Hey All!
Sorry I'm still a bit behind on updating. I have been home, in Saint Paul and in Connecticut visiting Rachel for the past few weeks. I will post about this when I get back to Oxford. Today, I am leaving for London to meet up with Grace and then we are meeting Lexi in Vienna and heading on a great Italian/Barcelon-ian? adventure.
Here's the itinerary for those of you interested.
Vienna - Palace Hostel, Apr. 9.
NIGHT TRAIN from Vienna to Venice April 10-11
Venice - Absolut Venice, Apr. 11.
Night train from Venice to Florence April 12
Florence - Hostel Veronique, Apr. 12-14.
early morning train Florence to Rome so we have the day in Rom
Rome - Ciak Hostel, Apr. 15-17.
Flight: around 2pm
Barcelona - Garden House Barcelona, Apr. 18-20.
Flight around 2pm Barcelona --> London, April 21st
Oxford hopefully the night of the 21st!!
If you are looking for more updated info, check facebook or follow me on twitter.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
End of Trinity: Family Visit
A couple days after Geoff, my parents and Alex arrived in Oxford. It was especially exciting to see Alex after his crazy travel plans. He was flying from Tennessee to Newark and Newark to London...unfortunately his passport was in Nyack. With Geoff and my help, we managed to help Abe find Alex's passport and get it to him at Newark Airport so he could get over here. Don't ask me how that worked.
We went to Jamie's Italian:
They had truffle chips. Need I say more?
The next day we went up Saint Mary's Cathedral tower, to get some great views of Oxford.
Wrong way, guys. You need to look over the edge for the view...(duh)
Then I had to go to my last tutorial of Hilary Term. We met in Cafe Nero and chatted about absurd theater, celebration and figurative feasts. It was a good conclusion to our work over the course of the term. Then I went back to the hotel where I was presented with a cake from the cake shop in the Covered Market.
It says Congratulations! It has a graduation hat but since I wasn't graduating, that seemed a little premature. Let's congratulate me on an Oxford term well done, and just being generally awesome. I decided to share the congratulations around.
The next day meant freedom! I was done with my work for term so we rented a car and drove to the Hundred Acre Wood. Not exactly, but it was a big old forest.
Then me and the bros got silly:
In the forest, there was a giant chair. No joke. Pics or it didn't happen? Ok. Here goes.
I'll explain. There was a walk through the woods with a bunch of these sculptures. Only it rained on us and this seemed like the only cool one so we kind of gave up on it. The chair was neat, though.
We got back to Oxford just in time to head over to New College for Evensong.
Evensong was beautiful and sung by a pretty impressive boys choir. After that, we met up with my friends for dinner on Cowley at an Indian restaurant called Aziz.
Charlie wanted to sit next to Momsie so they could catch up.
Understandably, everyone wanted their picture with the Willinghams!
You know we were having fun because we're hot and sweaty and holding alcohol ;)
I can't think of a better way to end Trinity term.
We went to Jamie's Italian:
They had truffle chips. Need I say more?The next day we went up Saint Mary's Cathedral tower, to get some great views of Oxford.
Wrong way, guys. You need to look over the edge for the view...(duh)
Then I had to go to my last tutorial of Hilary Term. We met in Cafe Nero and chatted about absurd theater, celebration and figurative feasts. It was a good conclusion to our work over the course of the term. Then I went back to the hotel where I was presented with a cake from the cake shop in the Covered Market.
It says Congratulations! It has a graduation hat but since I wasn't graduating, that seemed a little premature. Let's congratulate me on an Oxford term well done, and just being generally awesome. I decided to share the congratulations around.
The next day meant freedom! I was done with my work for term so we rented a car and drove to the Hundred Acre Wood. Not exactly, but it was a big old forest.
Then me and the bros got silly:
In the forest, there was a giant chair. No joke. Pics or it didn't happen? Ok. Here goes.
I'll explain. There was a walk through the woods with a bunch of these sculptures. Only it rained on us and this seemed like the only cool one so we kind of gave up on it. The chair was neat, though.
We got back to Oxford just in time to head over to New College for Evensong.
Evensong was beautiful and sung by a pretty impressive boys choir. After that, we met up with my friends for dinner on Cowley at an Indian restaurant called Aziz.
Charlie wanted to sit next to Momsie so they could catch up.Understandably, everyone wanted their picture with the Willinghams!
You know we were having fun because we're hot and sweaty and holding alcohol ;)
I can't think of a better way to end Trinity term.
Monday, April 5, 2010
"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."
Do you know who that quote is by? Winston Churchill, yeah, and do you know where I read it? The place of his birth, Blenheim Palace! Geoff and I decided to spend the afternoon there even though I still had to write my last paper.
Tickets were expensive, but once we got in they converted our day passes to YEAR ones. That's right, they took awkward pictures with a webcam and printed laminated cards for us on site. Maybe when the weather's nice, I will make it back there. I feel like I have to since I went through all that to get the card.
We were inside first, but you can't take pictures there. We saw the room where Winston Churchill was born, lots of family portraits and a hand-painted dining room with a vaulted ceiling where the Duke of Marlborough and family still hold Christmas dinner every year. AWESOME.
After that we went to explore the grounds!
We are adorable, aside from the fact that my smile lines make me look oddly old in this picture. Moving on...
Sheep! And pheasants! We didn't hear about the sheep, but the pheasants are still kept on the grounds for the duke and his bros to go hunting. Later we saw one up close:
This is where Winston Churchill proposed to his wife:
As we walked, I started to hear running water so we poked around until we found this cool garden. By this point, however, I really had to pee from listening to that water for so long, but I tried to enjoy it anyway and take a few pictures before running back to the palace.
I'm sure the garden is much prettier in summer. Late March wasn't exactly prime time, but since I have a yearlong pass, I can go back anytime! And at least there were snowdrops:
During World War II, this area of England was bombed but not Blenheim Palace. Word on the street is if Hitler ever took over England, he wanted to set up house in the birthplace of his enemy, Churchill. Pretty twisted.
Then we saw something really curious...
Dude, does that hedge look like a duck?
Yeah, it totally does. For more objects that look like ducks, check out this cool blog: http://www.thispeanutlookslikeaduck.com/quack/ I stumbled on it awhile ago and it reminded me why I love the internet so much...because someone felt the need to share their love of things that look like ducks with the world and the internet allowed them to reach out to others who might share their love. Do you?
Tickets were expensive, but once we got in they converted our day passes to YEAR ones. That's right, they took awkward pictures with a webcam and printed laminated cards for us on site. Maybe when the weather's nice, I will make it back there. I feel like I have to since I went through all that to get the card.
We were inside first, but you can't take pictures there. We saw the room where Winston Churchill was born, lots of family portraits and a hand-painted dining room with a vaulted ceiling where the Duke of Marlborough and family still hold Christmas dinner every year. AWESOME.
After that we went to explore the grounds!
We are adorable, aside from the fact that my smile lines make me look oddly old in this picture. Moving on...
Sheep! And pheasants! We didn't hear about the sheep, but the pheasants are still kept on the grounds for the duke and his bros to go hunting. Later we saw one up close:
This is where Winston Churchill proposed to his wife:
As we walked, I started to hear running water so we poked around until we found this cool garden. By this point, however, I really had to pee from listening to that water for so long, but I tried to enjoy it anyway and take a few pictures before running back to the palace.
I'm sure the garden is much prettier in summer. Late March wasn't exactly prime time, but since I have a yearlong pass, I can go back anytime! And at least there were snowdrops:
During World War II, this area of England was bombed but not Blenheim Palace. Word on the street is if Hitler ever took over England, he wanted to set up house in the birthplace of his enemy, Churchill. Pretty twisted.
Then we saw something really curious...
Dude, does that hedge look like a duck?
Yeah, it totally does. For more objects that look like ducks, check out this cool blog: http://www.thispeanutlookslikeaduck.com/quack/ I stumbled on it awhile ago and it reminded me why I love the internet so much...because someone felt the need to share their love of things that look like ducks with the world and the internet allowed them to reach out to others who might share their love. Do you?
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Oxford Couch Crashers
In the last few weeks of term, my friends and I had a number of visitors including the charming Jack Kent Poole, but we'll get to that. I'll start with Mike's Australian couch surfer who insisted I take several of these pictures:
Aussie on the right, Peter on the left who he insisted is the spitting image of Jake Gyllenhaal. What do you think?
Anyway, Grace, Mike and I went with our guest to Rocky Horror Picture Show at Magdalen where I knew the most callouts. Boy, is that telling. Luckily I was a little tipsy so the movie didn't feel as long as it normally does.
From there we hit up some pubs ending up at the Kings Arms, of course where we met up with Peter, Matt, Sensible Dave, and possible others. (Notice, still rockin the Oxford comma)
Mike intentionally ruining this picture. What a charmer.
Mitch came down from London for the Weekend! Lexi and Mitch out back at the Turf Tavern.
Jack came too! Jack and I met up with Lexi and Mitch at Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin) to check out the college and its deer park. What? Not all colleges have one, just Magdalen. In the rivalry between Catz and Magdalen the saying goes: Magdalen got a deer park, Catz got a car park. What's more useful? And to be honest, because Oxford has so little parking, the car park is kind of a big deal.
Jack was disappointed that the deer were clumped together instead of artfully placed sporadically around the park. Nature: doin it wrong. The grounds were still beautiful sprouting with crocuses and other signs of early spring.
Duck facing the world?
After the park we went to an overpriced cafe on High Street which had palm trees in it and mirror walls.
At the King's Arms I got Jack a winter Pimms. Quite a treat, even if it is a girly drink.
I leave you with this Benjamin Franklin quote: "The busy man has few idle visitors, to the boiling pot, the flies come out." WHAT?
Aussie on the right, Peter on the left who he insisted is the spitting image of Jake Gyllenhaal. What do you think?
Anyway, Grace, Mike and I went with our guest to Rocky Horror Picture Show at Magdalen where I knew the most callouts. Boy, is that telling. Luckily I was a little tipsy so the movie didn't feel as long as it normally does.
From there we hit up some pubs ending up at the Kings Arms, of course where we met up with Peter, Matt, Sensible Dave, and possible others. (Notice, still rockin the Oxford comma)
Mike intentionally ruining this picture. What a charmer.
Mitch came down from London for the Weekend! Lexi and Mitch out back at the Turf Tavern.
Jack came too! Jack and I met up with Lexi and Mitch at Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin) to check out the college and its deer park. What? Not all colleges have one, just Magdalen. In the rivalry between Catz and Magdalen the saying goes: Magdalen got a deer park, Catz got a car park. What's more useful? And to be honest, because Oxford has so little parking, the car park is kind of a big deal.
Jack was disappointed that the deer were clumped together instead of artfully placed sporadically around the park. Nature: doin it wrong. The grounds were still beautiful sprouting with crocuses and other signs of early spring.
Duck facing the world?
After the park we went to an overpriced cafe on High Street which had palm trees in it and mirror walls.
At the King's Arms I got Jack a winter Pimms. Quite a treat, even if it is a girly drink.
I leave you with this Benjamin Franklin quote: "The busy man has few idle visitors, to the boiling pot, the flies come out." WHAT?
Sunday, March 7, 2010
London Weekend!
Right after getting back from Edinburgh I wrote a paper Tuesday-Wednesday and had my tutorial on Thursday and left Friday afternoon for London Weekend hosted by IFSA-Butler Study Abroad crew. Our hostel called The Clink like the prison that used to be there (classy, I know) was right near Kings Cross Station:
Here I am at Platform 9 3/4. Alexis took it and she is opposed to vertical pictures for reasons unknown to me and there was a line and my camera was failing. All these things combined resulted in this pretty crap picture, but you get the idea. I was there. That happened. I had a magical time and all that.
The Clink. Our room was bright orange and we felt like little kids on these bunk beds with wacky ladders.
Dinner at Mestizo, probably the only authentic Mexican place in all of England. I have never been so excited about black beans in my life because I was deprived for so long!!
I took the opportunity to get this huge margarita which was delicious but sooo alcoholic and it was frozen so I was drinking it too slowly and my friends helped me out a little. :)
Lexi and I went on to meet up with her friend Mitch from Tufts who is studying abroad at King's College. Left to right: Mitch, Lexi, Mitch's friend Anna (who goes to the U of M) and Me!
This was deemed necessary for some reason I can no longer fathom.
London Underground backup! Some lines weren't running and they had to have crowd control because the station was so mobbed. It was a little frightening. Blurry me can be seen swiping through in the middle.
London Bridge. Gray sky, gray concrete buildings, gray river. Welcome to London!
The side of The Globe Theater. The original burned down but this copy is as exact as they could make it down to the thatched roof.
There was a troupe rehearsing so we weren't supposed to take pictures inside hence the slanty-ness of this off-limits photo. The circle on the stage and the netting at the back etc were added for the upcoming production of Macbeth they were rehearsing.
After the Globe, Lexi, Alexis and I wandered through this cool garden full of statues while looking for the Ben Franklin Museum.
Still lookin for Franklin! This is the London architecture school, I think.
AT LAAAAAST! Look how thrilled we are.
Thoughts on the Ben Franklin Museum: It's kinda cool because he actually lived in it and the floors and stairs and fireplaces are all intact. There was also a display about the scientist who lived there at the same time who stole bones from graveyards for anatomy instruction or something. Creepy! However, the display needs work. Mostly you go from room to room on a semi-virtual tour led by someone in period dress. The storyline also presents some kind of awkward sexual tension between her and Franklin. This is definitely off the beaten trak of London attractions.
Waiting for our boat cruise on the Thames. That bright purplish thing is the London Eye:
Alexis, Grace, Mike and Lexi waiting to get on the boat.
Some pictures form the boat cruise:
The theme was Favorite TV Show: Fry from Futurama and Lindsey from Freaks and Geeks.
Karaoke on the cruise. Yeaaaah.
The next day there was a free brunch and then Lexi and I tracked down books we needed for our tutes that week by Piccadilly Circus. It was annoying lugging our bags with us on the tube but we managed to get what we needed and postpone going back to work for a little longer!
Here I am at Platform 9 3/4. Alexis took it and she is opposed to vertical pictures for reasons unknown to me and there was a line and my camera was failing. All these things combined resulted in this pretty crap picture, but you get the idea. I was there. That happened. I had a magical time and all that.
The Clink. Our room was bright orange and we felt like little kids on these bunk beds with wacky ladders.
Dinner at Mestizo, probably the only authentic Mexican place in all of England. I have never been so excited about black beans in my life because I was deprived for so long!!
I took the opportunity to get this huge margarita which was delicious but sooo alcoholic and it was frozen so I was drinking it too slowly and my friends helped me out a little. :)
Lexi and I went on to meet up with her friend Mitch from Tufts who is studying abroad at King's College. Left to right: Mitch, Lexi, Mitch's friend Anna (who goes to the U of M) and Me!
This was deemed necessary for some reason I can no longer fathom.
London Underground backup! Some lines weren't running and they had to have crowd control because the station was so mobbed. It was a little frightening. Blurry me can be seen swiping through in the middle.
London Bridge. Gray sky, gray concrete buildings, gray river. Welcome to London!
The side of The Globe Theater. The original burned down but this copy is as exact as they could make it down to the thatched roof.
There was a troupe rehearsing so we weren't supposed to take pictures inside hence the slanty-ness of this off-limits photo. The circle on the stage and the netting at the back etc were added for the upcoming production of Macbeth they were rehearsing.
After the Globe, Lexi, Alexis and I wandered through this cool garden full of statues while looking for the Ben Franklin Museum.
Still lookin for Franklin! This is the London architecture school, I think.
AT LAAAAAST! Look how thrilled we are.
Thoughts on the Ben Franklin Museum: It's kinda cool because he actually lived in it and the floors and stairs and fireplaces are all intact. There was also a display about the scientist who lived there at the same time who stole bones from graveyards for anatomy instruction or something. Creepy! However, the display needs work. Mostly you go from room to room on a semi-virtual tour led by someone in period dress. The storyline also presents some kind of awkward sexual tension between her and Franklin. This is definitely off the beaten trak of London attractions.
Waiting for our boat cruise on the Thames. That bright purplish thing is the London Eye:
Alexis, Grace, Mike and Lexi waiting to get on the boat.
Some pictures form the boat cruise:
The theme was Favorite TV Show: Fry from Futurama and Lindsey from Freaks and Geeks.
Karaoke on the cruise. Yeaaaah.The next day there was a free brunch and then Lexi and I tracked down books we needed for our tutes that week by Piccadilly Circus. It was annoying lugging our bags with us on the tube but we managed to get what we needed and postpone going back to work for a little longer!
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