Saturday, September 27th
Today we took a tour of the Roman Baths from 2,000 years ago with a natural hot spring that is still pumping out tons of water every day. It was awesome to walk around on the same floors and be hanging out at the same bath just like the Romans. After we left there, we saw some street performers wearing just underwear hold themselves up on giant metal poles and do handstands while having flaming sparklers in their butts. Talk about a great time. We continued to learn more about the town when Bill took us on a short walk up to the circus (a big circular area where there are beautiful buildings sculpted by Thomas Moore) and the crescent (made my Moore’s son), and when you look at them from overhead, it looks like a giant question mark. Also, there were tons of pigs around town, pieces of art that were on top of buildings, in the middle of courtyards, in a market, in the Roman Baths, everywhere. This is supposed to be the symbol of the cit of Bath because, as legend has it, Bladud (who was supposed to be the next ruler of Rome) acquired leprosy, as did his pig. He was banished from Rome and he had heard about the magical powers of the bubbling springs found in Bath, supposedly work of the Gods, and he went there with his pig. His pig rolled around in the mud and its leprosy was cured, so Bladud did the same and, sure enough, he was cured and was able to go back to Rome and reclaim his honor. So, pigs in Bath.
Following Bath we made our final stop on this trip to Stonehenge. It was really awe-inspiring to see this monument still standing. It’s much smaller and more compact than the one at Avebury, but the stones had been hauled for an incredible distance to get to Stonehenge and they are sculpted so that they form a perfect circle, and even have little notches and groove on the trilithons (the thing that looks kinda like a lower-case n). It was a little strange to see where Stonehenge is though, which is in the middle of a giant flat field with a road going right by it. I thought it would be somewhere way up on top of a hill that we would have to hike 5 miles to get to and all of a sudden we get to the top and there’s a clearing with Stonehenge in the middle. But nope, just hangin out in the middle of a huge field. With cars whizzing by. Still really freaking impressive.
Friday, September 26th
We left very early this morning to begin the trip to Bath and beyond. Our first stop was Avebury where there is an ancient stone circle that is much bigger and a bit older than Stonehenge, but less popular for some reason. The circle encompasses part of the town of Avebury and there is said to have been a link to fertility with this circle (something about women would rub up against it in order to help them become pregnant). Also, there were sheep everywhere. It was really beautiful out in the English countryside and quite humbling to look at the work of these people over 5,000 years ago that still remains today.
After Averbury we drove up to Glastonbury, home of the remains of the Glastonbury Abbey which holds the burial place of King Arthur and is said to have the Holy Grail hidden in it somewhere. We thought we found it when we looked into a hole in one of the walls of the Abbey and saw a plastic cup, but apparently that wasn’t it. Also in Glastonbury is the Tor, a huge hill with a stone structure up at the top, which is where some people would be beheaded and all that fun stuff. It was one heluva walk, but at the top the view was extraordinary. We could see for miles and miles. And as soon as we got to the top, what’d we find? Cows. A whole herd of cows just chillin out at the top of a huge hill munching on all the grass and snuggling up to visitors. I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to a cow before. Regardless, it was an awesome place to be.
Then we walked back down the hill and stopped at a local pub to see what kind of English drinks we could find. I had some hard cider and Omar had a pint of some sort of amber beer. It’s so strange that they serve beer and cider at about room temperature in this country, and when you see “extra cold” on the tap, it really means just slightly under room temperature. The English are big into their “Bitters” which are supposed to be drank at room temperature, so I guess they just do the same for the rest of their beers.
Following Glastonbury was the town of Wells, home of the Wells Cathedral (which we studied in British Art & Architecture). It was a magnificent structure, and the inside was absolutely gorgeous. I think I have a better understanding and appreciation of architecture after being in this class, which I suppose is a good thing. The little town of Wells was very quaint and had all these awesome shops including a fudge store (where I got 100g of cider apple and maple walnut fudge) and a gelato place (where I had a bowl of strawberry gelato and it was amazing). I was on quite the sugar-high after that. Ah well.
The last stop of the very long day was the city of Bath, where we stayed at a YMCA for the night. We got in around dinnertime, so we headed out to find some food and explore. There was a restaurant/pub that had two meals for 6.95 pounds, which is pretty freaking awesome, so we did that. The service was absolutely terrible (probably because they had this terrible cowboy DJ coming in to help celebrate Jack Daniels’ birthday) but the food was awesome. I had a pretty big bacon cheeseburger, a Belgian waffle covered in vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce and a pint of John Smith’s for 7.50 pounds. After Andrew ate two bacon cheeseburgers (thinking the ‘two meal’ deal was meant for one person) we waited for two hours as he finished his Guiness. That man was full.
We walked around town for a little bit, going into an Irish pub called Flan O’Briens and I was carded. The drinking age is 18…whatever. It was like student teaching all over again when I would get lunch in the cafeteria and the same lunch lady always thought I was a student. Maybe I’ll be happy that I look young in like 20 years, but not right now. After that pub, we slowly made our way back to the Y to crash for the night at like 11.30. Yeah, it’s lame to go to bed before midnight but it was an exhausting day.
Thursday, September 25th
We talked about Progressive Rock in British Pop music today, and also covered Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, Kate Bush (her voice sounds like stepping on a cat), Fleetwood Mac and Kraftwerk (a German group that were pioneers in using electronic music in the pop scene, especially with their hit “Autobahn”). Following class I went to my second euphonium lesson with David Powell. I felt like it was a bit easier to play for him this time, but I still sounded like crap. I don’t think I’m used to warming-up then spending 45 minutes riding the subway and walking to a random house in South London before playing again. It’s much longer than the 30-second walk up the stairs to Dave’s office back at Ithaca.
That night I saw a production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at the Tricycle theatre/cinema and it was ridiculous. They left out a ton from the play, including whole characters and scenes, but it was very entertaining and only lasted 90 minutes. It was like a jazz/funk/fusion band up on stage performing Shakespeare, and there was a great deal of audience participation, such as getting up on stage and dancing during a crazy party, handing out pizzas to the audience and even bringing two audience members up to do tequila shots. Nuts. They definitely botched the traditional aspects of it and went for pure entertainment, and I left happy.
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Salzburg/Munich/Oktoberfest
Monday, September 22nd-Wednesday, September 24th
In these few days I wrote my architecture paper, was assigned a Shakespeare paper (dang it) and planned our trip to Italy. Also, Andrew cooked a roasted chicken and potatoes while wearing only an apron and undergarments. Honestly, why? Chicken was delicious though. I realized I’m kind of running out of money. And by kind of I mean I have barely enough to pay the credit card bill and monthly rent. Sorry mom and dad. But hey, our 3 flights in Italy add up to a total of $133.80. Not too bad if you ask me.
Sunday, September 21st
We woke up at 6.45am and I felt like a million bucks. Really, I did. However, Andrew did not. We ate a quick breakfast and made our way to the airport to catch our return flight at 9.50am. We got back into Stansted at about 10.40am and got back to the flat around 12.45. I basically relaxed the rest of the day and focused on writing that darn architecture paper.
Saturday, September 20th
Today was opening day of Oktoberfest and we experienced it first-hand. We caught a 7.09am train to Munich, meeting up with our friend Margaret who’s living in Austria, so her German helped our communication problems immensely. We got into Munich at about 9.15am and made our way straight to the festivities. There were already a good number of people there, and we were told to go try to find a place to sit in one of the many beer halls there. Every place seemed packed, but we found one hall that wasn’t very crowded at all. We got a table and were waiting until noon when they officially start the festival and tap the kegs. We ordered a platter of meats, cheeses and breads thinking it would be 20 euro total. Nope, that’d be 20 euro for each one of us. I took a picture of that bill because it was so epic.
After they tapped the kegs, we had a beer at that hall (which we realized after was a wine hall, not a beer hall, which is probably why everything was so ritzy and expensive). Then we made our way around the grounds (much like the NYS Fair) and found a place to order up some Paulaner steins. This is where we spent the rest of our time at Oktoberfest, besides running back and forth to the “pissoir.” We made friends with Bavarians, including a punk rocker, who drank us under the table. I still don’t know how the human body could possibly handle that much beer. They were having two or three steins in the time it took me to drink one, and they were perfectly coherent. Boggles my mind…
We stopped at a Chinese restaurant on our way back to the train station, but I wasn’t in too great of shape and didn’t eat much of my 10 euro dinner. Also, Omar peed in the sink in the bathroom. Why? I have no idea. But it’s OK, cuz we got back to Salzburg safe and sound, albeit quite sloshed.
Friday, September 19th (Mike Day)
Today was my birthday. Looking back on it, it was probably the best birthday ever, but when the day started out, it just felt like another day with me being out of my element in a new place. We ate breakfast at the hotel consisting of Kaiser rolls, deli meats, pound cake, hot tea, hot chocolate, orange juice and cereal. Pretty friggin tasty. We loaded up and packed away a few rolls and some fruit for the road, then made our way into town. Since we flew in late the night before, this was the first time I saw how beautiful the mountains surrounding the city are. I was just soaking it all in and loving every second of it. We stopped in some small shops to get some post cards (that will be sent out soon…) and some music shops here and there. We eventually made our way to the Mirabell Gardens which were absolutely gorgeous. Then we checked out the old town, including Mozart’s two houses (his birthplace/where he grew up and then where the family moved to later). It was so surreal being in the same town where a musical genius grew up, the place we’d all read about in music history classes and were told was beautiful. Reading about it or seeing pictures is absolutely nothing compared to just strolling around the city for a day.
They had a random square with a market, a puppet show and some music going on. We each got some giant pretzels and heard the sweet sounds of a brass quartet playing. It was a group consisting of a tuba, a euphonium-looking-thing, and two trumpets. After they were done playing a few tunes, I went up to the euphonium player and asked him what his instrument was. He said something like a “denoa” but said it was very similar to the baritone. I explained that I play euphonium, and he handed me the horn to try. It was really strange to hold since everything was backwards and it was shaped all funny, but the mechanics of sound production were exactly the same. What an awesome guy.
I had my eye on the fortress up on one of the hills, so we made our way up there (we walked up the hill instead of taking the train up the 45-degree angle slope). It was really neat seeing this castle that’s 900 years old, especially after a few weeks of the architecture class. At one point we were at the very highest point of the castle and the view of the countryside was breathtaking. Mountains are bad-ass, I don’t care what anyone says, especially when they rise up into the clouds.
When we made our way down the giant hill, we came across this giant tent containing hundreds of people and a community band playing. Everyone was drinking and listening to the band consisting mostly of brass but also had a couple of clarinets and flutes. We ordered a small glass of Stiegl (brewed in Salzburg) and found a spot to sit down and enjoy the music. When the first band finished I went up to the euphonium section and talked to one older guy for a few minutes about euphonium playing in Austria and Germany. Euphonium players are the best people. Eventually we got a hankering for one of the giant steins of beer that we saw people drinking from, and Omar and Andrew offered to pay for mine since it was my birthday and all. We got them, drank them rather quickly and also had a shot of schnapps from these ladies walking around with little barrels on their hips with a little tiny tap and tin shot glasses. So freaking awesome.
When we were leaving the tent, we were a bit tipsy, and I had the awesome idea of playing a game which involved shooting an air rifle at small metal pieces on a wall in order to win stuffed animal prizes. I hit 2 out of 3 and won a small dolphin keychain for my mom (be proud, mom, it’s hard to shoot a rifle after consuming over a liter of beer). Then we set out to find our hostel, and that journey was exciting. We talked to some Spanish/Austrian restaurant owners, some trumpet players, and Omar peed in a back alley. We found our hostel, checked in, found our room, composed ourselves then set out for dinner at 9pm. We ate at a relatively nice restaurant in the old town said to have served Mozart and Schubert on multiple occasions. I had the Viennese Lamb (wiener schnitzel) with roasted potatoes and it was awesome. I'd say that's a pretty awesome birthday.
Thursday, September 18th
Today is the first day of a trip that Omar, Andrew and myself took to continental Europe, and it was freaking awesome. After British Pop (we talked about the Beatles for 3 hours, I love that class) we exchanged 20 pounds for about 30 euro and stopped back at the flat to grab our stuff (a backpack with a couple of pieces of clothing). Omar and I made it to a bus stop near Baker Street to catch our bus ride to Stansted Airport with a crazy bus driver who kept slamming on the brakes and running vespas off the road. Andrew took a train. Probably a good call on his part since he beat us there.
Once we got to the airport, it was really easy checking in and getting to our gate. The plane wasn’t very big (Boeing 737) and we boarded like the Beatles would have on those ladders. The flight wasn’t very long, only about an hour and a half, and we arrived in Salzburg, Austria at 10.30pm local time (one hour ahead of London). Once we got out of the airport, we immediately realized that not knowing German makes it hard to get around in this city. We couldn’t figure out what the hell the map said, or where our hostel was (I knew a general location but had no idea what bus goes there) or even how to operate the bus ticket machine. We eventually asked a bus driver on the #2 bus (only one that comes to the airport about every 20 minutes) and he told us we had to transfer to the #4 bus and that will get us there.
When we were dropped off at a bus stop to catch the #4, we had about 15 minutes until it came so we went on a search for food because I was freaking starving. We found a little shack next to a pub that had two older Austrian ladies serving food. I looked at the menu and had no idea what anything was. I saw a picture of a hot dog (nahh) and a hamburger with a happy face (that sounds right). Next to the burger it said “Ruck Zuck” so I go up to the window and say “Hello, one Ruck Zuck please” (like “duck”). They burst out laughing at me and say “No no, ‘Rook Zook!!’” I’m so all-star it hurts. I’m in the country for 30 minutes and I already have two ladies laughing at me. Ah well, the spicy chicken breast burger was pretty damn good, even if it did have 2 inches of mayo on it.
The hotel we stayed in the first night was really nice and had a nice cozy feel. They had toilet paper with cartoons of soccer players and jokes written on them, small but comfy beds, and porn on the tv. Europeans are so open when it comes to sex, yet don’t show much violence. Kind of backwards compared to America. At any rate, we got settled and passed out promptly.
Sunday, September 14th-Wednesday, September 17th
So during these few days I basically spent my time doing research for my British Art & Architecture paper on a statue of Queen Eleanor of Castile (made in 1291), practicing and packing for our trip this weekend…yup.
Oh yeah, we saw a play at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, the Timon of Athens, and I didn’t like it very much. I think it’s because Shakespeare co-wrote it with another dude and it’s all about a guy giving out all his money and becoming poor when none of his “friends” will help him out; not too riveting. But the theatre was awesome. We had standing yard tickets, so we stood the entire time down near the stage. The theatre isn’t entirely covered and it was interesting because the play set in very olden times and there would be planes flying overhead. It was an amazing night to look at the city on the Millennium Bridge, right near the Globe theatre. London is such a freaking awesome city. It’s so bizarre how sometimes when you least expect it you can stop for a second, take a deep breath and take in the history, the beauty and realize that yeah, you’re in freaking London.
In these few days I wrote my architecture paper, was assigned a Shakespeare paper (dang it) and planned our trip to Italy. Also, Andrew cooked a roasted chicken and potatoes while wearing only an apron and undergarments. Honestly, why? Chicken was delicious though. I realized I’m kind of running out of money. And by kind of I mean I have barely enough to pay the credit card bill and monthly rent. Sorry mom and dad. But hey, our 3 flights in Italy add up to a total of $133.80. Not too bad if you ask me.
Sunday, September 21st
We woke up at 6.45am and I felt like a million bucks. Really, I did. However, Andrew did not. We ate a quick breakfast and made our way to the airport to catch our return flight at 9.50am. We got back into Stansted at about 10.40am and got back to the flat around 12.45. I basically relaxed the rest of the day and focused on writing that darn architecture paper.
Saturday, September 20th
Today was opening day of Oktoberfest and we experienced it first-hand. We caught a 7.09am train to Munich, meeting up with our friend Margaret who’s living in Austria, so her German helped our communication problems immensely. We got into Munich at about 9.15am and made our way straight to the festivities. There were already a good number of people there, and we were told to go try to find a place to sit in one of the many beer halls there. Every place seemed packed, but we found one hall that wasn’t very crowded at all. We got a table and were waiting until noon when they officially start the festival and tap the kegs. We ordered a platter of meats, cheeses and breads thinking it would be 20 euro total. Nope, that’d be 20 euro for each one of us. I took a picture of that bill because it was so epic.
After they tapped the kegs, we had a beer at that hall (which we realized after was a wine hall, not a beer hall, which is probably why everything was so ritzy and expensive). Then we made our way around the grounds (much like the NYS Fair) and found a place to order up some Paulaner steins. This is where we spent the rest of our time at Oktoberfest, besides running back and forth to the “pissoir.” We made friends with Bavarians, including a punk rocker, who drank us under the table. I still don’t know how the human body could possibly handle that much beer. They were having two or three steins in the time it took me to drink one, and they were perfectly coherent. Boggles my mind…
We stopped at a Chinese restaurant on our way back to the train station, but I wasn’t in too great of shape and didn’t eat much of my 10 euro dinner. Also, Omar peed in the sink in the bathroom. Why? I have no idea. But it’s OK, cuz we got back to Salzburg safe and sound, albeit quite sloshed.
Friday, September 19th (Mike Day)
Today was my birthday. Looking back on it, it was probably the best birthday ever, but when the day started out, it just felt like another day with me being out of my element in a new place. We ate breakfast at the hotel consisting of Kaiser rolls, deli meats, pound cake, hot tea, hot chocolate, orange juice and cereal. Pretty friggin tasty. We loaded up and packed away a few rolls and some fruit for the road, then made our way into town. Since we flew in late the night before, this was the first time I saw how beautiful the mountains surrounding the city are. I was just soaking it all in and loving every second of it. We stopped in some small shops to get some post cards (that will be sent out soon…) and some music shops here and there. We eventually made our way to the Mirabell Gardens which were absolutely gorgeous. Then we checked out the old town, including Mozart’s two houses (his birthplace/where he grew up and then where the family moved to later). It was so surreal being in the same town where a musical genius grew up, the place we’d all read about in music history classes and were told was beautiful. Reading about it or seeing pictures is absolutely nothing compared to just strolling around the city for a day.
They had a random square with a market, a puppet show and some music going on. We each got some giant pretzels and heard the sweet sounds of a brass quartet playing. It was a group consisting of a tuba, a euphonium-looking-thing, and two trumpets. After they were done playing a few tunes, I went up to the euphonium player and asked him what his instrument was. He said something like a “denoa” but said it was very similar to the baritone. I explained that I play euphonium, and he handed me the horn to try. It was really strange to hold since everything was backwards and it was shaped all funny, but the mechanics of sound production were exactly the same. What an awesome guy.
I had my eye on the fortress up on one of the hills, so we made our way up there (we walked up the hill instead of taking the train up the 45-degree angle slope). It was really neat seeing this castle that’s 900 years old, especially after a few weeks of the architecture class. At one point we were at the very highest point of the castle and the view of the countryside was breathtaking. Mountains are bad-ass, I don’t care what anyone says, especially when they rise up into the clouds.
When we made our way down the giant hill, we came across this giant tent containing hundreds of people and a community band playing. Everyone was drinking and listening to the band consisting mostly of brass but also had a couple of clarinets and flutes. We ordered a small glass of Stiegl (brewed in Salzburg) and found a spot to sit down and enjoy the music. When the first band finished I went up to the euphonium section and talked to one older guy for a few minutes about euphonium playing in Austria and Germany. Euphonium players are the best people. Eventually we got a hankering for one of the giant steins of beer that we saw people drinking from, and Omar and Andrew offered to pay for mine since it was my birthday and all. We got them, drank them rather quickly and also had a shot of schnapps from these ladies walking around with little barrels on their hips with a little tiny tap and tin shot glasses. So freaking awesome.
When we were leaving the tent, we were a bit tipsy, and I had the awesome idea of playing a game which involved shooting an air rifle at small metal pieces on a wall in order to win stuffed animal prizes. I hit 2 out of 3 and won a small dolphin keychain for my mom (be proud, mom, it’s hard to shoot a rifle after consuming over a liter of beer). Then we set out to find our hostel, and that journey was exciting. We talked to some Spanish/Austrian restaurant owners, some trumpet players, and Omar peed in a back alley. We found our hostel, checked in, found our room, composed ourselves then set out for dinner at 9pm. We ate at a relatively nice restaurant in the old town said to have served Mozart and Schubert on multiple occasions. I had the Viennese Lamb (wiener schnitzel) with roasted potatoes and it was awesome. I'd say that's a pretty awesome birthday.
Thursday, September 18th
Today is the first day of a trip that Omar, Andrew and myself took to continental Europe, and it was freaking awesome. After British Pop (we talked about the Beatles for 3 hours, I love that class) we exchanged 20 pounds for about 30 euro and stopped back at the flat to grab our stuff (a backpack with a couple of pieces of clothing). Omar and I made it to a bus stop near Baker Street to catch our bus ride to Stansted Airport with a crazy bus driver who kept slamming on the brakes and running vespas off the road. Andrew took a train. Probably a good call on his part since he beat us there.
Once we got to the airport, it was really easy checking in and getting to our gate. The plane wasn’t very big (Boeing 737) and we boarded like the Beatles would have on those ladders. The flight wasn’t very long, only about an hour and a half, and we arrived in Salzburg, Austria at 10.30pm local time (one hour ahead of London). Once we got out of the airport, we immediately realized that not knowing German makes it hard to get around in this city. We couldn’t figure out what the hell the map said, or where our hostel was (I knew a general location but had no idea what bus goes there) or even how to operate the bus ticket machine. We eventually asked a bus driver on the #2 bus (only one that comes to the airport about every 20 minutes) and he told us we had to transfer to the #4 bus and that will get us there.
When we were dropped off at a bus stop to catch the #4, we had about 15 minutes until it came so we went on a search for food because I was freaking starving. We found a little shack next to a pub that had two older Austrian ladies serving food. I looked at the menu and had no idea what anything was. I saw a picture of a hot dog (nahh) and a hamburger with a happy face (that sounds right). Next to the burger it said “Ruck Zuck” so I go up to the window and say “Hello, one Ruck Zuck please” (like “duck”). They burst out laughing at me and say “No no, ‘Rook Zook!!’” I’m so all-star it hurts. I’m in the country for 30 minutes and I already have two ladies laughing at me. Ah well, the spicy chicken breast burger was pretty damn good, even if it did have 2 inches of mayo on it.
The hotel we stayed in the first night was really nice and had a nice cozy feel. They had toilet paper with cartoons of soccer players and jokes written on them, small but comfy beds, and porn on the tv. Europeans are so open when it comes to sex, yet don’t show much violence. Kind of backwards compared to America. At any rate, we got settled and passed out promptly.
Sunday, September 14th-Wednesday, September 17th
So during these few days I basically spent my time doing research for my British Art & Architecture paper on a statue of Queen Eleanor of Castile (made in 1291), practicing and packing for our trip this weekend…yup.
Oh yeah, we saw a play at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, the Timon of Athens, and I didn’t like it very much. I think it’s because Shakespeare co-wrote it with another dude and it’s all about a guy giving out all his money and becoming poor when none of his “friends” will help him out; not too riveting. But the theatre was awesome. We had standing yard tickets, so we stood the entire time down near the stage. The theatre isn’t entirely covered and it was interesting because the play set in very olden times and there would be planes flying overhead. It was an amazing night to look at the city on the Millennium Bridge, right near the Globe theatre. London is such a freaking awesome city. It’s so bizarre how sometimes when you least expect it you can stop for a second, take a deep breath and take in the history, the beauty and realize that yeah, you’re in freaking London.
Saturday, 13 September 2008
Stratford-upon-Avon
Saturday, September 13th
I got the best sleep I’ve had in a while, albeit for only 7 hours. It was so nice to sleep in a full bed with nice sheets and no loud sirens or motorcycles flying by the window all night. Actually this whole trip was a real pleasant break from the city life and constantly being bombarded with everything. The English countryside is beautiful and I’d like to see much more of it in the coming months.
I went downstairs for breakfast and had the privilege of eating a full English breakfast (which was really amazing) next to an older couple that apparently didn’t feel like being sociable at all (which was really awkward). I guess that’s what I get for signing up late and having to stay at a B&B by myself. Then I packed up my things and said “Thank You” to the owner (who is a rather awkward guy himself…he must be extra awkward if I’m the one saying he’s awkward…woof). We made our way to the Trinity Church (where Shakespeare and his family are buried) and listened to a 45-minute lecture by Dr. Tim Kidd all about Shakespeare’s life in Stratford. The church is right on the Avon and it was so beautiful and peaceful that I felt like staying there forever. After that we walked around town for a few hours, hitting up book shops (where this one guy called me an @$$hole for trying to walk by him as he was looking at books…awesome class), the farmer’s market (where I bought a “leather” belt for 5 pounds) and a pub for lunch (lunch for 2 people for just 5 pounds!). Then we loaded onto the bus and made our way to Oxford.
We only had two hours to explore Oxford and I think we made the most of it. Oxford University is made up of a ton of small colleges situated around town and we saw a few of them (one dining hall that looked exactly like Hogwarts). We also saw part of the botanical gardens, a 5-story bookshop, an indoor market with everything from jewelry to t-shirts to a butcher shop, among other stuff. We loaded up the bus yet again and headed back to London. Once I was back in our flat, the normal noisy annoyance of Edgware Road returned and I realized someone stole my chicken...Eric…
Friday, September 12th
Today we set out for the Stratford/Oxford trip, leaving the Marylebone station at 8:50am. We stopped for the afternoon at Warwick Castle, and it was a bit more touristy than I thought it would be (lame music being played by the “Ghosts Alive” exhibit, etc.). It was still really interesting though as they had a good part of the interior of the castle set up like a party in 1898 with life-like statues in each room depicting events that would commonly take place. I personally liked the tv remote in one of the bedrooms. They also had a bowman (who Laura is deeply in love with, though she won’t admit it…it’s absolutely hilarious the types of jokes you can come up with if you’re talking about a long bowman) and a falconer (the falcon seemed to like the pigeons nesting in a nearby tree).
We then made our way by train to Stratford-upon-Avon and once we were there it started pouring while I wasn’t able to get to my umbrella. Finally the bus came and I could grab my bag and umbrella and make the trek to the bed and breakfast that I was staying in (a few minutes down the road from where everyone else was staying…go me for signing up way late). I got settled into my room, crashed for 20 minutes then went on a walk with Bill, Laura, Erin and Robin to see Shakespeare’s birthplace and some of the town. It was still pouring, but it was fun. Bill bought us all a pint at the Dirty Duck and then we ate dinner with the rest of the crew (Omar, Andrew, Meagan, Seth, Chris and Rebecca). I guess English lasagna is a bit different than what I’m used to because they don’t really use ricotta cheese and there wasn’t much meat in it. Oh well, it was warm food and it filled me up.
Following dinner we made our way down the street to the Courtyard Theatre for a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was absolutely hilarious. My seat was right next to the stage (which protruded out like a peninsula into the audience) and that was a bit different than any other theatre experience I’ve had before. The actor who played Bottom single-handedly made the play my favorite production ever (he was so over the top and he even came out playing the sousaphone…that sealed the deal). Everyone else was hilarious too and the play at the end (put on by the simple-minded Athenians) was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
The normal after party takes place at the Dirty Duck, which is exactly where we ran off to once the play ended so we could get our pints and get a table in the corner. It was packed with Ithaca students and just before we left a good number of the actors from the production showed up. It was a good night.
Thursday, September 11th
Today Steve Brown gave a lecture to the British Pop class about jazz (it’s importance, it’s history and what exactly it is). Apparently jazz=ding ding-da ding, and Steve was very adamant about this. He also had Omar and Andrew come up and demonstrate how easy it is to improvise, as long as you don’t play the wrong notes.
Afterwards I got a bit of practicing done then had some fish & chips with Omar, and they were drowning in vinegar which made it that much better (apparently people could smell our meals from 4 floors above). We then set out for Royal Albert Hall and the last Proms performance that we were going to see, which was the Orchestre de Paris performing Mahler 1 with Christoph Eschenbach conducting. We got our normal 5 pound Gallery tickets and found a decent spot to watch the first half (some piece with this lady singing atonal stuff…kinda neat, and I’m sure hard to sing, but it didn’t really move me). During intermission Omar and I made a dash to the lower level (Circle) to try and sneak in after we saw how many open seats there were. We almost made it, and an usher stopped us and asked for our tickets. I almost spilled the beans but Omar saved us saying “Oh, I must have thrown mine in the bin” and I followed with a quick “Yeah, me too…” She said “Well, I don’t remember you guys, but O.K.” Score. We got to see Mahler 1 in Royal Albert Hall sitting in seats that were much more expensive than what we paid for, and it was amazing.
I got the best sleep I’ve had in a while, albeit for only 7 hours. It was so nice to sleep in a full bed with nice sheets and no loud sirens or motorcycles flying by the window all night. Actually this whole trip was a real pleasant break from the city life and constantly being bombarded with everything. The English countryside is beautiful and I’d like to see much more of it in the coming months.
I went downstairs for breakfast and had the privilege of eating a full English breakfast (which was really amazing) next to an older couple that apparently didn’t feel like being sociable at all (which was really awkward). I guess that’s what I get for signing up late and having to stay at a B&B by myself. Then I packed up my things and said “Thank You” to the owner (who is a rather awkward guy himself…he must be extra awkward if I’m the one saying he’s awkward…woof). We made our way to the Trinity Church (where Shakespeare and his family are buried) and listened to a 45-minute lecture by Dr. Tim Kidd all about Shakespeare’s life in Stratford. The church is right on the Avon and it was so beautiful and peaceful that I felt like staying there forever. After that we walked around town for a few hours, hitting up book shops (where this one guy called me an @$$hole for trying to walk by him as he was looking at books…awesome class), the farmer’s market (where I bought a “leather” belt for 5 pounds) and a pub for lunch (lunch for 2 people for just 5 pounds!). Then we loaded onto the bus and made our way to Oxford.
We only had two hours to explore Oxford and I think we made the most of it. Oxford University is made up of a ton of small colleges situated around town and we saw a few of them (one dining hall that looked exactly like Hogwarts). We also saw part of the botanical gardens, a 5-story bookshop, an indoor market with everything from jewelry to t-shirts to a butcher shop, among other stuff. We loaded up the bus yet again and headed back to London. Once I was back in our flat, the normal noisy annoyance of Edgware Road returned and I realized someone stole my chicken...Eric…
Friday, September 12th
Today we set out for the Stratford/Oxford trip, leaving the Marylebone station at 8:50am. We stopped for the afternoon at Warwick Castle, and it was a bit more touristy than I thought it would be (lame music being played by the “Ghosts Alive” exhibit, etc.). It was still really interesting though as they had a good part of the interior of the castle set up like a party in 1898 with life-like statues in each room depicting events that would commonly take place. I personally liked the tv remote in one of the bedrooms. They also had a bowman (who Laura is deeply in love with, though she won’t admit it…it’s absolutely hilarious the types of jokes you can come up with if you’re talking about a long bowman) and a falconer (the falcon seemed to like the pigeons nesting in a nearby tree).
We then made our way by train to Stratford-upon-Avon and once we were there it started pouring while I wasn’t able to get to my umbrella. Finally the bus came and I could grab my bag and umbrella and make the trek to the bed and breakfast that I was staying in (a few minutes down the road from where everyone else was staying…go me for signing up way late). I got settled into my room, crashed for 20 minutes then went on a walk with Bill, Laura, Erin and Robin to see Shakespeare’s birthplace and some of the town. It was still pouring, but it was fun. Bill bought us all a pint at the Dirty Duck and then we ate dinner with the rest of the crew (Omar, Andrew, Meagan, Seth, Chris and Rebecca). I guess English lasagna is a bit different than what I’m used to because they don’t really use ricotta cheese and there wasn’t much meat in it. Oh well, it was warm food and it filled me up.
Following dinner we made our way down the street to the Courtyard Theatre for a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was absolutely hilarious. My seat was right next to the stage (which protruded out like a peninsula into the audience) and that was a bit different than any other theatre experience I’ve had before. The actor who played Bottom single-handedly made the play my favorite production ever (he was so over the top and he even came out playing the sousaphone…that sealed the deal). Everyone else was hilarious too and the play at the end (put on by the simple-minded Athenians) was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
The normal after party takes place at the Dirty Duck, which is exactly where we ran off to once the play ended so we could get our pints and get a table in the corner. It was packed with Ithaca students and just before we left a good number of the actors from the production showed up. It was a good night.
Thursday, September 11th
Today Steve Brown gave a lecture to the British Pop class about jazz (it’s importance, it’s history and what exactly it is). Apparently jazz=ding ding-da ding, and Steve was very adamant about this. He also had Omar and Andrew come up and demonstrate how easy it is to improvise, as long as you don’t play the wrong notes.
Afterwards I got a bit of practicing done then had some fish & chips with Omar, and they were drowning in vinegar which made it that much better (apparently people could smell our meals from 4 floors above). We then set out for Royal Albert Hall and the last Proms performance that we were going to see, which was the Orchestre de Paris performing Mahler 1 with Christoph Eschenbach conducting. We got our normal 5 pound Gallery tickets and found a decent spot to watch the first half (some piece with this lady singing atonal stuff…kinda neat, and I’m sure hard to sing, but it didn’t really move me). During intermission Omar and I made a dash to the lower level (Circle) to try and sneak in after we saw how many open seats there were. We almost made it, and an usher stopped us and asked for our tickets. I almost spilled the beans but Omar saved us saying “Oh, I must have thrown mine in the bin” and I followed with a quick “Yeah, me too…” She said “Well, I don’t remember you guys, but O.K.” Score. We got to see Mahler 1 in Royal Albert Hall sitting in seats that were much more expensive than what we paid for, and it was amazing.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
I'm a sicky
Saturday, September 6th—Wednesday, September 10th
So I’ve been sick this whole time. Awesome. But a few cool things have happened:
1-I found out that Pharmacists actually know a heluva lot about what drugs can help cure your sickness. But they apparently don’t know what cures mine…or how to give me proper change.
2-I actually made an awesome dinner on Tuesday (chicken stir fry… yeah, it’s easy, don’t judge me). It was like a Bob Ross Painting…everything just kind of came together at the end on this wonderful canvas that was my dinner plate.
3-I got to take a tour inside Westminster Abbey, and wooooof. It started to be built in 1066, so… 942 years worth of history in that place. Tombs of old Kings, Queens, Handel, Darwin, other neat chaps like that.
4-I straddled the Prime Meridian. Badass.
5-We tried to catch the mouse about 10 times and have failed miserably. This past time he ran out right in front of us, slipped around on the kitchen floor and flew behind the washer.
6-We got to meet up with a professor from IC and have dinner and tasty beverages. Good times.
7-I had my first euphonium lesson with my teacher, David Powell. He’s a pretty awesome tuba player and a great guy. Should be fun to study with him.
Hopefully I’ll become healthy again soon and be able to partake in crazy London antics. More on that later.
Friday, September 5th
I spent the entire day on the couch being sickly. At one point I took a shower and went across the street to get some medicine and food (10 oranges, 10 clementines, 2.75 liters of orange juice, and a liter of apple juice). The cashier did not like me very much as I was very out of it and wasn’t giving her the correct amount. At least it rained all day and was miserable, which made me feel less bad staying indoors. Also, we have a mouse in our apartment and Eric is going crazy trying to catch it, since it seems to fancy his room. We thought we found his hiding hole, but apparently that wasn’t it as Eric found him running around and complained about there being a rip in the space-time continuum.
So I’ve been sick this whole time. Awesome. But a few cool things have happened:
1-I found out that Pharmacists actually know a heluva lot about what drugs can help cure your sickness. But they apparently don’t know what cures mine…or how to give me proper change.
2-I actually made an awesome dinner on Tuesday (chicken stir fry… yeah, it’s easy, don’t judge me). It was like a Bob Ross Painting…everything just kind of came together at the end on this wonderful canvas that was my dinner plate.
3-I got to take a tour inside Westminster Abbey, and wooooof. It started to be built in 1066, so… 942 years worth of history in that place. Tombs of old Kings, Queens, Handel, Darwin, other neat chaps like that.
4-I straddled the Prime Meridian. Badass.
5-We tried to catch the mouse about 10 times and have failed miserably. This past time he ran out right in front of us, slipped around on the kitchen floor and flew behind the washer.
6-We got to meet up with a professor from IC and have dinner and tasty beverages. Good times.
7-I had my first euphonium lesson with my teacher, David Powell. He’s a pretty awesome tuba player and a great guy. Should be fun to study with him.
Hopefully I’ll become healthy again soon and be able to partake in crazy London antics. More on that later.
Friday, September 5th
I spent the entire day on the couch being sickly. At one point I took a shower and went across the street to get some medicine and food (10 oranges, 10 clementines, 2.75 liters of orange juice, and a liter of apple juice). The cashier did not like me very much as I was very out of it and wasn’t giving her the correct amount. At least it rained all day and was miserable, which made me feel less bad staying indoors. Also, we have a mouse in our apartment and Eric is going crazy trying to catch it, since it seems to fancy his room. We thought we found his hiding hole, but apparently that wasn’t it as Eric found him running around and complained about there being a rip in the space-time continuum.
Thursday, 4 September 2008
Week 3
Thursday, September 4th
British pop is such an awesome class. Today we talked about The Who for nearly 2 1/2 hours, and we watched part of their film Quadrophenia which is pretty messed up. I’m glad our teacher is so cool and laid back because if she wasn’t, this would be not such a great class to sit through.
Tonight I went to the Proms to see the BBC National Orchestra of Wales perform Tchaik 6, and it was pretty awesome. I went by myself, which was a little different and a lot more boring, especially before the concert and during intermission, but oh well. It was worth the 5 pounds. It still blows my mind that all of these amazing concerts are happening every night, and it’s just part of their culture here. I was thinking about what would happen if any of these orchestras came to Ithaca to perform the same programs, and they would probably be sold out very quickly. It makes me very happy that all of this great music is so readily available. The Proms rule.
I am definitely getting sick. Go me. I think I should probably get a lot of sleep tonight and tomorrow, and see if they have Sudafed over here because that would be clutch right about now.
Wednesday, September 3rd
Today I slept in ‘til 11am and it felt great. I’m trying not to come down with a cold, so sleep is a great thing. I didn’t really do anything too exciting today besides practice, buy some food and attempt to go to the Proms concert with the Berlin Philharmonic playing Shosty 10, but the line was at least a half-mile long and we didn’t get in. Omar and I went back to the London Center to practice and chill out until we were kicked out.
Tuesday, September 2nd
I hate the circle line. When Bill said it was the most unreliable line, he was not joking. I left my flat today close to an hour before class (should only take about 15 minutes to get to school), and got to class 3 minutes late. Ah well, yesterday the Edgware Road Station was closed due to a water main break at a nearby station. Relying on public transportation sucks.
I slept through a good part of British Art & Architecture today, and I sort of feel bad about it. The teacher is such a nice, proper British lady and her voice is so soothing. When it’s 10am and we’re looking at 85 different “illuminations” of Deuteronomy in the year 1365, with her narrating it all, I’m donskies. It’s great to learn about the history and what goes into making each of these pieces of art, but nearly 3 hours of that is enough to put anyone over the edge.
The wireless signal that we’ve been relying on for free internet at our flat is crapping out, so we took a chance and went to meet the students from Syracuse University that live in the flat directly below us. They’re all really cool, and they happened to have a wireless router that worked, and might be free. Go us. After that, we went to ISH to have some drinks and be happy about the free internet access we had just acquired. While Omar, Eric and myself were sitting at a table, this German college-aged kid walks over and asks to sit with us.
We met Phillip, a lad from Munich studying electrical engineering who happened to be in London for the summer at a language institute at Cambridge. He was pretty cool, and we had a fun conversation, ranging from politics to weather, and eventually to Octoberfest. Then we played the British version of pool which is much smaller (the tables, the pockets and the balls), and that makes it a bit more difficult. We were angering these guys that came in after us, who brought their own cues. Ah well.
Monday, September 1st
I’m still not diggin’ the Shakespeare class. I felt relatively confident in my knowledge of Revenger’s Tragedy, but that was quickly wiped aside when all of the drama majors started talking about what they read into the different aspects of the play. It felt like everyone was overanalyzing every little detail about the text and the production we saw, such as spending 30 minutes talking about one character’s room and what each piece of furniture symbolized. Most of it was quite a bit of a stretch. Maybe I’m not a deep enough thinker to appreciate that Lussuriosos’s pillar with a bench around it is phallic.
After class I checked out a sheet music store (Kensington Chimes Music), which is a 10 minute walk from the London Center. They had a ton of sheet music, scores, etc.. That might be a cool place to work, I’ll have to ask the next time I stop in.
Later on we went on a walk on Edgware Road to renew our Oyster cards and to see what’s down the other end of the street. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to operate the machine to renew my Oyster card, I felt like a stupid American. Then we walked down our street, saw a KFC, an SFC (Southern Fried Chicken) and an angry prostitute. We also stopped into an off-license shop to check out the price of liquor. One regular bottle of Jack Daniels was 20 pounds, or slightly under $40. Woof. I wanted to get a bottle and also buy a bottle of Coca-Cola to make our own Jack ‘n’ Cokes. They use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup in soda over here and it makes mixed drinks taste amazing. Maybe I’ll save my pennies and buy a bottle of Jack before the end of the term…
British pop is such an awesome class. Today we talked about The Who for nearly 2 1/2 hours, and we watched part of their film Quadrophenia which is pretty messed up. I’m glad our teacher is so cool and laid back because if she wasn’t, this would be not such a great class to sit through.
Tonight I went to the Proms to see the BBC National Orchestra of Wales perform Tchaik 6, and it was pretty awesome. I went by myself, which was a little different and a lot more boring, especially before the concert and during intermission, but oh well. It was worth the 5 pounds. It still blows my mind that all of these amazing concerts are happening every night, and it’s just part of their culture here. I was thinking about what would happen if any of these orchestras came to Ithaca to perform the same programs, and they would probably be sold out very quickly. It makes me very happy that all of this great music is so readily available. The Proms rule.
I am definitely getting sick. Go me. I think I should probably get a lot of sleep tonight and tomorrow, and see if they have Sudafed over here because that would be clutch right about now.
Wednesday, September 3rd
Today I slept in ‘til 11am and it felt great. I’m trying not to come down with a cold, so sleep is a great thing. I didn’t really do anything too exciting today besides practice, buy some food and attempt to go to the Proms concert with the Berlin Philharmonic playing Shosty 10, but the line was at least a half-mile long and we didn’t get in. Omar and I went back to the London Center to practice and chill out until we were kicked out.
Tuesday, September 2nd
I hate the circle line. When Bill said it was the most unreliable line, he was not joking. I left my flat today close to an hour before class (should only take about 15 minutes to get to school), and got to class 3 minutes late. Ah well, yesterday the Edgware Road Station was closed due to a water main break at a nearby station. Relying on public transportation sucks.
I slept through a good part of British Art & Architecture today, and I sort of feel bad about it. The teacher is such a nice, proper British lady and her voice is so soothing. When it’s 10am and we’re looking at 85 different “illuminations” of Deuteronomy in the year 1365, with her narrating it all, I’m donskies. It’s great to learn about the history and what goes into making each of these pieces of art, but nearly 3 hours of that is enough to put anyone over the edge.
The wireless signal that we’ve been relying on for free internet at our flat is crapping out, so we took a chance and went to meet the students from Syracuse University that live in the flat directly below us. They’re all really cool, and they happened to have a wireless router that worked, and might be free. Go us. After that, we went to ISH to have some drinks and be happy about the free internet access we had just acquired. While Omar, Eric and myself were sitting at a table, this German college-aged kid walks over and asks to sit with us.
We met Phillip, a lad from Munich studying electrical engineering who happened to be in London for the summer at a language institute at Cambridge. He was pretty cool, and we had a fun conversation, ranging from politics to weather, and eventually to Octoberfest. Then we played the British version of pool which is much smaller (the tables, the pockets and the balls), and that makes it a bit more difficult. We were angering these guys that came in after us, who brought their own cues. Ah well.
Monday, September 1st
I’m still not diggin’ the Shakespeare class. I felt relatively confident in my knowledge of Revenger’s Tragedy, but that was quickly wiped aside when all of the drama majors started talking about what they read into the different aspects of the play. It felt like everyone was overanalyzing every little detail about the text and the production we saw, such as spending 30 minutes talking about one character’s room and what each piece of furniture symbolized. Most of it was quite a bit of a stretch. Maybe I’m not a deep enough thinker to appreciate that Lussuriosos’s pillar with a bench around it is phallic.
After class I checked out a sheet music store (Kensington Chimes Music), which is a 10 minute walk from the London Center. They had a ton of sheet music, scores, etc.. That might be a cool place to work, I’ll have to ask the next time I stop in.
Later on we went on a walk on Edgware Road to renew our Oyster cards and to see what’s down the other end of the street. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to operate the machine to renew my Oyster card, I felt like a stupid American. Then we walked down our street, saw a KFC, an SFC (Southern Fried Chicken) and an angry prostitute. We also stopped into an off-license shop to check out the price of liquor. One regular bottle of Jack Daniels was 20 pounds, or slightly under $40. Woof. I wanted to get a bottle and also buy a bottle of Coca-Cola to make our own Jack ‘n’ Cokes. They use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup in soda over here and it makes mixed drinks taste amazing. Maybe I’ll save my pennies and buy a bottle of Jack before the end of the term…
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