(It is actually bright and sunny. Contrary to popular opinion it doesn't actually rain all of the time...)
(Note about this post in advance...I kept hitting save instead of post and therefore this will be the last month's posts all kind of piecemeal together :P)
So, last week I mentioned that I went to Sweden! Well, my parents came to visit me for spring break and we went to visit the land of my mom's study abroad experience. Since returning to the UK I have restarted British Culture and have just finished my first paper. For the first time ever I did not stay up even remotely late to finish it. Actually I finished it 37.5 hours before it was due, which will probably never happen again :P
Spring Break
Oxford
My parents and I spent the first few days of spring break hanging out in Oxford while I finished up lectures. (I am going to call this part of spring break since all of my coursework was done.) It was really fun taking them to all of my favorite places to eat and hang out. We started the week with a Bodleian tour where we visited the Rad Cam and Duke Humphrey's Library (a.k.a. the restricted section). I enjoyed showing off all of the places where I go to study. On Monday we spent sometime exploring the city and I had a concert for OUSinf. I was really impressed with the quality of music we produced with less than a week of rehearsals and never having everyone in the same room until the concert. On Tuesday we visited my spirit horse, Stubbins, in Port Meadow - the magicalist of magical fairy lands and we cooked dinner for my food group. I love cooking with my parents and it was so much fun to share a kitchen with them again. Wednesday we went punting, well we were punted around because the river was too fast for any of us to punt and walked around the city some more. I also had my final orchestra performance in Oxford with the open orchestra. I will definitely miss playing in the beautiful chapels, theatre, and music rooms around the city. On Thursday we visited Blenheim Palace and enjoyed our last night in Oxford. I spent the majority of that night packing up half of my stuff for my parents to take home. However, as I write this I am looking at how much is left to fit into one suitcase and wonder how heavy that suitcase is going to be...
Sweden
We got a 6:30 am flight from London to Sweden which meant a day of very little sleep :P When we got to the city, we spent our first day wandering around the streets of Gamla Stan. We even found a store that my mom had visited when she was in college. For dinner we got a bunch of my mom's favorite Swedish food from the grocery store. On Saturday we visited the Skansen and the Vasa Museum. I really enjoyed the Vasa. It reminded me a lot of the Mary Rose exhibit in Portsmouth, but this ship was actually whole. The Skansen was also quite fun to walk around and to see Swedish history being lived out. Sunday was our final day in Sweden and we visited Uppsala, which was close to where my mom did her year abroad. It was surreal finally seeing the cathedral and the river I had grown up hearing about.
London
For my parents last couple of days in England we stayed in London and walked over 10 miles every day. On Monday we walked by Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, visited the British Museum, walked by St. Paul's, and the Millennium Bridge (my favorite bridge). We ended the day with a spin around the London Eye with beautiful views of the city and the sunset. I was quite proud of my ability to navigate most of the day with minimal use of a map. On our second day in London we visited Westminster Abbey, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Hyde Park, and had High Tea. At the V&A we saw a really interesting exhibit about theatre featuring a costume from my favorite witch who we would be seeing later that night. Seeing Wicked in London was definitely a highlight of spring break. Willemijn Verkaik is definitely the best Elphaba I have seen. The best part of seeing this though was not the show, but seeing the show with my parents. My dad, a Wizard of Oz fan, finally joined me on the Wicked side for a night and now understands all of the songs I have been singing for the past 10 years...
British Culture...Is Over...ish
Academic Things
Well, as I mentioned earlier, I have just completed my first British Culture paper. Only three more papers for a total of 11,000-ish words stand between me and summer break. I am happy to be almost done with the crazy writing marathon, but also would give anything to extend this for another few months, years, or an eternity. Finishing this post is an avoidance tactic at the moment. I have just finished reading 1984 and sent in the first draft of my thesis yesterday. Only two more papers to write and one massive thesis to edit!!!
With the return of British culture we also get the return of field trips!!!
St. Albans and Verulamium
We first visited the theatre of the ancient city of Verulamium. I enjoyed seeing the ruins of the theatre and then visiting the museum full of relics dug up from the English countryside. St. Albans cathedral was beautiful and I really enjoyed walking around the town with my friends.
Winchester
At the beginning of the day we went to a service at the Hospital of St. Cross and then strolled through the countryside while one of our lovely British professors read us poetry. We then went to the cathedral, which is huge and the adorable city of Winchester. We visited the grave of Jane Austen and saw the house where she spent her last days.
Bath
This was probably my favorite city that we visited. I really enjoyed the Roman Baths, which were much more extensive than I had imagined. At the end of our tour we were able to drink some of the water...which tasted just like the water in my elementary school. Dr. Baigent, our lovely senior tutor, brought us on a tour around the city to look at all of the architecture and then we got to spend some time soaking in the sunshine!!
Coventry
Our final field trip of the year was to the ruins of Coventry cathedral. We then were given a few hours to walk around the city. It wasn't the most eventful of days, but I enjoyed the time I got to spend with my friends.
In two weeks I will be somewhere (probably London) beginning our end of term travels before heading back to the US and all of the adventures that are waiting for me back home. I can't believe that I've been here for seven months now and that I have less than two weeks left!
~ Brynn
