Pierce Me Where It Counts, Robin Hood

The third day of our mini break brought us to Nottingham, the home of the ever famous and possibly non-existent Robin Hood. As stated previously, Nottingham seemed to be a bit on the sketchy side at 10 p.m. at night. It's absolutely fine at 9 a.m. in the morning. I awoke at 7 a.m. because I can't seem to sleep to any normal hour and we were headed into the city center by 9 a.m.

Caves!

Now, we had absolutely no plan of action beyond finding breakfast. Coffee and food were necessities. Once these were satisfied, we made our plan of action. It began with going on a tour of the city, given by a really crazy dude who dresses up like Robin Hood. He gives tours on Saturdays in the summer but his tour this particular Saturday was at 5 and not 11. :(

We did not despair, however, and entered the local mall to go to the Caves. There are all sorts of caves located underneath Nottingham. They were built by the locals and some date back to the 13th century. During the time of Henry VIII, there was actually a Tannery in these caves, although it then opened into the forest. Today, it is all entirely underground. These caves were also used during WWII for bombing shelters. How's that for today's history lesson?

I agree with you, pub, and not Wikipedia

We then took another tour at the Galleries of Justice Museum. It detailed the history of Nottingham through its justice system. We began with a trial where the Sheriff of Nottingham was brought to trial by Robin Hood. Then we continued to follow through the cells and the dungeons as actors told us the history of life for prisoners in Nottingham from the 17th-20th centuries. It was really cool but by the end, we had had enough of jails, dungeons, and the legal system. Thus, we awayed to the pub !

And to a very cool pub did we go. It is supposedly the oldest pub/inn in England but Wikipedia tells me other places also hold that title. Called Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, it is built into a rock face near Nottingham Castle. The food was good, as was the beer, and it was a nice middle point of the day. The beer made us drowsy, however, and we just decided to wander for the rest of the day. We took photos with the Robin Hood statue, went to a nerd store, saw a large street fair/beach festival (Nottingham does not have a beach. So yes, they brought in sand. Weirdos.), and then purchased some travel towels for our showers.

Robin Hood!

We finally made it to our rail station by 6 for a 7 p.m. train that would take us to Cardiff. It was rather uneventful for most of the 3.5 hour ride until a bunch of drunk 18-22 year olds boarded the train and sat in our car. I tried to get all of my stuff tucked away but they spied Cotswold and that was the end of it. They started yelling about triceratops and one dude attempted to act out what one looked like. It was quite hilarious, I must say, but also rather frightening.

We arrived in Cardiff at 1045 p.m. only to discover that everything was closed. Well except for some pubs and nightclubs. And no one was serving food. We walked around some really sketchy parts of town at 1130 p.m., looking for food, but to no avail. Thus, we ended up going to a 24-hour gas station to get food....but we couldn't go into it. We had to walk up to the window, guess what they may have in the sandwich variety, were given two ham sandwiches, and made it out alive. I guess I can say it was a successful evening then. Check back later for our adventures in Cardiff, this time with a new addition: Jenny! Til then!
- Kate

It Comes in Pints? I'm Getting One

Once more, life and travel in and around London has forced me to put off my blogging. But I'm back and ready to fill you in with everything I've done for the past three days (over the course of three blogs)

On Wednesday, we spent the entire day in Oxford. Now, my parents tell me that I was there eleven years ago but I do not remember. Still, it was an amazing experience. Oxford is located about an hour or so outside of London, and we traveled there by train. We traveled through the industrial parts of the city and suddenly found ourselves in the vicinity of Oxford University. It's beautiful buildings dominate the landscape and the architecture ranges from old English Gothic to the Renaissance, to modern day commercial architecture.



We received a tour of the Bodleian (above), which I posted about on my other blog. You can access that here. Then we were allowed some free time to get lunch an explore. Melissa, Jenny, and I took advantage of the tour guide's generosity to see another part of the library, the Radcliffe Camera (on your left), and then had lunch at a small cafe under a church. Then we went through The Museum of the History of Science, but had to cut that short to meet up with our group at Christ's Church College.

We went through the grounds, seeing the Great Hall (which was actually used as the Great Hall in Harry Potter), and then saw the church itself. We then got a personal tour of the library (right), which is much smaller than the Bodleian but has its own distinct charms. After that tour, we were once more left to our own devices so the three of us rushed to the Ashmolean Museum, a very famous museum of Art and Archaeology. We went through the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman areas, and then saw a Stradivarius. Several major nerd moments occurred.

We ended the day with a pint and some food at the Eagle and the Chive. This is where several famous Oxford attendees used to hang out, most notably Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. It was so cool to be there and I finally got a beer that I truly enjoyed. And the bartender informed me that I was a serious drinker. Still trying to figure out of that's a compliment or not....I'm taking it as a compliment.

We made it back to the train through some rain and were back in London within an hour. Our trip to Oxford was a great way to celebrate the Fourth of July but it seemed very surreal. I definitely missed not being in America for the holiday and plan on being there next year.

A Quick Jaunt Across the Pond

(Editors note: Sorry about not finishing my Ireland blog. I got swamped with school at the end of the semester and then it ended...and I moved...and then something else rather surprisingly happened...and now I'm leaving again. So it just never happened. Sorry! I plan on returning very soon so I promise to blog on that trip.)

I must say, I am insanely calm despite the fact that I am leaving the United States in two days. For those who know me, this isn’t usual. I’m seriously acting as if I’m merely going to one state over when really, I’ll be across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom for one month. Normally, I would be freaking out. I mean, I really should be freaking out. I shouldn’t be able to sleep at night due to excitement. I should be looking up every possible library/archive that I will be visiting. I should be planning all of my weekends and evenings. I should be worried about everything that could but probably won’t go wrong. This is what old Kate would be doing. However, it seems that Kate is now laid back about life. She’s mellowed in her old age and has learned how to go with the flow.

Right now, I’m positive you're rocking back and forth and muttering, Inconceivable. (In the most non-crazy way.) Well, I'm not sure how or when it happened but sometime in the past month or two, I’ve become more relaxed and laid back about life. It’s all too short to worry about all the minute details. And in the end, all the major ones get done. I’ve just somehow learned not to stress too much about it. NBD kids. I’m handling everything with extreme ease. Packing? Yeah it will get done. I made a list. I’ll be fine. I'm sure you have questions. Such as, will she have to resort to working the corner in Piccadilly Circus to pay for food and booze? Not at all. I'm totally flush with cash, being a grad student and all. (but really, I am good with money. I will not resort to such illegal activities and be forthwith deported.) How will I communicate, you ask? I got Skype working and I’ll get myself a phone in the UK to call people I meet while I’m there. Homework? Well, I have one of my book reviews done and I finished reading the second book. It’s not due until Thursday. It will get done. And it's a library science course - it shouldn't be too difficult.

Still, this trip to England is a pretty big thing. And since I’ve just rambled for two paragraphs, I guess it’s about time that I actually explain what I’ve been alluding to above. Back in January, I discovered a Study Abroad program through the University of Southern Mississippi. Their “British Studies Program” takes a large contingent of students across the pond to study and live in England for a month. When I saw that there was a library science component, I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. I would be able to visit libraries and archives in England and Scotland? Sounds like a dream month. I applied, was accepted, and have been slowly preparing for my trip since April.

Well April quickly turned into May and then June and now my departure is finally here. On Thursday night, I will fly out of Dulles International Airport and by Friday morning, I will have arrived in Foggy London town. For roughly a month, I will live in the dorms at King’s College in London. The course takes us to different libraries and archives in London and the surrounding region. After two weeks, we pack our bags and head to Scotland for three days. Then I have a five day mini-break where I can go wherever I wish. My goal is to visit Germany, Austria, and/or the Czech Republic. Then it’s back to London for the last week of classes, final exams, some Olympic celebrations, and then I’m back in D.C. on Saturday morning July 28th.

It will be a whirlwind and I’m asking all of you to join me on it. I’ll be blogging in two different blogs. One will be for the University of Southern Mississippi and then my personal blog. (Here is the link to my first blog entry for USM: http://blogs.usm.edu/blogging-abroad/2012/06/19/there-and-back-again-a-grad-students-tale/ I'll try to remember to link that one to this one as well). There may actually be a third blog, for my actual course, but I will know more about that when I arrive. Suffice it to say, I will be writing a lot. And I plan on keeping a journal, as well as sending lots of emails to friends and family. So expect to hear much more from me in the coming weeks. And this blog will be much more interesting and open than the school one…..I don’t have to be politically correct on this one :) And I promise to have lots of hilarious stories….or at least I promise to make some up if nothing funny happens. (I also promise to refrain from talking in the third person).

See you on the other side!

- Kate