I found him!

I have a lot to catch up on, don't I?

Last weekend was sleepy but great. I say sleepy because it involved two early mornings: the bus left at 7:30 from Sussex for Stonehenge, and on Sunday we had to meet the rest of the Wash U group in London at 9:00, which meant another early train. I think I slept more during the week than I did that weekend.

On Saturday the International & Study Abroad Office sponsored a trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge is both frustrating and intriguing for its mystery. The audio tour went something like this: "These rocks are really old [they were abandoned the first time over 3000 years ago]. They're really heavy [some weigh as much as 45 tons]. We think they may have been used for worship or practical purposes [sundial]... but we don't really know. We think hundreds of men transported them over land and sea... but we're not really sure. OOH MYSTERIOUS." You listen to this audio tour while walking around Stonehenge in a large circle, all the while taking pictures of the exact same stones from several different angles because you think that they will, in fact, look like different pictures.

From Stonehenge we went to the city of Bath, aptly named as it is the site of the Roman baths. We toured the baths and then had a few hours to explore. The baths were a holy place for the Romans because they didn't understand hot springs and thought that only the gods could have created something like that. The hot springs are still operational - they heat the gift shop (Mom, you would have liked it). My favorite part was learning about the "curses" that have been uncovered during excavations. Disgruntled Romans would scratch their grievances on pieces of metal and offer them to Athena in hopes that she would take care of whoever had wronged them. The Romans must have had a lot of anger and not many problems to take them out on, because the curses included things like, "So-and-so stole my cloak. Please make sure that he loses an eye and an ear." Really, guys?

Bath is a lovely city that felt much older than Brighton, probably because it was. One of my group's last stops of the day was the Sally Lunn House, the oldest house in Bath, built in 1482. Yes, this house was built before America was discovered (ok, "discovered"). Apparently Sally Lunn makes famously good buns, but we didn't try any. We did, however, go into a chocolate shop that felt and smelled like you were walking into a mug of hot chocolate. I also resisted buying anything here. I did not resist buying a Nutella milkshake at Shakeaway later on. Nutella wins every time. Anyway, back to Bath being old and pretty. We walked along the river, passed a rugby team, and climbed up to the bridge to meet another group only to discover that they had climbed down at the same time. The area around the river was pretty well landscaped, and it was especially scenic with the abbey in the distance.

The next day Wash U sent us to Blenheim Palace and Oxford (thanks, Wash U!). Blenheim Palace was where Winston Churchill was born and spent a lot of his boyhood. It was also ridiculously large and elegant. There are three "entrances" before you go into the actual house (if you could even call it a house), and the very first entrance was covered in gold. Every room had intricate carvings in the walls and ceilings, sculptures, tapestries, the occasional organ, the largest private library in England, its own chapel, you name it. The grounds were gorgeous - there was a view of the river with a bridge over it as we first drove in that made me gasp. There were also some awesome gardens a la Versailles (but smaller) in the back, but unfortunately it started to rain around the time that I would have gone to explore them.

After Blenheim Palace we continued to Oxford. First we had lunch at a pub where CS Lewis and some other authors used to write, and then we took a walking tour of Oxford College. Oxford College is actually made up of 3o-something colleges (Harry Potter-style) and most of them are not open to the public, so we only actually saw about five and went into one, Christ Church. Christ Church is where portions of the Harry Potter films, including the Sorting Hat scene, were filmed. We visited the dining hall where it was filmed, and it looks pretty different because there are portraits on the walls of all the famous people who have graduated from Christ Church, including several Prime Ministers. However, the staircase leading up to the hall looks exactly the same. I swear I would have recognized it even if Angie hadn't pointed it out to us. The Harry Potter geek in me freaked out a little bit. OK, maybe more than a little bit. Not gonna lie, one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Oxford was to see this. (Some of you will be amused to know that I was really tempted to start reciting Harry Potter's lines from the Potter Puppet Pals "Mysterious Ticking Noise": "I'm Harry Potter, Harry Harry Potter...")

The courtyards or quads that we saw at Oxford were somewhat reminiscent of Brookings, though significantly older (as everything in Britain is compared to in America) and, well, more impressive. (Sorry, Wash U. I still love you!) The place inspires prestige... or would inspire me to just sit in the courtyard and stare at the pretty views. Oops. Oxford is pretty formal - at least at Christ Church, students have to dine in their caps and gowns!

I decided to stay in Oxford after the tour group left for two reasons. Well, three. One, a couple other people decided to stay (I wouldn't have wanted to make the journey back by myself). Two, a Wash U friend of mine who is studying at Oxford and I had been talking about meeting up at some point, and I figured I might as well seize the opportunity when I'd already had my train and one bus paid for. Three, one of my closest friends at Wash U studied at Oxford for a summer in high school and suggested places for me to go, none of which I had been able to see on the tour. Unfortunately St. Michael's Tower was closed, but I did make the most important stop: G&D's, an ice cream store. ;-) Believe it or not, it was the first time I'd had ice cream (other than store-bought stuff once or twice) in England, and it was delicious. The place was packed, even though it was still fairly cold outside (luckily it did stop raining for our tour). Then I met up with the rest of the Wash U group and we went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was a fun night, but getting back was a pain because the trains are less consistent on Sundays, which means longer train rides, so after a bus, two trains and a taxi I didn't get back to my flat until about 1:30 in the morning.

I have my first assignment (yes, first... the stories I've heard of Wash U students readjusting to "work" abroad would make you laugh) due on Wednesday, so this week has felt a little more like I'm back at Wash U. ;-) (Ironic, perhaps, since they're on spring break.) I was also working ahead because I have a friend from home coming to visit tomorrow (she actually arrives late tonight) and a choir concert on Monday night. I also originally thought the assignment was due on Tuesday.

Random thoughts: my parents are officially coming to visit in May! and we're going to Stratford-upon-Avon and seeing Romeo & Juliet at the Globe. I can't wait! They also sent me a care package including some American candy (Sour Patch Kids and fruit snacks... gummies here include gelatin because the Brits don't have corn syrup, which is tragic for a vegetarian like me), which I'm excited to share with my flatmates. Yesterday in my Look of America seminar my professor announced that next week we're having a party to celebrate the end of term... with alcohol. I just had to laugh. Never again will I drink in an academic setting. "I'll bring cookies... I'll bring chips... I'll bring some BEER!" ALL of my flights and trains are booked for my sure-to-be-epic EUROTRIP 2009, which commences a week from today with a flight at the crack of dawn to Athens! I'll put my full itinerary up later. I'm doing mostly homestays, so hopefully I'll be able to update my blog as I go instead of writing multiple entries to catch up when I get back (because there's no way that I'll be able to describe four weeks of traveling in one entry).