June 2009
1 post
not a penny to my name, but full of stories I am
Remember when I used to update this? Ah well, I did better than I thought I was going to.
I’ve done quite a bit since spring break, which I last wrote about. I’ve been to Brighton, Milan, Venice, Rome, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, and a tiny town in Switzerland for an hour. I’ve met James McAvoy and seen Romeo & Juliet at the opening day of The Globe; I’ve...
May 2009
4 posts
Isn't it pretty to think so?
Part 4: Central Spain!
Sooo we got into Madrid at stupid o’clock in the morning, watching the sun rise and the fog disperse as we left the train station and took the Metro to our hostel. Joke was on us, however, because the people at the hostel said we couldn’t check in until 1 in the afternoon (in Spanish, since they didn’t speak any English — again, thank goodness for...
Barcelona sans Vicky, Christina, or Javier Bardem
Okay, part 3 of spring break. Sorry for clogging up your worlds with all these disgustingly long entries, but I’m just trying to get it all out there so my American loves can enjoy.
I got into Barcelona at about 3 and walked to my hostel, the Hip Karma Hostel, which was luckily only a few blocks from the bus station. Let me tell you, it’s definitely as good as its name. Definitely my...
I have always depended on the kindness of...
So, to continue…Toulouse. Interesting, interesting day. My night train got into Toulouse before 7 a.m., and since I was only there for one day, I didn’t really have any plans except to wander around and see what there was to see. My bus for Barcelona left the next morning and I didn’t have anywhere to sleep because all the hotels I had looked up were too expensive for me and...
you wrote of trains and Paris galleries
Wooooo time to come out of hibernation for a few more long-winded posts about the last month+ of my life! There’s too much to say, so I’ve been procrastinating this post for weeks, but since I’m leaving again in two days, it’s become imperative that I stop indulging in my worst habit. Let’s see if I even remember what happened in my own life.
So, spring break! My...
April 2009
4 posts
when it's all you have, it's all you'll ever need.
This is going to be quick with not much talking because I have to leave in about a half hour to catch my train to Paris! But I need to fill in what’s been going on the last couple weeks because I’ll be on the European mainland until the 21st.
So my lovely friend Sarah came to visit me from Italy last weekend and we had quite a splendid time if I do say so myself. She came in late...
There is a stone there, that whoever kisses, / Oh!...
Day 3 of Ireland. We took a train 3 hours south to Cork…
…and then a bus 5 miles up to Blarney to see Blarney Castle and kiss the world famous stone. Before I left for Ireland, I assumed everyone knew what the Blarney Stone was, but I’ve multiple people ask me what it is, so in a nutshell: the Blarney is a really old stone at the top of Blarney Castle that millions of people...
and if your life was gold, how long do you think...
All right, back to Dublin. Day 2. I’m pretty sure we walked more in this day than I ever have before or ever care to again. By the end of the day my feet did not feel attached to my body. But it was still a great day.
In the morning, we attempted, and failed, to find my great-grandmother’s house. We found the street, but we didn’t have the house number and from what I could see...
When I die Dublin will be written in my heart.
Now that it’s spring break, I really don’t have any excuse to not update this right now, except for the fact that The Gun Seller is sitting next to my laptop, begging to be read. But it will have to wait, because I have a weekend in Ireland to catch everyone up on.
So, two weekends ago, Manuel and I took a little weekend trip to Dublin, my first time out of the UK so far. Since we...
March 2009
4 posts
all children, except one, grow up
Now that I’ve eaten I guess I’ll round out my month up until last weekend. Part 2 consists more of parks than anything, but who doesn’t love a little bit of nature in the middle of the big city?
On the ides of March, the weather was pretty fantastic so Manuel and I went to Hyde Park (and Kensington Gardens, which pretty much run into each other). It’s the most famous park...
we cannot escape history
I’ve been abandoning my duties, haven’t I? Luckily, my life hasn’t been too dreadfully exciting between last month and this one, so don’t feel horribly left out. That doesn’t excuse me though; I hadn’t left London between Stratford and this past weekend, but I have been doing a few things around London. This city is so big that I could spend years here and still...
I’m usually enjoying myself too much to be...
one touch of nature makes the whole world kin.
So clearly when I said I would update tomorrow, I meant in a week. It takes so much more energy to get motivated to write about things that happened over two weeks ago, but I will try because I know there is a vast multitude of faithful followers hanging on my every word.
February 19, Manuel and I took ourselves a little trip up to Stratford-Upon-Avon to see the hometown of Mr. William...
February 2009
7 posts
filling the darkness with order & light
Suffice it to say that in between the days of February 11 and February 19 I did almost nothing of note. On February 12, Lincoln’s 200th birthday, I had every intention to go the Lincoln statue at the US Embassy because their site said that they have a Lincoln statue in their lobby and I wanted to pay my respects. Joke was on me though, as the guard said that they wouldn’t let me into...
there and back again
It’s been so long since I’ve updated this I almost forgot I was in Europe. While my life over the last two weeks has only had a couple interesting days, I’m sure I’ll still need to update this in sections; I don’t have the energy for a marathon post.
As I said in my last entry all the way back on the 9th, Manuel and I went to Oxford February 10th. The morning...
“If you cannot understand my argument, and declare: it’s Greek to me, you...”
– Bernard Levin
one man in his time plays many parts
Saturday Mallory and I went to the Tower of London, which I feel like is the history of England in and of itself. Royalty has lived, worshiped and died there. Besides a palace, it has been used as a fortress, prison, mint and zoo among other things, and people still live in and guard the Tower. We took a tour from one of the Yeoman Warders (or ‘Beefeaters’) who lives in the Tower, saw...
“Even people whose lives have been made various by learning, sometimes find it...”
– Silas Marner
defying gravity
I tried to put everything in one post, but apparently the internet hates me, so I’ll just put this second half in another one. I don’t know why I’m having to split it up, but whatever. Continuing on from the snow day….
By Tuesday, the snow around Wood Green was already starting to melt, though it still is around in areas with lower foot traffic. I did absolutely nothing...
IT'S SNOWING! -slam-
Oops it’s been a while. What have I been up to in old London town…
The day after the Beatles walking tour, Suzy, Riikka, and I went to the Tate Modern, which included a nice little walk along the Thames. And by nice I mean freezing. But we found an outdoor weekend book market under one of the bridges and I ended up getting a Beatles book and Utopia for pretty cheap. Books are my...
January 2009
15 posts
there are places I remember all my life
Well, where to even start.
Yesterday, Jen Hanks arrived from the States on her way to France and Elizabeth B. arrived from France to visit for a couple days, so we had a couple more Chapman kids around. I went to my classes (but not seminars; there was some communication difficulties, as well as me-waking-up-on-time difficulties), and then went to Leicester Square and met up with Jen. We walked...
peace and concord
This afternoon (and may I say, almost every day begins in the afternoon; the only day I am required to wake up earlier than 11 is Thursdays), Manuel and I went to Westminster Abbey, paid our nine quid each, got our audio guides narrated by Jeremy Irons, and proceeded to spend about 3 hours wandering the grounds, separating for most of it and exploring on our own. I quite honestly have zero...
Milano
I just bought a plane ticket to go visit Sarah in Milan the last weekend in February. It’s the weekend after I have 3 papers due, so I’m definitely going to need a break, and it was less than 50 GBP. She also said we can go down to Venice, which is only a couple hours by train. Ahhhhh I’m so excited
I’ve been obsessed with the new Decemberists...
where the riches of ages are stowed
Okay I had ice cream a few hours ago, so I can continue onward and upward.
Wednesday I didn’t do anything besides class and read. I got convinced to go to a pub down the street with a bunch of people from the halls, but I stayed less than an hour before I came back and continued reading. I read Henry V and finally finished Midnight’s Children and went to bed way too late. Oh, also...
America Day
I knew I would be bad at doing this regularly. I’ll try to limit my pictures so as to not overwhelm everyone. So, this past week…
Monday I did absolutely nothing. I’m pretty sure the only time I left the halls was to go to Morrison’s for some groceries. I read Waiting For Godot and read some more of Midnight’s Children, but I think mostly I just lazed around.
...
now they know how many holes it takes to fill the...
I’m already bad at keeping up with this whoops.
Thursday is my long school day. At 9:30 I had Literature and Otherness for the first time, and then the seminar after that until noon. Then I have an hour and a half gap in between classes which is not enough time to go back to Wood Green but too long to just kick it on campus which is not too exciting, so last week Manuel and I just went to...
bookends
It’s been a few days. Classes started this week, and even though I’ve only been to one so far I’ve spent a lot of time shuttling myself to and from campus.
Monday morning, we had a completely pointless “academic induction” meeting which I think lasted under 10 minutes and which was an ultimate waste of me waking up and paying too much money on the tube to get to....
here comes the sun
The sun was actually out today! Which made the weather much more agreeable than last night. Today we woke up early and took a guided tour in our coach around central London. We saw quite a large part of the city’s landmarks (including some we had already seen) such as Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, Harrod’s, Royal Albert Hall, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s, Big Ben, Westminster...
can't you just see us bashing about London?
Today, we had some meetings for orientation mostly just about safety and getting a little more acquainted with London and the school, and then after lunch we took the tube into central London for a “treasure hunt” where we had to go places and answer questions in groups, and which my group kind of gave up and we got a little lost wandering around and trying to get back to the pub we...
North London
I haven’t slept in approximately 30 hours, and have spent most of that time on a plane or a bus, so this will be short before I hop into bed and hopefully get a good night’s sleep. After my flight got into Heathrow and I made my way through the border, baggage claim, and customs (which, by the way, is a joke. You can choose to go through an exit in which you declare nothing, thus...
She's leaving home.
I leave in about 3 days to spend a semester in London, and thought I would make a little blog to keep the folks back home updated on my shenanigans while abroad. Knowing me, I’ll practically abandon it halfway through, but you can’t say I didn’t try, right?
Lesley