Second Star to the Right...and onto Paris.

Lovely London

Bonjour!

I am writing this amidst the whirlwind of the end of the quarter, saying goodbye to my fellow classmates and travelers, and my first few days in Paris! Whew! These past two weeks have been such a flurry, and yet they were quite a fantastic two weeks. Even while attempting to crack down on studying and pump out four essays for my classes, there was so much of London that I was able to see, and goodness, London has so much to see and do! Because I lack the time, accurate memory and space in which to write all that I did, I will attempt to simply portray some of the highlights.

As previously mentioned, the London Tube is simply a dream. You really can get anywhere in the city within a matter of minutes. Once you master the system, the city is at your disposal. Within the first few days we saw most of the major sights: Trafalgar Square, Big Ben and Parliament, The Tower Bridge, The London Tower, The British Library (home to the origonal Beowulf manuscrip!), Harrods, Hyde Park and Westminster. On Sunday we went to the evening Service and Westminster, which was a little disappointing in that it was really catered only to tourists and visitors…no permanent congregation to speak of. Even so, the cathedral and all of the graves and treasures it holds are simply breathtaking. As a class we also saw a production of MacBeth held at The Globe. While perhaps not the best production (especially in comparison to the phenomenal Shakespeare plays we saw in Stratford) it was really amazing to see Shakespeare in the original theatre!

Big Ben

Something else that London holds a wealth of is Musicals. I went to see two, Mamma Mia and Wicked. Let me just say that both were incredible! But Wicked, oh Wicked, this musical was on an entirely different level. For those of you who haven’t seen or heard of this musical, I insist you do!! (I hear its coming to Eugene this summer). Not only does it have a wonderful plot, but the music is just out of this world. I would wager to say that it was one of the better experiences of my life. The moment I got home I bought the soundtrack and haven’t stop listening to it.

While in London, I also took a few day trips out of the city. The first was during Bank Holiday when two friends and I took the train to Oxford. Our goal in this was not simply to see the beautiful colleges in Oxford, but also to pay homage to the greats: Tolkien and Lewis. Our day here consisted of lunch at the Eagle and Child (the pub frequented by the Inklings…writing group of which Tolkien and Lewis were apart of), visiting a few of the colleges, napping and reading in parks and perusing the city streets. It was fun to compare Cambridge and Oxford – although choosing between them might be impossible for me. Our second day trip was to Liverpool. This journey by train was mostly made so that we could again pay homage, this time to the Bealtes. Liverpool is really a fun city, and the Beatles Museum on the Albert Docks is simply amazing. More of an experience than a museum.

Outside the Eagle and Child - Pub of the Inklings

The Liverpool Docks

Other highlights of London included a visit to the Tate Modern. This art gallery is simply enormous, and to see works my Picasso, Dali, Monet, and so many others is mind-blowing. I could spend days there just exploring, sitting and observing. I also took a visit to the British Museum which houses a mass of wordly treasures. Precious artifacts fill the shelves, rooms and halls of the enormous building and seeing things that you have read about and seen only in textbooks is unreal. It’s hard to believe that you are seeing the physical object. Some highlights were the Elgin Marbles, the mummy of Cleopatra, The Rosetta Stone, and hundreds of Grecian Vases. Again, a place in which to endlessly explore and lose yourself in. We also went on a London-wide hunt to find art of the great graffiti artist Banksy. We were lucky enough to find some along the Camden locks…his is the kind of graffiti that doesn’t get washed away.

One of the Elgin Marbles - From which Keats was inspired to write Ode on a Grecian Urn

And so the quarter is over, and our traveling troop of students has dispersed over much of Europe and back into the States. I already miss seeing those who have become a kind of family over the past ten weeks, and I cannot help but long for each of the places we have visited, which hold such a dear place in my heart.

With summer officially here I am looking forward to this next leg of my journey in which I will move from Paris to visit Alberta in Cessy, something I am beyond excited for! Then to Italy with a friend from University. This is sure to prove an adventure, and I find myself falling further and further in love with Europe.