Reason for the lack of time? Almost weekly papers due, reading to catch up on, and one very fantastic spring break to plan out. Katie and I are doing a Euro-tour of our own and are dedicating every Friday to working on it. Katie is planning out Ireland, our first leg of the journey, where we are revolving around the plan to be in Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. After six or so days there, we are flying to Athens and doing the Peloponnese for about 10 days, after which we fly to Rome for 5 days, Florence for 3, and then Venice for one night (we're poor college kids; Venice isn't too accommodating for our type). From there, a flight to Hamburg, Germany, where we will hopefully be staying with friends of Katie for 4 or so days, then back to London. After an assessment of funds and exhaustion level, there is a chance of Scotland for the last weekend and then back down to Durham in time for classes, revision, and finals.
It doesn't even seem real yet, despite the fact that we have gotten all of our accommodations paid for and reserved. Still waiting to get an International Driver's License so I can drive us around the south of Greece, but hopefully it will all work out.
But now, back to the important catch up parts:
London--people here who talk about London are full of LIES. It is not "so much warmer in the South"! That is what I was told, and didn't think it was terrible that I forgot to bring my jacket. WRONG. London was even more cold than Durham had been, possibly because I was outdoors for much more of it. But, past that, here's a look at London as I saw it:
At first, very disorienting. All of these tube stops and "oyster" cards (best things ever!) and lots of people jostling...and then I really looked at a map and realized everything isn't really that far apart, and there is just so much to see that it makes walking all over the place that much more bearable. It was freezing, but seeing the sights was so much more stunning covered in snow. We saw a gorgeous snow-capped Big Ben; the actual Parliament floor of both houses, where they DO GOVERNMENT. I thought that was amazing. We went to see Anthony and Cleopatra in Camdon, "We Will Rock You" (Queen Musical play) and 37 Steps in West End, as well as Ghost Stories on the very last night after Egypt. They were interesting to different degrees; I like productions in general and was only sad that I didn't get to see a ballet. However, it would have been reeally expensive, and I enjoyed the others (especially hearing Queen blasted at me with however-many-amp speakers), so it was well worth it.We saw cousins and friends of the family, including a quick trip to Surrey. Went ice-skating TWICE, and once in the London Tower moat, which was amazing. My roller-blading skills of childhood had not left.
The British Museum was fantastic; two days spent there to see everything--the Egyptian part. Roman. Greek. SUTTON HOO (props to people who know what this is!). It was awesome.
And then we went to Egypt.
Which will be described in its own post.
xxx
