London and Oxford

Well, I haven't written in while because I've made a transition! Friday morning our group checked out of our London flats, headed over to Paddington Station, and took the train to Oxford. I may have to do a separate blog for cool Oxford pictures but for now this blog will be purely narration. There will also need to be another food porn blog, but that comes later.

My last day in London it rained, and there wasn't much going on, hence why I didn't write. During the evening we went to see our last London play, Richard III starring Kevin Spacey. The performance was so booked that our professor could only get us restricted view seats, so we had to lean over a railing from our sort of standing seats at the very top level of the theatre, off to the side, to be able to see 3/4th of the stage. Regardless of this, watching the over 3 hour play from such an uncomfortable position was completely worth it. Spacey was fantastic as Richard, and everything in the play from the set to the music to the acting came together to tell the already interesting story of Richard III in a captivating way. I can see why it's sold out for its run.

The next day most of us made it to the train to Oxford, though a few got onto the platform right as the train pulled away and as a result had to take the next one. Our program takes place in St. Edmund College, one of the smaller of Oxford's colleges but one in which everyone knows my professor (who was a student and teacher at Oxford and has been doing this particular program for years) and in which he knows everyone. He gave us an extensive and very informative tour of Oxford, and later that night a few friends and I went to the pub where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien went to discuss their writing. As it turns out, my professor was tutored by the first and taught by the second while at Oxford, which makes him infinitely more awesome.

Saturday was Cardiff, a 2 hour train ride to Cardiff Central Station, from where we went to Cardiff Bay. The area is recognizable from Doctor Who and Torchwood, particularly Roahld Dahl Plas, which has been used extensively in Torchwood and a few memorable times in Doctor Who. So much so that there was a memorial to Ianto Jones, the most recent Torchwood member to die.

But more importantly, there was a food festival for local foods, and I managed to try, among other things, a Belgian chocolate tart and a toffee brownie. Which I may include above just because food porn is awesome. I also got to take a boat ride around Cardiff Bay and see Cardiff Castle before heading back to Oxford for a meal and then bed.

Sunday was uninteresting for the most part, made up of wandering about town and trying to push through the many (what seemed like thousands) of tourists who crowded the streets and sidewalks with their amazing ability to take up space. Not much was open for dinner, so I had to go with fast food.

Same story today. After classes and some excellent Oxford food for breakfast and lunch (they provide us with those two meals 4 days a week) I could not find a decent take-away dinner, since I was alone and don't like eating at places alone. So my dinner consisted of Pringles and Cadbury Chocolate spread, which is SO GOOD. But that was it.

Mainly this week will be reading Shakespeare and seeing his plays, so I'll probably have more time to post stuff. This weekend and next will be traveling: Edinburgh and Dublin respectively. I'm excited!