TravelStream™ news feed for member nehart on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/nehart en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 20 Mar 2006 16:41:11 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1142882040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1142882040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1142882040/tpod.html Mon, 20 Mar 2006 16:41:11 -0500 How I explored Oxford, England in 3 1/2 months...

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Oxford, United Kingdom

So, now that two of my planned breaks are over (with one foggy one on the horizon), I have a bit of time to update my cobweb-strewn travelogue. Much has happened since my last update: the Football Dinner at Queen's marking the end of the season, the end of Hilary Term proper (though we SCIOtians hang around til 13th week), a fantastic spring break with my cousin Clarisse, and a lovely weekend in Northern England with my friend Kat and her wonderfully generous family. I'll write a few different entries so I don't have the entire 400+ pictures on one entry. And, I'll get to expound on the stories behind the pictures a little more. So, expect many pics in the next few days - it will be one of my only breaks from finishing up 5 papers in 4 weeks (hopefully I won't get too distracted). Much love, everyone!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1140297780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1140297780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1140297780/tpod.html Mon, 06 Mar 2006 23:57:09 -0500 How I explored Oxford, England in 3 1/2 months...

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Oxford, United Kingdom

My apologies to everyone who's been asking for an update. Time is such an oddity - racing then slugging along. Oh well - let's see. I've played in a few more football (soccer) games, and I have one tomorrow. Had an exciting day on Valentine's: my friend Kat took me up Magdalen (pronounced Mawd-linn) Tower - the highest point in Oxford. Don't be fooled - St. Mary the Virgin advertises itself as the highest point, but they leave out "open to the public". You have to be a member of Magdalen College or accompanied by one to go up the Tower. And it was amazing, as you'll see in the pictures. Oh! And we saw the most vibrant rainbow I've ever seen in my life. The staircase is wicked scary, though. The stone steps are rather uneven and uber narrow, and all you have to hold onto is this slender bit of iron railing. I went with some football friends to see "Walk the Line" this past Wed. night. It was so good, but made me quite homesick. I didn't know I grew up on the same lake that Johnny Cash lived on for the last bit of his life. And Reese Witherspoon, Nashville native that she is, did the accent and everything so well. *Sigh* But I'm doing fine, now. England's so wonderful. Flowers are starting to bloom now, the grass is a beautiful green, not much to complain about. :) Oh, I'm also including a few pictures from a formal hall that I attended a few weeks ago and an impromptu trip to the Trout, a pub on the outskirts of Oxford. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to walk out there, but it is *gorgeous*. Full moon, incredible view of the stars and the Isis river, a ruined monastery... England is amazing. Love you all!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1138487820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1138487820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1138487820/tpod.html Sun, 29 Jan 2006 15:42:31 -0500 How I explored Oxford, England in 3 1/2 months...

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Oxford, United Kingdom

So, I have heard through the grapevine that people want to know how classes are going. They're going well: My primary tutor enjoys my poetry and gives excellent criticism; my secondary tute is exposing me to George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis' and J.R.R. Tolkein's criteria for fairy stories; my lectures include poetry, change and the English language, and postcolonial lit (my personal fave with poetry at a close second); my integrative seminar this past Wed included a lecture from a woman involved in the South African Peace Accord (so cool); and extracurricular stuff is wonderful. Oxford is an amazing place - I completely recommend it. We play Keble tomorrow at 2 pm, so cheer on Queen's when you wake up! Pictures of that to follow. :D Cheers!
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Oxford, United Kingdom

So, if you're wondering, to "faff about" as it's been explained to me means to procrastinate or putter around. If you google the word (as I just did), a youth hostel blog cites the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) entry as follows: FAFF v. & n. (Brit Colloq);
-v.intr. (often followed by about, around) fuss, dither.
-n. a fuss.
Another one gives a definition closer to the one my British friends told me. Faff: v. to dwindle; to fuss; to act indecisively; to procrastinate unduly. To faff about. eg. Harold faffed about for 10 minutes before leaving the house. Harold missed his appointment because he was faffing about in the bathroom.

So yes, the first bit of these pics is from me faffing about Oxford on a gorgeous Friday. The next bit is from my first women's football (soccer) game against Wadham College. I'm playing for Queen's College and really feel like I'm helping the team grow in their offensive and communicative areas. Not offensive like I cuss a lot or anything. Cause I don't. Yeah... Anyhoo, we lost 0-1, but the coach and all the girls said it was the best game the team's played yet! Caitlin's the blonde chick in the pictures. She lives at the other SCIO house and played really well. I'm up at striker (fillin' in where they need help) and had a couple close calls, but it never fell for me. Oh well. We play Keble this coming Sunday at 2 pm, so cheer on Queen's when you wake up! :D

Last thing, one of my next-door neighbors, Elizabeth, thought I was in need of a photo shoot Sunday with my outfit and matching tea-mug and teapot. I'm supposed to commandeer these photos at some point tonight, so I'll post them as soon as I can. Love to you all! Nicole
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London, United Kingdom

So, last week... I mean, today - I went to London with the SCIO group. It was strange not being impressed with the buildings after St. Albans. After about an hour coach-ride (bus), we got off near the American Embassy (pictured) - maybe the ugliest building in London, I don't know. :) It has its own square with statues of Eisenhower, FDR, and a bald eagle. We traipsed through some side streets until we reached Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace - just in time for the changing of the guard. Got some really good film of this, so if you have the patience, take a look. You can hear the military band and everything (quiz question: what Disney film features the song they're playing? It's an Animated Classic ;). We then went down Park Place to Trafalgar Square where everyone else saw the National Gallery. The Russian Winter Festival was going on and the police wouldn't let any glass containers or alcohol through. No problem right? Wrong! I had a bottle of Plymouth gin (apparently the best kind and only available in England) in my rucksack (backpack). I'm a silly, silly person and bought it to send to, yes it's true, Ellen DeGeneres for her birthday on Jan. 26th. I'd already planned on mailing it in London, so I ran around for about an hour finding packing materials and the Post Office, and got it off in time to meet up with everyone else. SO - if you want to help me out and see if she got it, watch the Ellen DeGeneres show this Thursday (the 26th). Check www.ellendegeneres.com for local listings. Right. My friend Rachel and I went to Portabello Rd. to shop a bit whilst everyone else went to the Tower of London and the Thames. Got a very nice leather wallet, an antiquarian leather-bound art book, and a hemp purse for not that much. We then met up at St. Paul's cathedral for evensong - the highlight of the day. I wish they had allowed photography inside - it was the most cavernous, intricately detailed cathedral I've ever been to, and the boy's choir was very good. Ugh - just remembering it makes me want to go back. The highest ceilings, angelic notes echoing throughout... it was wordlessly amazing. Then we came back. I have my first football match with the Queen's college women's team today, so I have to run. Expect pictures in the next day or so. Much love!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1137191100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1137191100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1137191100/tpod.html Thu, 19 Jan 2006 14:12:27 -0500 How I explored Oxford, England in 3 1/2 months...

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St. Albans, United Kingdom

I have a bit of catching up to do with my entries, so you'll notice that the Keble one, this one, and the London one don't reflect the day I added them (I'll get there eventually, even though I went last Saturday). They are set for the day they happened.
Anyways, yes: "Today" I went to a place called St. Albans (north of London, I believe). It was a bit of a dreary day (and started a little too early for my taste), but I got to know some of my fellow SCIO members quite well during the course of it. We hopped off of our chartered double decker into a car park (aka parking lot) and made the muddy trek through a beautiful meadow leading up to the abbey of St. Albans. Here Jonathan Kirkpatrick, the Junior Dean of Crick Road (read: my Resident Director/R.D.), discussed some of the finer points of its history before we were loosed to explore it. It. was. gorgeous! The most beautiful cathedral I've seen in England so far. I think I liked it better than Christ Church - though it's a different thing altogether. You'll notice in the pictures that one of the colums switches abruptly from romanesque (smooth, semi-circular arches) to gothic (pointed at the top) architecture. This is because St. Albans' abbey was restored in the 14th century or the Victorian era one. It all sort of muddles together after a while :). You should check out the story of England's first martyr (St. Alban) in the Catholic Encyclopedia if you're curious: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01252b.htm Pretty neat. Apparently, we then ate at the oldest pub in England, "The Fighting Cocks," where the smell of fat chips (aka steak fries) won me over after an unsatisfying but free pb & j that I'd packed. They say Oliver Cromwell ate there. Eh. After the church, we went to the museum of Verulamium - the Roman name for the town way back when. Interesting tidbit: St. Albans is the oldest continually inhabited city in England, with it's roots stretching back pre-Roman era. So, yeah, Verulamium = Roman ruins. Look at the pictures, it's all there. The site is on the estate of Francis Bacon's parents. The father of empirical philosophy had a roman ampitheatre and Roman/Celtic jewelry, skeletons, pottery, etc. in his front yard. Amazing. Well, really, it was his front field, but whatev. Sheep dotted the nearby brae, and the picture of moss and stones has replaced my lava sunset on the Mediterranean in France last year as my screen saver. Right before we left, we went to a building constructed around beautiful excavated mosaic floors. These are the real tiles people walked on *in their house* while the Romans were around. Crazyness. Just floor tiles. Nothing special. Another neat thing showing how advanced ancient people were was how they heated the building. They would pump hot water through pipes underneath the floors and in the walls to heat everything - a design called a hypocaust. Google Verulamium to learn more. I'm pooped! :D
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1137112380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1137112380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nehart/oxford-s06/1137112380/tpod.html Sun, 15 Jan 2006 21:21:37 -0500 How I explored Oxford, England in 3 1/2 months...

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Oxford, United Kingdom

Today it was actually sunny. That's right - Oxford's ceiling clears up sometimes! Yesterday was our first fully-functioning sunny day, and we had the pleasure of learning the library system in a downstairs faculty library amongst other things. The walk to the library was nice - through the University Park pictured here. Today, I ran to my first session of my English Integrative Seminar at Keble College (also pictured here). I wondered back to Wycliffe through the park and snatched these shots. It was lovely. :) I spent the rest of the day shopping down on Cornmarket street, and in a bizarre store called Argos, I bought a Casio sea-pathfinder watch that will tell me the moon phase and current tide level for any date from now til 2039. Never leave home without knowing the moon's shape and lunitidal interval, that's what I say. It has loads of other very useful features like a snooze alarm - all for a mere 20 pounds. When you enter an Argos in the future, know what to expect. You will immediately find an empty catalogue hundreds of laminated pages long. These pages are like any detailed product catalogue ever known to man, and after choosing your poison, you write it's number down (or simply remember it if you're really good) and pay for it. Then you wait 'til your order number's called on the automated system and go to your collection station (not unlike the D.O.T. office). The teller person behind the counter prints takes your receipt, goes through a little door in the back, and your item rolls out on a little conveyor belt. The teller then takes it off the conveyor belt, unwraps/-packages it for you to inspect, and then bags it and you leave. I have since been informed that this is an East German store chain. Whatever it's origin, I can't wait 'til they come to the States because who doesn't like to see a conveyor belt when they buy something? Not this girl. :) Oh, we also had tea and watched more of British history unfold on Simon Schama's video series. Riveting.
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Oxford, United Kingdom

Hello all,
Today we had our first day of orientation which, for me, started bright and early at 7 am. We left the house and walked about 40 minutes to the other SSO house, the Vines, on Headington Rd. Our trek took us through a muddy but beautiful park with nearly neon green grass, swans, Canadian geese, and other flora and fauna whose name(s) I don't know. I will go back and take pictures when we're not in a rush. In the course of the morning's agenda, we went over non-academic policies such as emergency information, library locations (there are over 100 libraries in the city), cards, and procedures (the Bodleian runs rather similarly to the Library of Congress, requesting books at least a half a day in advance and directing them to whatever reading room you prefer), computer information, etc. After lunch, we broke off into assigned groups for a "Treasure Hunt" (scavenger hunt) about the city. I found out at tea that this is the first time they did a hunt instead of taking us students on tours. The items on the list were too many to check, but we did explore a good bit of the town and colleges. We went a little off-book and peeked into Christ Church Cathedral - those are the pictures (one of which is a video with some audio - just me chatting). It was exquisite. Radcliffe Square (where the Bodley and Radcliffe Camera are) was also breathtaking. Sorry no pictures for them, either. That was the last thing we looked at, and I was rather ready for tea and treats (and getting a bit crabby, I admit). Met some neat people who are mentioned in the photos. The office I'm sitting in is Simon Lancaster's - the Tutor of Student Affairs (general chaplain and counselor for us). He's an Aussie (from Perth) and very nice. That's all for now. We may be watching a film tonight and I want to go socialize some more before everyone's overly concerned with their studies. Much love! Nicole
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Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Cheers from Bean-town! I'm just about to head to a museum with my lovely cousin, Clarisse, to check out a wicked-awesome photography exhibit. My Southwest flight from Nashville was great with a bit of turbulence and a really funny crew. I sat next to a chick from New Zealand originally who's getting her doctorate in English Literature at Brown University in Providence, RI. Funny. We discussed Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, Literature, and of course, England. My cousin and her girlfriend, Lucinda, are throwing a game night for my send-off tonight, so we are getting snacks ready for that before we go to the museum. Fun times! Anyhoo, I'll put some game night pics on tomorrow and update everything on Friday or Saturday. Much love!
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Oxford, United Kingdom

So, my roommate, Emily, and I, along with another guy from our house, Zach, overslept today and didn't make it to the optional activity down at the Vines (the other house for people in our program). I awoke ready to go at 3 pm. After realizing the time, I finished unpacking and took a shower. We then discovered Zach in the kitchen and deduced we were the only three left at the house. So, we struck out for some Indian cuisine and exploration around 6 pm. After rejecting one restaurant in hopes of finding a slightly cheaper one, we settled in at Jamal's on Walton Rd. It was great. I can't remember the exact name of my dish, but it involved Balsami rice, chicken, lamb, almonds, I think cranberries?, and rose water, along with some delicious vegetable curry. After eating, we decided to head for the centre of town. I lead the way in what I thought was the southern direction, but after finding ourselves by the railways and frequently consulting our rather simple map, we decided that we had headed north after eating and were thus traveling south (we had made some turns in a residential area). We crossed the Oxford Canal (a grand-sounding body of water looking quite like a creek) and traveled by the Randolph hotel (see photo). We then made our way up St. Giles and passed Wycliffe Hall and some yummy-looking kabob stands (think hot dog stands in New York) that I will definitely try later. After reaching number 8 Crick Road, we met up with some girls that had come back early from the Vines and chatted about our escapade whilst I downed some Nutella on baguette. And now I'm here. Suffice it to say, I no longer trust my sense of direction in windy old Oxford anymore and will be purchasing a pocket map and compass soon. Be sure to check out the photos!
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