Well, a little more than a month left and I can't believe I'll be headed back. School's crazy here and I'm trying to get classes wound up so that I can focus on finals. Last week I went on a conference through the Philosophy School at a country mansion called the Burn House. It was a gorgeous 18th century mansion that is on the banks of the North Esk, which is a salmon river deep in a canyon. Both the trip and the river were awesome. There were about 20 or so philosophy students from all over and about 5 professors that went on the trip. In the evenings certain students presented papers, about two a day. On Wednesday, Dr. Beaty and I were able to go fly-fishing on the Esk. It was a different kind of fishing than I have ever done before, I caught two and Beaty caught one brown trout. The salmon were what made the experience though, they were tough to spot and impossible (except for the scots!) to catch but were gorgeous and scary big. I made it back to St. Andrews on Thursday afternoon. Friday, I went to the University fashion show and after party, which was a ton of fun. I guess it was actually a big deal (i didn't know what I was getting into); it was held at this huge and old stone barn just outside of town and there were all kinds of people there. Thats about all thats going on here in St. Andrews, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do the week between classes and finals (besides study). me and 5 other guys are considering renting an RV and seeing as much of the UK as possible, we'll see if that happens or not. Anyways, miss ya'll and hope things are well. Let me know whats going on in Texas.
Will
Sunday, 22 April 2007
Monday, 9 April 2007
Hey all, I'm exhausted but finally back in Scotland. My spring break trip was so much fun. London was awesome, there were about 10 of us Baylor Students and Dr. Beaty. We did all the tourist stuff, Beaty got us up early in the morning and made sure we went all day. The first day of break we took a train to Oxford then checked into our hotel. Afterwords, we went and took a tour of C.S. Lewis's house, called "The Kilns." There is now a graduate/doctoral study program where the students live and study. The house was interesting, it was kind of crazy to sit in the same room where Lewis lived and wrote. The tour guide was from Texas and is now in charge of the study program, she showed us around the house and told us all kinds of stories of Lewis' life, conversion, and death. Later that evening the group of us went to "The Eagle and Child;" one of three pubs where the 'Inklings' would sit and discuss their books, faith, and ideas. The Inklings were a reading group centered around Lewis of which Tolkein was also a part.
The next morning we got up and toured as much of Oxford as possible. In the morning we toured Magdalen college, which is where Lewis as well as many other famous academics taught. The college is gorgeous and houses a 300 year old herd of Fallow deer. Midday, we met a Professor studying for a doctorate in Legal Philosophy who had studied at Baylor and he gave an inside tour of Queen's college. We saw where some scenes of Harry Potter had been shot (in the courtyard, i think in the most recent movie) and then climbed to the top of a tower where we were afforded a 360 degree view of the town. Oxford was incredible, the architecture and heritage is amazing. Luckily, it wholly survived WWII because Hitler so respected it as a center of learning and wanted to make it an important part of the third reich, so he refused to bomb it.
After Oxford, we went to London and spent the next couple of days in London. We saw the Buckingham Palace, the changing of the guards, Big Ben, the London Bridge, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and probably a couple of places I have failed to list. Needless to say, we were very busy but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we were able to see so much. On the day we were planning on going into Westminster we learned that there was a ceremony celebrating the 200th year of abolition of slavery. We waited outside of the ceremony and were lucky enough to see both the Queen and Tony Blair and his wife walk out. It was really cool and the Queen looked good, ha i'm sure she looked at me and waved. Later that evening we went to Evensong in Westminster Abbey which was amazing. In London, we saw Les Miserable and The Lion King, both of which were incredible. We took a day trip to Campbridge which was also a lot of fun, although I think I like Oxford better. There we saw King's college and some others, the cathedral at King's college was gorgeous from the outside and the grounds were very impressive. We also went to Stonehenge which was pretty cool, although the weather was typically British, occasionally sunny but mostly raining. Me and Blake, a guy from Baylor, missed out on the trip to Canterbury because we had catch a flight to Venice.
We flew into Venice and most of it was gorgeous. I was partly surprised that portions of it were pretty dirty but on the whole it was very nice. The food was amazing, as it was throughout my stay in Italy! We saw the palace of the Doge and most of the sights to see in Venice, it was incredible to think how they built the city out of the water and depressing to know that it is slowly sinking back into the sea. The second afternoon in Venice we met a guy named Jimmy and Evan, both from my hall and took a short water-bus to the island of Lido (about 5-10 minute ride from the main islands of Venice). Jim is from Boulder Colorado and Evan is from New Jersey. We spent the evening and next day in Lido, then back to main Venice, where we walked around some and then caught a 8 or so hour train to Naples. The train ride was gorgeous, it took us through parts of the Appenine mountains and through a large part of the Italian countryside. Naples was impressive but very different than what I expected. There is a much smaller tourist industry in Naples and for good reason. It is gorgeous from a distance, on the Bay of Naples with Pompeii and other mountains surrounding it. However, it is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe and the crime rate is astronomical. Our Hostel however was very nice and we were perfectly safe walking around during the day (although we still made sure to watch our pockets.) At night however, even as four guys, the city felt pretty unsafe to walk around, although there were some nicer areas. We saw many of the sights in Naples, including the Royal Palace, some other castles, and the Umberto Gallery. Sadly, we didn't have time to visit Herculaneum or the city of Pompeii. In those pictures from Naples, the distinctive mountain you can see in the landscape is Pompeii. From Naples, you can see both the Island of Capri and Ischia. Naples is the home of the Pizza and I have never had any food taste so amazing.
After our second night we took a ferry to Ischia which is a gorgeous dead volcanic island in the Gulf of Naples. The owners of our hostel are brothers and their mother owns a restaurant and their dad manages their vineyard. Needless to say, the food and drink was incredible, fresh, and local. Every night they would pick us up and take us to their mother's restaurant where we would have a three or four hour meal. Naples was covered by vineyards, citrus groves, gardens, and millenia-old buildings. The fruit was incredible as was the scenery. Two of the days we made it down to some hot springs, which felt amazing. You sit literally in the ocean but the water is boiling hot, while waves will occasionally crash over you and cool the water down. It was very relaxing. Me and Blake hiked to the top of the mountain, which was a good hike and afforded an amazing view of the Island. Ischia was amazing and beautiful, a cheaper cousin of Capri without as many tourists and more local charm. We met a ton of people at the hostel and around the town, everyone was very friendly. We left Ischia after three nights and went to Rome, where we were lucky to get room at a hostel on Friday night (good Friday). Saturday we tried to see as much as we could of room but I was exhausted from travelling and it is impossible to see Rome in a week, much less a day. We however attempted it. We tried to get into the Vatican but because it is Holy week the line just to get in the city was like 7 hours long so we didn't make it. The colliseum and ruins however were incredible. Saturday night we caught a night train to Venice (or at least thought we did). Halfway through the trip, about 3 am, we realized we were on a train headed to Germany and immediately got off and had to wait for the proper train to Venice. Luckily we made it and just barely made it to the Venice airport in time for the flight to London. The flight went well (I easily slept the whole way) and we made it to King's Cross in London no problem, only to learn that they were doing maintenance on the Northern line so we would have to take busses north then catch the line above the maintenance. We did so and made it although the travelling made for a ridicuously hectic and stressful Easter. I made it back and never thought I would be so happy to see Andrew Melville hall and my small room, or to hop in the shower.
Classes today were good and its nice to back to some normality. Weather is much better and it doesn't get dark until about 8:30. Supposedly we are far enough north so that soon it won't get dark until aroun 10 or so. Tourist season is beginning and the population of the town seems to have doubled since I left. It is a lot of fun although crazy, tourists are walking around speaking all kinds of languages and street vendors are beginning to come out in force. Everything is super nice and clean too, the city has done an amazing job cleaning everything, planting flowers, and making sure everything is ready for the summer. I hope things are going well back in the states. I am having an amazing time, spring break was awesome and I am exhausted! I miss ya'll and let me know what is going on. Also, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do this summer so if you have any ideas, let me know!
Will
The next morning we got up and toured as much of Oxford as possible. In the morning we toured Magdalen college, which is where Lewis as well as many other famous academics taught. The college is gorgeous and houses a 300 year old herd of Fallow deer. Midday, we met a Professor studying for a doctorate in Legal Philosophy who had studied at Baylor and he gave an inside tour of Queen's college. We saw where some scenes of Harry Potter had been shot (in the courtyard, i think in the most recent movie) and then climbed to the top of a tower where we were afforded a 360 degree view of the town. Oxford was incredible, the architecture and heritage is amazing. Luckily, it wholly survived WWII because Hitler so respected it as a center of learning and wanted to make it an important part of the third reich, so he refused to bomb it.
After Oxford, we went to London and spent the next couple of days in London. We saw the Buckingham Palace, the changing of the guards, Big Ben, the London Bridge, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and probably a couple of places I have failed to list. Needless to say, we were very busy but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we were able to see so much. On the day we were planning on going into Westminster we learned that there was a ceremony celebrating the 200th year of abolition of slavery. We waited outside of the ceremony and were lucky enough to see both the Queen and Tony Blair and his wife walk out. It was really cool and the Queen looked good, ha i'm sure she looked at me and waved. Later that evening we went to Evensong in Westminster Abbey which was amazing. In London, we saw Les Miserable and The Lion King, both of which were incredible. We took a day trip to Campbridge which was also a lot of fun, although I think I like Oxford better. There we saw King's college and some others, the cathedral at King's college was gorgeous from the outside and the grounds were very impressive. We also went to Stonehenge which was pretty cool, although the weather was typically British, occasionally sunny but mostly raining. Me and Blake, a guy from Baylor, missed out on the trip to Canterbury because we had catch a flight to Venice.
We flew into Venice and most of it was gorgeous. I was partly surprised that portions of it were pretty dirty but on the whole it was very nice. The food was amazing, as it was throughout my stay in Italy! We saw the palace of the Doge and most of the sights to see in Venice, it was incredible to think how they built the city out of the water and depressing to know that it is slowly sinking back into the sea. The second afternoon in Venice we met a guy named Jimmy and Evan, both from my hall and took a short water-bus to the island of Lido (about 5-10 minute ride from the main islands of Venice). Jim is from Boulder Colorado and Evan is from New Jersey. We spent the evening and next day in Lido, then back to main Venice, where we walked around some and then caught a 8 or so hour train to Naples. The train ride was gorgeous, it took us through parts of the Appenine mountains and through a large part of the Italian countryside. Naples was impressive but very different than what I expected. There is a much smaller tourist industry in Naples and for good reason. It is gorgeous from a distance, on the Bay of Naples with Pompeii and other mountains surrounding it. However, it is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe and the crime rate is astronomical. Our Hostel however was very nice and we were perfectly safe walking around during the day (although we still made sure to watch our pockets.) At night however, even as four guys, the city felt pretty unsafe to walk around, although there were some nicer areas. We saw many of the sights in Naples, including the Royal Palace, some other castles, and the Umberto Gallery. Sadly, we didn't have time to visit Herculaneum or the city of Pompeii. In those pictures from Naples, the distinctive mountain you can see in the landscape is Pompeii. From Naples, you can see both the Island of Capri and Ischia. Naples is the home of the Pizza and I have never had any food taste so amazing.
After our second night we took a ferry to Ischia which is a gorgeous dead volcanic island in the Gulf of Naples. The owners of our hostel are brothers and their mother owns a restaurant and their dad manages their vineyard. Needless to say, the food and drink was incredible, fresh, and local. Every night they would pick us up and take us to their mother's restaurant where we would have a three or four hour meal. Naples was covered by vineyards, citrus groves, gardens, and millenia-old buildings. The fruit was incredible as was the scenery. Two of the days we made it down to some hot springs, which felt amazing. You sit literally in the ocean but the water is boiling hot, while waves will occasionally crash over you and cool the water down. It was very relaxing. Me and Blake hiked to the top of the mountain, which was a good hike and afforded an amazing view of the Island. Ischia was amazing and beautiful, a cheaper cousin of Capri without as many tourists and more local charm. We met a ton of people at the hostel and around the town, everyone was very friendly. We left Ischia after three nights and went to Rome, where we were lucky to get room at a hostel on Friday night (good Friday). Saturday we tried to see as much as we could of room but I was exhausted from travelling and it is impossible to see Rome in a week, much less a day. We however attempted it. We tried to get into the Vatican but because it is Holy week the line just to get in the city was like 7 hours long so we didn't make it. The colliseum and ruins however were incredible. Saturday night we caught a night train to Venice (or at least thought we did). Halfway through the trip, about 3 am, we realized we were on a train headed to Germany and immediately got off and had to wait for the proper train to Venice. Luckily we made it and just barely made it to the Venice airport in time for the flight to London. The flight went well (I easily slept the whole way) and we made it to King's Cross in London no problem, only to learn that they were doing maintenance on the Northern line so we would have to take busses north then catch the line above the maintenance. We did so and made it although the travelling made for a ridicuously hectic and stressful Easter. I made it back and never thought I would be so happy to see Andrew Melville hall and my small room, or to hop in the shower.
Classes today were good and its nice to back to some normality. Weather is much better and it doesn't get dark until about 8:30. Supposedly we are far enough north so that soon it won't get dark until aroun 10 or so. Tourist season is beginning and the population of the town seems to have doubled since I left. It is a lot of fun although crazy, tourists are walking around speaking all kinds of languages and street vendors are beginning to come out in force. Everything is super nice and clean too, the city has done an amazing job cleaning everything, planting flowers, and making sure everything is ready for the summer. I hope things are going well back in the states. I am having an amazing time, spring break was awesome and I am exhausted! I miss ya'll and let me know what is going on. Also, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do this summer so if you have any ideas, let me know!
Will
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