Entertainment!

So, amidst all the studying and reading and reading and research and reading and papers and reading, we find time to see and do some pretty cool stuff.

like...

Live bands at cafes!

british country....weird. but really good! They've been to nashville!

And open mic night at pubs!

This sarah, one of our friends who is an amazing singer and performed at this pub, Beau Nash.

Aaaand the King's Speech play at the Theatre Royal!!

Parents in Bath + Stratford

After an exhausting weekend at Canterbury, I had one day to relax before...

EXCITEMENT! PARENTS IN BATH!!

They drove from Grandma's, across the chunnel, got off in Dover, then drove 3 hours to Bath, where they arrived about 2 minutes before I had class, which was inconvenient.
took them on a tour of the abbey, then found a hidden tea shop where we spent our afternoon. Then had dinner at Tilly's Bistro, down the street from my house. It was Valentine's day--and I LOVED spending it with my fam =]

The next day I met them at their Bed and Breakfast for a wonderful traditional English breakfast!

We then went grocery shopping (thanks momma and daddy) and I gave them a tour of the museum where I intern. Then tea with Andrew Butterworth and dinner at a pub with the majority of ASE.
The visit was way too short but very enjoyable!

On Friday, my Mythologizing Shakespeare class took a trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare's home!!
A two and a half hour bus ride took us to this wonderful place

we got to look at Shakespeare archives for 2 hours, and learned about prompt copies and read reviews to different productions of his plays throughout the years. Then we got a tour of the city, and finally, off to the Swan Theatre to see Measure for Measure!

Saturday was spent shopping, sleeping, and doing homework. Sunday, much the same, minus the shopping. I went out to breakfast at a small cafe next to my house and had a delicious breakfast. Back to classes tomorrow!

Canterbury

So we had our first week of classes, taught by Oxford professors, or "tutors" as they call them here. Very intimidating, and lots and lots of work to do.
But we decided to take our work with us and head to Canterbury for the weekend! Took the 6 am train and landed in freeezing Canterbury. We explored the Canterbury Cathedral for about an hour.
It was built in the first century, and is most famous for St. Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered by King Henry II (i think) inside the church. When he died, miracles started occurring in the church and they proclaimed Thomas a saint.

Then we found our hostel (very sketchy place, but you get what you pay for) and enjoyed the most delicious meal I've had since I got to England, in this restaurant called la Trappiste. Later we spent hours at a wonderful Thai restaurant for dinner.

Day two was spent in cafes because it was so cold and we had so much homework to do. We also managed to go see the Roman museum. There was a roman town built underneath Canterbury. Then we went to the Canterbury Tales reenactment, where I kind of went crazy with glee. It was so great.

But we were happy to come back to Bath. And this week the parents are coming to get a taste of Bath :)

This weekend was very very eventful and full of tourist-y citings! 

On Saturday we went to the local farmers market, then I did some work for my classes. We had our first snowfall in Bath on Saturday!

Sunday was our trip to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Lacock.

Located in the county of Wiltshire, it's surrounded by country side and burial grounds that apparently contain some neolithic elite class! whoaaa. The stones are believed to date back to 3200 BC. It was almost too cold to enjoy it so the visit was very brief. The bus was much warmer.

Then we went to Salisbury, established in 1220. Fun fact, Richard III was hung here. It also houses a really sweet Cathedral, built in 1220, and it only took 38 years to build, which is a real accomplishment. It has one of the 4 original copies of the Magna Carta, and the world's oldest working clock. It's got some pretty cool burial tombs of famous royal people. 

Then we went to Lacock, founded by Ela, who was a pretty powerful countess. We had dinner at King George's Inn, very nom. 

Bed time! class starts tomorrow!

Bath Bath Bath

Today I went to the post office, the train station, AND a coffee shop all by myself! I'm slowly getting the hang of this city. I also got a tour of the museum I will be interning at, which is a 15 minute walk uphill from my house, yippee!

We also got a private tour of Bath Abbey, and I now have a basic history of it, although I am too lazy to type it all out right now. Basically it's a huge, really old fancy church and I live next door to it.

here's a picture of my street and beyond:

and of course, the first picture I took since I got to Bath was....

My Books! it's ok though, because everyone in this program is a HUGE nerd. makes me happy.

First few days

First, to everyone who wants to send me things (hint hint) here's my address:

Nelson House
2 Pierrepont St.
Bath, England BA1 1LB

After a stressful (though not as stressful as those flying from America) flight and many train rides, I finally made it to Bath! Moved into my house, which is a historic 18th-century house owned by Thomas Linley, a famous composer who was best friends with Mozart. I am currently sitting in what used to be Linley's music room. This house was apparently filled with lots of scandal with the ladies. Hopefully his ghost doesn't come out to play..

We had an informal tour of the city today, but I'm still as lost as ever. Lots of orientation meetings and tours all week.The city is absolutely beautiful, lots of cobblestone streets and little shops and cafes.
Still trying to get used to people driving on the other side of the road. I forget sometimes. this can be very dangerous. The accent is fabulous; they keep telling us to stop focusing on HOW they say things so we can pay attention to WHAT they are actually saying. Needless to say I have to ask the locals to repeat themselves a few times. Our entire group also has a giant "look at me, I'm American!" air about us, which leads to very interesting conversations.

that's all for now, off to get some much needed sleep!