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!