Home

After five weeks, the trip has come to an end. All I have now is jet lag a lot of pictures to go through. Thanks to everyone who read the blog at various points throughout the trip. It's going on hiatus now, but if nothing else, will probably be back in December when I go to Guatemala for a week. Until then, cheers!

The Farewell Tea

Today we had our Farewell Tea at the Francis Hotel. We had to dress "smart" for the event, and had a nice mid-afternoon tea that included sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, jam, tasty deserts, and of course, fine English tea. The Dean got up and said a few words about each of the classes and the tutors and then we watched a nice slideshow of pictures from the past five weeks. I'd throw in some pictures from the Tea, but I've already packed my card reader, so those will have to wait. We then went to a nearby pub for a drink, and dispersed to pack. Tonight a lot of people are going to a pub called the Huntsman for our last night.

It's a strange feeling, leaving tomorrow. It feels both like five weeks just flew by, but also that I've been in Bath forever. Earlier this week I was excited to go home, but now that classes are over, I wish that I could stay a little bit longer and just goof off. But all good things must come to an end, and sadly, it is that time.

As for this blog, this is one of my last posts for this trip. Tomorrow when I'm in either the Bristol or Newark airports, I plan to post pictures from today and tonight and possibly reflect a little bit more on the best and worst of the trip, but that's about it. For those of you who have been reading since I left, I thank you very much. It has been wonderful getting comments and getting a taste of home every now and then. I've been trying to decide what to do with this blog now that I am done with the trip, and I think that I will probably just leave it dormant until my next big adventure. If you've enjoyed my writing here, there are a few other blogs that I contribute to:
-WDUB New Music Blog: The music blog for the Denison radio station, where I am a DJ and the Music Director. It's on hiatus until the fall, but I post there regularly while in school.
-The Oceanographer's Choice: The music blog that my brother and I run. It's been kind of down lately, but we're picking it back up.
-Television Rules the Nation: A TV blog that I contribute to with my friend and roommate Jon.

Well that's all for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see those of you in Indianapolis soon!

More of Bath/Almost Done

First of all, sorry that I've been inactive for a few days. My last paper was due today, so I now have a lot less to worry about.

Since I don't have too much to report, I thought I could share some pictures from a few places around Bath that I've visited since my video post around Bath. First up is Prior Park, the estate of businessman Ralph Allen. He owned a quarry in Bath that produced what's called Bath Stone, and he built his estate on a hill above town so that it could be seen as a sort of billboard for Bath Stone. Here are a few pictures:




The other big site that I visited was Beckford's Tower, where my Georgian Bath professor is the curator. The building was built by eccentric aristocrat William Beckford after he moved to Bath in the early 1800s. Beckford had spent a good deal of his fortune, and could no longer afford a lavish estate, so he moved to a house in Bath and built the tower just outside of town to be a place for him to hold his extensive collection of antiquities and go for a few hours everyday to read and relax. From the top of the tower, there is a stunning view of the English countryside below, but, at Beckford's request, you cannot see Bath. Here are pictures:



As of this post, I only have three more class periods to attend today and tomorrow and then a farewell tea on Friday before leaving Saturday morning. I'll probably post on Friday after the Tea and then possibly again as I'm en route back to the States. Thanks for continuing to read, even this close to the end!

Dublin

I'm back from Dublin and it was quite a weekend. We started out on Friday by visiting the Old Jameson Distillery, where Jameson Irish Whiskey was distilled for about 200 years. The tour was really interesting as far as learning how Jameson is different than American or Scotch whiskeys. The best part of course was the tasting portion at the end of the tour, where I tried Jameson and ginger ale. It doesn't sound like a winning combination, but it was quite good.


We then walked around a bit and saw the two big churches in Dublin, Christ's Church and St. Patrick's. We couldn't go in either as they were preparing for Friday night services, but we were able to take a look at each of them. St. Patrick's had scaffolding around the outside, but we still could see a lot from walking around it.

Christ's Church

The site where St. Patrick performed baptisms

The rest of the day and night, we went record shopping (no purchases, far too expensive) and hung out in the Temple Bar section of Dublin, a trendy area filled with pubs and expensive restaurants. The next morning we walked up the Dublin Writer's Museum, where we learned about Irish born writers including James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats, and many more. This was coupled with a visit to the James Joyce Center which focused specifically on Joyce and his life. After a stop at Dublin Castle (the inside was not opened so we wandered around outside), we went to the Guiness Storehouse, the birthplace of Guiness from 1795 until 1988. The Storehouse is an awesome seven story building that's shaped like a pint glass. The self guided tour starts out well, as we got to learn about the history and process of making Guiness. As the tour goes on however, the exhibits sort of taper off as you approach a bar on top of the building, where you get a complimentary pint and a terrific view of the city. The rest of the night was spent again wandering around Temple Bar, but we weren't out too late, since we had to leave for the airport this morning at 7:15.

Dublin Castle


A view of Dublin from the Guiness Storehouse

Other Observations:
-U2 is everywhere. "Vertigo" was playing on the radio when we got on the bus from the airport and heard them in every pub we went to. There's a huge poster of them that dominates The Dublin Music Wall of Fame in Temple Bar.
-Our hostel was pretty nice. We shared a room with ten other travelers who at various times could be annoying, but for the most part, it was clean and well situated in between the City Centre and Temple Bar.
-I didn't think I'd find a city more expensive than Bath, but Dublin made it look cheap

So now I'm heading into the last week of the trip. There's a couple activities this week, but my big priority now is going to be to finish the papers I have left for my classes. For now however, I'm going to relax for a bit and watch Wimbledon. Hopefully Federer can pull it out!

An Unnecessary Pre-Dublin Post

Since I have to leave for the airport at 7:30 tomorrow to head to Dublin, I'm staying in tonight, and boredom has led me to this unnecessary post of miscellaneous musings. Read on if you want, but it has little to do with my actual trip.
1. Wimbeldon:
After watching Nadal rip apart Murray the other night, I'm fairly convinced that he's going to give Federer a run for his money this year. I definitely prefer Federer, and he's unstoppable on grass, but Nadal looked better than I've ever seen him on grass last night. It helped that Murray really was having awful luck, but you gotta get the ball over the net to win, and he couldn't do that. Either way, I'm excited that I'll be back in Bath for the final, so I can watch it on the BBC and get a true British sport experience.
2. MLB All-Star Game:
Now the rosters won't be released until tomorrow, but it appears that Geovany Soto and an injured Alfonso Soriano will be voted as starters. Kosuke Fukodome appears to be on the bubble and Ryan Dempster and Ryan Theriot are strong contenders to be selected by the NL manager. I'm happy for the Cubbies mentioned, but I think Aramis Ramirez really deserves a spot. He's played great this season and has come through in the clutch, which sure seemed to guarantee David Ortiz a spot of the roster in 2005 and 2006. Derek Lee has been having a dynamite season as well, and I wouldn't be shocked to see him make it as well. Either way, it looks good for the North Siders.
3. Garfield Minus Garfield
One of the funniest websites I've ever found is Garfield Minus Garfield. The site takes Garfield comics and takes out Garfield, Odie, Nermal, and all other characters, leaving a sad, lonely, and insane John Arbuckle. It's truly hilarious. Here's a sample:

Well that's it for me. Check back Sunday for a Dublin recap!

Mid-Week Update

I don't have too much to report, but I thought I'd check in and give a quick mid-week update for those of you anxiously awaiting something new to read. Monday night, I went to a club in Bath called Moles which has live music almost every night. We went last week as well to see a Scottish band called the Yellow Bentines, who were alright, but this week the music was pretty terrible (imagine a thrash metal band randomly busting out "Deck the Halls"). The club is a cool place though, and many famous bands, including The Jam, Oasis, Radiohead, and last week, Franz Ferdinand have played there over the years. Yesterday was a fairly mundane day that ended with watching "Top Gun" with some friends across town. Tonight is yet another night of karoke at the Huntsman, so that should be fun. Not much going on again until Friday, when I head off to Dublin for a few days. I may not post until I'm back, but be sure to keep checking in for updates. Who knows, I may have a thrilling adventure to report.

I was also asked about how classes were going (you know, a minor part of the trip). Both classes are very different. My Triumph of Georgian Bath class is all about how architecture ties into to the polite society in Bath during the 1700s. Our tutor is brilliant, lecutring a full hour and a half without any notes, throwing out dates left and right. Most of our class, myself included, have never studied architecture, so at times it can be a little tedius, but it's interesting and there are a lot of field trips. The Hitchcock class is really awesome. So far we've watched "Strangers on a Train", "Rear Window", "The Man Who Knew Too Much", "Vertigo", and my favorite, "North By Northwest." We've spent a lot of time discussing American Cold War ideals of gender roles and visual motifs that Hitchcock uses to make his films more than just basic thrillers. The professor is great and part of me wishes I was an English major so I could take classes with him at Denison. It also helps that the work for that class is mostly pleasure as well.

Well that's all for me for now. There might not be anything until Sunday, but like I said, who knows what I'll feel like posting before then. Cheers!