Monday, March 21, 2011

An excursion outside of London

[Rewind a couple of weeks, to the distant time of March 5th]

I went on an overnight, small group tour to a bunch of places outside of London. We first went to Oxford, where we toured the campus and witnessed Oxford students in their traditional graduation garb.
 These creepy heads were all over the place.

 Bikes are truly the most widely-used form of transportation in Oxford.

My friends and I then wandered around the town for a little while and mid-exploration, were captivated by a fudge shop in front of which a woman was shouting “free fudge!” We couldn’t resist going inside to investigate, even if this was just another phony business strategy that required the customer to buy 5 pieces of fudge and a drink before receiving the free fudge. We did get free fudge inside in the form of small butterscotch fudge samples, and as we savored the taste of free fudge (which I can attest is more savory than fudge with a monetary value), we watched as a boy inside the shop prepared a new batch of chocolate fudge. Using a broom-like device, he spread a very undesirable-looking, goey brown substance (that resembled a certain bodily creation) around a table-top, re-shaping it and thinning it out several times. Regardless of this unfortunate eye-opening demonstration of the fudge-making process, we bought a wedge of chocolate fudge anyway (one that appeared much more appetizing). It was a wise purchase, needless to say. 


We hopped back in the van and drove towards the Cotswolds, an area of pleasant countryside villages in western England. We stopped at a small market town called Stow-on-the-Wold where we looked inside a historic-looking church, went in a few shops, and got some tea.



Along the bus ride, we came across another small village where we saw small British children taking part in their typical leisurely weekend routine - catching rubber ducks in a stream.

I also encountered a phone booth. I decided it was the “one,” and took my first phone-booth picture with it.

We then stopped at another small town called Bibury. I have no idea why this place was on the itinerary or why we spent nearly an hour there. There was really nothing there other than a trout farm, so we spent most of the time exploring the inside of the one and only building on the premises - a hotel - so we could avoid the swarms of mosquitoes outside. But to avoid sounding cynical, it was a pretty renowned trout farm that supplies most of the UK and some other countries with trout - so definitely check it out if you are fascinated by fish exports.

 The trout farm was actually really pretty, and a popular site for weddings (but choosing to set your wedding on a trout farm is a little unusual).

After the long eventful day, we drove to the hotel in Bristol. My friends and I played a few rounds of charades - some notable performances including “fish and chips” and “a mosquito” (inspired by those encountered in Bibury).
The next day, we got up early and drove to Bath. We spent hours walking around the Roman Baths, which is expansive and very cool to see. In fact, it is so cool that it has been titled a World Heritage Site, along with the rest of the city. 
 The royal crescent.




 A model of Romans in their natural habitat.
 The bathing sequence.
 A live portrayal of a Roman.

We stopped at Lacock next, a small medieval village. Apparently scenes of Harry Potter were filmed there. However, this meant nothing to me as I am lame and have not read the books nor seen the majority of the movies. 





Finally, we saw Stonehenge, and while a google-image search of these large stone structures probably would have sufficed and had the same impressionable effect, it’s one of those places you have to see for yourself anyways. However, I did find it absurd that there was an audio guided tour, with numbers to press at certain points along the trail around the structure (as if it really makes a difference where you stand). 


Supporting Stonehenge with the palm of my hand.

More recent events to follow.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

I'm still here.

Wow, where did February go? This study abroad experience has been passing way too fast.

So I have returned to this blog after receiving multiple aggressive e-mails from my mother demanding another blog entry. Lately, I haven’t even had the time to remember that I am in London. I have been so busy with reading/papers/presentations because (surprise) I’m actually going to school here. I wish I could hire someone to follow me daily and write about my life - it could be creepy and slightly invasive, but it would save me some much-needed time and please my mother.

This past weekend, I went on a trip to Cambridge where I toured a couple of the college campuses and walked around the town. The highlight of the trip was seeing the pub where Watson and Crick regularly hung out, and where (or so it is claimed) Crick announced that he discovered the secret to life. I also saw the Cavendish laboratory where JJ Thomson discovered the electron, Ernest Rutherford performed the gold foil experiment and devised his model of the atom, Watson and Crick constructed the model of DNA, and where I decided that I was a nerd for being star-struck by these names.

 Watson and Crick were sitting behind that window when Crick made his significant declaration.
 The Eagle pub - where Watson and Crick grabbed a pint and had a chat after work. These details may or may not be historically accurate, but I imagine they made conversation over drinks.
 The Cavendish Laboratory - home to some of the greatest and most revolutionary scientific discoveries.
 The doorway where Watson and Crick, and other great names, passed through on a daily basis.







My high school friend, Carol (a.k.a. carebear or c-money) came to visit me this weekend as well. She’s studying abroad just a hop, skip, and a jump away in Dublin. We enjoyed thinking about how unfathomable the concept of ‘casually meeting up in Europe like its no big deal’ would have been to us as high school freshmen. I showed her some of the most important cultural sites (i.e. Big Ben, red telephone booths, a British McDonald's for comparative purposes) and we had a good time catching up on our study abroad stories. On Saturday night, we hung out around Camden Town and ended up at Koko, where we discovered an absolute treasure. Apparently, on the last weekend of every month, Koko hosts an event called “guilty pleasures” where they play all those bad, but undoubtedly catchy pop songs/one-hit-wonders that people hate to admit they enjoy and the majority dresses up in ridiculous costumes just for the hell of it. It was very unexpected, and we had so much fun.

 Here is an example of how random this event was.

Alright, time to get back to my paper on the mechanisms that regulate synapse formation at the neuromusclular junction. It’s thrilling, really. There is nothing I would rather be doing here in London than sitting in my room, staring at a blank Word document, and pretending that I am actually going to start this paper today and not three days from now.



And I promise that I will do my best to keep updating this blog (this statement is mostly directed at my mother).