Fair England

The view from my kitchen window, overlooking the neighborhood green

I'll be honest with you--I'm a little afraid that if I don't start writing down everything I'm doing, I won't be able to remember all the wonderful things I've seen and done here. So here is a random smattering of the thoughts of an American tourist in England.

About a month ago, a friend and I went to Cambridge for a day, and I'm not quite sure how we managed to fit so many experiences into a matter of hours.  Admiring the Fitzwilliam's impressive collection, and standing awestruck in front of a few Monet works until other museum-goers were visibly annoyed with us, was only the beginning.  From there, we had tea and Chelsea buns (basically glorified cinnamon buns--but with good reason--covered in molasses and currants) and ambled along the Backs with a third friend, who told us all about graduate life at Cambridge.  We ate dinner in an out-of-the-way Indian restaurant and then attended an Epiphany carol service at St John's College Chapel. I have always been a fan of boys' choirs, but this service was particularly lovely.  Just before 6:00, the chapel went completely dark, and we waited in silence while we listened to the college's bells toll the hour.  Then the audience slowly set the chapel aglow as we each lit a small candle. Listening to the readings and music by candlelight was a real treat, though I did feel badly that I ended up dripping a good deal of wax on a prayer book... 

Cambridge in all its glory.  But my heart will always belong to Oxford over Cambridge, of course. (And Harvard above both!)

The main reason my friend and I had journeyed to Cambridge that day was to listen to our third friend sing in a choral and orchestral concert at King's College, so after the carol service finished, we made our way to King's.  On the way, we happened to bump into Stephen Hawking, which was particularly timely as we had just watched the film The Theory of Everything that week.  Clearly, he and we were both busy, but just seeing someone so famous was an added pleasure to an already exciting day.  Although I was incredibly tired, and despite the fact that I spent the two hours perched on a very cold and hard stone bench, the concert at King's was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. A long admirer of King's College Choir, I spent much of the concert trying to get over the fact that I was actually sitting in King's Chapel!!  If you haven't heard the King's College Choir sing, please do yourself a favor, and listen to this or even this if you have time and don't mind getting into the Christmas spirit in February.

Choral and Orchestral Concert in King's College Chapel, Cambridge

Two weeks later, we made our way to Oxford but with entirely different intentions; we went for a Superbowl party that an American friend was hosting.  We spent a good deal of the day hunting up American food (Can you say Domino's pizza, chicken wings, Doritos, and Sprite? I think my heart is happy that I'm in England now where it's difficult to find these horribly unhealthy things...) We planned our day so that we could attend mass at St Aloysius, which I've missed ever since that summer I studied at Oxford. Though I was horrendously tired the next day--and really the remainder of the week--it felt nice to stay up so late for once and to let my inner-American out in full force. Plus, the fact that the Patriots won made it even more worth it...

The NFL is very slowly gaining an audience over here in England...

In front of Christ Church, Oxford where I studied the summer of 2012. (Confession: this picture is actually from August; it was too cold to take pictures when we were in Oxford a few weeks ago.)

Last weekend, the sun came out, which was very exciting.  I spent all of Sunday afternoon walking through central London.  Starting at Green Park, I made my way past Buckingham Palace, through St. James's Park, up to Westminster Abbey and finally to Trafalgar Square, where I took tea and caught up on some letter-writing. This weekend, I was back in central London both Friday night and yesterday. On Friday, a couple of friends and I had the very lucky opportunity to sit in on a BBC-recorded choral and orchestral concert to be aired in April.  It was strange to see radio behind-the-scenes; the musicians had to replay several pieces in order to get them good enough to be aired.  But since the music was spectacular, I certainly wasn't complaining! Yesterday afternoon, I met some other friends for a traditional Sunday roast at a nearby pub, and we spent the rest of the day poking around the Museum of London, admiring St Paul's, and taking tea at a tea room overlooking the gorgeous cathedral.  

A horribly blurry photo snapped of the Big Ben in the rain after the concert in Central Hall Westminster on Friday evening

Traditional Sunday Roast

Lest you think that all I do is wander around England with friends, you should know that every day of the last month except those recorded above was spent teaching, applying for jobs for next year, or doing the sorts of things that no one ever talks about--cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. But that's the nice thing about life, isn't it?  Just a few fun days with friends make the quiet days at home and at work a welcome blessing.  I'm a creature of routine at heart, and I'd actually far rather have a string of quiet days working or reading than a string of days out-and-about.  But at the same time, I wouldn't give up those few days out-and-about for anything.  Balance really is the key, my friends.  Until next time :)

Because my every-day life consists of cups and cups (and cups) of tea...