Brighton and Stonehenge and Bath, oh my :)

It was a week of many travels for your American wanderer here in the UK! And will continue to be so, considering the fact that Friday is my flight to FLORENCE! Spring break is right upon us, and my travel plans are in order and I'm looking forward to some exciting and beautiful experiences. April 3rd to the 5th is Florence time, then the 6th to the 8th we'll explore Venice. I fly to Athens the 8th and stay there until the 11th, and from the 12th to the 17th we'll be on the island of Corfu at the Pink Palace! It's a dream come true, and I hope it goes by as slowly as possible. I also have a trip to Paris planned for the weekend after spring break, so I'll get a taste of France before I leave. It's so strange to think that when I come back from spring break, I'll only have about 2 or 3 more weeks left in London. Everyone said it would go quickly, but as is usually the case with experiences like this, you never see the end coming until it's right on your heels.

Last Sunday, my friends and I hopped on an early 8 AM bus and got to see the city of Brighton! The Brighton Beach in New York is named after this beautiful area, and it's England's answer to Coney Island - except it's MUCH cleaner! Like Coney Island, Brighton is right off the water and has a pier with lots of amusement park rides and attractions. It's a very hip area and historically was England's first nude beach - don't worry Mom & Dad, no naked swimmers were visible, it's still too cold out! - and it is famous for the Royal Pavilion. The Pavilion is a beautiful palace that was inspired by Indian architecture on the outside, but the inside is entirely Chinese influence with bamboo, dragons, and other Oriental trademarks. Upon arrival there, we got a glimpse of the Brighton Pier, and it was so picturesque. It was a cloudless day of about 60 degrees, so being near the water was especially marvelous. Here are some pictures:

Our first view of Brighton Pier.


The waterside.

Down on the shore, there were lots of seaside restaurants, shops, souvenior stores and the like. For lunch, we ate here and gobbled up some Fish n Chips and later on got chocolate and banana crepes!

Some more of the restaurants and shops near the shore.

On the streets of Brighton, lots of quaint and pretty little pubs and restaurants were available to visitors.

This was our first look at the Royal Pavilion. It was built as a home for the Prince Regent during the early 1800s. The building and grounds were purchased by the town in 1849 for £53,000.

A better shot of the outside. It was so magnificent, and such a standout when you look at the Brighton skyline. Unfortunately, cameras weren't allowed during the tour of the inside of the building, but I made sure to capture all of the outside as I could.

The marvelous entrance.

The gardens outside the Pavilion.


Katie G and I in the Pavilion gardens.

The Pavilion peeking out of the shrubbery.
Enjoying the view!

After the Pavilion tour, we ran right up the dock and had a BLAST on the pier! There were roller coasters, tilt a whirls, slides, games, everything you could want in a funfair. Although the price of rides was a little steep (tokens were a pound each, and most rides were between 3 and 5 tokens) we did get the chance to go on a ride or two while there.

Renee and Lauren, taking advantage of a most wonderful photo-op!

Myself, Lauren, Renee and Katie K and the view from the dock.

Enjoying the gorgeous day - too warm for my jacket!

The Helter Skelter ride!

Yes, that's US on that roller coaster! Katie G and I are in the second row, and Katie K is right behind us.

A nice shot of the sun on the water.

Katie G in front of some kind of donut/bagel statue.

Lauren and Katie K (or should I say Jack and Rose?) enacting a Titanic scene.

Loving the water, the weather, everything!

Katie K, Renee and Lauren

My roomie and I on the pier

I'm saving Katie G's life in this one, give me a minute.

And thus concluded our wonderful day in Brighton! We all agreed that we had to go back there after finals were over and enjoy more of the fun sights Brighton has to offer. You could easily spend an entire weekend there, and it was a pity our visit only lasted from about 10:30 to 3:30, before we had to hop back on the bus. However, a train ride to Brighton is barely an hour, so it's definitely an easy place to return to for a second glimpse.

For the rest of the week, I attended classes as usual, saw the play Kafka's Monkey on Wednesday night (so interesting - a one-woman show about a monkey who morphs into a human being, Katherine Hunter is so talented!) and walked around South Kensington with my architecture class. On Tuesday, I got an email saying my British Literature professor was feeling ill and would not be in class, so we would make up the class another day. Taking advantage of the free day and the sunny weather, I decided to go for a run outside. I usually use the treadmill in the gyms at Nido, but wanting a change of scenery, jogged out to the Regent's canal and decided to run along the water. It was hands down the most beautiful route ever, and the canal is gorgeous - there were swans, waterfalls, and lots of boats tacked up on the shore. The path goes on and on along the water, and since it was so nice out, I ended up running all the way from Islington, past the London Zoo, past Regent's Park, through Camden Town, through Notting Hill, and FINALLY I saw a sign that said "Little Venice: 2 miles." Having gone so far, I knew I had to see what Little Venice was all abotu - I didn't even know such an area existed! So after running 2 more miles, I approached a big triangle shaped harbor with lots of beautiful boats and flowers, and saw a big sign that said "Welcome to Little Venice!" When I looked closer I saw that the boats were actually cafes! They all had menus painted on the windows, and once you walked down inside and ordered, the boats would take off and you could enjoy your meal as it cruised along the harbor. It was absolutely beautiful, and I made sure to tell all my friends about my discovery so we could make sure to have lunch there one day.

After the long run back to Nido, I took out a map and tried to figure out how far I ran. I have a little black book with all the roads and streets of London, and after flipping through it I realized that my starting point was 4 pages away from where I ended in Little Venice! Altogether, the run clocked in at around 8 miles, which I think is the farthest I've ever run without stopping. Funny part was, I honestly didn't even realize because of how beautiful the route was. I want to try and do the run at least once a week from now on, because it's great sight seeing and definitely a great workout!

On Friday, Katie K, Cait and I signed up for a tour of Stonehenge and Bath. We got on another early morning bus, and took the 2 and a half hour trip over to Stonehenge, where our tour guide hooked us up with some good audio guides and we walked around the fantastic and eerie landmark. The whole appeal of Stonehenge is that NOBODY knows exactly why those rocks were erected, and what their purpose was! Archaeologists think it was formed in 2500 BC, and some evidence suggests that it served as an ancient burial ground. Other people think it was some sort of homage to the gods, or a kind of planetarium that was meant to map out the stars and heavens.


Surrounding the big stones, the English countryside was home to a few sheeps!


My first shot of the monument - how magnificent!

Standing in front of the epic sight

Katie K, holding up the stones with one hand - what muscles!


Katie and I posing
Katie and Cait




After hearing the tour and making sure to take a lot of pictures, we all reconvened at the bus and took about an hour ride over to the quaint city of Bath! Jane Austen's novels mention Bath a lot, so I was excited to get to see the place behind her inspiration. It's a small city of about 80,000 people and located around 92 miles from London. One of Bath's most famous features is that it is home to the naturally-occurring hot springs, aka the Roman Baths.

A view from the bus as we drove through Bath.



Bath was full of pretty sights like this, with well-groomed flower beds and whitestone buildings.



This is a great picture of the Royal Crescent - a residential road of about 30 houses. Can you imagine living in one of those?! Jealous!!


A lovely church in the heart of Bath.

Here's a picture of the Roman Baths! The temple was constructed in 60–70 AD and the bathing complex was gradually built up over the next 300 years. The water was a delicious 82 degrees!

The main spring was treated as a shrine by the Celts, and was dedicated to the goddess Sulius, who the Romans identify as Minerva.


After touring the Baths, I got a delicious chicken stuffing sandwich on a baguette from a local eatery. Then I hopped on the train at the Bath Spa Station and was back in London in under 2 hours. It was a great day of sight seeing, and I'm so happy that I've gotten to see so many of the major cities in England. I really got such a great taste of this country during my time here, and I'm excited to use spring break as a chance to experience other parts of Euroep as well.

And that brings us to today, Sunday! I have a big paper due on Tuesday which, with any luck, I'll be able to finish tonight. Other than that, my professors were kind enough not to bombard us with work during the approaching spring break days. This week will hopefully go by quickly because Florence is calling my name, and I cannot WAIT until my flight takes off Friday morning. How exciting to get to see the hometown of the first Palumbos! I'll be sure to enjoy every minute.

Well, now that the past week as been recounted for, it's time to tackle this big essay. But if I don't get a chance to write until I'm back from spring break, which will be the 17th of April, I'll make up for the long hiatus with a HUUUGE epic entry of my time in Italy and Greece. So sit tight and be patient, because great pictures and stories are on the horizon!


British term of the day:
Clever clogs: a funny term that is the equivalent of "smarty pants" or "smart aleck." Could be used as a compliment or in jest. I.e., "Alright, clever clogs, you were right about Liverpool beating Manchester. But just wait until the Chelsea game!"