(3-3)– Hey! Today started with classes, per the norm for Tuesday’s, and nothing much exciting happened in either British Life or Shakespeare. This week we started to talk about the tourism industry and study abroad as an institution, which I think will get a bit more interesting next week when we have a more in-depth discussion with guest speakers from our program. We also continued talking about The Winter’s Tale. which is fine, although I feel like I’m not actually learning much about Shakespeare on Stage or even talking about the play and its themes as much as we should be. I don’t feel very challenged by these classes, which is sort of a problem with my motivation. Especially since this is my last semester and I really would like to do well, I wish we were talking about things that are more directly relevant to the course or to living here, or something that can inform my knowledge of the place in other time periods (like the excursions or travel writing often does). In any case, I’m glad the classes only take up a minimal amount of my time; it leaves me with a much more flexible schedule, which I am grateful for.
After our classes, I had a short break and took a quick nap, because I haven’t been sleeping very well. We planned an optional trip to see & Juliet, a modernized jukebox musical version of Romeo and Juliet, which imagined what would have happened in Juliet hadn’t died at the end of the play (mostly thanks to a helpful cowrite from Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife, and frankly one of the biggest stars of the show).
I really enjoyed the show and thought it was a great change of pace. The jukebox style was really exciting and the story has some queer characters, which I always love. It was a good way to end a kind of stressful day, so I’m glad we got to go.
(3-4)– Today, my brothers and I got to hang out for the first time since they arrived for their short little vacation here in London! We went to this place called DF Tacos, which is over by the Waterstones bookstore that I really like to study at and that I’ve had my eye on for a while. Our tacos were pretty delicious and filling, and they have a spicy cauliflower vegan option, which reminded me of Dos Rios at home! We had fries and margaritas as well with the meal, so I left rather full. They told me all abo9ut the game I bought them tickets for (Watford v. Liverpool FC), and how it was really disappointing that Liverpool lost, since they’ve been doing so well all season and they like them more. Since Connor and I don’t have a lot in common, it’s nice to talk to him about things he enjoys, and I’m really glad I could do something like this for him. Afterward I took them over to Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace (surprise– the Queen was back! her royal standard was flying!) and we grabbed coffee at another little shop I run by often. It wasn’t particularly delicious coffee, but sitting with a view of the water, eating pastries, and enjoying the rainy day (watching the ducks and swans still swimming, of course) was a nice, relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Walking in it, however, was quite the task, and I was shivering like crazy by the end. Still, quite a nice time, and I’m glad I got to see them both since they only have a short time here.
(3-5)– It’s one of the trips I’ve been looking forward to the most! Today we got on a bus and drove for what seemed like hours through the cold and rain to go see Stonehenge, one of the places I’ve always– ALWAYS– wanted to go. When we finally arrived, it was basically storming, and we bundled up like it was the tundra to face the wind and rain. At first it didn’t bother me, but as we walked it was such a buffer that I started to feel moist in all the wrong places, which just was NOT a good look. We kind of ran– interestingly, the stones aren’t on the side of the road or down an easily accessible path to a big field like I thought; you have to ride a bus to get to them– to get to them as fast as possible, then took a whole slew of pictures and marveled at how cool it was that we’re actually here and that someone built something like this. You can’t really get close to them anymore, because of graffiti and preservation efforts, but I was still so amazed and in love. I feel like it’s such a privilege to go see these, and realize how much work was put into it. How did people do it? It’s almost impossible to explain and yet here they are. The rocks aren’t quite as big as they are always made out to be, but still, it’s quite impressive. They aren’t small either!
We stood around them for as long as we possibly could without freezing ourselves solid, and then ran back up the path before our bus left for the next stop. Although I wish that we got to see the stones on a slightly nicer day, I still thought it was shocking and quite beautiful. They have so much history written into their texture; if only I could have touched them, I know that it would have doubled my amazement, but oh well! Still such a cool first stop.
We got back on the bus for another hour or so and made it to Avebury, which is basically a small, medieval English town. The draw of it, in this case, is the Wales stones (just like Stonehenge). We got off the bus, still moist, and decided to get lunch first at this tiny pub right on the outskirts. Thankfully, they had a little fire going and it was VERY comfortable and dried us right off. We grabbed food and beer (I ended up with vegetable soup and a veggie burger, both pretty good but spiced strangely) and an IPA. We very much enjoyed ourselves and felt at home; I think it’s really cool that our group can have fun at a tiny English bar or a dance club. We probably drank too much, but after being in the cold and on the bus all day, can you really blame us?
Then, we ran outside with the rest of the time we had and got to see the ring of stones that surrounds the town. These range in size from about as big as a person to a large boulder, and are stuck out of the ground like a bunch of daggers. They don’t give the same energy as Stonehenge, but it’s definitely similar, and being able to touch them is really cool. It’s almost religious, or perhaps it’s just ceremonial; it feels like something happened here, like something was forgotten that meant a lot to people once. Warmed up from the beer, we tried to make the most of it. We were pretty happy to be there, and had a really good time, even though the bus came back right in the middle and we had to cut our visit to the rocks short.
Finally, we made it to perhaps the most recently built and accessible place, the Roman Baths of Bath or Aquae Sulis. I was very excited to see these as well, especially since we had to ride for a couple more hours on the bus to get here. When we disembarked, it had finally stopped raining and we got to see a little bit of the city (which looked so interesting– all this light beige sandstone surrounded by lush green and forest, very Romanesque).
we passed Bath Abbey, which was impressive, at least from the outside, but wasn’t that different from other abbey’s on the trip. It’s so interesting to me that so many people, all across England, built buildings that are so similar to each other and yet so different, all with the same purpose of exalting God. Even if I don’t get to see inside them, I’m always reminded of the way we’re so connected whenever I see a church/cathedral/abbey.
The Baths is set up as a single continuous path through the building, with an audio guide showing the many interesting stops (Bill Bryson, the travel writer, narrates at a couple stops, which was really funny). At first, you get some of the background and relics that were found on the site, and see the baths as an overlook. There are models of the complex as it would have been originally (and that was a shock, you can really see how much restoration the place has had). There are a ton of statues and sculpture, like some of the more well known (like the bronze Sulis Minerva head and the face of the Gorgon carved into the original arch of the bathhouse).
When you finally get down to the actual baths, though, the intrigue is even more present. You walk through a little section that’s underground (where the original entrance was and which used to be outdoors and full of light), and it smells very damp and “mothy,” like a basement. When you emerge, you come into this little room that has a drainage system for the waters, and it’s steaming like crazy. You can feel the heat on your face, and the covered rock face is colored this bright, bright orange from the minerals (so bright that it almost seems like a different stone entirely). It’s hidden away in a little alcove, and even this tiny part of the complex, which people didn’t even see, felt special to me, like a place of worship. It almost makes you wonder if there really is something special about the water here, if it really does have magical healing powers (Let me just say, the jury is still out for me…).
Then you see the (sacred) hot springs, which bubble and steam, especially in the coldish air. The water is dirty and murky and you can see the different levels where it had been manipulated to rise over the years. There were large hooks hanging from the walls which had been used as railings and stop people from slipping, and for the time period, it looks really elegant. The main bath is similar, with brick and sandstone columns and crumbling pieces around the edge of the pool, and with the sun peeking through the clouds just a bit and people milling around it as they would have back then, it was such a sight. There was a woman wearing period clothing and little alcoves, and although you can’t actually get in the water, it does make you want to. I almost long to see the baths from the water, to strip off and jump in and try to take some of that magic for myself.
There’s also a few other sections which contain the parts of the bath where people would have stripped off, gotten massaged/oiled, steamed, and cleaned up. There was a couple videos which showed how this would have happened, and also what the rooms would have looked like. An interesting thing about it– piles of tiles all over the ground would have supported a floor which allowed for drainage and steam; the layer of stone on top would have supported tables and walls (the walls currently are hung from the ceiling to preserve the group, which is really cool). There would have been firelight, and oils burning as people relaxed, sometimes coed and sometimes single sex. Overall, it’s quite a vibe– classier than a massage parlor, homier than a spa. People back then were more comfortable in their bodies, and maybe its just me, but I could see the appeal of it.
The last rooms were hot and cold, a steam and a frigid bath. The cold room was dark, and there was just a little light– almost like moonlight was beaming down from the sky. You can see someone diving in and jumping out, their shivers echoing thorough the room but their pores nice and closed. As you leave the building, there’s also an opportunity to drink the water, which sounds worse than it actually is. It’s basically warm mineral water, so if anything gross it tastes like slightly used… well, slightly used bathwater. There are quotes over all the walls about people who have visited, some of whom found the water to be a cure-all and others who were quite disgusted and skeptical of its healing properties. I chugged a cup, just to see, and it really wasn’t bad at all. I can’t really see how much different it was from normal water, but something did feel magical. The natural world never ceases to amaze.
(3-6)– Today was the last full day for the boys in London so I took them out to Camden Lock. We went to a place called the Cheese Bar and got 5-cheese mac n’ cheese, which was pretty delicious but wasn’t the same as it is at home (the cheeses here are all white and unprocessed). We all finished our food and decided to go for a little walk down the canal, which is probably one of my favorite spots of the city. It was really pretty with the sun starting to set, and when we got to the end I decided to climb up Primrose Hill to let them say goodbye. I’m really glad I got to sit with them for a bit and show them even just a bit of the place, since its a nice little view. It definitely lends itself to being contemplative. Were almost to the halfway point of being here, and so it was a really nice way for me to think about all that i’ve done and all I still want to see. Much love to the boys and to this wonderful city that I’m so lucky to call home.
LONDON JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT:
I wrote about this in my blog post, but what stood out to me is the way people connect to the natural world. It seems stronger back then; people carted these rocks halfway across their world and erected huge temples to celebrate water and earth. Of course, it still impacts us; these places wouldn’t be tourist attractions if they couldn’t still grip us. They all have a sense of mystery too, because we have, since the time of these so-connected-people, become lost; the world is no longer natural but this amalgamation of man-made places. We want to see the beauty in cliff-faces, in natural springs and upright rocks, but can never quite find the connections between them and our lives now. It’s almost sad, to me, to go to these places and feel so lost in time, like the truth is just out of touch; I want to be able to connect, to feel the power that those people felt in the days before technology and before the world was so confusing and fast-paced. Perhaps they also, then, share a simplicity that is hard for us to name; a simplicity that just is. We go to these places in the hopes that we can find it again, although it seems to me as if this is a vain mission. We want to know what it takes to feel that way again, in our modern world. Is it even possible? I’m not sure. There is so much connecting a pile of stones to a bath of warm spring water that hides just beneath the surface of our consciousness; but when you go to places like Stonehenge and Avebury, places like Bath, you know that the wonder of the natural world is there, and you become conscious to it, for the first time. Maybe that is the first step.
Ethan Knox 
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