. This is different than “to go” which means you’ll eat it out on their little patio. I had a meat pie which I took a picture of and then took a picture of someone else taking a picture of their food to prove I wasn’t the only one doing it. We ate in this little park that didn’t have a name on the map. It was full of pigeons and people. The weather was great, though so none of us cared. It has been in the 70s since I got here yesterday which is my favorite temperature.
Once we were done with lunch we all met back at the building we had been in for orientation and went for a very long walk around the city. We walked to Chinatown, Leicester Square (pronounced “Lester”), Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, a restaurant for dinner, and then Prince of Wales pub for a UW summer school student meet-up thing. I didn’t actually talk to any of the other students. The only reason I went was because they gave us one free drink. After that I came back here to Wigram House and sat down to upload pictures and write this note.
As far as the other participants go there are about 15 or so of us and out of that there are 2 boys. Cliques have definitely formed among the group. There’s the “popular kids” another group that doesn’t really fir any stereotype I can think of and then my group, the dorks. It’s an awesome group if I do say so myself. We’re sticking together and looking out for each other.
People have been pretty friendly, although one guy was a little creepy. he just started a conversation with us in the middle of one we were having but luckily Maria was there so we were good. Another guy actually touched my butt but I think he was drunk - or pissed as they over here. I wouldn’t have thought it was on purpose except afterward he and his friends were laughing were laughing about it like they had dared him to do it. If it had been anything more I would have done something about it. And when I say “do something about it” I mean hit the guy. I mean I would have had 10 + girls to back me up. ;)
Tomorrow is the first day of classes and the UW Orientation and Lunch. After class I am headed to High Tea at Harrods, so I will be sure to report back on that at the end of the day. Hope all is well in the States.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Getting to London
I am at the end of my second day abroad – though only my first in England. Right now, as I’m typing this, the time for you in the States in around 2PM but for me it’s about 7PM. Still too early to go to sleep if I want to be synked into London time but it’s very tempting to just stop typing and go to bed since this is the second attempt at typing this note. I am soooooo exhausted, though, so if you notice any grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes ignore them. Be picky tomorrow.
I guess I’ll start from the beginning: I left Pendleton with Mom yesterday leaving Dad to sleep off his back spasm from the day before. It was sad to leave him alone in the house, especially since it was Mom and Dad’s 33rd Anniversary. * HAPPY ANNIVERSAY, MOM AND DAD!* On the drive to the airport I finished the book White Teeth by Zadie Smith. It’s about multiculturalism in England, though that’s just the basic theme. It’s much more wonderful than that and I recommend it to anyone who likes to look deeper into a society’s culture. It’s beautifully written.
Anyway, once at the airport I didn’t want Mom to go. I was suddenly very sad to see her go, especially after she gave my lemur BJ a hug so every time I hugged him it would be like hugging Mom. If I wasn’t weepy then the hugging the lemur would have done it! Mom followed me through the line on the other side of the line tape as far as she could before we had to give each other one final hug and say goodbye. I was now on my own. I wasn’t worried about Charlotte to be honest. I had been through it twice on my own. It was Munich I was worried about – it was the unknown in the middle of my voyage to Heathrow. The flight itself was made easier by the fact that I am flying business class the whole time thanks to Mom’s frequent flyer miles. When you use those and you’re getting your tickets last minute, business ends up being your only option; however, because of this I got access to the US Airways/Lufthansa Lounge where I got a complimentary vodka tonic and Sun Chips. It was a good start to a long day.
Once it was close to boarding time, I made my way to the gate and got on my Lufthansa flight. If you ever get a chance to fly Lufthansa, do it. Very friendly people and no nothing’s wrong with them – they’re German! *Don’t mean that to be offensive. Some people will get that joke and some won’t. Two words: Faulty Towers.* Business class was an exciting and awkward experience. I had never had a seat on a plane that became a bed or gave you enough room to make you think for even a fraction of a second when you’re waking that you might even be in a bed. Business class seats on the other hand are another thing altogether. They not only become bed-like but they are wider to allow tossing and turning or to allow - those of us who find regular seats uncomfortable – more room in general. Getting to the point where my seat became bed-like took about an hour, though. There was even a button with a picture of the seat as a bed. All I had to do was push and not let up until it was just like the picture but the seat goes through a few other positions first and makes a lot of noise before settling on the one you want. It was slightly embarrassing really but I got through it. Poor me, right? Maybe not.
I slept for a little while but the turbulence was pretty bad. At no point was I worried about the plane breaking into two pieces and falling into the ocean near an island no one knew existed but I was annoyed that I wasn’t able to get a good night’s sleep. Because of this my two days have just felt like one long day which is why I’m so tired right now. But hey! It’s 7Pm here. In a few more hours I can go to bed!
So back to the flight. Dinner was served. I had a salad, chicken with risotto and for dessert I had fresh fruit. During dinner I listened to a PotterCast episode and after dinner I watched the movie 17 Again. I had quite a few choices but I settled on something I wouldn’t have to think about too much. It was a good movie. Not the best thing ever but descent. After that I tried to sleep but like I said, it took a while before I could figure my chair out and even then I only slept about three hours and not all at once. It’s amazing the noises that come from a section of sleeping travelers. People have very different ways of snoring. Once it was about 6AM Germany time we had breakfast. I don’t actually remember what I had and I didn’t think to take pictures – sorry, Dad. It was good, though. When we landed in Munich I went to the Business class lounge and tried to use the internet but they wanted me to pay for it so I went and found my gate. The flight from Munich to Heathrow was more like a regular flight whether you’re in Business or not.
Now came the real challenge. The ISA bus was to leave Terminal 3 at 11AM. My flight got in at 10:20AM, which didn’t leave me a lot of time to get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3. Luckily, I’ve been working out for the last month and I had on my sneakers. I burst out of the airplane as fast as the other passengers would allow which wasn’t really fast at all because some people have never heard of the rule where the slow people get to one side to let others pass and that it’s rude to suddenly stop in the middle of the walkway without signaling to other people about what they’re doing… *deep breath* But I remained vigilant in my ultimate quest for Terminal 3. At customs no one was in line and only two counters were open. I breezed through with no problem; however, at baggage claim it seemed as if I would be thrwarted! It was 10:41AM before our baggage started to come out – we landed at 10:10AM, a whole 10 minutes early! I didn’t have my baggage in hand until 10 minutes to 11AM! How was I going to make it to Terminal 3? “You walk,” was the answer I got from a helpful yet surly Underground worker. Luckily, the signs were easy to follow but they didn’t tell me how much longer my quest would last. I didn’t have a watch on and my phone had yet to switch over from SC time and there was no way, even if it had, that I was going to stop to check. No matter what the time there was no way my short legs were going to walk any faster. I had a book bag on my back and I was lugging a large rolling suitcase with another bag perched on top. A few times the other bag slipped from where it rested and I had to stop to readjust it, all the while cursing under my breathe. * Saying “Frak,” of course. * When I left home I had looked very nice in my jeans and green shirt but now I was all sweaty and tired and almost running to Terminal 3 almost 12 hours later. This was not the time to have taken a picture to commemorate the trip, that’s for sure! Finally, up ahead I saw two signs. One read, “Terminal 3 Stairs” and the other, “Terminal 3 Ramp.” When I got the point where my path split between the easy way – the ramp – and the “you’re gonna look like an idiot carrying your luggage up those stairs” – the stairs – I had to make the ultimate decision. I could see three women with signs that read ISA at the top of the stairs. I was running out of time. What do I do? Take the easy road or make life harder with the stairs?
Of course, I took the stairs because as we all know making life harder for myself is what I do best. As I crested over the last stair the three women look at me and smile and – I’m pretty sure – laughed. “We were hope you would make it!” Maria, the RD, said. I had been in correspondence over emails with her about when exactly the bus was leaving. *No, she is not from Argentina but Bulgaria.* I had made it! And I only had minutes to spare. I was able to use the ATM, grab a Coke Zero, and join the other ISA students – some had been waiting since 7AM England time – and wait… for the bus… which didn’t come for almost another hour. Bitter? Me? Why would I be? Oh, you mean just because I had sprinted with all my luggage about a mile from the plane to Terminal 3 in order to be on time for a bus that I thought was leaving at 11AM but actually left closer to 12PM? Oh that… well, yes. Yes, I was bitter but I was in England and I had done it on my own.
The rest of the day was not so adventurous. Once we got Wigram House we dumped off our luggage – the rooms wouldn’t be ready until 2PM – and walked all the way to the London Eye which is closer than my maps showed me. I am right in the middle of everything! After our little walk, we ate dinner at The Old Monk, a bar near Wigram. I had Sausage and Mash which was wonderful and a cider – Harvest. Afterward, a bunch of us got breakfast things for the next few days and then headed back to Wigram to write this very long blog about how my first two days abroad. So far so good.
I now have about 15 minutes before it is 8PM which is as good a time as any to go to sleep if you ask me.
I guess I’ll start from the beginning: I left Pendleton with Mom yesterday leaving Dad to sleep off his back spasm from the day before. It was sad to leave him alone in the house, especially since it was Mom and Dad’s 33rd Anniversary. * HAPPY ANNIVERSAY, MOM AND DAD!* On the drive to the airport I finished the book White Teeth by Zadie Smith. It’s about multiculturalism in England, though that’s just the basic theme. It’s much more wonderful than that and I recommend it to anyone who likes to look deeper into a society’s culture. It’s beautifully written.
Anyway, once at the airport I didn’t want Mom to go. I was suddenly very sad to see her go, especially after she gave my lemur BJ a hug so every time I hugged him it would be like hugging Mom. If I wasn’t weepy then the hugging the lemur would have done it! Mom followed me through the line on the other side of the line tape as far as she could before we had to give each other one final hug and say goodbye. I was now on my own. I wasn’t worried about Charlotte to be honest. I had been through it twice on my own. It was Munich I was worried about – it was the unknown in the middle of my voyage to Heathrow. The flight itself was made easier by the fact that I am flying business class the whole time thanks to Mom’s frequent flyer miles. When you use those and you’re getting your tickets last minute, business ends up being your only option; however, because of this I got access to the US Airways/Lufthansa Lounge where I got a complimentary vodka tonic and Sun Chips. It was a good start to a long day.
Once it was close to boarding time, I made my way to the gate and got on my Lufthansa flight. If you ever get a chance to fly Lufthansa, do it. Very friendly people and no nothing’s wrong with them – they’re German! *Don’t mean that to be offensive. Some people will get that joke and some won’t. Two words: Faulty Towers.* Business class was an exciting and awkward experience. I had never had a seat on a plane that became a bed or gave you enough room to make you think for even a fraction of a second when you’re waking that you might even be in a bed. Business class seats on the other hand are another thing altogether. They not only become bed-like but they are wider to allow tossing and turning or to allow - those of us who find regular seats uncomfortable – more room in general. Getting to the point where my seat became bed-like took about an hour, though. There was even a button with a picture of the seat as a bed. All I had to do was push and not let up until it was just like the picture but the seat goes through a few other positions first and makes a lot of noise before settling on the one you want. It was slightly embarrassing really but I got through it. Poor me, right? Maybe not.
I slept for a little while but the turbulence was pretty bad. At no point was I worried about the plane breaking into two pieces and falling into the ocean near an island no one knew existed but I was annoyed that I wasn’t able to get a good night’s sleep. Because of this my two days have just felt like one long day which is why I’m so tired right now. But hey! It’s 7Pm here. In a few more hours I can go to bed!
So back to the flight. Dinner was served. I had a salad, chicken with risotto and for dessert I had fresh fruit. During dinner I listened to a PotterCast episode and after dinner I watched the movie 17 Again. I had quite a few choices but I settled on something I wouldn’t have to think about too much. It was a good movie. Not the best thing ever but descent. After that I tried to sleep but like I said, it took a while before I could figure my chair out and even then I only slept about three hours and not all at once. It’s amazing the noises that come from a section of sleeping travelers. People have very different ways of snoring. Once it was about 6AM Germany time we had breakfast. I don’t actually remember what I had and I didn’t think to take pictures – sorry, Dad. It was good, though. When we landed in Munich I went to the Business class lounge and tried to use the internet but they wanted me to pay for it so I went and found my gate. The flight from Munich to Heathrow was more like a regular flight whether you’re in Business or not.
Now came the real challenge. The ISA bus was to leave Terminal 3 at 11AM. My flight got in at 10:20AM, which didn’t leave me a lot of time to get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3. Luckily, I’ve been working out for the last month and I had on my sneakers. I burst out of the airplane as fast as the other passengers would allow which wasn’t really fast at all because some people have never heard of the rule where the slow people get to one side to let others pass and that it’s rude to suddenly stop in the middle of the walkway without signaling to other people about what they’re doing… *deep breath* But I remained vigilant in my ultimate quest for Terminal 3. At customs no one was in line and only two counters were open. I breezed through with no problem; however, at baggage claim it seemed as if I would be thrwarted! It was 10:41AM before our baggage started to come out – we landed at 10:10AM, a whole 10 minutes early! I didn’t have my baggage in hand until 10 minutes to 11AM! How was I going to make it to Terminal 3? “You walk,” was the answer I got from a helpful yet surly Underground worker. Luckily, the signs were easy to follow but they didn’t tell me how much longer my quest would last. I didn’t have a watch on and my phone had yet to switch over from SC time and there was no way, even if it had, that I was going to stop to check. No matter what the time there was no way my short legs were going to walk any faster. I had a book bag on my back and I was lugging a large rolling suitcase with another bag perched on top. A few times the other bag slipped from where it rested and I had to stop to readjust it, all the while cursing under my breathe. * Saying “Frak,” of course. * When I left home I had looked very nice in my jeans and green shirt but now I was all sweaty and tired and almost running to Terminal 3 almost 12 hours later. This was not the time to have taken a picture to commemorate the trip, that’s for sure! Finally, up ahead I saw two signs. One read, “Terminal 3 Stairs” and the other, “Terminal 3 Ramp.” When I got the point where my path split between the easy way – the ramp – and the “you’re gonna look like an idiot carrying your luggage up those stairs” – the stairs – I had to make the ultimate decision. I could see three women with signs that read ISA at the top of the stairs. I was running out of time. What do I do? Take the easy road or make life harder with the stairs?
Of course, I took the stairs because as we all know making life harder for myself is what I do best. As I crested over the last stair the three women look at me and smile and – I’m pretty sure – laughed. “We were hope you would make it!” Maria, the RD, said. I had been in correspondence over emails with her about when exactly the bus was leaving. *No, she is not from Argentina but Bulgaria.* I had made it! And I only had minutes to spare. I was able to use the ATM, grab a Coke Zero, and join the other ISA students – some had been waiting since 7AM England time – and wait… for the bus… which didn’t come for almost another hour. Bitter? Me? Why would I be? Oh, you mean just because I had sprinted with all my luggage about a mile from the plane to Terminal 3 in order to be on time for a bus that I thought was leaving at 11AM but actually left closer to 12PM? Oh that… well, yes. Yes, I was bitter but I was in England and I had done it on my own.
The rest of the day was not so adventurous. Once we got Wigram House we dumped off our luggage – the rooms wouldn’t be ready until 2PM – and walked all the way to the London Eye which is closer than my maps showed me. I am right in the middle of everything! After our little walk, we ate dinner at The Old Monk, a bar near Wigram. I had Sausage and Mash which was wonderful and a cider – Harvest. Afterward, a bunch of us got breakfast things for the next few days and then headed back to Wigram to write this very long blog about how my first two days abroad. So far so good.
I now have about 15 minutes before it is 8PM which is as good a time as any to go to sleep if you ask me.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Working Out Your Weight
Oh Summer! It’s the time of year when you realize you have been putting off that New Year’s resolution to lose weight and now that hot new bathing suit you bought yourself at the beginning of the year and had promised yourself you would fit into by now doesn’t fit at all. For some, it might have seemed to have magically shrunk from when you bought it. For me, it was never about the swimsuit – that’s just a general goal I think most women have. No, this year it is about three things:
1. My brother is getting married in November and I am a bridesmaid which means I am going to be wearing a dress up front where a couple hundred people – most of which I don’t know – will be at some point staring at me;
2. I am leaving for London in about two weeks for three weeks and would like to be in some form of shape for all of the walking I will be doing and have an idea of to eat well and still enjoy all the wonderful food I want;
3. And the most important reason: I am not happy with the way my body is right now.
And that’s what matters above all – what you think and how you feel about your body, not what society would have you think. The example that I use the most is Marilyn Monroe who was a size 14. There is something important to remember with Ms. Monroe. I am a size 14 –ish but I am in no way as healthy or good looking as she was. You can be a 14 or 16 or 18 without being overweight or unhealthy. I am overweight and I am not a very healthy person. This is both easy and hard to fix.
Last month I began going to the gym and meeting with a personal trainer. I never thought of myself as someone who would use a personal trainer. I had always associated them with people who were not me. Trainers are expensive but if you can spare the money for the gym and the trainer it helps. My trainer is someone I have known for a few years so I feel comfortable around her. She knows her stuff and knows when to push and when to mix things up. The first day I met with her we had a conversation about the best way to lose weight. I told her I knew losing weigh quickly was not the way to go because rarely are you able to keep that weight off. So many diets nowadays are popular because they offer quick results. This is not how you do it safely. Rapid weight loss can be just as bad as rapid weight gain. She was happy to hear that I knew the reality of working out and getting healthy – not all at once and not a fad diet.
I say that last part but at the same time as working with her my family decided to do the South Beach diet. I would put this in the fad diet category which is not to say it doesn’t work or is an unhealthy way to lose weight but it popped up around the same time when the “get healthy fast” diets began to crop up. It promises that if you follow their plan you will lose 10 pounds in the first two weeks. I have lost 10 pounds in the last month. I have cheated. I admit that much but at the same time I have been working out and building muscle; however I know I probably should have lost more than that and would have if I had been faithful to the diet.
This is another problem with dieting and exercise for a lot of people who want results now: it takes a while. It may take me three months to lose 30 pounds but I’ll get there. I’m in no rush – although November has become my goal. You can’t expect that one day you will wake up and suddenly you’ll be a size 10 – once again, my goal – without having to sweat for it. I work out three times a week – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - with the routine that my trainer has laid out for me. Sometimes I’ll go on Sunday just to use the elliptical machine. Even with just one machine I have a routine I have worked out for myself. I vary the levels that I work on. I may start at 1 but then move to 3 after a few minutes back down to 2 then up to 4 back to 1 and then up to 4 again. Then I go backwards for a minute and then forwards again which is something you can’t do on a treadmill. I do this until I hit a mile and then I stop.
Another thing that my trainer has had me do is keep track of what I eat. This is not a food diary. I have done those and never saw the point. Yes, you keep track of what you have eaten but beyond that it doesn’t really make you think about it. The way my trainer has had me do it makes you think about what you are putting in your body. It’s in the shape of a food pyramid – the old one, not the new one that was put out recently – with bubbles in each section for the number of servings you are suppose to have of each food group. Instead of writing down what you had you bubble in the amount of servings. My trainer even wrote off to the side what a serving is for each group. This has been more helpful for me because just by glancing at it and I can tell, “Yea, I cheated on that day and on this day I should have not had that thing…” Easy. The hard part is keeping up with it which is the hard part of the whole losing weight thing to begin with – you have to be vigilant with it or it won’t work. You can’t blame the diet if you know you haven’t been faithful to it and you can’t blame the workout when you know you haven’t been doing it correctly or going as much as you should. It takes time but it’s possible.
The other thing I have been doing is drinking more liquids which include tea, naturally. Homemade iced tea is just about the best thing you do rather than the restaurant teas that have a pound of sugar in them. Don’t use real sugar; use Splenda or something like it. Here is my personal iced tea recipe:
4 bags Constant Comment (Bigelow brand)
2 bags of a lemon tea
4 bags of a fruity tea
10 bags Splenda
Boil water. Add tea bags and take off heat. Steep. A lot. Put in iced tea container. Fill to top with tap water and ice. Refrigerate. When you steep the tea you have to let it sit until the steam is almost gone. If you don’t let it steep enough it will be watery when you had the other water and ice. That’s it. For some hardcore Southern tea drinkers this is not going to be sweet enough and for hardcore Northerns it will be too sweet. I try to put in one bag for each tea bag I use but you can change it to suit your needs.
There ya go. That’s what I have to say about losing weight. It may be something you have heard before or something you never have. You may agree or disagree. I actually encourage you to disagree because what works for me is not going to work for you just like sweetening iced tea.
1. My brother is getting married in November and I am a bridesmaid which means I am going to be wearing a dress up front where a couple hundred people – most of which I don’t know – will be at some point staring at me;
2. I am leaving for London in about two weeks for three weeks and would like to be in some form of shape for all of the walking I will be doing and have an idea of to eat well and still enjoy all the wonderful food I want;
3. And the most important reason: I am not happy with the way my body is right now.
And that’s what matters above all – what you think and how you feel about your body, not what society would have you think. The example that I use the most is Marilyn Monroe who was a size 14. There is something important to remember with Ms. Monroe. I am a size 14 –ish but I am in no way as healthy or good looking as she was. You can be a 14 or 16 or 18 without being overweight or unhealthy. I am overweight and I am not a very healthy person. This is both easy and hard to fix.
Last month I began going to the gym and meeting with a personal trainer. I never thought of myself as someone who would use a personal trainer. I had always associated them with people who were not me. Trainers are expensive but if you can spare the money for the gym and the trainer it helps. My trainer is someone I have known for a few years so I feel comfortable around her. She knows her stuff and knows when to push and when to mix things up. The first day I met with her we had a conversation about the best way to lose weight. I told her I knew losing weigh quickly was not the way to go because rarely are you able to keep that weight off. So many diets nowadays are popular because they offer quick results. This is not how you do it safely. Rapid weight loss can be just as bad as rapid weight gain. She was happy to hear that I knew the reality of working out and getting healthy – not all at once and not a fad diet.
I say that last part but at the same time as working with her my family decided to do the South Beach diet. I would put this in the fad diet category which is not to say it doesn’t work or is an unhealthy way to lose weight but it popped up around the same time when the “get healthy fast” diets began to crop up. It promises that if you follow their plan you will lose 10 pounds in the first two weeks. I have lost 10 pounds in the last month. I have cheated. I admit that much but at the same time I have been working out and building muscle; however I know I probably should have lost more than that and would have if I had been faithful to the diet.
This is another problem with dieting and exercise for a lot of people who want results now: it takes a while. It may take me three months to lose 30 pounds but I’ll get there. I’m in no rush – although November has become my goal. You can’t expect that one day you will wake up and suddenly you’ll be a size 10 – once again, my goal – without having to sweat for it. I work out three times a week – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - with the routine that my trainer has laid out for me. Sometimes I’ll go on Sunday just to use the elliptical machine. Even with just one machine I have a routine I have worked out for myself. I vary the levels that I work on. I may start at 1 but then move to 3 after a few minutes back down to 2 then up to 4 back to 1 and then up to 4 again. Then I go backwards for a minute and then forwards again which is something you can’t do on a treadmill. I do this until I hit a mile and then I stop.
Another thing that my trainer has had me do is keep track of what I eat. This is not a food diary. I have done those and never saw the point. Yes, you keep track of what you have eaten but beyond that it doesn’t really make you think about it. The way my trainer has had me do it makes you think about what you are putting in your body. It’s in the shape of a food pyramid – the old one, not the new one that was put out recently – with bubbles in each section for the number of servings you are suppose to have of each food group. Instead of writing down what you had you bubble in the amount of servings. My trainer even wrote off to the side what a serving is for each group. This has been more helpful for me because just by glancing at it and I can tell, “Yea, I cheated on that day and on this day I should have not had that thing…” Easy. The hard part is keeping up with it which is the hard part of the whole losing weight thing to begin with – you have to be vigilant with it or it won’t work. You can’t blame the diet if you know you haven’t been faithful to it and you can’t blame the workout when you know you haven’t been doing it correctly or going as much as you should. It takes time but it’s possible.
The other thing I have been doing is drinking more liquids which include tea, naturally. Homemade iced tea is just about the best thing you do rather than the restaurant teas that have a pound of sugar in them. Don’t use real sugar; use Splenda or something like it. Here is my personal iced tea recipe:
4 bags Constant Comment (Bigelow brand)
2 bags of a lemon tea
4 bags of a fruity tea
10 bags Splenda
Boil water. Add tea bags and take off heat. Steep. A lot. Put in iced tea container. Fill to top with tap water and ice. Refrigerate. When you steep the tea you have to let it sit until the steam is almost gone. If you don’t let it steep enough it will be watery when you had the other water and ice. That’s it. For some hardcore Southern tea drinkers this is not going to be sweet enough and for hardcore Northerns it will be too sweet. I try to put in one bag for each tea bag I use but you can change it to suit your needs.
There ya go. That’s what I have to say about losing weight. It may be something you have heard before or something you never have. You may agree or disagree. I actually encourage you to disagree because what works for me is not going to work for you just like sweetening iced tea.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Small Miracles
For Spring Break I went to Chicago to visit my brother. I had been looking forward to it for weeks. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to spend much time with him but that was ok because I would still be in the same city and state as him for a while. The morning I arrived my brother’s girlfriend picked me up at the El stop in O’Hare and we traveled back to Logan Square where she and my brother live – not together; they have different apartments on different streets. I got to see my brother for a brief few minutes while we walked him to his bus stop. At first I didn’t see him but Annie did. Then all the sudden I see Chris running as fast as he can towards me with a big goofy grin on his face. He slammed into me and gave me bear hug.
There is nothing I love more than my family. My brother is probably on the top of the list. What I love most is how he’s always happy to see me when we’ve been away from each other for a while. I know most people are happy to people they have missed but this is different. This is true happiness. I don’t know how to explain it. It seems like such a simple concept yet it’s hard to describe. Part of it is our close relationship. I don’t know anyone else who loves their sibling like we do. It can be obnoxious. But it’s so simple to me that I take it for granted.
It seems the simple things are what people take for granted. Sometimes small things can be built up to be something grander in a person’s mind and when they come to pass it doesn’t seem quite so wonderful as what we’d hoped for in the beginning. After Annie and I left Chris at the bus stop we met up with Annie’s brother who was also visiting and the three of us went downtown to watch the river turn green. This is a huge event that happens every year during St. Patrick’s week in Chicago. I say week because that’s what it is – a whole week, not a day. People wait for two hours in the cold and wind for the river to turn green. I wasn’t sure how this was going to happen. In my mind it would be gradual not all at once. What ended up actually happening was a speed boat came by and dumped the dye in the river. I thought it was pretty cool but a woman standing near me said, “That’s it? That’s what we waited two hours for? That was lame.” I just rolled my eyes and continued to watch as the dye spread out across the water.
What the woman didn’t realize is that the Chicago River is disgusting. A while back some environmentalists wanted to know what was in the dye because it might be hurting what animal and plant life lived in the river. The response was that if anything was living in the river the dye sure as hell wasn’t going to kill it. It’s a dirty river; probably one of the dirtiest in the country. The dye is neon green… I mean neon green. Now think how green the dye has to actually be to make a dirty river turn neon green. It’s seems so simple to the people watching it but the science of it is beyond me, especially since the recipe of the dye has been kept secret.
The simple things. The love of siblings, the dying of a river. At first glance they seem ordinary, things that happen all the time – or at least once a year. It makes me stop to think about all the other things that seem simple that are actually small miracles going unnoticed. It sound like a good thing to think about over a hot cup of tea which seems like it’s just the dying and flavoring of water but is that all there is to it? Or is that, too, a small miracle?
There is nothing I love more than my family. My brother is probably on the top of the list. What I love most is how he’s always happy to see me when we’ve been away from each other for a while. I know most people are happy to people they have missed but this is different. This is true happiness. I don’t know how to explain it. It seems like such a simple concept yet it’s hard to describe. Part of it is our close relationship. I don’t know anyone else who loves their sibling like we do. It can be obnoxious. But it’s so simple to me that I take it for granted.
It seems the simple things are what people take for granted. Sometimes small things can be built up to be something grander in a person’s mind and when they come to pass it doesn’t seem quite so wonderful as what we’d hoped for in the beginning. After Annie and I left Chris at the bus stop we met up with Annie’s brother who was also visiting and the three of us went downtown to watch the river turn green. This is a huge event that happens every year during St. Patrick’s week in Chicago. I say week because that’s what it is – a whole week, not a day. People wait for two hours in the cold and wind for the river to turn green. I wasn’t sure how this was going to happen. In my mind it would be gradual not all at once. What ended up actually happening was a speed boat came by and dumped the dye in the river. I thought it was pretty cool but a woman standing near me said, “That’s it? That’s what we waited two hours for? That was lame.” I just rolled my eyes and continued to watch as the dye spread out across the water.
What the woman didn’t realize is that the Chicago River is disgusting. A while back some environmentalists wanted to know what was in the dye because it might be hurting what animal and plant life lived in the river. The response was that if anything was living in the river the dye sure as hell wasn’t going to kill it. It’s a dirty river; probably one of the dirtiest in the country. The dye is neon green… I mean neon green. Now think how green the dye has to actually be to make a dirty river turn neon green. It’s seems so simple to the people watching it but the science of it is beyond me, especially since the recipe of the dye has been kept secret.
The simple things. The love of siblings, the dying of a river. At first glance they seem ordinary, things that happen all the time – or at least once a year. It makes me stop to think about all the other things that seem simple that are actually small miracles going unnoticed. It sound like a good thing to think about over a hot cup of tea which seems like it’s just the dying and flavoring of water but is that all there is to it? Or is that, too, a small miracle?
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
National Brotherhood Week
Living in the South I take certain things for granted, such as iced tea will always be sweet, grits are for breakfast, and the people are friendly. This last one is something that I think more of us Southerns take for granted than we realize. On several trips up North to visit family, my family and I have walked into any number of McDonald’s on a bathroom break and been surprised – if not shocked and embarrassed for the person behind the counter – when we witness an angry customer yelling at the poor clerk. We don’t know why but there they are, yelling like the person behind the counter just insulted their grandmother.
And what is the first thing I do? I check the accent. I know I shouldn’t but every stereotype as a grain of truth in it. Rarely does this person sound like they are from the South. (Although, neither do I - even with two Yankee parents you would think that having grown-up in the South I would have developed a slight accent but no; I remain accent free.) Northerners are known – in the South, anyway – for being loud and unpleasent, not that we don’t have our moments but football is a big deal down here.
My family and I get to our destination and spend a few days with our Northern half and sometime time during our stay it will happen. Whether we are walking down the street or in a store, I will make eye contact with someone and smile or wave because that’s what you do. If you make eye contact you acknowledge the other person and move on. My cousins can never understand this phenomenon.
“Do you know them?” one of them will say.
“Well, no,” I say.
“Then why did you wave?”
“Because we made eye contact and it was the nice thing to do?”
Their amazement at this gesture baffles me but then I think back to the angry Northerner in the McDonald’s and in my head I say, “Oh yeah.” Once again, I know I shouldn’t make this assumption. I love my Northern family and I have been in plenty of places in the North where the people are just as friendly as back in the South. So why do I automatically try to hear the accent in the angry customer at McDonald’s?
Stereotypes are based mostly on the bad qualities of a certain group of people. Rarely do stereotypes – or at least the ones I am aware of – focus on the good aspects of the human condition. Chances are that it has more to do with the history between certain groups of people. I am no history major so I will not begin to try to guess what those histories are but it makes sense. We see one individual and judge them either based on looks or their accent or any number of other things about them that are only evident from the outside.
This week is National Brotherhood Week. Some of you have perhaps heard the song by Tom Lehrer with the same title; Lehrer’s song satirizes the week (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGGMi0fTXvA – don’t listen to this song in a public area unless you are prepared to explain yourself) but I think there is something to be gained from celebrating this week. After all, how can you make connections with people if all you are doing is silently judging them because they come from a different part of the country than you? You can’t. So put aside the prejudices and ask them if they want a cup of tea. Whether they like it sweet or unsweet, hot or cold, they are human beings and so are you.
And what is the first thing I do? I check the accent. I know I shouldn’t but every stereotype as a grain of truth in it. Rarely does this person sound like they are from the South. (Although, neither do I - even with two Yankee parents you would think that having grown-up in the South I would have developed a slight accent but no; I remain accent free.) Northerners are known – in the South, anyway – for being loud and unpleasent, not that we don’t have our moments but football is a big deal down here.
My family and I get to our destination and spend a few days with our Northern half and sometime time during our stay it will happen. Whether we are walking down the street or in a store, I will make eye contact with someone and smile or wave because that’s what you do. If you make eye contact you acknowledge the other person and move on. My cousins can never understand this phenomenon.
“Do you know them?” one of them will say.
“Well, no,” I say.
“Then why did you wave?”
“Because we made eye contact and it was the nice thing to do?”
Their amazement at this gesture baffles me but then I think back to the angry Northerner in the McDonald’s and in my head I say, “Oh yeah.” Once again, I know I shouldn’t make this assumption. I love my Northern family and I have been in plenty of places in the North where the people are just as friendly as back in the South. So why do I automatically try to hear the accent in the angry customer at McDonald’s?
Stereotypes are based mostly on the bad qualities of a certain group of people. Rarely do stereotypes – or at least the ones I am aware of – focus on the good aspects of the human condition. Chances are that it has more to do with the history between certain groups of people. I am no history major so I will not begin to try to guess what those histories are but it makes sense. We see one individual and judge them either based on looks or their accent or any number of other things about them that are only evident from the outside.
This week is National Brotherhood Week. Some of you have perhaps heard the song by Tom Lehrer with the same title; Lehrer’s song satirizes the week (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGGMi0fTXvA – don’t listen to this song in a public area unless you are prepared to explain yourself) but I think there is something to be gained from celebrating this week. After all, how can you make connections with people if all you are doing is silently judging them because they come from a different part of the country than you? You can’t. So put aside the prejudices and ask them if they want a cup of tea. Whether they like it sweet or unsweet, hot or cold, they are human beings and so are you.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Connecting Through Tea
Recently, a friend of mine, L.H.L (Have a Sole.) posted a blog about how people have become disconnected with each other. This she feels – and correct me L.H.L if I am getting this wrong – is because of society getting away from the arts and the connections it can create between people. One of her suggestions on how to rekindle these connections was drinking tea with a friend. My comment on this was, “Tea is duct tape for the soul! I have had many wonderful conversations with friends and family over a steaming cup of tea. The art of conversation is slowly dying out and I feel it's due to technology. Everyone feels they have to be plugged in all the time.” And this is true. If you are a user of something like Facebook you have perhaps heard the joke, “We’re actually friends if we’re not friends on Facebook!” But I don’t want to talk about technology anymore. I want to focus on tea.
The thing about tea is it slows you down, whereas technology is associated with being fast-paced. Most tea has less caffeine in it than coffee - unless you're drinking Gunpowder Green Tea and then don't expect to be taking a nap anytime soon. You don’t drink coffee to relax. There is caffeine free coffee but what’s the point? Most people I know don’t drink coffee for the taste – though, there are some of these kinds of people out there and if you are one of them please enlighten me. Tea has a calming effect whether it's chamomile or, my personal favorite, rooibos. It’s good for the soul when it feels like your soul is in a million pieces. Tea is duct tape for the soul.
“CZB II, why tea?” You may be asking. I will admit that I have not always been a fan of tea. Had I grown up in England perhaps my taste for it as a child would have been more favorable but when I was younger I never thought it tasted particularly good. Now I realize this has more to do with the fact that my older brother never used honey in his green tea which left the natural bitter taste more than anything. Children don’t like bitter things. I digress… back to the point.
I discovered my love for when my younger brother died. A friend brought over a box of assorted teas and we sat in my room, drinking tea and remembering the good times we had all done together. Ever since then tea has been a way for me to connect with the people I love. Everyone who knows me knows that I love sharing my tea as much as drinking it. Last year the husband of someone I know died. The two of us weren’t particularly close but having gone through a similar crisis of my own I knew what it was like to feel you couldn’t relate to anyone. I found a small box and decorated it with tea quotes and filled it with my favorite teas. I wrote her a short note about why I was giving her the tea and that I hoped she passed on tea in a similar fashion when someone she knew was going through something similar.
This past Christmas I got a letter from her saying she had passed some tea onto a friend of hers whose husband had also died. In a letter to her friend she told her about how I had given her tea and the origin of the tea giving. She told her friend to pass on the tea the way I had told my friend to do the same. This touched me; not only had I made a connection with this woman but I was now, through her, connected to someone I didn’t even know and it wasn’t because we had mutual friends on YourFace or were tagged in a note that listed 25 things people didn’t know about someone they thought they knew.
I may never meet this other woman but by touching the life of some I do know I was able to help her. Life is about human connections. It’s not just having tea with a friend either. It’s touching someone else’s life. You may not even realize you have made a difference but by helping one individual you have made them able to help someone else. By making these connections we make ourselves stronger, too, so when we are having those days when we feel we can’t relate to anyone we can remember the people who touched us and know that we’re not alone.
So go have a tea with someone you love and make the connection.
The thing about tea is it slows you down, whereas technology is associated with being fast-paced. Most tea has less caffeine in it than coffee - unless you're drinking Gunpowder Green Tea and then don't expect to be taking a nap anytime soon. You don’t drink coffee to relax. There is caffeine free coffee but what’s the point? Most people I know don’t drink coffee for the taste – though, there are some of these kinds of people out there and if you are one of them please enlighten me. Tea has a calming effect whether it's chamomile or, my personal favorite, rooibos. It’s good for the soul when it feels like your soul is in a million pieces. Tea is duct tape for the soul.
“CZB II, why tea?” You may be asking. I will admit that I have not always been a fan of tea. Had I grown up in England perhaps my taste for it as a child would have been more favorable but when I was younger I never thought it tasted particularly good. Now I realize this has more to do with the fact that my older brother never used honey in his green tea which left the natural bitter taste more than anything. Children don’t like bitter things. I digress… back to the point.
I discovered my love for when my younger brother died. A friend brought over a box of assorted teas and we sat in my room, drinking tea and remembering the good times we had all done together. Ever since then tea has been a way for me to connect with the people I love. Everyone who knows me knows that I love sharing my tea as much as drinking it. Last year the husband of someone I know died. The two of us weren’t particularly close but having gone through a similar crisis of my own I knew what it was like to feel you couldn’t relate to anyone. I found a small box and decorated it with tea quotes and filled it with my favorite teas. I wrote her a short note about why I was giving her the tea and that I hoped she passed on tea in a similar fashion when someone she knew was going through something similar.
This past Christmas I got a letter from her saying she had passed some tea onto a friend of hers whose husband had also died. In a letter to her friend she told her about how I had given her tea and the origin of the tea giving. She told her friend to pass on the tea the way I had told my friend to do the same. This touched me; not only had I made a connection with this woman but I was now, through her, connected to someone I didn’t even know and it wasn’t because we had mutual friends on YourFace or were tagged in a note that listed 25 things people didn’t know about someone they thought they knew.
I may never meet this other woman but by touching the life of some I do know I was able to help her. Life is about human connections. It’s not just having tea with a friend either. It’s touching someone else’s life. You may not even realize you have made a difference but by helping one individual you have made them able to help someone else. By making these connections we make ourselves stronger, too, so when we are having those days when we feel we can’t relate to anyone we can remember the people who touched us and know that we’re not alone.
So go have a tea with someone you love and make the connection.
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