A Long Overdue Update!

Hello family, I know it's been a while but I've been up to a lot of things. Most of this has been homework (my color theory class requires painting every other night!) and classes. But I have been doing some fun things too...

- My room mate, Katie, and friends Misty and Lauren have dinners or go out to see the sites once or twice a week. We had a delicious Easter Dinner with salad, chicken, mashed potatoes, and tasty desserts! It's great to have a close group of friends to hang out with and spend time doing "homey" things.

- I took a brief weekend trip to visit the boyfriend Stan at his home in Maryland. It was a beautiful spring trip, full of warm weather, sunshine, and fun adventures. We had a bonfire, went hiking, biking along the Potomac, and looked for fossils along the Chesapeake bay. I couldn't have asked for anything more - except maybe a longer weekend! Here's a sunny picture of us at the top of the cliffs overlooking Harper's Ferry:


- My friend (and former GW room-mate) Sam Tamboline is in town for her spring break. We walked around the touristy sites and also attended a celebration of Shakespeare's birthday at the Globe Theater. They had a free "open house" with demonstrations, exhibits, and workshops onstage. The weather couldn't have been better, either: 65 and sunny! I think I'm getting a tan again...

- A lot of you may be wondering about the volcano that's been erupting in Iceland. Here in England the only problems we're experiencing are flight cancellations. I've seen no ash in the sky or on the ground, there's no haze in the air (even on sunny days), and the sunsets are only a little bit prettier - that I've seen. That being said, a lot of plans have been disrupted by the ash in the upper atmosphere. People are stranded in Germany, Greece, and Sweden and have been unable to get rides back in time for classes tomorrow. The tourist industry really suffered this weekend because tourists couldn't fly into the city. On the other hand, hotels are booked up because business people can't leave! Trains, buses, and ferries are all packed with people trying to find other ways of getting out of the country. People like me, who are lucky enough to have nowhere to go, are just sitting tight and hoping that things clear up soon!

That's about it. In terms of school it's coming down to the wire! Mid-terms are almost over and there's less than 5 weeks before I'm flying home for the summer. I'm ready to be home, though, with free laundry, American food (tex-mex!), and a soft bed.

Bath, Hiking, and Boat Races!

As promised, here is the new post detailing my exciting week - with pictures!

First, on Friday of last week we took a trip to the town of Bath, about 2 hours away from London by bus. The town is one of the oldest cities in England, and was one of the largest cities occupied by the Romans in the early 1st century (that's 50AD!) The town is famous for being the only natural hot spring in all of the UK. Water seeps through the limestone ground, heats up, and is forced to the surface through a gap in the bedrock only in the town of Bath. The Celts and Romans both used the hot spring for bathing and healing purposes, as well as a site for religious worship. Over time the hot springs and bathing pools were covered up with rubble and built over. It was only in the late 1800s that the ancient baths and temples were rediscovered! However, even without the presence of the hot spring, Bath remained popular with the elite for summer holidays, social galas, and was even England's fashion capitol in the Victorian era! Our visit to Bath consisted of a tour of the town - where we got to see upper end Georgian homes where people like Jane Austen lived - a visit to the British Fashion Museum, and then an audio tour of the ancient Roman bath complex. I was impressed by how advanced the Roman buildings were for 76AD. They used lead pipes to carry hot water from pool to pool, had a system for heating floors, and even had the world's first hot tubs and massage rooms! At the end of our tour we had high tea (tea, scones, and pastries) in the "Pump Room" above the baths. We then took the long bus ride back to London to complete the day.



On Saturday, we took another school trip to go hiking in the Surrey countryside. Just like our hike the first term, this was a trek up and down hills through southern England, seeing farms, forests, and small villages. My friend Misty and I even took a daring trip across stepping stones through a river early in the day. Plus the views from the top of hills were great, and I particularly enjoyed a sunny lunch sitting in a tree! At the end of the hike, just before returning to the train station, we stopped in the small town of Mickle for pints of Shandy (lager and sprite) with the locals. Mickle is also famous for having a small cathedral built in the early 1300s!



The rest of the week I spent getting through classes and homework. I also moved rooms because my new room-mates and I had very different lifestyles and sleeping schedules. I'm so much happier now living in the flat with my friend Katie!

Today Lauren, Katie, Misty, and I went down to the Thames to watch the epic Oxford/Cambridge boat race. This is the "Superbowl" of collegiate rowing. The Oxford/Cambridge rivalry is legendary, and hundreds of thousands of people show up to watch the two crew teams battle it out. We positioned ourselves at the start of the race - with a great view of the boats as they first took off, and then moved to a big-screen to watch the finish. We actually got to witness a little upset. You see, Oxford has traditionally always won this race, and was favored to win today considering the water conditions. However, Cambridge won and even finished by a huge lead! People were excited and surprised by the upset. We were just happy to get to see history in the making! After the race we had dinner in Covent Garden before returning home. We're getting together for Easter dinner tomorrow - so I'll have more updates then!



In the meantime, enjoy the pictures above and talk to you all soon!