Midsummer Madness

                 So Thursday was my second and final trip to Stratford Upon Avon.  I haven't been feeling well for the past few days, a minor head cold, so I took some decongestant and conked out on the bus. I can't even begin to tell you how many tissues I've gone through. But the good news is that I am feeling much better today. Not to worry!

                Anyway, Stratford. This time I made sure to do the things I didn't get a chance to last time. Since we were slightly hungry, our first stop was actually a milkshake shop called Moo Moos. Man alive do I wish they had Moo Moos in the US. Essentially any flavor you can think of is made into a milkshake. I went with Snickers. I assure you it was delicious.

                We then walked by the site of Shakespeare's birthplace. There is a period style building with a plaque but this place is not actually Shakespeare's home. Many  years ago, the owner of the original Shakespeare birthplace got fed up with people coming by seeking out Shakespeare's first home that he tore it down. Quite misguided don't you think? So since it wasn't original and was ridiculously expensive we took pictures of the exterior and moved on.

                We wandered around, stopping in bookstores and other Bard themed shops. We decided to find the church where Shakespeare was buried. It only cost us fifty pence to enter the chancel where Shakespeare and his family were interred. From there we had dinner at an Italian place called Carluccio's and then walked back to the Royal Shakespeare Comany's theater.

                The performance of the evening was Midsummer Night's Dream. This was another modern interpretation, set in the 60's, and though I had my doubts it was thoroughly enjoyable. One of my favorite elements is that they had Titania and Oberon  and Hypolita and Theseus as the same actors so that the human couple and the fairy couple were direct foils to one another. It created a really interesting dynamic that I've never seen in any other production of Midsummer. At the end of the first act not everyone was sold though. A rather loud and crotchety old man stood up at intermission and said, "This isn't Shakespeare. This is a mockery!" He and his companion didn't return.

                 It really picked up in the second act though. Bottom the Weaver completely stole the show. We were all bent double in our seats. I laughed hard enough that tears came to my eyes. I think if I lived anywhere near Stratford I would have season tickets to the RSC. They're shows are never boring. They might not always be to your particular taste but they always provide interesting interpretations of classic Shakespeare.

Edinburgh aka The Land of Castles and Kilts

Day 1

                I hate the feeling of wet socks. The squelching sound and squishy dampness in my shoes is disgusting. So naturally on the Thursday we leave for Edinburgh it's raining, the cobblestones mutating into small ponds. My shoes are instantly soaked through. And this is the one trip where I neglected to pack my umbrella. Go figure.

                It's a trek to the bus and once inside safely nestled into the leather seats I strip my still dripping socks off and grab my flip flops from my backpack. As a side note this is the second time I've managed a long weekend with nothing more than my backpack for packing supplies. That may mean nothing to you but to me that's pretty  freaking impressive. Next I grabbed my travel pillow and promptly conked out. It's a seven hour drive from Cambridge to Edinburgh and though we were making a few stops along the way, that amount of time in a moving vehicle is synonymous for naptime.

                True to form, I didn't wake up until we stopped for food three hours later at a rest stop.  Forty-five minutes later and we were back on the road and I was back to dreamland. Our other major stop, two hours later, was at Sir Walter Scott's mansion Abbotsford. It was pouring rain when we first arrived but not even the gloomy rainclouds could detract from the jaw dropping beauty of Abbotsford. Apparently, Walter Scott was like a literary rock star of Scotland.  He made being Scottish cool again. Scott was the first true international bestseller with his novels translated into several languages. As a result, his house is huge. Abbotsford looks more like a castle than a regular mansion, and it overlooks a vast expanse of greenery leading down to a river. Scott's garden's surround the house and, while not in perfect shape, are absolutely beautiful.

                We were given a brief tour of Abbotsford which included his library (the proportions of which every English major aspires to have one day), his study, where a writing box crafted from the wreckage of the Spanish Armada stands prominently on the desk, and his dining room, still set as if expecting visitors. One thing I was surprised about was that Scott collected little bits of paraphernalia from famous people; he was a fanboy. Among his collection is a ring worn by Lord Byron and the cross that Mary, Queen of Scots is supposed to have held prior to her execution. The man liked his armor too. Suit after suit of armor and large swords on the walls of a single room. In the midst of all this is a ornate golden clock that was rumored to have belonged to Marie Antoinette. FANBOY!!!

Abbotsford and Some of Its Gardens

                After the tour we were set loose to enjoy the grounds for about half an hour, and blessedly it had stopped raining. I took a ridiculous amount of photos of the Abbotsford gardens. All the flowers were in bloom and every hue imaginable was represented. It was absolutely beautiful.  Scott, it turns out is a national hero even today. He appears on Scottish money, and later on in the trip we discovered that Scott is responsible for rediscovering the long hidden crown jewels of Scotland. So the quite like him up there in Scotland.

                From Abbotsford it was another three hours before we arrived in Edinburgh. Driving through rural Scotland is like being in another world altogether. There are picturesque stone walls, crumbling from centuries of use, that still corral sheep. And there are an obscene amount of sheep to be seen. Any field you pass is guaranteed to have those little fluff balls munching grass, cows are another common sighting. As the bus maneuvered up and down the narrow hills it felt like we were on a roller coaster. Seeing a bustling city after all this was a bit of a shock.

                We checked into the conference center at Pallock Halls and were incredibly excited by the fact that not only did we each have our own showers but we had TV's. Our primary goal at the time though was food. We walked down a few blocks and found a great gastro pub called Steamie. Michaela, Nathan, Michael, Jess, and myself were in heaven. Best burger since setting foot on this island. Hands down. Four out of five of us agree. Jess couldn't agree because she ate pasta, but had she ate the burger she would have raved about it too.

                When we got back to our rooms around eight p.m. our group decided to check out the lounge area. Inside we found another T.V. and an inexplicable VHS of Silence of the Lambs. Evening made.

Day 2

                We had one perfectly nice day in Edinburgh and I thank God it was Friday. We went up to the castle and walked around, exploring the museums and the glorious views. The real fun began when we left the castle and walked along the Royal Mile. Just outside the castle was vast shop and museum to wool and kilts, the name of which escapes me. Essentially if it's plaid and wooly you can find it there. I splurged and bought a legitimate kilt. My spending from then on during the trip was seriously curbed but hey, you're only in Scotland once, right?

A Small Portion of the Whiskey Collection

                After that we walked all of five feet to a place called The Scotch Whiskey Experience. For £9.50 we got to ride in a huge barrel and learn the basics of whiskey making. The barrel ride then dumped us out into a guided video of all the types of whiskey made in Scotland. The tour explained that each different area had distinct flavors to their whiskey and to really hit the point home they provided us with a scratch and sniff card that let us sniff the major flavors of the varying bouquets. The flavors ranged from smoky, to citrus, to floral. At the end we walked into a room where three thousand bottles of whiskey were housed, the biggest collection in the world. We were then given a dram of whiskey from whichever region we chose in our very own glasses (which we got to keep). I chose the Highland whiskey which is the more floral flavor. You can't tell at all. It just burns on the way down. Delicious though.

                We continued walking down the mile, entering random shops to look around, and were accosted on the streets by people advertising shows for Scotland's Fringe Festival. Unfortunately, we didn't take in a show while we were there, but it was fascinating to see everyone walk around in costume trying to attract the tourists. At the end of the Royal Mile is Hollyrood Palace, where the Queen stays when she is in Edinburgh. Most of us clamored back on the bus and back to Pallock Hall so that we could grab a few quick hours of sleep before going to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo that evening.

KILTS!

                Sweet Lord the Tattoo was amazing. So many men in kilts playing bagpipes! It was a thrill to see them all march out of the castle gates the pipes' noise filling the air. I couldn't stop wiggling in my seat; it was so exciting! The show was more than just bagpipes though. Several different countries were represented as well including Brazil, Germany, and the Dutch. The excess of uniforms was glorious to behold. But nothing tops the Scottish pipers in their kilts. Incredible!

Day 3

                Saturday was entirely our own. A group of us decided to go to the Edinburgh zoo, and let me just say that it was a brilliant choice. Some of my favorites were the buff-cheeked gibbons. We literally staid by their towering cage with its many ropes for over twenty minutes. The gibbons were so active, performing high flying feats and tussling to our amusement. There was a little baby gibbon being bullied by its siblings and we would root for it as it climbed around the ropes evading capture. I'm sure we were quite obnoxious. At one point a gibbon actually launched himself at us and hung suspended by a rope face pressed against the glass. He stared at us with the same curiosity that we had for him. There was literally a thin pane of glass between me and a teenaged angst ridden gibbon.

                We also got quite close to a jaguar as it paced back in forth in front of the glass prompting Megan to say, "Sir or Madam, could you please sit still?" The jaguar eventually complied. Unfortunately my camera battery was dying so I have no pictures of this but it was an awesome experience. We came across a tiger the same way, pacing back and forth in a side enclosure separate from his main cage. Steel bars, bamboo poles, and a brief amount of space. That's what separated us this time. The tiger let out a growl and stared us down with his glowing amber eyes before he stalked off into his primary enclosure. Beautiful and absolutely frightening.

                But the best moment of the day was the penguin parade. This feature is unique to the Edinburgh zoo. At feeding time penguins line up and are let out of their enclosure and the march under the guidance of zoo officials to a special feeding pen. Visitors line up along the path and can take pictures, but children are advised to stay out of flipper slapping range. Yes, that is a real thing. It was beyond cool to see a penguin waddling literally five feet from me. There's a picture that captures the "OMG penguins" moment I was having. I'll share it because it's delightfully embarrassing.

OMG PENGUINS!

                After the zoo we took a bus to the city centre and had hot chocolate at The Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling wrote the first several Harry Potter books. I completely dorked out. And the little coffee house was a welcome respite from the rain that splattered everywhere after we left the zoo. Edinburgh was beautiful but it was incredibly cold and rainy. I was grateful to return to Pallock Hall and snuggle in bed. We ate at Steamie again and piled into my room to watch The Mummy Returns on my T.V. It was a very laid back but wonderful night.

Day 4

                We left Edinburgh and Pallock Hall by nine a.m.. And shock of all shocks it was raining. My feet were not happy. But I slept again through the majority of the trip, this time we only stopped for lunch. It was such a relief to return to Cambridge. It feels like our little home and it's sad to think that in a few short weeks we'll be gone for good. I was so exhausted when we got back to Gonville and Caius. A warm bed is such a beautiful thing.

London Town

                Sweet Lord, I have a ridiculous amount of stuff to tell you all! There is no way I'll be able to recount everything but I'll certainly try. I just spent the last two and a half days in London. And for anyone who has been to London, you know it's impossible to see it all in such a short time span, but I gave it my best shot!

                We left as a group on Friday morning at eight o'clock. I slept for most of the drive but as we were entering London I was able to catch a glimpse of some of the newly constructed Olympic buildings. All very much in the modern style of architecture. Our bus driver made the statement that one of the buildings looks like a big potato chip...he's not wrong. Mark my words, you'll see that building next summer and you'll think big potato chip.

                My friends Michaela, Jess, and I decided to get off the bus at the Tower of London. We spent most of the day exploring the Tower and all its history. The armory was really interesting. I saw the armor of Henry VIII which proved that he was indeed a big man. There was also a full suit of armor for a seven year old. It was ridiculously small. The executioner's block and axe were also on display. And in a small outbuilding were old torture devices. Very eerie.

                I also got to see the crown jewels. So much sparkle in such a small space! There is a diamond on one of the crowns that is over 3,000 karats. That is one gem on a single crown, and there are close to a dozen crowns on display. Awe inspiring sparlklies. My favorite was Queen Victoria's small crown that she had made so she could wear it with her mourning veil after the death of Prince Albert. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures of them but they crown jewels were well worth seeing!

                From the Tower we made our way to King's Cross. Michaela and I were questing for a Harry Potter themed picture. They've actually created a little stretch of wall with half a cart stuck out of it and a Platform 9 and 3/4 sign overhead so that the great abundance of Harry Potter fans can fake a Hogwarts Express moment. It's so touristy but beyond worth it. We had so much fun and were absolutely giddy about our pictures.

                We wandered about the city with Jess as our guide since she had visited London before. We ended up eating at a place called Little Frankie's in Trafalgar Square. One thing I will say about England in general is that the wait staff is never rushed; everything is leisurely. Don't expect your food to come to you quickly or your waiter for that matter. Not that it bothered us at the time. We'd been walking all over the place and were glad for a rest. When our food came we were thrilled by the American-Italian cuisine and the diner-like atmosphere. They even had Oldies playing overhead.

                Eventually we left Little Frankie's and walked over to The Globe where we were meeting the rest of the people from our program. We got to cross the Millennium Bridge, which had beautiful views of London and the Thames. At The Globe we were lucky enough to be in the seats and not among the groundlings. The view was amazing from up high, and since I paid a pound for a seat cushion I was actually quite comfortable. This time around we saw All's Well that Ends Well and it was done in the classic Shakespeare style. It was definitely a contrast from The Merchant of Venice that we saw in Stratford. I enjoyed both plays though. It was nice to see a show done the way it would have been done in Shakespeare's day; there was even a traditional song and dance after the show. I've never seen All's Well that Ends Well before and I really enjoyed the production. There was definitely a lot of laughter. It was a great way to end the night.

Our Hostel in London

                Now officially the program's London trip was only supposed to be for the day, but a group of ten of us got together and decided that we wanted to stay for the weekend. We booked a room at a hostel called The Steam Engine in central London. It took us forever to find the place after the show. I think it's fair to say that there were some cranky people as we trekked up and down the London streets searching for our hostel. But when we did find The Steam Engine we were thrilled. It was like being in summer camp with a 24 hour bar downstairs. The room we booked had four sets of triple bunk beds, and since we had the room to ourselves we had two extra beds to store our luggage on. We were usually up late laughing long into the night. The showers were awful though. The one in our room had no warm water and after one cold shower I decided it wouldn't be happening again. There were common showers too but those were usually full up. The downstairs common area was nice too with mismatched chairs and a jukebox. We had good fun playing songs late at night after coming back from our adventures. I'll admit, I was initially terrified about staying at a hostel but because of the people I was with I couldn't imagine it being a better time.

                We woke up on the Saturday and split up into groups based on who wanted to see what. Britney, who had lived in London for four months on an earlier study abroad program, took up to Borough Market, a great open air place with all sorts of food options. I bought some iced tea, the first I've seen in England, and a croissant for breakfast ( I also bought a slice of cake but shhhhhh). Our group further split up at the market promising to meet up outside of Westminster Abbey at 5 p.m. to go to Evensong. Our group of Nathan, Megan, Lauren, Angel, Jordan, and myself took a quick trip to see the London Bridge, but then quickly headed over to The Tate museum of modern art. The Tate is actually right next to The Globe and the building itself was once a power plant.

Roberta Construction Chart #1 by Lynn Hershman Leeson

The photo is super blurry since I couldn't use a flash. Much better in real life.

                We had so much fun at The Tate. Lauren, Jordan, and I were definitely more into the slow examination approach than the others. They ended up taking off for Buckingham Palace and our little group of three continued to explore The Tate for several hours. We got to see a Lichtenstein and Monet's Water Lillis.  My favorite piece though was Roberta Construction Chart #1 by Lynn Hershman Leeson. The altered photograph showed a young woman's face diagramed with every layer of makeup she puts on to "create" herself. I thought it was a beautiful commentary on society's ideas of femininity and I really want to look into the artist and the rest of the series.

                After The Tate, the three of us grabbed some coffee to give us a boost and then headed over to Oxford Circus to browse all the famous shops. I didn't buy anything but it was so much fun to look! I've actually been really well behaved during this trip in terms of shopping. The last time I went abroad I bought every little knick knack and locale related t-shirt I could get my hands on, but this trip I've been more reserved. I did pick up a London sweater and a few little gifts but I've been on my best behavior.

                We maneuvered around the London Underground and were a tad late to Evensong but still being in Westminster Abbey was such a strange experience. I was surprised by how crowded with statuary the place was. I mean, I've always known there were tons of statues and memorials in Westminster but the place looked down right cluttered. Still the stained glass was beautiful and as the service went on I tried to imagine what it must feel like to be married in such a place. I couldn't manage to wrap my head around it. Everywhere you looked there was intricate detail. Beautiful. Cluttered as all get out but beautiful.

                A few of us went out to a nice restaurant near Baker Street after Evensong. More Italian. If we're not eating American in our free time we're eating Italian. It's the most prevalent foreign form of cuisine in England in my estimation, which suits me just fine because I love it! Again, I don't want any judgment from you all because they are serving us traditional English dinners five nights a week. Trust me I'm experiencing English food in all its glory...there might be some sarcasm there. After dinner all ten of us met up and decided to go out to one of Britney's old haunts, a pub called The Rocket. We didn't stay long because most of us were exhausted and we ended up back at the hostel.

Our Signature On Abbey Road

                Sunday our group splintered off early after checking out of the hostel at ten-thirty. Several people returned to Cambridge but I stayed with Erin, Megan, Nathan, and Lauren to do some more exploring. The big trip of the day was to Abbey Road. Lauren and Erin were hell bent on recreating the famous picture of The Beatles walking across Abbey Road. It took us a few tries and a few bungled shots due to excessive laughter and excitement, but we finally got it. Since there were five of us we rotated the group so everyone could be in the shot at least once. The residents were remarkably understanding of the constant flux of people carefully walking across the street just so. The best part was we signed the retaining wall outside of Abbey Road Studios. Hundreds and hundreds of people have come here and signed their names, some with messages of peace others with Beatles lyrics and still more simply write their names. We found a small patch of unmarked wall space and wrote "Come Together" and signed our names under it. It's going to sound corny but that is really what this trip has all been about. I have bonded with these people so quickly that we all feel as though we've known each other for years. It's a great feeling and that sense of connectivity was strong for the five of us at Abbey Road.

                We didn't stay too terribly long after we got our shots and signed the wall. We were trying to get back to Cambridge by dinner at six thirty so we quickly headed off to our next stop,  221 Baker Street. The great thing about being with a bunch of English nerds is that we all get excited about literary figures and memorials. We quickly perused the Sherlock Holmes museum and tried on plaid caps and pipes in the gift shop. I found a Sherlock Holmes rubber duck. Words cannot describe how pleased this makes me. Naturally he'll be returning home with me.

                After Baker Street we went to Buckingham Palace so I could snap some pictures. We were there for maybe fifteen minutes before moving on because of the time constraints. I would have liked to see Kate Middleton's dress since it's currently on display, but it just wasn't in the cards. Sigh. We ended up having a late lunch at Little Frankie's again. Such good food but it took forever!

                We then raced back to the hostel to collect our baggage, which we had stored in their luggage room. We stopped again by the makeshift Platform 9 and 3/4 so Erin and Megan could take their pictures, then we boarded the train to return to Cambridge. I am completely and utterly exhausted. My feet are absolutely killing me after running around London for what feels like three days straight. But it was absolutely worth it! There is so much more to this story but I hope that you've enjoyed the nutshell version! I hope one day I can return to London to continue the exploration that has only just begun.