Oxford

It is finals week for us here in Oxford. Just one more paper/presentation and then a long flight home. The last few weeks have been dragging on. It is clear that the majority of the pack (including myself) are tired of traveling. We are living in a youth hostel overrun with french and german 13 year olds. I have played almost every imaginable card game created and have read through a few books unrelated to classes. I think I'm ready to be back soon.
Sorry for the lack of pictures at this point...more to come soon.

As promised...

Here is a picture from Cambridge last week ...

Dr. Chaney, Bis & I are chatting under the spring boughs of the orchard- a famous location beloved by poets and Grassmere locals alike.

Shakespeare's birth place in Stratford on Avon (meaning "street that fords the river").
Countryside in Stratford below...lovely.

so, that's all the photos i have for now. i am actually in Cambridge right now and will be here for about a week more. i am looking forward to settling into my surroundings here. it is a beautiful city- full of bicycles and college students, coffee shops, and trees.

My own work!

I also had the chance to make my own stencil and spray paint my design in the Banksy tunnel exhibition...so I got to leave my own mark in London...

It's the green tree (not the really cool black and white man unfortunately)

Banksy

For those of you who don't know, Banksy is a popular London graffiti artist. While in London I had the opportunity to see a special three day exhibition of his work (we stood in the queue for almost 2 hours to get in!) and it was fantastic! He is known for very startling and provocative images which often pry at politically and socially charged topics.

Here are a few photos of his work...

Hello!

It is hard to believe that my time in London is almost drawing to a close; soon we will be heading to Bath by train. Exploring this great city has been wonderful- it is exploding with things to do, museums to see, and lots and lots of different people. I have attempted to be selective in the activities I have chosen to do in London because you can easily exhaust youself by trying to do too much each day. The city is bustling from morning to night- and it is huge! I am just now feeling like I have a relatively coherent understanding of the city layout. Fortunately, transportation is wonderful here. With a map and a tube pass I can get just about everywhere. "Topping up"(adding a few more pounds to my oyster card) has allowed me to get out of the major tourist areas where more of the locals live and work, including places such as Wimbledon (which was exciting for a tennis fan like me!).

The Globe

this is a reconstruction of the original globe theatre. it is made out of a limestone plaster and aprox 1,000 oak trees and held together w. wood pegs (no nails!). also note the thatched roof (outlawed in London now because of fires). we saw king lear performed here and Henry IV part 2 at the Roundhouse theatre. a midsummer nights dream & the tempest are still to come when we are in stratford.

London

on the tube...the underground is amazing

Dingle pictures

Left to right...

Gallarous Oratory-built between 6th & 9th century-place of early Christian worship.

Friends down at the waterfront: Kait, Katie, Me, Jill, Bis, & Kristi

Beautiful landscape- photo taken during a bus tour of the peninsula

PICTURES!

Backtracking a bit...here I am in the Lake District. This is Coleridge and Wordsworth's territory. Their poetry resounds with the goodness of nature. Below is a dock there I read As You Like It with a group of friends.