the massive update from the slacker

Miss me? Of course you did! Who wouldn't? :) So- I need to bring you folks up to date on what's been going down here in jolly old England.

Monday

West Wycombe Estate was said to be quite the erotic garden in its time.  It's owner was a bachelor and a member of the Hell Fire club, whose pastimes included deflowering virgins and being raunchy old men.  To the disappointment of my classmates, the garden was cleaned up and cleared out by the Victorians, who made such changes as removing the 42 erotic statues and the gardens made to resemble the female body.  Bummer. 

There remain to this day, however, the caves where the Hell Fire club held their meetings, which delighted even the most skeptical of students.  They were very dank, very cold, very dark, and very scary--I loved them!  They even had strange mannequins in them that could kinda make you jump when you rounded a corner, but mostly made you laugh hysterically.  If you were courageous enough to climb the hilltop over the caves, you were lucky enough to see the mausoleum and graveyard.  I know this is weird, but I love old graveyards, and this one was no exception. 

 

After my hilltop excursion I was blessed with the opportunity to try one of the greatest things I have experienced in this country thus far: clotted cream tea!  Aww- the words themselves bring back such joy to my tastebuds!  My tea was accompanied by a delightful scone, and some exceptional preserves--did I mention that I love this place?!  (And did I mention that I think I'm addicted to tea now?...)

 

Tuesday

Stratford-upon-Avon

(see the Shakspeare post below- "me thinks she doth protest too much")

 

Wednesday

After classes, I spent the afternoon in Oxford.  Matt, Martin, Chris, and I went for lunch and then around town.  Martin let me and Matt listen to a bunch of his music and we burned CD's for everyone for awhile.  Martin, Matt, and Jennifer JB hung out in my room for a while, and Matt brought his stupid hooka in here.  I made him put it by the window, though.

 

Since Tuesday was Jennifer's 21st birthday, but we were on a field trip, we went out Wednesday to The Bridge for a Girl's Nightesque dance marathon.  What I mean by this is that we went dancing, and our guy friends came, but on the dance floor (with the exception of Martin's crazy moves) it was strictly us girls.  We had a blast!  It was just some good clean fun, as we danced in the blazing hot (because there is no AC here) and acted like crazy girls.  Jennifer R. danced circles around the rest of us, but Joanna, Kristen, and I weren't so bad.  :)  It was a great night and we resolved to go dancing again as soon as we could! 

 

Thursday

Jennifer JB, Kristen, and I went to London!  We caught the bus after class and once in London, hopped on the tube.  This was definitely my first subway experience, so I was a little shaky on the whole cattle-herding, massive amounts of people, fast trains thing.  But once I got the hang of it I fell in love with the London Underground!  What a cool system- and you get where you are going in the snap of your fingers.  It was great, and I'm definitely a tube fan now.

 

For the rest of the day, look below at the posting "what's with today, today?"

 

Friday

Bath, anyone?  Yes, that's right--we went to Bath.  But it wouldn't have been a field trip without first stopping off at another exciting garden.  Prior Park was very pretty, had a fabulous view of the Bath hillside and skyline, and had this amazing bridge that I couldn't stop taking pictures of.  After a picnic lunch and a speedy 1 mile hike around the garden, we were off to Bath. 

 

Our first stop in Bath was the Jane Austen Centre.  Actually, that should read "JANE AUSTEN CENTRE!!!" because she's that awesome.  If you know me, you know my passion and love and obsession for Jane.  She rocks my socks.  So needless to say- I was a huge fan of the Centre.  The funny thing was, Jane only lived in Bath for about 5 years, she hated it, and didn't write any books while she was there.  So why is the Centre there?  Money!  But I fell for it- but only because it was Jane. If you are still reading and thinking "who is Jane Austen?" or "what did she write?" you and I can no longer be friends until you have done some reading.  Let me recommend Pride and Prejudice first, then Emma, Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, and if you make it past that point (and there are many more), you and I may have a chance to remain friends.  Jennifer JB is hardcore like me- so she and I were having a blast.  I almost had to disown Joanna and Kristen, until they promised to read Pride and Prejudice.  Jennifer R. gave me a slight heart attack when she stated that she was bored out of her mind.  My forgiveness for such a betrayal is what I am giving her for her birthday.  (You know I love you, Jen- even if you aren't a Janeite.)

 

We also went to see the assembly rooms, and then off to the Roman Baths (hence the name "Bath"...I just saw the lights go on in so many of your heads...).  They were absolutely magnificent.  I can't believe so much of it is still there.  Now, I am a classics groupie, which means I am slightly prejudiced, but I think everyone who comes to this country needs to go to Bath, and after they see the Jane Austen Centre, they have GOT to see the Roman Baths.  They have quite a display, with so much history to read and hear.  they give you an oversized phone thing to carry around and it talks to you and tells you what you are looking at.  My favorite part of the baths was when Jennifer R. and I were taking pictures and she was commenting on the supposed healing powers of the waters.  This is one of my favorite things to hear about- the stories of all the people who were healed or who came there to be healed.  But then she wondered aloud about how many lepers and people with disgusting and contagious diseases and illnesses had been in those waters. 

-Dang.-  

-Eww.-

It makes you look at them in a whole new light...

 

I promise to add pics to all of this later- but at least I told you what I've been up to!