Through Bruges

Day 3…

This will be the day I return home… Sigh! How is this the case?! On the other hand, I'm ready… being sooooo tired already! And of course, they're going to want to cram a ton of stuff into today AND all the traveling on top of it…

SO-- no need to rehash the yummy and wacky Dutch brekkie… Just one comment I forgot to make from yesterday… There is something wacky about the cream here-- it is brown… And not in a "this is so good and healthy and pure" kind of way. I mean, it is all those things, and I'm sure it's better than the stuff in the US… it is definitely intentional and not "off"… But I just didn't like it as much. Yet, the coffee wasn't as good as I like mine usually and it clearly needed something… So I added the weird cream… again and again… and then made a little face… But remember the Screaming Beans coffee-- no need for cream there! The coffee shouldn't be hidden by anything when it's so good. (Ooh-- I never mentioned. I picked out my beans-- Kenya… then they ground them for the drip filter… and pre-heated the filter and cup, and went through about 5 more steps, if you would believe it… before it was ready for the water to pour through it. And then I got the distilled lovely liquid at the end… :) Just imagine the smell, would you??!!)

Into the bus and ready to drive away… last photos of the marina and birds and such… and away we went! First stop: Bruges… about 3 hrs away… so I napped and read Curious Incident…

This little visit to Bruges was pretty much the reason I signed up for this particular tour. I REALLY wanted to visit the town during this trip. It was one of the ones that people kept talking about when I got back from the 98 visit that I *should* have gone too. And it's been driving me crazy ever since!! But it wasn't that easy to make happen… as it's not on any route without a few transfers… So it would have to be an "instead of" Amsterdam or Paris kind of thing… And THAT was not going to happen! But a tour bus, of course, has a bit more flexibility than a train… :)

The day was all about staying on a pretty tight schedule… and these Brazilian girls just would NOT get back on time, or bring their customs documentation, or whatever it was… But no one got left behind, which was the great threat hanging over the day… (For example, they made us take our passports with us when we got into Bruges, in case they had to ditch us there, at least we could get home on our own… THAT was the tone of the day…)

With that looming-- I wasn't at all interested in anything in Bruges that involved chunks of time. There was a brewery tour that ran on the hour, canal tours that were however long… Nope and nope. Rather, I took to my favorite method for seeing a place: I walked. My goal was to walk for one hour, and then spend the next two hours working my way back to the bus. And it worked out perfectly! I took 15 million photos on the well worn by now Nikon… And DID make time for a beer tasting at a cute little bar in town and a chocolate waffle… and some lace souvenirs for the aunts… And some more photos…

Weird thing happened in the bar: a woman walked in and said to me: are you from CAPA London?! I was recognized by an American tourist randomly in Bruges! She isn't MLP, the Missouri group I teach every week, but part of the larger group that is housed at the same building. She said my Global Foods class had sounded cool and she would have taken it if it was available to others outside of MLP. This was my win for the weekend, I think… :) And I don't know why they don't let more people take the class. It was great to have a tiny little class that could wander all over town easily. But a 20 person class would have also been fine, and fun, and would have been able to take advantage of group pricing for stuff!! Well, so that happened… :)

Back to the bus--note I'm writing this from London--so I didn't get left behind… spoiled the plot, didn't I?!-- next stop: a chocolate factory. And so we buy our Belgian chocolate… I am returning to London with cheese and chocolate, as is right and good and proper… :)

I have since decided that this extra little 30 minute stop is a smart strategy on Anderson's part… There is really a time issue this last day… all because of getting through customs and making the ferry time and TRYING to get into London before midnight… This extra stop allows them flexibility. If we leave 10 minutes late from Bruges, then that's 10 minutes less time to spend at the shop… And there's no where else for us to wander at the shop, so there isn't a danger of us not making the time to leave from there… I realized that if we were all early from Bruges (this has probably never happened), they would give us extra time at this shop…

Back into the bus for another long chunk of driving. Dozed off and read Curious Incident more… Then all the annoyances of bureaucracy crossing borders. They were there… Made me wish I was above the law and just went wherever I wanted whenever… But no-- we were in a line behind 10 other tour buses all coming across the channel on a Sunday evening… Sigh!!

I didn't piss off the border guard, which is good--and something I have been known to do… (Niagara Falls) It was a bit more complicated than usual b/c I'm here through April in the flat, but then I'm going to travel a bit before I leave May 20. I wasn't able to answer that question as well as I should have. BUT the guard liked that I said I was from San Diego originally-- "but mostly grew up in the Santa Cruz area"-- Him: "Ooh, that's cool!" Me: "Have you been?" Him: "No, but it's in all the songs and stuff, isn't it?" This is how it's been the whole time for me here, btw… CA still sells. And I'm still FROM there-- wherever I currently reside… And I never say San Francisco or LA-- it's always Santa Cruz or San Diego that they respond to… :)

Ferry ride back across-- this boat sucked compared to the other one… It was stuffy and crowded and there were fewer places to go on deck… AND I was starting to regret all the bread and cheese and pastries and chocolate… AND it was particularly choppy windy weather… Lots of us were looking a bit green…

Finally off the boat (kiss ground) and in the bus and to London… I actually got back at a respectable 10 pm… Exhausted as all get out… but not 1 am or something freaky like that. All in all a delightful visit to one of my favorite cities (if crazy damp and cold this time around) as well as to somewhere new (with much nicer weather, btw)…

And the Euro is in SO much trouble-- the dollar is almost even with it right now… I almost wished I was staying in more Euro cities in May than I am… (Refresher/foreshadowing what's to come: Paris, Barcelona, Cornwall, Dublin, Edinburgh, London to catch the plane, Boston, NYC…) Only Paris, Barcelona, and Dublin are EU… Cornwall and Edinburgh are back on the pricey Pound sterling. I was excited about how strong the dollar was to the pound… I'm practically giddy about the Euro!!

And now much of Monday is gone already… And I would love nothing better than to stay in my pjs all day… BUT I forgot that I made plans with one of the other professors at CAPA to do dinner this evening… So at some point I have to get presentable… Sigh!!

Till next time… :)

In Amsterdam

Day 2

Up for breakfast-- following the theme of the Dutchies and their desserts, they have an AWESOME breakfast system… I remember this from visiting Jenny and Kuin as well as from working at the hostel there back in 1998… Stacks and stacks of a variety of breads, with a variety of toppings, and we can mix and match however we want. Toppings included platters of meat, of course, as well as cheeses, nutella and chocolate sauce, jams, butter, and sprinkles… It's a fun game to play as we choose which toppings on which bread. I love this German bread that isn't really bread at all-- it's just flattened seeds and nuts… and it's a really dark brown… but I've liked ever since discovering it back then. (I just can't really think of it as "bread.")

AND there were waffles… also of course… from a store all wrapped up… so I grabbed a couple to eat during the day… b/c I'm all frugal and stuff… ;)

Everybody on the bus, and off to a cheese and clog factory. With a humongous old Dutchy gave us his spiel about the family business… wearing clogs and traditional clothing and playing up for the tourists, of course. Playing up, mind, not kissing up… He was quite nation-proud… and willing to disparage the UK, US, Germany, France, even Canada-- anywhere that wasn't as amazing as the Dutch… According to him they even invented something that was laughable… I'm not remembering now what it was… Probably the ability to make cheese or beer or something… :)

Don't get me wrong, though, he was a dry wit and this was all very funny! I enjoyed the show as he made a clog right there and then, and showed us where all the cheese was curing (right word?). YUM!! Have I mentioned the delicious cheese?!

And then there was the gift shop-- and even someone as frugal as me is still only human… :) So-- many Euros of cheese and keychains later… I get back on the bus with everyone else to head into the city… The bus driver has been doing this route for 20+ years, and he really knew everything… so he gave a bit of a bus tour driving us into town… the tour guide was a rookie, though oh-so sweet… and she told us all the bits she knew, too.

There was a canal tour, which is the kind of touristy thing I never do, so clearly I had to this time around… and was well timed, as the sky was threatening to open up and pour rain on us all, but at least the boat was covered! Score one for the tourists!! I took a picture or two… :)

After the tour, we were on free time… The bus would leave at 6 pm, but we were perfectly able to make our own way back to the hotel if we wanted to stay later… (and *we did*).

Things I wanted to do in my free day: get back to the old internet cafe I visited almost daily when I was in Amsterdam for a month (the month of April, no less) back in 98… Get a selfie at the Iamsterdam sign that wasn't THERE in 98… go to the Anne Frank house, that I had avoided in 98 as it seemed too depressing (it's no less depressing now, btw, but I have more guilt and shame to encourage me)… and hit up a coffee shop (REALLY coffee this time!) that was supposed to be the best in Amsterdam called Screaming Beans…

These are all the things I was able to do… I might have thought about other things, but there wasn't any time. Straight off the boat tour, our guide decided she really wanted to see the Anne Frank house, and I thought I'd tag along as then I'm hitting up one of my main things on my list and in a group for once. However, it was during high rush time, and we waited in line for 2 hours just to get inside the museum. AND I had only brought a light jacket (I don't know wtf I was thinking… I froze all weekend!) and of course it POURED. Eventually I bought a parka as my umbrella was useless in that wind… But same wind made parka similarly useless, really.

Only good thing about that line, with the big group of us holding places-- we could all wander off and come back… So one of my wanderings was to Screaming Beans… Where I was thinking I would sit in the cafe and enjoy my delicious coffee, instead I got it to go and drank it with the gang in line. In the rain… It was still yummy!! AND warm on my hands! And there was oh-so much bonding in the massive queue!

That was the most crowded museum I have *ever* been to! And this is counting London's Natural History Museum, British Museum, all these places that I actually just turn around and leave normally. But I stayed through this one… when will I ever do this again?! Answer: never… And it was stop and go all the way through the museum itself… And I got exactly the same feeling of growly anger as I do when in stop and go traffic in my car. I would have given ANYTHING not to be right behind the people I was behind-- ditto for the people behind me. I don't know if everyone is rude or what, but everyone felt the need to bump me, lean into me, step on my feet, kids liked to bump/hit/whatever my leg… I was doing zen breathing exercises to not completely lose my shit! Totally the wrong emotion for the Anne Frank house, I'm sure… BUT-- it's very well set up… though I believe it is almost always THAT crowded. She's one of the most famous authors in the world… Who of us didn't read her diary in school?! So I'm still glad I went… and weirdly grateful for all the annoyances. It kept me from getting all blubbery as I can do sometimes-- and if anything would make a person blubbery, it's the death of millions of children-- and oh-so many others!

Out of the museum finally, and the day was almost done. It was at least 5pm… The tour guide was heading back to the bus for the rendezvous, and I headed the other way for the Iamsterdam sign… AND the sun came out-- Ahhhhhhhhh!!

I took a picture or two (hundred) and then worked my way back up the city to the Nieumarkt where this Cafe in de Waag was that I keep mentioning. Still JUST like I remembered it. Like something straight out of Beowulf. Old and stone/brick with round turrets and wide open nothing inside. Huge iron chandeliers with real candles… I LOVE this place. In the photo with the people sitting at tables, those were all computer stations before… :) And thankfully, they still had computer access--now in the form of Wifi… I sat at the bar, as that's the easiest for not worrying about reservations and such… And got dinner (the only thing I could eat was a carrot ginger soup--he assured me it was veggie stock) and a genever (I liked the Hoppe brand at the hotel better) with a beer chaser (yum!). The bartender also had heard stories of the internet cafe here, but had never seen it himself. Probably wasn't alive then… Sheesh!! But he did say that when it opened it was such a big deal the prime minister came and logged online and such… So I'm not the only one that liked the place back then… :)

I actually stayed there for a while--it was just so nostalgic, and also warm, and also with Wifi!

Around 8:30 pm, I headed back to the hotel… where the open bar greeted me again… And all the people I'd been standing in line with for most of the day greeted me, too. We closed the place out just chewing the fat (this is a dangerous saying to throw around about a country that probably WOULD chew animal fat given the chance)… and finally dragged our bums to bed for another early morning… So bid farewell to Amsterdam… It was not NEARLY enough time… But at least I made it… I'd have absolutely hated to have missed it this time around… I didn't give myself nearly enough time in May to see everything. But this little trip helped!

And Amsterdam IS one of my favorite towns in Europe! And there's something weird that happens to me whenever I'm there: I get ridiculously proud of my Dutchy heritage and strut around and tell anyone who asks (or sometimes doesn't) that I'm Dutch on my mom's side… And of course everyone responds: clearly, I can tell, you are obviously somewhat Dutch… It's like another word for tall… :) But there's the other Dutch stuff that is cool as a tourist: not overly judgmental about stuff, good with money, amazing engineers, green because they want to be AND have to be… There is a ton that's cool there!! :) (This is why on just about all the visits to Europe from now on--I'll have to make time in there somewhere for visits to Amsterdam--or at least somewhere in the Netherlands--and Dublin… B/c believe me, I'll be bizarrely proud of my Irish heritage in about a month when I'm in Dublin! I can't wait to hear how people will "be able to tell" that I'm Irish: bright red cheeks? Big round face? What is "Irish"? I'm not exactly a red head…)

Perhaps never enjoyed a boiling hot shower more-- and it was a lovely shower… Something I cannot take for granted at the evil flat of evilness in London… And it had the half-shower glass wall like my place back in Rolla has… which is AWESOME and cool looking, imo...

And, head hits pillow, and...

Into Amsterdam

I was bad and didn't maintain the blog while I was in Amsterdam as I should have. But I'm trying something here-- I'm going to make separate entries for days 1-2-3 and see how that works!

Each day was super-long, but there was a LOT of travel involved… so not all of it was hopping with excitement so much…

Day 1: At the rendezvous (Earl's Court) by 5:45 am for a 6 am pickup. Of course I didn't get to bed early the night before… and of course this is an insane and stupid time of the day. Almost got into the wrong Anderson van that was going to Stonehenge or somewhere clearly NOT abroad… (smaller van). But a chick from my tour showed up and we waited together. Also, the bus driver didn't let me on the wrong bus… good man! The right bus came, and the day began… The way these tours work is that Earl's Court is the first stop--and the closest stop to me--but then I have to wait for 4 or 5 other stops around London before we actually even hit the road. So imagine me on a bus just bouncing around London from 6 am until roughly 9… You would be right if you imagined some snoozing… and if you imagined me enjoying the sunrise from the car… even having this thought: "This is my favorite time of day…" which is decidedly a WRONG statement. What I meant to myself (this is all in my head, mind you) is that I do LOVE watching the sunrise at the beginning of a proper road trip. That IS one of my favorite things about road trips!

Also--if I drift into crazy road trip stories or attitudes, you must forgive it… I am definitely from a road trip family-- AND I just watched Fast & Furious 7 and then re-watched the other and am now in a total "ride or die" fist bumping kind of mood. NOT that I have driven anything in months, mind you. And it's pretty difficult to feel "ride or die" while riding the Tube… But at least on the bus--on a ferry--into other countries-- that felt a little more like normal. :)

Speaking of the ferry-- That was fun. It was my first ferry ride across the channel. My other times have been by air or Chunnel… So it was a trip to see the water for once. :)

Of course, I stayed outside a bit--some crazy windiness and coldness as is ALWAYS the case for me in Northern Europe it seems drove me back inside sooner than usual. Changed my money on the ferry (oh, Cardinal sin of economics) as there weren't going to be convenient bank ATM stops for a while, and I might need cash. So I sucked it up and paid my %^&* fees and got my %^&* crappy exchange rates. But didn't regret it for the rest of the weekend! So THAT'S value. ;)

Into Calais, and mad dashing it to a little town outside of Amsterdam called Monnikendam. There was a quick road stop where I got a yummy pizza actually. They warned us not to eat too much there, as we would be having dinner (all paid for and such) when we got to the hotel. BUT in hindsight I'm glad I ate more at the fresh yummy road stop-- there was also a mint orange juice full of oh-so necessary vitamins-- as I always forget that the Dutch believe that vegetarian food is the Devil, and they just refuse to have any around…

SO now we're at the hotel… VERY basic, probably quite cheap for the tour company… but clean and I somehow worked a room all to myself… So that was definitely for the win!! Checked in and down for such a gross dinner: it was a buffet with, let's say, six dishes… ALL meat. There was meat, meat, meat, then rice (with ham), potatoes, (with ham), dessert (with ham??)!!. I had fries-- and we're NOT going to discuss what they were probably cooked in… There was also iceberg lettuce. YUCK! Apparently the ham with a side of lamb with a side of… ???… was quite nice, though, for the others who at that sort of thing…

We're at about 8 pm now, and there is an open bar at the hotel for the rest of the evening… a brilliant strategy on their part, btw… We grab a drink, and then there is the suggestion of taking the bus into town and getting started on our Amsterdam vacation proper… Turns out quite a few of the other travelers haven't ever been to Amsterdam, have no idea of what the red light district is like, have never even smoked out… I feel very old… but not totally in a bad way. So I say YOLO and go into town with--mostly to watch them watching the women in the windows. One guy we're with absolutely refuses even to walk past the "blue lights" which is for the men in the windows… He is a chicken! We go to a coffee shop and get some joints, and… I inhale… which is no big deal for someone from a state that has legal medical marijuana… But again, it's fun to watch 3 or 4 girls with the group smoke for the first time… One girl later in the evening was completely upset that she didn't see dancing creatures or pink elephants or whatever. I LAUGHED… this isn't that kind of high, lady! But it was cute… (Did I mention the old feeling?)

Amsterdam is a small city--not dissimilar in size and general feel from San Francisco, though of course they always compare it to Venice b/c of the canals. They should compare it more to SF, I say! So we just walked up one street and down another, and THAT was the entertainment of the evening. And it was entertaining!! There were a few stag nights and hen parties-- and they would duck into one door or another… The absolute best part of the red light women is how utterly bored they always look… watching tv or smoking or talking on the phone… all in their work lingerie… They don't have to make the effort, it seems, the men will take care of that…

Eventually, we got dessert, waffles and apple strudel things and such… which is the theme of the weekend, as well… These are a people who love their desserts!! And I love them for it! Some time after midnight we decided to catch the bus back… as the next day would be the big day in town… And we were wrecked from all the traveling…

Head hits pillow, and...

Projects!

Two more classes...and two projects! This was the 2nd to the last week for me teaching... How is this the case??!!

Both clasees had group projects of some kind...themed for the course. So Wednesday's class took me and all of us on a global culinary tour of the Earl's Court area. Everyone chose a nation and would present on their culture and cuisine... I wouldn't let them choose European nations either and the US was strictly off limits. They grumbled at first, but they were gangbusters come Wednesday! Nations represented (six students): Lebanon, China, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, and India... I was most surprised by the Philippines... didn't know there was such a large population in the area... but we went to a place where we were the only non-Asians there and the food was all exactly what I'd expect... In all, of course, it's fabulous how easy it is to find such a global variety within a half mile of our neighborhood. And the students described some of the history and geography as well as food and eating rules and customs. And there *was* food throughout!!! And I got to have halo halo again!! C: (Along with dim sum and baklava and stuff i dont remember the name and so much more!) I was really happy for them and thought the class went great. I hope they feel that they learned something! They turned in good papers for the most part too...

The Mark Twain class then did a skit chosen by them from one of the Twain readings from class. There are two students and they chose the twin/mirror scene from The Prince and the Pauper. I had no idea...and as soon as I saw it I thought it made perfect sense for them. They had made a few props which were adorable... a crown and "rags" as well as a Twain stach! I laughed heartily in all the appropriate places! (I did remember to get a pic of them...) There was time left for us to *finally* get to the Museum of London to see the London of Twain's time... in writing and life... so Tudor and Victorian England. That visit was their choice. The Ben Franklin house and British Library were also options... I had them explore the relevant exhibits for an hour... then mini report on it. Then there was an hour for them to explore the museum more generally... just mini reporting on it. And the museum had an exhibit on Sherlock Holmes with the coat from Cumberbatch and manuscript pages from "Murders in the Rue Morgue." Swoon!! So you know what I did in that hour!! (OK... we all did!)

The weather has turned nice... so I had to walk around that area of London some more... who knows at this point when/if I'll return to certain neighborhoods anymore this visit?!

And then I came home to grade and pack... tomorrow I go to Amsterdam and Bruges oh so early in the morning!!

So hopefully there will be more fun blog posts coming. It hasn't been as interesting or fun to write about the fact that I'm writing... And then I fell into a Fast & Furious hole that took up way too much of my time.

But there is an end date for all this. I am working through next week. After that I will be touristing like crazy (with a time out for a conference). And I'll try not to watch any more fun summer blockbusters and get back into the theater mode... C:

And then I'll be going to Paris, Barcelona, Cornwall, Dublin, and Edinburgh... and then Boston and NYC and then back to Rolla! Whew! YOLO!!!

Chelsea Physic Garden

Yesterday was the Chelsea Physic Garden--

But first: Wednesday was the class I was perhaps the most excited about this semester: I took my students to Museum of London Docklands specifically for the London, Sugar, Slavery exhibit… It's an exhibit where my research and both classes and the topic all meshed for one brief moment. Twain discusses…there is an obvious food connection… I don't think the students were *quite* as excited as I was about the overlap… But they were impressed by the exhibit and the museum in general. There is a lot of information there--and it is all well designed. The London, Sugar, Slavery exhibit is powerful, for sure. There is also a Life on the docks exhibit elsewhere that is set up like a dock in the 19th century. It's very atmospheric! You could imagine all kinds of creepiness around the corner of those old brick buildings… It's was kind of like a theme park or something like that… There were also exhibits on London Docks in WWII and its history with labor movements. In case anyone was wondering--I definitely recommend it! Then, we went to a nearby pub (The Cat and the Canary). This will have been our last pub visit as a class… That's how few classes there are left for us!

Yesterday, then, was the Chelsea Physic Garden behind the scenes tour with Mary Bly… It wasn't the loveliest of days-- the gray remains-- but Spring is desperately fighting its way out… and there were flowers and buds on trees and hopeful little signs like that around… This Garden is a research and teaching space… and the oldest botanical garden (in Europe?/England?/the world?). The head gardener led us on the tour-- and he introduced us to the various themed gardens in the space. There were scientific gardens that focused on the historical remedy plants. (He joked that maybe two of these are still in use-- the rest have been proven to be useless or actually harmful.) There are also plants that are now being researched for their medicinal and related properties. He made mention of cannabis here-- which is of course medicinal… There was another "drug" plant he described in their collection that is a "licensed" plant because it could be made into a drug… khat, I believe, is the one he mentioned. It has useful properties… just it is being manufactured as a drug, just getting popular in the UK. The other dodgy one he described he wouldn't even let us near. He said it was one of the most dangerous--if not THE deadliest--plants in the world. Used in traditional South American cultures in hunting-- they would dip their arrowheads in this and the prey would be dead in 15 seconds. It's wicked fast acting. (This plant was tucked away and out of our reach… He said they couldn't trust us/visitors/people in general not to do something stupid… He told an anecdote of a simple berry plant that people weren't supposed to touch… So he looked over and a woman was leaning over and eating the berries directly from the bush without using her hands. Loophole!)

Those were the drug plants… There was also coffee plants (made me nostalgic for my long lost coffee plant…) and paper plants (i.e. plants that would be used to make paper!) and hardwoods and a grapefruit tree (the largest grapefruit tree in the UK) and mandrakes… there were several HP references… and perfume plants and samples of nuts and spices from everywhere and a green roof… It was great!!

There was also a random tree from CA that Mary Bly, myself, and another visitor all found VERY familiar smelling-- but we couldn't place it directly. The closest I could come was eucalyptus-- but it wasn't that-- and it was a native species to CA and it smelled WONDERFUL-- like home!!

The gardener said that the Garden (right in Chelsea--about a mile or less from the recently purchased most expensive property in the world--and walking distance from my flat) is on priceless land. The founder of the garden-- a guy named Sloane, made all kinds of rules about keeping this space as a garden for posterity. SO they only have to pay L5 a year in rent… which is insanity! It is also a weird-- a happily odd-- microclimate for London. It's south-facing, and part of the city's heat island (he described it even more so-- they're right next door to lots of rich old people who keep their heaters on all the time) and gets plenty of rain. So they can grow plants that most UK sites wouldn't be able to… (I think he meant Kew Gardens here-- there was definitely some cross-town rivalry when he mentioned them!)

Even as a non-gardener, I found it a fascinating visit--and hopefully some of the pictures will turn out!

After that, I checked out a nearby famous gallery called Saatchi. I was really trying to be a grown up there--and maybe even buy something really small… But it was no dice. I had the same *meh* feeling that I often have with new modern art… I am just not cultured enough. (There HAD been a series about Asian art that had a lot of cat motifs… I would have bought out the place if that had still been on!) There was one exhibit that was a bunch of blue plastic shopping bags that took up the whole huge living-room sized gallery. That was probably my favorite… tho not exactly something someone could just buy… and it's also not exactly something that translates into a postcard… But a selfie--that's just right!

What else have I been doing this week?! Not a DANG thing!! I fell down the rabbit hole of the Harry Potter series when I assigned the first book for my class. I just went through and read them all, hardly coming up for breath. It is a waste of time, of course. There are about a billion things I should be doing instead… BUT they are so great-- and I haven't read them in years… AND there is a LOT of London related stuff in them. (And by book 7, Cornwall!) So it wan't totally unconnected… AND I'd just taken the class to Platform 9 3/4, and HP sites in Oxford, and a bonus trip to the HP tour at WB studios… So it was definitely in the air… :)

NOW, though, it's April-- no fooling-- and I am quickly running out of time in London… There is still SO MUCH left to do-- and I have to get planning the May portion of my visit… and write SOMETHING, sometime before it all gets out of hand… my conference paper, for example?!

And so...