Past few days.
Friday:
Friends and I (Emily and Ruanda from Rhodes, Alexis from Sewanee, Elizabeth from Richmond, Will, Emily and I from BSC) traveled to Bath by train. We left around 9:30, so we had plenty of time to do whatever we wanted. Arrived and visited the Roman Baths, which are really incredible. These ancient baths have been excavated fairly recently - some date back to 53 and 54 BC. It's unbelievable. To try to imagine the people of the day coming in and out - sacrificing, worshiping, bathing, praying for healing - it's a very overwhelming task. I feel like I use silly words like "amazing" and "unbelievable" a lot, but I mean them in their intended form: these places I've been cause you to be unable to believe that, at any point, they were functional, even thriving, pillars of society. It is fascinating to think about all the lives that have come before mine, and all that will undoubtedly come after it.
After the baths, we went to the fashion museum. I was pretty skeptical at first (fashion museum in Bath??), but once I stepped into the giant showcase room featuring costumes from The Supremes, I was hooked. These clothes were killer. Sparkly, rhinestones, sequined, feathered, you name it, they wore it. A guard caught me taking a picture with my phone, but he said his only duty was to let the security cameras pick up that he'd spoken to me about it. He said I could keep it. I did. The rest of the museum housed fashions from the 1500's to the present, including Jennifer Lopez's famous barely there green Versace Oscar dress. There was even an interactive room where girls could try on hoop skirts and corsets to get a feel for what it was like to be Queen Victoria. I have to say, I kind of liked it. The museum is one of my favorite things.
For lunch, we went to the oldest restaurant in Bath whose name, of course, I've forgotten. We went to get their famous buns, but ended up staying for lunch. I had Early Grey, a toasted brie and cranberry chutney sandwich (delicious) and a chocolate butter bun. Indescribably good. The bread was somewhere between the consistency of a biscuit and a souffle - very light, but very dense. The chocolate sauce was warm and not too heavy. I split mine in half as did Alexis, and we each had half chocolate and half cinnamon butter buns, with a side of clotted cream. SO good. We were giddy all day.
Saturday (today):
Slept late and went to London for the afternoon with friends (Peter from Rhodes and Emily and Will from BSC). Took a train into the city to see "Jersey Boys" (marginal, but entertaining) and then some shopping. Took the train to the Apple Market to search for a ring stand I've been hunting. Found out that they re-open on Tuesday, and I'll hopefully be back in the city on Wednesday to SEE LES MIS!!!!!!! Enough exclamation points? Okay. It's my favorite, favorite show and I am so thrilled to get to see it in England. Can't WAIT. That will top off a great evening of Tuesday night pub trivia, followed by Wednesday night trivia at the college. We'll have to see a matinee so we can make it back. We also found a Krispy Kreme in the London Paddington (holy majoly, I lost my mind) and I bought a dozen doughnuts (and got one extra for free - made friends with the cashier). A lovely day.
(End of the recounting.)
Just thought this might be kind of long.
I can't believe my time here is almost over. I have a little over a week left before I'm on a plane back to America. Have learned so many things, academic and beyond. Can't wait to be able to write about something other than a list of my activities and tell you all about what I know now. To summarize, for now, I'll say this: racial divides are completely American constructs, I am a people person, Birmingham-Southern is beyond the right choice for me, Oxford is beautiful even when it rains, England is really really really inefficient in terms of small business (and I think I may be impatient), back up everything you've ever put on your computer. That's all for now.
Friends and I (Emily and Ruanda from Rhodes, Alexis from Sewanee, Elizabeth from Richmond, Will, Emily and I from BSC) traveled to Bath by train. We left around 9:30, so we had plenty of time to do whatever we wanted. Arrived and visited the Roman Baths, which are really incredible. These ancient baths have been excavated fairly recently - some date back to 53 and 54 BC. It's unbelievable. To try to imagine the people of the day coming in and out - sacrificing, worshiping, bathing, praying for healing - it's a very overwhelming task. I feel like I use silly words like "amazing" and "unbelievable" a lot, but I mean them in their intended form: these places I've been cause you to be unable to believe that, at any point, they were functional, even thriving, pillars of society. It is fascinating to think about all the lives that have come before mine, and all that will undoubtedly come after it.
After the baths, we went to the fashion museum. I was pretty skeptical at first (fashion museum in Bath??), but once I stepped into the giant showcase room featuring costumes from The Supremes, I was hooked. These clothes were killer. Sparkly, rhinestones, sequined, feathered, you name it, they wore it. A guard caught me taking a picture with my phone, but he said his only duty was to let the security cameras pick up that he'd spoken to me about it. He said I could keep it. I did. The rest of the museum housed fashions from the 1500's to the present, including Jennifer Lopez's famous barely there green Versace Oscar dress. There was even an interactive room where girls could try on hoop skirts and corsets to get a feel for what it was like to be Queen Victoria. I have to say, I kind of liked it. The museum is one of my favorite things.
For lunch, we went to the oldest restaurant in Bath whose name, of course, I've forgotten. We went to get their famous buns, but ended up staying for lunch. I had Early Grey, a toasted brie and cranberry chutney sandwich (delicious) and a chocolate butter bun. Indescribably good. The bread was somewhere between the consistency of a biscuit and a souffle - very light, but very dense. The chocolate sauce was warm and not too heavy. I split mine in half as did Alexis, and we each had half chocolate and half cinnamon butter buns, with a side of clotted cream. SO good. We were giddy all day.
Saturday (today):
Slept late and went to London for the afternoon with friends (Peter from Rhodes and Emily and Will from BSC). Took a train into the city to see "Jersey Boys" (marginal, but entertaining) and then some shopping. Took the train to the Apple Market to search for a ring stand I've been hunting. Found out that they re-open on Tuesday, and I'll hopefully be back in the city on Wednesday to SEE LES MIS!!!!!!! Enough exclamation points? Okay. It's my favorite, favorite show and I am so thrilled to get to see it in England. Can't WAIT. That will top off a great evening of Tuesday night pub trivia, followed by Wednesday night trivia at the college. We'll have to see a matinee so we can make it back. We also found a Krispy Kreme in the London Paddington (holy majoly, I lost my mind) and I bought a dozen doughnuts (and got one extra for free - made friends with the cashier). A lovely day.
(End of the recounting.)
Just thought this might be kind of long.
I can't believe my time here is almost over. I have a little over a week left before I'm on a plane back to America. Have learned so many things, academic and beyond. Can't wait to be able to write about something other than a list of my activities and tell you all about what I know now. To summarize, for now, I'll say this: racial divides are completely American constructs, I am a people person, Birmingham-Southern is beyond the right choice for me, Oxford is beautiful even when it rains, England is really really really inefficient in terms of small business (and I think I may be impatient), back up everything you've ever put on your computer. That's all for now.