London: day eighty-two, eighty-three, and eighty-four

Saturday morning I found myself at St. Pancras waiting for my mom and sister to arrive. Time was dragging on and I was beginning to wonder whether or not they had gotten on the right train. I wandered back and forth for a while and eventually sat myself down on the stairs. I hadn’t gotten any sleep at all the night before because my insomnia was especially bad that night and caused me to pull an all-nighter and I was becoming a little anxious about where mom and Haley were. I had not been sitting there for long when a guy (black guy, seemed at least several years older than me, but not middle aged) who was walking by stopped on his way up the stairs and leaned on the middle railing to ask me if I was alright. I told him yeah, just waiting but he didn’t go away, instead, he struck up a conversation with me.  I can’t remember his name, but he said he was from Angola. We talked for a while just casually, he was waiting around also before he needed to go take some sort of qualification test for his job. Friendly, and interesting but again, not my type and also the fact that I am just not looking for anything right now. Still too raw and I am in no shape for another go. So when he asked me for my number, I simply told him that I was already in a relationship (just the easiest thing that came to mind) and he seemed fairly understanding.

I waited a bit longer before deciding to head back to NIDO to wait. I was there, practicing guitar when I got a text from a payphone telling me that mom and Haley were here, so I ran back down to St. Pancras and found them there. I got them to their hotel before we set off on a tour of London. First, we took the Tube down to Tower Hill, we then did a LONG walk from the Tower of London, across Tower Bridge, through Borough Market, past the Globe and the Tate, across Millennium Bridge, and eventually stopping at St. Paul’s. We then took the Tube from there to Westminster where we walked by Big Ben and Parliament, across Lambeth Bridge to the Southbank near the London Eye and crossed back over on the bridge directly underneath Big Ben. We then found a pub to eat at and mom and Haley got to have their first meal at a pub as well as see all the major sights. When it got dark that night, we went on another walk from King’s Cross to IES so that I could show them where I go to class, we passed the British Museum and then caught a bus back from Tottenham.

Yesterday, we went to Camden Market and spent the vast majority of the day there. As always, I could not leave without buying something and ended up with a pretty ring with a large red rhinestone and a bracelet with an Iron Cross on it that mom bought me. We tried the food and explored for several hours before deciding to head toward Soho. However, when we were trying to find the bus stop something really rather strange happened. We were on the next street over from Camden High Street because we needed a bus going the opposite way and Camden is a one way (also the Tube Station was closed). As we were standing at the bus stop reading the route information I heard mom exclaim, “what’s your problem dude!?” and turned around to see a middle sized and rather normally dressed black guy standing right behind us staring hard at her as though offended. She had exclaimed at him because apparently she had turned around to see him standing right behind her with a fist raised in the air as though he were going to punch her. When she turned to look at him, he did a medium speed punching motion toward her face that he pulled back before actually touching her. Mom’s exclamation was what caused Haley and I to turn around and he just stared at her for a few moments, during which time I was doing a scan of his hands to make sure he didn’t have a knife or something and also wondering what to do if he made a move toward mom. But then he turned around and walked away without a word. It was REALLY strange and we suspected that he may not have been completely mentally well, because there was no reason whatsoever and no sense in his actions.

From Camden, we made our way to Soho and I gave mom and Haley the same tour that my British Youth Culture professor took us on and which I later took Hannah on sometime back, and showed them all the history of the area. We did not get as far as Abbey Road. But this morning, mom and Haley went there while I was in class (apparently mom did not know what Abbey Road was however and needed some explaining after enduring Haley and my laughter).

After class, I met them at Holborn Station, we got lunch and then took the Tube to St. Paul’s. The next few hours were spent inside St. Paul’s Cathedral (the third time for me). After St. Paul’s we consulted the map in mom’s guide book that she had to figure out how to get to Brick Lane. I had not taken the Tube to Brick Lane before (always having taken the bus from NIDO before), and was slightly confused by its suggestion to get off at Aldgate East rather than Shoreditch. But trusting the book, that was where we went. As it would have it, the map then did not show the way to get to Brick Lane from there and cut off the area where we were. There were also no maps on the street, as our luck would have it. So we explored down one way because I thought I could see it from a distance. But apparently we were terribly wrong and ended up walking and walking and walking looking for a bus stop to get us back in familiar territory. The neighborhood started to turn a little less than desirable which I was by no means pleased with because I didn’t know the area nor how to get out of it and after guys in two passing cars shouted “compliments” at us, I was rather done. Finally we found a bus that would return us to downtown and it was then that we realized just how far we had gone, apparently the entirely wrong direction as we had somehow managed to come close to Wapping which is on the way toward Greenwich. Back in familiar territory once again near St. Paul’s, that was where we got dinner at a pub and then decided to call it an early night on account of sore feet.

London: day seventy-nine, eighty, and eighty-one

Hey everyone,

So I’ve gotten behind again. It’s alright though because the past few days have largely consisted of essay writing and trying to get homework done before mom and Haley get here. I’ve also just been wrapped up in some other writing right now.

Yesterday though, I went with Tula and her friend Alex to Camden Market and we spent the whole day walking around looking at everything, trying the different foods, and shopping. I ended up getting two tank tops; a white one with the Converse logo on it and a black version of the Jack Daniels logo. Before I left though, the vendor decided to strike a bargain with me and wanted to throw in a sweater that I’d previously been looking at that had the Hard Rock Café logo on it, for a discounted price. So I caved. It’s alright though, the thing that I love about Camden is just how cheap everything is, not to mention that it is EXACTLY my kind of punk style. We walked til our feet started to get sore, and even then we didn’t get through the entire market. I plan to bring my mom and sister there during their stay, even though that will be the fourth time for me, but it might be one of my favorite places in London so I will take every opportunity I can to go back.

After that, Tula and I decided to go to Primark because she needed some business casual clothes. As it would turn out, I ended up finding more clothes there that I liked too, and also for dirt cheap; a nice, black button up vest, a plain gray t-shirt, and some knock off black converse shoes to replace my boots which I have had to continually glue the soles back onto.

That evening I went back and relaxed mostly, and practiced a new song on my guitar that I’ve been working on; “It’s Been A While” by the band Stained. So far, so good, it’s a very repetitive song, just a matter of nailing down the main riff, then I’ll essentially know the whole thing.

London: seventy-eight

Hey hey!

So class today was pretty interesting; in British Youth Culture we talked about the beginnings of EDM, Techno and Dubstep – so that was cool. Also made some connections with my own music, so be sure to check out my upcoming post in “Stairway to Nirvana” if you’re curious to see how the Rock world is adopting and adapting some of this new electronic music. I will post it to Facebook as soon as I get it completed, so stay tuned...

Anyway, went back to NIDO and looked up some concerts online and I found out that one of my favorite bands, Seether, is going to be playing at the Spokane County Fairgrounds on September 12^th! Thinking that I am going to have to play hooky for half a day and drive back to Idaho to go to it, then just spend the night at one of my parents’ houses before heading back to school. Learned my lesson with Three Days Grace, that if I wait too long to go see my favorite bands then it might never happen, so I want to go if at all possible.

Went to my City class like usual and sat through another headache inducing lecture. Seriously, I don’t do biology and it’s really rather difficult to remember everything, plus I am quickly getting stressed about the final exam which is worth 80 percent of our grade. Anyway, during the break, the guy next to me started talking to me and said that he thought I had very nice handwriting. We chatted for a bit and I found out that he is also an international student from Tel Aviv who is at City full time studying psychology. He was really friendly, and not bad looking but not quite my type. Even still, it was nice to actually talk to someone in that class because there really is little room for social interaction in a class so big that is so lecture based, and I haven’t met anyone from City yet. So that was cool. Went to the grocery store and then headed back to NIDO. Fairly mellow day. But I am going to buckle down this evening and get as much homework finished as humanly possible so that I will not have to worry about it this weekend – hence the short post.

Cheers!

London: day seventy-five, seventy-six, seventy-seven

Hey guys!

So on Saturday we had the IES overnight trip to York. I didn’t have internet the whole time so that is why I am writing now; also, we were just really busy.

In the morning, Peipei (my roommate) and I were getting ready to go, and she mentioned that she didn’t have any friends at all who were going on the trip so I invited her to hang out with Hannah and me for the weekend. We talked more this past weekend than we had the entire time we had been roomates – not even joking. I feel like, when we’re in the dorm, it’s often the space for us to relax after a long day of school and sight-seeing, also just to do homework and, for me, write; so we don’t exactly regard it as a social space and both of us have been fine with that. Hannah laughed at me a bit this weekend though because it kind of turned into the first time I’d really gotten to know Peipei. We all got along well though and had a lot of fun.

The train took us two hours north through the classic English countryside, dotted with cottages and farms and white sheep speckling the green hillsides – absolutely picture perfect. I couldn’t help thinking that these are the hills, the forests, the streams, the farms that inspired a thousand poems, novels, and paintings. Straight from a fairytale. The reality of it hit me a little, I suppose, that I was looking at the same landscape that inspired some of the greatest minds. It was real, and I was seeing it firsthand, not through the eyes of another. I am here too.

We pulled into York at about 10:30, dropped our stuff off at the hostel and then immediately went back into town for a guided tour of the city. The tour was interesting but being so close to lunch it was rather difficult to pay attention at times because of my growling stomach. I really enjoyed the walk though, even if I didn’t retain everything the guide was saying, it was absolutely worth it to enjoy the sunny walk along the riverside, near the Abbey, along the top of the old city wall, through the narrow streets of the old town itself, and eventually ending at the Cathedral.

We were then freed up to go find lunch which we ended up getting at a bakery that had some really good lunch pastys and bakes. We then sat in one of the town courtyards eating and watching an interesting street performer/escape artist. Peipei didn’t want to watch his final act so she eventually wandered off and told us she’d meet up with us again shortly. Hannah and I watched he guy perform despite the rain that began pelting us halfway through. We then moved on and took some refuge in various shops from the increasingly grey sky until it was time to meet back up with the group at the Cathedral.

The group was then allowed to explore the Cathedral and then do whatever until meeting up again for dinner. The Cathedral was stunning; they all are. And we got to hear the organ play as well as the boys choir sing the Evensong which was, as always, hauntingly beautiful. Peipei, Hannah and I then walked around the town, going into various stores just as a means to escape the cold and rain. We eventually ended up at a Pret where we warmed up with hot chocolate before once again meeting up with the IES group and walked to an Indian restaurant where IES bought us dinner. The food was really good and that was the main time when Peipei and I talked the most. She told me about some of the biggest culture differences between China and the US and described how Chinese kids just don’t get nearly as much control over their own lives as Americans do. She said that even though she wanted to do Public Relations, it was decided by her parents that she would study Finance; an inarguable decision for her as it would be entirely disrespectful to stand up to her parents – something she has never done. She also told me about one of her friends who wants to be a journalist, but who can’t be because her parents decided that she will go into the corporate world, her mother being the executive of a large company. Conversation between the three of us turned around guys, tattoos, and future plans. She asked about my tattoo and laughed when I asked her if she’d ever get one, telling me that if she did her parents had promised that they’d dig it out of her skin. But it fits more I suppose, because she said that tattoos are looked on quite poorly in China, indicating a kid whose parents did not raise them right. I suppose some in the States feel that way also, but I think the public opinion is currently shifting on that toward the understanding that tattoos can be art and can be tastefully and beautifully done. After dinner, we were taken back to the hostel (anytime we went to the hostel we had to take taxis because it was some distance from the city center) and even though it was fairly early in the night, we all turned in.

The next morning, we had breakfast and got on the bus which took us an hour and a half across the moors and countryside to the seaside town of Whitby. On the way, we stopped briefly along the road for some pictures of a beautiful hollow/ravine. It is amazing how you can be driving through some of the greenest, most picturesque land you’ve ever seen, and then all of a sudden, the green just disappears entirely and now the land is brown and treeless for miles; arid ground where nothing grows. The moors are beautiful in their own right, but they certainly constitute a drastic contrast which makes the green countryside all the more splendid in its beauty.

We arrived in Whitby and were turned lose to explore the town. Hannah, Peipei and I started by hiking the hill up to the Abbey on top of a hill which overlooked the town, the beach and the ocean. There we walked along a small path that followed the cliff-side over the ocean and which had an old graveyard to the other side of it that overlooked the ocean; a little path between two eternities. The blonde sea-grass covered the hillside and blew in the breeze. Occasionally, there was a patch of daffodils which grew wild at the base of one or two of the now unreadable headstones as though they had, of their own will, chosen the grave of a favored person. I could not help but think that there is no better place to be buried than on a cliff overlooking the sea. So many people want to be cremated, and I have heard it tossed out as the favored option many times as though it were in fashion and was supposed to be easier in some way. But if there is a place so pretty as this spot on the sea, then I should think that I would like to be buried.

Anyway, we then went over to the ruins of the old Abbey and did our best to get pictures of it without having to pay to go inside the wall. We found a spot around the corner where the wall was low enough for one to lift their camera over the top and thus take pictures that way. Even though all I could see was the stone in front of my face, my camera could see the Abbey and I was able to get some good pictures that way. We then made our way down and walked through the town, crossed the bridge again and walked through the other half of the town, eventually ending up at the end of the pier. We retraced our steps a little, and wandered through a small museum dedicated to lifeboats before finding a place to get fish and chips. We sat on a stone wall along the water and watched the flocks of seagulls daringly seize any opportunity to snatch a French fry or bit of fish from any unsuspecting person. They would also try to be annoying as possible just so that people would through them food as the only way to get them to shut up. As we sat there, an older couple eventually sat down to our left. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the guy looking at me occasionally and after a few times I turned to meet his gaze. They were the very image of a couple living in the English countryside, they probably had a farm and a cottage, a field of sheep and a dog to round them all up – the whole nine yards.  The guy, who was about seventy or so is my guess, smiled and leaned over, pointing at my hat, asking like a grandpa what the button with the two crossed hammers meant. I told him it was from a Pink Floyd album to which he asked, “Oh, and are they a pop group or…?” I almost laughed a bit, because I am so often teased for having such an old taste in music, I would never have guessed that someone much older than me would not know them. I told him no, they were an old, classic rock band. He asked what songs they were known for and I rattled off a few, saying that generally they are most known for their album Dark Side of the Moon. He had no idea what I was talking about.  He then told me, “Oh okay, I was just wondering ‘cuz I thought it looked like some sort of Goth symbol and I noticed the dark eyes” drawing his finger across his own eyelid, “And I thought, ‘we might have an apprentice Goth here or something.’” Now that I did laugh at and told him no, definitely not. Not entirely sure what he meant by “apprentice Goth” but my guess is that I looked Gothic, but not enough to be Gothic. Granted, I had my coat buttoned so he wouldn’t have been able to see my more Rock style apart from my hat which he obviously was unable to translate. His curiosity was very sweet though and I wondered what he would have said if I had turned out to actually be what he called an “apprentice Goth.”

Back on the bus, we were then taken to a place called Castle Howard which is a vast estate that is still lived in and owned by the wealthy family who has had claim to it for generations. Visitors are allowed to wander around the grounds and through the house, however. It was also the filming location for the film “Brideshead Revisited” which was based off a novel by Evelyn Waugh (I just recently read one of his other novels called “Scoop” for one of my classes). The family earned my respect when, upon entering the library, there was a secret door that stood ajar that was disguised by a bookshelf. Additionally, in the same room, various facings of the pillars would open up to reveal secret storage compartments for Brandy and Whiskey.

Being filthy stinking rich: you’re doing it right.

You can’t have that much money and not have at least one secret door.

The place was beautiful and we walked outside for a while too. When the rain started pelting us, Peipei decided to go wait in the café but Hannah and I wanted to brave the rain and see if we could get to one of the distant monuments that are on the property. Unfortunately, that one did not have public access but we did decide to walk along the path which skirts the woods to another monument which was possible to get to. The rain stopped very shortly after Peipei left so we were able to comfortably get pictures of the property without getting too soaked. The daffodils especially were amazing, creating a thick yellow carpet along the hill. They are all in bloom right now and they are everywhere, I actually think they grow wild here and are possibly a native British flower. Regardless, it is not uncommon to see people walking around with daffodil pins fastened to their lapels. When it was time to go, we met Peipei at the café and they made the walk back down the very long and slightly muddy driveway to where the bus was parked.

From there, we started to make our way along the main road, however, our bus driver turned around when he saw that the evening traffic was at a standstill. We instead then drove through the country back roads and villages to York. Before coming here, I had heard a rumor that in some of the more rural villages, the old red phone boxes have been converted into mini libraries; stacked with books that are free to take so long as you leave another book in its place. I wasn’t sure if this was really a thing, you can’t always trust the internet. However, when passing through one of the towns, I made a point to look into one of the phone boxes and sure enough, at least one wall of it was stacked with books. Seriously, why am I not English? Think I was born in the wrong country…

Today, we finished up Hamlet in my Shakespeare class, rather sadly because I would love nothing more than to just keep on studying Hamlet forever. I went to the store and then spent most of the afternoon working on my Hamlet essay and bumming around online. Mom and Haley are coming this Saturday so I am enjoying a bit of downtime before they get here as when they do I will be keeping them on the run for the entirety of their stay.

London: day seventy-one, seventy-two, seventy-three, and seventy-four

Tuesday:
One of those reminders that you are indeed in a foreign country: your professor has no clue what a moose looks like.

Yep that happened.

It was the professor for my City University class who had a picture on her Powerpoint slide of a moose standing in a swimming pool to cool itself off to represent homeostasis, but when she tried to explain it, she stumbled, “…so as you see, that’s what this, uh…elk, of some sort, is doing…” She looked at it sideways for a second, “um, yeah.”

Earlier in the day we received the grade for our British Youth Culture projects and we did very well. The best thing about it though was that our professor, when discussing it with us said that our paper was one of the most well written papers that he received. “Seriously, this introduction was one of the best I have read. When I was going through these I was flipping through just kind of going, ‘yeah…yeah...yeah…’ but when I got to this one it was like, ‘Oh! I am actually interested in reading this one.’ It made me want to sit back with a cup of tea and just read.” – So, especially since I basically wrote that whole paper (our group all contributed the actual factual information, I was just the one who reworked the thing until it was readable and fit our argument), and since he himself is an author; that was quite the compliment. I could have done better with it however, I know I could have, but being the night before it was due, and trying to rework the entire thing, I really only had time for one round of editing. If I’d had time to go through it again, I probably could have cleared it up more and made our points more clear so that we wouldn’t have been docked the points we were; but honestly, B+/A- is pretty well good enough.

Wednesday:
After class, Alyssa and I again made a trip to the British Museum and got to see a good portion of the first floor which included artifacts from Mesopotamia, Greece, more from Egypt and the Rosetta Stone, itself. We’ve been making some good progress in the museum, it feels good to finally be getting through some of these gargantuan museums – it’s rather overwhelming and is quite the process to actually see every exhibit in the major London museums as none of them are doable in a day – at least, not comfortably.

That night I worked on my music blog (if you haven’t checked it out yet, please do!) after finally finding and watching online the Metallica movie “Through the Never.” It definitely would have been much better on a big screen, but even on my computer, it was worth watching. The good majority of it featured concert footage of the band, but it was not boring as the film did very, very well showing the spectacle and inner workings of their absolutely stunning stage performance. The storyline knit throughout was also interesting. I rather expected more of it, but it worked well the way it was, I felt. I would consider this to be up near the top of my list of quality rock movies. Definitely worth the watch.

Thursday:
After class (received my essay back for that class as well and had a solid A), I headed back to NIDO and met up with Alyssa again. This time, we made our way to the Victoria and Albert Museum and wandered around there for quite some time – for me, two floors down, three more to go… We got to see some really interesting things, particularly in the Theater and Entertainment section which housed various props and costumes from stage productions, concert and theater posters, a small section dedicated to Shakespeare, a broken guitar that once belonged to Pete Townsend, and the “Joey” prop used in the production of War Horse which is currently being shown in the theater (same production company that put on A Midsummer Night’s Dream – so a very similar style of prop).

After the museum, we decided that we wanted Bubble Tea, so we made our way to the shop we had previously gone to with Abi and Hannah. It was a long bus ride from where we were, but worth it as we were also able to get some good food there.

That night I decided to watch the Kenneth Brannagh film interpretation of Hamlet so as to get myself into the spirit to write my essay for Shakespeare class, which I spent most of today doing…

Today:

Basically, I did just work on my essay for most of the day and bummed around a bit. As much as I want to go off on a tangent here and talk about just how much I love Hamlet and how it continually amazes me the more I study it, I am going to refrain as it would turn a blog post into a novel. I will, however, post my essay here when I do finish it – that, I hope, will give some idea as to just how incredible this work is and why I love it so much. I did homework today because I needed to get done as much as I could since tomorrow I will be heading to York with the IES group for an overnight trip. I am excited and curious, though I do not know what to expect. I do know that this is the farthest North in England that I will get because I was not able to go on the Scotland trip. Update you later…

London: day sixty-nine and seventy

Dover was a lot of fun yesterday; the past few days have been so active that it already seems as though it were days ago. We left early and made it to Dover by about 10. One minute we were cruising through the green countryside and the next we burst through a gap in a hillside and the land dropped away as the road swung out over the beach and curved back at the foot of the white cliffs which towered overhead. The bus let us off in the town center and we started our day with a steep hike up to Dover Castle.

At first, we balked at the admission price but when we were told that various guided tours were included, tunnels, and the castle were included on the 88 acre plot of land, all free to explore at will, we decided it was too much to just pass up. We first explored the tunnels underneath the castle which had been used extensively during WWII. With the Defeat at Dunkirk, Dover had become the new frontline as the Battle for Britain had begun. From the Lookout Tower on the edge of the cliff, on a sunny day like it was, you could even see the shore of France just barely a shadow on the horizon but most definitely visible. We walked all around the castle and climbed up to the top of the Great Tower for a beautiful view of the ocean and the sleepy little town of Dover. Emerald hills dotted with sheep suddenly broke off into pure white cliffs which plunged into the sea for miles along the coast to both sides. It was quite difficult to get decent pictures of the cliffs themselves simply for the fact that we were on top of them most of the time, but the white stone and snow white chalk littered the ground. After we had spent several hours at the castle, we walked down the hill into Dover itself and found a place to get a snack and something to drink while we killed time before our bus arrived. I ordered some chips which we all split and out of curiosity bought a cocktail called “Kill Me Now” which was a mixture of whiskey, gin, rum, vodka and amaretto. It was not a big drink, but when the waitress set it down she told me “good luck.” It was strong, that’s for sure, but still wasn’t enough to do anything for me – even though, two definitely would have gotten me feeling something I’m sure, but I wasn’t going to do that while we were out on an excursion. After, we wandered toward the beach and watched the colors in the sky change as the sun set. The pinks, purples and blues were incredible and with the white cliffs to the side, it was stunning, especially as the orange moon rose up from the horizon. When we had gotten our fill of pictures, we then found a pub to hang out in until our bus arrived and ordered some cider, nachos and chicken wings to split (tried a Toffee Apple cider by the brand Brothers and it was like dessert in a bottle – seriously tasted like caramel apples). Upon reaching NIDO, it did not take long before I flopped down on my bed and crashed.

Today for Shakespeare we met at the London Tube Station and then walked briefly through the area near Borough Market, passing by the remains of the Winchester Palace, the Clink, the replica of Francis Drake’s ship the “Golden Hinde,” the Rose Theater, and the original site of the Globe Theater. We then made our way to the Globe where we were led on a tour of its interior. Even though this was not the exact stage which saw the original performances (the first having burned down during a performance of Henry VIII), the awe still remained. Our guide had a rather easy day of it due to the fact that we were all studying/had studied Shakespeare and were not only familiar with the works but the history, also, because we had a very small group, we were able to go to all three levels which is usually not done. After we had toured the Globe and gone through the museum, I had some time to kill before meeting up with Alyssa at four so I found a spot on the river wall along the Southbank and seated myself down to eat the sandwich I had brought for lunch. The weather was nice so I pulled out the notebook I carry around with me for any writing ideas I may have when I don’t have a computer handy and opened it to a blank page. Unfortunately I didn’t have my drawing pencils, but I did sketch out a rough outline of St. Paul’s and was going over it in pen. Whilst absorbed in my work, I was suddenly startled when a guy suddenly plopped down right near me and cheerfully said hello. I looked up to see four or five guys standing near. The one nearest asked me with a heavy French accent what I was drawing and I gestured to the Cathedral across the river. He asked me if I was English and I told him no, that I was American and studying here for a semester. We did not talk a lot, but I did learn that they were French and were visiting London for a week, the first one seemed rather cheerful and said that they were talking to as many people as they came across. The conversation kind of faded but they didn’t move away, just chatted amongst themselves in French while I continued to draw. Occasionally they asked me the occasional question, generally wondering what the English word for something was or how to phrase something. The first guy seemed particularly interested in what I was working on and talked to me the most, he also complimented my drawing and said it was beautiful. Eventually they moved on and I continued to draw in relative peace save for the throngs of school children running all around. When I met up with Alyssa, we went over to the British Museum for a good hour and then headed over to a pub that she had heard about and had been wanting to try. To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day we just had a drink and just sat there talking for a while and enjoying the atmosphere of the cozy pub. Lately her and I have gotten to know each other a lot better and have gotten quite a bit closer. You know, I said before in one of my earlier posts that one of the best things about being here was quite simply that “no one cares,” and I sort of meant that in a way that even though I love the hell out of everyone at home, I desperately needed a break from myself and who I was when I was home. I needed something new, I needed out, I needed a change of scenery with absolutely no ties to home. Well. Unfortunately, you can’t run from yourself, and even when you are in one of the most incredible cities on the planet having the time of your life, the person you are doesn’t change – good or bad. So, when that happens, it’s a welcome surprise to find someone who does care. It is going to be sad at the end of this when we all have to go our separate ways again, but one of the best souvenirs I am going to take home with me at the end of this trip are some lasting friendships.

London: day sixty-seven and sixty-eight

I apologize for not having kept up on my blog here. The past few days have found me hitting a wall of exhaustion and last night I crashed for a good ten hours, which is twice what I get on a normal night.

Yesterday, in an attempt to make up for my errors the previous day which caused me to miss class, I went to the National Portrait Gallery in the morning – I had been so lost, apparently, I had not even gone to the right meeting place near the Pret A Manger because as luck would have it, there are not only two, but three just in the proximity around Trafalgar Square! Anyway, Hannah came with and we wandered around the gallery. I snapped a few pictures of interesting portraits that I could potentially use for the assignment my professor had given the class. Thankfully, my professor had been forgiving and had told IES that my absence had been accounted for so everything was okay, all I had to do was the assignment. She also made a point of mentioning that my midterm essay was “very, very good” and promised to hand them back next class – this is good for me because I wrote that paper the night before it was due and was up until 4am doing so. It was practically a rough draft. But hey, what’s good for the professor is good for me, so that means I have done extremely well on all of my midterms for my English classes, now just to get back my Psych test and the grade for my British Youth Culture project. The later I’m sure will be fine, the first, ehhh, not so much – oh well. Anyway, at the National Portrait Gallery, there were portraits of all the royals, naturally, but I also found some really great ones of the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her husband Robert Browning; funny, I just realized when listing those that all the ones I took pictures of were only authors… haha, guess you can tell what I am drawn to. Honestly though there were many other portraits; royalty, scientists, politicians, activists, and so on and on.

Afterward, we took the Tube immediately over to Tower Bridge where we paid to go up to the very top. The elevator took us all the way to the top and we first entered a room at the top of the Main Tower (closer to the Northbank) where we watched a video that introduced the Bridge’s designer and architect. We then walked across the walkway that spans the two Towers. Sometimes difficult to see, but there are actually two walkways parallel to one another. From the eastern walkway we looked out toward Greenwich. Buildings sprawled for miles and the Thames glittered in the sun. In the Main Tower closer to the Southbank, we watched another short video which showed the construction of the bridge before walking back across the walkway, this time on the west side. Back this way, one could see more of the London landmarks; Tower of London, the Shard, the Gherkin, etc. We then took the stairs down the South Tower and walked on the main part of the bridge to the engine room which is underneath on the South shore. We toured around here and got to see how the engines that raise the middle of the bridge work – just don’t ask me to go into the specifics, I couldn’t recall it if I tried. But afterward we perused the gift shop for a bit and I picked up a few souvenirs for people back home.

Hannah and I then decided to just walk to the Monument rather than taking the bus because it wasn’t all that far and we wanted to stop for lunch on the way. We ended up just stopping at one of the Pret A Mangers and sat in the window watching a group of wealthy businessmen and women having some sort of (probably) company lunch outside in the sunshine. We wondered a bit what it would be like to live that sort of life, or at least to have a career like that, and we wished we could sit like a fly on the wall to one of their conversations. For me, they rather looked like an entirely different species. Personally, I don’t think I could live that kind of life, I don’t think I would want to. But they were entertaining, and after lunch Hannah and I continued on to Monument.

The Monument is a tall pillar set on the location where the Great Fire of London in 1666 began. If you want more info on the Fire itself, Wikipedia has a pretty good summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London. But anyway, they do allow people to climb all the way up to the top via the narrow spiral staircase inside. On the way up there was a large group of guys coming down who seemed rather intoxicated, not only because at least one of them had a hat on that was shaped like a beer mug but they were all sing-shouting; “DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN!” as they made their descent and were all smiles. A bit winded, Hannah and I eventually defeated the climb and had a wonderful view from the top. While, naturally, the view wasn’t as spectacular as that from St. Paul’s, we did get some really beautiful pictures of the London skyline, much of which was silhouetted in the distance due to a sort of faint, dusty fog that had settled amidst the buildings and hadn’t been burnt off by the sun. All around the narrow top observation deck there is a sort of mesh fence that creates a sort of bubble all around it to prevent unfortunate accidents, the interesting thing though is that the railing and the mesh have a sort of wavy design to them, so that in a few places, the railing leans out slightly almost over the side of the platform so that those who dare can lean out with it and look straight down. Leaning out like that puts one in a position beyond vertical so that if it were not for the rail, falling would be certain. But the view was really cool, and the little adrenaline surge it causes is enough to make one’s heart pick up the pace a bit. Pretty sure Hannah thought I was nuts, but I was having fun and was loving the view.

After Monument we walked over to the Bank of England to see if we could go into the museum portion of it. Unfortunately it was closed for maintenance reasons but we did go into the Royal Exchange and look around a bit. Hannah had her guidebook with her so we looked at that a bit to see what was available to us and eventually decided to go check out St. Brides Church. We walked all the way from the Bank of England over to Fleet Street and found the church. The place was deserted when we walked in save for an old man sitting at the welcoming desk reading who barely looked at us when we came in. We wandered around a bit and Hannah was desperately trying to stifle her hiccups which were echoing in the dead silence. We looked around, all the while trying to be as quiet as possible but failing miserably as my shoes kept squeaking on the stone floor and Hannah’s loud hiccups were causing me to laugh.

After wandering throughout the beautiful church, we went over to a nearby pub called the Ye Ol’ Cheshire Cheese which is one of the oldest pubs in London and ordered a drink. I asked the bartender what his favorite beer on tap was and he served me one that was dark and extra stout…and tasted horrible. It was absolutely dreadful and Hannah can vouch because she took a sip of it too and was equally disgusted. But I downed the whole pint even though I considered several times sneaking into the restroom and pouring it down the sink. But God, I would take straight whiskey over that any day. REALLY not a beer person… The pub itself was really cool though, it had both an upstairs and a basement with a bar in each section and was beautifully decorated, had a wood fire burning, and was incredibly cozy. I wouldn’t mind going back, but would certainly order something different next time.

We then went back to NIDO for about 45 minutes to make dinner and then meet up with Alyssa so that we could go to a walking tour that was all about Jack the Ripper. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my phone and ended up being a few minutes late, that, plus the fact that there were no Circle Line trains coming around. Because they were taking too long, we had to get on another line which ended at the stop just before where we needed to get off. So we literally sprinted from Aldgate to Tower Hill and just barely got there in time to make the tour. But we made it. The tour was really interesting and informative. I know more about Jack the Ripper now than I did before, but of course, the case is still a mystery today and there are many discrepancies so no one knows who he actually was. It wasn’t scary or anything, just interesting. I admit though that it was hard for me to pay attention because by this time I felt as though I had multiple blisters on my feet. My feet had been tired before by the time we went to the pub, but now, after running and then walking for another two hours, they were screaming. So I shuffled along and after the tour was over I was relieved to be able to sit down at a pub we stopped at near Liverpool Station. Alyssa and Hannah ordered desert while I nursed my feet. The pub itself was actually quite beautiful though, high ceilings, brightly lit and decorated more like a Victorian ballroom than a pub. Being a Friday night, it was also incredibly busy. While Alyssa and Hannah were ordering I couldn’t help notice the people next to us, one guy had brought back some drinks one of which was a shot of tequila with a lemon and he was trying to give it to the girl who kept refusing it and when she tried to pass it to the other guy at the table, he passed it right back. No one wanted it and I wondered if they would offer it to us because we were in close proximity. Just about then Alyssa and Hannah came back and I quit watching the people next to us and was listening to them two. But sure enough, not long after the guy who had originally brought the drinks leaned over and offered us the shot which Alyssa took. I just find it interesting what you can notice of people by just watching, sometimes even predicting their actions. It’s always been something I’ve inadvertently done, and like in this instance, it is often not as though I was going to tell them “Oh I bet you they give us their shot” or afterward say “Knew that was going to happen,” just because the instances are so small and not worth mentioning at the time. But it is useful and I really just like people watching because of it.

Finally, after a long and exhausting day, I got back to NIDO and was finally able to get my shoes off. Thankfully, no blisters, but they were definitely sore as all hell. The sleep deprivation has also been catching up with me so it did not take long before I practically passed out and finally had a long, full night of sleep – didn’t even hear my roommate when she came in. Today I just bummed around and watched a lot of TV, didn’t want to be on my feet too much as tomorrow we will be making our way to Dover.

London: day sixty-six

Well, today I was supposed to meet my class at the National Portrait Gallery – not the “supposed to.” Here’s the story: my professor told us to meet her at Trafalgar Square next to the War Memorial in front of the Pret a Manger (sort of deli food chain here). So, on time, I showed up in the Square after having finally found the right Tube to get on, but what do you know? There’s two Pret a Mangers at Trafalgar Square. I walked back and forth between the two, looking for someone I recognized, but, finding absolutely no one, I became anxious and started second guessing myself, wondering I had heard the directions correctly. To be safe, I decided to go wait at the front entrance so that I would be able to see my group and professor when they came in. I waited for half an hour, anxiously examining every face and walking in and out of the gallery to be sure I had not missed them. Eventually I begun walking around the Square trying to find them still. After an hour, I was pretty certain that I had sufficiently missed my class and decided to take the bus back to NIDO. Apparently, I had been mistaken for quite some time, believing that the National Portrait Gallery was a wing of the National Gallery (the big, domed building at Trafalgar Square) when in reality it is a separate building that stands on a different side of the Square. I had been at the wrong entrance all along. Thankfully, my professor was forgiving and the issue was resolved (I will simply have to go tomorrow and completely a brief assignment there). However, it was a great source of anxiety for me throughout the day, and I am just glad now that it has been fixed.

Hannah and I were going to go to the Tower Bridge today because it was absolutely beautiful today. Early morning fog had burned off into clear blue skies and by noon it had reached nearly 60 degrees, so we figured it would be a perfect day. However, when we texted Alyssa to see if she wanted to go, she wondered if we could also go to Borough Market. Deciding to go there first, we wandered around the market, looking at the different foods and sitting in the courtyard of Southwark Cathedral for lunch. Ultimately, we spent too much time at the market and were not able to make it to Tower Bridge before it closed. However, we wandered the Southbank for a while and came across the site of the old Clink prison and the museum that stood there now. We decided to go check it out. Even though most everything was replicated and were not original artifacts, the tour was highly educational (in quite a rather morbid way). It is incredible, the cruelty of people. You would scarcely believe how horrible some of the deaths and torture devices were in this place (worse than the Tower of London), and it honestly made my stomach tighten up a bit, just reading about them. I do not care to explain them all here.

After the Clink, we walked down the riverbank toward the Tate Modern Art Museum and crossed over Millennium Bridge toward St. Paul’s. Whilst on the bridge, we got some absolutely stunning pictures of the sunset over the river. We stopped to watch the sun drop down to touch the tops of the buildings before moving on. As we begun to reach the other side of the bridge we came across a curious sight, a man lying on the ground of the bridge surrounded by paints and extraordinarily small brushes with which he was busy at work, face extremely close to the ground. He drew our attention to the ground we were walking on; the grated surface of the bridge had become collected with various clumps of dirt and gum that had wedged themselves into the grated surface – entirely normal and scarcely noticed. However, what this man was doing was painting the tiniest of pictured on those bits of trash stuck between the grating – making something beautiful out of something unnoticed and rather gross. We then noticed that the bridge was spotted everywhere with these miniature masterpieces.

We walked by St. Paul’s and took the Tube back to NIDO to drop off our stuff before going to a bar just around the corner from NIDO. Here, we took advantage of the two for one cocktails happy hour. It was rather funny, I downed four cocktails within the span of probably scarcely over half an hour and felt only the faintest buzz, but not until I stood up, sitting down I felt absolutely nothing. Alyssa on the other hand, determined to keep pace ended up completely drunk on the same exact amount. It was really rather funny having to guide her back to NIDO, especially when we came across a cat on our walk back. I am pretty certain that if we had not drug her away she would have been content to stay with that cat all night. It was quite a lot of fun, and I am desperately going to miss having girl’s nights at the pubs when I have to go back to Idaho; not only are there no pubs, but I also have no friends left in Idaho whom I see regularly enough to hang out and go out for a night with. I am afraid it may be a rather lonely summer.

I have also been working on my new blog quite a bit, trying to get a few posts done before I officially launch it. So far it is going well, so keep an eye out for it soon!

London: day sixty-four and sixty-five

Yesterday was fairly basic, just homework, grocery store, class and getting things done that I needed to.

Today was a bit more interesting. After class, Alyssa and I went to the British Museum where we wandered around the portion of the museum dedicated to Ancient Egypt. I got to see quite a few mummies and the caskets, tombs, dressings, beadwork and artifacts were incredible. We also wandered into a room that had a gigantic Michelangelo sketch (a full size rough draft for one of the cartoons he painted), as well as two Picasso linocuts. We had a little time to go through half of the Mesopotamia exhibit before we were shooed out by the museum staff who were closing it up for the night.

Out of the museum, Alyssa and I decided that we were craving pizza and ice cream, so we set off on the hunt for a Pizza Hut. The two of us took the Tube over to Oxford Circus and just decided to pick a random direction and wing it; see what we could stumble across. Eventually we came to a nice little pizza shop that was definitely nicer than Pizza Hut. As we stood outside examining the menu, a waitress who was standing just outside the door having a smoke, leaned over and said, “Hey! You have a Nirvana shirt too!” and pointed to her shirt which had the yellow dead smiley face logo on it, exactly like the one I got in Camden. I laughed and she chatted with us a bit and told us about a deal they had going on, so we decided to give it a try. The pizza was very good despite being thin-crust artisan pizza rather than the super cheesy American pizza we had originally been in search of. We each got a cocktail and a little bowl of gelato too (they messed up the gelato order so we ended up getting a third bowl which we split for free). Even though the place was a little more spendy than we had originally intended, it was definitely worth it and we left satisfied with both the food and the friendly staff. Ironically, when we reached our bus station, low and behold, there was a Pizza Hut right across the street which we would have come across if we had only walked one block further. But we were still satisfied anyway with our decision and our little excursion.

Over the past two days I have also immersed myself in the hunt for an internship that I would be interested in, hopefully one I can get college credit for this next semester or even start work on over the summer. I had a small revelation when I thought of a potential career path for myself that for some stupid reason I had never considered before; music journalism. I found several internships that involve music journalism and blogging, some of which can be done remotely so it is not necessary for me to go into “work” every week as I can do it all from my laptop (albeit, going to concerts and trying to get interviews). Some radio stations even promote various blogs. So I have begun a new blog, which I have spent the past two days setting up, separate from this one which is more centered on music news, opinion pieces, and also some of my own short stories which are inspired by rock songs (compiling them into a collection when I have enough – another recent idea of mine that I am very excited about). I have entitled it "Stairway to Nirvana" and will likely be asking people to promote it once I get it set up the way I like and get some posts completed to start it off. I hope to keep this going for a while, updating it regularly and gather an audience so that I can pitch it (kind of like a portfolio) to some of these radio stations to see if they will promote me and/or take me on as an intern journalist/blogger. I am quite excited to see if anything comes of this. I don’t know if it will, but I feel like if this did become a career path for me it would turn into something that I could pursue passionately.

London: day sixty-two and sixty-three

Yesterday was the IES trip to Brighton. This time though, rather than the blasting wind we encountered last time, our class was met with bright sunshine, clear blue sky, calm waters and almost 55 degree weather. The group that Abi and I were in consisted of all the members of the British Youth Culture class and the other classes that the trip was required for, so it was guided by our professor who tied in the tour with the material we have been looking at in class. We walked through the streets and he pointed out to us the various filming locations for the movie Quadrophenia, the apartment where cinematography was invented, various theaters and even the venue where Dark Side of the Moon was first performed. After the walking tour, we were allowed to go into the Royal Pavilion and take a walk through there. The dining hall, the music room and the kitchen were absolutely breathtaking; decorated with gigantic chandeliers, vast open rooms with ceilings that tucked up into the onion-top domes, and everything cast in the style of an elegant Indian palace. The remaining rooms however, seemed not to be quite up to par with these extravagant central rooms, so we did not spend long in each. Along the way, we met up with Alyssa who had been stuck in the other group, and after we finished, the three of us set off for the Student Center – a large collaboration of markets and shops. We wandered there for quite some time, and Alyssa was determined to find a Bubble Tea shop that she had passed by on the earlier walking tour. Eventually we did find it, and then headed back in the direction of the beach while looking for a place to eat lunch. Ultimately, we ended up eating at the same fish and chips place that we had gone to on our first visit. Running out of time, we then only had time for a quick turn on the pier before having to return to the bus and head back to London.

To my frustration, on the way back, one of my earphones cut out on me, so I decided to head to Primark upon arriving to go get a new pair. People who listen to music all the time like I do will understand that when your earphones stop working it’s one of those things that shouldn’t be a priority – but it is. So Abi, Hannah and I hopped the bus over to Tottenham and crossed the street only to discover that Primark was closed (we had forgotten that they close early on Sundays). Giving up for the night, we then took the Tube all the way over to Earl’s Court where Abi said there was a really good Pilipino restaurant. It was a small place, and quite loud, but we followed Abi’s lead as she explained the various dishes to us and taught us how to pronounce the names of each. The food was excellent, and we left full and feeling that the long trip had been worthwhile. Before leaving, I bought one of the dessert pastries to-go that Abi had recommended, saying that it was one of her favorite foods. It was called Sapin-Sapin, and was a layered glutinous rice and coconut dessert made from rice flour, coconut milk, sugar, water, and had roasted coconut sprinkled on top. The texture was weird, but it was good and rather fun to eat just because it was so different than any other dessert I’ve ever had before. We returned to NIDO for the night and I ended up skyping with my sister for a bit before getting some things done and then calling it a night.

Today was fairly plain. I had Shakespeare today and thoroughly enjoyed the discussion on Hamlet. Because it had been so long ago when I first read it, I feel as though now I am getting an entirely different and far more in depth take on it which has only solidified in my mind that Hamlet is my favorite work of literature and drama. Afterward, a quick trip to Primark satisfied my need for new headphones and since I have been working on homework, watching a movie and chatting with people online, as always.

London: day fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty, and sixty-one

Hola!

Okay, so I’m going to breeze through this as fast as I can, because 1) I have a lot of catching up to do, and 2) it’s late here; however, this won’t be short…

So; picking up from Tuesday – my group presented our British Youth Culture project and I feel that it went very well.  After class, Hannah and I hopped on the Tube and went over to Liverpool Station because Tuesday just so happened to be National Pancake Day and there was a place over there that was giving away free pancakes. The pancakes they gave out, but maybe just in general (don’t entirely know), were more like crepes however with chocolate, lemon and brown sugar rolled up in it. But they were very good and it was well worth the trip. We wandered around the area a bit and passed by the Gherkin when we were looking for a plaque that apparently marked the place where the construction crew discovered the ancient remains of a little Roman girl. We then wandered some more and stopped for a sandwich before I had to make my way back for my City class. However, as my luck would have it, upon arriving at City, I was a little surprised to find no one waiting around near the stairs like there normally is. Chalking it up to me being extremely early (the Tube took less time than I had anticipated), I went back outside and continued to walk down the street. Around the block to the right, I found a quaint little park and planted myself on a bench to enjoy the warm weather until it was time to return to class. Eventually, I made my way back, and when I arrived, still found no one waiting even though it was ten minutes to the hour. I cursed myself a bit for not bringing my computer that day, making it impossible to check the schedule; but, I had a suspicion that perhaps since we had our midterm last week, that City was currently on Spring Break and it had thrown me off because it occurred at a different time than our break at IES. When I got back to NIDO, sure enough, that had been the case. So I enjoyed the couple free hours I had, just relaxing in the room until Hannah texted me and asked if we wanted to go see a movie that they were showing in one of the nearby pubs. Unfortunately, when we showed up, the place was packed to the hilt and we couldn’t get in, so we went back and decided to watch the movie Pulp Fiction on Hannah’s laptop in one of the lounges at NIDO. I’m still not entirely sure I liked the movie, it was a bit strange, and I feel like I would have to see it again to determine whether or not I actually liked it. But it was enjoyable to spend an evening watching a movie with friends.

Wednesday, I didn’t have class either, but our professor had required us to select a “walking tour” of our choice based on one of the books we recently read and spend some time wandering the area. Tula and I had decided to head down to Battersea as it has been one of the places I’ve been meaning to go, so it was easy to kill two birds with one stone and coincide the trips. We ended up lucking out and had some fantastically beautiful weather that day, so the walk was welcome and we stretched it out for as long as we could. We first followed a pathway along the bank of the Thames and got a feel for the area. Battersea is a very industrial area where a lot of construction is happening. It doesn’t exactly feel like London when you’re there. Many factories, large warehouse stores and markets line the bankside. Cranes tower above and one can hear the clanking of metal ringing out from the construction sites. One’s view is frequently obscured by temporary work-site walls, and the older factories have their brick walls gated off and topped with savage barbed wire. Along the bank, much to my joy, one can see the Battersea Power Station which happens to be the building featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s album, Animals; the one with the giant pig balloon floating between the smoke stacks. Aware of this because it was the sole reason I had wanted to come to Battersea in the first place, I had prepared and worn my Pink Floyd shirt just for the sake of getting a photo with the factory in the background. After that mission had been accomplished, we continued down the bank, eventually ending up quite near the power station. However, due to a considerable amount of construction occurring, the whole side of the street where one could have gotten a fantastic view of it up close, had been walled off. I was able to snap one quick picture through a crack in the gate, but any others, I had to stand on the edge of a high curb to get. Not far from there was the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, a giant humane society. Tula and I both felt as though we could use an animal-fix, so we paid two pounds to go in and see all the animals. We wandered through three floors of dog kennels, falling in love at every turn and petting the dogs through the cages whenever there was no one around to tell us we couldn’t. We then went to see the cats as well, which, unfortunately couldn’t be pet because they were behind glass. But they were adorable and I couldn’t help falling in love with a little black cat with bright yellow eyes. Afterwards, we found a place for lunch and indulged with some hamburgers. I got to have a bacon cheeseburger; one of my favorite foods, I must say. After lunch we wandered until we hit the Battersea Park where we spent a decent amount of time admiring the gardens, the lake and sports fields. The park was absolutely stunning on such a beautiful day and it was great to see flowers beginning to pop up. As we passed by some people, I had to do a quick double take at one point because I’d forgotten that it was Ash Wednesday and was surprised to see the ash crosses on their foreheads. There were definitely very few people bearing them, and these people had been the first I’d seen, the only reminder for me otherwise I wouldn’t have known at all. We walked all the way through the park and came out on the other side near Albert Bridge which we crossed over and then caught a bus back to Victoria station. I branched off from there and continued to Angel so I could go to the grocery store while Tula made her way to class. On the way back from the store, I was tottering under the weight of the grocery bags and I couldn’t help but notice a man seated against the wall dressed quite raggedly. 

Normally I don’t give money to homeless people, but for some reason I just had the thought that “I wonder how many people with the ash crosses on their foreheads have passed him by today?” I kind of didn’t want to even entertain this cynical train of thought, but I distinctly felt that this time I didn’t want to walk by awkwardly avoiding eye contact and pretending as though I hadn’t heard them ask; not this time, I didn’t want to feel guilty as I walked away carry bags of food. So I dug out a couple pounds and as I went by, I put the coins into his hand. I think he may have been a little surprised, but he looked at me and smiled and told me “Thank you! God bless you!” Ever awkward in any situation that requires talking to people I just told him “you’re welcome” and continued on. Ash Wednesday, and the closest thing I had to anything religious that day was the gratitude of a homeless man.

Thursday found me utterly exhausted after having been up until 4 a.m. working on the essay I had due that day. In general, I more often than not, average about five hours a night, but even though four hours is not much less – it definitely feels like a lot less. After class I made my way back to NIDO and packed up my backpack before meeting Alyssa and Hannah. We made our way to Victoria Station where we then boarded our bus bound for Cardiff, Wales. The trip lasted for nearly four hours and it was dark by the time we rolled into town. Both Alyssa and Hannah had crashed on the way there, but, as always, I wasn’t able to sleep on the bus for more than five minutes before startling awake. Our hostel was not far from the bus stop, so we first made our way there to drop off our backpacks. I feel like I have been ruined; I have never been to a hostel before and this one was absolutely incredible. It was, no joke, like walking into someone’s home. I know most hostels are not like that, but it’s going to be really hard not to judge future hostels by the high standard that this one set in my mind. It was better than most hotels I’ve been to. Walking in, the whole place was filled with the smell of homemade apple pie, which we were invited to dig in to (they won my heart right there). The rooms were cozy but not boiling hot or freezing cold and even though we were sharing a room with two guys from France who had been there for quite some time looking for jobs, we weren’t uncomfortable and the owner was sure to check in and make sure they were ”treating us alright.” The comforters were thick and the pillows were even better than my pillows at home. Everything was perfectly clean and the next morning an enormous breakfast was laid out – pastries, almost any spread you could think of, toast, fruit, cereal, granola, different juice, milk, small pancakes, coffee, tea, and so on; a true English breakfast if there ever was one, and all of which was absolutely incredible.

After we had settled in, we went for a walk around the main part of town, seeking out a place for some dinner and just to explore. We eventually decided on a pub (the Welsh pubs seemed a lot more roomy and spread out than the cramped and packed English pubs – but, it may have also felt that way because it was a Thursday night). Since the prices in Wales are definitely cheaper than in London, we decided to celebrate a little bit and go for some drinks. I had not eaten in a good couple hours (had a wrap before getting on the bus) and I still wasn’t hungry so I didn’t get any dinner; I was also hoping that would help me get a bit of a buzz, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. I started with two “Velvet Elvis” cocktails (two for one thing), which were Jack with a black raspberry flavoring that ended up being really tasty. Alyssa then talked me into doing some shots and I had two of the Tennessee Honey Jack Daniels and one of just normal Jack, and at the end she and I split the two for one cocktail deal and got a Coffee/Mocha drink that had, I think, either whiskey or vodka in it, whichever it was didn’t matter because the thing was so sweet you couldn’t taste the alcohol. And after all that, I had only the faintest buzz starting that lasted for probably less than half an hour. I mean, we were there for a while, but not that long, and Alyssa definitely was feeling something, granted she had downed two shots of Jaeger, so that’s not a surprise – I would be too, but I rather value my taste-buds and don’t have much of a desire to drink anything that I have to choke down. I actually like whiskey, even straight, and it is by far my drink of choice. It’s just unfortunate because I’ve found out that I would have to do quite a few shots of it within a very short amount of time before I really start feeling anything – good to know that I’m not a lightweight I suppose, but still, it definitely makes it more expensive at the pub/bar. After, we headed back to the hostel and got into pajamas before going down to the TV room to join the group of people in there who were watching 10 Things I Hate About You. I had not seen this movie before (shocker, I know), and was really excited to find out that it was filmed in Tacoma! It was so strange to see the town I love and where all my friends are in a movie and it made me a little homesick for Puget Sound.

The next morning we had our absolutely INCREDIBLE breakfast before setting out toward Cardiff Castle. I guess the only thing that morning that didn’t taste good was the Vegimite that Alyssa tried – a yeast spread that is thick and dark brown and resembles catfish bait. It is fairly common over here and the Marmite brand is supposedly “quintessentially British,” however it is said that whether one actually likes it is a sort of all-or-nothing. As far as Alyssa was concerned, it was a “nothing” – she tried so hard to swallow just the tiniest bit of it on a piece of bread, but the horror was evident on her face and she ended up spitting it out into the trash. And her unfortunate experience decided it for me that I would never try Vegimite. The castle was really interesting and we spent a great amount of time there, exploring the Keep and the various rooms. We even got to go through the corridor within the outer walls which was used as a safe bunker during WWII and was also one of the locations for the filming of Doctor Who (specifically the Rebel Flesh episode, but also others). We took a guided tour that lead us through the different, absolutely beautifully decorated rooms in the castle. After the castle, we hopped on a bus which took us down toward the shore of the bay. We walked by the theater there and the big plaza with the public art piece that is a mirrored pillar and which also (revealing my inner geek here), features in the BBC series Torchwood (haven’t seen all of it, but definitely a couple episodes). There is also a large, elliptical plaza that is circled by pillars – I admit, I don’t know if there is a particular purpose for it, but it is quite the public space and popular for skateboarders and kids with scooters. We followed the plaza toward the water and came to a large terra cotta building with a clock tower that very much resembled that of St. Pancras Station. We went in, and explored the little museum there and rested our feet for a bit by watching a short film about the coal industry that the port there was famous for. At the film’s end, we continued along the water and curiosity drew us toward a bright red ship that looked as though it had lighthouse situated on it – a search and rescue vessel of some sort, I’m sure. Spread throughout there were various terra cotta benches shaped like animals and jokingly I sat on the one that looked like a wolf to make it look like I was riding it. However, when I jokingly gave it a little kick like you would a horse to get it to go, I apparently kicked a bit too hard and did a number on my toe which was sore for most of the remaining day; thankfully no permanent damage, however, just a good deal of grumbling at my stupidity and aggravation from the pain. Across from where we were however, one could see the BBC Studios, and just down the path was the Doctor Who Experience. I made them humor me, and we went over that way so I could get a picture of it. I am not so crazy of a fan as to be entirely heartbroken for not getting to go through it (wasn’t going to subject my new friends to that, especially since they haven’t seen the show), however, I was pleased to at least get a picture of the TARDIS sculpture that they had out front (also of the Dalek statue that was in one of the markets). After leaving there and taking the bus back toward the town center, we wandered through various shops, malls and markets throughout the town, got coffee and cakes at a cute little café as an appetizer and had dinner later at another quaint little restaurant before heading back to the hostel to pick up our backpacks. Being a bit too early to head to the bus station, we wandered the streets near a park for a bit, trying to kill an hour. As we were walking down the gravel path, Hannah suddenly jumped and uttered a surprised little shriek, there in the path was a toad crawling along, minding his own business. I petted him and would have picked him up, but they didn’t want me to, they also made the good point that it might pee on me, which I decided wouldn’t be good for a four hour bus ride. So we just made sure that he got off the path and safely near one of the trees. By this time, it was about time for us to head back to the bus station where we waited for our bus to arrive and take us back to London.

Today, I did not do a whole lot, mostly spent the whole day writing (as you can see), working on some homework, sorting through some short story ideas that I have, looking up various short story competitions that I plan to enter, and looking through the Coeur d’Alene Press Classifieds for potential summer jobs (yay!). Tomorrow, I’m headed to Brighton for the IES trip there that is required for my British Youth Culture class, so looking forward to another day near the ocean!

Cheers!

London: day fifty-five and fifty-six

Hey there, sorry I haven’t been writing, but really there has not been much to say; homework has taken over my life for the past two days. Go figure right? You mean I actually have to do school while I’m here??

Anyway, I’ve just been working on an essay on a book called Regeneration that we read in my Modern British Novel class. I really enjoyed that book, it’s probably been my favorite so far (aside from Shakespeare of course – working on Hamlet right now and I couldn’t be more excited!!!!! Hamlet will always be my favorite, maybe, literary anything – I love it that much). But Regeneration has been a fun read, maybe because I see parallels between it and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which happens to be another of my favorite books. Granted, there are difficult parts in it, the imagery is stunning, yet poignant. It’s the story of soldiers who have suffered mental breakdowns after having been in the trenches of WWI and the efforts of a psychiatrist by the name of Rivers to try and rehabilitate them despite their horrifying experiences. There’s been one particular piece of dialogue in this book which hit my heart like a rock and has since sat heavily there:

“Burns said quietly, ‘Do you know what Christ died of?’

Rivers looked surprised, but answered readily enough. ‘Suffocation. Ultimately the position makes it impossible to go on inflating the lungs. A terrible death.’

‘That’s what I find so horrifying. Somebody had to imagine that death. I mean, just in order to invent it as a method of execution. You know that thing in the Bible? ‘The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth’? I used to wonder why pick on that? Why his imagination? But it’s absolutely right.’ “

When I read that bit of the text, it stopped me in my tracks. I don’t particularly know why; maybe it was because for all my reading of theology and the bible and sitting through sermons, not once did I stop to think exactly how Jesus died. Unless he had been given a block to stand on, he would have had to pull himself up just so that he could breath, and when the strength of his arms gave out or the pain became unbearable… I don’t know. I guess I am still trying to process that part of the text. Right now though, it’s just one of those splinters that kind of sticks around after you’ve finished the book – happens quite frequently, and a good novel will have at least one of those.

Other than that essay, I’ve just been working on a group project for my British Youth Culture class which we will be presenting tomorrow – can’t wait. Just for the sole reason that this project will finally be over. It’s not that it’s been an awful project, just a time consuming one, and when you have a professor that you don’t like, it’s always hard to get up the motivation to want to care. 

London: day fifty-four

Today Abi and I planned to check out Borough Market and then head over to Greenwich where there was a place that served the classic British afternoon tea with biscuits and cakes for a fairly decent price (you’d be surprised how expensive it is to do in London). On the way to the market though I had to renew my monthly unlimited on my Oyster card, sufficiently complaining about the eighty pounds it cost all the while. But I then realized that this was the last time I would have to buy it as I will only be here for a few weeks in April and will at that time just do weekly top-ups. It was really strange to realize that I only have one more full month here; honestly, I feel like I’m still waiting for the semester to begin. I really don’t want to go back. This break has been all that I hoped it to be, and the newness of the experience has created a much welcome shift in the present pattern of my life – kind of feels like I’m running a parallel track at the moment. I just don’t want to go back to the way it was.

The only thing that supersedes that feeling though is that I desperately miss my sister and am really excited for when I get to see her again, when she comes to visit as well as summer. We are planning on going to the Tesla concert in May at the Knitting Factory and have also (pretty much, but very likely) decided on a matching tattoo design that we want to get together – on her left arm and my right arm (each of our dominant hands) so that they’ll be next to each other when we stand side by side. Both her and I really like the look of just a simple thin, double, black band around the forearm. However, the reason I had not gotten it already was because I really want all my tattoos to have highly significant meaning behind them and I wasn’t sure what two black bands on my forearm could represent. But then I had the idea; cross the bands over on the back of the arm to join the two lines into one and to create the shape of an infinity symbol which has essentially been folded over on itself. If Haley and I both got the same tattoo, it would symbolize our relationship; two strong black bands for the each of us, but also acknowledging that we are also one because no one else in the world could know either of us better or share our blood or the type of unique relationship we share. The design is simple but extremely meaningful and we are both very excited about getting it, which we are hoping to do this summer. It also has the added bonus of being a matching sister tattoo but without using birds, flowers, quotes, or butterflies like most other matching tattoo designs – those kind of cliché, rather cheesy designs just don’t fit our personalities and I am glad we were able to come up with something that was entirely unique to us. So I am very excited for that and AM looking forward to going back for that.

At Borough Market, Abi and I roamed around looking at all the different appetizing foods. I eventually ended up with a cup of hot mulled wine and a piece of a raspberry and chocolate cake slice (both of which were AMAZING). We ate our snacks in the churchyard of the neighboring Southwark Cathedral, soaking in the sunshine and listening to the church bells chime. There was even a small tree in the courtyard that was bursting with pink Cherry Blossoms – I don’t want to speak too soon, but Spring might be on the way…

We then wandered down the Southbank of the Thames for a bit, passing by the Globe and turning around at the Tate Modern Art Museum. We caught a nearby Tube over to Bank where we then boarded the DLR train to Greenwich. 

At Greenwich we made our way through the streets and eventually found the Fan Museum which was where the Afternoon Tea was supposed to be happening. Apparently though, today was an unusual day and due to some event, they weren’t doing it today. Moving on, we decided to explore the huge park near the Royal Observatory because it was such a nice day. Compared to London, Greenwich is SO quiet. The peaceful silence is something that you don’t realize you miss until you are outside of the noise of the inner city. The break came welcome to us both and we walked through the park, exploring and taking our time as we climbed the hill that overlooked the city. We found what was supposedly an old hospital according to the plaque above the door, but which looked more like a brick shed and wasn’t much larger than a shed, a rose garden (which unfortunately was not in bloom yet), and the remains of an old homestead for which only a wall and a sunken bath remained. When the hill plateaued again, we continued walking until we reached the farthest gate to the park. Curious as to what was on the other side of the wall, we detoured out of the park and found out that behind the park, there was a large heath of green grass that stretched for a good distance almost equal to that of the park itself. Even though Greenwich is still technically in the heart of the city and is surrounded on all sides by more city, these two patches of open land close to one another gave the sense of being in the countryside. One could look for miles and see hillsides in the distance and the sky seemed to just open up, no longer constricted by concrete walls on either side. It was here that I spotted a sign for a road which divided the heath that read “Goffers Road” and immediately decided that it was time for a photo opp. Abi snapped a picture as I stood in front of the “ers.” After that we continued to walk across the heath toward a small pond and a miniature hillside covered in thickets. Most of the ground was soppy, muddy wet due to the rain we got yesterday, but near this little hill we discovered a patch of earth that was dry because the grass wasn’t nearly as lush there and we laid down to look at the sky and breathe in the earth and fresh air. We watched people play with their dogs, the clouds passing overhead and the small collaborations of crows that gathered in the tall grass. We spent quite a bit of time there, just chatting, and didn’t move until we realized that we were getting hungry and the sun was nearing the western horizon. Making our way back through the park, we wove through the pathways and admired the flowers which were starting to make their appearance. Down the hill and back in town, we stopped into a pub for a drink and some food and on our way back to the DLR station we briefly stopped in Mark’s and Spencers because Abi claimed that she had discovered there some of the “best gummy worms she had ever tasted.” Munching on these fabled gummy worms we boarded the DLR bound for London and moved from the darkness of the outskirt city back into the condensed light of the city which drowns out all but a few stars in the night.

Even though it is only 12:00, I think I am going to call it a night and give in. On can only go for so long on four to five hours of sleep every night (about a week for me) before hitting that wall of exhaustion. So, being that’s where I find myself now; goodnight.