This past week

Tomorrow morning I'm heading off for the weekend with my friend Tim for Oxford and Cambridge, which I'm sure will be wonderful, so I figured I'd might as well document my relatively uneventful week, because I'm sure it would be quite overshadowed by Oxbridge if I waited until Sunday to write about it.

Monday, September 17th

Class from noon to half-four. I actually look forward to going to my British Politics class, because nearly everything the professor lectures about is all brand-new to me. My History of London class is interesting, but the professor (who is actually a Canadian, not a Yank) is not all-that knowledgeable and a bit condescending - which is an odd combination. Went to the Imperial with Tim and his friend Rena later that night. Met a German grad student who was trying to hone his Californian accent, he said words along the lines of "dude" and when I shook his hand to say goodbye he insisted that I give him a high-five. Also met his miniature British sidekick from Birmingham. He was, let's say, excitable, because "spaz" is no longer politically correct. It was interesting because he looked as if he could easily be 15 years old, but was working on his thesis. I'm just amazed at the different and dynamic characters that I'm meeting out here.

Tuesday, September 18th

Museums and Galleries class in the afternoon. Judging from the manner in which our Italian professor treats us, I am beginning to understand why Italy was the birthplace of fascism. Spent the evening reading and went to bed early.

Wednesday, September 19th

Imperial War Museum with Museums and Galleries class from 11 to 2. Upon my second visit I'm beginning to believe that it is my favorite museum. Although I did have to restrain myself from accosting and/or punching the two American teenagers who decided that it was appropriate to crack jokes to one another in the Holocaust exhibit. Went to see a few medieval churches in north London with History of London class from 3 to 5. They were unimpressive, lacked any interesting history aside from the fact that they were very old, and were honestly quite creepy. But I still enjoy exploring new parts of this wonderful city, so I'm not complaining at all. Came back pretty exhausted from having been walking for ten hours, went to the Imperial for a pint with Tim and then came back here and read until I fell asleep. My bed time, evenings and nights are beginning to resemble those of the elderly.

Thursday, September 20th

Let's just say I took it easy. Woke up early and stayed in my dorm all day, only venturing to the cafeteria. Luckily Tim persuaded me to come to a play with him in the West End. We saw Spamalot, which is a musical "lovingly ripped off" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was absolutely fantastic. For some reason I've always had an aversion to musicals and theater in general, but Spamalot certainly did a lot to change my mind. It was hilarious, witty, entertaining, but most of all, a very good time (it was definitely worth the 25 pound half-price ticket). And that brings me to the present, I'm off to get a good night's sleep so I'll be ready for the 9:30 train to Oxford. Cheers!

Hello all! I never quite know how to start these things, so I'll just jump right in.

Wednesday, September 12th

Today was a museum day, that is for sure. I woke up early and went to the V&A to meet my Museums and Galleries class. It was much more interesting the second time around, it is wonderful having a professor for a tour guide. It was odd, because the first time I walked through the plaster cast galleries it was a bit of a joke to me, but this time it was more awe-inspiring than anything. And hearing the stories behind a lot of the artifacts I'd seen before was very interesting.

I had to leave early in order to meet my History of London class at St. Paul's cathedral. We walked through the area northeast of the cathedral, where all of the buildings (save a for a few churches) are less than fifty years old because that entire neighborhood was destroyed during the Blitz. The destruction gave city planners a blank canvas, they installed a highway and an enormous complex called Barbican. I suppose it was supposed to be an architectural and residential experiment, but when all you can see is steel and cold cement, it feels a bit like a dystopia from science fiction.

Within the area of Barbican was the London Museum. Which, while it lacked artifacts, was very informative and worth the free admission. It only had a few small exhibits, so I only spent an hour there and then hiked three miles to the nearest Tube station that wasn't closed. Went to the Imperial with Tim and talked to the employees for about three hours about annoying Americans, and then turned in for the night.

Thursday, September 13th

Woke up early and hopped on the Tube at Kensington High Street for Paddington train station. Caught the 10 o'clock train to Bath after waiting for about an hour because it was delayed. The train ride was surprisingly comfortable and enjoyable, I had a table and four seats to myself, and the rolling English countryside provided the entertainment. I arrived in Bath at about noon. Walked to my hostel and found out that check-in started at 2, so I explored Bath for the next two hours. And that was when I realized that there was going to be a problem. In that short amount of time I had traversed the city south to north, east to west, saw all of the free sights, and managed to take a short nap in the Circus. Doing all of that in such a short amount of time would have been fantastic if I had a train ticket for London that night. The problem was the fact that I had booked three nights in the hostel and my train ticket wasn't good until Sunday. So after I finally checked in, I claimed my bed, made a four-day friend, and took a nap until sundown. After my nap I decided I should do some more exploring, maybe there was some hidden nook or cranny that would justify four days in a tourist town. You have to realize that only hours earlier the streets were packed with old people, and I mean proper old people - canes, wheelchairs, white hair, and fantastic cataract sunglasses - all from Arizona mind you. But it was 7:00 and the streets and walkways were empty, every store was closed, and I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I tried to find a pub or restaurant that wasn't closed.

After about an hour I finally found some "cheap" fish and chips (5 pounds/$10). I returned to my hostel dorm room with a half-full stomach and Making History by Stephen Fry from Waterstones. I talked to Natalie (my four-day friend I met at the hostel) for a few hours, and then around 10, all hell broke loose. Our room was right above the pub, which happened to be a very popular pub, for loud, drunk, and obnoxious English students. Let's just say, that if I was the mayor of Bath, it would be a felony to have Karaoke past midnight.

Friday, September 14th

Woke up early and went on the free Bath walking tour. Which was long (three hours) and worth the free admission, the modern history of Bath is built on gossip and speculation - not really my thing. I ate lunch at a beautiful (and cheap) Indian restaurant that was housed in a Georgian ballroom, which was enjoyable, well, as enjoyable as eating by yourself at a sit-down restaurant can be. Then I went to the Roman Baths, which at 10 pounds/$20 was a bargain for how amazing they were. I spent four hours just wandering with my audioguide, which was wonderful because it was Bill Bryson (a fantastic American travel journalist). The enormity, beauty and antiquity of the entire complex was surreal and awesome (in the proper sense of the word). It was by far the highlight of my time in Bath.

I then booked a day tour for Saturday, then took off for a beautiful park on the outskirts of town to read my recently purchased book. Later that night in the hostel, while lying in bed, I overheard a conversation taking place across the room...
Female: "So where are you from?"
Male: "Seattle."
Female: "No way! I'm from Tacoma!"
Me: "Me too!"
You have to admit, that's pretty crazy. We actually ended up chatting for five or six hours after we found a quiet pub away from our ridiculous hostel. They were wonderful and interesting people, Phil was getting his doctorate in Atmospheric Chemistry and Jackie was traversing Europe for the next four months. It really is a shame that I'll never see them again, they took off the next morning.

Saturday, September 15th

Day tour (8:00-18:00): Stonehenge, Avebury, Lacock, Castle Combe, and the Cotswolds.

The best money I've spent over here. An absolute blast, even though it was just eight old couples and me, playing the role of fill-in grandson. Stonehenge was better than I expected. Avebury was surreal. Lacock was a weird little tourist village where I wasted two hours and ten pounds on a sandwich. Castle Combe was...quaint. And the Cotswolds countryside was to die for. Sorry for the summarizing, but if you've read this far, you're probably glad I did so. Upon return to Bath went out to dinner with Natalie, and then went to bed.

Sunday, September 16th

Woke up early, checked out, and then sat in various parks for five hours waiting for my train to come. Took the 14:00 train back to London Paddington. And that's about it.

So what's the verdict on Bath? It was enjoyable, I really liked meeting Natalie, Phil and Jackie. But I definitely did not need to spend four days in the city, there's only one-day's worth of activities. To give you an idea of how much I had to do, I finished all six-hundred pages of Making History before I got back to London.

Let's see what I'm doing next. This weekend, Tim and I are going to try to hit Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) in two day trips. And then in two weeks the two of us will be heading to Ireland for a few days. Good stuff.

Tower Bridge Tour and Thames Walk

My original plan for posting was to wait for a good amount of things to happen and then summarize it. But here it is Tuesday, and the only day "worth" writing about is Sunday.

On the weekends, the cafeteria at the Richmond Kensington campus is closed, so we're all forced to improvise in the most expensive neighborhood in one of the most expensive cities in the world. The cheapest thing you can buy is an unsatisfying and bland sandwich for three pounds ($6). And a decent take away lunch will set you back about 8 pounds ($16). So needless to say, when you hear about two pound fifty fish and chips across town, the half hour trip is actually worth it. And that is exactly what my friend Tim and I did on Sunday. We took the Tube across central London from Gloucester Road to the Tower, and walked about a mile, for a five dollar meal. After we ate two servings of fish and chips (mind you, it was the only thing we were going to eat all day), we headed off for the Tower Bridge. I've been in London for two weeks, I've been to Westminster Abbey, The British Museum, The V&A, The Imperial War Museum, and The Natural History Museum, and I haven't paid a pence for any of it. So it was hard, but Tim coaxed me into spending six pounds for the Tower Bridge exhibition and tour - and it was money well spent. We took an elevator to the top of the bridge and got to walk back and forth on the walkways, the view of the Thames and the London skyline was captivating and surreal - I'll be honest, it still hasn't sunk in that I'm actually here.

So after two hours of video presentations and placards, Tim and I walked along the south bank of the Thames. We accidentally stumbled into an enormous "Oyster and Seafood Festival" (I always thought oysters were included in the seafood category) where thousands of people were carrying around plates piled with odorous, but delicious-looking shrimp, prawns, clams, and oysters. So after fighting through the crowds and horrible cover bands we made it onto a street where we could actually breathe. We then walked about two miles along the Thames (which is clogged with debris, visible pollution, and disgusting seawater) to the Tate Modern, and there we crossed the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral. Then after hiking the mile to the Tube station we were finally on our way home. As with all of my other London experiences thus far, it was exhausting, yet very rewarding.

Let's see, what else? Oh, last night I went to a fantastic traditional pub, the Queen's Arms, with a few of my Boston University friends. And from there we headed to a ridiculously swanky and trendy bar on Queen's Gate Terrace. It was one of those places where the pints cost eight pounds, but luckily my mate John bought the round. It was quite nice, I actually got to know a few British people (as opposed to Americans for a change) pretty well and had them judge my accent, I don't know if they were just being nice, but I think I passed (at least it's near impossible to being as bad as Dick Van Dyke's cockney accent in Mary Poppins).

So that's about it for the last three days. These last few days have mainly revolved around class and the like, but the next two days will be far more eventful - although I probably won't be able to update until Sunday. Tomorrow I will be splitting up four hours of "class time" in the London Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), which should be interesting. And then the next day I will be boarding the train for my four-day solo trip to Bath, which, from what I hear, should be delighting in the least and enchanting at its height. Expect plenty of pictures and maybe a good story or two. This is where I sign off. Cheers!