But let's stop daydreaming and cut to the chase! This past week was cool, mainly because of a delightful trip to the UK over the weekend. It was great seeing three of my good buddies and spending a full day in both Oxford and London while being constantly bombarded by English charm (hence the name of this week's post). I think my first "welcome to England" moment was when my flight touched down in Gatwick, and the pilot said, "Well then, we're right on shejuwol, hope you're all tickety-boo!" HAH. I am definitely going to incorporate tickety-boo into my vocab from here on out. But more generally, the weekend impressed on me afresh how much more classy & proper the English are than we Americans.. Now don't get me wrong, I love a ton of things about the good ol' USA, but there's no getting around the fact that the English have got their social graces down. Plus, it just seems to me that literally ANYTHING said with an English accent automatically sounds at least 2x smarter/more interesting. If you don't believe me, think about this: Would the Planet Earth series have been nearly as resounding a success without the genius addition of Sir David Frederick Attenborough's voice? I hope I can rest my case here.
Another great part about England - they rep tea. For those who don't know this about me, I LOVE tea, and so of course I had to avail myself of the stuff in the land of Twinings, Earl Grey, clotted cream, and the scone.. It's pretty sweet, b/c the English have got an excuse to drink tea at just about every point of the day: breakfast tea suits the morning, cream tea (taken with some sort of pastry or scone spread with cream & jam) takes care of the afternoon, high tea (tea complemented with little sandwich guys or cold meats) is an early evening specialty, and the optional nightcap herbal tea ensures that a 4th cup can wiggle its way into the picture. I enjoyed several cups of this magical beverage while I was there.. Didn't taste any different, but I felt so cultured.
Alright, so what did I do besides admire the English? Well, the day in Oxford was lovely.. Many Americans probably don't know this (I didn't), but Oxford actually has a pretty disunified feel to it. The University is made up of 33 largely-autonomous colleges, such as St. John's, Christ Church College (where we got to see a stained-glass toilet!), or Hertford, and so walking around the campus is really an exercise in hopping from courtyard to courtyard. The city is definitely a beautiful place to stroll, and it has a pleasant, academic, multinational feel to it.. Check it out:
can you spot the toilet? (click on pic to make it bigger)
While my friends assured me that the "miserably wet" stereotype of England is false, it - of course - had to rain quite a bit during my days in both Oxford & London.. Anyway, before we jump to London, I have to mention the Oxford Castle.. My friend Eleanor and I took a guided tour and it was so interesting. The castle is a former prison that was in use from 1071-1996 and reveals a very different side of Oxford than the academic haven for which it is widely known. In fact, for centuries Oxford was a place of incarceration and execution, and its brutal living conditions (including bedroom-sized cells that packed in 60 inmates, often ankle deep in their own filth) were infamous. Almost 200 people were executed in Oxford over the years, and there are many fascinating stories about everything from executions gone wrong to criminals who headed to their death in stylish form. Beside the castle rises a hill where people apparently used to watch hangings with great gusto, as public executions were almost like a sporting event where many, even families, gathered for recreation.
Ok, London: The big point is that it was way too big for me to get a proper feel for it. However, via the excellent tour guideship of the brilliant David Roberts, we managed to hit the National Gallery, Tate Modern, River Thames, Borough Market, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theatre, Camden, the Natural History Museum, the VA Museum, and Trafalgar Square.. Not bad for one day! Of course, it was also ace just chatting with the friends and catching up on the present day... Aside from my height and decidedly American accent, I managed to stand out as a yankee by being the only person - literally - in the entire city to wear shorts in 35-45 degree weather. Oh well, old traditions die hard.. (although as a 5 year old, I consistently sported sweat pants throughout the summer, go figure). Finally, I made a classic U.S. mistake in booking my flight home: when I saw 7:20 on kayak.com at the end of September, I naturally assumed that 7:20 pm was a pretty normal time to fly home, and I jumped on the flight without thinking twice. Unfortunately, most people in Europe read that as 07:20 (rather than 19:20), meaning wayy early morning.. So, I stayed up until 3 am, caught a late bus to Gatwick, and left London at an obscenely early hour.
In other news: Today I learned that the only vegetarians in Spanish history have been the anarchists.. Guess they were the only crazies that would give up jamón ibérico and paella.
beastly Natural History Museum
OK,tickety-boo, I like that,down here in Atlanta we have fiddle-dee-dee,like Fiddle-dee-dee, tomorrow is another day
ReplyDeleteHah, that's a good one too tibi!
ReplyDeleteA side note/addition to blog: I couldn't avoid running into the Spanish even when in England.. At about 3am on my way to Gatwick, I met a group of very friendly Spaniards.. They were delighted to hear me speak in castellano and, of course, they tried to get me to come to a fiesta with them..