Well, I've up and graduated from university. What a weird feeling. I already miss all the people I won't be seeing in the fall and I have no idea what I'm doing with my future.
Besides paying loans somehow, that is. Haha.
I guess I should be excited, but until I have some plans I think I'll just feel lost. Thank goodness for the greatest support group ever. You guys know who you are.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
HOME!
That's right, I am back on my college campus safe and sound! I will update this later when I have more energy. Already switched over time zones though, with no problems! Love it.
Also, giving people their presents is fun!
Also, giving people their presents is fun!
Day 17 - Sherlock Holmes Museum, Forbidden Planet, St. Bart's, Britannia Pub
My free day was awesome. I shall update this to explain later.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Day 16 - Sissinghurst, Knole
LAST DAY OF CLASS!!
Don't get me wrong - it's been fun, but I am so worn out from being constantly on the go and cold and wet. Not to mention how I never want to see another restaurant ever...I want to cook so badly it's not even funny. I talked to my mom tonight and she said she'd cook me a bunch of stuff when I got back so YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
At any rate, we had a nice long coach bus ride this morning that I used to catch up on the last of my journaling. It was a super fancy coach too - brand new with Star Trek-y looking seats and color scheme. Yes, I am easily amused. Anyway, after a nice cozy two hour ride, we arrived at Sissinghurst, which is the estate/garden of the late Vita Sackville-West - Viriginia Woolf's not-so-secret lover and author/poet. This was the first English garden we'd seen with substantial flowers (flowers used to be uncool). and it had a low maze-looking hedge running around which was awesome. Also a moat. And a tower with a library in it. And other awesome little rooms. And another library in the house. And the weather wasn't all that bad!
Aftter Sissinghurst, we went to Knole. No idea what it was until we got there. Apparently it was a house in a royal hunting preserve for one of the kings. Well, first it was a place for the Archbishop of Canterbury. But the Henry VIII made them give it to him. So the place is built like a castle, but not in the sense of a fortification. By the time it was built, all the battlements and crenallations and murder holes were just for show. The outside was much more impressive than the inside. It looked huge, but you could enter very few rooms and they were basically just filled with old furniture. It was cool, just not a lot to see. And it was crazy busy and the rooms were tiny, which didn't help. Still, interesting, and the sticky toffee cake from the tearoom that Cara and I split made it a rather positive end to the class.
So we came back to the hotel afterwards and I did the final writing assignment so I could turn un my sketchbook, and now I am officially completely done with the class. Hooray!
Looking forward to tomorrow's free day of epicness!!!
Don't get me wrong - it's been fun, but I am so worn out from being constantly on the go and cold and wet. Not to mention how I never want to see another restaurant ever...I want to cook so badly it's not even funny. I talked to my mom tonight and she said she'd cook me a bunch of stuff when I got back so YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
At any rate, we had a nice long coach bus ride this morning that I used to catch up on the last of my journaling. It was a super fancy coach too - brand new with Star Trek-y looking seats and color scheme. Yes, I am easily amused. Anyway, after a nice cozy two hour ride, we arrived at Sissinghurst, which is the estate/garden of the late Vita Sackville-West - Viriginia Woolf's not-so-secret lover and author/poet. This was the first English garden we'd seen with substantial flowers (flowers used to be uncool). and it had a low maze-looking hedge running around which was awesome. Also a moat. And a tower with a library in it. And other awesome little rooms. And another library in the house. And the weather wasn't all that bad!
Aftter Sissinghurst, we went to Knole. No idea what it was until we got there. Apparently it was a house in a royal hunting preserve for one of the kings. Well, first it was a place for the Archbishop of Canterbury. But the Henry VIII made them give it to him. So the place is built like a castle, but not in the sense of a fortification. By the time it was built, all the battlements and crenallations and murder holes were just for show. The outside was much more impressive than the inside. It looked huge, but you could enter very few rooms and they were basically just filled with old furniture. It was cool, just not a lot to see. And it was crazy busy and the rooms were tiny, which didn't help. Still, interesting, and the sticky toffee cake from the tearoom that Cara and I split made it a rather positive end to the class.
So we came back to the hotel afterwards and I did the final writing assignment so I could turn un my sketchbook, and now I am officially completely done with the class. Hooray!
Looking forward to tomorrow's free day of epicness!!!
Day 15 - Charleston House, Royal Pavilion, Brighton, Atlantic Ocean, BBC SHOP!!!
The day started way early and a bit miserable. The weather was super cold and gray, and we were running a little late. Then we get almost to the Earl's Court station, and four of us realize that we don't have our rail passes. We hadn't realized that we were taking a train train, so we'd neglected to grab them. We had to run back to the hotel, and because the schedule was so tight we assumed that we'd have to catch the tube and then the train by ourselves so the rest of the group could go ahead, but they did end up waiting for us. So everyone was kind of stressed and grouchy and we felt really bad for forgetting the rail passes and setting everyone back, so it was just not a good way to start the day.
The train took us to Brighton, somehow making up lost time, where we were on time to catch our coach bus. It was called The Big Lemon and it was painted bright yellow and it ran on used cooking oil. So that was nifty. It took us out to Charleston House, which is the preserved home of Viriginia Woolf's sister, Vanessa Bell, and her husband and a number of guests. I stood in John Maynard Keynes' bedroom this morning, which was pretty awesome. The whole house was very interesting - all these artists and writers who were clearly ahead of their time. All the paintings all over the walls and doors and fireplaces and furniture was really impressive and different.
Afterwards, we took the coach back to the station, and walked from there to a little park outside the Royal Pavilion to set a time to meet back there after we broke for lunch. I actually got brave, and Cara and I went to this little Swiss restaurant and I tried Swiss food! Nothing elaborate, but still rather out of character for me. Cara and Paul and Jayme were proud I avoided a chain restaurant. The lady at Swisstorante (love the name) was soooooo nice and explained all the different dishes to us and let us try the cheese before we got it with our meal. We got rosti, which is like a huge, soft hashbrown, with some kind of melty cheese. The cheese was a bit stronger than I like (which may be why my stomach's a bit nervous at the moment and I haven't attempted dinner yet) but it was quite good and we both really enjoyed going there. And after we finished eating, we popped into a BBC SHOP THAT WAS PRACTICALLY NEXT DOOR! We had passed it on the way to the Royal Pavilion earlier, and Paul made sure that I saw it. Oh, I had. I had definitely seen it. Big standups of the 11th Doctor and Amy in the window. Yessssss. So we popped our heads in after lunch to see what they had and just looking around a bit made me certain I'd have to come back after class was done. But more on that later!!!
So, after lunch we went into the Royal Pavilion. I had no idea what it was, but we soon found out that it was one of the homes of King George IV, where he liked to impress people when he was acting as regent for his father, King George III. The outside looks much more like something you might find in Russia than England, with onion type domes and such. The inside was much inspired by the concept of China, if not accurately like China. The inside. Oh man, the inside. We have seen some lavish places while we were here, but nothing like this.Wow. Just...wow. Chandeliers and thick carpets and patterned wallpapers and paintings and gilded everything in enormous high-ceilinged rooms. No photography allowed, so you'll have to google pictures. So worth it though. The main chandelier in the dining room looks to be held from the ceiling by a three dimensional dragon and the chandelier itself weighs one ton. One TON. Hanging from the ceiling! Craziness! But so gorgeous!
After the Royal Pavilion, another classmate gave a presentation, and Paul and Jayme told us we could split off for the rest of the evening, and find our own way back to London whenever we were ready (not hard - trains from Brighton to London every fifteen minutes and then take the Jubilee tube line to Westminster to switch over to the District line to get off at Earl's Court). They did encourage us to go down and see the ocean, since it was only two and a half blocks away. We had some time, and I knew that the BBC shop closed at 5:30, but I had never seen the ocean before and I really wanted to. When I announced that I hadn't seen it before, both professors seemed surprised and Jayme said that we had to fix that immediately. So off to the ocean we went! Well, technically the English Channel, but still! I put my hand in salt water today for the first time, so it counts! It was sun - Cara and I picked up shells and cool stones with the professors before we high-tailed it back to the BBC Shop.
We got there a nice chunk of time before it closed and looked around and drooled over things. It was mostly DVDs which was a bit sad since we couldn't bring anything of the wrong region back with us because it wouldn't play in our DVD players, but there were also books and some shirts and some little window clings and magnets and mugs and things that we managed to find. It was glorious. I can't detail everything that I bought because it includes gifts for certain people, but I can say that I got myself a Doctor Who t-shirt, a copy of Hound of the Baskervilles with an intro by BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, a Doctor Who annual book (free poster included!), a DW window cling, and BBC magnet. So all that, plus the presents, was under 30 pounds. I love half off sales!!!! Also the guy at the register/till was really great. He looked at my pile of stuff and sort of smiled and said "We've been getting a lot of Americans in here lately buying Doctor Who stuff." To which I said "We can't get it in the States!"
Him: "Are there a lot of Doctor Who fans in America?"
Me: "You'd be surprised. There's strong little pockets here and there. There's actually a pretty big group of us at my university."
Him: "Really?"
Me: "Yeah! We're known as the Hiram Whovians. It's wonderful."
Him: "That's really cool."
We're cool guys!! We're cool!!
After that very successful shopping trip, Cara and I caught a train back to London. We took that by ourselves, as well as the tube stops, and we didn't get lost! We made it back to the hotel all by ourselves, no problems! We were exhausted from the long day, so we didn't go out for the evening - just stayed in and journaled and sketched until it was time for bed.
Only a few more days!
The train took us to Brighton, somehow making up lost time, where we were on time to catch our coach bus. It was called The Big Lemon and it was painted bright yellow and it ran on used cooking oil. So that was nifty. It took us out to Charleston House, which is the preserved home of Viriginia Woolf's sister, Vanessa Bell, and her husband and a number of guests. I stood in John Maynard Keynes' bedroom this morning, which was pretty awesome. The whole house was very interesting - all these artists and writers who were clearly ahead of their time. All the paintings all over the walls and doors and fireplaces and furniture was really impressive and different.
Afterwards, we took the coach back to the station, and walked from there to a little park outside the Royal Pavilion to set a time to meet back there after we broke for lunch. I actually got brave, and Cara and I went to this little Swiss restaurant and I tried Swiss food! Nothing elaborate, but still rather out of character for me. Cara and Paul and Jayme were proud I avoided a chain restaurant. The lady at Swisstorante (love the name) was soooooo nice and explained all the different dishes to us and let us try the cheese before we got it with our meal. We got rosti, which is like a huge, soft hashbrown, with some kind of melty cheese. The cheese was a bit stronger than I like (which may be why my stomach's a bit nervous at the moment and I haven't attempted dinner yet) but it was quite good and we both really enjoyed going there. And after we finished eating, we popped into a BBC SHOP THAT WAS PRACTICALLY NEXT DOOR! We had passed it on the way to the Royal Pavilion earlier, and Paul made sure that I saw it. Oh, I had. I had definitely seen it. Big standups of the 11th Doctor and Amy in the window. Yessssss. So we popped our heads in after lunch to see what they had and just looking around a bit made me certain I'd have to come back after class was done. But more on that later!!!
So, after lunch we went into the Royal Pavilion. I had no idea what it was, but we soon found out that it was one of the homes of King George IV, where he liked to impress people when he was acting as regent for his father, King George III. The outside looks much more like something you might find in Russia than England, with onion type domes and such. The inside was much inspired by the concept of China, if not accurately like China. The inside. Oh man, the inside. We have seen some lavish places while we were here, but nothing like this.Wow. Just...wow. Chandeliers and thick carpets and patterned wallpapers and paintings and gilded everything in enormous high-ceilinged rooms. No photography allowed, so you'll have to google pictures. So worth it though. The main chandelier in the dining room looks to be held from the ceiling by a three dimensional dragon and the chandelier itself weighs one ton. One TON. Hanging from the ceiling! Craziness! But so gorgeous!
After the Royal Pavilion, another classmate gave a presentation, and Paul and Jayme told us we could split off for the rest of the evening, and find our own way back to London whenever we were ready (not hard - trains from Brighton to London every fifteen minutes and then take the Jubilee tube line to Westminster to switch over to the District line to get off at Earl's Court). They did encourage us to go down and see the ocean, since it was only two and a half blocks away. We had some time, and I knew that the BBC shop closed at 5:30, but I had never seen the ocean before and I really wanted to. When I announced that I hadn't seen it before, both professors seemed surprised and Jayme said that we had to fix that immediately. So off to the ocean we went! Well, technically the English Channel, but still! I put my hand in salt water today for the first time, so it counts! It was sun - Cara and I picked up shells and cool stones with the professors before we high-tailed it back to the BBC Shop.
We got there a nice chunk of time before it closed and looked around and drooled over things. It was mostly DVDs which was a bit sad since we couldn't bring anything of the wrong region back with us because it wouldn't play in our DVD players, but there were also books and some shirts and some little window clings and magnets and mugs and things that we managed to find. It was glorious. I can't detail everything that I bought because it includes gifts for certain people, but I can say that I got myself a Doctor Who t-shirt, a copy of Hound of the Baskervilles with an intro by BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, a Doctor Who annual book (free poster included!), a DW window cling, and BBC magnet. So all that, plus the presents, was under 30 pounds. I love half off sales!!!! Also the guy at the register/till was really great. He looked at my pile of stuff and sort of smiled and said "We've been getting a lot of Americans in here lately buying Doctor Who stuff." To which I said "We can't get it in the States!"
Him: "Are there a lot of Doctor Who fans in America?"
Me: "You'd be surprised. There's strong little pockets here and there. There's actually a pretty big group of us at my university."
Him: "Really?"
Me: "Yeah! We're known as the Hiram Whovians. It's wonderful."
Him: "That's really cool."
We're cool guys!! We're cool!!
After that very successful shopping trip, Cara and I caught a train back to London. We took that by ourselves, as well as the tube stops, and we didn't get lost! We made it back to the hotel all by ourselves, no problems! We were exhausted from the long day, so we didn't go out for the evening - just stayed in and journaled and sketched until it was time for bed.
Only a few more days!
Friday, May 4, 2012
Day 14 - Westfield Mall, Olympic Site, Canary Wharf
Late morning today, actually! Huzzah for some sleeping in!
We had a class meeting at 10:20 that consisted of a quiz and discussion of what we have been observing and putting into practice about how London's landscaping and architecture is different from what we've seen before and how it all ties into the idea of Englishness. We also discussed Orlando by Virginia Woolf, which is a pretty crazy book. Well written and enjoyable, but there is an undeniable element of crazy when the main character switches genders halfway through the book with no explanation given.
After that, we took a looooooong tube ride/combination DRL ride (some sort of small overground train) to the Westfield Mall in the East End, now Britain's largest mall. We went to the wrong mall first, because there's one right across the street from it, and this one was INSANE. There were soooo many people. And fruit and vegetable vendors! Right inside the mall! I have never seen that in my life. Definitely different. So after we got lunch and maanged to not get trampled in the process, we walked to the John Lewis store (sort of a very ritzy Sears), from which we could see the construction of the Olympics site. So that was pretty cool. And after that, we took the DRL to the Thames Barrier Park, which was sort of a bummer given that it was really industrial looking and we visited it on a very gray cold day. I did like the wavy bushes that were cut to resemble waves and remind you of the river.
Afterwards, we went to CANARY WHARF! Most Whovians will probably recognize that from the Battle of Canary Wharf. I was half-hoping for some sort of memorial or something, and to be fair we didn't walk around a whole lot, but it's pretty much just a financial area. Still, it had this cool little park with trees and small waterfalls and nice stone, and I can now say I'VE BEEN TO CANARY WHARF. Maria and I were nerding out about it the other day. Pretty legit.
Class was over at that point, so we headed back to the hotel and Cara and I embarked on an epic quest to find wireless and food. We got Burger King (don't judge - we were too tired to go much further) and did finally manage to get a wireless signal. After some email checking and sending, we went to Piccadilly Circus to a store called Cool Brittania to do some tourist shopping. Fun times! I can't wait to give people their presents!!!
Now some journaling and then bed in anticipation of tomorrow's early morning!
We had a class meeting at 10:20 that consisted of a quiz and discussion of what we have been observing and putting into practice about how London's landscaping and architecture is different from what we've seen before and how it all ties into the idea of Englishness. We also discussed Orlando by Virginia Woolf, which is a pretty crazy book. Well written and enjoyable, but there is an undeniable element of crazy when the main character switches genders halfway through the book with no explanation given.
After that, we took a looooooong tube ride/combination DRL ride (some sort of small overground train) to the Westfield Mall in the East End, now Britain's largest mall. We went to the wrong mall first, because there's one right across the street from it, and this one was INSANE. There were soooo many people. And fruit and vegetable vendors! Right inside the mall! I have never seen that in my life. Definitely different. So after we got lunch and maanged to not get trampled in the process, we walked to the John Lewis store (sort of a very ritzy Sears), from which we could see the construction of the Olympics site. So that was pretty cool. And after that, we took the DRL to the Thames Barrier Park, which was sort of a bummer given that it was really industrial looking and we visited it on a very gray cold day. I did like the wavy bushes that were cut to resemble waves and remind you of the river.
Afterwards, we went to CANARY WHARF! Most Whovians will probably recognize that from the Battle of Canary Wharf. I was half-hoping for some sort of memorial or something, and to be fair we didn't walk around a whole lot, but it's pretty much just a financial area. Still, it had this cool little park with trees and small waterfalls and nice stone, and I can now say I'VE BEEN TO CANARY WHARF. Maria and I were nerding out about it the other day. Pretty legit.
Class was over at that point, so we headed back to the hotel and Cara and I embarked on an epic quest to find wireless and food. We got Burger King (don't judge - we were too tired to go much further) and did finally manage to get a wireless signal. After some email checking and sending, we went to Piccadilly Circus to a store called Cool Brittania to do some tourist shopping. Fun times! I can't wait to give people their presents!!!
Now some journaling and then bed in anticipation of tomorrow's early morning!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Day 13 - Museum of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Borough Market
Sooooo exhausted! But hey, we have only three days of class left and London is amazing, so I can power through.
Another early morning, but yay for free breakfast. We trekked down to the tube station, me half asleep on the day I had to lead everybody to our destination of course. Well, actually Paul led on the underground and then I had to lead once we got to the right stop. Which was not hard because you could almost see the place from the tube station. And by the place, I mean the Museum of London. We've been to a ton of museums on this trip so I can feel myself getting a bit burnt out, but the Museum of London did have some new information that was actually able to make its way into my sleep-deprived brain, and it was actually quite fascinating to more or less literally walk through the city's history from the first human settlements to the modern age. They even had little displays of popular clothes from the '80s, '90s, and '00s So weird to see stuff from 2003 in a museum...
From the Museum of London, we walked to Saint Paul's Cathedral. That thing is HUGE. It towers over a lot of the city, though nowadays it has to comete with skyscrapers and such. The architecture was really cool outside, and inside was simply gorgeous. No pictures allowed inside, so I'm afraid you'll have to go to google images for that. Despite my exhaustion, I decided that I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't walk up to the top of the dome (900 something steps!), so I did. It was a little bit frightening, given that a lot of the staircases were see-through metal spiral things, so you could see just how high you'd gone, and others were tiny claustrophobic stone tunnel-like things. But the view was epic and I have lots of pictures from that. We had to do a bit of sketching somewhere within the church, so I picked a section of the interior of the dome. It did not turn out so well, but I had good intentions and in my defence domes are difficult!
Afterwards, we walked across the Millenium Bridge and past the Globe Theatre! So I have now seen the Globe Theatre!! YAY! The writing nerd in my did a little dance. From there, we trekked to Borough Market, which is this splendid open air market with all sorts of cheeses and breads and juices and preserves and such. I got some artisan ice cream - vanilla and pecans in a waffle cone - and it was glorious! Most of the group was going to see a play at the Globe at 7:30, but I had decided not to go because #1 I've never read Cymbeline before and #2 it was going to be in Arabic, so I would be utterly lost. Also I was insanely tired, so I went back to the hotel with some people and just completely crashed in my bed. YAY NAPS!
Maria and I had planned to get together this evening to just hang out and stuff since she's leaving for the weekend and I'll be flying out as she gets back, so when I finally woke up I called her and asked about her plans. It was a bit late, but she hadn't eaten yet so we had dinner at this nice little Italian place and then went to her dorm. We talked while I used her computer, and she graciously let me use her google voice account to call my parents and my sister. So I got to talk to my mom and my sister tonight! Yay! It was nice to vocally fill them in a little on what I've been up to. And after that, since Maria had asked, I cut her hair. She had told me that she needed a haircut but wasn't looking forward to paying London prices for it, and I offhandedly mentioned that I had cut Kayla's, so she asked me how it turned out and I said good and then she asked me to cut hers because it was driving her crazy. So I did! Looks pretty good, too, if I do say so myself. This needs to be my side job!
Not really sure what the class is up to tomorrow because I don't have my schedule in front of me, but I know that we have a late morning start, finally! YAY SLEEP!
Another early morning, but yay for free breakfast. We trekked down to the tube station, me half asleep on the day I had to lead everybody to our destination of course. Well, actually Paul led on the underground and then I had to lead once we got to the right stop. Which was not hard because you could almost see the place from the tube station. And by the place, I mean the Museum of London. We've been to a ton of museums on this trip so I can feel myself getting a bit burnt out, but the Museum of London did have some new information that was actually able to make its way into my sleep-deprived brain, and it was actually quite fascinating to more or less literally walk through the city's history from the first human settlements to the modern age. They even had little displays of popular clothes from the '80s, '90s, and '00s So weird to see stuff from 2003 in a museum...
From the Museum of London, we walked to Saint Paul's Cathedral. That thing is HUGE. It towers over a lot of the city, though nowadays it has to comete with skyscrapers and such. The architecture was really cool outside, and inside was simply gorgeous. No pictures allowed inside, so I'm afraid you'll have to go to google images for that. Despite my exhaustion, I decided that I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't walk up to the top of the dome (900 something steps!), so I did. It was a little bit frightening, given that a lot of the staircases were see-through metal spiral things, so you could see just how high you'd gone, and others were tiny claustrophobic stone tunnel-like things. But the view was epic and I have lots of pictures from that. We had to do a bit of sketching somewhere within the church, so I picked a section of the interior of the dome. It did not turn out so well, but I had good intentions and in my defence domes are difficult!
Afterwards, we walked across the Millenium Bridge and past the Globe Theatre! So I have now seen the Globe Theatre!! YAY! The writing nerd in my did a little dance. From there, we trekked to Borough Market, which is this splendid open air market with all sorts of cheeses and breads and juices and preserves and such. I got some artisan ice cream - vanilla and pecans in a waffle cone - and it was glorious! Most of the group was going to see a play at the Globe at 7:30, but I had decided not to go because #1 I've never read Cymbeline before and #2 it was going to be in Arabic, so I would be utterly lost. Also I was insanely tired, so I went back to the hotel with some people and just completely crashed in my bed. YAY NAPS!
Maria and I had planned to get together this evening to just hang out and stuff since she's leaving for the weekend and I'll be flying out as she gets back, so when I finally woke up I called her and asked about her plans. It was a bit late, but she hadn't eaten yet so we had dinner at this nice little Italian place and then went to her dorm. We talked while I used her computer, and she graciously let me use her google voice account to call my parents and my sister. So I got to talk to my mom and my sister tonight! Yay! It was nice to vocally fill them in a little on what I've been up to. And after that, since Maria had asked, I cut her hair. She had told me that she needed a haircut but wasn't looking forward to paying London prices for it, and I offhandedly mentioned that I had cut Kayla's, so she asked me how it turned out and I said good and then she asked me to cut hers because it was driving her crazy. So I did! Looks pretty good, too, if I do say so myself. This needs to be my side job!
Not really sure what the class is up to tomorrow because I don't have my schedule in front of me, but I know that we have a late morning start, finally! YAY SLEEP!
Day 12 - Manchester!!
WOOHOO!!
Maria and I took an AWESOME train two hours north (Virgin Trains - coach felt like first class. For serious.) and Jaime and Dan met us at the station. We started talking right away and ended up first walking to Forbidden Planet, which is this AMAZING comics store that has all sorts of nerdy awesomeness: Star Trek, Doctor Who, Star Wars, even CSI!! Maria and I nerded out in the extreme. I wanted to buy sooooo much stuff, but I had to watch my money and I have to take everything back on the plane. So no life size Matt Smith in a cowboy hat stand up for me. Sadface. However, I did get something for my sister and a couple of friends so it's all good, and I have time to think about what else I might want/be able to get before I go to the Forbidden Planet in London! Yay!
At the Forbidden Planet, Jaime and Dan met up with some friends and so our group grew to encompass nine people, which was crazy but tons of fun. They teased each other mercilessly, which was endlessly entertaining to watch. We went to the Chinatown in Manchester and found this little basement place that had a buffet for five pounds fifty, which was wonderfully cheap and the food was actually pretty good. Great conversation over lunch, and the conversation continued to be great as we walked along the streets. Most of the group wanted a drink, so we stopped in at a cool gay bar they like to frequent. The place was empty because it was like 4 pm on a Wednesday, but we continued having this great hilarious conversation and they drew some doodles in my sketchbook so I had something to take back with me. Along with all the pictures and video I took! You're welcome Brittany. It was also here that we had a cool back and forth about British and American accents and culture. Apparently our accents sounded intelligent to them, so that's a relief! Also after they attempted their American accents, they made us attempt our British ones. I actually got thumbs up and applause for mine, so my British accent has a stamp of approval from British people! Huzzah!
After the bar, some of the group split off but four of the guys (including Jaime and Dan) took us around Manchester and showed us a bunch of filming sites for Time Agent. If you don't know what Time Agent is, you should: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM7-Uy45PjE
That was really cool, and we took lots of video. Brittany should enjoy that as well, I think.
We caught a train back to London a little after eight, and the guys saw us off, hugs included all around! Maria and I had a long conversation on the way back, and I feel so much better about life now. She helped me see some options and solutions to things that were stressing me out, and between her and Kayla, I actually have a plan for the future now. It's going to require a big step on my part, and it's going to make things quite different, but I think in the long run (even the short term as well, actually) it's what's best for me. So yay for travel and life-changing friends!!
Maria and I took an AWESOME train two hours north (Virgin Trains - coach felt like first class. For serious.) and Jaime and Dan met us at the station. We started talking right away and ended up first walking to Forbidden Planet, which is this AMAZING comics store that has all sorts of nerdy awesomeness: Star Trek, Doctor Who, Star Wars, even CSI!! Maria and I nerded out in the extreme. I wanted to buy sooooo much stuff, but I had to watch my money and I have to take everything back on the plane. So no life size Matt Smith in a cowboy hat stand up for me. Sadface. However, I did get something for my sister and a couple of friends so it's all good, and I have time to think about what else I might want/be able to get before I go to the Forbidden Planet in London! Yay!
At the Forbidden Planet, Jaime and Dan met up with some friends and so our group grew to encompass nine people, which was crazy but tons of fun. They teased each other mercilessly, which was endlessly entertaining to watch. We went to the Chinatown in Manchester and found this little basement place that had a buffet for five pounds fifty, which was wonderfully cheap and the food was actually pretty good. Great conversation over lunch, and the conversation continued to be great as we walked along the streets. Most of the group wanted a drink, so we stopped in at a cool gay bar they like to frequent. The place was empty because it was like 4 pm on a Wednesday, but we continued having this great hilarious conversation and they drew some doodles in my sketchbook so I had something to take back with me. Along with all the pictures and video I took! You're welcome Brittany. It was also here that we had a cool back and forth about British and American accents and culture. Apparently our accents sounded intelligent to them, so that's a relief! Also after they attempted their American accents, they made us attempt our British ones. I actually got thumbs up and applause for mine, so my British accent has a stamp of approval from British people! Huzzah!
After the bar, some of the group split off but four of the guys (including Jaime and Dan) took us around Manchester and showed us a bunch of filming sites for Time Agent. If you don't know what Time Agent is, you should: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM7-Uy45PjE
That was really cool, and we took lots of video. Brittany should enjoy that as well, I think.
We caught a train back to London a little after eight, and the guys saw us off, hugs included all around! Maria and I had a long conversation on the way back, and I feel so much better about life now. She helped me see some options and solutions to things that were stressing me out, and between her and Kayla, I actually have a plan for the future now. It's going to require a big step on my part, and it's going to make things quite different, but I think in the long run (even the short term as well, actually) it's what's best for me. So yay for travel and life-changing friends!!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Day 11 - Victoria and Albert Museum, Hyde Park, Albert Memorial, Diana Memorial, Kensington Palace
Ah! So tired!!
Don't get me wrong, I am having a blast, but I realized today that we haven't had a day off since April 22. It's a lot to take in, especially when you're an introvert like me.
So. This morning was another crazy tube ride and then the Victoria and Albert Museum. We looked at a lot of artifacts from William Morris' time period, so there was a lot of cool furniture and dishes and clothing and such. Speaking of clothing, there was aroom where you could try on a gentlemen's coat and/or a corset and that underskirt with the hoops that makes sitting impossible. I didn't try them on, but I did try on the coat and got a picture, and a lot of my classmates tried on the corset and skirt and I got pictures and video and it was great. My favorite part of the museum though was probably the theater and performance section, if only for the fact that there was a rhinoceros model there that was used in a play in which Benedict Cumberbatch acted! I nerded out.
Afterwards we had a pricey lunch at the cafe there (beef and carrot pie for me which was actually pretty good) and then walked to Hyde Park which is GORGEOUS. The weather actually held, which was especially nice since we have been outside in sooooo much rain lately and when we got up this morning it was grey and drizzly, but then it warmed up and we actually saw the sun! I got to wear my converse instead my waterproof hiking boots for the first time in days!! So we strolled through the park and visited the Albert Memorial and the Diana Memorial. The Albert Memorial is almost too much to believe - huge and gold plated and towering and marble and just...a lot. I liked the Diana one better, though I did wish it had a plaque or something more monument-y feeling to explain to visitors who may not know her story just who she was and what she did and why the memorial looks the way it does. It's this cool circle ribbon of marble that runs over this section of mildly hilly ground and water flows through it at different speeds and configurations. They even encourage you to "paddle your feet and hands" in the water. It was chilly, but I did run my hands through it. Very peaceful.
After that we walked to the Kensington Palace. We had about two hours to go through all the rooms and displays about Diana and Queen Victoria and such, but everyone was reeeeeeallllllyyyy tired and just plain worn out at this point - even the professors - and it only took about half an hour to forty minutes, so we got to end the day early. Yay!! Again, not that I'm not having a blast, but it is just sooo much. I grabbed a quick dinner and washed my clothes in our bathtub because the laundry place is too freaking expensive, and then I met Maria and we did a little grocery shopping at Sainsbury before we went to her dorm to hang out. I am bumming her internet yet again (thank you Maria - you are a saint!!!!!) and we are eating peaches and treacle tart and some sort of squidgy banana cake thing and milk. Fun times!!
Tomorrow we meet at the TARDIS and then go to Manchester to meet Jaime and other Time Agent people!! EXCITEMENT!!!
Don't get me wrong, I am having a blast, but I realized today that we haven't had a day off since April 22. It's a lot to take in, especially when you're an introvert like me.
So. This morning was another crazy tube ride and then the Victoria and Albert Museum. We looked at a lot of artifacts from William Morris' time period, so there was a lot of cool furniture and dishes and clothing and such. Speaking of clothing, there was aroom where you could try on a gentlemen's coat and/or a corset and that underskirt with the hoops that makes sitting impossible. I didn't try them on, but I did try on the coat and got a picture, and a lot of my classmates tried on the corset and skirt and I got pictures and video and it was great. My favorite part of the museum though was probably the theater and performance section, if only for the fact that there was a rhinoceros model there that was used in a play in which Benedict Cumberbatch acted! I nerded out.
Afterwards we had a pricey lunch at the cafe there (beef and carrot pie for me which was actually pretty good) and then walked to Hyde Park which is GORGEOUS. The weather actually held, which was especially nice since we have been outside in sooooo much rain lately and when we got up this morning it was grey and drizzly, but then it warmed up and we actually saw the sun! I got to wear my converse instead my waterproof hiking boots for the first time in days!! So we strolled through the park and visited the Albert Memorial and the Diana Memorial. The Albert Memorial is almost too much to believe - huge and gold plated and towering and marble and just...a lot. I liked the Diana one better, though I did wish it had a plaque or something more monument-y feeling to explain to visitors who may not know her story just who she was and what she did and why the memorial looks the way it does. It's this cool circle ribbon of marble that runs over this section of mildly hilly ground and water flows through it at different speeds and configurations. They even encourage you to "paddle your feet and hands" in the water. It was chilly, but I did run my hands through it. Very peaceful.
After that we walked to the Kensington Palace. We had about two hours to go through all the rooms and displays about Diana and Queen Victoria and such, but everyone was reeeeeeallllllyyyy tired and just plain worn out at this point - even the professors - and it only took about half an hour to forty minutes, so we got to end the day early. Yay!! Again, not that I'm not having a blast, but it is just sooo much. I grabbed a quick dinner and washed my clothes in our bathtub because the laundry place is too freaking expensive, and then I met Maria and we did a little grocery shopping at Sainsbury before we went to her dorm to hang out. I am bumming her internet yet again (thank you Maria - you are a saint!!!!!) and we are eating peaches and treacle tart and some sort of squidgy banana cake thing and milk. Fun times!!
Tomorrow we meet at the TARDIS and then go to Manchester to meet Jaime and other Time Agent people!! EXCITEMENT!!!
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