Hello hello! Cassandra and I are in our itty bitty room at the Clink Hostel in London. It's smaller than my room at home, which for those of you who know what I'm talking about you're probably wondering how they can allow four people to stay in a linen closet together. They do though, and it's super hot in here, and the walls are headachy orange to boot. We make due though, and the sink in here actually has just ONE faucet meaning I can choose the temperature of my water instead of frantically running my hands back and forth between the hot faucet and the cold in order to get luke warm or whatever. I'm really hoping I have just one faucet in my apartment in Budapest, but I have a feeling when I get there in a couple days I will be sorely disappointed.
Just to catch up, Cassandra and I spent yesterday and the day before in my favorite town in England- Salisbury! The impressive cathedral with the tallest spire in Great Britain resides there (it actually owns the town in a way...nothing can be built taller than it and it owns property that Marks & Spencer, etc. are located) and we got to climb it most of the way. I loved the climb, I actually enjoy the little bit of burn in my thighs. Going down though I became a total chicken shit but nervously kept my mouth shut as I carefully made my way down the narrow steps. When we were up there the view was fantastic- we could see out for miles. The best part of all is when inside the tower we were able to see what I consider the more intimate part of the cathedral- we were looking at original scaffolding from the 1200s and everything else that didn't need to be covered with marble sculptures and other pomp. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a finely decorated Gothic cathedral, but I especially love this one because I've seen it in so many different ways now. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling in that area.
The day before going to the cathedral we took a bus tour to Stonehenge. The weather was actually amazing, so the entire world joined us on the tour. Seriously, the site was PACKED. While toodling around the stones I thought it would make a really interesting image if everyone around decided to lay down and lounge about. Even with all the people there I'm glad the weather was nice, because it seemed like Cassandra was getting discouraged with having bad lighting for all her photos due to poor weather. There were even spots every now and then where we didn't see any people around or through the stones, so that was nice. Stonehenge itself is interesting to see, but I'm more in awe of how it was created rather than seeing it standing how it is. Maybe that's because I didn't get to see it without people around.
After Stonehenge we took a bus to Old Sarum, which is an old settlement that used to have a castle and a cathedral, but now is in ruins. To get there we had to walk along a path that sheep use when grazing, and just at the end we walked by two men dressed as what looked like 14th century warriors. Weird. We made it to a gravel path and saw a ton of cars parked and camps set up just like we do for the Anderson Bluegrass Festival. A festival was definitely going on, for people were all dressed up in different battle garb from very early medieval days all the way to uniforms the British wore in World War II. Demonstrations, faux battles, crafts, games, cart rides, etc. were all set up and it looked like a really great time. Going through it we saw lots of little kids dressed up as knights and Robin Hood like fellows pretending to hunt one another to fight. They were absolutely adorable, especially when they would yell out to one another in their little English accents. We eventually made our way to the castle, which is in ruins and only bits of some walls and foundations are left. It reminded me of visiting the old ruined Minoan palaces Phaistos, or even Knossos (if it wasn't all messed up from Arthur Evans of course, that dummy). All in all it was a nice day with some great touring, and I'm really hoping my sister liked it as much as I did.
Now that we're in London Cassandra is taking the opportunity to do some things that she wants to do, which is great I think. We went to the Photographer's Gallery around Oxford St. as well as the photography section in the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington. Tomorrow we're going to do some other things she's looked up, and we're also going to meet up with my friend Ben. The last time I saw him I stayed with him for a week in Rugely before going home after I was finished with school in Greece. I'm really looking forward to the visit. Later tomorrow night we're going to see the show Thriller Live, which I hear is great but we're seeing it to replace seeing Michael Jackson himself. If he didn't die on June 25th we would actually get to lay our eyes on the real man. I still can't believe he's gone. *Sings "Gone Too Soon" to self*.
Sleepy time now. I hope our roommates aren't too ridiculous when they come in tonight- I just have to be open-minded and forgiving at all times I suppose. Something like that I'm sure. :P
Just to catch up, Cassandra and I spent yesterday and the day before in my favorite town in England- Salisbury! The impressive cathedral with the tallest spire in Great Britain resides there (it actually owns the town in a way...nothing can be built taller than it and it owns property that Marks & Spencer, etc. are located) and we got to climb it most of the way. I loved the climb, I actually enjoy the little bit of burn in my thighs. Going down though I became a total chicken shit but nervously kept my mouth shut as I carefully made my way down the narrow steps. When we were up there the view was fantastic- we could see out for miles. The best part of all is when inside the tower we were able to see what I consider the more intimate part of the cathedral- we were looking at original scaffolding from the 1200s and everything else that didn't need to be covered with marble sculptures and other pomp. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a finely decorated Gothic cathedral, but I especially love this one because I've seen it in so many different ways now. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling in that area.
The day before going to the cathedral we took a bus tour to Stonehenge. The weather was actually amazing, so the entire world joined us on the tour. Seriously, the site was PACKED. While toodling around the stones I thought it would make a really interesting image if everyone around decided to lay down and lounge about. Even with all the people there I'm glad the weather was nice, because it seemed like Cassandra was getting discouraged with having bad lighting for all her photos due to poor weather. There were even spots every now and then where we didn't see any people around or through the stones, so that was nice. Stonehenge itself is interesting to see, but I'm more in awe of how it was created rather than seeing it standing how it is. Maybe that's because I didn't get to see it without people around.
After Stonehenge we took a bus to Old Sarum, which is an old settlement that used to have a castle and a cathedral, but now is in ruins. To get there we had to walk along a path that sheep use when grazing, and just at the end we walked by two men dressed as what looked like 14th century warriors. Weird. We made it to a gravel path and saw a ton of cars parked and camps set up just like we do for the Anderson Bluegrass Festival. A festival was definitely going on, for people were all dressed up in different battle garb from very early medieval days all the way to uniforms the British wore in World War II. Demonstrations, faux battles, crafts, games, cart rides, etc. were all set up and it looked like a really great time. Going through it we saw lots of little kids dressed up as knights and Robin Hood like fellows pretending to hunt one another to fight. They were absolutely adorable, especially when they would yell out to one another in their little English accents. We eventually made our way to the castle, which is in ruins and only bits of some walls and foundations are left. It reminded me of visiting the old ruined Minoan palaces Phaistos, or even Knossos (if it wasn't all messed up from Arthur Evans of course, that dummy). All in all it was a nice day with some great touring, and I'm really hoping my sister liked it as much as I did.
Now that we're in London Cassandra is taking the opportunity to do some things that she wants to do, which is great I think. We went to the Photographer's Gallery around Oxford St. as well as the photography section in the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington. Tomorrow we're going to do some other things she's looked up, and we're also going to meet up with my friend Ben. The last time I saw him I stayed with him for a week in Rugely before going home after I was finished with school in Greece. I'm really looking forward to the visit. Later tomorrow night we're going to see the show Thriller Live, which I hear is great but we're seeing it to replace seeing Michael Jackson himself. If he didn't die on June 25th we would actually get to lay our eyes on the real man. I still can't believe he's gone. *Sings "Gone Too Soon" to self*.
Sleepy time now. I hope our roommates aren't too ridiculous when they come in tonight- I just have to be open-minded and forgiving at all times I suppose. Something like that I'm sure. :P
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