Thoughts on Europe Thus Far

So I figured now would be a good time to express my random thoughts on Europe so far.  I am pretty much in love with this continent, and I cannot wait to come back again.  I texted my dad one night “I really love it here. I don’t want to come home. I kind of want to do a semester back here.” The only reply to this I got was “no.”  I am hoping that stance meant something like no, sorry Tyler you have to come home at least for now…  I am not sure exactly why it is that I love this place so much, but it is probably a compilation of the history, the art, the shows, the architecture of the building, the ever-widening possibilities of things to do, but mainly the British accent.

With that said though there are a few things I cannot stand about Europe.  I am not sure why they are still stuck in the Middle Ages when it comes to personal hygiene.  Deodorant is very effective in reducing body odor, but it only works after someone puts it on.  Not to be rude, but when standing in a cramped and hot metro it becomes a problem. Deodorant was a hard thing to find when I was in pharmacy stores, so I am glad I brought extra with me.  Here’s a tip: if you have a favorite brand of deodorant/ want deodorant at all, make sure you bring extra with you because you wont find it in Europe.

The other thing that I find very puzzling is the European obsession with the murse (man-purse.)  Not only does each of them have one, but they are all designers brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, or Calvin Klein.  I am not sure why a wallet no longer works in Europe and they need a purse to carry everything, but my best guess is because they use so many more coins for currency that we do in America and therefore they need a bag to keep them in.

I also feel bad for parents of teenage girls in Europe.  I don’t know what it is, or how they afford to do this, but when I went to Harrod’s or walked around main streets these girls would be holding their arms straight out and loaded to maximum capacity with various shopping bags. 

Public restrooms in Europe are not the same as in America.   They are not every one hundred yards and they are NOT free.  Often they cost a pound twenty to use and you have to go thru a turnstile to use them.  Some restaurants also do not have restrooms inside of them.  My suggestion is to always carry change with you in case you need to take a break and use the loo.

The last thing: I really do love baguette sandwiches, especially because they come with so many options for cheese and meat, but I am starting to get sick of them.  Crispy bread with a few slices of meat, Brie, and salad is getting old fast. I am really starting to have a craving for a thick burger, a steak, a burrito from Pelon’s, and a frosty from Wendy’s.

A Weekend Excursion to British Open and London

So Jeff Webb and I decided to go to the British Open at Saint Andrew’s Golf Course to watch the game on Friday morning/ afternoon.  We left once again around 1:30 from Oxford on Thursday afternoon.  This time we stayed in a different hostel closer to the Royal Mile and the train station called Budget Backpackers.  Although it was a nice, cleaner, and friendlier hostel than the one I had stayed in the weekend before the only rooms that were available were the four people rooms.  Jeff and I stayed in one set of bunk beds while another random and 30-year-old couple shared the other.  They were nice but it definitely wouldn’t be something I would want to share again.

We woke up at 8:00 the next morning to catch an early up to Saint Andrews.  It took about ninety minutes to get to up to the station by the golf course.  We then caught this bus called the Golf-link that ran all day between the station and the course.  It was great because it only cost four pounds for the round trip and the police stopped all the traffic so our busses could cut through the roads and drop us off at the entrance. 

Jeff and I picked up the tickets I had ordered off of ticketmaster.com for twenty-five pounds a piece, which we both agreed was a great price for tickets.  Then we headed inside to watch the Championship. Unfortunately they made us check our cameras and our cell phones at the gate so i dont have any pictures from inside the Champions. I was very fortunate to be tagging along with Jeff because through a friend of his fathers he was able to get us into the New Club.  This club overlooked the 18^th fairway, and was pretty much one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life.  Jeff and I hung out in the clubhouse for a couple of hours.  We grabbed a sandwich and a St. Andrew’s beer from the bar and sat by the window watching players finish putting on the 17^th, tee off on the 18^th, and putt the ball in on the green all from the window.  We were by far the youngest people in the club by a good fifteen years, but it was amazing to sit in and watch the game while it rained outside.

After a few hours we went for a walk around the course periodically stopping to see a group tee off or putt.  We then headed back to the first tee to see Tiger Woods tee off before we headed back to Oxford for the day.  When we got to the bleachers we were fortunate enough to grab front row center spots and watched a couple groups tee off while we waited.  We sat and saw Rory McIlroy tee off after his previous day with a nine-under-par 63, Phil Mickelson end on the 18^th green, and then Tiger Woods tee off.  It was amazing to see the crowd build up ten minutes before Tiger’s tee time and then dissipate right after he was done.

Unfortunately we had to pull ourselves away from the game to make it make to the train station so we could get back to Edinburgh.  We literally ran to the hostel from the train station to pick up our stuff in order to make it back for our 5:00 train into Oxford.  When we got back to the train station, our train was delayed for 30 minutes, then 45, then an hour; finally, they re-routed us onto an already crowed train into London at 6:25.  It was a packed set of cars, extremely hot, and they ran out of food because they weren’t expecting so many people.  Finally we go into London King Cross Station at twenty past midnight, and missed our original train to Oxford so we had to get on the tube and head over to Paddington.  We got on the 12:45 train to Oxford and finally made it back into bed around 2:15 in the morning.

I did a lot of sleeping on Saturday to catch up from getting in so late the night before and a whole week’s worth of waking up early.  At around five in the afternoon Jeff and I caught the Oxford Tube into London because one of our mutual friends, Hannah Greene and her family, had invited us to their home for dinner that evening.  We had a great time hanging out with them in their beautiful home.  We had steak for dinner, something I had been craving since getting over to Europe.  Afterwards we met up with Kathryn and Elisabeth at one of the Marriotts in London to spend the night.

Sunday morning I woke up early to go to one of the services at Westminster Abbey.  It was so beautiful inside! Unfortunately because there were a few services on Sunday, I did not have a lot of time to explore the church. The fantastic choir sang for the first half of the mass and then they went into the sermon.  I met up with Alexis and two of her friends from Huston at the service.

The four of us then took the tube over to Harrods and walked around for a bit before we took a taxi over to Kensington Palace for high tea.  The history of high tea comes from Anna the 7^th Duchess of Bedford who would get a sinking feeling in the afternoon.  It was popular at that time for people to only have two meals a day: breakfast and diner.  Anna had her servants bring her a pot of tea and a light snack in the afternoon to help her get through the day better.  She soon invited friends over to drink tea and stroll through the gardens with her.  At the Orangery at Kensington Palace we each got the Royal Champagne Tea, served with a pot of tea, finger-sandwiches, orange scone, deserts, and a flute of champagne.  It was a lot of fun and a great way to catch up with everyone.

I then departed from the group to meet up with Kathryn and we explored more of London.  We walked around the city and headed up towards Tower Bridge, which neither of us had seen yet. As the legend goes, Tower Bridge is sometimes wrongly called London Bridge.  In 1968 when Robert McCulloch purchased the London Bridge to use in Arizona he thought he was actually buying the Tower Bridge.

After exploring the Bridge we went back to the hotel to grab my luggage and we headed back to Oxford.

Oxford: A Town of Scholars and Pubs, Week 2

So began the second week of classes.  The econ class I am in is more of a theoretical based class going over topics such as why do we have tariffs, and why don’t we just have on big world currency.  Thankfully we only do a little bit of math, just enough to understand the theory but not enough for me to need to dust off my old calculus skills.

This week was pretty low key.  Part of the program is to experience as much of English culture as possible.  Our program director taught us how to play squash and croquet.  We had ladders in both, and my partner Elisabeth and I made it to the semis in croquet. 

Most of the rest of the week was hanging out and playing lots of cards in the rooms.  We went to a few pubs after diner.  One of them was the Turf Tavern.  This is where a lot of the Oxford kids go during the school year and is really nice because besides their inside seating they have a really cool patio in the back for everyone to hangout in.

There is one other really cool pub we went to called the King's Arms.  This place's claim to fame is that during the school year when classes are in full swing and the kids come out to the pubs in Oxford they often go here because it is open til midnight (the latest of all the pubs in Oxford.)  Since this is where all the Oxford students go its claim to fame is it has the highest IQ per square foot than anywhere else in the world.  It was a fun place to try new beers and hang out in their many little side rooms.  This is Lane, Kate, and I walking back one night.

Lauren, Kate, Lane and I decided to go punting again this week.  For sixteen pounds you can rent a boat and punt for an hour.  If you go very leisurely around the lake it takes right at an hour to do.  We brought a few drinks with us and slowly punted our way around Oxford. 

We did a lot of exploring through Oxford.  The Covered Market had this delicious cookie place called Ben’s Cookies that everyone frequented.  I ate at this sandwich shop called Olive’s basically every day while I was in Oxford.  It was really good and they had lots of options for cheese, meats, and toppings. 

Before I knew it another week was over and I prepared for another weekend excursion back up to Edinburgh for the British Open...

A Weekend Excursion to Edinburgh, Scotland

So Thursday after class ended I headed up to the Oxford Train Station to buy a Railcard.  There are different types, but I got the 16-26/fulltime student card.  It cost twenty-six pounds and lasts a whole year; the reason for getting the card is each ticket you buy after is 1/3 of the price.  I ended up saving ten pounds after buying the Railcard and my ticket to Edinburgh, Scotland than I would have if I just bought an adult ticket to Edinburgh.

Over the course of the week everyone got groups together and figured out where to go.  I was torn between going to Paris for the weekend (which I knew I was going to do after the program ended anyway) or going to Edinburgh or hiking in Whales on my own.  I was thankfully convinced to join the group going to Edinburgh, even though I knew I was going to come back again the next weekend for the British Open.  We all met up and caught the 1:30pm train that arrived in Edinburgh shortly after 8:45pm.

We played cards, slept, and drank wine, which we were able to bring onto the train with us, to pass the time. The train ride was broken up and we had to change trains twice, although annoying actually helped to break up the time a bit.

When we arrived we headed straight to the hostel that we found on www.hostelworld.com.  It was called Edinburgh Metro Hostel and had single rooms that we were all able to book.  The rooms were nice, the bathrooms were decent, and there were lots of pamphlets and free maps waiting in the lobby.  The people who worked there were also very helpful in directing us what to do and where to eat.  If looking for a hostel in Edinburgh this one was good.  (I say this now, but my opinion of hostels changes by the time I get to Venice…)

We walked around the city trying to find something to eat but it was too late for any of the pubs to be serving.  So I went to this great fried foods place called the Clam Shell located on the Royal Mile.  I had delicious fish and chips that just came out of the fryer.  The fried haggis and fried mars bar also seemed to be house favorites. We all met up again at the World’s End Pub for a quick drink and then it was off to the hostel for a good night sleep.

The next morning we woke up and decided to catch an early Scottish Whiskey tour.  The Scotch Whiskey Experience, started out with a 3D barrel ride where we learned about the making of Scotch.  We were then put in a room upstairs and went through a 30 minute video presentation where the guide walked us through the different areas and types of Scotch and we did a smell test to see which one we would like to try.  The four main producing areas are Islay, Campbeltown, Highlands, and Lowlands.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember what it was that I tried but it was from the Island of Campbeltown and had a salty, citrus, and tropical flavor to it.  The exhibit also has the world's largest collection of Scotch in the world with over 3,500 bottles.

After a good strong shot of Scotch at 10:30 in the morning helped wake everyone up we headed down the Royal Mile towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse.  The Palace is currently used by the Queen for her royal garden parties.  Unfortunately the weekend we were there it was closed because members of the royal family were visiting.  We were unable to tell exactly who it was but I was able to take a picture of the presentation of the Royal Army in front of the Palace door.

We decided to hike up Arthur’s Seat instead.  Arthur’s Seat is a 853 foot mountain on the outskirts of the town that overlooks all of Edinburgh.  It was a bit of a steep climb up through lots of tiny steps we finally made it to the top and the view of Edinburgh was fantastic. These are pictures of Mark, Elisabeth, Ben, Doug, Rachel, Jay, and myself climbing up to the top.

We all went to dinner at the Tass Pub, which that night was featuring a local Scottish folk band.  We stayed for a while talking, getting to know each other, and listening to the music.

Saturday morning Doug and I got tickets to take the three-hour bus up to the Scottish Highlands to go hiking.  We got off at the Glencoe Visitor Center and hiked some of the trails up to the top of the mountain.  By that I actually mean we hiked service trails and forged our way through off bounds areas to try to get to the top.  When we successfully got to the top through many off the beaten path trails the view was absolutely spectacular.

By the time we hiked back down and then into the nearby town of Glencoe to get food and wait for the bus, I was exhausted.  Doug and I fell asleep while waiting for the bus to take us back to Edinburgh.  On the ride back we started talking to this guy a few years older than us.  He told us some good pubs to go to and offered us up a room if we ever needed a place to stay.  Here’s a tip: when you are traveling do not be afraid to strike up conversations with people, I have met some interesting people that way throughout my trips.

Sunday morning we got up at 9:30, checked out of the hostel and headed back to Oxford for week two of the program.  Tip about hostels: you often have to put down a ten pound deposit to check out the key, but you get it back when you return the key.  It is supposed to act as an incentive for people to bring back their room keys.  Also you often have to pay at least a pound of two to rent towels.  My recommendation with that is if at all possible to bring your own towel because the ones I received did not wrap around my whole body.

It was nice coming back to Oxford with a new group of friends. And thus we all headed into the next week of the program…

Oxford: A Town of Scholars and Pubs, Week 1

Saturday Morning I left Biarritz and flew back into London Stanstead on RyanAir. The Paul’s offered up their flat in London for me to stay at that night before I headed up to Oxford.  Once I dropped off my bags in their flat, I explored the area around Victoria Station, and watched the Wimbledon Women’s Finals.  Later on that afternoon I meet up with some friends from UVA and we all went out to dinner at Nando’s.  I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a nice chain chicken restaurant.  After dinner we all went to see the London’s Broadway performance of Wicked. Although I have seen it before, it is so amazingly well done and is by far my favorite of all the shows I have ever seen, that it was worth going to see again.  I then went back to the flat, did laundry, ironed clothes, and packed for the next morning’s departure to Oxford.

Saturday evening I had a hard time sleeping over my excitement about arriving at Oxford the following morning; I was like a little kid waiting to open presents on Christmas.  I met Reed, one of the guys I had went to Wicked with the previous evening, at the bus station just outside Victoria the following morning.  We were recommended to take the Oxford Tube from London into Oxford. It is a comfortable charter bus that runs every ten or twelve minutes and provides free wifi while on board and for only 11 pounds one way and 13 pounds round trip.  The wonderful thing too was that the stop was at Queen’s Lane, which is right in front of University College where we are staying.

Oxford is a beautiful town whose High Street is filled with many delicious cafes, sandwich shops, and upscale clothing and suit stores.  The University’s buildings are also truly gorgeous.  Their stone is a much lighter color than most other cold cobblestone buildings from other universities.  All of the buildings have beautiful window boxes and extremely well manicured lawns that make up each of the many quads within each of the colleges.

The University of Oxford is comprised of thirty-eight different colleges.  When a student applies to Oxford they apply into the perspective College where they want to study at. There are then undergrad and graduate students that study together in each of these thirty-eight Colleges.  The College functions at not only the sleeping hall for each of the students, but has its own chapel, library, dining hall, and classroom space.  Every college is basically the main social network for each of the students within that prospective college, an idea very different from most modern American universities.

We are staying at University College nicknamed Univ by those who study there.  It is the second oldest Colleges within the Oxford network and was founded in 1248.  The buildings that make up Univ now were built somewhere around the mid 1400s and have been updated and added onto since then.   As the pictures show it is a beautiful place to study.

After putting our bags in our rooms and getting settled in, the forty of us that are studying for the first of the two, three-week sessions all met up for a tour of Oxford.  Most of the students had flown in early that morning from the States and were suffering horribly from jet lag.  As Professor Thomas, the UVA professor in charge of organizing the event, lead us on a lengthy yet informative tour of the College and the Town of Oxford, some students actually fell asleep as they walked.

We returned for a much-needed dinner, went over notes for the following morning, and then headed downstairs to the beer cellar.  The beer cellar was this great little bar/lounge that is part of Univ College and offered drinks much cheaper than those in the local pubs.  It was great way to start to get to know everyone on a casual basis.  Soon however, everyone became exhausted and called it a night to rest up and get ready for the start of classes in the morning.

One of the tough things to realize when my alarm went off at 7:30 am that following morning was that the whole reason I came over to Europe for the summer was to take a class.  Traveling before lulled me into a false idea of what my summer was going to be; I had somehow convinced myself that Oxford was just three weeks of an already paid hotel.  I soon shook that idea off and embraced the class. I signed up to take the International Economics and Commerce class, and it ended up being fantastic and very informative.  We had class Monday thru Thurday from 8:30 til 10:30 in the morning and then we breaked for tea and cookies from 10:30 till 11.  The rest of the day was then ours.  How I managed to get three credit hours from Oxford based off a schedule like that, I could not tell you…

So after class on Monday we broke up into groups for two planned activities.  Jeff, Reed, Teddy and I headed out to the canals that ran through the town and went punting.  It was a little difficult to get used to at first, but once I got the hang of it, it was great fun.  The canal follows around the park and is crossed by beautiful bridges, lined with nice flowers, and filled with exciting animals.

We next had to go back to do a Univ scavenger hunt, much to our dismay.  This ended up being very informative as we got to learn a lot about the history of Univ and discover were things were all located.  Afterwards everyone went back to their rooms to clean up for our first formal dinner.  We had champagne in the Fellows Garden and mingled for a while.  We then went to the formal dining room and were served a delicious dinner.

The next day after classes ended we had a trip planned to visit Blenheim Palace.  It a two thousand acre plus estate given to the first Duke of Malborough from a grateful Great Britain after his military triumph against the French.  It was the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill and has a lot of information about him, which was really interesting and a good addition to the War Rooms in London.  The sculpted formal gardens, rivers, and rose gardens were all really beautiful.

By the time Wednesday rolled around I was itching to go back to London (I missed it already.)  I managed to get a small group to go with me into the city.  We hoped on the Oxford Tube and went to Tate Britain.  Tate Britain had a really fascinating mix of modern and historical British art. It was free except for a few gallery rooms that you had to pay a few pounds for.  It was a great exhibit.

The four of us then walked around the streets of London and ate at an Italian restaurant for dinner.  We headed to see the musical Avenue Q, which is mixture of human and muppets.  It is really entertaining and funny but it was not my favorite of all the musicals I have seen.  It was a little too edgy in its jokes and one-liners and I wasn’t as fond of singing muppets as I have been of human actors.   We then left London around 10:30 and got back into Oxford just after midnight.  We had one more day left of class for the week then it was off to explore Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend.