An Fabulous Surprise from an Unexpected American Visitor

Last Sunday, I received the most fabulous news via an email note from a close friend that graduated recently from the University of Cincinnati. Here's a summary of the unexpected surprise message:

RON DUPLAIN WAS SPENDING THE WEEK IN LONDON!!

As you've probably noticed, I was more than excited by the chance to see a familiar face from home. Seemingly by chance, Ron arrived in London last Sunday for a business conference and would be staying in England until the following Friday. Booked solid with conference events until Wednesday evening, we decided to wait until Thursday afternoon to meet up in Guildford. An experienced European traveler, Ron had no problem catching a train from London to Guildford and arrived early enough in the afternoon to see a few sites around my small British hometown. After a few quick hugs at the train station, Ron, Bill, and I endured the typical English drizzle and headed towards Guildford castle to walk around the Norman ruins. Today, there isn't much left of the castle beyond the foundation and walls of the main tower. In its prime, the entire castle grounds were surrounded by a widespread wall with the main tower located near the perimeter of the barricaded land. Most Guildford natives recommended skipping the castle ruins mainly because there are many better-preserved castle remains elsewhere in Britain, but with little to do in Guildford, I didn't mind the 1-pound admission fee for the chance to show Ron the best view of the city.

After wandering through the castle gardens and a bit of downtown Guildford, we strolled towards campus to relax with a few drinks at the main campus pub. Though there wasn't much to see in Guildford as fas as touristy landmarks are concerned, the three of us had a great time catching up on news, laughing over stories from home, and just enjoying the chance to hang out with fellow Ohioans. Taking a restaurant recommendation from my British classmates, Bill and I took Ron to a small Portuguese restaurant called "Nando's". The restaurant was unique in that I've never tasted Portuguese food or wine before, and I must say that I was pretty impressed. Wanting to try as many different nationalities of wine as possible during this semester, I quickly discovered that Portuguese white wine trumps Greek white wine (my last glass of wine ordered in London). One of the best parts of dinner was listening to Ron tell us about his European travels with his wife, which included Scotland, England, France, Belgium, and Germany. (Needless to say, his stories were part of the motivation for Bill and I booking flights to Munich the very next day!)

With stomachs full and appetites satisfied, we took a short walk to Bill's house to pick up our bags where we left them earlier in the day. An avid beer and liquor connoisseur, Ron graciously handed off a partial bottle of Scotch that he wouldn't be able to pack into his carry-on luggage for the flight home. While in Scotland on his honeymoon, Ron and Tekla (his wife) visited a Scotch museum where they learned the history of Scotch and the art of Scotch-tasting. Passing on his knowledge and trying a few sips ourselves, Bill and I quickly agreed that blended Scotch is probably one of the best liquors that we've ever experienced. To be completely honest, Scotch is probably the one liquor that I would drink straight on the rocks because any other additions would ruin the taste of this smooth beverage.

Feeling slightly light-headed from the Portuguese wine and few sips of Scotch, I cut myself off the alcoholic beverages a little early and walked back with the guys to campus to watch a few minutes of Bill's fencing practice. Since the fencing team was only teaching drills to the beginners, Ron and I left UniSport early and decided to grab hot chocolate at a small campus cafe. Enjoying a steady stream of conversation and the best hot chocolate in town, we later met up with the fencing team at the cafe after practice and introduced Ron to a few of our classmates and friends. Chatting over coffee and drinks, we hardly realized the late time until the cafe employees started to close shop for the night. Walking Ron back to the train station to catch a train back to London before midnight, I was a little sad to see a great friend head back to the US. However, the chance to see someone from home while halfway around the world is so rare and incredibly fun that I was quickly reminded that I only have eight more weeks before the my next American visitor arrives in London -- my amazing boyfriend Craig, of course.

Thanks again, Ron! Your visit to Guildford was the small reminder of home that I've been missing over the past month. Bill and I had an awesome time catching up with you on Thursday night.

Seeing Ron made me realized that sometimes you never know who you may see in Europe!

Bath: Swimmin' with the Romans

It's hard to believe that our first three weeks in England are already over... time is flying way too fast! With all of the hustle and bustle of European travel, Bill and I decided to take a relaxing day trip to Bath last weekend to see the Roman ruins of a great temple to the goddess Minerva.

Reluctantly waking up after a crazy night of partying, Bill and I eventually met at the train station to catch an early train from Guildford to Bath. Switching trains in Reading, I managed to catch a few extra minutes of sleep on the second leg of our journey. Upon arriving in Bath, Bill and I were instantly enchanted by the quaintness of this ancient town. To brush away a few cobwebs to anyone back home who is a little rusty on Roman history, the Romans first conquered Britain in 43 AD. When the Romans settled in Bath soon after and discovered natural hot springs in the small city. Intrigued, the Romans built a temple around the springs and named the site Aquae Sulis in honor of the goddess Minerva (the Roman version of Athena). As we walked through the ancient ruins, I noticed that the architecture of the Roman Baths was quite advanced for that early point in history. The hot springs, which still bubble today, were enclosed in a small pool with plumbing connecting the water source to the other pools in the temple. The floors of the temple were built on stone pillars, which allowed steam from the hot water to pass underneath the floors to keep them warm. (I guess the Romans hated to walk on cold floors when passing from one area of the temple to the other.) The Romans believed the baths had healing properties, and the sick would visit the temple to alleviate illness. Other Romans would come to Bath to pay homage to the goddess Minerva. Archaeologists unearthed hundreds of notes to the goddess that were pounded into small sheets of metal. Most of these notes were requests for vengeance against thieves and evil-doers. Unfortunately for the Romans, their reign in Britain did not last forever and possession of the baths changed hands many times throughout history. As new civilizations occupied the once-Roman city, the conquerers tore down, remodeled, and added their own touch to the Roman temple. Today, the only Roman part of the temple that remains are the swimming baths and building foundation. Other statues, walls, and walkways that are present today were created at later points in history by other nationalities. Regardless, the temple still felt as if we were stepping back into Roman times.

Spending most of the morning at the baths, Bill and I couldn't stop from marveling at the beauty of the ruins. The water was an emerald shade of green (due to the algae in the pools), and the spring bubbled with the perfect temperature of bathwater. Finishing our audio tour, we headed back to the visitor's center where they gave us each a free glass of fresh spring water to sample. Expecting a cool refreshing glass of spring water, I was surprised to taste a warm, mineral-laced gulp of H2O. As our British friend Mathew described it, "The mineral water is supposed to be incredibly healthy, but it actually just tastes like shit."

Moving from the Roman baths, we headed through the city in search of a park bench for a relaxed lunch in the surprisingly warm sunshine. Seemingly deserted when we went into the Roman Bath Museum, I was surprised to see the town square packed with people in the afternoon. Home-grown musicians and bands lined the sidewalks in hopes of gaining a few pounds from passers-by their musical performances. Artists and merchants set up tents and booths to sell paintings, flowers, produce, and cloth. Bill and I laughed when we saw three people dressed as Native Americans giving a concert in the square. Their display was pretty elaborate with tee-pees and heavy-duty sound equipment. I can remember turning to Bill and saying, "Now that's one sight that I never thought I would see in Europe!" We also saw a mime covered from head to toe in silver clothing and facepaint. He was standing on a pedestal that stated:

If you:

Like It, £1

Love It, £2

Hate It, £50

After a bit of searching, we managed to find a bench near the Bath Abbey where a percussionist was giving a solo concert on vibraphone. (As a drummer myself, I was thrilled by the lunchtime entertainment!) Munching on a tuna salad sandwich, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to relax and rest my feet.

Our next stop was the Bath Fashion Museum. Formerly known as the Costume Museum, this collection of clothes throughout the ages was interesting to see and not too expensive since we managed to pick up a combo admission ticket at the Roman Baths. The Fashion Museum was pretty neat with clothing displays from every decade. They even had a small changing area where women could try fitting into corsets and crinolines. (For those of you who are of the male gender, click here for a picture of these centuries-old female undergarments.) Squeezing myself into the ridiculously tight corset and trying to breathe as Bill laced the rib-crunching piece of fabric, I suddenly knew why women's underwear quickly evolved into the cotton Hanes-Her-Way version that we know today. My overall impression of the museum was alright. The exhibits were small and slightly haphazardly organized, but a few of their dresses were positively beautiful. As a former pageant girl, I've learned to appreciate the beauty of a gorgeous evening gown. ;)

Upon leaving the Fashion Museum, Bill and I decided to finish up our museum visits with a tour of the "Bath at Work Museum". In the early 1900s, Bath had a booming spurt of industry. It had a huge limestone-mining industry, was one of the first cities to produce and bottle ginger ale, and later supported tourism of the Roman Baths. The Bath at Work Museum was a cute little place housed in the shop of a former general store owner that solde goods, picked locks, bottled soda drinks, and made steel fittings from sand molds. In a nutshell, this guy did pretty much anything and everything to satisfy his customers. The museum was neat for catching a glimpse of the early 1900s during the Industrial Revolution, but by the end, I was getting a little burnt out on audio tours.

By midafternoon, Bill and I had seen almost every historical site in Bath: the Roman Baths, Fashion Museum, Bath at Work Museum, and the Bath Abbey (which I failed to write about, but is nearly as spectacular as Westminster Abbey). Seeing that the weather was positively gorgeous, we found a large park and parked ourselves on a soft patch of grass for an hour or so. Keeping up a bit of small talk, I was thankful for the short "breather" during a day of continuous touring. Once the ground started to feel a little hard, we headed back downtown to find a pub for dinner. Eventually, we found a cute pub, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and walked to our final destination of the day: the Thermae Spa.

The Thermae Spa is probably one of the biggest tourist traps in Bath. It's a modern full-service spa equipped with two swimming pools and multiple steam rooms. Their claim to fame comes from the fact that they pump treated water from the hot springs to fill their swimming pools. So in a sense, tourists can swim in the "springs" for $20/hour. Before buying a 2-hour swimming pass, I completely knew that this was a tourist trap alternative to swimming in the Roman Baths. However, Bill was determined to have a long relaxing bath in authentic Bath water. I can't fault him too much for standing his ground. The spa was incredibly relaxing and the water was fabulously warm. We spent part of our time on the roof-top pool where we could watch the sunset over the famous historic city. All in all, a few hours of quality relaxation may have been worth $40.

Heading home with wet hair, wrinked fingers, and jello-like muscles, Bill and I agreed that Bath was probably the quaintest city in England. Though small, it was beautiful, historic, and a wonderful day trip!

Loving Long Weekends in London (Day 3)

With two incredibly busy days in London under our belts, Bill and I started to feel like true Londoners. We mastered the subway system, saw most of the major London sites, and had finally started to gain a sense of direction around the city. Waking early on Sunday morning, Bill and I checked out of our hostel before breakfast in order to catch an early morning service at Westminster Abbey. Originating from Catholicism, Anglican services aren't much different from Catholic mass. The main difference between the early Anglican service and a typical mass was that the Church of England version was significantly shorter. I don't think that all Anglican services are done in thirty minutes, however. Since we went for an early service, there was no music and only the basic ceremonies associated with Holy Communion. It was interesting and not a bad substitute for my usual Sunday mass.

After the service, we had a few minutes to spare before the opening of the British Museum. Jumping on the subway once again, Bill and I traveled to the north side of London and searched for a tea shop near the museum. Bypassing the ever-growing chain of Starbucks, we found a quaint tea shop across from the museum. With English tea for Bill and hot chocolate for myself, we chatted over a light breakfast while crazy museum fanatics stood in line for the first chance to see the Chinese Terracotta Army exhibit that had just opened in the British Museum a few days earlier. Enjoying the warm atmosphere of the tea shop, we were in no hurry to fight crazy museum crowds.

Eventually, we finished our breakfast and made our way to the massive British museum across the street. To quote my Rick Steves tour book, "The British Museum is the most extensive collection of modern civilization in the world." After only a few steps into the museum, I must admit that I complete agree. The British Museum is a huge building with three levels of ancient artifacts, famous sculptures, and exciting exhibits covering every civilization in the world... and they allowed us to take pictures! The British Museum is home to the Rosetta Stone, the sculpted head of Egyptian pharaoh Rameses the Great, statues from the Parthenon, and original sculpted busts of several great Roman emperors including Augustus Caesar. Each room covers a different civilization including Greek, Egyptian, Roman, Mesopotamian, Babylonian, Celtic, and American Indian. The best part of the museum was definitely the Parthenon exhibit. The ancient Greek statues were so detailed and lifelike that I literally felt as if I was stepping back into Ancient Greece to pay homage to their many gods. I doubt that Bill and I will find our way to Greece while in Europe, but seeing original artifacts from the Parthenon was the next best thing. The biggest obstacle to overcome while touring the British Museum is "intellectual burn-out". I have a pretty good tolerance for large amounts of history, art, and science, but even I was tired of looking at exhibits after nearly four hours in the museum. Realizing that we had missed lunch, Bill and I decided to say "farewell" to ancient civilization and search for a place to eat.

Thankfully, we didn't need to walk far before finding an authentic British restaurant serving traditional English fare. Wanting to try something new, I ordered an "English Hot Pot". Before leaving the States, several people had warned me that British food lacks in many ways. With this in mind, I read the food descriptions carefully. A hot pot is ground beef, peas, carrots, and sauteed potatoes baked in a dark gravy and served in a small pot. It reminded me of the filling in a typical American pot pie. The food was alright -- nothing spectacular, but quite edible. Bill ordered curry, which never fails to confuse me. Why would you order Indian food at a traditional British restaurant?! In his defense, the curry was probably more tasty than my hot pot.

With stomachs full and intellect satisfied, we finally decided to say "good bye" to London until another time. Catching an afternoon train back to Guildford, we started talking about all of the great things we want to do on our next visit to Britain's capital city!

Loving Long Weekends in London (Day 2)

Our second day in London started rather early in order to catch the 9:30 opening of Westminster Abbey. Falling asleep before any of our other "hostel roommates" had arrived, I was surprised to wake up to five other people in my room. Mainly, the surprising part was that I never even heard the other five people check into the hostel and climb into their beds. (Thank goodness that I'm a heavy sleeper!) At breakfast, I had my first experience with "crumpets", which are mainly just thick biscuits made from a slightly sweeter dough. Grabbing a quick breakfast, Bill and I were off again for our second day of sightseeing.

Leaving our hostel around 8 o'clock, we decided to take a detour to Trafalgar Square for a few fun photos. For those of you back home in America, Trafalgar Square is the area of London where tourists would often buy birdseed from street vendors and feed the pigeons until the mayor passed a law that made pigeon-feeding a criminal offense in the famous square. It may seem that I am a bird-hater, but I'm siding with the mayor on this one -- the statues and fountains in Trafalgar Square are too beautiful to be covered in bird droppings. At the front of Trafalgar square is a very tall tower-like statue that has four very large lion sculptures placed on each of the four corners of its square base. These lions are the most photographed statues in London -- mainly because they are incredibly adorable and tourists are allowed to climb onto these massive beasts for some pretty spectacular photos. Ironically, the sculptor had never seen a lion when he fashioned the gigantic monument. Relying on likenesses and paintings of lions, the sculptor used a dog and a cat as his live models for the sculptures. This is probably why the lions have a notable endearing effect rather than the look of majesty originally intended. Not wanting to miss our chance for fun pictures with the lions, Bill and I took turns climbing onto the statues for a few crazy photo ops. The pictures are some of my favorites!

Leaving Trafalgar Square, we walked back to the nearest Tube station and took the subway to Westminster Abbey. There are not enough words to describe the awesomeness of Westminster Abbey. Serving as the center of the Anglican Church, Westminster Abbey is the most beautiful building that I have ever seen. (Yes, it tops Buckingham Palace ten to one!) The entire church is adorned in gold and the ceilings are entwined with the most elaborate sculpting that I have ever encountered. One of the chapel ceilings is even considered to be one of the great wonders of the world, which was not surprising after seeing the great detail of the moulded scroll work. The authentic stained glass windows are incredibly detailed with colorful designs and biblical pictures. They are so big that very little artificial lighting is needed on a sunny day. Even though tourists are not allowed to take pictures in the abbey, I truly believe that no picture could possibly capture the beauty of this massive cathedral. As we walked from chapel to chapel, I felt a quiet presence of the many British kings and queen buried underneath the abbey's floors. The most notable royal tombs include Queen Elizabeth I, Princess Diana, Queen Victoria, Mary Queen of Scots, King Henry VIII, and King Richard III. My favorite part of the abbey was entitled "Poet's Corner". This area of the chapel attributes its name to all of the great authors, composers, and intellectual contributors that are either buried or memorialized in this area of the abbey. Some of these famous names include Chaucer, Handel, Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, the three Bronte sisters, Lord Byron, and Jane Austen to name a few. I was taken aback by the surprise that so many famous people have been entombed within the Abbey's vaults.

The only tragedy of my trip to Westminster Abbey involves $6 worth of beautiful postcards bought from the abbey's gift shop to take the place of all the wonderful pictures I wanted to take while touring the abbey's chapels but could not because photography was forbidden. Planning to use these postcards in a later scrapbook of my European travels, I accidentally left my bag of postcards in a Chinese restaurant where Bill and I stopped for lunch. Though disappointed at first, I consoled myself with the thought that I will be returning to Westminster again with Craig (my awesome boyfriend) in November. Next time I'll keep an eye on my postcards!

Finishing up our tour of the abbey, Bill and I tried once again in vain to grab tickets for a 2 o'clock matinee of Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice". Unfortunately, even the matinee was sold out for weeks in advance. Not letting our spirits get too low, we decided to move on to Plan B and find tickets for a play at one of the theaters on the west side of London. Luckily, we managed to locate a discount ticket office next to the Tube station only a block away from Westminster Abbey. Much to our surprise, they were selling £35 tickets for the 2:30 matinee of Wicked! Needless to say, I was incredibly excited, and we decided to jump on the chance to see the play that sells out on Broadway nearly every night. (For those of you who are theater junkies, plays in London are considered to be second to only Broadway in New York City.) Grabbing a quick lunch at a Chinese restaurant and frantically changing into nicer theater-worthy clothes at our hostel, Bill and I managed to pick up our tickets and arrive at the theater well before the curtain call. At a first glance, I was surprised by the Victoria Apollo Theater. Expecting the audience to be dressed in their finest like at theaters in New York, it was surprising to see a majority of people in jeans and t-shirts. Even though matinees are generally more casual, I felt slightly overdressed in my grey slacks and button-down satin shirt. Despite the casual audience, Wicked was far from mediocre. The author, Gregory Maguire, wove an incredibly clever plot of the "true story" behind the Wizard of Oz. His version of the classic children's tale answers several questions such as, "Why is the wicked witch green?" and "Why can the scarecrow, tin man, and cowardly lion talk?" The music was also phenomenal, and if I'm not careful, I'll ruin the play for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. Undoubtedly, my recommendation for Wicked is two thumbs up and a must-see for anyone for loves theater and fairy tales!

Since the play was rather long (nearly three hours), evening was already falling upon the city as we left the theater. Answering to a pair of rumbling stomachs, Bill and I wandered back to the nearest Tube station and took the subway to Hyde Park Station, which is only a few blocks away from the very first Hard Rock Cafe. Believe it or not, Hard Rock Cafe originated in London when the two American owners traveled to England and were disappointed that they couldn't find a decent hamburger or American-portioned meals. Thus began one of the largest American restaurant chains in the world. Upon arriving at the restaurant, I wasn't surprised to see that it was packed. Since the wait for a table was only 45 minutes, this gave us the chance to browse through the rock memorabilia on the walls and search for a souvenir t-shirt proudly sporting the "Hard Rock Cafe - London" logo in order to prove that we had eaten at the original Hard Rock Cafe. With t-shirts in tow, we were eventually seated at a small table on the lower level for our first large, American-portioned meal of the weekend. Since this was Bill's first visit to a Hard Rock Cafe, he thought that the loud music and rock mementos were a lot of fun and worth the slightly high dinner prices. As for me, I was thrilled mostly by the chance to bite into a quality American pulled-pork sandwich!

With stomachs full, Bill and I decided to take a short walk around the Hyde Park area of London in order to see a little more of the city at night. In particular, we were looking for "Harrods", a large department store mostly famous for its ties to Princess Diana. The owner of Harrods was the father of Princess Diana's lover, Dodi Al Fayad. After the princess and Mr. Fayad were killed in a fatal car accident, Dodi's father erected a large fountain in his multi-level department store in which Princess Diana and her lover are holding hands and ethereally looking at shoppers as they pass by. Unfortunately, Bill and I only saw the brightly-lit outside of Harrods Department Store since they typically close at 8 p.m. on Saturdays. Regardless, the store looked pretty spectacular even from the outside!

As our eye-lids began to grow heavy, we decided to check in for an early night and eventually found our way back to a clean bed at our hostel. Once again, I wiped out as soon as I climbed under the covers. Walking around London is incredibly exhausting!

Loving Long Weekends in London (Day 1)

Our travels have begun! Last Friday, Bill and I decided to take a day off from classes and begin a long weekend of sightseeing in London. (To be honest, our pharmacology class was canceled... so I didn't actually "take a day off from classes".) On Friday morning, we hopped on a train from Guildford to London in hopes of gaining an extra full day to see the sights. Walking out of the Waterloo train station in London, I was amazed at the incredible view of the city across the Thames River. From our side of the river, we had a great view of Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye (a giant sightseeing Ferris wheel that takes 30 minutes to make an entire revolution). Rapidly clicking pictures as we walked across Westminster Bridge into the heart of the city, Bill and I stopped at a small souvenir shop to buy tickets for a hop-on/hop-off bus tour. It took little time to find the bus stop and hop on the right route, but soon enough we were zipping around London on top of a double-decker bus. Riding around London on the upper level of an open-air tour bus is actually quite exhilarating. Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous, which gave us plenty of opportunities to snap pictures as we drove through the streets of London. While on the bus, I managed to grab a few photos of Trafalgar Square, Parliament Square, and St. James' Palace.

Our first stop of interest was Buckingham Palace, the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II. It's actually a rare treat to be able to tour the gigantic palace. For only two months each year, Queen Elizabeth leaves Buckingham Palace and allows the state rooms to be opened for tourism. Luckily for us, the state room tours are only offered during August and September. Expecting a large line of tourists waiting at the palace gates, Bill and I were pleasantly surprised to find virtually no line at all. (Our luck is most likely attributed to the Changing of the Guard... while hundreds of tourists lined the streets to view the pomp and circumstance, Bill and I rushed to the palace ticket booth in order to avoid the long lines that would likely form after the Changing of the Guard was completed.) For £15, we received a very thorough audio tour, baggage check, and the freedom to wander from room to room in the most beautiful palace that I have ever seen. Buckingham Palace is best described by two words: gigantic and ornate. The palace had incredibly high ceilings and large rooms filled with portraits, antique furniture, fine tableware, and famous artwork. Every wall was adorned with gold trim, elaborate wall coverings, and perfectly pleated curtains. The overall effect of seeing the palace is difficult to explain because no photo could capture the enormity of one of Britain's most famous landmarks. A special exhibit covering the 60th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's wedding anniversary was also included in our tour of Buckingham Palace. This exhibit quickly became one of my favorite experiences of our entire weekend in London. Tying the knot in the late 1940's, Queen Elizabeth's wedding gown was the epitome of formal fashion arising near the beginning of the 1950's. Adorned with flowers on the skirt and flaunting a 13-foot train, goosebumps covered my arms and I quite literally shivered at the site of the beautiful royal wedding dress. A view of the queen's wedding dress came second only to the jewelry given to Elizabeth on her wedding day. I cannot remember a time when I had seen anything sparkle and glow as brightly as this part of the queen's jewelry collection. Diamonds, sapphires, and rubies were all carefully fashioned into the most beautiful necklaces, earrings, and tiaras. Visiting the palace gift shop, I couldn't even find postcards or pictures that could compare with the majesty of Buckingham Palace and the royal jewels. This is one castle that you will need to see for yourself!

Exiting through the queen's garden, Bill and I hopped back on our bus and headed south towards the Thames River (pronounced "Temz"... Bill and I had a discussion on this one). Stopping near the river, we jumped on a tour boat that would ship us from the middle of London to the southeastern edge near Tower Bridge. Our next area of interest was the Tower of London, which is home to the crown jewels and sight of Britain's most brutal beheadings. Expecting a single tall tower, I was surprise to discover that the Tower of London is actually a small fortress originally meant to keep prisoners in and commoners out. Wanting to bypass long lines, we walked into the Tower of London "complex" and headed straight for the crown jewels. Not quite understanding the concept of "crown jewels", I was expecting more jewelry from her majesty's private collection (tiaras, necklaces, bracelets, etc.). Rather, the crown jewels consisted of crowns and scepters used during royal coronation ceremonies. The crowns contained hundreds of diamonds and precious jewels, but I will admit that I was a little disappointed by the masculinity of the crown design. After seeing Queen Elizabeth's wedding jewels, it was hard to look at crowns notably less "feminine" and rather bulky. However, the crown jewels were not ordinary by any means. Upon leaving the jewel house, Bill and I managed to catch the beginning of a "Beefeater Tour". For those of you who are connoisseurs of liquor, you might recognize the brand name "Beefeater Gin" that is actually quite popular in the States. The term "Beefeater" originates from the Tower of London to describe the colorfully dressed guards of the tower. Today, Beefeaters are retired British military men who give hilariously witty tours around the Tower of London. They tell stories of famous executions, clever prisoner escapes, and basic history of the tower. To give you an idea of our Beefeater's sharp wit, here's the best joke that I heard during the entire weekend:

Beefeater: How many Americans are on this tour?
(We slowly raise our hands.)
Beefeater: Looks like we have about twenty Americans. How many of you are from Florida?
(About five people raise their hands.)
Beefeater: I guess we'll need to count the five of you twice.

After having our fill of medieval weaponry, Bill and I noticed that evening was quickly approaching and decided to check into our hostel. (Note that we were carrying our backpack luggage with us throughout the entire day and were ready for a chance to stash our book bags somewhere.) Hitching a bus back to the western side of London, we walked fruitlessly for over 30 minutes trying to find our hostel. Giving up, we hailed a cab and enjoyed the ten minute ride to Ace Hostel. Hurrying through check-in, we barely had time to set our bags down before we were off again in hopes of catching "The Merchant of Venice" at Shakespeare's Globe. Trying out the subway ("Tube" in British) for first time, we were pleasantly surprised how quickly and easily we were able to travel from place to place around the city. A person could easily travel from one end of the city to the other for only three dollars. Unfortunately, our efforts were in vain once we reached the ticket counter after curtain call and were told that Shakespeare plays often sell out weeks in advance. Needless to say, we're definitely planning a second trip to London for a chance to see the Royal Shakespeare Company in action!

Feeling a little disappointed, Bill and I decided to lift our spirits by walking along the Thames and viewing the city at night. Not far from the Globe, we found a nice Greek restaurant with what we thought were decent prices. Unfortunately, this was a rather "posh" Greek place that served mainly wine and appetizers. So for $10, I ordered a Greek wrap about the size of a McDonald's snack wrap. I must give the restaurant some credit, however, since my Greek dish was probably one of the best Greek morsels that I've ever tasted. Giving up on our hopes of large American meal portions, we ordered two glasses of wine and spent the rest of the evening talking about all of the great things we had seen on our first day in London.

Eventually arriving back at our hostel via the Tube, we quickly settled into our six-person bedroom. Exhausted from miles of city walking, I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

One Week Done and Having a Blast!

It's hard to believe that my first week in England is already over. It's more than true when they say that "time flies when you're having fun"! This past weekend has been so much fun that I'm finding it hard to believe that today is Sunday already.

Not wanting to jump into travel plans before getting a chance to settle in, Bill and I decided to spend the weekend in Guildford just to give ourselves a few days to relax. Though I'm ready to start seeing a bit of the world, I was thankful for the chance to organize myself and make new friends at the university. Needless to say, this weekend did not disappoint!

Backing up a little to a point before the weekend festivities began, I must mention that Thursday was also an eventful day to note. Thursdays are our busiest days of the week with classes from 9 a.m. until 4 or 5 p.m. For British students, it is quite common for them to spend an entire day in class... for me, it takes a little bit of adjustment. Not to worry though, the day went quickly, and I actually enjoy the classes that I am taking this semester. You might grimace at names such as enzymology, neuroscience, micronutrients, and pharmacology, but I think that these classes are a refreshing change from engineering projects and labs. After my neuroscience class, Bill and I ran into our academic advisor ("tutor" in British), and I quickly realized that Dr. Sa Bennett is amazing. She invited Bill and I to a reception where we would get the chance to meet other biomedical science students in our class. We arrived at the reception a few minutes late with plans to sneak in the back door. Unfortunately, we accidentally walked through the front door of the lecture theater, and Dr. Sa Bennett immediately pointed to us and announced to the students, "And here are our exchange students from America!" Fighting a tell-tale blush, I waved and was soon surrounded by the friendliest students that I have ever met. Many of them asked questions about the U.S., college in America, and our reasons for coming to Surrey. Several tried to convince us to join their student groups, but only one group really caught my attention -- fencing. Thomas, one of our biomedical science classmates, invited Bill and I to the school gym for a small fencing class in the evening. Thrilled by the prospect of learning something fun and new, I was incredibly excited and quickly agreed. A few hours later, I found myself strapped into a fencing uniform and holding a small sword (a.k.a. "a foil"). The fencing class was tons of fun, and I got a chance to snap a few pictures just to prove to all of my friends back home that I was actually learning to sword fight. In the end, Bill and I paired up against each other, even though he towered six inches above me and has much better hands-eye coordination. Needless to say, my lack of ability fell quickly to his extra height, and I eventually gave in to the sweat that was poring off my skin under the fencing uniform. However, I had an amazing time and will just need a little more practice before conquering the unconquerable William H. Wilson IV in fencing. ;)

On Friday night, Bill and I were invited to a party and dance club by a friend from Surrey who studied for one year in the U.S. at the University of Cincinnati. I quickly noticed that British parties aren't much different from American parties -- large groups of people, drinking, drinking games, and hilarious photo ops. Since I haven't partied much at UC, the chance to let loose and make a few more friends made me thrilled for a night out. For the most part, the drinks were the same as those in the U.S. (rum and coke, wine coolers, beer, whiskey, schnapps), and I was glad that the drinking games were played with schnapps rather than hard liquor. (With schnapps, you can have a few drinks and not get really drunk.) After pre-gaming at the house party, we made our way to the Rubix, which is a dance club on the university campus. When we got there, the club was packed with students. I must say that dance clubs are one thing that differs between the U.S. and Britain, and I prefer the British version. At the Rubix, they played awesome party music (surprisingly, most of it was American), and I was hard-pressed to find any "freak dancing" at all. Even the couples that came with us to the club spent most of their time jumping up and down to the music, snapping pictures, and mingling around the crowd to catch friends. It was really great to dance at a club and not worry about random strangers trying to hit on me and put their hands where they don't belong. Kudos to the British, who know how to run a classy dance club!

On Saturday, I walked to Bill's new house for a dinner party and the chance to tour downtown Guildford. I must say that Bill's house is gorgeous, and I found myself a tiny bit envious of the beauty of it all. Bill's landlord is an amateur artist, who decided to paint nearly every wall, ceiling, and doorway with a spectacular mural. The kitchen ceiling has a beautiful picture of the sun, Bill's room boasts an impressionist version of Guildford's High Street, and the dining room has murals that somewhat reminded me of Van Gogh. After gawking at the awesomeness of his living space, Bill and I headed downtown for a small shopping trip to buy a few "life necessities". Downtown Guildford is quite charming with it's historical landmarks and small shops. We first stopped at a store called Argos, which sells many of the same products found in Kohls or Target. However, Argos is unique in that there are no displays and only a few products located in the main storeroom. Instead, there are several catalogs with thousands of pages of products. You simply flip through the catalog, pick your item, and bring the catalog number to the register. After paying for your item, they grab it from their warehouse in the back, and you leave with your purchases. It's really a great idea because the store saves money by not spending quid (a.k.a "dollars") on useless advertising displays. It didn't take me long to buy a cheap hair dryer and straightener, and then head off on our way. We stopped at a cell phone store, bought cheap pay-as-you-go cell phones in order to call each other, and spent a few more hours touring the downtown area. Eventually, we made our way back to Bill's house where his house mates (two engaged Italians) made us an absolute amazing dinner. After tasting authentic Italian food, I became even more excited about our upcoming trip to Rome. (Bill and I found cheap airline tickets from London to Rome and are taking advantage of a light class schedule in order to see Vatican City, the Colosseum, and Rome's piazza.)

So now it is Sunday evening, I have a ton of studying to catch up on and can hardly believe that tomorrow brings another day of class. Overall, my first week in England has been a little overwhelming, extremely busy, and loads of fun. I absolutely love Europe and am so thankful for the opportunity to study abroad. This trip is fantastic!

Only four more days, and I'll find myself on a train to London for a long weekend of seeing the sites and having an awesome time. Isn't life exciting?!

Halfway Through My First Week

Deepest apologies for the small gap in blog entries... so much has been happening that I haven't had much time to sit back and relax. Add in the fact that my computer crashed a fews day ago, and it's understandable why you haven't heard much about my first few days in Guildford. Luckily, I'm starting to get back to my normal routine and my computer is at least functioning now. (My biggest wish right now is that my Dell Inspiron lasts through the remaining fourteen weeks of this trip!)

Since my last blog entry was on Saturday after Bill and I arrived in the U.K., I'll start recapping events from Sunday. My second day in England was much more restful than the first, and it gave me a nice chance to get myself organized before starting classes on Monday. I managed to find a Catholic church near my house for mass on Sunday morning. One of the best things I love about Catholicism is that masses are generally the same in every part of the world. This one was no exception. Mass gave me a nice hour to reflect and celebrate the concepts of my religion. Though desperately trying to fit in, the parish was so small that almost everyone in the church realized that I was an outsider. After hearing my accent, they guessed pretty quickly that I was an American. One thing that I have noticed is that the British are incredibly friendly, and the people of St. Mary's Catholic Church were no different. One old lady even tried to convince me to join the church choir! Not ready to make any commitments, I declined with the excuse that I was unfamiliar with British hymns. This was a wise decision since the "choir" consisted of a guitarist, flutist, and pianist/cantor. Besides the cantor, I would have been the choir's sole member! After church, I wandered around the neighborhood looking for the nearest supermarket, got lost, walked back to my house, looked for the grocery store on Google Maps, and left again for a twenty minute walk to Tesco (the European equivalent of Kroger). The rest of the day was spent unpacking, wandering aimlessly until I found the university campus, and making a ham sandwich for Bill since he didn't realize that Tesco closes at 4 p.m. on Sundays.

Monday brought my first day of class, and I found it very overwhelming. After spending the past five and a half months completing a relatively easy co-op, I was in no mental state to go back to class. Even though I had only two classes in the morning, the rest of the day was very busy with various meetings and seminars. I did receive the pleasure of meeting my international adviser, Christina, who has been incredibly helpful with answering my questions and giving advice for my stay in the U.K. In the afternoon, Christina helped us register with the university and get our student IDs. After pocketing another college ID, I headed back to my house while Bill and Christina left to look for a house that Bill could rent during the semester. (International students who are studying at the university for only one semester are required to find a place to live off campus. If they fail to find a place before arriving, they are given a temporary room on campus to rent while they are "apartment shopping". This is what happened to Bill; I was able to find a house before leaving the U.S.) By a crazy stroke of luck, Bill was able to find a house in the center of Guildford, which is an ideal location since it's not far from campus and near everything in town. In the evening, all of the international students were invited to a bar on campus (Chancellors) where the Student Union provided us with free drinks while giving a presentation on student activities. The university has millions of things to do, and I'm hoping to pick up a new skill while away from home. The evening was my first chance to meet other international students, and I had a great time making new friends. In the short hour and a half that I was there, I spent a lot of time talking to Ava (Germany), Doroska (Poland), and Gabriel (France). Everyone was really open and incredibly friendly. It was a fabulous end to an otherwise overwhelming day.

Tuesdays are the easiest weekdays for my class schedule. I only have one class (Micronutrients), which doesn't start until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. So this day was an excellent chance to recover from the day before. I meandered to the grocery store, did laundry (which takes a considerable amount of time with European machines), and walked to campus to figure out why my computer crashed on Sunday. Unfortunately, I found out that Dell warranties purchased in the US are only honored in the United States. Giving up on Dell support, I took my computer to the campus computer shop for any help that they could give. In the end, I was really impressed with the computer techs on campus. They told me to not worry too much about the "blue screen of death" that my computer spat out on Sunday and to just keep a log of any other error messages that I might come across in the next few weeks. So at least for now, my computer is working relatively well... even though I'm getting my hopes up too high that it'll live through the rest of the semester. In the afternoon, Bill and I met up with a Surrey student who studied at UC in 2005-2006. His name is Mathew, and it was really cool to meet up with someone who is familiar with Cincinnati. We brought him gifts of Skyline Chili, Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce, and oyster crackers. Needless to say, he and his house mates were thrilled with the local delicacies. Mathew graciously cooked Bill and I dinner, and we hung out with his other four house mates for the rest of the evening. It was funny to hear everyone's stories from random trips to Americans. I've noticed that Europeans are much more well-traveled than Americans. After an education in British humor, I left feeling thrilled that I was able to meet another group of really great people.

Finally, this long blog entry can wrap up with today's happenings. Compared to earlier in the week, today was relatively uneventful, which gives me a chance to actually write an entry for my blog. ;) Rather than going through a typical day of classes, I'll leave you with one thing that I learned in Micronutrients class and one conversation that I had with a few small children on my way home from campus:

Random British fact learned in class:
"Vitamin D is produced by your skin through exposure to sunlight. People in the United Kingdom do not produce Vitamin D from October to February despite walking outside on a sunny day. This is because the sun's rays hit this region at an insufficient angle for human skin to produce Vitamin D."

Random British conversation with small children:

Three little boys were arguing with a small girl who had apparently gotten on one of the little boy's bike and refused to get off.

Little Boy to Me: Can you make her get off my bike?
Little Boy's Friend to Him (laughing): What could this lady possibly do?!
Me: I can't make her get off, but just make sure that you don't do anything to hurt her. You should never hurt a girl.
Little Boy to Me: Of course... say, are you American?
Me: Yes. Why do you ask?
Little Boy: You sound American.
Me (winking): And you sound British.

Finally in England!

I have finally arrived in the United Kingdom. After saying a few tearful good-byes, Bill (a fellow biomedical engineering classmate of mine) and I boarded our plane for a direct flight from Cincinnati to London. Despite taking two Benadryl tablets in hopes of knocking myself out for the overnight flight, I only managed to get a few hours of sleep before our plane landed in London Gatwick Airport. For the most part, the flight was uneventful. However, this was the first time that I have seen the sunset and sunrise from thousands of feet in the air on one flight. The view was gorgeous.

Passing through customs at the United Kingdom boarder also went smoothly. There was a long line of non-European travelers, but we only needed to wait about twenty minutes before "officially" entering Great Britain. From London, Bill and I caught a 40-minute train to Guildford. While on the train, I got my first experience of being a "stupid American". After boarding the train with several pieces of luggage, I quickly realized that there was no room for all of my bags. Taking a risk, I stored them in the aisle in hopes that the train would empty on other stops and I could move them to a more convenient location. However, I didn't realize that an attendant and a snack cart would be perusing through the aisle only a few minutes later. Muttering apologies, I tried to move my bags -- obliviously dropping my heaviest bag onto a lady's foot. I tried to apologize, but my American accent gave away my nationality. Needless to say, the look on her face seemed to shout every American insult and stereotype currently in a existence. Luckily, Guildford was the next stop and I hopped off the train to put my embarrassment behind me. Unfortunately, I have no doubts that I will have several of these moments throughout the next semester.

Leaving the train station, Bill and I hailed a cab to take us to the university where Bill could pick up keys for his one-week temporary dorm room. After showers and a quick lunch, I called my landlords and asked them to pick me up at the university so that I could move my luggage into my new room. Taking one step past the front doorway, I instantly fell in love with the house. It's old and has a great deal of character. I have my own room with a twin bed, shelving, desk, chair, and closet. I'm sharing the bathroom with my landlord's daughter and have complete access to the kitchen. The best part is that wireless internet, water, and utilities are all included in rent! My landlords are awesome people and often go out of their way to make me feel at home. Tonight, Colin (my landlord) fixed my computer so that I could send emails to family and friends. Maria (Colin's "wife") also invited Bill and I both to dinner, which saved me a great hassle of fending for myself.

Besides frying my voltage transformer, I've adjusted quickly to British life.

Maybe I'll even come home with a British accent. ;)