Spain: Tarifa

The bus ride to Tarifa was the first real change of scenery we got since the mountains of Granada. Lush green hills snaked along the edge of Spain and the clear blue Mediterranean. The bus ride was interesting as well. We had a bus driver suffering from severe PMS because she got into an argument with one of the passengers and even after he got up and retreated to the back of the bus, she was still yelling at him from the drivers sear. She also decided to get off the bus at one point to bark orders at a bunch of construction workers who were just doing their jobs. They cooperated to avoid her hormonal wrath and redirected traffic so that we could pass the blocked off street on the opposite side of the road.

Arriving in Tarifa was a relief. We walked down the town’s main street which was furbished with surf shops and tattoo parlors. This was definitely a shore town. Carrie was actually very excited to go shopping on one of her days; I was hoping to distract her enough to forget about. We continued along to find our Hostal, Hostal Africa. The very affordable room was the best and most luxurious of the trip. It was a clean, well painted, and well lit room. The shower was perfect and we were adjacent to the roof top access. The roof garden was fitted with tables and chairs where we ate a lot. There was also a gazebo where we read and played cards a lot and took shade from the sun. From the roof is where we got our first glance at Morocco. Honestly, Africa looked so close I almost fooled myself into thinking I could simply reach out and touch it.

The first day we went to the beach. It took us awhile before we finally settled on a spot. It was along a little cove set aside strictly for swimmers; most of the other stretches of beach were being used by windsurfers and kite surfers. Although, it was cool to see the sky filled with a large range of kites varying in size, shape, and color. The water was cold but clear and really refreshing. The beach was of fine white sand. Most of the crowd was young and it made me feel connected to my generation in way. This is what people my age were doing on the coast in Spain. Carrie sometimes criticized me for being too touristy by wearing my technical gear when we explore places… But now I was just in my board shorts and sandals. The day ended and we each received pretty good sunburns, though I think Carrie’s chest was the worse of our burns.

The next day was very thrilling. I didn’t tell anyone I was considering this, but we hopped on a ferry and went to Tangier Morocco for the day. I feel it is quite an accomplishment to have made it to Africa on this trip, and I still can’t believe I was there. When we arrived we were introduced to Moroccan hospitality and friendliness immediately. A dock worker helped a complete stranger up a huge flight of stairs with his luggage. Back home, workers would certainly feel they were too busy to lend a helping hand… but everyone we passed in the city was always smiling and waving to us. It was a very welcoming atmosphere.

Before we even stepped out of the port, we were bombarded by tour guides looking to quickly grab any tourists upon arrival. We selected the guide who best suited our needs… a very experienced tour guide name Said. He spoke 5 languages and has lived in Miami and reminded me of a Muslim Obiwan Kenobi, especially since he was wearing a sagely robe. He taught us a multitude of things about Tangier and the Muslim culture. We went on a camel ride, saw a cobra. We ate in a very affordable restaurant where we were treated to a traditional Moroccan meal of olives, vegetable soup, couscous, pastries and chicken dishes accompanied by the tunes of Moroccan musicians. Tangier was full of cats, being the pet of choice; even in the restaurant there were two freely walking about the dining area, weaving in and out of the tables searching for scraps. Said took us through old town, where we looked in shops filled with crafts: carpets, jewelry, knives, tiles, traditional clothes, statuettes, and more. We saw a lot of normal Moroccan life as well. We were welcomed into tiny bakeries and markets to watch men work—we never saw a women working (must be a cultural thing). Although we left Morocco in a day, it felt like we experienced a week’s worth of the time. We returned on the ferry; I was quiet on the return ride still trying to take everything in.

The next day it rained in Tarifa, which was alright, because our sunburned bodies couldn’t take much more sun. We did get a chance to go souvenir shopping and run some errands. Carrie and I picked up matching cartilage earrings because I lost mine playing football at the abbey and hey, it was less permanent than getting matching tattoos… We had a great dinner that night. We dressed up and sat in a restaurant and had a great night. We must have stayed there for three hours. It was like a little date, we ate olives, shared sangria, and talked through the whole meal. When we had to leave we really wished we stayed one more day. This Hostal could never be beat and we were beginning to fear that Madrid, wouldn’t keep us as busy as we would like.

Spain: Sevilla

Sevilla really wasn’t that much to look out, but there were many treasures to be found if you looked hard enough—probably between every other street where a Starbucks wasn’t… For the most part, Spain was void of commercial franchises, Sevilla and certain parts of Madrid were the exceptions. However the culture stills survives amidst this debauchery of independent entrepreneurial establishments. Carrie and I got to attend a Flamenco performance, for example, and a bullfight in Madrid (I’ll save that story for later).

The Flamenco performance was a great experience, never have I seen performance art fueled with such energy, passion, cooperation, and (believe it or not) anger. The dancers performed mainly solo pieces, protecting us from the cliché bombardment of partner skits that were growing ever popular in flamenco tourist traps. They stomped their feet, sending heart pounding energy into the audience as the musicians stomped and clapped in unison. The music and dancers complemented each other and made it obvious the one could not live without the other. No performer left the act sweat free. It was a very powerful performance.

Another charm of the city was the Barrows, the old Jewish corridor that consisted of tightly packed buildings leaving only enough room for tiny lanes know as kissing lanes (probably got the name because it looked like the buildings were close enough to kiss, but I like to think it is because if you and a certain friend stand with your backs to opposite walls you would be close enough to reach out and kiss them, at least, that’s what I did). These little streets were fun to navigate and get lost in—with their tiny plazas, shops and tapas bars.

The most impressive piece of architecture had to be the Plaza de España. The enormous half-circle plaza is a fine example of Moorish revival. The building has many archways and two tall symmetrically placed towers with traditional dome crowns. Most of the plaza was accessible for free and it was enjoyable walking between its dwarfing pillars and walkways.

Another monument in Sevilla, similarly built in the Moorish design was Alcázar. This was built over Moorish ruins for King Pedro of Castile. Pedro used Moorish workers to build his palace giving it a distinctly Islamic design. The palace is one of the best remaining examples of mudéjar architecture, a style under Christian rule in Spain but using Islamic architectural influence. One of the most obvious ways of telling that this monument was indeed an imitation of Moorish architecture was by looking at the great tile and ceiling work and seeing depictions and images of faces, animals, and other objects. Most Muslims would shy away from displaying images in their artwork because it goes against their religion. But for the most part, the Alcázar was just a smaller and less impressive Alhambra.

Carrie and I mainly went on long walks to pass the time. Walking in the Parque Maria Luisa and along the River Guadalquivir were definitely the most scenic routes. The park was also the best park we would see, in my opinion. But, we did find ourselves a little bored and it was sort of a relief to finally be heading towards Tarifa.

Spain: Granada

I know it has been a while since I have posted, in fact by the time I publish this I will already be home. I have decided to write about my trip to Spain in four parts; one entry for each of the cities I visited. Hopefully I will get all of these entries published within the next week.

First of all, I had very mixed feelings about the day I left Wroxton. Everybody was geared up to go home and excited to see their friends and family. I, on the other hand, was more concerned about saying goodbye to everybody so that I could catch my flight. At the same time, I was a little upset not traveling home with the people I just spent four months with. At some instances I even found myself jealous that these people were going to be eating a homed cooked meal that night. It had been a long four months and I was being to feel that a vacation home my not have been such an idea before traveling again. But Carrie and I had to say are farewells and rush off to the coach park to hitch a ride to another airport.

We landed in Granada late the evening. The skies were dark and we really couldn’t make heads or tales of our surroundings. In fact, I remember, while riding a bus into the city, seeing lights suspended in the sky in a hauntingly familiar circular pattern that reminded me of UFOs. First night in Spain and we had already walk into a full scale alien invasion… But alas, there were no aliens. They were the streets lights of distance neighborhoods nestled in the hills and mountain sides. But the night sky was like a tarp draped over the breathtaking landscape that wouldn’t be lifted until morning—but damn was it a great surprise.

I can’t really capture the words for my initial reaction to stepping out onto Granada streets and seeing the clear blue sky hovering over the tan city that almost blended in with the golden hills and red mountains encircling it. My mouth was gaping… But the full picture wasn’t revealed until we found our way to one of the viewpoints. San Nicolas Point was one such viewpoint. To put it simply, my mouth fell into an even greater gaping expression and I may have drooled a little. I took a picture… but nothing was as memorable as overlooking the city and looking across at the red Alhambra standing majestically over the whole land only having the whole scene dwarfed by the snowcapped Sierra Nevada mountains that stood behind it.

This was definitely my favorite city in Europe. The city attracted many hippies and attractive young people. There had to be at least one human for every dog, and yes that is how I meant to say it. Dogs ran freely next to their human companions and played together between groups of barefoot hippies who were generally gathered around someone with an instrument or a soothing singing voice.

The Alhambra was another story… I could write a whole entry on this place alone, however I won’t. I will just say that I took many photos (went through two sets of batteries…), gained a completely new appreciation for Moorish architecture and Muslim art, and gained an understanding of the Muslim world—which brings me to another point. One of the greatest benefits of touring Andalucía, is that I got a great taste of multiple cultures. This part of the country was once ruled by the Moors and they certainly left behind a lingering taste of their vast empire, the Alhambra being the biggest (this fortified city used to be the capital of their empire in Spain). Carrie and spent all day exploring and appreciating the palaces and Alcazar (Moorish fort), the gardens and General Life Gardens. It was like a Disney Land of culture and history—fun for any nerd who loves this kind of stuff like me.

Before we knew it, we were on our way to Seville.

Final Days of Wroxton

I tried looking back on my experiences here, and I feel as though I dreamt it all up. A few weeks in Spain and then I will wake up one morning to find myself in my own bed back in my little white house with purple shutters in Pines Lake NJ—wondering if it actually happening. Or will it hit me that I was here! I did it!

I did my best to get a lot out of my few weeks left at Wroxton. I went to Stonehenge and visited London twice. Stonehenge was far better of an experience than the underground vaults in Edinburgh. I discovered that I feel a connection to the tangible world. Looking at the stones and wondering about the people who constructed this masterpiece helped me feel connected to mankind in a very special way. I get more by looking into our past than I ever would if I was looking for some form of otherworldly spirituality. It feels good to look at something my ancestors built and gain this great appreciation and sense of belonging to a history of tremendous achievement and marvel—like the very same feeling that came over that guy who, thousands of years ago, stood over an amber campfire and roared, “I AM MAN! I HAVE CREATED FIRE!”

The first time I went to London, Carrie and I spent the whole day at the London Zoo. It was an unbelievably gorgeous day. The zoo was also incredible. I saw the gorilla who actually taught Andy Serkis how to play Kong in the new King Kong movie. Apparently the two of them just spent time socializing and the female gorilla had fun showing the actor the ways of the gorilla. We also got to see giant bats from the Amazonian Rainforest. The second and final visit I spent the day in theatres. I saw Spamalot and Wicked. Spamalot was worth a few laughs but I wouldn’t suggest going to see it. Our school showed how ‘generous’ it is once again by purchasing seats as far away from the stage as possible… Wicked was a far better experience. It only cost ₤26 for the night show. I really loved it and highly recommend it. I saw another play a week or two earlier in Birmingham called Testing the Echo. It was interesting—about the citizenship test in England. Finding out what countries think is important for aspiring citizens to know is funny if not disturbing. Like, is it vital for every citizen to know when pubs open on Sunday???

I finished my papers and exams! I did worse on all of my papers by a whole marking. So if I got an A on the first paper for a course, my second one was an A- and so on. It was a little discouraging, but my grades were far from poor. The exams were really tough. I don’t really know what to think about them. I can guess which ones I performed better on but that is the best I can do. I think my best was CORE, which I hope is an A so I can get an A out of that course. My worst was probably Modern Novels which was the class I was doing the best in. That is the problem with these exams. They constitute 50% of my grade. So my A in that class good drop significantly because of the exam. A semester worth the work shot because of a 3 hour exam… Something’s a little off with that system.

Last week I went to the Banbury Beerfest. It was fun and I know can appreciate the horror of drinking warm beer…

I have just been trying to pass the time and enjoy myself these last few days… I am packing today and tomorrow I leave for Spain… I’ll try to get a blog or two up, but I definitely post again when I return.

Good-bye Wroxton…

Guess What's Up My Kilt

This past weekend there was a class trip to Edinburgh, Scotland for two days and two nights. I wish we had more time there, considering it took an uncomfortable, overnight, and 8 hour bus ride for us to get up to the city. But I spent my time there as best as I could. The bus left at 12:30 Friday morning. One of our classmates, now I won’t mention names (ok… Michael Beni), decided to have a power-hour before getting on the bus. That’s when you drink a shot of beer every minute for one whole hour. It sounds easy, but that is the equivalent of about 5 tall beers in an hour. He vomited on the bus 15 minutes into the drive. We actually pulled over outside of Stratford to clean up his mess.

After getting virtually no sleep, we had to occupy ourselves from 9:30 to 2:00 pm before we could check into our hotel room. So we put our belongings in storage and headed out into Edinburgh for some breakfast. Let me not fail to mention, it was pouring rain that morning. After breakfast, Carrie and I went off with random classmates to see the main part of the city and catch a glimpse of Edinburgh Castle. The castle looked alright. It sat high up on the hill of the volcano the whole city was built on top of. It was fun window shopping on the way. You know you are in Scotland when every other building has ‘Kilt Sale’ signs in their windows. I really wanted one, but I couldn’t find my clan colors. I even stepped inside a store that produced Kilts in front of the customers. It was fun learning about what all the machines did and how Kilts were woven in the past.

When 2:00 came around, almost the whole class found its way back to the hotel for a nap. With saggy eyelids and beat red eyes, I laid my head on the starchy hotel pillow and woke up 3 hours later in the same position I fell asleep in. It was Matt Krayton’s birthday, so his girlfriend Ashley organized a group whiskey tour (Matt’s drink of choice). The tour was a lot of fun. It didn’t compare to the Guinness tour, but I did learn the 5 steps of how one would properly appreciate a shot of whiskey. Afterward, I went out to dinner with Carrie and the girls she went on travel break with. I worked up the courage to try an authentic plate of Haggis at a local pub. It came in the shape of a tower with three layers of yellow turnips, white mashed potatoes, and brown haggis, which sat in a pool of brown gravy. It was delicious. Tasted like a light and spicy hunk of meatloaf.

The next day I went on two tours. The first was a tour of the Britannia—once the Queen’s royal yacht. The ship was, as you can guess, very elegant and prudish, but my fascination with sailing and ships kept me very interested in the ship’s history. In its lifetime, the Britannia traveled so many miles, that if you were to average out the distance it traveled annually, the boat could have circumnavigated the world twice a year. Most of the ship was open for exploration. One of the kitchens, in fact, is still being used to make fudge to sell aboard to tourists.

That night, a large group of us went on a walking ghost tour of the city. The underground vaults of the city are considered the most haunted place in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. So my hopes of experiencing some paranormal activity were pretty high. The tour guide walked us about the city explaining the gruesome history behind Edinburgh. Apparently, the concept of high heeled shoes was thought up here because women wanted to be able to walk around the streets without covering the feet in human waste which was previously discarded from the tenement windows the night before. This was before plumbing came along of course.

When we got to the vaults, I was pretty excited. There was an actual active Wiccan Temple in one of the vaults. The inhabitants chose this location for worship because it had extraordinarily high levels of spiritual energies. I could see the black and white pillars of positive and negative energy and the pentagram of the five elements in the center of the room. Then we moved to a vault that the Wiccas previously occupied. They abandoned the vault because they disturbed a large force of negative energy. But before they left, the Wiccas cast a circle of containment to imprison the negative energy. A circle of stones was set in the center of the room. The tour guide advised strongly against anyone walking through it. Determined to feel something, to encounter the otherworld, I entered. Being the first to step beyond the seal I heard gasps of worry and fear from a few of the people around the circle. I stood my ground and presented myself to the other world and, to my disappointment, felt nothing. I often wonder why I am so disappointed when experiences such as these are unfulfilling. Perhaps that is because I am a skeptic and void of any definable spirituality. But my disappointment also shows my hope of there being something more. Therefore, this is why I fittingly claim to be an agnostic. Perhaps the next time I reach beyond my earthly bounds, something else will reach for me in return.

The bus ride back gave me a glimpse of the marvelous scenery Scotland had to offer. I wish I had more time to explore the Highlands and maybe see Loch Ness. But at least I have reason to return. We did drive along the coast facing the North Sea. It was pretty impressive. That was the last of the weekend trips the Wroxton Program has to offer. So besides a few day tours and trips to London, my exploration of the UK has come to an end. Now I need to concentrate on papers and finals before heading off to Spain.

How I Conquered Wales in a Day

On April 12^th, the college offered a day trip to Cardiff Wales, the capital of the very country my namesake originates from. Well technically, the Battersby name came about in England but my ancestors had to flee because of severe religious persecution. Any Battersby who survived the stakes either fled to Scotland or Wales, or was shipped off to Australia, where the English sent most of their exiles. I took advantage of the trip of course and spent most of my time at Cardiff Castle.

This remarkable piece of architecture has more than one thousand years of history behind it—previously being occupied by the Normans, who built a keep over the foundations of a Roman fortress, and then the Welsh and English, who erected a great walled castle of the medieval variety. A group of my classmates and I went on a tour of the renovated castle that was previously the home of the Bute family, the lords and rulers of not only Cardiff, but most of Wales. I really enjoyed looking at the interior of this amazing home. Lord Bute and his best friend William Burges spent a decade or more renovating and adding to this wondrous piece of history.

My favorite room was the Men’s Smoking Room in the Clock Tower. You see Lord Bute themed every room in the castle. The clock tower fittingly implemented the theme of time. The ceiling was a mural to the signs of the Zodiac, while the stained-glass windows represented the days of the week, the four corners had intricate carvings of cloaked figures holding the sun or the moon at the four different points of the day, and the four seasons were embroidering the room at the junction where the ceiling meets the walls. There is plenty more I can describe to you but the room, as well as every room in the castle, was crafted with such fine and intricate detail that it could take a week to appreciate everything in it let alone describe it to you.

Afterward I picked up many souvenirs and ascended the Norman keep where my Welsh Flag waved majestically through the crisp Welsh air. That’s where I got the picture!

The rest of the week was spent preparing for my last class of my Social Policy course and my final exam in my Modern Britain course. With these two classes out of the way, I will be able to concentrate on my final papers and study for the other finals I will have in the next four weeks. I feel like I did alright on it the Britain exam. The exam was a fierce test of my knowledge, observations, and experiences. I also had to pace myself appropriately. I know people who didn’t have time to answer 5 of the 12 questions… I finished the bulk of the test; I just didn’t do to well on the current events section. But I feel confident and pleased to have gotten that exam out of the way. There was one other highlight of the past week. Tuesday night at the North Arms, Nicky’s father Steve, hosted at track night where we walked into a mach-racetrack for dog racing. I learned a lot about the strategy behind betting and the game of dog racing. I didn’t do too badly for a first attempt, but I didn’t win anything either. If I was at the real tracks I would have walked away with six pounds. Unfortunately this was a type of tournament where only the three best gamblers took home any money. The night was very exciting and a great break away from studying.

Keep a watchful eye. I went to Edinburgh, Scotland this weekend. I should be putting a post up about it soon.

News from the Abbey

This will be a lighter post than normal: a quick recap of this week, some good news and bad news, and a little more attention to what an average day at the Wroxton Abbey is like.

Last week marked our return to class after travel break, all of our professors marked our first set of essays and I am very happy with my grades to say the least—yet at the same time surprised with every grade. Professor Parsons and Dr. Mason are my co-tutors in my Shakespeare class and Modern Novels on the Screen class. They scared the crap out of everyone saying that they were disappointed in a lot of the work saying how “it didn’t accurately reflect the effort we have been showing all semester.” However I got my two papers back. I received an A on the Shakespeare paper and an A+ on the Modern Novels one (I really felt the Modern Novels paper was my weakest but what do I know). In CORE with Professor Hone (Creative Writer and World Traveler… sounds like me) gave me an A- on my Modern China paper. My last paper, which again I was surprised with my result, was on the National Health Service. I wrote it for Dr. Morris’ Social Policy of Britain class. It got a B, but again I felt that that was a stronger paper than my Modern China Paper. Again, overall I am very pleased with my marks. They were a nice confidence booster; now all I have to do is finish strong.

My next bit of news is more exciting for me than a bunch of grades. I received the Beverly Saul award for excellent performance and achievement in Creative Writing. If I were home, I would have received it during my induction into the English Honors Society, Sigma Tau Delta. What makes this award extra remarkable is that it is only given to one student a year and I am pretty young to have received it. I am very, very proud of this award and I will not take it for granted. Thank you everyone, who encourages and appreciates my writing (a special thanks to Mr. Summers).

But now, onto the bad news. There must be an intricate check and balance system for success in the universe and I must have hit the cap of good news for this month. I was not accepted as an RA for the Fall term. I felt like I was highly qualified and capable, I let myself believe I was a shoe in, but I was wrong. Now I have to consider finding another job close to campus and I need to think about commuting in the spring and even all of Senior Year. I will apply again for the Spring; I can only hope things will be different. In light of my failures I do wish to congratulate Carrie who was selected and Chase (another student currently at Wroxton). You both will do great.

Life at the Abbey is really comfortable. Many of us play football (American Soccer) on nice days. We use benches as goals… We generally get enough people to play no less than 6 on 6. A lot of the players are really good. Even if they are just athletic, they are smart and fun to play with. It actually snowed for the first time yesterday—stuck to the ground too. We have a duck nested in the front of the Abbey ready to hatch a family. Her man and a gang of about 5 drakes patrol the path leading to the Carriage House, quacking at anybody who dilly-dallies too long near the nest. It is warming up here, and everyone is getting more active. Things have just been more lively and fun since we have returned from travel break.

Also this past Saturday, the class went to London to attend the performance Blood Brothers. It wasn’t a musical, more like a play with music. It was a brilliant work of art, I highly recommend seeing it, and I’m not saying much more about it because I wouldn’t want to spoil such an epic play. Carrie and I also went to the London Dungeon on our free time. It was more informative than scary, but it was a fun experience nonetheless.

Into the Emerald Isle

I did so much in Ireland I don’t even know where to start. I had a really great time. The country was beautiful, the cities were lively, and the Guinness was fresh. I met really cool people as well. I’ll just run through everything I did and go into some of it in detail.

I left for Ireland on March 21^st with Paul Russell. I was actually in the same suite with Paul freshman year; we both were originally planning on going to Ireland alone until we realized we both were going of course… So we decided to travel together. He wasn’t the most adventurous or wise travel buddy—he read alone at night and rushed through a lot of the places we visited. Ryan Air was the airline we took. It is really cheap and they generally run on time. It’s a free for all trying to get seats on the plane because they don’t assign them to you on your boarding pass. The flight only took 40 minutes.

We arrived in Dublin airport and spent the night there. I met some Americans on their way out, so we chatted and hung out until the early hours of the morning, when I caught a City Link Bus (really affordable) to Galway city on the opposite side of the country. Galway was my favorite city. It’s right on the bay and very lively. The main street was a pedestrian street where every other building was a pub if not a restaurant. The hostel we stayed at was called the Nimmos (never ever book there). We were roomed with some American tourists; they were juniors in college and I went out with them the first night to go to a pub and hear some authentic Irish pub music (all of the music was live)!

The next day we booked a bus tour with Lally tours to see the Burrens (which means the rocky lands) and the Cliffs of Moher (not sure what that means it’s just an amazing place). We saw a burial site, Aillwee Caves, and Doolin as well. I bought a Claddagh ring in Doolin so that I would have something similar to my parents’ wedding rings. My favorite site was definitely the cliffs. I walked along the main path of the site until I reached a sign that read “Please do not cross this sign” so I did… So many people venture beyond the sign that their feet pressed the earth flat into a dirt path that is as solid as stone. I walked about a half a mile to one of the highest peaks where I unzipped my jacket stretching my new fleece wings as wide as I could, stood about three feet from the edge and leaned into the wind allowing the updrafts to hold my footing. Dangerous, slightly, but simply breathtaking.

After two nights we took another bus to Cork. It was quiet on Monday because of the bank holiday. McDonalds wasn’t even open… But here is where I met one of the most interesting people I met on the trip. His name was Scott. He was a young Englishmen from Manchester who looked more Irish than any Irish person I saw the whole week. He had a ginger complexion, red hair, and a hooked nose. Mistakenly thinking he was a ‘native,’ (Allan will appreciate that jargon) I asked him for directions to the local TI. He had no clue, but together we found it. Later in the day we ran into him again, being one of the few people on the streets in this dead city. We all had lunch, and then we planned on meeting for dinner at St. Patrick’s Bridge (literally a bridge where we rendezvoused). After dinner, Paul returned to the hostel, while Scott and I went out to Brewery Bars. We picked the Franciscan Well, which just had a beer fest a few days earlier. It was really fun and the beer was all made right on location. After, we parted ways and the next day Paul and I went to Blarney to see the castle and the grounds. Blarney is really worth a visit. There is a lot to do on the grounds of the castle. Our last night at the hostel was slow but I met some South Africans and Australians. We talked about our home countries.

The bus ride to Dublin was long and it rained all day and everyday we were there. But I didn’t let that put a damper on things. We really had to stretch our imagination to make Dublin work for us. There are some worthwhile sites like the Guinness factory and Trinity College (Book of Kells), but really not much else—St. Patrick’s Cathedral was under slight renovation but there was scaffolding everywhere. Paul and I definitely had the best Hostel experience in Dublin. We met really cool people, I played chess with an Italian chess wizard, played cards, the receptionist gave me a ticket to see a live DJ, which was sweet, and we met an American girl name Camey who was traveling with her mother all over Europe. They were a nice breath of fresh air from all the Europeans. Paul and I finally learned how to eat cheaply while traveling—it’s called Tesco, the value store, and microwaves or ovens in the hostel kitchen. 3 euros we had a full dinner! The Guinness tour was well worth the money. We got a free pint of fresh Guinness which covers half the price (maybe more, because it was so damn delicious) and you get a tour. Normally a pint = 5 Euro in bars!

The last day it was raining and Paul and I were seriously out of options so we headed to the airport five hours early. But that was alright I learned how to make friends in airports. Learned another card game from a group of Americans called 10-1. As soon as I got back to Wroxton I ran to the North Arms for food and a warm welcome from Gary and Nicky! Traveling is really fun, but exhausting. I went to sleep as soon as I returned to the Abbey because I eagerly awaited Carrie’s arrival. She was in Italy all week. The whole week cost just under 900 American dollars.

The Paris Trip

The days leading up to the Paris trip were semi eventful. March 4^th was Steve’s Birthday. He, like Josh, drank a yard of beer to mark the occasion. But the trip to Paris was approaching quickly and everybody was trying to do laundry. Now, it wasn’t that I was waiting to the last minute to get ready for Paris, I was just waiting to the last possible moment to do laundry (it costs a lot). I had no underwear for the next day let alone enough clothes for an entire extended weekend. Because I couldn’t use the laundry facilities at school, I had to take Nicky up on her offer to do laundry at the Pub. Surprisingly they allowed me to do two full loads and didn’t charge me a dime—sorry pence. Gary even gave me a pair of his old jeans so that I could wash the ones I was wearing. I even told him I would wear my sweats but he insisted. I asked if they would autograph the jeans as a souvenir. Nicky and Gary are awesome human beings.

The next day I had a class trip. We went to Oxford, to watch the Birmingham Royal Ballet. They were performing three suites in honor of Duke Ellington (the Jazz composer). The Shakespeare Suite was the main reason for going, but I enjoyed the Orpheus Suite much more. I have never been to a ballet before, and I would have to say that it is a rather impressive art form. These dancers were incredibly agile and graceful. They had complete control over their bodies; and when two of them came together, the way they played off of each other and moved together defied physics.

I was only able to take a quick nap that night before hopping on a bus at 2 in the morning. We drove to Paris using the Chunnel. What a marvel. The bus drove up into a railcar and a train rocketed 95 miles/hour under the English Channel and plopped us out onto French soil. It looked like something from a Sci-fi movie. We stopped at many World War I sites on the way to Paris. I highly recommend going to see the Canadian War Memorial if you are in France. The thing reminded me of the Kings of Old in Lord of the Rings (the two statues at the edge of that waterfall). It was the most impressive site we visited. We arrived at our hotel after being lost for a few hours. We really only had enough energy to find a place to eat dinner before passing out with my roommates Josh and Steve. The room, however, was cramped and there was no shower curtain for the bathtub, but our windows did provide access to an awesome rooftop that we used to relax out on. A lot of our peers joined us when we told them about it.

The next day I went on a bus tour provided by the school coach service, I spent a lot of money on food, and I figured out what my traveling souvenirs are going to be—patches—I have a Paris and France patch, I just need to grab a London, England, and UK patch to catch up. I climbed to the top of Notre Dam; it was a far better experience and view (believe it or not) than climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I would recommend just doing the cathedral. The Eiffel Tower was really just nice to look at. I went into the Louvre, saw the Obelisk and the Arc de Triumph… pretty much everything. The last night we were there I took Carrie out for a romantic dinner. I even bought a nice shirt for the occasion in a flee market. We walked to Chez Clement in the Opera district. Carrie was embracing the roses I bought her while pinching the back of my arm, which she does when she is excited. She loved them; no one ever bought her flowers before. We ate Escargot, had a duck entree, and shared a crème brulee for desert. The best dinner I had in a long time…

Tips:
Paris was a very beautiful city and almost everyone spoke English.
Don’t talk to Bulgarians who ask if you can speak English, they are annoying beggars or pickpockets.
Not all French people suck asshole, only the non-white French gave me problems (probably immigrants from Pakistan or somewhere around there).
The Paris subway is faster, cheaper, and easier than taking a cab before 10pm.

The bus ride home was funnier than all hell. Brian and Stewart, the two bus drives, were probably the most cynical comedians I have ever met. They worked well off the other. Brian loved singing his own lyrics to songs generally expressing his love to Wendy Hart, our professor chaperone. They loved using mildly gay humor, pretending the two of them developed feelings for each other over the weekend. I am definitely going to adapt them into characters for something I write in the future.

Finally, I want to catch you up to date. I have been writing papers non-stop. I have 4 papers due by the end of next week before I leave for Ireland on travel break. Each one needs to be about 1500 words. My brain is fried. In fact, I am writing this to take a break and recollect myself. I’ll talk to you all after Ireland.

The Wroxton Hooligans

In England it’s Mum’s Day, so Happy Mum’s Day Mom, I miss you a lot, I hope you are enjoying my blog. This week was pretty drab, but we celebrated two birthdays. This past Tuesday was a girl name Jamie’s birthday. Jamie is like everyone’s mother because she acts like one: asking if we have a coat, making sure we don’t leave things lying around outside, etc. She invited everyone to celebrate downstairs in the Abbey basement. We all played drinking games, ping-pong, pool, darts, and chess. We also brought music down there and danced. It was a unique class bonding experience. The second birthday was Nicky’s, the bartender at the North Arms. My small click has become very good friends with the North Arms family and patrons. So we stayed there real late last night and celebrated her 26^th birthday. We made her a birthday card and bought her a cake; I gave her one of my farkel dice games (her and Gary loved the game when I showed them). She gave out free drinks and we all acted like nuts. At one point in the night I was dancing with Nicky and at another point I was stripping down to my boxers because some locals didn’t think I had the balls… ha—showed them. Both Birthdays were extremely fun.

Carry came down with pink eye this week. She’s getting better and I’m taking good care of her. I administer her eye-drops because she hates giving them to herself—one of the cuter things about her.

I went to Warwick Castle today. It was more toursity than Kenilworth, but just as exciting. I climb to the top of a tower for an amazing view. I went with a group of people into a haunted tour, which explained how Sir Fulke Greville was killed by his servant while actors scared the hell out of most of us. Then I went through a wax museum called Kingmaker. The exhibits were completely open to walk around in. I felt as though I was a time traveler walking through a frozen bit of the medieval time period. Madame Tassauds, the famous wax artist, was in charge of this project. Outside, there was a peacock garden, where I got so close to a peacock I could have kissed it. I was even thinking about sitting next to one on a park bench.

Yesterday was probably my best day here so far. The class went to the Birmingham City F.C. football match against the Tottenham Hotspurs. I bought body and face paint earlier this week for the game. Pat, Mike, and I, decided to paint the jerseys on our bodies. Two hours later, I would say, 65% of the class had face paint on. I did a bang-up job on Marks face—looked like brave-heart. Keep in mind Birmingham is like 4^th to last in the league and Tottenham is like upper middle (crucial to how awesome this story gets). When we got to the stadium the bus stupidly entered into the visitor’s parking lot. There were dozens of police officers patrolling the lot. Our makeup and support was so swish that the police officers thought they stepped foot onto a Blues Bus (Birmingham’s Hooligans). They couldn’t let us off the bus. So we drove the long way round and found our seating section. We were in the corner 2^nd-4^th row to the field and there is no sun. I was freezing my nipples off. Every BC fan was awestricken by our spirit. This was how they acted on first glance; wait till you hear how they treated us after the miracle occurred. Two minutes into the game BC scores off of a header during a corner kick. Everyone went wild. I put a jacket on because it was cold—no action for the rest of the first half. I took my jacket off for the second half… another goal. I kept the jacket off, another goal in five minutes. Then I put the jacket on because I have to pee. I was stopped three times on the way to the bathroom. People grabbed my arm and yelled in drunken tones, “You need to come back mate; you’re loads of good luck!!!” “Yeah, we never win a game.” If you know me at all, you know exactly what I was thinking. “I’m painted head to toe, running around like a nut, and these people think I am a lucky Idol…I am a god!”
I sat back down and the second I took my jacket off, another goal… It was like when ever the three of us had our “jerseys” showing at the same time, BC scored. We jeered at the Hotspurs fans, waved good-bye, and chanted, “It’s all over!” Birmingham wins 4:1 and the players themselves applauded us as they left the pitch. The fans didn’t praise the players for the win, they praised us. When we were leaving on the bus, people cheered and bowed down to us. We stopped at a light on the corner of the club house. A man tried to stop the bus and offered us all free rounds… I screamed, “Stop the bus!” my people want me… Most of us want to return for another game. The picture at the top of the post I actually took from the BC website. The caption for it was, “Great Fans.” None of this story has been an exaggeration by-the-by. I LOVE ENGLISH FOOTBALL.

5.3 on the Richter Scale

Last night there was an earthquake that hit Lincolnshire England. We are far from the coast here at Wroxton, but many of us felt it all the same. I unfortunately did not. I was in the basement when it happened; I guess I was well enough grounded. Britain usually has around 20 earthquakes a year so this wasn’t that unusual. The only thing that worries some people is that this was one of the biggest quakes in 20 years. Hopefully this won’t be a reoccurring trend. So I am completely alright if any of you were worried.

I am Brandon your British Geologist providing you with tectonic updates. You stay classy America.

The Many Cities of England

Well, a lot has happened these last two weeks. I wish I had time to write about all of it in excruciatingly great detail, but I figure the more details I leave out the more I’ll have to talk about when I return. I will briefly go over my weekend trips and some cool things that have been happening during the week days.

On Saturday the 16^th I went on a class trip into Manchester to view the play Roots at the Royal Exchange theatre. The city of Manchester itself reminded me a lot of New York City, more specifically, like Canal Street. There was one decent town square that I took a few pictures of. The play itself was pretty good. I can’t complain much; keep in mind I had to read the play in class before hand, so it was nice to put some good acting in front of the relatively boring dialogues. The interesting thing is that the performance took place on a theatre-in-the-round, meaning there was an audience 360 degrees around the stage. So it was a new experience for me to say the least, plus the main character got completely naked to take a bath. I heard of plays where there was nudity I was just not expecting to sit through one on that day.

The next day we took a quick day trip to Kenilworth Castle. This was the castle of Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth’s one true love. It was a really fun place. The ruins were completely open to explore and I was one of the few to take that as an ‘ok’ to climb around on stuff. British History turned into a fantastic jungle gym. I enjoyed it to say the least.

The following weekend I went to Brighton Rock, the San Francisco of England (large gay community and coastal city). It was exciting to see the Royal Pavilion, built by King George the IV. He had a thing for the Chinese culture, so this place was teeming with it. One of the most impressive views was the dining hall which had a massive chandelier held up by an ornate and equally massive dragon. I liked it a lot; they didn’t allow me to take pictures though. The pier and beach were nice to walk around on. The beach was made of small smooth stones that gave me a foot massage as I walked across them. The Pier reminded me of the Jersey Shore and being me I picked up a bowl of shellfish at a shellfish bar (it was like 5 pounds of seafood). Carrie and I spent most of the day together; we even went into an aquarium after lunch. The most exciting things about that was the glass tunnel we walked through to get up close looks at sharks and other fish and a huge 50 year old sea turtle named Lulu. She was beautiful.

Saturday the 23^rd I went to the city of Bath. The bus came around a bend; we were driving high alongside the side of a valley. As we drove further along the valley, Bath came into view from behind a few hills. The white city was painted across the whole slope of the valley. It was quite the eye-opener (I couldn’t act in time to get a picture sorry). The Roman Baths are arguably the coolest Roman Ruins in the world, yet they sit in England. The museum was built right over the temple ruins and we got to see some of the original architecture and renovated areas of the hot springs and baths. This was so far my favorite city. Even the street performers kicked ass. Have you ever seen two acrobatics do handstands on narrow poles, in man-thongs, while sparklers were whizzing between their butt cheeks? I think not. The city kept its charm and culture. Even commercial buildings and food chains like McDonalds kept quiet as they tried to blend in with the rest of the city.

During the school weeks I think two pretty profound things happened. One, I explored a tiny passageway that led under the Abbey. It was a secret passage of sorts. This other student Mike and I crawled in through a hole in a wall of the courtyard. We even found a bat inside. The Second thing is the Medieval Banquet. I didn’t get dressed up because it was expensive to rent a costume, but there were live musicians playing tunes from the medieval times. Even the dean Dr. Baldwin got really involved in the festivities, grunting and eating as sloppily as possible. We ate with our hands, yelled cheers, sang songs and drank honey mead. It was pretty fun. I also think I will be backpacking through Ireland with Paul Russel. Some of you know him, as that kid that was in my freshman suite who smelt so bad Matt (his previous roommate) moved out of his room in to mine. Well I am confident enough to say that his hygiene has improved.

Happy Birthday Toots!

London Trip

I stayed in London this weekend with Carrie, Steve, Francesca, Josh, and Jen. Yes we are all couples… But before I get into the exciting events of the weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to recap what happened since I last posted.

There is a pub at the top of the Abbey drive way, the North Arms. I met the couple who run it. Their names are Nikki and Gary. They are very friendly people and accepting of us FDU students. They should be considered they bought the pub next to our college just one year ago. The first night I was there, Gary was playing 21 with some locals, one in particular was named Robby, I have seen him every time I go in. Anyway, I ask to see the deck of cards when they finished and I did my patent card trick… some of you have fallen victim to it already. They loved it! Told me it was worth a drink. In fact, when I went back Thursday night, I found out that I had gained a small reputation in town. Gary remembered my name and told many of his friends about my trick. I am a highly anticipated attraction now (sort of)! I did suggest that I can only do the trick well when I am drunk… I just want to see how many drinks the locals will offer to see it.

I enjoyed the rest my classes and teachers… blah blah, on to London. The weekend started with an early bus ride. As soon as we arrived in the city, my group picked up our stuff and headed to Trafalgar Square in search for an underground (British Subway). But we found the National Gallery and decided to take a look before heading to the Hostel to check in. It was free and a nice little aside on our adventure. I really liked some of the exhibits. Our Hostel was called the Bayswater Royal Hotel. It Costs £46 for the weekend. The Hostel overlooked Hyde’s Park. It was pretty beautiful. Carrie and I walked through it one morning, and watched everybody walk their fancy dogs. She got excited to see bulldogs, I think their ugly. The room was comfortable for the most part and quiet. You can’t ask for much better. There were a lot of young foreigners there as well.

The first night we went to the London Eye, where we took the marvelous ferris wheel for a ride. We went on at night to get awesome views of the lit up city. The pictures I took can portray the images better than I can, but can do little to capture the experience in seeing it first hand—simply awe inspiring. The next day we took a Big Bus Tour and spent the day seeing most of what the city has to offer. At night, we went pub hoping. At the Prince Edward I sat down to enjoy my first dish of fish and chips. It was delicious. I washed it down with a pint of Strongbow Cider. The drink tasted much better than beer and it helped complete the authentic experience of an English pub. That night I discovered a pot dealer near my Hostel. He sold wild opium and other legal psychotropic drugs. But when he saw that I wasn’t interested, he was convinced that I was looking for the real thing. I wasn’t of course, but it was still an interesting encounter. We went to bed early that night. Strangely, everything in the city, except for expensive clubs, shut down at 11:00…

The next day was hectic. We only had until 3:00 to do things before getting back on the bus to return to Wroxton. The majority of the group was tired and didn’t have much money left to do what I thought was the initial plan. We couldn’t get into the Tower of London the previous day because the Big Bus took too long getting there. I had my heart set on taking the boat tour and getting into the tower. Everyone else felt I was rushing them and that it would be too similar to prior day’s bus tour. The thing is, they want to spend more energy and money at night in Pubs and Clubs. I reserved my energy for touring, so we didn’t meet eye-to-eye in this respect. Carrie was tired but willing to do something with me considering she and I had already explored Hyde’s Park (that’s what the others decided to do). They gave me their tickets to see if I could pilfer them.

When Carrie and I got to the pier I sold the tickets in 5 minutes to a couple trying to get to Greenwich. I undercut the normal price by about a pound and made ten pounds in the process. The guide on the boat tour was funny as hell and I enjoyed the tour a lot, I was able to get even more pictures of the city. When we arrived at the Tower Pier we got off to explore the Tower. A ticket was £12 each, but because I sold those boat passes we pretty much got a free pass for the Tower. Inside, we saw exhibits of the Crown Jewels, King Henry VIII Living Quarters, the White Tower of William the Conqueror, and an armory of weapons and armor ranging from medieval warfare up through weapons of modern warfare.

We were carrying our belongings all day since we had to checkout of the hostel by 10:00 am. So we decided to head back to the pickup spot early. When we returned to Trafalgar Square the streets were packed with people. Turns out, there was a huge celebration for the Chinese New Year. We walked around for a bit, enjoying the free concert and live performances. I wish we had more time to kill but we had a bus to catch and Carrie’s shoulders were killing her from carrying her bags.

Quick Fun Facts
Don’t forget to look right first when crossing the streets of London.
Don’t buy tickets from private vendors.
Don’t expect to be welcomed wholeheartedly into pubs or restaurants if you aren’t wearing relatively nice clothes.
Hostel breakfast: toast, tea, butter, jam, and cornflakes… that’s it.
Don’t hesitate to break up from larger groups to do your own thing.
London is the most expensive city in the world.

I know you all want pictures, but the internet here is slow and it takes too long to upload. I will figure something out soon I promise.

My Semester Schedule

Tours and Activities Program

Wroxton

Dates	What’s Up
Saturday 2 February	Stratford Upon Avon
Friday 8-10 February	Weekend Trip to London
Saturday 16 February	Manchester Day Trip (Theatre: Royal Exchange: Roots)
Sunday 17 February	Kenilworth Castle Day Trip
Thursday 21 February	Mediaeval Banquet
Friday 22 February	Brighton (Royal Pavilion)
Saturday 23 February	Bath (Roman Baths)
Sunday 24 February	Cambridge Day Trip
Thursday 28 February	Buttery Quiz Night
Saturday 1 March	Birmingham (football match)
Sunday 2 March	Warwick Castle
Wednesday 5 March	Oxford (Theatre: New Theatre: Shakespeare Suite)
Thursday 6- Sun 9 March	Paris Trip
Saturday 15 March	London Day trip
Sunday 16 March	Ely Day Trip
Friday 21 – Sunday 30 March	Travel Break (Ireland)
Friday 4 April	Tintern Abbey
Saturday 5 April	London ( Theatre: Phoenix Theatre: Blood Brothers)
Sunday 6 April	Sulgrave Manor
Saturday 12 April	Cardiff
Sunday 13 April	Cotswolds Tour
Wednesday 16 April	Stratford Upon Avon (Theatre: Courtyard Theatre: The Merchant of Venice
Friday 18 – Sunday 20 April	Edinburgh Weekend Trip
Monday 21 April	Lord North Lecture and Dinner
Friday 25 April	Stonehenge & Rollright Stones
Saturday 26 April	London Day Trip
Friday 2 May	Oxford Day Trip
Saturday 3 May	Westonbirt Arboretum and Malmesbury Abbey Day Trip
Sunday 4 May	Blenheim Palace
Wednesday 7 May	Birmingham (Theatre: Repertory Theatre: Testing the Echo)
Friday 9 May	Europe Day Theme Dinner
Saturday 17 May	London (Theatre: Spamalot)
Sunday 18 May	End of Semester Dinner Dance
Monday 19 May	Depart for Spain