the grand finale.

today was the day. our last full day of europe. so of course, we did anything and everything we could to enhance our experience. although it doesn't seem like much, i think today may have been our most intense day yet.

breakfast. we, luckily enough, got the full english breakfast package with our rooms. what does that mean? unlike the continental breakfast buffet most hotels serve, we were able to eat at a restaurant for free. this morning i had freshly squeezed orange juice and scrambled eggs with cheese. i split crumpets with preserves with josh, and carly and i split fresh fruit salad. the fruit was incredible. there were only a few pieces of melon. the rest of the salad consisted of both red and green grapes, mandarin oranges, pineapple, and mango. it was the perfect energy mix for the beginning of the day.

after breakfast and a one hour break in our rooms, we began our trek to the tate modern. honestly, i wasn't looking forward to the date, for i tend to like modern art less and less the more i'm exposed to it. i'm happy to say that today did bring a surprised liking for that very same category. although there were some pieces that made me question the entire curatorial decision, there were a handful i really enjoyed. for instance, pablo picasso's work was represented by more than just his work in cubism. i was able to see both my first picasso portrait and sculpture. though the sculpture was reminiscent of his cubist pieces, it was nice to see a three-dimensional work of his. i was also extremely impressed by natalya goncharova's painting three young women. the composition consists of three white ovals on top of what appears to be abstract body forms. the colors of goldenrod, orange, red, white, and brown contrast each other, but at the same time, seamlessly unite them. the structural balance and different curvatures play with your eyes constantly changing the direction they move. i also gained a newfound respect for painters such as bridget riley. her work titled fall, an abstract piece which constantly looks like it's moving, must have been extremely hard to paint and convey your idea properly. the tate modern as a museum was impressive, but i enjoyed our next stop even more.

while en route to the next stop i had the best lunch/snack imaginable. it was granola, yogurt, and honey. it was a twist on a parfait, but the tartness of the plain yogurt and the sweetness of the honey provided the right balance for the flavor.

the british museum. i was completely overwhelmed. being an art history major with a specialization in ancient art, the galleries were constantly changing and were full of things that were featured in every art textbook. i saw the rosetta stone, the beard of the sphinx, the greek elgian marbles, the assyrian royal lion hunt, a yakshi from the great stupa at sanchi, another jericho skull, and, most interestingly enough for me, mexican reliefs from the temple at palenque. the mexican gallery was by far the thing i loved the most. i had not seen much mexican art, and it was refreshing to learn a little more about it. they had everything from reliefs to tribal masks and jewelry to clothing of the day. because i was so overwhelmed by the museum as a whole, it would be extremely hard to itemize everything i loved, found interesting, or discovered. i did discover one thing however. i love the british museum, i know i'll be back, and it will be an experience i'll never forget.

the tower of london was cleo and i's next stop. we only went to the gift shop to pick up souvenirs, and it was a needed break from the day's fast paced activities. our adventure occurred in our rides on the tube. we switched trains countless times, got on trains that stopped mid-tunnel or never started at all, and fought the mad crowds just to get back to the hotel for dinner.

l'ulivo. the restaurant, across from the charring cross station, provided me with many happy memories for the trip. when we first sat down, we were automatically given water, and dr. collins bought two bottles of red wine for the table. we then were provided with soft, warm bread, oil, and vinegar to ease our stomachs while we waited on our food. i received the best salad i've eaten in my entire life. it was called trecolore, and it was simply made up of avocado, tomatoes, and freshly sliced mozzarella cheese. it was light but quite filling, and it was a salad i planning on making again when i get ack home.

and now i'm back in the hotel room, about to go to sleep, and wake up knowing i'm that much closer to being home.

goodbye england and thank you. it's been great, and i can't wait to meet you again soon.

our last day in photos. from sunrise to sunset.

the lot of us in front of the bridge at our hotel.

the incredible graffiti near the london eye.

of course, graffiti photography is one of my passions.

the big chair. the small girl.

pediment sculpture from the parthenon.

the main entrance of st. paul's cathedral.

the model they used for wizard's chess in harry potter. the set originated in medieval europe.

nighttime in london. a view from the jubilee bridge.

the carousel by the london eye.

london, we meet again.

another day of freedom. from a set schedule that is. but it never was intended to unfold the way it did. here is the story of our day. from oxford to london, and every in between.

eight o'clock. we leave our flats and catch the first train from oxford to london. unfortunately, it was not the simple, straight-shot journey i was expecting. we had to get off our train at didcot parkway and board a coach bus to the reading station. the bus ride was about an hour long, which would be the around the same time frame a single train to london would have taken. from reading, we got to paddington station in london. thankfully, it was our last train trip, well for long distances at least. we then caught taxis to our hotel, the park plaza riverbank, a luxurious four-star hotel designed with modern inspiration. our rooms semi-overlook the thames river, and the rates run about £350 a night. our rooms weren't ready when we first got here, so we went as a group to get breakfast at a local brazilian restaurant down the road. i had already eaten so i just sat there, but i did have a piece of toast just to try the soft bread. after breakfast we came back to the hotel to get our rooms. unfortunately, not all of them were ready. barry, josh, carly, and i got the two rooms that were ready, luckily they're side by side. we relaxed until we were supposed to meet as a group at two o'clock downstairs, but when we got down to the meeting place, dr. collins informed us that we wouldn't have enough time at the tate modern museum and that we would go tomorrow. this meant we had a free afternoon. so what did i do? work out. there is an amazing gym on the floor below us, so i was able to run, bike, and weight train all of the incredible food i have eaten during this trip. it was nice running on a treadmill at a steady pace, but i do miss the outside paths with flowers, cows, and streams.

then the highlight of my day. a bath. a relaxing dead sea salt bath. it was much needed. the bathrooms here are amazing. there is a full shower and a separate bath, and the bath has an adjustable shower head, allowing me to properly shampoo my hair while relaxing. after my thirty minutes of bliss, i decided it was time to be productive and eat dinner.

barry, josh, carly, zach, duckie, cleo, steven, and i all went to dinner at casa madeira, the sister store of where we ate breakfast. our intention of going out was to watch the world cup final, but the television was across the courtyard and there were hundreds of people blocking most of our view. we then decided that after we ate, we would go back to barry and josh's room to watch the rest of the match. i had meat lasagna for dinner, and you were able to tell it was brazilian lasagna, not italian. there was virtually no sauce and no ricotta cheese. it was a huge portion so i saved half of it for dinner tomorrow night, but i definitely miss the luxury of cooking my own food. i also tried gelato for the first time tonight! it was called "blue sky caramel" and visually resembled the blue of superman ice cream. it tasted fantastic and came with a pirouline serving as both a garnish and something to eat the gelato with. after paying and leaving, we went back to the hotel, went to the boys' room, and watched spain score their winning goal in between listening to music and watching youtube videos.

that's our first real day in london, and tomorrow will encompass all of the adventure today lacked. but here are images of london from our part of town.

the hotel itself. it's very tall, surrounded by glass, and very modern in design.

the view of parliament from our hotel.

the huge maple leaves outside of the restaurant. they were ten times bigger than the leaves in granby, thus proving their enormous size.

extravagant elegance.

today was our free day seeing as it was our last, so i did not do much. mostly, since it is both of our days off as you could say, i skyped with josh. it was great actually getting to talk to him and see his face for hours rather than minutes, but that was only in the evening. this morning, i was rather busy packing and doing laundry seeing as we leave for london at eight in the morning. i didn't want to wake up at six or seven to get everything packed, i was more comfortable doing it now, so i went ahead and am completely packed and everything is cleaned in our quaint oxford flat. it will definitely be a bittersweet parting, but it was fun while it lasted. i did, however, make sure my last day in this town was one as unique as every other. so, i decided to do the most classic british thing ever. i went to high tea.

around one-thirty, zach came downstairs to get me, and we walked to the macdonald randolph hotel across from the ashmolean museum. steven made reservations for seven people at two o'clock for high tea, and because it is a very nice establishment, rooms start at £325 a night or around $500, we wanted to be sure that at least a few of us were there early. all in all, zach, lexi. barry, josh, steven, and myself attended tea. high tea is taken anywhere from around two in the afternoon to five in the evening, and it is normally expected that one wears cocktail party attire. the randolph drawing room was where we actually took tea and ate, a perfect setting with an amazing waitstaff and a piano player. our server, mr. sun, was very understanding that steven was late, and his kindness definitely made our afternoon enjoyable. and then our high tea began. we started with tap waters while looking over the very extensive, and gourmet, menu. they offer three types of high tea. the cream tea, the most basic tea package which comes with crumpets, the traditional full afternoon tea, and the celebration tea which virtually is full afternoon tea with a bottle of moet champagne. we decided to order as pairs which not only lowered the cost, but also divided the amount of food one individual was expected to consume. it was definitely a smart idea when we saw the portion sizes. lexi and i shared, our tea of choice being the cranberry, raspberry, and elderflower. zach and steven shared, similarly choosing the tea lexi and i did. barry and josh shared, their tea being lotus tea. it was green tea infused with golden liquor, and for these two gentlemen it was perfect. we were served the tea first, and then the piles of food came. each order had the following things with it. scones with clotted cream and jam, a selection of cakes and pastries, and a selection of sandwiches. the pastries included a fruit tart, a raspberry tiramisu, regular tiramisu, banana bread, and an eclair. the sandwiches had one slice, which was large enough that we halved it, of each of the following. chicken salad with cranberries, egg and mayonnaise, ham and dijon mustard, and cucumber and butter. the entire process took us around two hours to complete, our conversations only deepening our connections with one another. we talked about everything from religion to television programming we watched as children to how amazing the food was. and for around £8.50 each, it was an experience we couldn't have passed up.

and i don't know how i forgot to mention it yesterday, but allow me to fawn over the cheese of the united kingdom. my first cheese experience here was the buffalo ricotta cheese served with a piece of honeycomb at jaime's italian. it was soft, sweet, and incredible. next it was on to the joys of mature cheddar on everything. french fries, cold sandwiches, even alone it is great. nothing has been as amazing as josh and barry's cheese discovery yesterday in the cotswolds though. i wasn't there for the actual testing, which was a shame because i love cheese, but the cheeses they got that i was able to sample were incredible. josh's cheese was crumbly, tangy in flavor, but had cranberries in it to negate any pungent taste of the cheese. barry's was my absolute favorite however. his cheese was extremely creamy and had no harsh taste. it had onions mixed in with it, only enhancing its flavor. if only i could find cheese like this back home! it is the thing i will miss most about this great country.

our day at the macdonald-randolph hotel.

the place settings at our table when we sat. mind you, lexi and i sat on a couch.

our tea after being served. i added a cube of brown sugar to mine.

the assortment of goodies sans the ham and dijon sandwich slice. lexi was already dividing it in half for us to try. we were quite hungry.

finally, a picture of people! our group after high tea.

gardens, countryside, and flowers.

today was not what i had expected it to be. blenheim we got up at nine and met in front of the oxford playhouse at 9:45 to begin our day of excursion. i had assumed that it would be another day like stonehenge, long bus ride, short stop times, but i was quite wrong.

first stop. blenheim palace. well, truthfully, it was a church outside nearby the palace. the very church where sir winston churchill, his family, and the dukes of marlborough lay interred. the family plot is full of controversy, secrets, and so many other rich details that only the lovely phil could have provided us with. i was surprised to learn that one of the vanderbilts actually married the ninth duke of marlborough, gave him two heirs, and divorced him for her true love, a man in america. she is still buried with the family though. nearby the gravesite of sir winston churchill's father are the tombs of three babies, all illegitimate. then we were on to the palace. i finally understand what a palace is. i didn't know, but phil filled us in on to what distinguishes a palace from a castle. apparently, a palace is a reward given by royalty for an honor. blenheim was given by queen anne to the first duke for his battle victories against the spanish. the palace itself is baroque, but every element was copied from roman architecture. the palace lacks windows, has fabric on the walls matching the furniture, and is entirely too ornately decorated for my taste. don't misunderstand, i appreciate the palace, i just would never live there. there are amazing tapestries and murals all over the house, and a most impressive library with its own organ. the most beautiful part of the palace for me were the gardens. although i only saw two of the five, i was awestruck. if i ever have the land to do so, that is how i want to construct my backyard. i can do without the sculpture, but the vegetation and fountains were breathtaking. i was also quite thrilled because i finally got my mom's gift. she can be so hard to shop for, but i really hope she likes it. after walking around, cleo and i went up to the village of woodstock to get lunch at a little teahouse. i had a fresh glass of milk, though it was lukewarm in temperature, and a cheese and tomato sandwich. the cheese, a shredded mature cheddar, was perfect against the soft bread, and i was so excited it wasn't grilled. we found our way back to the bus, and then we continued our journey.

second stop. well it was multiple stops into little towns within the cotswold district. first, we stopped at the ruins of the minster lovell hall. it was originally built in the fifteenth century and was abandoned after the lovells no longer resided there. after the abandonment, the townspeople came and tore down the house for the stone. it was here that the last lovell heir died. he was a traitor to king henry the seventh, for in the war of the roses, he supported the house of york. he locked himself in a secret vault in the cellar, telling no one of his whereabouts except for a trusty servant who brought him food. because it was one of eighty manors the family owned, he was not immediately found. when king henry's men finally reached the manor and only found the servant, they tortured him into telling them his masters whereabouts, and they accidentally killed him. with the lovell heir locked in the cellar, he eventually starved to death and was found in 1708, a skeleton with a dog's skeleton at his feet. the thing i loved most about the site though was the church. there was a small catholic church on the hill which is still practicing. it is the first catholic church we have been to during our time in england. after leaving, we continued to drive through cotswold learning about the sheep, former residents, old roman road which can still be seen, and the landscape. we stopped again for refreshments where i got the most amazing ice cream of my life. it was freshly made at the local store and was fig, honeycomb, and caramel. the scoop was small but perfect, completely hitting the spot. after this we travelled onward to a trout farm in bilbury where we also walked arlington row. i loved the fact you were able to see the trout swimming in the river, and that these were the very fish the townspeople ate. i also got to see my first molting swan! i now understand the ugly duckling completely.

though the cotswold region was out last bus journey, we still had a "third stop" of the day. a production of shakespeare's romeo and juliet. it was refreshing to see in an amphitheater, and it was intriguing to see the way it was performed. the actors spoke in the traditional old english, yet the costumes ranged from futuristic to present to clothing from the 1980s. it was definitely a sight to be seen. in addition to the costume oddities, the director also incorporated this blend of interpretive/tribal dancing. it was quite odd. however, watching the love story unfold, it made me miss josh terribly and just want to be home.

today was a day of flower pictures, so i apologize. but here are some of the amazing things this part of england holds.

the gravesite of sir winston churchill.

the beautiful palace garden from the back terrace. it is one of the many.

the garden fountain on the lower level of the terrace. six or seven of these archways existed, surrounded by statues on either side.

a rose from a garden in the cotswolds.

the view of the meadow from behind the minster lovell hall ruins. the round structure stands from the fifteenth century. it was used to keep live birds for fresh meat year round.

yet another rose. this from arlington row in bilsbury.

my beautiful swan and molting swan who revealed to me the secrets of the ugly duckling.

the countdown begins.

we officially have five days left in england. well not counting today. the transitioning time has become, and even from the first moments of today that was obvious.

i woke up to duckie knocking at the door to the flat around 8:15 this morning. apparently, when she got dinner last night, she forgot her key, and after coming back from carly's room, i locked the door, locking her out. i felt horrible, but i didn't know that she didn't have her key so there were only so many times i could apologize. at around 9:10 i left for class, and when i got there we jumped in subject matter from the renaissance into arthurian legend and the holy grail. it was the first time it hit me that our stay in england really was coming to a close. today's lesson did keep my mind off that however. though i know much of the grail lore and arthurian legend already thanks to reading the once and future king my sophomore summer, i was unaware of the romantic art movement that stemmed from it in the 19th century. it was a direct reaction to the growing impressionist movement, and the artists of the countermovement wanted to bring pastoral and fantastical art back to light. it was a reaction backed by the p.r.b. also known as the pre-rafael brotherhood. they were supposedly a secret order with information as to the history of the grail, but they are better known for the avant-garde movement they supported. this new movement was detail focused, and the artists produced mostly paintings and tapestries. we also talked about two other works and completely changed them for me. jan van eyck's piece arnoldfini wedding served a purpose greater than just simply being a portrait. it was also a legal contract. upon closer examination, one sees two figures in the mirror, the artist and another man, who are bearing witness to the wedding, thus making it legal. we also discussed the nightmare by fusseli. apparently, fusseli's fiance jilted him and soon thereafter became involved with another man. this enraged the artist, so he painted the nightmare bearing deep symbolism. being more than just a woman drunk off absinthe and being visited by an incubus, the woman is the former fiance, the incubus her new companion, and the horse is fusseli. i had never known these small yet pertinent details before, and by opening my mind in class, my mind remained open for the rest of the day.

for lunch we went to a chinese restaurant with the head of the wisc program. i had wonton soup and house rice. they both were surprising. first, the wontons were filled with pork, leaving a horrible after taste in one's mouth, but i'm sure that was a side affect of me not eating meat often. secondly, the house rice was not fried. all of the ingredients were fresh and the rice steamed, so i didn't feel half as guilty about eating it. conversation at lunch was pleasant and made the hour and a half we were there fly by.

after lunch we went to the oxford university museum of natural history. it was virtually the exact same museum that amherst college has that i loved as a child. the one noticeable difference between the two is that the one in oxford allows for people to actually touch items in the collection. the only ones you are not encouraged to touch are the fragile fossils. oxford's museum also has an interesting series on human evolution. the conclusion is the most fascinating. they compare skulls from different regions, and when comparing the skull of a european to one of an aboriginese australian, the australian skull still has the features of the protruding jaw and forehead. behind the museum is the pitt rivers museum. though they are attached, the pitt rivers museum focuses more on the archeological and anthropological aspects of museum life. pitt rivers, the model for the indiana jones character, collected artifacts from around the globe ranging from shrunken heads to totem poles to weaponry to different methods of starting fire. the collection was staggering in size, so i was not able to fully take in every detail. however, the experience was unforgettable.

after the museums, carly, steven, and i made our way back to the flat, though we made side trips. we stopped at the local ice cream place so that they could get ice cream, sansbury's so that they could get food and cash, and the covered market so that carly could see what it was all about. i didn't buy anything and was tired and anxious to relax. for some reason, even after all of the sleep, my body still needed water and to be recharged.

so, i managed to forget to talk about it in the last post, but we received some big news from dr. collins yesterday. apparently, while we were in paris, terrorist attacks were occurring. three men were caught strapping bombs to themselves and attempting to enter crowds. apparently museums were being targeted. people were also being kidnapped. obviously, i am safe. our last day in paris we say a lot of police, militia, and television reporters. dr. collins had not wanted to alarm us, as i don't wish to leave you feeling uneasy. be safe, wherever you may be.

for now, i leave you with images of peace and intrigue.

the interior of the oxford university museum of natural history.

a tyrannosaurus rex foot.

a red rose strain growing outside of the gardens at wadham college.

back to oxford.

thankfully our first day back was one of rest and relaxation. it started with a brunch for dr. collins at bella italia. we wanted to thank him for what he has done, so we got together and paid for his meal. because of this, we didn't have class and got to sleep until eleven o'clock. it was much appreciated sleep after the busy days of paris. for brunch i ordered calamari for cleo, dr. collins, and i to split, and i had a pasta for my main course. because it was a special, i do not remember it's name. it was basically baked penne with a bolognese and wine sauce. it was the comfort food i needed after a few really long days. after brunch, we split ways temporarily, i went and picked up a music guide from blackwell's, and we met back up to see william shakespeare's the tempest.

the play was incredible. it has always been one of my favorites, and i was thrilled to actually see it performed. my earliest memory of the drama is one the old television show wishbone, a program with a jack russell as the main character acting out stories from throughout history. i was completely surprised in myself, for without having to pay too close attention, i was able to decipher much of the old english being used. this particular production incorporated music by the composer nick lloyd weber, so it provided much comic relief. the actors were brilliant, only six men and one woman played all of the parts. it was the perfect event for a relaxing afternoon.

after the play ended, steven and i went on an adventure of our own. first, we went to shake away, a milkshake place in king's cross. it has hundreds of combinations to try, and steven an i decided to venture into the world of exploration. he got what was called a janet. it was comprised of chunks of strawberry cheesecake, oreos, and it was topped with marshmellows. i was very proud of my decision. i got turkish delight. it was literally ice cream and turkish delight candy. i had only heard of turkish delight in c. s. lewis' the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe because they are edmund's favorite thing. i decided to be brave, and while in the country of c. .s. lewis, try turkish delight. it was wonderful. a turkish delight is a square of rose jelly encased in chocolate. it is sweet, but not overly sweet, and the flavor was to die for. i was thrilled with my choice. from shake away we went to primemart. primemart is a department store with, as steven describes it, h&m clothing at forever 21 prices. i bought a pair of pajama paints, a seersucker cami and boyshorts sleeping set, and some cheetah socks for my future little for only seven pounds fifty pence! i was so excited. from primemart, steven and i finally went to our final destination. evensong.

being two of four catholics in our group, going to evensong was very important to steven and i. unfortunately, christ church's chapel was not ready when we got there, so we befriended the elderly englishman who was in charge of letting people in, and we made a new friend. when we did get into the chapel, i was amazed with it's beauty. you were able to identify properties that were characteristic of the catholic faith that existed before the conversion of the cathedral under king henry the eighth, so although it was a different denomination, i still felt at home. the service was beautiful. the only spoken portions of the service were the readings and two of the prayers. apparently, it is special to have the cathedral choir sing, and they only participate in 160 services a year. we were very lucky to have seen them. going to the church also gave me a new appreciation for catholic kneelers. the kneelers in the chapel were simply cushions placed on the marble floor. they were quite uncomfortable, and my legs were grateful when i got up. i am happy to have been able to experience evensong, but i was even happier to come back to the flat and relax.

here are some pictures from christ church cathedral.

the apollo fountain in the central courtyard.


a lotus from the fountain. though the image is blurred, focus on the spectacular colors produced by the bloom.

pilgrimage.

oh paris. where to begin about what today brought us?!

crepes. after an amazing nights sleep in the bed of heaven thanks to the hotel, we began our day with hopes of going to the centre pompidou. however it was tuesday and the pompidou was closed, so we decided to start our day with a local breakfast. thankfully, everyone agreed with my idea to get crepes, my favorite breakfast in the entire world. i could not leave france without getting a real crepe, and i got one. it was disappointing in a way, but overall it was decadent. it was served to you rolled rather than flat so that you could hold it in your hand. i got a crepe sucree, or sweet crepe, due to the fact mine was strawberry. this is where the slight disappointment came in. the use strawberry jam instead of real strawberries or a strawberry preserve like other places. the jam was barely there, but there was a good bit at the bottom which completely made up for it. it was warm, fluffy, thick, and amazing. a great start to our day.

i also was able to snag my last three souvenirs and my paris christmas ornament during this time so i felt quite accomplished.

notre dame. i was absolutely floored by the cathedral. majority of the cathedrals in england are episcopalian due to king henry the eighth, so it was refreshing to see a roman catholic church that has maintained its beauty and integrity for hundreds of years. the exterior of the church was decorated in inset reliefs, gargoyles, and staggering architecture. the interior only furthered the beauty. we waited in line for ten minutes before getting in, but it was well worth the wait. everything inside was breathtaking. stained glass windows of such rich and deep color and with subject matter ranging from across catholic tradition. the rose windows. i have only seen images of them before today, and they were far more magnificent than any image shows. none does them justice. the interior architecture of the vaulting, high ceilings, and carefully placed columns which were adorned at their capitals guided me through the interior making me want to keep walking. statues, prayer areas, and chapels could be found in almost every niche on the side. virtually no wall was left bear. there were two things i didn't much care for though. first, there was a daily mass being said while tours were going on, and people were taking picture of the service. not just people, tourists. i was frustrated to see that they didn't respect the scared qualities of the mass, and i wanted to leave as soon as realizing the mass was happening. i feel it is disrespectful to be in a church, no matter the denomination, during a mass and not participate. the last thing i was shocked by was the lack of rosaries the church sold. i had really wanted to buy one, but upon getting to the area where they were, they all were cheaply made and looked that way. i was quite disappointed. however, the cathedral itself was far from that. for a building centuries old, it was beyond well maintained, and for the horrors it experienced in the french revolution and world war ii, it is amazing that it remains in good shape.

musee d'orsay. i was very skeptical about going to the museum for it is one that focuses solely on impressionism. though i appreciate the works of manet, degas, monet, and renoir, my passion lies in ancient art, and i was prepared to be disappointed. thankfully, that was quite the opposite of what happened. the building itself is an old train station they converted into a museum. the architecture of the victorian station and the modern museum complement each other in ways unforeseen. the repetition of parallel lines and crosshatching can be found in virtually every inch of the museum. the old and new playing on one another provides for a healthy break from just one style that is focused on. the first exhibition we saw was degas' works. i was impressed by the collection shown because though his dancers were there, they displayed more than that. they had his series of bathing studies which i had known nothing of. his subject matter is similar to the dancers in their form and body movements, but they encompass an entirely other level of detail, allusion, and beauty. the museum also had many other popular works, but i found none as exciting as seeing manet's . she was painted to mirror an earlier painting of a female, a venus, but manet uses a prostitute as his model seemingly destroying the female's pure image. seeing the work in person allowed for much more detail to be seen including the detailing of the black cat and the face of the african american woman in the back. it was a piece i will never forget. many other spectacular works were there including van gogh's self portrait and the monet i painted a portion of in high school art class, but it was a work that i had never experienced before which completely blew me away. divina tragediaby paul chenavard. upon first glance, i mistook the massive painting for a work depicting christ being taken down from the cross, but then i saw it. it was a fusion of both the christian faith and the polytheistic greek and roman religion. one could see the virgin and child, but directly across from them was the head of medusa and athena. christ is being held by god, or is it zeus? i have been trying to find an explanation of the piece and have been quite unsuccessful in doing so, thus boosting my intrigue. it is definitely something i plan to further explore in the coming time.

bramley. we encountered a small portion of the anthropology museum yesterday when we ate at les ombres, however today provided a completely different experience. the museum was set up to resemble the congo river, long rampways which were narrow in their width, words constantly shifting and moving as if they were water flowing downstream, and at the end of it all, it opened a large area similar to the jungle. the areas of the museum included art of oceania, the congo, asia, the americas, and africa in general. the collection mostly consisted of clothing and textiles, but they also had sculptures and religious murals from temple walls.

patisserrie. my dinner, dessert, and experience of a true french croissant came from a little bakery near the hotel shortly before our departure. i started with an eclair, coffee eclair to be exact. and though it had been sitting in the heat for some time, upon biting into it, a cool coffee flavored cream seeped from the pastry and into my mouth. it was unlike any eclair i had before, it was a hard pastry, and it was one i'll probably not experience again. upon hearing we were to also eat dinner here, i asked the girl what she would recommend, and that was what i got. it was a soft bread covered in cheese and filled with ham and cheese. it was warm, and the cheese oozed over the sides assuring that it would be just as decadent in taste as in looks. it was similar to a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, but the bread was something i cannot describe. after this, i split a coffee macarone with duckie and barry, and an experience similar to the eclair took place. it was warm outside, but cool inside. it was the perfect ending to a great two days.

the train ride back was long. i got a lot of reading done, but i also was able to look at the scenery as it passed by. we flew past hundreds of windmills, perfect power generators which i think the united states should get on board with. going under the channel, the pressure was not regulated and my ears popped for the entire twenty minutes we were below it. after arriving in london and catching taxis back to oxford, i was grateful for a room with a bed to sleep in and a convertor that actually fit the sockets so i could charge my computer. it was an experience i'll never regret, though we only saw the arch d'triumph through a taxi window briejavascript:void(0)fly, and i would love to go back.

the wonders of notre dame i hope to convey to you by the following images.

the cathedral itself.


the aisle.


column capital.


chapel.


one of the magnificent rose windows.



now to other things.

oceanic art of the bramley.


statue outside of the platforms at the london train station that made me miss josh terribly.

paris.

so, the internet last night at the hotel went in and out, so unfortunately i was unable to post. but here is how the travels of yesterday occured.

we left oxford at five to take taxis to london for six, six-thirty at the latest. we got to the international train terminal around six-thirty, and luckily for us, right after we checked in with eurostar, our train was boarding. i slept the entire ride, so unfortunately i have no idea what it was like riding under the channel or anything, but it was definitely a nice surprise to wake up and be in another country. as soon as we stepped off the train i expected to have culture shock, but i didn't. the signs were in french and the people were speaking the language, but thanks to eight years of spanish, i could decipher most everything. and then it happened. beggars. in the form of gypsy women. my experiences with beggars haven't been good since my travel to china three years ago, but luckily these people were less beggars than they were scammers. a lady approached carly, steven, and i with a note saying her father was sick, and they needed money to survive. luckily, i had been warned about gypsies and told her i had no money. however, they wouldn't leave us alone. within the next twenty minutes when we were trying to catch a taxi, i was approached by three other women. one i pretended to speak only japanese too, and the others i just ignored. we finally stood in line beside the station to catch taxis, and it was then the adventure started.

we were dropped off at our hotel, the pullman paris tour eiffel, only to find out our rooms were not ready. we left our stuff with the concierge and started our day of exploration of the city. thankfully i happened to remember that the louvre was closed on tuesday, not monday, so dr. collins changed our itinerary and we decided to go there first. walking was our mode of transportation. we passed so many vendors selling ridiculous toys, however one was hilarious and i would have bought it if we had slowed down. a gypsy man was selling disney characters that had string arms and legs with magnets attached, but somehow the characters danced. this particular day, the music being played was bollywood music, which solely added to the hilarity. we stopped at the eiffel tower, and i was quite surprised for many reasons. first, i never realized what color it was. i had always known it was metal, however it's been painted a light brown color which doesn't show up in photographs. i also had no idea that the city of paris owned the rights to any pictures of the tower taken at night. apparently people were recording the light show, so the city intervened and gained rights to night images. after barry gave his report and got harassed by a gypsy, this time in a gorilla suit, we decided to trek onwards. it was about this time we realized how hungry we really were.

brasserie de la tour eiffel. twelve american dollars for three fried eggs and some lettuce. not to mention we had to buy bottles of water for the table. it was ridiculous, but it was an experience i needed. i have learned that i am capable of eating runny yokes. in fact, i enjoy them more than i enjoy hard yokes. thank you paris for teaching me this. especially for the twelve dollars i paid.

and finally, after a forty-five minute walk from the restaurant. we get there. the louvre. i always underestimated the size of both the building and its surrounding property, but i now appreciate the museum for everything it is. i was completely overwhelmed in the museum, both by the works of art and the heat which did not combine well with my level of dehydration. the major pieces that will forever change the way i view art are the only ones i have the ability to begin to describe. i saw so many great things, works by david, ingres, da vinci, sculpture from the parthenon, egyptian art, but a few pieces will forever stand out in my mind.

nike of samonthrace. yet again, i had poorly judged the size of this sculpture for years. i had imagined it to be monumental in size, but it was barely bigger than life size. its presentation was enough to floor anyone looking at it. the drapery on athena is so detailed and carefully placed it is hard to believe that each fold was carved individually. the power and movement she contains can be felt when looking at her from all angles. the most impressive thing about the statue was how close it actually was. it stood at the top of a staircase leading up the section of teh museum containing both sculpture and european painting. there are no ropes around it nor blockades stopping you from getting close, the only thing stopping one is free will. she is breathtaking, and i doubt any other sculpture will create that impact on my perception.

venus de milo . there's not much to say about this venus besides the fact it was surreal to see one of the most publicly recognized sculptures in person. unlike the nike, she was blockaded off so that no one would harm her. she is more fragile than the nike, but her impact is equally as incredible.

mona lisa. i waited five minutes to break through the crowd and to stand in front of her. she is the piece i've recognized since i was little, and being a fan of the movie ever after, i love leonardo da vinci. she was worth the wait, no matter what any other person may say. yes, she is behind glass. yes, you're like twenty feet away from her. yes, she is protected by glass. and yes, it's one hundred percent as much of a masterpiece as i had always hoped it to be.

hippopotamus. i spent thirty minutes looking for this tiny turquoise piece from middle kingdom egypt. for some reason, i have always been drawn to the work, and to see it in person was an opportunity i refused to pass up. after being told it was on the first floor or one of the others instead of the floor it was really on, i went on a wild goose chase, only to be relieved when i found it. though it is small, barely bigger than my fist, the intricate lotus patterns were something i had hoped to admire in person for some time now, and it has finally happened.

of course other aspects of the louvre were equally as amazing. the i. m. pei pyramid. the apple store. the castle built beneath the museum. but those four pieces were the highlight of my excursion. one i will never forget. after leaving the louvre we went to the hotel and got our rooms. carly and i shared a room, complete with two spectacular views. one of the eiffel tower which was so close it seemed as if you could touch it, and another of a soccer field. complete with shirtless men practicing. it was definitely a nice view either way you looked at it. and the bed. the luxury bed was more than i expected. after a relaxing bath i fell asleep only to wake up at 9:15 to find it completely bright outside. we got ready for dinner at les ombres, and throughout the entire dress, hair, make-up process, the sun never set. finally, around 10:30 we truly got to see paris at night.

les ombres. oh it was quite the experience. it is a five star restaurant atop the bramley museum with a glass ceiling which is directly under the eiffel tower. though my back was turned the opposite way, i could see the lights from the light show dancing across the glass and reflecting on the panes in front of me. then dinner started. they brought us green bean and cream puree with diced dried olives as the garnish. it was a flavor unlike any i've encountered before, but i really enjoyed it. it was creamy, yet light, and the flavor had hints of green beans, but it wasn't overbearing. after this, they brought us bread. though it was cold, it was quite soft inside and was a great contrast to the hard, flaky outside. and then the moment we all had looked forward to. the main course. dr. collins had ordered a bottle of smooth red wine, so i had saved most of my glass until my dinner came. it was incredible. i got paella, a risotto with chorizo, saddle of rabbit, mussels and prawns. though the rice was not as tender as i would have prepared it, the flavors were incredible. i had never had rabbit before, and i was so thrilled by the texture and taste it had. i'm normally not a huge fan of chorizo, but these sausages resembled something more along the lines of pepperonis and had a very sharp flavor about them. i was extremely pleased with my dish, and also with josh's. he asked to try a little bit of rabbit, so he gave me some of his sweetbreads. yet again, i had never had a sweetbread, but it was so tender it completely melted in my mouth. the flavor was, again, to die for, and i was extremely happy to have tried it. after dinner they brought us a small sampler of bite size pound cakes, strawberry jellies which barry and josh said were virtually passover candies, and strawberry macarones. after the long meal and exhausting day, i got back to the room and fell right to sleep.

paris so far.

eiffel tower.


view from the louvre courtyard.


arch outside the louvre.


i. m. pei's glass pyramid.


the nike of samonthrace.

eat, drink, enjoy.

all i did today was eat. i know that seems far fetched or untrue, but i can promise you, that's virtually all i did. we went to a restaurant called the trout inn, a quaint stone building in north oxford. it was backed by a small river and damn, so the patio seating was quite enjoyable. across the river from us was a small garden which one could cross by bridge, however the bridge was not open this morning. we arrived there at around 11:30 and stayed until 3:00. i will break down this meal course by course hoping you too will become as insanely full as i did.

before lunch drinks. a water, the staple of my diet, and a screwdriver. the screwdriver was originally supposed to be a mimosa, but i didn't want to buy an entire bottle of champagne. luckily for me, the screwdriver was still a good way to go. the orange juice was fresh squeezed and thick, masking the taste of the vodka. it contained pulp which was a very exciting and welcome surprised. i should have guessed by the velvety smooth feeling the juice created running down my throat that this would be an extravagant meal.

starter. a quiche. the trout inn describes it as "red onion tart, jersey blue cheese, watercress and roasted vine tomatoes." when the tart came out, it was hidden underneath a thick bed of watercress, and drizzled lines of balsamic dressing connecting the tart with the tomatoes whilst decorating the plate. the crust of the tart watered in my mouth, while the blue cheese gave the interior of the tart a creamer filling and more noticeable flavor than any quiche i had before. the red onions were thinly sliced and very sweet in taste. when taking a bite of quiche with the watercress, it provides the mouth with a taste of bitter mixed with sweet and tart and creamy. it was definitely an enjoyable experience. i also had the privilege of trying two other starters since we are a very sharing group. the scallops cleo and dr. collins got were almost more tender than can be found back home. they were hardly seasoned allowing the scallops to do most of the work for providing flavor. i also tried carly's pita bread and assorted dressing sampler. there were creamed cheeses, hummus, and blocks of feta for topping the pita slices with. out of the three, i enjoyed mine the most, and it proved to be a nice segue into my meal.

main course. spit ham. again, the trout inn had a much more elegant name for it. their menu says it is "spit honey gammon ham, creamed potato, parsley and truffle sauce." the portion was so large i brought the other half home and ate it for dinner. the flavors were again incredible. the ham sat upon the creamed, rather, mashed potatoes, and both were then topped with a generous amount of the truffle sauce. the truffle sauce was very salty in taste and complicated the roasted ham and the potatoes. it was the first time i have eaten meat on the trip, and it was quite the welcome change.

dessert. sticky toffee pudding and vanilla ice cream. i had no idea what to expect, but carly told me it was the one thing that her friend grace misses most from her stay in england, so i figured i had to try it if it was that unforgettable. it wasn't what i had expected it to be though. when one says pudding i think of anything from jello pudding to traditional bread putting, but what was placed in front of me appeared to be a brownie with a small scoop of ice cream on the side. this was all sitting in a pool of caramel, my favorite topping known to man. it was a very heavy dessert, but i soon saw why grace couldn't forget it. the combination of the cold ice cream, warm caramel, and room temperature brownie like object melted in my mouth. the flavor had hints of vanilla, but caramel was the overpowering element. the caramel even oozed out of the porous areas of the pudding. i couldn't eat all of it, so i gave the rest to carly. she too laughed and said she understood grace's obsession completely now.

after lunch drinks. a chocolate martini. topped with graham cracker crumbs. fantastic. all of the explanation required.

after this, we all caught cabs back to the flat, and we relaxed for the rest of the evening. we did make one excursion into town though, and i made my last two purchases on my list for oxford. i bought the classical music recommended to me that first day by the tutor from oxford university, and i made it to the alice store and bought my ornament for oxford. allow me to clarify. the oxford alice store is literally the alice in wonderland official store. it was the store used in lewis carroll's book because the college where he studied and taught at, christ church, is across the street from it. he wrote the story for the dean of students' daughter, alice, placing her as the main character, and also putting landmarks around oxford into the book. the store was once a grocery where alice and her family shopped, but after the publication of the books, it then became a tribute to the oxford fantasy. my entire day consisted of eating, drinking, and enjoying life. now, i am able to relax and prepare for the big excursion that awaits us tomorrow. the city of paris.

the quaint trout inn.


our view from the table.


our friend the duck. she enjoyed walking up and down the stone wall to visit our table and others in hopes of food.


the peacock. one of four who reside at the trout inn.

day trip to london.

after sleeping in until around 9:30 today, my body feels quite well rested from yesterday's excursion. here is the story.

8:30. we met outside of venneit close to walk as a group to the train station to catch a train from oxford to london.

10:30. we got to london via train, which i slept on the entire ride, and left paddington station to explore the city on our free day.

11:00. we went through hyde park, an amazing park decorated with various types of sculpture. two of the most interesting pieces, and most contradictory, were across the square from one another, providing the viewer with a contradictory emotion. to one's left side if approaching the park from paddington station, there is what appears to be an iron head of a horse, balanced on its nose. the features are done accurately and carefully, and from viewing the piece from the front, one has no doubt it is a horse. it is when you move to the side of the sculpture that you have a "eureka" moment. the horse has been balanced on its nose for a very specific reason. from the side, it appears to be two different things. the head of a horse and a point shoe which a dancer is balancing upon. the curve of the head is the same as the curve of the pointed foot in the shoe. the sculpture is definitely an optical illusion of the three-dimensional kind, and it was a great first thing to experience in london. the piece directly across from the horse is a beautiful arch. i'm not sure as to the dating or name of the work, but it definitely bears roman influence and is similar to the arch of constantine. it is exquisitely carved with images that may be deities or may be god and angels, however since i do not know the time period, i'm not sure which is a better candidate.

12:30. we finally get to where we needed to be, tower hill, and stop to get lunch before we go down to the actual tower complex. and i finally experienced it, fish and chips! i got them at a local pub, and they were well worth the £5.10 i paid for it. it was unlike anything i expected it to be. it was, of course, a good sized portion of fries, or chips as brits and outback calls them, a fillet of cod which was lightly fried, a serving of peas, and a side of tartar sauce. i'm not a big tartar sauce portion, so i didn't use it, but i did put malt vinegar on the fish to give it an extra kick. i had expected it to be more along the lines of fish sticks, not a whole filet, but it was so good that i didn't think any different. i ate more than half of the whole fillet, but towards the end i picked the fish out of the breading so that i didn't get too full. it was the classic experience i needed to have, and was a perfect way to start my london day.

2:30. we finally arrive at what i am most intrigued by in history, the tower of london. though it was once a palace and now serves as a treasury, i like it for the prison it once was. it was used most during the tudor reign, most famously by king henry the eighth and his children, and the tudor family fascinates me so the tower is something on my list of things to see before i leave. however, yesterday was not the day for that visit. instead, we took a riverboat tour of the thames river. the guides were not really guides, but sarcastic british watermen who provided us with quite the informational, and amusing, trip we needed on our free day. we saw everything from parliament, big ben, the reconstruction of shakespeare's globe theater, the gerken, and the oxo building. the history surrounding each thing is fascinating, but the buildings are not the only things that make you appreciate the river. the exquistie bridges also have much history surrounding them. one was built by women during world war ii, and the stone used cleans itself in the rain. no marketing nor ads of any sort are allowed along the river because it is considered to be royal territory. all in all, it was a great day to relax and learn about what was around us in a distant, yet detailed way.

4:45. carly and i got to paddington station to catch the train to oxford. i also used this opportunity to buy my love, paddington bear.

5:25: carly and i start our return to oxford.

7:15. i now decide that the weather, though chilly, is still nice enough for me to take a run, and the guilt from eating the fish and chips basically forces me out of the door.

7:45. mid-run, i begin to realize how dehydrated i am. my ears start to burn.

8:00. i get back to venneit close, drink lots of water, shower, do laundry, and eat dinner.

by around 10 i have fallen fast asleep.

here's what i saw in london first time around.

cleopatra's needle, a gift from egypt.


london bridge. the original was built by the romans and sold to america. this is its replacement.


london eye.


big ben's clock tower.


paddington bear's statue at paddington station.