My time in London is almost over. Today I pack and tomorrow I attempt to soak up every last bit of the city that I can. It seems weird to think that I am packing to leave; I feel like I am just to continue living here forever. It also seems weird that the summer itself is over--that I have actually passed two whole months while here, and now they, too, are gone. How fast it went...
With the past few weeks I have been squeezing in everything I could--seeing the friends I have made here as much as possible, picnicking, museums and even just walking around, as that is also an activity in London. One of the most memorable things I have seen lately was the Imperial War Museum, which has exhibits on the 1st and 2nd World Wars, all conflicts and wars since then, the Holocaust, and Crimes Against Humanity. All exhibits were really incredible, eye-opening, educational. This may be one of the best museums I have seen (and there are a lot of amazing museums).
Last evening I went to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, the pub where Yeats, Twain, Dickens, and others drank. It's one of the oldest pubs in London and it looks it. There are several rooms with a bar in each; it's hot and a bit uncomfortable. It's great. I also went to Ye Olde Cock Tavern, where Eliot was a regular, though I think they have done more to modernize that than the Cheshire.
The other day we had a picnic in St. James' Park, which was really fun (the park is beautiful, too). After that we went to Koko, a sort of Indie-rock club that used to be an opera house and thus is quite amazing inside.
Not to pass quickly over this:
Paris!!
Paris was really fun, exciting, a bit wearying, beautiful. We spent a lot of time trying to find one another (everyone's phones stopped working), and we were unfamiliar with the place so saying "meet at Les Halles" seemed like a fine idea to us Londoners before we realized that Les Halles is about the size of downtown Columbia. Otherwise, though, we had a good time. I stuck with Lacey for most of the trip, as we wanted to do the same things pretty much. I was even able to use French while I was there, and was understood! (And sometimes not even laughed at!) In seriousness, though, almost everyone I met was accommodating to the fact my attempts at their language were pretty poor, and that I couldn't understand more than a few words spoken in a sentence back to me. I tried to speak French to everyone--the man at the front desk at our hotel (though trying to explain "our wireless isn't connecting" sounded more like "her computer no work. the internet? we don't find the name of the hotel...here"), serveurs, the ticket people at the metro stations, the men selling crepes, a French tourist that I wanted to take my picture in front of the gates at Versailles (she did a poor job, but I felt too shy for "can you take another? this time with the whole gate?"), the guy at the cheese shop, the guy at the wine shop. All were kind, and many had to ask a question in return, to which I usually answered, "...what?" after which they switched to English (except for the hotel desk guy, who, after I asked him in French to please speak more slowly? he waved his hand and said something that I'm not even sure was French at all.)
Still though, with all the troubles, it was quite amazing to say, "je voudrais dix billets, s'il vous plait?" and actually get ten tickets; to ask, "combien ce coute?" and receive the answer, understandable, " deux trente." In all the time of French class, nothing ever made the language so real.
The best part perhaps were the museums, particularly the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay, and Musee Rodin was great as well. It was exhausting but amazing to see everything that I saw in the Louvre, and I barely saw any percentage of it at all. My favorites were th large format French paintings, these enormous, beautiful paintings with incredible detail and life to them, dramatic but tastefully so. Actually, those were my second favorites; the best pieces were the ancient Greek and Roman sculptures. I mean really. Wow.
The food was incredible. Obviously. So was the cheese, and the wine. But I don't need to tell you these things. In that way, at least, Paris is what you think.
In the way of architecture, beautiful sights, slightly more laid-back people, Paris is what you think, there, too. But, in thinking that Paris is preferable to London, well, I might argue otherwise.
Speaking of, it awaits me as I tyoe, even if just to pack (and then maybe get to Primark, where I can fight gladiator-style with the other shoppers and hopefully come out with some cheap articles of clothing).
Random things I have seen/done:
-Saw a squirrel fall out of a tree and hit the ground with a thud. He was okay, though he looked a little embarrassed.
-Had a scone with clotted cream, and it was awesome.
-Saw wheat beer here (!!!) but was too tired for a second pint; I chose cider before seeing that they had it.
-Had fish and chips in a Christopher Wren pub. The guy was really a genius.
-Picnicked in Hyde Park and then in St. James' Park, also lounged in Regent's Park.
-Had Mexican food at Camden Market.
-Finished up my class except for one final paper.
-Saw Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and most importantly, Cupid and Psyche.
-Spent too much time updating my blog in an effort to delay packing and taking a shower.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Goings on and the like
Well it's been so long since I have updated that I MUST have been doing some sweet things, right? To that I answer: this is London. Of course!
This past weekend our classes took a tour of the Globe, which was even cooler than I expected. The guide showed us the theatre and talked about how it was made, and all of that, but then gave a lecture about Shakespearean acting in Shakespeare's time. It was really enlightening; I think what I learned from it is a good example of the kind of experiences that one gets while studying English literature in England; it's something I can take back with me and will sort of change the way I read (and watch) Shakespeare from now on. After the tour I went with a classmate over to Westminster Abbey and went in and looked around, did the audio tour. Westminster Abbey is where all the kings and queens have been coronated since 1066....that's pretty incredible. So I got to look on the place where Queen Elizabeth I sat, where James sat, where Victoria sat, etc, etc, up to Queen Elizabeth II sat. The same chair, the Stone of Scone underneath it (which I saw while in Scotland--this really completed the picture), scepter, crown, ring--the people have all looked on, the same place, almost a thousand years of reigns.
I saw the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I (and others of less importance). That was pretty incredible.
Several poets are also buried in Poets' Corner, such as Tennyson and Robert Browning (I was sad to find his wife is buried all the way in Italy...), Edmund Spenser, Dickens, even Chaucer. There are also several plaques commemorating poets and authors, and some statues, including one of Shakespeare, who is buried in Stratford-on-Avon.
The structure of the building itself is amazing--wholly gothic, and kept that way even though there have been add-ons and repairs through the centuries, big and varied stained glass windows. Vaulted ceilings and incredible, elaborate stonework.
Friday I got to hang out with some of the French friends I have made at the university. They are all really, really nice and funny, and quite helpful with my questions about the language and the culture. I also met someone from Spain. It's kind of funny, but my flatmate Nicole and I predicted that the closest friends we would make while in Britain would probably be not British. It is looking that way...
Saturday I went to Portobello Road market in Notting Hill, which is, I *think* where the scene from the move Notting Hill is shot, where he is walking down the road and there's a market and the seasons pass while a song plays...I think that's Portobello Road market? Either way, it was quite amazing--food, mostly from Britain but also from all over (I had some British raspberries), clothes (not as huge a selection as Camden Market), and sooooo many antiques. So, so many. I got a little Victorian-looking pillbox and a necklace pendant and a hat (which some characters from The Winter's Tale on sunday seemed to have as well, just in a different color...), and spent most of the day walking up and down, looking at everything.
I then had plans to get to the Tate Modern that evening, but stopped to sit in front of Big Ben and Parliament, realizing quite suddenly and wholly that I had made it to London, and there I was. While on the phone with Alex, Big Ben struck the hour (8); this was the first time I heard the 'leaden circles dissolve in the air,' and Alex was even able to hear them with me. It was wonderful.
After that, I had a striking, amazing stroll along the north bank. The sun was setting so the city became silver and gold and the river sparkled and everything looked real, like I was there, like I am here. I crossed to the south bank and saw an exhibit commissioned by the V&A called "Volume". It's really neat; it's interactive and hard to explain. Best to look it up, I think.
Sunday was an interesting trip to Kent (not "Kent House", by the way, which is totally different...just so you know...) to see a traveling production of The Winter's Tale at Leed's Castle. I was really glad to be able to see both a tragedy (King Lear, a few weeks ago) and a comedy while here, not to mention that I got to see one at the Globe, then this little one on the castle grounds with some actors doubling roles, close enough to the show that Autolycus handed my friend next to me his guitar-like instrument while he was meant to be hiding from another character. I really, really loved The Winter's Tale and enjoyed actually seeing it. The poetry between Florizel and Perdita was really beautiful and more alive this way too. Florizel was really good.
Other than this weekend, a few other things I have been doing:
Celebrated l'anniversaire de mon copain Sebastien. They had foie gras (fattened duck liver...gross!!) but I abstained for obvious reasons (1.vegetarianism; 2.gross) and had cheese pizza instead. Oops, I mean pizza du fromage. I got to ask mes copains lots of questions about France and their healthcare and government and things like that.
Played badminton. Saw some more (still not even close to all) of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Took a guided tour of the British Museum that was pretty interesting, though when it was over, most of the Greek & Roman galleries were CLOSED again. They really don't want me to see them...Attempted to see Keats' house today, which my classmate Isaac and I finally got to after a long, rocky walk, then found out it was closed for refurbishment, to be opened again in fall of 2008. So that was a bit disappointing. Instead we took pictures of outside the house, and amused ourselves suspecting Keats saw this and that tree, this pond and that wall he walked by, probably was inspired by that shrubbery. The area is really beautiful, though--Hampstead Heath area, a little more wildlife-like and wooded than other parks in London. It does seem just right that he lived there.
Sorry again for the lack of photos, but if I wait long enough for the photos to upload, I'd never post.
Now (if you've made it this far, dear reader) for an exciting bit of news:
I LEAVE TOMORROW FOR PARIS!!! Holy moly...I am pretty thrilled. Now, to be fair, I won't get the experience of Paris that I have gotten of London, but to be able to not just live in this, the best city in the world (in my rather limited experience), but to also see Paris, as I always dreamed but didn't think was actually possible. But it is, and at 6am I will leave here for the Eurostar station (refer to first post, which is my itinerary, which I think should still be correct) and take it to Paris, France. :)
Which reminds me, I have to wake up at 5:30 am, which is not too long from now at all.
This past weekend our classes took a tour of the Globe, which was even cooler than I expected. The guide showed us the theatre and talked about how it was made, and all of that, but then gave a lecture about Shakespearean acting in Shakespeare's time. It was really enlightening; I think what I learned from it is a good example of the kind of experiences that one gets while studying English literature in England; it's something I can take back with me and will sort of change the way I read (and watch) Shakespeare from now on. After the tour I went with a classmate over to Westminster Abbey and went in and looked around, did the audio tour. Westminster Abbey is where all the kings and queens have been coronated since 1066....that's pretty incredible. So I got to look on the place where Queen Elizabeth I sat, where James sat, where Victoria sat, etc, etc, up to Queen Elizabeth II sat. The same chair, the Stone of Scone underneath it (which I saw while in Scotland--this really completed the picture), scepter, crown, ring--the people have all looked on, the same place, almost a thousand years of reigns.
I saw the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I (and others of less importance). That was pretty incredible.
Several poets are also buried in Poets' Corner, such as Tennyson and Robert Browning (I was sad to find his wife is buried all the way in Italy...), Edmund Spenser, Dickens, even Chaucer. There are also several plaques commemorating poets and authors, and some statues, including one of Shakespeare, who is buried in Stratford-on-Avon.
The structure of the building itself is amazing--wholly gothic, and kept that way even though there have been add-ons and repairs through the centuries, big and varied stained glass windows. Vaulted ceilings and incredible, elaborate stonework.
Friday I got to hang out with some of the French friends I have made at the university. They are all really, really nice and funny, and quite helpful with my questions about the language and the culture. I also met someone from Spain. It's kind of funny, but my flatmate Nicole and I predicted that the closest friends we would make while in Britain would probably be not British. It is looking that way...
Saturday I went to Portobello Road market in Notting Hill, which is, I *think* where the scene from the move Notting Hill is shot, where he is walking down the road and there's a market and the seasons pass while a song plays...I think that's Portobello Road market? Either way, it was quite amazing--food, mostly from Britain but also from all over (I had some British raspberries), clothes (not as huge a selection as Camden Market), and sooooo many antiques. So, so many. I got a little Victorian-looking pillbox and a necklace pendant and a hat (which some characters from The Winter's Tale on sunday seemed to have as well, just in a different color...), and spent most of the day walking up and down, looking at everything.
I then had plans to get to the Tate Modern that evening, but stopped to sit in front of Big Ben and Parliament, realizing quite suddenly and wholly that I had made it to London, and there I was. While on the phone with Alex, Big Ben struck the hour (8); this was the first time I heard the 'leaden circles dissolve in the air,' and Alex was even able to hear them with me. It was wonderful.
After that, I had a striking, amazing stroll along the north bank. The sun was setting so the city became silver and gold and the river sparkled and everything looked real, like I was there, like I am here. I crossed to the south bank and saw an exhibit commissioned by the V&A called "Volume". It's really neat; it's interactive and hard to explain. Best to look it up, I think.
Sunday was an interesting trip to Kent (not "Kent House", by the way, which is totally different...just so you know...) to see a traveling production of The Winter's Tale at Leed's Castle. I was really glad to be able to see both a tragedy (King Lear, a few weeks ago) and a comedy while here, not to mention that I got to see one at the Globe, then this little one on the castle grounds with some actors doubling roles, close enough to the show that Autolycus handed my friend next to me his guitar-like instrument while he was meant to be hiding from another character. I really, really loved The Winter's Tale and enjoyed actually seeing it. The poetry between Florizel and Perdita was really beautiful and more alive this way too. Florizel was really good.
Other than this weekend, a few other things I have been doing:
Celebrated l'anniversaire de mon copain Sebastien. They had foie gras (fattened duck liver...gross!!) but I abstained for obvious reasons (1.vegetarianism; 2.gross) and had cheese pizza instead. Oops, I mean pizza du fromage. I got to ask mes copains lots of questions about France and their healthcare and government and things like that.
Played badminton. Saw some more (still not even close to all) of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Took a guided tour of the British Museum that was pretty interesting, though when it was over, most of the Greek & Roman galleries were CLOSED again. They really don't want me to see them...Attempted to see Keats' house today, which my classmate Isaac and I finally got to after a long, rocky walk, then found out it was closed for refurbishment, to be opened again in fall of 2008. So that was a bit disappointing. Instead we took pictures of outside the house, and amused ourselves suspecting Keats saw this and that tree, this pond and that wall he walked by, probably was inspired by that shrubbery. The area is really beautiful, though--Hampstead Heath area, a little more wildlife-like and wooded than other parks in London. It does seem just right that he lived there.
Sorry again for the lack of photos, but if I wait long enough for the photos to upload, I'd never post.
Now (if you've made it this far, dear reader) for an exciting bit of news:
I LEAVE TOMORROW FOR PARIS!!! Holy moly...I am pretty thrilled. Now, to be fair, I won't get the experience of Paris that I have gotten of London, but to be able to not just live in this, the best city in the world (in my rather limited experience), but to also see Paris, as I always dreamed but didn't think was actually possible. But it is, and at 6am I will leave here for the Eurostar station (refer to first post, which is my itinerary, which I think should still be correct) and take it to Paris, France. :)
Which reminds me, I have to wake up at 5:30 am, which is not too long from now at all.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Home Sweet London
Ireland was...interesting. I can't say I know what people who rave about Dublin are talking about, but I think we had sort of an unfortunate (and possibly unfair) experience with it. Our flight was delayed a few hours due to weather, so we couldn't really do anything Thursday night once we got there, except for buying a surprisingly expensive Thai meal (yes, in Ireland) and go to sleep. The next morning we went to the James Joyce Centre, which was kinda neat, though not extensive. It did include Leopold Bloom's door, though.
Then at noon, for our 2-year anniversary, Alex hired a string quartet to play our song, First Day of My Life, by Bright Eyes, which he arranged into sheet music for the four instruments, for me in this hotel in Malahide, right outside of Dublin. So I would certainly call that a high point of the Dublin trip :) :) :)
That afternoon we spent mostly trying to figure out how to get to the things we were planning on doing, though because we were leaving that evening on a bus to Galway, we couldn't really plan too much. So we decided to go to the Guinness factory, where they showed us in an elaborate way that there are 4 ingredients in Guinness, how the advertising has changed over th e years, what the bottles have looked like, etc, and gave us a "free" pint at the top, where you could look out onto gray, industrial Dublin. Quite an experience.
Galway, though, was very beautiful, full of things you think are supposed to be in Ireland: colorful houses right next to each other on pedestrian streets, wild swans, signs in Gaelic, pubs with fiddle music, you know, things like that. On Saturday we went to their market right by our hostel and got some (really) fresh mozzarella and partially sun-dried tomatoes and olive bread and had lunch. I think it was a Greek table at the market...but I guess we got our "Irish meal" at this place called The Couch Potato, where they basically put toppings and cheese in potatoes. It was pretty fantastic, in fact.
We then walked around and saw the town a little with Nicole's friend, Michelle, who has been studying there for a month or two. We went out to some pubs and heard real Irish music in this pub that was so incredibly crowded, I can't imagine what anyone was thinking walking into it. It was cool though, very Irish in a stereotypical way. A little more so, anyway, than the Irish pub in Dublin, in which we heard a lot of covers of American and English songs (which were still fun to listen to, but not quite the same feel). The next morning Lacey and I went out to Salt Hill to see a little more of the "beach" of the bay that Galway is on. It was surprisingly pretty--very clear water, rocks and sand, cliffs in the distance. I took about three million pictures and walked around on the beach (and a little in the water!) barefoot, as though it were actually warm enough to do so (it isn't). After that we went back to Dublin (where our flight was from) and saw their National Gallery, which was ok except for the mislabeling of the rooms that a bunch of the paintings were in, as well as the suspiciously misnamed paintings that, on the map, appeared to be paintings quite famous, but in reality, the paintings that one found were named slightly differently but following the same subject. I'm not saying it was purposeful...just suspicious. They also closed a bit earlier than we expected, so we had some time to think more about how much Dublin really hated us. I don't even think it's Dublin's fault...we just didn't have much luck-o-the Irish while there, having a plane delayed almost 3 hours coming in, the bus taking longer than they said it would both to and from Galway, quite difficult and not entirely efficient public transportation (for those of us with no clue how to navigate it, especially being used to London's Tube). But again...Galway was quite pretty. And walkable.
I must say that I am quite glad to be back in London. This is really a great city, which was demonstrated to me yet again yesterday, when I went to St. Paul's cathedral. I got to see where William Blake, Sir Joshua Reynolds, J.E. Millais, J.M.W. Turner are all buried, and, best of all, John Donne himself. That was incredible. I am pretty sure that it's the death mask that he had made for himself before he died. The timeline of the church also told me that his was the only monument to survive the fire of 1666.
After walking around, I climbed several million stairs to the top (it is the 3rd tallest building in the city of London), where you can look out on all of London.
At the bottom, it was time for Evensong, and because I was there early (I guess?) I actually got to sit in the quire (with the choir...pronounced the same) so we were really close to the singing and everything (and got to sit in the tall wooden bench-chairs that they have, instead of folding chairs down on the floor of the cathedral.
Afterwards I went down to Waterloo and found a knitting shop, got some yarn, ate a terrible sandwich on the tube back towards our borough, and had a pint of cider with Nicole, our french friend Sebastien, and his friend Jillian (though I am not sure if that's how it's spelled).
Then at noon, for our 2-year anniversary, Alex hired a string quartet to play our song, First Day of My Life, by Bright Eyes, which he arranged into sheet music for the four instruments, for me in this hotel in Malahide, right outside of Dublin. So I would certainly call that a high point of the Dublin trip :) :) :)
That afternoon we spent mostly trying to figure out how to get to the things we were planning on doing, though because we were leaving that evening on a bus to Galway, we couldn't really plan too much. So we decided to go to the Guinness factory, where they showed us in an elaborate way that there are 4 ingredients in Guinness, how the advertising has changed over th e years, what the bottles have looked like, etc, and gave us a "free" pint at the top, where you could look out onto gray, industrial Dublin. Quite an experience.
Galway, though, was very beautiful, full of things you think are supposed to be in Ireland: colorful houses right next to each other on pedestrian streets, wild swans, signs in Gaelic, pubs with fiddle music, you know, things like that. On Saturday we went to their market right by our hostel and got some (really) fresh mozzarella and partially sun-dried tomatoes and olive bread and had lunch. I think it was a Greek table at the market...but I guess we got our "Irish meal" at this place called The Couch Potato, where they basically put toppings and cheese in potatoes. It was pretty fantastic, in fact.
We then walked around and saw the town a little with Nicole's friend, Michelle, who has been studying there for a month or two. We went out to some pubs and heard real Irish music in this pub that was so incredibly crowded, I can't imagine what anyone was thinking walking into it. It was cool though, very Irish in a stereotypical way. A little more so, anyway, than the Irish pub in Dublin, in which we heard a lot of covers of American and English songs (which were still fun to listen to, but not quite the same feel). The next morning Lacey and I went out to Salt Hill to see a little more of the "beach" of the bay that Galway is on. It was surprisingly pretty--very clear water, rocks and sand, cliffs in the distance. I took about three million pictures and walked around on the beach (and a little in the water!) barefoot, as though it were actually warm enough to do so (it isn't). After that we went back to Dublin (where our flight was from) and saw their National Gallery, which was ok except for the mislabeling of the rooms that a bunch of the paintings were in, as well as the suspiciously misnamed paintings that, on the map, appeared to be paintings quite famous, but in reality, the paintings that one found were named slightly differently but following the same subject. I'm not saying it was purposeful...just suspicious. They also closed a bit earlier than we expected, so we had some time to think more about how much Dublin really hated us. I don't even think it's Dublin's fault...we just didn't have much luck-o-the Irish while there, having a plane delayed almost 3 hours coming in, the bus taking longer than they said it would both to and from Galway, quite difficult and not entirely efficient public transportation (for those of us with no clue how to navigate it, especially being used to London's Tube). But again...Galway was quite pretty. And walkable.
I must say that I am quite glad to be back in London. This is really a great city, which was demonstrated to me yet again yesterday, when I went to St. Paul's cathedral. I got to see where William Blake, Sir Joshua Reynolds, J.E. Millais, J.M.W. Turner are all buried, and, best of all, John Donne himself. That was incredible. I am pretty sure that it's the death mask that he had made for himself before he died. The timeline of the church also told me that his was the only monument to survive the fire of 1666.
After walking around, I climbed several million stairs to the top (it is the 3rd tallest building in the city of London), where you can look out on all of London.
At the bottom, it was time for Evensong, and because I was there early (I guess?) I actually got to sit in the quire (with the choir...pronounced the same) so we were really close to the singing and everything (and got to sit in the tall wooden bench-chairs that they have, instead of folding chairs down on the floor of the cathedral.
Afterwards I went down to Waterloo and found a knitting shop, got some yarn, ate a terrible sandwich on the tube back towards our borough, and had a pint of cider with Nicole, our french friend Sebastien, and his friend Jillian (though I am not sure if that's how it's spelled).
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Next Stop: Ireland
Thursday, July 3, 17:30 Depart London Gatwick Airport via RyanAir
18:45 Arrive Dublin Airport, Ireland
Friday, July 4, 20:00 depart Dublin City via City Link
23:15 arrive Galway, Ireland
Sunday, July 6, 12:00 Depart Galway, Ireland via City Link
15:15 Arrive Dublin City
21:15 Depart Dublin Airport via Aer Lingus
22:25 Arrive London Heathrow Airport
18:45 Arrive Dublin Airport, Ireland
Friday, July 4, 20:00 depart Dublin City via City Link
23:15 arrive Galway, Ireland
Sunday, July 6, 12:00 Depart Galway, Ireland via City Link
15:15 Arrive Dublin City
21:15 Depart Dublin Airport via Aer Lingus
22:25 Arrive London Heathrow Airport
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
This is summer
Today was an incredibly beautiful day: warm, cloudless, the ideal summer day really. I think today is what one has in mind of a perfect "summer" day, not when it's 112 degrees outside and humid and such, but nice enough to sit in Hyde Park beneath a tree and read and write and exist in London without sweat or chill.
After sitting in the park and a strange half-sting from a bee (I'm not really sure...) I went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which is literally the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The whole thing is enormous: statues everywhere, painted ceilings evoking humility, the dome in the middle and gold on the ceiling around all the paintings. It was truly breathtaking. I went for evensong, so I got to hear their choir sing and the reverberating voices throughout the massive thing. Incredible. I didn't get to look around a lot (they are open for looking around during the day; evensong is in the evening), though I did see the plaque with the list of deans of the Cathedral since it was started (I think?), and I saw John Donne's name up there :) :) :) ( I also read some Donne afterward outside the cafe next to it).
I must say I feel pretty good about how well I at least know the Tube. While I have no idea about how the city is actually laid out (I saw the London Eye from Hyde Park today, thought, 'hm.'), I can get around to various places that I need to be. Also walking up and down the escalator instead of standing makes one feel as though one belongs here. And efficient...
Tomorrow, to the Victoria & Albert Museum with the whole group.
After sitting in the park and a strange half-sting from a bee (I'm not really sure...) I went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which is literally the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The whole thing is enormous: statues everywhere, painted ceilings evoking humility, the dome in the middle and gold on the ceiling around all the paintings. It was truly breathtaking. I went for evensong, so I got to hear their choir sing and the reverberating voices throughout the massive thing. Incredible. I didn't get to look around a lot (they are open for looking around during the day; evensong is in the evening), though I did see the plaque with the list of deans of the Cathedral since it was started (I think?), and I saw John Donne's name up there :) :) :) ( I also read some Donne afterward outside the cafe next to it).
I must say I feel pretty good about how well I at least know the Tube. While I have no idea about how the city is actually laid out (I saw the London Eye from Hyde Park today, thought, 'hm.'), I can get around to various places that I need to be. Also walking up and down the escalator instead of standing makes one feel as though one belongs here. And efficient...
Tomorrow, to the Victoria & Albert Museum with the whole group.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
An update overdue...
Scotland!!
Last weekend we (Lacey, Melinda, Me) went up to Edinburgh, Scotland and I think that it might be the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Everything is old, made of stones, and looks like a palace or some other historically important building, even if it's just a restaurant or hostel, etc. (That's the old part; the new part of the city looks like London pretty much). The city is also right up against these mountains (small mountains, more like foothills, perhaps)...it's really beautiful. It's also REALLY cold. I was, however, very excited to be able to wear my Scotland jacket IN Scotland, as you can see:
We stayed on the Royal Mile, the street between Edinburgh castle and Holly Rood House, where everything is but also where everything that is is pretty touristy. But then again, there were bagpipes:
Being so high up on the cliff, there were lots of views of the castle from down below:
The castle was really neat. We took a guided tour (such a thick Scottish accent) and got to see the Crown Jewels (the crown, the scepter, and the sword) of Scotland, and also the stone that some king of Scotland sat on a very, very long time ago to be crowned, and it now sits under the coronation throne each time a new king or queen is coronated--including Queen Elizabeth II.
Saturday we took a bus trip around the highlands, saw Loch Ness and Castle Urquhart, saw the west and east coasts, saw a glimpse of the castle at which they filmed Monty Python, and, above all else, saw Hamish, the Heilan Coo:
I love him.
Otherwise, the highlands are extraordinarily beautiful--mountains ("bens"), lakes ("lochs"), valleys ("glens"), etc. I tried to take a few pictures, but unfortunately, a camera really can't capture it. Here, though, are some attempts; the first is with Melinda and Lacey, the girls I went to Scotland with:
On Sunday, we went to service at St. Giles Cathedral, which was actually fairly small as far as cathedrals go, but was extremely pretty. The choir sang and then walked around the room (the acoustics were INCREDIBLE). The stewards at the church were the only men in kilts we saw that were not just being touristy--that was sort of cool. They really do wear them. And it really is awesome. I didn't take pictures of the inside of the church--felt a bit weird about that, particularly because this is just a regular church for most people there. The stained glass was really incredible as well (better than that inside of Canterbury Cathedral).
(also, not of importance, but this is in fact a turtle pen:)
I bet Tippy would have gotten out of that one, too, right Mom and Dad? :)
I took a lot of pictures of Edinburgh trying to capture how beautiful it is and its buildings are, but again, fail. The next picture merely shows how light it is at 10:30 pm in Edinburgh, being so North. I think the sun rose before 4am, but I am not sure:
Sunday we walked around a while and failed at all attempts at inexpensive vegetarian haggis. we also got laughed at at a pub near the bus station for asking for it (I do understand there is "no such thing" as veggie haggis, but there's also not really such a thing as vegetarian chicken nuggets...so...), so we got fish and chips and waited for our overnight bus (blech) back to London. Where we sat behind three quite smelly European guys. In front of two quite loud British girls. Overnight. Great fun. Obviously we didn't sleep much, which made the next day a bit hard to get through, as you can see:
Otherwise, in London I have been seeing EVERYTHING. Museums, museums, walking around, museums. (They are all FREEEE!!) We went to the Museum of London, which had all these exhibits about London's history--prehistoric to present (though the recent portion is being rennovated, so anything post-Renaissance was closed).
We saw the remnants of a Roman wall:
Roman wall ruins can be found somewhat randomly around London. It's kind of strange; you look at a wall, and think to yourself, hm, that's out of place and a bit old-looking. And then the tour guide (who is always, inevitably with you, when you are on this program) tells you to "turn 'round" and see the Roman wall. Just sitting there, all 2000 years old and such.
We also saw ancient Roman coffins:
And (for you, Grandpa) an ancient Roman builder's yard:
With all the tools (which were quite impressive for 1st century AD, I think):
Other than seeing museums and falling asleep atop my lit book in Hyde park, I have been trying to explore London on foot now and then. Nicole and I took a little walk to the park in our neighborhood, which was quite beautiful. And there were peacocks!
And....
I thought that was amusing. And perhaps ineffective, since we saw a few dogs, um, not heeding the sign.
This past weekend we stayed in London. Our uni had a festival to celebrate everyone being done with their exams (except us, obviously, though I think a three-week course on Victorian literature doesn't call for quite the release that does a semester of physics, chemistry, aeronautics, string theory, etc....). They had DJs, cheap drinks, and fun abounding. We all danced in a very fun, 1990s kind of way, and it was bliss. We met three very nice, nerdy French guys (one less nerdy, but still nice). They were dancing near us and asked if we were English; we said no; they asked, so we wouldn't mind if they spoke bad English then? And of course we didn't, so we became friends with Sebastien, Battiste, and Alex. We also met a British guy who knew one of them. The night was much dancing and almost no drinks but with everyone just dancing around, looking ridiculous, not seeming to mind much. Quite a concept, this having space between people dancing. In Europe, of all places :)
Saturday was Nicole's birthday; we went to the Tate Modern; it was alright. I think there was less early modern stuff than I expected (some Picasso, but not THAT much, not much expressionist stuff, etc), though I did see that statue of a man running that is in my art book in Humanities Class.
Sunday to Camden Market, a place much recommended by Brits. It was fun (I didn't experience the full market; I don't think I walked long enough); I bargained for the first time on a few crappily made dresses (here the exchange rate worked for me, being a good excuse to say, no, 13 pounds is good for those two dresses; that's a lot of dollars, you know). I'd like to go back and see the rest of it, since I only saw the part with clothes, jewelry, bags, etc. And pashminas--oh, the pashminas. And how they abound in this city. Cheap; multitudes of colors; ubiquitous.
I also went to Regent's Park to read Mrs. Dalloway (and eat an overpriced egg mayonnaise sandwich--sucks to their ubiquitous veg option--and take a nap, and talk to a quite pleasant and quite talkative older Englishman).
Sunday evening was the football (the good kind) game between Germany and Spain. Sadly, Germany lost, but it was still fun to watch. Actually I was a little disappointed in how they played. But all the same. I appreciate the passion and politics that goes into the sport of very, very few that I can actually get into. Sunday evening we saw one of our French friends and talked to him a bit, and (hope of hopes!) made a local friend. It's not that we are so lonely, but that the program, for all its beneficial qualities, does have the tendency to isolate us very completely from any and all Britons. We take classes in their union building (where no one really is except downstairs or outside, never up in the building this time of year) with only ourselves, live in one building together, etc. Many have really taken to, um, secluding themselves in large, loud groups of Americans; this is (shockingly) not the best way to learn about the local culture. But anyway! A British guy asked what was up with all the Americans (perhaps for this I am grateful, then, that they were so loud and obvious?) around; there seemed to be a sudden influx at this time of year.
Today I went to the British Museum after class, and, I still kind of can't believe it myself...I saw what remains (in London, a portion of it is in Greece) of the pediment of the Parthenon. I saw a lot of the rest of the reliefs from the Parthenon, but its obvious triangular shape, Aphrodite leaning, Helios rising, Dionysus sitting...I couldn't believe I was actually looking at it. Incredible. I didn't have a ton of time there (and many of the Greek and Roman rooms were closed! :( I think Diskobolos is there, but was in a room that was closed! Ridiculous!), so I saw the Greek stuff and a lot of Egyptian stuff, which was really neat but I don't know anything about ancient Egypt, nor ancient Assyria, which I also saw. Their stuff was really, really well preserved, and much of it was older than the stuff from the Acropolis (thanks, probably, to the Parthenon being used for gun powder storage more than anything else).
I saw the Rosetta Stone, as well, which still (sorry) was not as incredible as the pediment, but probably because hieroglyphics mean a bit less to me than does the Parthenon. It is pretty cool though. I actually missed it the first time I walked around the Egypt portion, and then, oh, there it is: dark, not that large, three languages of the same text, this gray rock key.
As a notice, posting pictures takes just short of FOREVER and is keeping me from posting very often, so I might not be including many, but I will try to get some other way that either doesn't take as long, or post them on flickr or something, hopefully to make it as complicated as possible. Sound good?
Last weekend we (Lacey, Melinda, Me) went up to Edinburgh, Scotland and I think that it might be the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Everything is old, made of stones, and looks like a palace or some other historically important building, even if it's just a restaurant or hostel, etc. (That's the old part; the new part of the city looks like London pretty much). The city is also right up against these mountains (small mountains, more like foothills, perhaps)...it's really beautiful. It's also REALLY cold. I was, however, very excited to be able to wear my Scotland jacket IN Scotland, as you can see:
We stayed on the Royal Mile, the street between Edinburgh castle and Holly Rood House, where everything is but also where everything that is is pretty touristy. But then again, there were bagpipes:
Being so high up on the cliff, there were lots of views of the castle from down below:
The castle was really neat. We took a guided tour (such a thick Scottish accent) and got to see the Crown Jewels (the crown, the scepter, and the sword) of Scotland, and also the stone that some king of Scotland sat on a very, very long time ago to be crowned, and it now sits under the coronation throne each time a new king or queen is coronated--including Queen Elizabeth II.Saturday we took a bus trip around the highlands, saw Loch Ness and Castle Urquhart, saw the west and east coasts, saw a glimpse of the castle at which they filmed Monty Python, and, above all else, saw Hamish, the Heilan Coo:
I love him.Otherwise, the highlands are extraordinarily beautiful--mountains ("bens"), lakes ("lochs"), valleys ("glens"), etc. I tried to take a few pictures, but unfortunately, a camera really can't capture it. Here, though, are some attempts; the first is with Melinda and Lacey, the girls I went to Scotland with:
On Sunday, we went to service at St. Giles Cathedral, which was actually fairly small as far as cathedrals go, but was extremely pretty. The choir sang and then walked around the room (the acoustics were INCREDIBLE). The stewards at the church were the only men in kilts we saw that were not just being touristy--that was sort of cool. They really do wear them. And it really is awesome. I didn't take pictures of the inside of the church--felt a bit weird about that, particularly because this is just a regular church for most people there. The stained glass was really incredible as well (better than that inside of Canterbury Cathedral).
(also, not of importance, but this is in fact a turtle pen:)
I bet Tippy would have gotten out of that one, too, right Mom and Dad? :)I took a lot of pictures of Edinburgh trying to capture how beautiful it is and its buildings are, but again, fail. The next picture merely shows how light it is at 10:30 pm in Edinburgh, being so North. I think the sun rose before 4am, but I am not sure:
Sunday we walked around a while and failed at all attempts at inexpensive vegetarian haggis. we also got laughed at at a pub near the bus station for asking for it (I do understand there is "no such thing" as veggie haggis, but there's also not really such a thing as vegetarian chicken nuggets...so...), so we got fish and chips and waited for our overnight bus (blech) back to London. Where we sat behind three quite smelly European guys. In front of two quite loud British girls. Overnight. Great fun. Obviously we didn't sleep much, which made the next day a bit hard to get through, as you can see:
Otherwise, in London I have been seeing EVERYTHING. Museums, museums, walking around, museums. (They are all FREEEE!!) We went to the Museum of London, which had all these exhibits about London's history--prehistoric to present (though the recent portion is being rennovated, so anything post-Renaissance was closed).
We saw the remnants of a Roman wall:
Roman wall ruins can be found somewhat randomly around London. It's kind of strange; you look at a wall, and think to yourself, hm, that's out of place and a bit old-looking. And then the tour guide (who is always, inevitably with you, when you are on this program) tells you to "turn 'round" and see the Roman wall. Just sitting there, all 2000 years old and such.
We also saw ancient Roman coffins:
And (for you, Grandpa) an ancient Roman builder's yard:
With all the tools (which were quite impressive for 1st century AD, I think):
Other than seeing museums and falling asleep atop my lit book in Hyde park, I have been trying to explore London on foot now and then. Nicole and I took a little walk to the park in our neighborhood, which was quite beautiful. And there were peacocks!
And....
I thought that was amusing. And perhaps ineffective, since we saw a few dogs, um, not heeding the sign.This past weekend we stayed in London. Our uni had a festival to celebrate everyone being done with their exams (except us, obviously, though I think a three-week course on Victorian literature doesn't call for quite the release that does a semester of physics, chemistry, aeronautics, string theory, etc....). They had DJs, cheap drinks, and fun abounding. We all danced in a very fun, 1990s kind of way, and it was bliss. We met three very nice, nerdy French guys (one less nerdy, but still nice). They were dancing near us and asked if we were English; we said no; they asked, so we wouldn't mind if they spoke bad English then? And of course we didn't, so we became friends with Sebastien, Battiste, and Alex. We also met a British guy who knew one of them. The night was much dancing and almost no drinks but with everyone just dancing around, looking ridiculous, not seeming to mind much. Quite a concept, this having space between people dancing. In Europe, of all places :)
Saturday was Nicole's birthday; we went to the Tate Modern; it was alright. I think there was less early modern stuff than I expected (some Picasso, but not THAT much, not much expressionist stuff, etc), though I did see that statue of a man running that is in my art book in Humanities Class.
Sunday to Camden Market, a place much recommended by Brits. It was fun (I didn't experience the full market; I don't think I walked long enough); I bargained for the first time on a few crappily made dresses (here the exchange rate worked for me, being a good excuse to say, no, 13 pounds is good for those two dresses; that's a lot of dollars, you know). I'd like to go back and see the rest of it, since I only saw the part with clothes, jewelry, bags, etc. And pashminas--oh, the pashminas. And how they abound in this city. Cheap; multitudes of colors; ubiquitous.
I also went to Regent's Park to read Mrs. Dalloway (and eat an overpriced egg mayonnaise sandwich--sucks to their ubiquitous veg option--and take a nap, and talk to a quite pleasant and quite talkative older Englishman).
Sunday evening was the football (the good kind) game between Germany and Spain. Sadly, Germany lost, but it was still fun to watch. Actually I was a little disappointed in how they played. But all the same. I appreciate the passion and politics that goes into the sport of very, very few that I can actually get into. Sunday evening we saw one of our French friends and talked to him a bit, and (hope of hopes!) made a local friend. It's not that we are so lonely, but that the program, for all its beneficial qualities, does have the tendency to isolate us very completely from any and all Britons. We take classes in their union building (where no one really is except downstairs or outside, never up in the building this time of year) with only ourselves, live in one building together, etc. Many have really taken to, um, secluding themselves in large, loud groups of Americans; this is (shockingly) not the best way to learn about the local culture. But anyway! A British guy asked what was up with all the Americans (perhaps for this I am grateful, then, that they were so loud and obvious?) around; there seemed to be a sudden influx at this time of year.
Today I went to the British Museum after class, and, I still kind of can't believe it myself...I saw what remains (in London, a portion of it is in Greece) of the pediment of the Parthenon. I saw a lot of the rest of the reliefs from the Parthenon, but its obvious triangular shape, Aphrodite leaning, Helios rising, Dionysus sitting...I couldn't believe I was actually looking at it. Incredible. I didn't have a ton of time there (and many of the Greek and Roman rooms were closed! :( I think Diskobolos is there, but was in a room that was closed! Ridiculous!), so I saw the Greek stuff and a lot of Egyptian stuff, which was really neat but I don't know anything about ancient Egypt, nor ancient Assyria, which I also saw. Their stuff was really, really well preserved, and much of it was older than the stuff from the Acropolis (thanks, probably, to the Parthenon being used for gun powder storage more than anything else).
I saw the Rosetta Stone, as well, which still (sorry) was not as incredible as the pediment, but probably because hieroglyphics mean a bit less to me than does the Parthenon. It is pretty cool though. I actually missed it the first time I walked around the Egypt portion, and then, oh, there it is: dark, not that large, three languages of the same text, this gray rock key.
As a notice, posting pictures takes just short of FOREVER and is keeping me from posting very often, so I might not be including many, but I will try to get some other way that either doesn't take as long, or post them on flickr or something, hopefully to make it as complicated as possible. Sound good?
Thursday, June 19, 2008
no time!
no time for a real post...
but, fyi, I will be in Edinburgh tomorrow morning until Sunday, then Glasgow until Sunday afternoon, then back to London.
Hooray!!!
but, fyi, I will be in Edinburgh tomorrow morning until Sunday, then Glasgow until Sunday afternoon, then back to London.
Hooray!!!
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