Let's see... after the weekend of Cambridge, Bath, and Stonehenge, we had a busy week. Aunt Carol and Uncle David were here, and it was really nice to share some meals with them, and see an African version of Mozart's The Magic Flute. That week we also went to the ballet, as well as the opera where we saw Salome. We've seen a show literally every night for the past couple of weeks but Mondays (because of bell ringing), Tuesdays (because of a class) and Sundays (because we've been traveling). That's a lot of shows! They've all been amazing, too. There was only one that I thought was pretty typical and boring, but the set was so incredible that it made up for it.
We went for a weekend to St Ives, which is in Cornwall in the Southwest tip of England. It was an adorable seaside town full of cute shops, beautiful artwork, and friendly dogs playing in the water. I stupidly left my purse on the train, so we had to go to Penzance to retrieve it, and it was an equally cute seaside town (and I got my purse back just fine). Tom and I walked along the beach in the morning and found an adorable cafe for breakfast overlooking the bay. We went to the Tate art museum there, which was minuscule compared to the Tate Britain and Tate Modern in London, but nice all the same. It featured mostly local artists. We took the train back to London, getting a head start on homework on the way.
I spent the next week doing homework. We had lots of free time at the beginning of our trip without any homework, and we're certainly making up for it now with all the work we have to do.
Spring break is here! We were incredibly lucky and were able to stay with a friend from bell ringing in his cottage in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was wonderful. Rolling green hills, stone walls, a beautiful cathedral from the 13th century, a windy (windy is such an understatement- the wind never stopped blowing) but sunny beach, umpteen delicious cups of tea, a happy dog named Paddy- it was everything we needed on a break from London. Our host, Michael, drove us everywhere, and showed us various castles (Norman castles are all over Pembrokeshire) and made us dinner. There is no way to thank him!
We took the ferry over to Ireland, and took the bus to Cork, which was a nice town. We went to Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone, so I hope I'm more eloquent- I should be! It was such a funny experience. We stood in a long cue of tourists, and when it's your turn, you sit down and lean way over backwards to reach it! It was wet- how gross is that. But hey, Discovery Channel listed it as one of the top 99 things to do in a lifetime, so we had to do it. There were really pretty gardens/forest around the castle, so we wandered around there for a while. That night back in Cork, we found a pub with a guitarist/folk singer playing and sat and listened for a while. He was very good and the atmosphere of the pub was fun. It felt very traditional. Tom's been trying the local brews- Beamish, Murphys, and Guiness- and I had a Bailey's and I think it tastes better in Ireland.
Today we made it to Killarney, a cute town on the edge of Killarney National Park. It rained most of the day, but we managed to make it a little ways into the park before the sun went away. The park is so big it's hard to get much of anywhere on foot, so I think we're going to rent bikes tomorrow morning and bike out to a castle and the lake. Tonight we're going to a pub across the street that also has live music. It's my goal to spend each night here in a pub listening to Irish music- and I don't think it'll be hard to do!
After biking we're headed to Galway tomorrow, then on to Dublin, then back to London. We only have two more weeks once we get back, then Tom and I are going to Barcelona with his parents, then on to the rest of Europe (itinerary to be determined). I'll be home in a blink of an eye!
Cheers!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Hello all,
As it's easier to post pictures on Shutterfly, I'm going to post the majority of them there.
Just go to
jdoehne.shutterfly.com
to view them! Keep checking it, too, as I will update it regularly. Right now I have only the first few weeks of pictures up.
I promise to update this soon- I have a paper due Wednesday as well as a "creative project" flute piece to prepare and perform on the same Wednesday, so I'm a little swamped for the moment.
Cheers
As it's easier to post pictures on Shutterfly, I'm going to post the majority of them there.
Just go to
jdoehne.shutterfly.com
to view them! Keep checking it, too, as I will update it regularly. Right now I have only the first few weeks of pictures up.
I promise to update this soon- I have a paper due Wednesday as well as a "creative project" flute piece to prepare and perform on the same Wednesday, so I'm a little swamped for the moment.
Cheers
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
5 more weeks- one of which is spring break- until we leave! That's crazy! Where did the time go?
We went to Cambridge a few Saturdays ago, which was a fun college town about 2 hours north of London. Upon arrival, we had a short walking tour by a forgetful elderly British gentleman that took us by the Mathematical Bridge (where all the bars are tangent to the arc of the bridge- pretty nifty), and into a pretty chapel, then up the main drag of town to Kings College Chapel, which is just huge. It’s beautiful structurally from the outside and gorgeous with its stained glass windows on the inside, and there are lots of facts that I have forgotten about it being the tallest ceiling in England to be supported with buttresses, or something. A very powerful place, indeed.
After our tour, we wandered the town, which was very adorable. We found several street markets with the usual stuff- bulk candy of all sorts, fresh fruit, lots of flower, strange t-shirt, etc. Made me miss the Saturday Market in Portland, though. Nothing can compare to that. After wandering around some more, looking into cute shops, and buying some delicious homemade fudge, Tom and Liz and I found ourselves by the river which flows behind many of the colleges. A popular thing to do there is called punting, which is similar to the gondolas in Venice. You sit in a very shallow boat, and somebody stands on the back and “punts,” or steers the boat with a very long, heavy wooden pole. It apparently is not to be missed on a day to Cambridge, so we did it! Albert, the husband of our trip leader, came too, which was good fun. We all took a turn at punting, which proved to be trickier than it looks. Tom and Albert were the best, and they steered us home all in one dry piece.
We stopped off for some much-needed tea because we were freezing from punting, then stood in the long cue for Evensong at Kings College Chapel. The line was totally worth it- the sound that the boys/mens choir made in that huge space was incredible. Evensong is such a nice tradition- what a beautiful relaxing way to end the day. We stayed after that to hear a Messiaen organ recital, which was very strange music (it sounded like a soundtrack to outer space), but it was fun to hear the organ at work. It was a nice trip, although I wish we had spent a little more time there!
The next day we were up and going to Bath and Stonehenge. We had a very nice tour guide named Victoria who chatted to us about everything. We went to Stonehenge first, which was very impressive, although a little bit smaller than I had imagined in my mind. They hauled the stones all the way from Wales (think about the incredible task of doing this without any of today’s conveniences) then arranged them perfectly, with some very heavy slabs lying on top of others. It’s mystifying why they are there in the first place, why the Romans didn’t note their presence, and why crop circles appear in the fields around it. It is full of fascinating questions that will probably never be answered.
On to Bath- what a cool place. It’s very beautiful and old-looking, as even the newest buildings have been built using the local sand-colored stone. We had a walking tour, then were let loose to explore for a few hours before leaving again. We ate lunch in a cute pub, then walked around the city a bit, found a bridge with shops lined all the way across (like London Bridge used to be), then went to tour the Roman Baths. The baths are the reason that the town is there at all (hence the name). There is a spring that bubbles up directly underneath due to some geological phenomenon, and the Romans were able to harness and control the hot water and the steam it gave off into a very technically advanced bathhouse. It became a holiday spot to relax and heal for the Romans. A good portion of the original Roman baths are preserved, and there was a fascinating museum there about it. On the audio guide, they had Bill Bryson doing some commentary, which was very interesting to listen to. It wasn’t funny like his books at all, but it was thoughtful and insightful. We ended the tour of the baths by tasting the spring water, which supposedly is very good for you. The Romans drank it to heal themselves, and some other guy made a lot of money in the 1800s by advertising it as a cure-all. It was absolutely disgusting. Hot spring water, of course, is full of sulfur, so it tasted of rotten eggs with an added iron flavor. Yuck.
Let's see, other than that fun weekend, things in London are going fine. I've written two papers with two more to go, plus some theatre reviews to write, plus two large projects. Much less work than at LC though, that's for sure, so I can't complain.
Tom and I have just planned out our spring break plans for a trip through Wales to Ireland. I'm so excited! We're going to Pembrokeshire, Wales, which is on the beautiful coast (apparently it's a popular summer holiday place), and we're hoping to stay at a cottage owned by one of the bellringing guys. Then we'll take the ferry across to Rosslare Harbour, then the bus to Cork where we'll stay 2 nights. We'll visit Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney stone, of course! Then on to Killarney, a small town on the border of a beautiful national park, for a night, then on to Galway for 2 nights. Then, finally, on to Dublin for 2 more nights, then back via the ferry to Wales and a train back to London. It will be a whirlwind adventure! I just hope the logistics work out okay.... We've booked all our hostels, though, so at least housing will be okay, and we're going to buy a bus pass tonight. I'm really looking forward to the trip to get out of England and see something hopefully a little different. Oh and to try some Irish whiskey as well, to see how it compares to the Scotch. =)
I was planning to post some pictures of the weekend, but the internet, as usual, is SO INCREDIBLY TURTLE-Y slow, so I've given up, and I will post them as soon as I can.
Cheers for now!
We went to Cambridge a few Saturdays ago, which was a fun college town about 2 hours north of London. Upon arrival, we had a short walking tour by a forgetful elderly British gentleman that took us by the Mathematical Bridge (where all the bars are tangent to the arc of the bridge- pretty nifty), and into a pretty chapel, then up the main drag of town to Kings College Chapel, which is just huge. It’s beautiful structurally from the outside and gorgeous with its stained glass windows on the inside, and there are lots of facts that I have forgotten about it being the tallest ceiling in England to be supported with buttresses, or something. A very powerful place, indeed.
After our tour, we wandered the town, which was very adorable. We found several street markets with the usual stuff- bulk candy of all sorts, fresh fruit, lots of flower, strange t-shirt, etc. Made me miss the Saturday Market in Portland, though. Nothing can compare to that. After wandering around some more, looking into cute shops, and buying some delicious homemade fudge, Tom and Liz and I found ourselves by the river which flows behind many of the colleges. A popular thing to do there is called punting, which is similar to the gondolas in Venice. You sit in a very shallow boat, and somebody stands on the back and “punts,” or steers the boat with a very long, heavy wooden pole. It apparently is not to be missed on a day to Cambridge, so we did it! Albert, the husband of our trip leader, came too, which was good fun. We all took a turn at punting, which proved to be trickier than it looks. Tom and Albert were the best, and they steered us home all in one dry piece.
We stopped off for some much-needed tea because we were freezing from punting, then stood in the long cue for Evensong at Kings College Chapel. The line was totally worth it- the sound that the boys/mens choir made in that huge space was incredible. Evensong is such a nice tradition- what a beautiful relaxing way to end the day. We stayed after that to hear a Messiaen organ recital, which was very strange music (it sounded like a soundtrack to outer space), but it was fun to hear the organ at work. It was a nice trip, although I wish we had spent a little more time there!
The next day we were up and going to Bath and Stonehenge. We had a very nice tour guide named Victoria who chatted to us about everything. We went to Stonehenge first, which was very impressive, although a little bit smaller than I had imagined in my mind. They hauled the stones all the way from Wales (think about the incredible task of doing this without any of today’s conveniences) then arranged them perfectly, with some very heavy slabs lying on top of others. It’s mystifying why they are there in the first place, why the Romans didn’t note their presence, and why crop circles appear in the fields around it. It is full of fascinating questions that will probably never be answered.
On to Bath- what a cool place. It’s very beautiful and old-looking, as even the newest buildings have been built using the local sand-colored stone. We had a walking tour, then were let loose to explore for a few hours before leaving again. We ate lunch in a cute pub, then walked around the city a bit, found a bridge with shops lined all the way across (like London Bridge used to be), then went to tour the Roman Baths. The baths are the reason that the town is there at all (hence the name). There is a spring that bubbles up directly underneath due to some geological phenomenon, and the Romans were able to harness and control the hot water and the steam it gave off into a very technically advanced bathhouse. It became a holiday spot to relax and heal for the Romans. A good portion of the original Roman baths are preserved, and there was a fascinating museum there about it. On the audio guide, they had Bill Bryson doing some commentary, which was very interesting to listen to. It wasn’t funny like his books at all, but it was thoughtful and insightful. We ended the tour of the baths by tasting the spring water, which supposedly is very good for you. The Romans drank it to heal themselves, and some other guy made a lot of money in the 1800s by advertising it as a cure-all. It was absolutely disgusting. Hot spring water, of course, is full of sulfur, so it tasted of rotten eggs with an added iron flavor. Yuck.
Let's see, other than that fun weekend, things in London are going fine. I've written two papers with two more to go, plus some theatre reviews to write, plus two large projects. Much less work than at LC though, that's for sure, so I can't complain.
Tom and I have just planned out our spring break plans for a trip through Wales to Ireland. I'm so excited! We're going to Pembrokeshire, Wales, which is on the beautiful coast (apparently it's a popular summer holiday place), and we're hoping to stay at a cottage owned by one of the bellringing guys. Then we'll take the ferry across to Rosslare Harbour, then the bus to Cork where we'll stay 2 nights. We'll visit Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney stone, of course! Then on to Killarney, a small town on the border of a beautiful national park, for a night, then on to Galway for 2 nights. Then, finally, on to Dublin for 2 more nights, then back via the ferry to Wales and a train back to London. It will be a whirlwind adventure! I just hope the logistics work out okay.... We've booked all our hostels, though, so at least housing will be okay, and we're going to buy a bus pass tonight. I'm really looking forward to the trip to get out of England and see something hopefully a little different. Oh and to try some Irish whiskey as well, to see how it compares to the Scotch. =)
I was planning to post some pictures of the weekend, but the internet, as usual, is SO INCREDIBLY TURTLE-Y slow, so I've given up, and I will post them as soon as I can.
Cheers for now!
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