Brighton again and the Blues...

So-- even though there was a big day trip in there--and I'm in my general freak out tourist triage… there really wasn't a whole LOT that happened this weekend, really.

The day trip to Brighton was lovely--if not perfectly clear. I had bought these really cheap non-refundable, non-transferrable train tickets into Brighton at a time when the forecast was for bright sunny days. And yet-- by the time I actually got there, of course, there was threats of thunderstorms. I even momentarily considered just scrapping my plans and letting that (rather small) money be considered a sacrifice to the travel gods.

But I'm glad I decided to go, instead. I had, it turns out, a lovely time still! The beach is the beach, and I just adore the vibe around Brighton. Really, for this trip so far, my favorite stops outside of London have been Brighton and Bristol… Something about graffiti art, apparently. Actually, it probably has something more to do with the fact that I am actually lousy for choice for vegetarian restaurants at either place. Though it's probably a similar overall theme, if you think about it…

Case in point, as I was walking from the train station into town--veering my way to a highly recommended coffee shop I wanted to visit (called Small Batch), I wandered past two veggie restaurants-- both within a few doors of each other! AND-- it was getting to be lunch time on a Saturday and one was offering the "full English breakfast" late on weekend days. Woot! I've been wanting to try this. It's quite tasty, actually… So it's a big breakfast-- beans and toast and eggs and sausage and potatoes and stewed (?) tomatoes… This is the traditional English breakfast. So mine was basically all these things, only a tofu scramble instead-- But the stewed tomatoes was a fun touch-- the beans for brekkie is "foreign" enough to be entertaining. And I got an extra mushroom dish that MIGHT have been considered gravy? I was actually at a loss there-- but it was tasty and I mixed it into my tofu scramble and enjoyed it just fine. :) So I had an English breakfast for lunch, really, but it kind of worked-- as so much of it was unusual for breakfast food, anyway! :) I think I'm more of a continental breakfast kind of girl, really. :)

Small Batch was also a lovely coffee shop-- I just got a flat white (americano with milk-- so basically a cafe au lait mixed with a latte). And tried to take advantage of their wifi-- but they didn't have any. This might have been the one complaint about the whole Indy thing over the course of the day-- none of the restaurants or coffee houses I went to had wifi!

While we're talking about all my restaurants, I'll throw in the dinner joint, too. It was a burrito place called Tortilla that bragged of "genuine California style Mexican food." Well, Cali Mex is my fave… And this place looked basically like a Chipotle-- indeed, it WAS basically Chipotle. More indeed, it was WAY closer to Chipotle than the CHIPOTLE in London!! And that is just weird! The London Chipotle was my one big example of being disappointed b/c the UK version wasn't QUITE what I wanted and remembered from the US version. This other place, though, had tortillas more like the US kind, and added guac as the other kind did… I don't know how/why, but even the ingredients-- the kind of salsa used, etc, was closer to the US Chipotle. The only differences, really, was that I didn't use a knife and fork to massacre my burrito as I usually do (I didn't see cutlery, in fact), and the burrito was a bit smaller than the US version-- making it vaguely POSSIBLE to eat with my hands. It WAS bigger than the London Chipotle, though, in keeping with the general weirdness going on there!

So those were my main eateries-- I also got an ice cream on the beach during the sunny time in the afternoon… And THAT was basically what I did in Brighton…

I found a lovely little used book store in the Lanes (where I would dip when it rained) and bought a trashed copy of The Talented Mr Ripley (aka one of the earliest shows I saw in London) for L1. Knowing this book would never come back to the States with me, I proceeded to trash it further by reading it on the beach for most of the rest of that day… I'd never read it before. And it was pretty close to a fun trashy beach read! Only, of course for me, with the added bonus of being almost "homework" as it was connected to one of the plays I'd seen and meant to read once I had a chance. :)

It was nice just practically to veg out all day. I didn't do the Pavilion--as I'd already done it. I DID do the Pier, and I just sat there and stared at the water… The clouds that hung around pretty much all day really added to the scenery-- they didn't detract. The only thing that would have been better is had I seen the green flash on a clear day. But I can do that some other time. :)

Sunday, then, I was back in London. I had tickets to see a band called the Blues Explosion at this uber famous London club called Ronnie Scott's. I'm not a big jazz person-- so I liked the idea that this band was BLUES, not jazz. It did mean, however, that I'm seeing a show or concert or something each of my last four nights in town… Sheesh!

Before the show, I tried to knock off a couple more items off my London list… The Abbey Rd zebra crossing obligatory Beatles picture and Regents Park--which I have seen (but can never believe) described as BETTER THAN my beloved Hyde Park/Kensington. Ooh-- I just thought of something. I saw RP described as better than Hyde Park-- NOT Kensington Gardens. This is interesting-- and potentially true. Kensington Gardens is really my favorite-- Hyde Park is fine-- but not nearly as cool… So maybe I give the tour guide/ Timeout credit for that one… Regents Park-- the corner that I visited Sunday-- was lovely. It's tulip season-- and I might have seen more tulips here than at Kew! And there are a ton of rose bushes that will explode into bloom this summer! That will be GORGEOUS!! Another thing I appreciated/noticed about Regents Park is that they have a famous open-air theater there, that I hadn't even tried to book at-- as I was here just in the winter. BUT-- I AM back for one night in May before I fly back to the States… Maybe, maybe, after all. Then MAYBE I will also see some roses… The show, btw, is Peter Pan-- which is THIS close to perfect, as Barrie lived near my good old Kensington Gardens and PP is set at Kensington Gardens. It's super-local to me (ala the previous Cats show) and in an outdoor theater! This might just be meant to be! :)

By the way-- if you want to watch ridiculous tourists attempt to cross the zebra crossing at Abbey Rd (you missed your chance with me)-- there's a web cam for that:

http://www.onabbeyroad.com/cam.htm

After RP-- I wended my way down to grab a bite before the show. This was my only real complaint about the day… I had a fun Indian place lined up-- but it was unexpectedly closed. THEN there was a coffee shop next, but it was under construction! So I ended up at a chain with decidedly Meh food… Sigh! Let that be the last boring chain experience of mine in London-- this is my wish… :)

Finally, I went to the show-- not really knowing what to expect. First off, I was suddenly standing in one of those queues outside a club like everyone always does. Only, imagine me in such a line: wearing hiking books, jeans, and a backpack-- having just come from walking around Regents Park for hours! :) Oh well-- I had tickets already-- They don't have a dress code-- people just seemed to WANT to dress up for it. And it would be dark in there… Whatcha gonna do?

I got in there and stepped DIRECTLY back to the 1950s. I had never actually been in this kind of club before-- where people are sitting at tables, and ordering food and drinks, all through the show. It was really cool, actually! I was just waiting for the cast of LA Confidential to show up… In that kind of mood, I ordered a whiskey sour to drink during the concert-- It seemed like an appropriately old-fashioned drink. AND it was Mark Twain's favorite cocktail. Indeed-- my chapter theorizing that Twain helped to popularize whiskey in his literature will largely feature this particular drink (well--versions of it). So it was practically research! :)

The band was a lot of fun… Not the BEST thing I've ever heard, but an entertaining evening out. They played old blues standards-- but nothing so popular that a tourist like me would know it. So it wasn't QUITE like listening to the soundtrack to The Commitments, but it was really close. There was the brass section, a keyboardist, then a woman came up in the second set and it was practically like they had the back up singers. I'm not complaining! I loved that movie and my mom and I watched a couple of the original members in a show in San Jose years ago. The music was a LOT like that… Makes me realize I should work on that part of my musical knowledge. (I have NO musical knowledge outside of 80s pop and hair bands-- there I'm an expert. If Dean Winchester would know the music-- there is an EXCELLENT chance I do, too. Otherwise, not so much. I have a lot of shame about this-- but watcha gonna do?)

And that was my day-- In keeping with the theme of reading books based on shows seen, I read Neil Gaiman's Stardust while on the bus and in the park over the course of the day… I didn't see a live show, but rather the movie… But it was at the house of one of my colleagues and a lot of fun, so I'm counting it!

It's funny that here I am in frantic mode trying to get everything done in the time I have-- and yet I've finished three books in two days… (Saturday I also finished Song of Solomon on the train on the way DOWN.) I guess now that I'm not reading for school, I can read these other books. I would imagine if I checked I've been reading this much all along… There is a LOT of time spent on the tube, or the bus, or the coach, or train, or whatever in London… But before it was always for class, or the chapter I was working on, or something more work-related like that… even counting the week or two I spent falling down the Harry Potter rabbit hole (ooh--fun mixed kids' book metaphor there!). So I guess I'm not reading any faster than normal… :)

And apparently tonight's show, American Buffalo, is also based on a book… well, a play, but a readable work of literature… Stuff to keep me busy… ;)

Oh and I almost forgot: I also went past Speaker's Corner Sunday afternoon to see the nutters. I forgot b/c it was pretty forgettable. A couple Christian nutters screaming at a crowd of maybe 20 passing tourists like me. Oh well I have the photo below... C:

Goodbyes and Shakespeare Day

The past two days (Wednesday and Thursday) have been all about the CAPA goodbyes…

Wednesday was the CAPA commencement ceremony… and I thought all along that I'd go to it as I wasn't going to make my home university's graduation in May. Plus, I just like ceremony of any kind! So, it was therefore ironic that the S&T students were no-shows to this…

BUT--there were pretty much all my other students represented. And it was a lovely little shindig. Believe it or not-- this was my first chocolate fountain! It was good-not-great. The chocolate fountain itself is amazing and you can't go wrong there. BUT they didn't have or had already run out of interesting things to dip into it. There were a few strawberries, bits of bananas, and marshmallows (yuk!). I remembered back to chocolate fondues past (OH-- we have to do La Fondue next time I'm in the Bay Area!) and their varieties of dippables… other chocolates, other fruits, cookies and such… And somehow it was easier with fondue forks than the bbq skewers they provided at the hotel Wednesday.

ANYWAY… There were than many many speeches… This is a boring and necessary part of the ritual/ rite of passage. My little group of students gave a speech and showed a video that was totally cool and sweet. Almost got weepy about it! It was THAT kind of evening… And we were by far the smallest group-- but we were able to bond because of it… And I do hope some of my students keep in touch with me AND with each other! They were a really good group!!

Earlier on Wednesday I took advantage of a nice day in London-- like the Midwest, I have learned never to take nice days here for granted-- to go to Kew Gardens one more time. I really like the fact that I got to see it in the winter and the spring. It makes for nice comparisons and I get to appreciate that nature is lovely all the year round. Especially when a team of gardeners are paid to make it so! Last visit, I focused primarily on the greenhouses-- as it rained some of the time while I was there and it was chilly. This time, the weather being nicer, I avoided the greenhouses almost entirely and just wandered around the grounds the whole time. I was there seriously almost the whole day. And I breathed in the redwood grove smell… and cherry blossoms at the Japanese garden… and tulips in the shape of the flags of the UK and NL in commemoration of something WWII related (they were pretty--that was my focus)… and I sat by the pond and listened to the ducks and geese converse (they had NO fear of me--it was a bit alarming)… turns out ducks are adorable when they sleep! and I walked over to the pagoda… and I wandered through the bamboo grove… and more apple, cherry, and other fruiting trees blossoms! It is amazing how little I duplicated of my first visit: The one greenhouse I entered was the water lily pond house-- which was closed in the winter! Otherwise, last time, there was the Princess of Wales house, the Alpine house, and the Tropical zone greenhouse… nope!… AND a fun museum of a woman who wandered the world after she retired and painted all the plants she saw… then hung them all over the place in her house-- which is now in Kew Gardens… All that was the previous visit. When you CAN sit by a pond and listen to geese flying overhead, you do! :)

And then you go to your school's commencement ceremony and get a box of chocolates!! ;)

Thursday, then, was Shakespeare's Day (assumed birthday and KNOWN death day) as well as St. George's Day which is a big deal in the UK. AND it was the opening day for the Globe's summer season. AND I got myself a ticket to go the minute they became available back in February, I think it was… Meanwhile, my students never did-- no matter how many times I reminded them. THEN, last month, CAPA emailed me and said they had extras and would I want them for my students. A Shakespeare miracle! So they got to go after all!!

Anyway, first I had to figure out some "last chance" tourism stuff to do before the evening show. The Globe is in Southbank-- so I naturally thought of Borough Market and Southbank stuff. There is a tiny little museum there called the Old Operating Theatre that I'd been thinking about visiting. Right in the shadow of the Shard… So I made that my first stop. It's a Victorian era attic conversion over a church that was made into a teaching hospital. It's where Florence Nightengale got her start, in fact. Even Keats studied there. There was the actual operating theater-- and displays of era-appropriate surgical implements-- revolting! And an herb garret-- for making the various medicines. All I could think of was the Whitman line about "what was removed" dropping "horribly" in the pail-- or in this case the convenient saw dust right beside the surgical table… Made of wood-- so hygienic! This was a hospital focused on women, as well, so a lot of the surgical implements were to do with childbirth. OMG that was some scary shit!!!!!! I did NOT take pictures, in fact… I didn't want to terrify any mothers I know! The hospital was boarded up and neglected when Flo Night moved to a different part of London. I was just rediscovered in the mid-20th century, and is being restored bit by bit ever since then. It IS fascinating-- in a "this was the same time as the elephant man and omg what people did to each other" kind of way!

After that, I ran-not-walked to a nearby coffee shop called Monmouth. It's a big deal here-- one of London's best, ask any publication you like. Usually there's a line half way down the block… But this time there were only about 5 people ahead of me… I asked for a flat white (Americano with warmed milk)… and then wandered around Borough Market… for potentially the last time… THIS trip… Grabbed yummy veggie food from one of the food stands. OH how I love London street food!! And then I sat in the churchyard next door with about half of London and ate my late lunch/early dinner/TEA! After that, there was a spur of the moment parade through the Market of a paper dragon and some England flag wearing fellows for St George's Day (patron saint of England). And I grabbed a pint at a nearby pub to celebrate the day, as well…

Neat little moment where I had Wifi and both brothers were at their phones as well and we had a Google hangouts chat… CA, MO, and UK represent!!

FINALLY, it was time to head over to the Globe… where I realized there was a queue for the groundling standing area (where my tickets were). SO I grabbed a spot and waited like a good girl with the rest of them… The standing spots sound terrible-- and it's a pain to stand, sure. BUT it's the best way to see the show. So even if you don't mind spending more money-- it's the way I would recommend seeing the show.

Speaking of the show… The play was Merchant of Venice, and Jonathan Pryce (one of those British actors who is in EVERYTHING) played Shylock. It's such a disturbing play-- and they went there and allowed it to disturb us… Nothing says a fun spring evening like the Venitian Inquisition and converting Jews to Christianity by force!!… And then the play is a comedy… so 2/3 of the time was spent cracking up! Which made the disturbing bits stand out even more… I had read this play way back in undergrad… but I didn't remember much. So I was just along for the ride, as it were. And they really had all of us in the audience eating out of their hands-- almost literally. They pulled people (one of which being a student from CAPA) up out of the groundling area onto the stage for one part… They would speak right at certain people in the audience at different times… (I was one of these people-- I am very tall and he probably meant to look at someone two rows behind me… I was being described while one man was deciding NOT to choose the golden box but rather the lead… I was mentioned as wearing LOTS of makeup-- NOT!) It was all such a fun event. Lovely night-- amazing to be SO CLOSE to the stage and seriously actually a part of things. And Jonathan Pryce was amazing!! Shylock of course is the reason people watch the play-- it's THE part. The rest is kind of a bland comedy…

And I am going BACK Tuesday to see Romeo and Juliet!

Maybe the nicest part of the evening was watching the various CAPA students after. They were having the times of their lives! It was heartwarming in an almost literal sense! Thursday evening was their second to last evening, so they were going out right on top!! Walking back to the tube over the Millennium Bridge after seeing a show at the Globe. It is a pretty excellent moment! :)

Today-- Friday-- I have no theater plans. What?! It is ridiculous that this is the exception not the rule. Lots of stuff I wanted to see just came out this week… What can I do?! SO I think I'll turn today into "go to museums one last time" day. That will also make it a bit cheaper… so maybe I'll go out for a nicer lunch or something… Friday nights are later at some museums, too… There is an exhibit that just opened at the British Museum about Australian Aboriginal art. And I LOVE all things Aussie! (Hence the cat named just that!) And we'll see what other trouble I can get into after that… :) Not too much, I think, as tomorrow is also my last day trip out of London and early morning… I'm going to Brighton again, baby!!

Les Eye and Les Mis!

I didn't even know I WANTED to see it…

But the tide of "must watch all the things" has swept over me… and it's fitting that I see one of these big brash West End shows right here at the end… (whimper-- the end of the London-extravaganza!)

But first-- so we left off with me taking a night bus back to London from Lancaster/the Lakes… I think I might have said I'd describe that adventure… But I think some things are better left to die… Not really, die, of course… I slept a little-- a VERY little. Then got back to the flat early enough that I took a nap/some proper sleep for a few hours Monday morning. So half the day wasted-- but I wasn't!

Monday, then, was slow but lovely and I tried to make it count still. Had to go to CAPA to pay for my tix to Les Mis, for one thing… Oh I will miss not just the theater (theatre??) but also the CHEAP theater!! It's almost like in London they WANT people to see the theater-- ;)

Then I pottered around a bit-- and FINALLY rented a bike from the Barclay's bike rental scheme that's all through the city-- Part of the mayor's attempts to green up the city and make it less car-friendly and more other-items friendly-- specifically bikes. You're a funny funny individual, though, if you think I'd bike in the city proper… Oh hell no! I don't know how the bicyclists do it-- with the double decker buses and cabs and what have you swerving around… Nope, my speed is more just riding around Kensington Gardens/ Hyde Park… Which was apparently also the idea of EVERYONE at Kensington/Hyde Park… :) It WAS a lovely LOVELY day-- and all of London, as the saying goes, flocks to parks and such whenever the sun is out and the weather is above 60 degrees f… Weirdly, there seemed to be some kind of pro-marijuana/Rastafarian celebration happening in Hyde Park where I parked my bike-- over by speaker's corner… MAN, I thought I was back in Amsterdam for a second! I started taking pictures in a "look, all of London is at the park" way, when I noticed the smell… Then I thought a bunch of paranoid potheads might not appreciate me taking pictures of them-- So I wandered away… :)

Off to grab an ice cream (also a rule in London on a nice day-- their ice cream is nothing-- NOTHING-- compared to the stuff I ate last summer in MI…). And to take an insane number of pictures of birds in water… I am having too much fun taking random pictures here-- another thing to add to the list of things I will miss SO BAD!!

OK--so Monday was just some errands and some catching up and some riding around the park… (ah!)… Then today I realized I was down to 10 DAYS LEFT IN LONDON!!!!!!

And I died inside a little…

Do you think it would be possible for me still to find some guy to marry for a British green card, so I can stay???

I have a bit of a list of things I haven't gotten around to doing yet--or was for some reason or another waiting to do… and the London Eye was one of them. And for a combination of schedule and weather reasons, today looked like the best day to do it!

It's expensive--as everything in London is expensive. People seem to be mixed about if it's worth the money or not. For those who think it's a waste of time, I have to wonder what were they expecting??!! It seems to me to be exactly what you imagine it must be. You're in a HUGE Ferris Wheel (invented for the Chicago World's Fair-- Go USA!) and desperately taking pictures you hope will turn out of the London skyline… over a period of about 30 minutes. And I waited in a line at least that long for the privilege. And yes, I think it was worth that… I'll probably never do it again-- but I HAVE now done it!

It made me remember the Iamsterdam sign I HAD to pose with the other weekend. There are all these things to do in these European cities I've been to before that didn't exist almost 20 years ago! What will it be in Paris, I wonder??? (Speaking of Paris, I just looked it up, and it seems as though Jim Morrison is still at the Pere Lechaise [sp?] Cemetery. I could have sworn I read that the Parisian government had exhumed his body and moved him b/c they thought he was bringing the *wrong element* of tourist-- i.e., me. I had been holding a grudge about this ever since… But if he's still there… What was I reading?!)

I DO have an idea of something to do in Barcelona, btw… Not exactly new to me, but… I am still obsessed with Fast & Furious 7, even though absolutely no one I know has seen it yet. How is this possible, btw??!! I can't justify spending the money to see it again in the UK, though. It was NOT a cheap ticket, and I felt compelled to see it in Imax… BUT if I see it again in Spain, then I can practice my Spanish! And then it's practically educational! In fact, I am improving myself by seeing it. AND I've already seen it once, so it will be easier to follow along. AND there's only about 19 lines of dialogue, anyway. AND I can see all the cars go boom!!! I so love this idea-- Look out Barcelona!! ;)

Back to the Eye-- afterwards, I had been thinking about visiting the National Gallery one more time-- especially as it's free. But it was SUCH a nice day-- and these are not to be taken for granted (a difficult concept for someone raised in CA to understand, but I think I'm starting to get it). So instead I walked, and walked, and walked… Down from Embankment to London Bridge on the South Bank side, then across to the City and back towards Soho… slowly and taking time to stop and smell London. And take pictures of the several Shaun the Sheep statues I saw along the way.

Took a bit of a break at Starbucks-- the only US chain I frequent out of country. Indeed, only one of two US chains I've visited in London. The other was Chipotle… and even thought I adore Chipotle and had been really looking forward to this, it was disappointing. Why visit disappointing US chains when the London stuff is fabulous!?

Then, time for dinner-- and I'd seen a raw food restaurant in this trendy neighborhood called Seven Dials… so I thought I'd try it out… (How many cool restaurants will I not have a chance to visit??!!) On my way to the door-- out on the plaza-- I saw John Goodman… OMG… He is looking a bit rough… somewhere between tired and older and someone who recently lost a good deal of weight. Anyway, I tried desperately to play it cool in the way I always do… and probably come across as oddly twitchy to all these people I do this to… In the restaurant, I quickly told the servers and my neighbor at the bar. One waitress ran downstairs to see for herself, but he was gone already. Another waitress then came up and said she'd just seen him, too. There were nudges and nods towards me--verifying my story, if you will. People then reminisced who were the most famous people we'd seen. There were several at this very cafe, it turned out… The most famous one of which of the list has completely escaped me-- but the Olsen twins' sister was one of the not SO fancy ones. Also Florence of "and the machine." Them crazy artsy types like raw food, apparently. The guy sitting next to me hung out with Vivienne Westwood… It was a fun little bonding moment all around.

And it struck me how much I like these places--these people… all white people dreads and guys with gold teeth and girls in flowing tie-dye dresses. I was absolutely comfortable sliding up to the bar and chatting with them about being star struck… And all eating raw food and talking almost ridiculously earnestly about words like "energy." I am SUCH a hippie!! When I was younger, I really REALLY fought that label-- arguing that I bathed, didn't smell of patchouli, didn't live in a teepee, things like this. But, in my more mature years, I realize: who am I kidding? I'm straddling the line-- teepees are on my horizon… I'm voluntarily staying in a hostel, after all, where I'll get to sleep in a converted storage container. And this is by choice! A yurt must be in my future!

The food, by the way, was also quite good. A not-baked-but-stuffed (that was a fun little bit of magic) beefsteak tomato with lots of stuff involving corn, cashews, and cauliflower. Shoulda taken a picture. It looked way fancier than hippie food has any right to look… There was some nutty pesto as well. It looked like it shouldn't be filling at all, in fact. But it lasted me GREAT-- all through the show!

Then, I wandered up to the show… Les Mis (I'll never be able to spell it correctly so let's use the abbreviated version)! This makes two HUGE musical standards in less than a week. I have Memories and I Dreamed a Dream just bouncing around in my head now… Let it Go might finally get a bit of a vacation. (Btw-- in keeping with recent obsessions, the "Till I See You Again" song from FF7 is also cruising around up there…) It was a great production-- lots of explosions and smoke and sets moving around on stage. I tried to decide if this or Treasure Island had the more complicated sets-- and that is a good sign-- both are set-design winners! This one also had music-- lots and lots of music. In fact, no one spoke in the whole three hours. If it had to be said, it had to be SUNG! And I had heard the story on a book on tape once when I was in high school--but I really didn't remember the story much. There is a random French Revolution in miniature in the middle of it! (Ah the French-- all these failed revolutions--it adds to the drama, see?!) And everyone dies in the end… and there is a lot of God… which is interesting given how crappy everyone's lives turn out. But it's also so LOVELY!! Sigh! I wept like a baby, of course!

Now, this show just kind of fell in my lap. CAPA had a couple of tickets available if I wanted… But that still leaves *5* shows for me to see in the next week… b/c I am crazy and I'm really running out of time!! TO refresh your memory: Merchant of Venice at the Globe Thursday, Blues Explosion show at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club Sunday, American Buffalo (with John Goodman!!) Monday, Romeo and Juliet at the Globe (GASP!) Tuesday, and Everyman at National Theatre Wednesday-- WHEW!!!

And then I leave, and go wandering Europe and Airbnb for the next few weeks… And that will be fun… so let's not be sad… … …

A month from now I'll be in the US already… … …

The Lake District!

This was one of my earliest stops in the UK back in 98, and absolutely on my must list for this trip, as well. It's been an interesting change in this visit to the UK… I'm in the city almost the whole time. The other two visits just used the city as a starting/ending point, with the majority of the time spent in the country… Lakes, Yorkshire, Cornwall, Devon… that kind of thing… (I know, I had a rough life in previous iterations!) It's funny how difficult these bits of the country are to visit from London without a car…

And one of the reasons I signed up to do the Lancaster University Conference was for this day of a potential visit to the Lake District. Notice I said "day" in the Lakes… this is a travesty and a crime… the Lakes should be a week-long visit where I backpack from one hostel or campground to another… BUT I have an available day. I don't have a week. I will take what I can get…

And that wasn't the end of the complications in figuring out just how to manage this… For reasons of cost (this conference ended up being somewhat self-funded…whimper!) I was trying to take Megabus… For reasons of time, I wanted to take the train… In the end, I took everything! Train up to Lancaster… little city buses between the town and the Uni… Train to the Lakes and back… and then Megabus night bus back into London… where I am now writing… Sigh!

The night portion of the bus was critical… I had to take the latest thing I could find… in order to have as much of a day up in the Lakes as possible. THEN, what was I going to do with my time there. I found ONE tour operator that did half-day tours of authors of the area (focusing on Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth, perfect). There were other tours, of course… This is a VERY touristy area… But they had to be ordered by the group, not by the individual. Now, I'm not the biggest Beatrix Potter fan, by any means, or Wordsworth, for that matter. (He's no Twain!) But I do love him, and I very much appreciate his influence on the US transcendentalists-- who ARE my adored authors!

With that in mind, now, we can imagine me arriving in Windermere… This afternoon tour is pretty much ideal. It gives me time to check out the place, then takes up most of my time in the area and goes to all the places I'd never be able to get on my own… and then there is time after to check out Windermere or grab dinner or whatever… and then I train away.

I arrive at the venue just to check in--well before our scheduled trip but out of an excess of caution-- and the woman there tells me my tour is CANCELLED-- as I was the only one signed up. And I can a) get a refund or b) take this other tour they've offered that I clearly wasn't interested in BEFORE. And I almost exploded in my head, body, brain, spirit… It got bad…

Keep in mind, there are a lot of pieces in the air for this day. If something is late, for example, everything else crumbles and suddenly I'm not getting to London… And also remember that I didn't have a lot of options in terms of other tours… this being the ONE… So what can I even do at this point??

Well, apparently almost cry and cuss a bit… And be generally FURIOUS… (I do hope they feel the unbelievable rudeness of their conduct-- but I doubt it.) And then just bow down and take whatever they decide to give me because what other choice do I have??? I felt very much like I was at a mechanic's… and that is NEVER a good feeling!

I try to walk it off-- making it almost down to Windermere before it's time to head back up to crap option tour of no choices-- and grab a much needed coffee and brownie… (odd side note: I had been drinking a LOT of awful coffee this weekend. Conference coffee… made by students at catering and put in one of those giant carafes… It was nasty, but I couldn't stop… It had been a while since I would have tolerated such nastiness… I prob should have started drinking tea-- They couldn't destroy tea bags!) The coffee was lovely, actually. The first good coffee in DAYS… and the brownie almost made me high… (note: it wasn't THAT kind of brownie-- I was being metaphorical.) And so steeled, I growled and scowled my way back to the tour company… Hoping my hatred of them that was projecting from me would do all the talking…

I had thought of a million scathing horrid things to say to the driver when he arrived… This was apparently all his fault, btw… (The secretary person was clearly chicken shit…) And all the while knowing I would prob say none of it. And I was wrong. I couldn't seem to help myself from saying snippy things when he did his smarmy… Hi, my name is… crap. Hi, are you? Yes, I'm the one who is NOT taking the tour she signed up for… Ah, well, you know how it is… I just need five minutes (said 10 minutes after the time I was told to arrive, btw). Of COURSE you do…

And I LITTERED… Take THAT! (Of course, I don't think they'll appreciate my evil actions, as the container then blew away and out of sight. Crap! I didn't mean to ACTUALLY litter in a national park!)

EVENTUALLY the guy (a weirdly gnomish old man…) relieved himself or whatever and came back… and told me that he was sure I'd enjoy this new tour better and he'd point out other Beatrix Potter stuff along the way… This, btw, ended up getting weird. Remember, I don't really care all that much about Beatrix Potter… it was the principle of the thing that mattered more to me. But he kept all day acting like I was upset because I was a Potter devotee… It got weird and kind of funny… (I don't know any of her books, for example… just that she drew animals and saved a lot of the land up there from development…) Also, there were several Wordsworth sites that I WAS more interested in…

Last note about the gnome… he was a little creepy. In the way of old white guys… He did this weird 2nd degree about where I was from in the States. And I wan't going to give him anything to go on… Where you from? All over… You don't have a home base?? A state you've never heard of… Finally, I fessed up to Missouri, for him to remember the issue at Ferguson. OF COURSE! I made some sarcastic comment like: we're very proud… Then, to my horror and scooting over to the far side of the bus… He went into a rant defending the police! And how clearly anyone shot by a US cop deserved it… AND then how a British cop would kill you faster… (??!!) I had to say: British police don't have guns! Oh, but they could if they wanted them… and then they'd kill you with skill and precision! WTF??!! (Said mostly in my head…) And I tried to engage very little from then on… I figured the best way to do this was to just get him talking about ANYTHING else… (Then I wouldn't have to listen and we'd both be happy.) So I asked about his kids. Note to the world: ALWAYS ask about the kids… they'll drone on and on and you have to do very little active listening… Remember there is GORGEOUS scenery all around me in this case… It's a win-win.

Onto the gorgeous scenery. It is truly jaw-dropping… I'm dropped instantly into nostalgia from several angles… This reminds me of a car ride with the family. (Hey, kids, let's all get in the car and go THIS way for hours and look at pretty stuff!) It also reminds me of my previous visit to the area… Mom, Dad, you'd LOVE the Lake District!!

AND, my mood softens. I start to have fun in spite of my spite… It's actually much easier to do than have spite when it's all so flipping lovely! The driver has shifted over to much safer ground, and I am able to respond to stuff more honestly and with less horror… Yes, it's lovely-- gorgeous… Can we stop for photos? (Answer, no! Explained why for the next 10 minutes… two steps back, dude!) BUT I can roll the window down… And I do what I can with what I've got… And that's a NIKON, baby!!

Eventually, we catch up with the other family. (Mom, dad, son--Parents doctors and son professional animator--all from India but had lived in Wales ages ago and were revisiting where the son was born and lived as a wee baby. They were lovely!) And the four of us go on a boat ride across lake Derwent… There are a LOT of Lakes, and there is no test at the end… But I took a pic of the tour brochure so I could at least remember the names of stuff in case I ever needed them… ;)

From this point on, the day was GORGEOUS and FABULOUS and other adjectives in ALL CAPS. The day was sunny, the wind--and occasionally spray--was in my face, there was water, trees, birds, sheep, and nothing else! This was what I had made all these ridiculous plans and itinerary for. The boat ride in itself made the day worth it.

And it was pretty much all good from there. They moved me to the back of the bus as "last on," which was clearly fine with all involved. And the gnome drove us all over places we'd never be able to see with a city bus… These desolate grassy wastelands that reminded me of the desert around my folks's pad-- In fact, I had several Arrowhead/Big Bear nostalgia moments during the day-- Passes and valleys-- One side greener, one side more tree-covered, one side more rocky and desolate, one side totally undeveloped… We seriously went from one view to the next. My poor NIKON was on one-bar for battery (How do I keep doing this?) and so I couldn't look at the pictures I was taking-- I had to devote myself just to shooting… And the pics that make it to the blog are from the phone, btw… There was a lovely waterfall… There were a few, but the one we stopped at was called Moss Force… There was even a stone circle, Castle Rigg. It was lovely and friendly and in NO WAY spooky. I wondered if this could be a random market-place stone circle. Just b/c the Druids made a circle DOESN'T have to mean they did human sacrifice or their homage to the seasons there. People were picnicking and it was all so sunny and cheerful. Made me wonder if that WAS the vibe we were supposed to get there. I wasn't missing the Druidic vibe-- Rather, I was picking up exactly the right one. Oddly enough, the gnome's theory was similar to mine…

AND we stopped at Dove Cottage and Grasmere Cemetery for the Wordsworth-iness of them. Once again I had to remember that I'd started out the day very angry and it was because of WW… When by now I just wanted to walk around in the park that was planted with a gajillion daffodils in memorial to WW. I had another mad nostalgia buzz here. I *think* I took an actual film picture here back in 98 that ended up all lovely and soft-focus for some inexplicable reason, and became a "here is my gift that is crafty but not stupid" Christmas present to Wendy that year. IF I remember correctly. It was the SAME shot. Almost the exact same soft focus…

And that was that. We went almost an hour over our schedule, but I was NOT complaining. Given the start of my visit-- that's saying something! And I even heartily and honestly thanked Andy (I guess he's earned his name) by the end. It was LOVELY! And he really took us to all kinds of great parts of the region! I enjoyed every bit of the tour itself. :)

And that left me just time to grab dinner and then get on the train/bus/tube back… Even THIS went right… Walking a slightly different route into the ridiculously cute/touristy/chi chi downtown Windermere area (again, memories of Arrowhead), I came across a house's front yard with THREE cats basking in the sun next to an open window. They were outside, mind you. I got pics of two of the three… (I have a third pic of a cat--but that one was from Lancaster, and not as friendly.) These guys were great, and the tabby leapt from the windowsill TOWARD me, rolled around on its back, and nudged my hand with its head. It didn't LET me pet it, it MADE me… I didn't complain! Then I saw a neat looking dinner place, where I might have had my first patio dining experience in the UK (weather-wise), and the table had coffee beans buried in it! And the wine and pizza were lovely, and Wicked Game played on the stereo. Because of COURSE it did…

Then, trains, buses, and tubes happened… and that is ANOTHER story! :)

Lancaster University Conference

So apparently the whole "doing a post a day" idea was not meant to be... That's ok... I like the idea of less pressure with these posts! I'm also so glad I'm doing them so I'll have a memory of this semester when it's over... as we can't trust my real memory!!

This is a weird and ambitious weekend... it's not the most convenient location... I had to leave *wicked* early Friday (for the 2nd weekend in a row, mind you) to make a panel I was chairing... and my route involved the Tube, a train to Lancaster,  and then a bus from town to campus. Sheesh! And then to top it off, I'm making things more complicated tomorrow. The conference ended this evening. And I decided to hit the Lake District tomorrow and make a holiday of it. BUT that means I add a bus and train north... then train back to Lancaster and bus and then back to London. Whew!! I've been tired in advance all weekend thinking about tomorrow. But I always loved the area, love the Romantic poets, and found a fun little tour around to all the bits I didn't see my last time up...including a boat on the Lake. C: So I'm sure it'll be worth it!

As far as yesterday and today and the actual conference... It was pretty much as conferences tend to be. I mean this in a good way... C:

I arrived in time to check in and stretch my legs a bit before the panel I was chairing on "Liberating Diversity." The conference theme, btw, was "Writing for Liberty" through the university's Centre for Transcultural Writing and Research... and it was a fantastically diverse and global group of people here... largely profs from unis all over the place: the UK, US, Africa and Europe... Anyway, back to the first panel I was involved with... There had been some drama as 2 of the 3 panelists were unable to attend. One couldn't get funding from South Africa and another had an illness in the family. I was concerned about what to do with only one panelist. That was a new one!! But it worked out great! One mia attendee had someone read her paper, and then at the last one someone read from the other's work (creative writing) as well. So we cobbled together a full panel at the end. One critical essay and two creative ones... and I'm going to get a copy of one's work as a door prize! I'm excited about that because the stories were great. (An anthology called Queer Africa!) I was also curious... not worried so much anymore... about the q & a after with the stand ins. So I crafted some questions that were largely not needed as the audience was full of questions anyway...

Today I presented my own paper... and was the only 19th century Americanist lemme tell you... But I was discussing Irving and food as a move toward cultural liberty from the British... and the other panelist discussed water imagery in a book about Indian untouchables... The water and food linked what would otherwise have been very disparate subjects. But there were overlaps. C:

And I stayed around the conference more than I expected to. Everyone has been really great! And there have been all the fun dinners and happy hours and such... (All the fun stuff!) So it's been a long and productive few days!

Had a brief chance to walk around Lancaster itself this evening... and another attendee and I almost literally stumbled into a pub where a live band was playing Irish music. Excellent!! All locals and families and such!

And after all that it's still a bit of an early night. I get caught up on this blog... and then pack and get ready for tomorrow!!! C:

Last day of class...

So--

Yesterday was my last teaching day… Sigh! And again, I hope some of the students keep in touch-- I am kind of nostalgic and curious about them when they return to school… AND at the same time, I have grading to get to!! So--

Of course, I made them go around and tell the class about their remediation projects… And it was a bit different of a project this time, as students don't have any craft material yet on their own… Everything is back in the States, natch. SO there seemed to be even more baking and makeshift cooking projects than usual. But I was introduced to a MO traditional dessert that somehow I've missed--something like super buttery cookies… something like that (I've already forgotten what they're called). They shamed me for a bit that I didn't know about them… I am almost used to it by now… Wherever I go, there is some kind of local cuisine that absolutely EVERYONE knows about and takes for granted while I wonder aloud what that item is… Examples: Hush Puppies, Puppy Chow… I'm noticing there is a real dog food theme in the regional foods of MO and FL… :) All I've tried have been quite tasty, btw!

Projects presented on the day: Cake pops in the shape of snitches with HP quotes attached, mini-pancakes representing a food HP ate with HP quotes, chocolate ice cream sundaes (as HP described) in cups with HP quotes written on them, little HP broomsticks made of string cheese and chives with requisite HP quotes… I *think* that's all for food-- though I brought a ton and others brought snacks as well… A video made of walking around London as Dickens mentions in Sketches By Boz set to fun music, a playlist made of songs that certain Twain quotes made her think of and reading the quotes--then playing the song--and so on-- a kind of jazz poetry mashup session, a paper craft crest of a character from Prince and Pauper, a clay craft of HP's first birthday cake… And I gave the crew cards with photos from around London… They were all very fun projects! And I do love finishing the semester in this kind of way!!

AND I'd been meaning to celebrate the end of the semester in some way… so I got myself tix to Cats… There are so many reasons that it HAD to be Cats… Perhaps it's not the best of the London West End musicals-- BUT it is all about cats… It's based on a book of poems by TS Eliot… who lived very close to where I am staying in Kensington, AND who is FROM St Louis, MO… (Basically, I could have chosen Eliot instead of Twain for the "From MO to London" course…) He wrote the poems for his grandkids (I believe--not his kids) based on the cats he saw around his neighborhood-- practically my neighborhood… AND it makes me think of my cats. :)

Also, as opposed to so much of what I've seen this semester, I made sure actually to read the poems before the play--and it was a great idea. Most of the songs (just not "Memory," I believe) were just the poems put to music… See the framed manuscript of one of the poems given to Webber by Eliot's widow...

Before the play, I tooled around the Soho area… note the photo below... when the weather is nice *all* of London goes to the park! I also bought some souvenirs… fretted myself about HOW I'm going to fit everything in my luggage with all these restrictions… AND had a lovely (Small--note all the food already consumed this day) veggie dinner at a place I'd been to already called Beetroot (British for beets, btw). Turns out they're closing down… Boo!! There is construction going on along the street they're on--and they're getting the boot. I am double glad, therefore, that I got to get there one more time before they go-- They're leaving even before I am!!

And then the inevitable transportation frustration… Caught slow but reliable bus 10 home from the show--only to have it stop at Royal Albert Hall (a good 15 minute walk from my place) and tell us they were stopping there! Grrr! And I'd decided not to wear my good old walking shoes, but "I'm feeling fancy it's my last day of class and I'm going to a proper show" boots… THIS kind of thing I will NOT miss!

And I did a little mental math this morning, and realized that if I do a blog a day for the rest of my time traveling--counting London, Europe, and the East Coast, I could make 100 posts… So now I feel like it's a challenge! (We'll see how I actually do!)