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!
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