The Queen's Weekend Retreat

Ah, Valentine's day- a day celebrating love, romance, fine chocolate and wine OR a day to embrace independence and venture off to an unknown town on my own. Well, not entirely on my own, the international office had organized a trip to visit Windsor Castle that all my friends signed up for but had to all back out because of looming essay deadlines and tests. The thought of sitting in Brighton twiddling my thumbs on this particular day was just too much to bear so I decided to do something totally uncharacteristic and go on the trip, alone. Romantic, eh?

The group was small, the trip leader, 8 students and 1 faculty member. Only 3 of us were native English speakers; the other students were from India, Spain, Germany, Italy, just to name a few. Getting to Windsor was a bit of an adventure in itself as the train running from Brighton was under construction. A combination of trains, buses and two and a half hours later we were finally in Windsor. First thing we did was grab a quick picnic lunch and then it was off to the castle. A town within itself, the Castle and its grounds were mind-boggling. To think that the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family still frequent the castle was almost too much to wrap my head around. The only way I know she wasn't there was that the Royal flag was not flying from the top of the round tower. Oftentimes she will be spending her weekend there while tourists are gawking at the extravagance of her massive estate, all the while not catching a single glimpse of her because the castle is so massive and us commoners are exposed to only a fraction of it.

My favorite part of the grounds was St. George's Chapel, which, in terms of size resembled more of a Cathedral than a Chapel. Gorgeous stained glass, elaborate tombs of Kings and Queens past, elegant woodwork and painting all throughout the Chapel kept me lingering there for about an hour.  My favorite part of the Chapel was a stunning sculpture in remembrance of Princess Charlotte who died in childbirth. From one slab of marble an artist created a gorgeous depiction of the Princess veiled by a sheet with only her delicate hand peeking out from underneath. She is surrounded by her ladies in waiting (also veiled in mourning) and above her is herself surrounded by angels. It was so elaborate and lifelike; I was completely captivated by it and not allowed to take a single photo by which to remember it (good thing I found this site).

The castle itself was equally as impressive. Tons of paintings of royalty and dignitaries, opulent carpets, furniture and wallpaper- all of it matching to create a bold color theme for each room (bright red, vibrant green, royal purple; you name it, there was a room colored in it). Entire rooms were devoted to various weaponry and armor used throughout the years. Carriages "pulled" by statues of horses adorned in their own fancy dress flanked the foyer of the State Apartments. Whoever named them apartments had a twisted sense of humour; if those are apartments then the rest of us live in shacks.

The town of Windsor outside the walls of the castle is a small, charming place. Filled with lots of posh little shops and restaurants, Windsor and the next town over, Eton are interesting places to visit. Other than the castle we didn't have much time to sight-see and wander around. We did manage to take a quick walk across the river and into Eton to visit the prestigious boys school that Princes William and Harry attended not so long ago. the school is usually open for tours but we didn't have time so we just admired from a distance. All in all I had a really nice day. As always it was lovely to visit a new town and see such lovely places like the Castle and its grounds but even better was that I developed a new kind of self-confidence that day. It's perfectly acceptable, dare I say encouraging to go out on your own- to take a trip with total strangers, push past your comfort zone and meet new people. I made some really nice new friends that day. I suppose it could be argued that this whole trip has been a big trip without anyone I know. Coming to Sussex I didn't know anyone and looking back now, after only just over 1 month I've made so many new friends from all over the world. I guess it was just an unnerving though to spend Valentine's day alone with total strangers- thank goodness it turned out to be a great success!

London Calling

I've made a few trips to London since coming to England. The first time was on a bus trip organized by Uni for the newly arrived international students. In our free time my friends and I went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Had we gone to the museum just a few days later it would have been Inauguration day and we would have gotten in free with our U.S. Passports! Despite having to pay to get in we still had a great time. The museum has changed so much since I had last been there (in 1999- 10 years, yikes!). Looking more and more like an overcrowded red carpet complete with silhouettes of paparazzi flashing their cameras at you as you walk from one room to the next. Initially it was a little unnerving just to walk up to wax versions of such superstars; though it didn't take long to get over the awkwardness; especially when the figure of David Beckham is SO realistic! I got a good laugh watching large groups of teenage girls dressed like they're going to a semi-formal, running from Leonardo DiCaprio to Colin Farrell to Johnny Depp. Maybe the only thing separating those girls from us girls was our more informal wardrobe and about 6 or 7 years. The young girls flew right by Paul Newman and Robert Redford while I nestled right in between the two for a photo opportunity- maybe it was an American thing, maybe an age thing... I'll never know. The real highlight of our trip was seeing President Barack Obama!!! There was of course a line to take your picture with him but we were glad to wait. While in line we struck up a conversation with some of the employees. They were happy to joke around with us about our incumbent President and his past competition- they said they had a model of McCain (just in case) but after the election they melted him back down; though they kept the model of Palin just to beat around after a hard day's work (sorry to any Republicans reading this)! We had a good laugh with them and they gladly snapped our photo when it was our turn. 

With my favorite British talk-show host: Graham Norton.

(Fun fact: Graham is actually Irish, born in Dublin and raised in Co. Cork)

The fab four with the Beatles (some things didn't change at the museum- these guys have been and always will be on display).

Just chillin' with the boys- Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

The Commander in Chief with his new cabinet (we wish).

Amelia, Tiffany, Myself and Katie on the Millennium Bridge

(with the London Eye and Parliament in the background).

Just a few weeks after the first London trip my friend Pelham and I got tickets for a weeknight showing of Billy Elliot the musical. Pelham had already seen it but he enjoyed it so much that he was happy to accompany me. It's so easy to get from Brighton to London, about an hour by train for which we get a student discount. The show was phenomenal, easily up there in my Top 3 alongside Phantom of the Opera and Wicked. I was curious to see how they would turn a rather heavy film into a musical comedy, but of course, with Elton John writing the music you know it's going to be good. The stage performance was able to dive a lot deeper into the more political issues in the story (the miner's strike) and there was a perfect balance of humour and somberness among the musical numbers. Pelham's favorite was the Christmas Pantomime scene right after intermission, complete with a giant puppet of Margaret Thatcher. It's so hard for me to choose a favorite but I loved the scene where Billy discovers his best friend Michael's passion for dressing in his mom's clothes- they did a fantastic tap number dancing alongside oversized dresses! I also loved the duet between young Billy and Billy's older self. At several points I was brought to tears, the story was so touching and the music was absolutely beautiful- Sir Elton has outdone himself once again. When I got home that night I immediately bought the soundtrack off iTunes. If anyone is looking for a show to go see, I have high praise for Billy Elliot- you won't be disappointed.

My most recent trip to London was originally to attend an afternoon tea hosted by Mount Holyoke alumnae living in the UK. Unfortunately my 1-hour train ride took 4 hours due to "technical difficulties" and I missed the entire event. Luckily my friend Amanda (who rows on the MHC crew team with me) is studying at King's College in London this semester so I was able to meet up with her for dinner. We walked around for a bit and stopped into a pub around the Oxford Circle neighborhood for dinner. It was nice to catch up with a fellow "Mountie" (as my mom likes to call Mt. Holyoke girls). We shared stories about adjusting to life and studies over here, gossiped about rumours passed on from Mt. Holyoke friends and talked about our travel plans for Spring break. It was a sweet, albeit short visit, but we made plans to meet up again when we both had more free time.

These are just the first of my trips to London, certainly not my last. There's so much to explore in and around the city, it's just a matter of finding the time. My friend Abbie's boyfriend lives in London so we've been talking about taking some weekend trips up there for an "insiders" look at the city- local markets, chic second-hand clothing shops and unique museums. Plenty more London stories to come soon!

Oxford Adventure

On Saturday, January 24th (I know, I'm painfully slow at posting... I warned you!) Kevin, Heather and I took the train to Oxford. At the train station we met up with Heather's two friends, Mike who's studying at London School of Economics and Alex who was spending a week in England before studying at the University of Padua near Venice. Later in the day Heather's friend Allie joined us; she's been studying at Oxford since the fall. Oxford university is split up into 44 smaller colleges that specialize in different areas of study. The campus is spread throughout the city, each college cordoned off by wrought iron gates. 

We accidentally snuck into Jesus College- we just thought we had tagged onto a tour group! It was fun to see what it was like beyond the gates. The rooms didn't look much different from Mount Holyoke- but then I don't go to the most typical College, do I? The courtyards reminded me of the Harry Potter films. Actually the dining hall used in the films is on Oxford's campus, Allie tried to show us but we didn't get there in time before they closed. Just as most colleges and universities, Oxford has a card system for security, however at Oxford it doesn't matter if you're accompanied by a student, without a card, you're not permitted past the gates. After visiting the city I can understand why the Uni is so closed off to non-students. It was packed! There were so many people visiting on Saturday, going down High Street you'd think you were in New York City rather than Oxford, that's how busy it was. 

We climbed up Carfax Tower to get a better view of the city. The tower was tiny, a narrow winding staircase led up to the top which barely had room enough for 10 people. Shimmying around the top of the tower, we surveyed the city to get a sense of our bearings. Before making our way back down the narrow staircase we noticed this funny looking mound of earth off in the distance. The only think to compare it to is something like a hobbit house from Lord of the Rings (dorky reference, I know). We wound up finding it, paid 1 pound to check it out and all it turned out to be was a grassy knoll- what a let down. After the tower we wandered around the city stopping at any buildings that caught our eye. One such place was The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. The exterior architecture was gorgeous, very opulent, with lots of spires and ornate detailing. In contrast, the interior seemed rather cold and stark, aside from a massive stained glass window at one end and an impressive pipe organ at the opposite end. When we stopped in there was an orchestra (adults, not students) performing an informal concert; it actually could have very well been a rehearsal and visitors just stopped to listen- I never found a program so who knows. We didn't stay at the church long, the university's campus is massive and there were plenty of other sights to see.

Oxford University's buildings are under a strict security system; there is no tourist access to a majority of the buildings on campus and, ironically, we never seemed to make it in time to the ones that were open to the public. However, we did manage to get an inside sneak peek into student life by sneaking into Jesus College as I mentioned earlier. We followed what we thought was a tour group of other American students through the gate and into the dining hall of the college. After the "tour group" trailed off we found ourselves inside one of the worlds oldest and most prestigious universities, so naturally we had to poke around a bit. We didn't touch anything and the Bobbies (police) were never called so our adventure was a success, but as difficult as it is to get into the campuses, it's just as difficult to get out! Before Heather had a panic attack two Oxfordians smugly strolled by to let us out.

In the evening we hit some of the town's better-known watering holes. First stop was The Eagle and Child- an inspiring pub as it was the place where J.R.R. Tolkein wrote The Hobbit. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis and other notable writers would often meet there for drinks and intellectual conversation. None of us were inspired enough to write the next great epic novel, but the atmosphere was fantastic. The second pub was the Turf Tavern, a favorite of former President Bill Clinton's when he was a Student at Oxford. It had very low ceilings and was so crowded that we wound up round a fire pit outside in the beer garden- sadly not a garden that grows beer. The last pub we went to was the Royal Standard. When the Royal Family visits Oxford this is the pub they frequent- no lie! They had oil paintings of the Queen, Prince Charles and Princes William & Harry all pulling pints behind the bar! It was hilarious; too bad I didn't think to take a picture of the paintings. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and hope to make it back again in the summer.

That silly mound from the top of Carfax Tower.

Behind the University gates.

The Radcliffe Camera (Bodelain Library), an iconic Oxford University Building.

My artistic interpretation.

The courtyard of Jesus College. 

(I think the grass is greener on the other side)

Women's Rowing Dorm inside Jesus College.

Tolkein's Pub.

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

One of the first trips I took without a tour guide was to the nearby village of Rottingdean. We had passed through the village on a bus tour of Brighton and Hove within the first week here. Rottingdean was once home to some famous Englishmen, most famously writer Rudyard Kipling. We visited on a Sunday afternoon to have a traditional pub lunch and later in the afternoon, cream tea. Like Brighton, Rottingdean is right on the English Channel so the first thing we did was walk down to the rocky shore. It felt so good to be near the water- feeling the salty cold wind against my face. The shore was actually rather crowded with families, joggers and cyclists; despite the cold weather.

For lunch we went to a very old local pub called the Plough Inn. I've been noticing that when we travel in groups hosts and hostesses' eyes bug out a bit when we tell how big our party is. Oftentimes we split up and sit at different tables- which hopefully diffuses some of the American noise level that comes with some of my friends. Luckily though this pub had a table large enough for all of us to sit around. The food was great! We all ordered different meals though ironically, none of us actually ordered the traditional roast, which we've been told is a pub tradition on Sundays. After lunch we wandered through the town. Most of the shops were closed so we walked through the picturesque old neighborhoods, explored St. Margaret's Church courtyard & cemetery and visited a monument for local soldiers who fought and died in World Wars I & II.

The traditional teahouse we visited was like something out of a fairy-tale. A quaint, idyllic place- I actually saw mothers bringing their young daughters here to teach them the proper way to serve a cream tea. Cream tea consists of tea with all the fixings (sugar and milk or cream), scones (usually made with sultanas otherwise known as raisins in the States), jam, and clotted cream. The clotted cream is like a sweet whipped butter; locals sometimes like to really spread it on their scones, but I, being a bit more calorie conscious used it sparingly- it is delicious though. Our tea was lovely, the scones were fresh from the oven, both the jam and clotted cream was homemade. There was a fireplace next to our table- it was so warm and cozy I could have stayed there all afternoon. The village isn't that far from Uni but with the bus system it took us just over an hour to go from Falmer to Brighton then finally over to Rottingdean. We had a relaxing day; definitely a good one-time trip. 

Map of Rottingdean and points of interest on High St.

A misty picture of the English Channel against a backdrop of the white cliffs.

St. Margaret's Church

The fairy-tale tea house. 

Enjoying our tea and scones!

Happy Birthday to Me...

Within 3 days of arriving in England I got to celebrate my 21st birthday. I was a little bummed when I found out I wouldn't be able to ring in such a milestone birthday back home in America with my friends. Moving to a country where 21 year-olds have already been legally going to pubs for 3 years dampened my excitement of finally being able to go out and have a drink with friends. My new friends were more than sympathetic when I told them it was my 21st on Saturday the 10th and plans to celebrate were almost immediately in the works. Even some of my new English friends were looking forward to celebrating my birthday, joking that I should just tell everyone it was my 18th.

Whether I was celebrating my 18th or my 21st birthday- it was easily the best birthday I've had yet. After a hectic dinner we met up with some new American friends I had met earlier in the day- some had been at Sussex since the fall. The first pub we went to was an old pub called The Cricketeer. The atmosphere, decoration, patrons, everything was exactly the way you'd imagine in a typical English pub. We weren't a small group (almost 20 of us) but somehow we managed to find a table large enough for all of us to sit round. On a recommendation, I tried a pear cider- too sweet, big mistake; definitely not the right drink with which to start off the night (not that it stopped me from drinking it).

 

Some of the party goers at The Cricketeers
 

A sign in front of The Cricketeers

Halfway through the evening I got a text message from one of my English friends, Abbie, telling me to meet them at another pub for a birthday surprise. It didn't take us long to make our way from The Cricketeer, which is nestled in the Lanes, to the Western Front, in Churchill Square. Nowadays both venues are along our route of regularly frequented pubs. At the Western Front we met up with the Sussex Welcome Crew (my 3 new British friends: Abbie, Sam and Malcom) who had a birthday card for me! I've never been more excited over a card; it was a Happy 18th card complete with a pin which said "18 and ready to party!" -which I wore around for the rest of the night. Those clever Brits were right, saying it was my 18th got much more of a reaction (not to mention more free drinks) than telling everyone it was my 21st.

Abbie and I at The Western Front

Spenser, Heather, Kevin and I at The Western Front

Showing off my pin!

They call this a snowstorm?

We have a snow day today! The University is officially closed because approximately 6 inches of powdery snow is covering campus and the surrounding neighborhoods. Only first-year and international students live on campus, the rest of the student body, faculty and staff commute to and from campus. Apparently the roads are slick so we've been given a free day. The only pictures I've taken so far are from out my bedroom window. It's so cozy warm inside that I'd rather not venture into the snowy cold unless absolutely necessary- which, at the rate I'm going through cups of tea, I'll only need to make a trip for the co-op for more milk!

UPDATE: Who was I kidding? Of course I had to go out and play in the snow. The opportunity was too good to pass up. Besides, when my friends called me up to say they were going sledding on an ironing board, well... I just had to see that for myself. They were unsuccessful but extremely entertaining. 

Turns out that this storm is the worst the country has seen in 18 years! London has come to a complete stop; busses, taxis, even the Tube. I'm glad I got to take part in such a monumental storm. Below are some pictures from our snowy adventure... enjoy!

Snow scene late Sunday afternoon...

What a surprise when I woke up in the morning!

Plenty of snow to build a sizable snowman.

Home Sweet Home

   Living at Sussex, and in Brighton in general is a lot of fun. I wasn't sure what to expect from my housing situation on campus, but as you can see from the pictures below, I've got a pretty nice set up over here. For the first few days I hated living in my flat. It was eerily quiet without any flat-mates around and the prospect of having to cook for myself terrified me! Now that the others have returned and have been friendly and helpful in teaching me the lay of the land I've relaxed and settled into my new home nicely.  Having visited some of my friends' dorms, I realize how lucky I am to have been placed in Lewes. I have my own room with a sink in it, a nice open kitchen/dining room area, a bathroom complete with shower, tub and two toilets (which I only have to share with 4 other people)! Some of my friends are not so fortunate, but it makes for great company as they're over all the time.

   Some of you would be relieved to know that I have not had any major cooking casualties- all my self-prepared meals have been edible and the only thing I've burnt was my finger while taking something out of the oven. My new American friends and I have started an impromptu dinner routine every Tuesday night. We'll flock to someone's kitchen with the ingredients for a meal, prepare it and eat it together. The first week was Italian, the second was Mexican and the third is tentatively Indian. My friend Kevin says we're eating our way around the world. It's nice to cook with others- less room for error plus I get to learn new recipes. Now I know I can make a mean burrito... and I never even knew I liked burritos!

   The city of Brighton is fantastic. It reminds me of a larger Northampton, MA. People over here call it 'London by the sea' but these people haven't been to Northampton. Significantly larger than my hometown in the Happy Valley, Brighton is home to a large arts and music scene and is also a vibrant gay community. Famous for the Brighton pier and boardwalk by the shore the city is full of all different sorts of architecture making it a fun place to just walk around and explore. In the city centre there's a major shopping mall, Churchill Square, and two smaller "neighborhoods" called the Lanes. The North Lanes hold the hipper, trendier shops and restaurants while the Lanes (no geographical prefix given) contains the older pubs, higher end restaurants, beautiful antique shops and art galleries. There's definitely something for everyone in Brighton, always something to see and do. 

My Dining/Living Room

My Kitchen (the most tidy it has ever been)

My Room!

Lewes (pronounced Lewis) Court