Tomorrow I’ll start being hard-core
This entry is just for Melissa. I’m sure I would have written it at some point, but I’m writing it today to help her procrastinate. That’s what friends are for, right? I haven’t been doing well at continuing to study all day either. I put in a few hours and then get bored with it. I’m tired of my subjects, but I know I still have a lot to learn before exams. But today I had a tutorial this morning and a meeting in the afternoon, and I thought I was going to have another tutorial so I was prepared for it, but then it got changed to Friday. Tomorrow I’ll be able to start my routine that I plan on doing. I want to do an hour of studying, then a timed essay, on and off for the four subjects that I have my first four exams in. I think the best thing I can do now is practice writing essays, even if they’re not going to get marked. I’ll still know whether or not I can explain things in my own words. So now that I’ve done a lot this morning, I feel justified in not working as hard this afternoon. So I put up albums on facebook of when Kyle was here. And now I’m going to write about it in my blog, so prepare for a long entry with pictures!
Kyle and I arrived in England on Thursday and made our way to Sarah’s. Kyle was getting grumpy, but after he got to sit down at Sarah’s and eat, he got much better. But we were still too tired to go out, so we watched a movie to keep ourselves awake, and then we had an early night. Friday we spent in Oxford, went to the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. We ate at the Eagle and Child, and stopped by some sites, looking at the architecture. Then we walked back to Sarah’s on the path by the river. Then Saturday we went to Cadbury World, which is the Cadbury Factory but pretty different from Hershey Park. Tim and Sarah went with us and drove us there. It was cool, and we got free chocolate.
On our way back, we stopped in Stratford-upon-Avon, but most things were closing up, so we ate and just walked around the town. And we had cream tea, which is tea with cream and scones with clotted cream. We went to this cute little place called Christea’s, which a woman named Donna ran. She didn’t have any scones, but when Sarah told her Kyle and I were Americans and had never had cream tea before, she made some just for us.
Then we drove through the Cotswolds. And it was a very fun day. Sunday, Kyle and I got a late start to Blenheim Palace, stopping at Greyfriar’s for church. But we got through the palace and a lot of the gardens. We didn’t make it out to the monument or the butterfly gardens, but even if we had had time, we might not have.
We were completely exhausted by the time we got back to Sarah’s, and we had to pack for London. We played a game with Tim and Sarah after dinner, and then tried to get to bed early.
Now starts our London adventures. We again got a bit of a late start, but Tim drove us to the bus stop, and we made it in time to drop our bags off at our hotel and get to the Courtauld Gallery before 2 so that we got in free. We saw the Renoir exhibit and then went back and checked into our hotel before heading to the Tower of London. Quick note on our hotel. It was on the back of the County Hall building. In the same building as the Marriot, right next to the London Eye and across the river from Westminster and Big Ben, but a whole lot cheaper (though still expensive compared to the US). So we were very happy with it. Kyle kept thinking something was going to be wrong with it, but it was good. Even had a bigger bathroom because we got a disabled room. So we got to the Tower of London (tried to walk and eventually took the Tube), and like Blenheim, we didn’t get everything in, but we went through the Armory, the Jewel House, and the Bloody Tower. And we saw the Tower Bridge, though we didn’t walk across it.
Then we found a really cheap place to eat (KFC was upscale compared to it): buy one get one free for chicken and fries for 3 pounds. And we didn’t even get sick afterward. Then we went on a Jack the Ripper tour with Donald Rumbalow, who is the expert on Jack the Ripper. It was really cool, and we were glad we had our Tube tickets at the end of the night. We were very cold, but it was a fun day and we had a good hotel room to go back to.
Tuesday we got Tube tickets again because we knew we were going to be going to Spamalot in nice shoes and we wouldn’t want to walk at the end of the night. We got breakfast from Tesco, and took the Tube to Leceister Square to make sure we could find the theatre. Then we went to King’s Cross Station to find Platform 9 3/4 and take pictures to prove to Mike Ford that we saw the Harry Potter place.
Then we went to the British Museum.
We walked around for a bit until lunch, and then we had another questionable meal from the van outside the back entrance to the museum. The burger was good, the hot dog wasn’t. But it filled us up. After going through the “must-see” list of the museum (because we couldn’t see it all), we found a free gallery talk, and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for Spamalot. We ended up having dinner at our hotel restaurant (Indian food and duck, pretty good) to save time. We got to our play, had a little scare with the tickets because the woman misheard Kyle say “Miller” and then found our seats. We even bought the program and the poster. And we sat next to a couple from Florida.
On Monday we had bought an umbrella because we had forgotten to bring one with us. And Tuesday night, we were very happy to have it. It was again cold, this time with rain, so we were happy for the Tube tickets. We considered going out, but nothing is really open late in Britain, so we just stayed in.
Wednesday, we got up and checked out, but left our luggage in the luggage room at our hotel. We went to Westminster. I’ve never actually been in there, so it was cool. Very old. We stopped at a pub for lunch and got traditional fish and chips and Kyle got an English Ale. Then we went to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. We saw some famous paintings, and then decided to head back to Oxford because we were just too tired to do anything else. We felt like we should have seen more in the National Gallery, but we wouldn’t have been doing it justice. We got back to Sarah’s and had a small dinner. And then went to bed. And that was the end of my fun for a while.
Thursday, I studied all day while Kyle recuperated and watched British TV shows that he can’t watch in the US. Then Tim drove us back to Regent’s, and I got partially moved in. Friday, I took my collection, and then Kyle and I had lunch at Regent’s, and Kyle got to meet some of my friends. Then I studied while Kyle explored Oxford on his own with my map and some of my money. He came back with books and souvenirs. Then we went to Formal Hall, where Kyle got to meet more of my friends. Then we made an appearance at the bop and came back early so I could study more and get an early night.
Saturday morning, I had my second collection, which didn’t go as well as the first. Then Kyle and I went to the Queen’s Lane Cafe and had lunch with cream tea, since Kyle wouldn’t be able to have it again for a long time. After that we went to the Botanic Gardens and wandered around, trying to find Lyra and Will’s bench from His Dark Materials.
We went into Magdalen College to see inside another college (one of the few that was open on the weekend).
Then we went souvenir shopping, and got way too much stuff. I was able to send some stuff back with Kyle but more was taken up with souvenirs than we expected. He brought some home for me too, though. So we packed stuff up, and then we met up with Jeanne and Allison and went to the Turf, which is the pub where Bill Clinton did not inhale. We were going to eat there, but there were no seats, so we tried the Lamb and Flag and the Eagle and Child, and finally gave up and got food from a Kebab Van, which are vans that come our every evening and sell good fries and kababs for really cheap. We came back to my flat and ate. Kyle had wanted to try a Guinness on tap in Britain, but he decided it was too late. We had to get up at 3 a.m. and we got to bed around 1. Then we took the bus to the airport, and I cried a whole lot as we said goodbye. And then I was depressed the rest of the day.
So that was our trip. It was great to have Kyle here and have him actually see what my life has been like for the past two years, even if it was even harder to let him go this time. Soon I’ll be home for good, and if we come back, we’ll always be traveling together, so one of us won’t have to leave the other in a different country. That will be very good.