I must live in Bath!

During Valentine's day weekend, I was one of the only law students left in the house. Everyone else was traveling to Amsterdam or to Lisbon. I, however, had chosen this and made arrangements to spend the day in Bath. This trip was more economical and also one of the best decisions I've made so far. Bath is gorgeous!!!

We arrived around mid-day. Once again, I was on UK-study tours. The sun was high and the sky was a wonderful, brilliant blue a the bus rolled into the city. This, i knew, was going to be the perfect trip. In fact, I knew it was the perfect trip to take alone. I would be able to enjoy the city in my own way without worrying about what others wanted to do. We took a quick one hour tour through the entire town. As we walked, I was amused by the man man playing his guitar and singing classic American 80s music. People were walking calmly through the streets, enjoying their relaxing Sunday afternoon. And I felt at home. I felt relaxed and at ease with life. After the tour, I took the time to walk around alone. I found the entire place a little magical. The story behind the father and son building and designing the layout of the city. The beautiful architecture. The royal crescent and how it was conceived and built to reflect the buyers and how much of the building they wanted to own. It all made me want to be in Bath for the rest of my trip. It was designed for opulence and beauty as well as serenity. I tried to imagine what my life would be like in this place. Could I sit and write my books while overlooking the beautiful lawn that stretches out from the royal crescent like a warm carpet before a fire? Could I draw inspiration from the cafes and the Roman bath house that is a reminder that even the ancient Romans believed that this place had healing powers and was a place for repose and thought and rejuvenation. Perhaps for me it could be a place for writing and finding the creative inspiration I've been looking for. I walked up and down the streets for hours alone just enjoying the atmosphere. Finally, a group of us were permitted to enter the Roman Bath House. Though I was not a history major or an archeology major, my love of both poured forth from me as I moved from room to room looking at what had been found of this ancient house of respite. The archeologists and historians have, in some areas, recreated what they believe the house looked like during the height of its popularity. I could imagine that it was quite posh and placed you at the center of high society to be able to come here and bath in the warm, healing water. Sigh. To have seen it at that time and been able to experience it...

After I finished my time in the Roman Bath House, I stopped by a very popular dessert shop and bought some gelato. Again, I wandered slowly around, eating my gelato and thinking about how somehow, someday, I want this town to be a regular part of my life. I stopped next to a little garden and just watched the day go by. And that was one of the most perfect moments I've had since being in Europe. The world almost seemed to sit still.

Amsterdam and Bruges

So there's nothing like a wonderful trip to another country to make you appreciate history, different laws, and the beauty of chocolate. February 7 - 9, my roommates and I headed to Amsterdam and Bruges for a weekend getaway. We used UK Study tours which has to be the most helpful, and cheap, way to travel while we're here. For the price of our plane tickets to Paris, we received bus fair, hotel, and tours. This left much more room for taking in all the benefits of being in these unique European cities. On Amsterdam I loved Amsterdam and the way the city sits on these beautiful canals. Everyone rides bikes, and apparently Hollanders, on average, the tallest people in the world. When we arrived, it was pouring rain. Like sheets of rain were coming down and the wind was whipping it across my face. Sadly, I didn't have a hat and my umbrella was proving to be the most difficult. So what do we do, we decide to buy hats. :-( Womp womp, I just got my hair braided and hats are a bit difficult to make work with the increased circumference of my head. Courtney gets a cute hat, as does Monique. I, however, am left with a head that is getting rained on and it's cold. Cold. COLD!!!!! We makes the most of it though, and grab lunch as soon as we get there. Then, as if the Gods have heard my prayers the rain begins to slow and we are off to explore what has to be one of the most eclectically-styled cities. The buildings are narrow and about three stories tall. At first, I thought it reminded me of parts of Brooklyn, but, no. Not quite as the style is distinctly different from the classic brownstone. However, I'm in love at once as we march through the streets in this giant group of mostly South American visiting students.

So the second picture above involves a lot of Heineken Beer. We went to the Heineken Experiences, which is a place I would encourage all those who partake in alcoholic beverages to go to if you're ever in Amsterdam. It starts off kinda slow and uninteresting...Hops this and Barley that... but then it becomes a bit more interactive. We all seemed to have fun drinking beer, grinding barley, tasting Hop-water and drinking beer, and laughing and drinking beer. All in all, it was a good day at the Heineken Factory. :-) That night, we did go into the red light district. It wasn't quite as out of control as I envisioned, or perhaps i just have a vivid imagination. And that was Amsterdam. Give or take a few details. After Amsterdam, we went to Bruges. It has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. While walking on cobblestone streets in my boots was not pleasant, I really enjoyed the look and feel of the small city. It was a remarkably beautiful day, though it began as if the sky was going to fall. Walking around, it felt as if time had rewound to a simpler time where people had time to stroll streets, eat long lunches, and just enjoy being alive.

When we finished our day of beauty and tasty food, we headed back to England. Our mission was to stay awake on the return journey so we could experience the "chunnel". I have to say there is nothing quick or fun about the tunnel that runs under the English Channel and connects England to France. It was the longest, most absurd wait just to get on the thing. Once you're on, you're car is in the equivalent of a locker with cars parked back to back. It wasn't something to stay awake for, but I can say I saw it and experiences it. And going through customs on the other side was absolutely miserable. I've never experienced such horrible customs agents who were bitchy for no reason. They asked so many questions that were irrelevant just to try and get you to say something questionable. Then, there were a number of people on our trip, students, who spoke different languages and when they couldn't understand questions, it was as if the British agents were pissed. They treated them like idiots even though the students had all the paperwork from Oxford and Cambridge to say that they were in fact students. Why this was unsatisfactory, I do not know. I was happy when we finally left.

Police This!!!!

Making it a group effort to keep the place clean only allows the slobs to remain slobs! So I started this blog about a month ago when the "resident assistants" decided that the use of the kitchen in the house - the misuse and abuse - had reached epic proportions. Undergrads cooking in the middle of the night, the introduction of 19-year-olds to a society where drinking is legal at 18, proved to be the undoing of our kitchen happiness. Each weekend turns into a drunken tragedy with screaming, obnoxious teenagers (and occasionally American-style of legal age drunken adults) roaming the halls and bathrooms looking for new ways to be disgusting. This often ends with dishes strewn all over the house, empty dishwashers remaining empty while the dishes accumulate on counters where nasty behinds and feet rested around 3am. It's like a frat house. Unfortunately, the law students are constantly blamed for this jungle-style mess because our own RA is often MIA or just as drunk as the undergrads. It's unfortunate that the only sober person is a 26-year-old PhD student who mostly sits and eats chocolate and isn't really respected by most of his charges. SMH. I find it so disappointing that I'm here in a foreign world wishing for the comfort of my Athens apartment with my roommate and her quirky cat. Alas, I'm here where the solution has been to assign people days to to be responsible for coming back and cleaning up after each other when necessary. The kitchen police regime. Sadly, what this means for many is that they will continue to not clean and there is some nanny to come behind them and clean. It's actually quite ridiculous how a group of intelligent, educated people can easily be reduced to illogical, ignorant behavior when transported to another country. Accountability...gone. I am the oldest person in a house full of drunk young adults and it really just makes me want to scream. This will continue to come up, but I have much more important updates to make.