A Day In The Journey

I can honestly say that I was surprised by how much I liked Liverpool. Not that I thought I wouldn't like it, but I didn't expect to like it so much. Liverpool has a quality that is difficult to pinpoint (more on this later). I had quite a pleasant walk through it on my way to the hostel to drop off my bags.

First goal: to see the Metropolitan Cathedral. Now, I will admit that seeing the outside was not all that inspiring at first. I stood for awhile looking at the modernistic structure wondering how the inside of this was going to work. In the foyer, a history of the development of the cathedral gives some insight into the various stages of design and development. Basically, the first several designs were nothing like what was eventually built. Still skeptical, I stepped inside. I found myself absolutely astounded by the completely non-traditional beauty that overwhelmed me. This cathedral, more than any other I have seen, was designed for light. Without the typical nave, quire, and apse structure, the cathdedral is able to give full play to significant amounts of light that stream through the stained glass that surrounds the building. The most spectacular use of stained glass occurs in the representation of the Trinity in the tower, but the rest of the walls are laced with glasswork of incredibly beauty. True, the building and its iconography are still modern and so not to everyone's taste, but I found it at turns solid and delicate, and truly lovely.

Second goal: the Liverpool Cathedral. (the Met is RC, the Liverpool is CoE, by the way.) The cathedrals face each other from each end of Hope Street. Convenient for me, to say the least. This cathedral (unlike the Metropolitan which takes up its entire block) has a lovely sunken cloister gardens and churchyard. I didn't go trooping down into it, but I did take a picture. The LC is made of locally quarried red sandstone which lends itself to a beautiful facade. After a lovely conversation which the man at the information desk, I meandered my way through the lovely building. Certainly, seeing both cathedrals was a brilliant example of how strikingly different works of architecture can be equally beautiful and inspiring. In some ways, Liverpool Cathedral was less ornate than others I have seen, but the elaborate and imposing stonework does make up for that. I was also able to enjoy the South Liverpool Photographic Society Exhibition while I was there. There were a number of enjoyable, and even stunning, photographs being shown, and I was glad for the bonus of being able to see it.

After accomplishing these two goals, I made my way to the next on the list.
Third goal: The Beatles Story at Albert Dock. I felt slightly un-intellectual seeing that I was too late to walk through the International Slavery Museum or the Merseyside Maritime Museum since I took so long in the Beatles Story (and buying neato souvenirs from the shop), but I figure, there are plenty of other places with slavery museums and maritime museums. There is only one Liverpool with The Beatles Story. haha. Albert Dock is a lovely place to shop and eat, I will say. The transition from working docks to place for spending money has worked well. It was a very pleasant place to walk around. The Beatles Story was really fun. This was also one of the places with an included audio tour. +1 for that, Beatles Story. +1. The museum? attraction? covers the lives of all four of the The Beatles (and the members who fluctuated around prior to the final choice of John, Paul, George, and Ringo). Beginning with their childhoods, it offers some interesting insights into why they became who they became. Of course, it covers the progress of their stellar career as a rock band. Then it concludes by offering summaries of their lives post-Beatles. The last exhibits were actually pretty neat as each one was arranged and decorated according the personality and work of the person. It was creative and clever, I thought.

I finished my walk through the lives of The Beatles, made the appropriate purchases for self, friends, and family (and passed on a couple that I just couldn't justify haha), and meandered about the rest of Albert Dock. I discovered I was too late to tour the other two museum there, had a chuckle about how I'd passed on "historical" museums for a "pop" museum (:-P), and explored some more of the city. I found several truly beautiful buildings on my excursions. Come to find out (after extensive internet searching since they weren't labeled on my map), the three buildings I had seen from afar and determined needed a closer look are known as The Three Graces: the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building, and the Port of Liverpool Building. Not far away, I found an interesting Deco-style building that turns out to be George's Dock Ventilation and Control Station for the tunnel system. That's right, the very tall and interesting building is essentially a ventilation tower for the tunnels. I was impressed. Apparently Liverpool has several intriguingly designed ventilation towers for their tunnels. Go, Liverpool.

Eventually, I found a grocers (I'm informed the term is "corner store"), grabbed a few provisions and headed back to the hostel to prepare for Bristol and Bath. Overall, I enjoyed Liverpool more than I expected. Not that I thought I would dislike it, but I suppose that my lackluster experience in Newcastle had me forming low expectations of northern industrial towns, or partially industrial towns. Liverpool was a great place to be, though. Not only was the city center large, bright, and bustling, there was a sense everywhere that the people of Liverpool love Liverpool. Regardless of struggles or recessions, Liverpool is theirs and worthy of their pride and loyalty. Don't get me wrong, I passed several empty buildings, but unlike Bristol (to be discussed next post), the empty buildings seemed more hopeful of something new than just abandoned. I did like Liverpool.

Photos of Liverpool

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I don't have a whole lot to say about Newcastle upon Tyne, really. It was pleasant, but didn't offer too much in the way of things to explore or examine. If I had more time/a car, I could see the Newcastle would be a good base for treks about Hadrian's Wall. As it was, though, I enjoyed my day in Newcastle, but the only real thing that I was able to explore was the Great North Museum. That said, the Great North Museum was very interesting. There is an excellent overview of the cultural histories of the area, of the construction and society surrounding Hadrian's Wall, and the animal life in the area. Since I was largely unfamiliar with the flora and fauna of the area (weasels are much smaller than I had imagined), this was pretty intriguing. I did meet a girl and her dad who had cycled across from the east coast. He was a British immigrant to Canada and she (born and raised in Canada) had been transferred to Bristol for her job. They were both kind and interesting, and I had a nice tea, dinner, and breakfast with them. Jen also offered to meet me for a drink or dinner in Bristol, but I didn't take her up on the offer due to my utter and complete exhaustion by the time I got there. haha. At any rate, my moderately uninteresting day in Newcastle was certainly made up for by my exquisite two days in Keswick.

I find it quite difficult to describe Keswick and the way it infuses you with majesty and beauty. Honestly, I would be flinging adjectives and adverbs around in a most irresponsible way were I to attempt it. Therefore I suppose you'll be forced to wait for the photographs. There are two things that can best convey the absolutely devestating beauty of this area: even grey, misty rain could not quell the effect, and I finally understand Wordsworth's muse. It was an enchanting place to be and to walk around. And walk around is definitely what I did. It rained much of the afternoon I arrived, so I found a couch in the hostel on which to curl up and read while my various batteries recharged. The rain stopped around 8 or so, so I headed out to take a look at Derwentwater, the lake against which Keswick sits. I happened upon a lovely older couple from Yorkshire and had a little chat before going separate ways to explore the shore. The lake is lovely, ringed by mountains and surrounded by a rocky shore. I was completely unable to find a good skipping stone, though, despite a very focused search. Ah well.

The next day I struck out upon two separate walks. After a lovely breakfast (by the way, yogurt is...odd here, at least all the yogurt I've had...rather more 'slimy' than creamy), I set off to the tourist info to find two walks for the day. The morning involved about a 3 mile venture to the Stone Circle and back. I found it all quite interesting when I discovered that a significant part of my walk involved trekking through sheep feilds. Of course, that then involved some avoidance of sheep droppings as well, haha, but it was really a nice, countryside experience. Not only did I have my first sheep-field trek on my way to the Stone Circle, I also climed a step-stile for the first time. I'm sure everyone wanted to know that. :-P When I returned to town, I grabbed a sandwich and took a few minutes to find some slightly travelled Beatrix Potter books at a bookstore. After catching up on my necessary internet tasks, I embarked on my second trek of the day: scaling Latrigg. Not as impressive as it sounds. Haha. It was a mediumish climb. Nothing like climbing Skiddaw, a thing I for which I was not prepared, thus the more accessible climb. I chanced to meet a lady from theeast coast (Norwich, maybe?) and her dog Buster who were also climbing Latrigg. We had a lovely walk and chat. She (and family) had been to the States several times, so it was interesting to compare travel notes and experiences. I ended the day's trek with stop at the Cumberland Pencil Museum. Despite how silly that might sound, it was rather interesting. I learned quite a bit I didn't know about making pencils, and I got a free pencil as a souvenir. Score! :-D There is also a James Bond museum there that I was unable to see, unfortunately.

And I'll close with a very interesting experience I had that evening. I grabbed the rest of my sandwich from lunch and an apple and headed to the 'telly lounge' to watch the news and eat. I was far too tired to entertain thougts of going out for dinners and was rather uninterested in the hostel's restaurant offerings. After a bit (and following a lovely chat with an Australian lady which involved showing each other different monies haha), a man comes in and asks if it would be all right if he were to bring in his instrument and practice. "Sure. That's no problem." A few minutes later he returns with a case, opens it, and produces...a hurdy gurdy! It was quite fascinating to see one (I had never see one before) and to watch/hear him play. It's a very intriguing and just-plain-fun instrument. It was a lovely close to my time in the Lake District.

***This description is entirely unworthy of what Keswick was like. I urge you to click below and enjoy the pictures. :-)
Photos of Keswick

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Edinburgh is full of win. This, I must say, was my favorite stop (excluding London from all rating systems since...well, it's London). I found Edinburgh to be interesting and really lovely. My first stop after arriving at Waverly Station was the Tourist Information Center to grab a map and get directions to the YHA. Ok. Actually, my first stop ended up being waylaid to a Victoria Jackson makeup promo table in the shopping center that I ended up traipsing through because the tourist info sign was misleading. After I brushed that off to the disappointment of the lovely girl trying to sell me £120 of makeup products for the unbelievable special deal of £30, (It really was a great deal, but I couldn't see spending £30 on makeup right then.) I made it to the Info Center, enjoyed some random Scottish piping and dancing, and withdrew money from the nearby ATM. At this point, I learned something very interesting: in Scotland, each bank prints their own notes; therefore, you could any combination of very different looking notes because they are issued by different banks. Let me tell you, it gave me a second's panic when I was standing in line and realized the £5 note the guy in front of me was holding was completely different from the one I was holding. It also made receiving change fun, though, as I got to look and see the different designs and banks. Very strange experience, that. Well, I checked into the YHA, dumped Superduffle, and proceeded to explore. I meandered through Princes Street Garden for awhile, which was lovely. It wasn't always so lovely, though. Before there was Princes Street Garden, there was
Nor Loch. Nor Loch had become basically a cesspool thanks to centuries of sewage draining down the hill from Old Town, so it was drained. In the 1820s, Princes Street Gardens was built, followed 20 years later by the addition of Waverly Station. The gardens are beautifully manicured and quite peaceful.

I emerged from the Gardens to the plaza containing the National Gallery. I definitely went it. I spent a lovely afternoon making my way through the Gallery. They have a considerable and well-displayed collection; not as much as some other galleries I visited, but just the right amount for a few hours on an afternoon. After this, I had an ice cream (hee hee) and made my way back along the street to Calton Hill. Calton Hill is basically monument central. The most interesting one was the National Monument, largely due to the back story. The monument is a commemoration of those who died fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Designed by Charles Cockerell and William Henry Playfair (that's not an unfortunate name as a child at all), it was meant to reflect the Parthenon and was projected to cost something like £40,000 in 1822. You can see where this might be going. Oh, it was also supposed to have underground catacombs as well for burying important people. In 1826, they started building even though they only had about £16,000 with maybe another £10,000 coming from Parliament. Three years later, the project was abandoned when they ran out of money. I found this rather hilarious. I took pictures.

Calton Hill also is the home of the Lord Nelson monument, the City Observatory (founded 1776), and super beautiful views of Edinburgh. I was supremely disappointed that I was unable to tour the Observatory. The signs and brochures and my guide book all said that it was possible, but the gate was soundly locked. I was quite interested to see the inside, but alas, was foiled. Finally, I made my way back down the hill, found a grocery and picked up some provisions for dinner and lunch and dinner, and wandered back to the hostel. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

The next day I began by preparing my provisions and them embarking across the bridge to Old Town. Don't be fooled, the bridge doesn't cross a river (though I suppose it did back in the days of grosstastic Nor Loch), the bridge crosses the extensive train lines to and from Waverly Station (it's a pretty big station). My plan was to start at the top of the Royal Mile with Edinburgh Castle and then work my way down to Palace Holyroodhouse, possibly finishing with a climb up Arthur's Seat. Today, my plan went exactly as it was supposed to.

Edinburgh Castle is quite impressive. The location, of course, is splendid, but the structure itself was definitely built to convey a certain demeanor: don't even dare. I spent several hours exploring various bits of the castle. I had completely forgotten, or perhaps not made the connection, that the castle (as Din Eidyn) is mentioned in Y Gododdin. The oldest part of the currently existent castle is St. Margaret's Chapel, built by David I around AD1130. Most of the other old parts were destroyed and rebuilt over through the years as England and Scotland warred between themselves. Edinburgh Castle houses the National War Monument of Scotland and the National War Museum. And, most significantly, it also houses the "Honors of Scotland:" the crown, the sceptre, and the sword of state. The castle also now holds the Stone of Scone since it was returned to Edinburgh in 1996. Except that it's labelled the "Stone of Destiny." Dumb. Super, touristy dumb. I did not refer to it as such.

Fun fact: the guards at Edinburgh Castle wear hobnail boots. On cobblestones. Thus, when they come off guard duty at the National War Monument, the Sergeant at Arms removes the bayonets from their guns to prevent accidental impaling of fellow officers in the event of slipping. Slipping does happen, it seems, when you combine hobnails and cobblestones.

Following my explorations of Edinburgh Castle, I made my way down the Royal Mile, stopping to take a picture of Boswell's Court (yes, that's the Boswell who wrote the biography of Samuel Johnson) and to explore St. Giles Cathedral. I took a picture inside the Cathedral, then saw the "no pictures" sign. Oh well. I spent some amount of time at the Museum of Childhood (which has a wonderful and diverse collection of toys, games, and other childhood memorabilia) before proceeding on down the road to Palace Holyroodhouse. It was closed to visitors. Boo. Hiss. Since the flag was up and there were signs prohibiting parking for specific dates on the streets surrounding, I presume that some important personage was in residence. Nevertheless, I was sad that I wouldn't be touring the palace. Instead, I opted for climbing Arthur's Seat. I took the steep way, apparently. I'm also not really in climbing up things shape, I discovered. At any rate, after a brief pause at the ruins of St. Anthony's Chapel, I proceeded up all 837 ft. of Arthur's Seat and took a picture. It was really quite phenomenal. The view is just spectacular, really, due largely to the volcanic nature of the formation of Arthur's Seat. Essentially, it's the only thing at that height which gives a completely unimpeded, uncontested view of everything around. Eventually, I made my way down and took my time getting back to the hostel for dinner. I spent a little bit of time talking to a Canadian girl who was in the UK teaching Math. She was spending her term break in Edinburgh. She was moderately odd, actually, but interesting to chat with. Finally, I made my Newcastle plans and headed off to sleep. Even thought it was still pretty much daylight outside. Apparently the sun is only gone for about 4 hours in the summer in the north. haha

Photos of Edinburgh

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My excursion to Kendal actually took place between Manchester and York, but the entry was unfinished earlier. There you go.

Spent the day wandering around Kendal. Seriously, I am at rather a loss to explain the incredible beauty the surrounds this town. Even in the misty rain, it was stunning. Trekked up to the Castle Howe where the first castle at Kendal was built. Only the walls and embankments are left on the Howe, but it's easy to see why it was chosen. The spot provides a clear view of all the surrounding countryside. After this, I trekked around to the remains of Kendal Castle. This required quite the haul up a rather high hill. I mean really high. And wet. Had I not already been fairly damp, I would have crossed over into dampness during the uphill trek. At any rate, the remains and the view were quite impressive. Basically, it was a walled fortress that contained a manor house, cellars, small armory, tower to house the noble family, and the yard. It was probably built in the 12th century. From what was left, it was easy to see that this would have been fairly impressive sitting atop its hill. Eventually I trekked back down to wander about the town and its surroundings. I wanted to go to the museum there, but apparently it's not open on Tuesdays. Ah well. I satisfied my with visiting the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry. This turned out to be more interesting than I expected, actually, featuring some really fun walk-through displays of different parts/places in Kendal's history. I also visited the Holy Trinity Parish Church there which was both very old and very lovely. Eventually, I took my damp self back to the hostel to dry off and charge various batteries. Not long after I returned, my two charming roommates also returned and invited me to dinner with them. I accepted, and we had a lovely evening. They were both British which led to some fun comparing and contrasting. I caught up on my internets and went to sleep fully intent on getting up, showering, and having a nice breakfast before departing on the train. As it turns out, if you have the volume turned down on your iPod, you can't hear the alarm. I woke up in tome to get up, dress, and just make the train. No shower or breakfast for me. Not as much fun as my intended morning. Nevertheless, I made the train and departed for York.

Photos of Kendal

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Arrived in York around the same time as a group of bus tourists. That was interesting as they all seem (groups of bus tourists, that is) to do a fantastic job of filling up the sidewalk and walking slowly whilst also milling about vaguely. I, on the other hand was trying to find the info center and shortly thereafter the youth hostel so as to drop off Superduffle and then enjoy the town. Thus, I was fighting significant feelings of impatience regarding the bus tourists. Haha. At any rate, I did manage to get to the youth hostel in a fairly timely manner (it was a small trek, really.), leave Superduffle, and carry on with my visit. My first stop was a sandwich shop for a really nice (and two-meal sized) club sandwich. After this nice little lunch, I proceeded to the York Minster. This is an incredible bit of architecture. The largest minster in England, it dominates the town. Inside, one can wander for hours enjoying the incredible craftsmanship and detailed beauty. Even better (you get two awesomes for the price of one, there), underneathe the Minster is a history of the site with bits of the original Roman basillica visible.I found it all to be quite well done and very interesting. Then, I meandered down to Clifford's Tower, but wasn't really interested in paying the fee to see the interior. I did take a picture of it, though. I had a lovely stroll down the river and then found my way to Jorvik. Now, Jorvik was the Viking settlement in York after the Romans. In fact, though I don't remember reading it anywhere, etymologically, I'm fairly certain that York derives its name from Jorvik, rather than the Roman name which was Eboracum. It was slightly pricey to get in (£8,95...and this after I paid about that much to get inti the Minster...not as much as I would eventually pay to get into Edinburgh Castle, though.), but it was a really neat experience. The trip begins with a small waiting room that's plexiglass floor is suspended over a mock archaelogical dig. It can be a little disconcerting to walk on it, but it's really well thought out. The walls contain short videos and digital "posters" that explain the history of the dig as well as the history and setting of the site that has been extrapolated from the artifacts unearthed. Now came the part that I wasn't expecting at all (yes, I did read up on Jorvik before going, but nothing really mentioned this part): a ride in moving carriage deallies through a model portion of the village. It was quite well executed with background sounds, narration the interacted with several of the animatronic Vikings, and well designed models that captured well the sights, sounds, and even smells of a Viking town. After the ride potion ended, there were sever areas to walk through filled with not only artifacts from the dig, but also contextual settings for them and sometimes explainations of the archeologists' work. I was really drawn in to the history involved added to the history I had gleaned at the Minster. York is reall a fascinating place. I almost went on a ghost tour, but decided I had probably spent enough money in one town already. Haha. York was more tourist-filled than any town I'd yet been to, even more than either Kendal or Nottingham, but it was quite lovely, nevertheless, and I could see spending several days there, especially considering the thing in the surrounding areas of Yorkshire that I was unable to see.

Photos from York

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Manchester is undeniably an industrial town. It's all heavy stone and hard edges. I set out a little early and headed towards the town hall. Manchester's town hall is, it turns out, a famous piece of architectural standing by Alfred Waterhouse. It is, indeed, very impressive. It's a pretty impressive edifice, really. Since it was a bank holiday, though, I did not get to tour the inside. For those of you who are wondering, bank holidays are basically just regularly scheduled national holidays for which they failed to come up with significance, so they just called them "bank holidays" which worked because banks were closed for them. Museums are generally open on bank holidays, though, which was good for me. First, I made my way to the Museum of Science and Industry. This museum demonstrates and chronicles the history of Manchester and the rise of industry there. Of particular interest: a floor of working cotton refining and weaving equipment, a walk-through timeline of the city, and an underground timeline of the development of water and sewer systems. There is also a room of engine development history from hydraulics to steam to diesel. A short walk across the road brings you to the section devoted to vehicles. I found the building far more intriguing that the contents. That's no real fault of the Museum, though but rather a result of having been to the Naval Air Museum and the Smithsonian. And, granted, aerospace industry isn't really what Manchester is all about.

Following this, I took the Metrolink to the Imperial War Museum North. Earlier I had attempted to walk there. That was a no-go. When I reached a place with no more sidewalks, I figured I wasn't supposed to be walking that way. Haha. This time I asked for directions and was guided go the metrolink. That worked much better. IWM North is housed in an absolutely compelling building and filled with truly personal reflections on Britain's wars...well, WWI and following. The exhibits are quite well done and punstuated by personal accounts. Every little while they run an audio-visual program in the Great Hall that combines narration, personal accounts, and projected images and video to really immerse you in Britain's experience of the world wars. Having been to the D-Day Museum, I found it compelling to see it from a different perspective. While much can be said for our battlefront contributions (and the shift in societal morale upon the arrival of the American troops in WWII was interestingly noted), we've got nothing on the endurance of the civilian front here in England. Not only were they, too, suffering rations and sacrifice, they were also living in constant alert and response to the blizt campaign. It was intense to experience that history here. As the displays go all the way to the 21st century, I also found the approach to the Cold War, and the current wars (Afghanistan: yeah, ok; Iraq: akshdfiouiojfioufwe, basically.), intriguing. I found myself stunningly taken aback by a large picture of the 2nd WTC tower collapsing. I should have expected it, I suppose, but I stood there startled to tears and yet unable for a minute to move away. Perhaps it should feel differently almost nine years later, but it doesn't really. For whatever that's worth.

I spent the rest of the day meandering through Manchester. In all honesty, this was when I hit a wall of loneliness. I grabbed some Subway and ate it in the town square feeling mildly miserable. Then I wandered back to the hostel for lack of something better to do. One of my roommates was apparently having a personal crisis in French over Skype, however, so I plugged in my camera battery and went downstairs to use the Internet. Then I grabbed my mostly charged battery and went for a walk to take pictures in order to make up for not having a charged battery earlier in the day. Haha. The next morning, it was off bright and early for Kendal.

Photos from the first weekend

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Nottingham. Nottingham is, or at least seems, larger and busier than Leicester. We drove through just in time to catch everyone heading out for a night on the town, apparently the thing to do. Phillip's aunt and uncle live in a lovely neighborhood near Sherwood Forest. And by lovely, I mean filled with large, stately houses that are alarm-secured and worth far more than their US counterparts merely by value of age. Here I will note that both of the houses in which I stayed were very much everything I anticipated British houses to be like. They felt British on the inside in the same way a beach condo feels like a beach condo, if that makes sense. At any rate, the family were all astonishingly polite and very nice. Now, I definitely felt the difference when it comes to politeness. Realize this is coming from someone reared in the Deep South. Politeness is different here, though. It's all much more formalized, habitual, and almost deferential. A single sales transaction can lead to three or four "thank yous"--from the clerk. Oddly though, no one says "Bless you," when you sneeze and children all say, "Yeah" rather than "yes," something my mother would have given me grief for as a child. Haha. In addition to "thank you," proper polite responses might be "brilliant," "cheers," or "lovely." It does lead me to wonder what feelings are really rumbling behind all the politeness at times. Of course, I wonder that about Southerners from time to time, as well. I haven't yet discovered if there's a UK version of "Bless your heart." haha.

The day in Nottingham consisted of a double-decker bus ride, a little wandering through Old Stuff (wherein I read markers describing said Old Stuff), eating a ridiculously old pub, the Trip to Jerusalem, which opened in 1198. Yep, 1198. It's also built into the caves under the big rock on which sits Nottingham Castle. This one isn't the original, which was destroyed (excepting the walls), but a super big manor (basically) built to replace said destroyed castle. We looked in the grounds but did not enter as I wasn't particularly moved to pay the fee based on the time we had allotted to see it. Aside: Nottingham is super excited about the latest Robin Hood movie. Don't know if that persuades you to go see it, but they're promoting the bejesus out of it, for what it's worth. After this, we meandered over to the train station to meet Phillip's friend Eben (the 'e' is pronounced like 'Evan,' not as I had presumed like 'Eden.' So get it straight. Hah.) After some silliness that nothing to do with me this time, we were joined by another friend, Dylan. More wandering commenced as well as a nice diversion through Nottingham Contemporary. Finally, we dispersed, and Phillip and I headed back to get me packed off to the train station myself.

This was an interesting experience largely because I must admit to great intimidation and trepidation regarding setting off on my own. Also, some random guy decided to move over near me and hit on me. I'm not sure if it was in spite of what I'm sure was apparent misery or because of it. Haha. Ok. Misery is a strong word, but still. Fortunately, when I switched trains, he did not. I arrived in Manchester quite late and settled in to sleep, plotting my next day's adventure all the while.

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First weekend. So the British Museum is vast. That's really the only way to describe it. As in "I spent over five hours in this place and just realized I haven't seen an entire wing of it" vast. I was astonished, and it was right up my alley. It's something like a cross between the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian with extra added awesome. I do have pictures, and I will upload and post them soon. I rather wish I could attach my camera cable to my iPod. Alas, I cannot. It was quite an intense experience for this museum nerd, seeing things like an Easter Island moai, a part of a stele with Hammurabi's Code, part of the Epic of Gilgamesh (!!), and the actual-honest-to-goodness Rosetta Stone. That's right folks: the Rosetta Stone. Apparently, the benefits of effectively owning big chunks of the globe means you get the cool toys for your museums.

After several hours immersed in Cool Old Stuff, I was dragged out of my trance by a text from my friend, Phillip, announcing his arrival (this was about when I was crossing from walls of ancient Sumerian and Babylonian murals into Greek Temple World. Seriously--awesome thrown in everywhere.). We made our way to the station where I had left my luggage--the same one, fortunately, from which we were to depart London for the countryside. I was again reminded that not only had I overpacked, I had done so badly. :-P After a pleasant train ride through I alternately dozed and gazed at the coutryside (and once chuckled at what the express that overtook and passed us might be saying to our train...sleep deprivation, all right.), we arrived at Northampton, site of Hardingstone, quaint village extraordinaire. A short txai ride later, and Phillip was lugging Superduffle up the stairs to the bedroom. This was followed by "meet the sister and her friend," "short nap," and "charming walk through the countryside." The Hardingstone part of Northampton is, indeed, quite charming, albeit smallish. (Rather like Louisville, KY, many English towns are divided into villages; Hardingstone is the village in Northampton where Phillip lives.) There is a lovely park filled with rabbits and birds I had never seen before:wood pigeons and a swallow or two. I was struck by how different foliage is here. Surprisingly, the green tones are different, embued with greyer hues rather than the amber tints I'm used to. Everything is "fuzzier," as well. I realize that sounds like an odd way to put it, but when I get pictures up, perhaps it will make more sense. The first thing I noticed that quite different: separate hot and cold faucets. I have discovered since that separate faucets is the rule rather than the exception. Also, gardens (yards) seem to be generally longish and narrow (watch a few episodes of Ground Force to get the idea) rather than squarish and wide. This does make for interesting landscaping possibilities. We had a fun dinner, and then I slept in a room with no ceiling fan for the first time in ages. That was odd.

The next day was a rise, breakfast, and shower before heading north to Leicester and then Nottingham. Leicester is a lovely city with what is apparently a top notch university. Several things really stood out to me here. First, Leicester doesn't feel like a "university town." This is an atmosphere I struggle to describe, but I'm fairly sure most of my readers will know what I mean when I use the term "university town." The thing is that Leicester doesn't feel dominated and driven by it's university the way American cities usually are. I'm told that's generally the way it is here: universities are just another part of the fabric of the town/city, generally speaking, rather than the dominating factor (I was offered Oxford as the exception. I guess I'll see when I get there. Haha.). Having been recently to Austin and living in LSU-world, I suppose the difference is even more striking to me. Another thing I noticed fully here is the city structure. Unlike US cities, UK cities have a city center. The city center is where the shops and restaurants are with housing, etc., spread out from there. In other words, if you are looking for a pair of red shoes in a UK city, you need only head to the city center and all the shops are there for your browsing pleasure. None of this trekking from shopping center to random boutique to strip mall. It was...well...really fascinating. I have posited that the difference between this organized structure and our ridiculously expansive sprawl is that by and large, our major periods of expansion and growth occured after WWII. This means that city growth has been largely founded on the automobile. And while I am a passionate adorer of the automobile, I can't help but feel that this fact has been to our detriment. I'll probably expound on that further in a later post. I also solidified my notice here that no one has window screens. No one. Yet, everyone opens their windows for air all the time. Apparently, their bugs are not as annoying as ours. Haha.

Whew. This is getting long. Thus I will end by saying that after more driving on the wrong side of the road and through traffic circles (whose value I am slowly coming to see...maybe), we arrived at the lovely home of Phillip's aunt and uncle in Nottingham (you know the place :-P).

PS: cars are all tiny here.

Posted by Renee at 01:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

All right. Here goes the account of my journey thus far. I will try to be orderly and work through in a mostly chronological manner excepting a brief (sort of) notation of things similar and different that I have noticed. That part should largely work itself, though, I would expect. And now, off we go!

I packed almost nothing until Wednesday afternoon and evening. I also overpacked. Sigh. I suppose this being my first really major (longer than a week and a half) trip and first trip to a completely new place, that's understandable. Now that I'm in the midst, though, I realize I could've easily honed my inclusions enough to fit into my usual little green suitcase instead of this big wheelie duffle. Ah well. Thursday, Mom drove me to the airport as I pondered everything, hoping I had all I needed and regretting my inability to pack. At the airport, I checked in and got to use my passport for the first time. Awesome. After the hour flight to Houston (because of course it makes sense to go west in order to travel east...), I proceeded to my next gate following my typical proceedure of checking every single display to make sure I end up at the right gate. I did find the gate. I also discovered that it's good to read the whole gate display as I learned about 10 minutes after I arrived that I was supposed to verify my passport at the desk. No harm no foul, though, and I was soon all set to board my flight for London.

I found myself seated next to a lovely Scottish lady. She and her husband were returning to Scotland from Houston where their daughter and son-in-law live. We had a very pleasant chat and then I settled back to enjoy my choice of movie from the seat back: Sherlock Holmes. In all, despite my best intentions, I may have managed two hours sleep spread throughout the flight. This made things fun. Haha. After a fun three or four loops around, we landed at Heathrow, and I proceeded through Customs, retrieved Superduffle, figured out the trains, and proceeded into London.

Once there, I spent an undue amount of time wandering and wasting time, largely because I am a silly goose. We'll largely skip that part. Haha. I did also discover that not only am I bad at packing only what's needed, I'm bad at arranging it as well, the result being several pitched battles between me and Superduffle before I managed to overcome my silly goosery and find the Left Luggage service that I needed. At that point, I was able to proceed luggage-free to the British National Museum for the large part of the day. And with that, I offer an intermission.

Posted by Renee at 05:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

For the record, I haven't forgotten about blogging this trip. I'll get some thing posted for sure whilst I'm in Edinburgh in the next few days. Suffice it to say, I'm rather enjoying myself. Haha

Posted by Renee at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)