The oddest thing about this though...for some reason, God only knows why...my computer currently thinks I'm in GERMANY. Yup. I had to log into blogspot by guesswork, since I apparently don't know the German word for "log in". And gmail gave me a bit of trouble too. "If you are traveling in Germany you need to log in to google mail, not gmail." Um. Okay. I'm NOT traveling in Germany, but whatever!
So yes, obviously, I've been scarce the past week. That is because my program ended, and I relocated to my buddy Tas's flat in Southampton for this past week. I would love to claim that my lack of update was due to an intensely busy schedule...but...nope. Southampton is still a quiet enough city that the entire place shuts down about 6pm. After 6pm the options are to go drinking at the pub, or to go to the movies. Neither of us particularly wanted to waste money towards either of those avenues, so I've spent most nights in for the past week. But Tas's internet connection has upload/download limitations. So I needed to save my pictures until I relocated, and so, I waited to update my blog for want of pictures.
So...shall I rewind a bit?
When we last tuned in, I had gone on a lovely Thames river cruise, and also to see Catherine Tate's play, "Under the Blue Sky". That takes us up to Thursday night, and Friday was my last full day in London. So in honor of my departure from London, I decided I needed to do something quintessentially London that day - so I went to the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. Yup...you got that right. One month in London, and I waited until my LAST DAY to do the Changing of the Guards. Actually, I'll admit, I felt a little ridiculous about that. lol.
What a weird, weird thing that was. When I was in London six years ago, I went to the Changing of the Guards twice. Once with Mel and Joyce, up against the fence, for the full experience. On that occasion, the first time, they played the Star Wars Theme and I laughed like a loon. The second time was more of a wander past during the event, I believe with an old camp friend. That time, they were playing Abba. So what did they play six years later, on my last day of my study abroad program in London? The Star Wars Theme. And I laughed like a loon. In some ways it kind of felt fitting - like something, somehow had come around full circle.
My brother has mocked me for my ability to take an obscene number of pictures of dudes in red shirts and furry hats. But what can I say? It's very flashy. Don't worry, I won't subject you to all 100+ pictures. Just a handful.
Sadly, I had to spend most of the rest of Friday packing and preparing for my journey to Southampton on Saturday. I did have one last night out with my classmates on Friday night, and my friend Roxanne and I went roaming around London at like, 11pm to try to see some last night sights before we left: we went to Piccadilly, and Trafalgar Square, and the Tower Bridge, and attempted to go to Westminster, but discovered that they shut the lights off on the Houses of the Parliament at midnight. Lame!
Oh, and I went to see the TARDIS again ;)
And Saturday began my week in Southampton!
I didn't really know what to expect, going into Southampton. I didn't research or anything. I figured Tas lives there, she knows what to do. And that was true, although there actually wasn't much. Southampton is a very quiet little city. Its claim to fame is that the Titanic sailed from Southampton. And it has a series of Roman walls that still remain from over 400 years ago. I also found one detail about Southampton very strange. It's the only port city I've ever been to, that doesn't have a recreational waterfront area. Like, you know, Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, Old Town in Sacramento, Pike's Place in Seattle. Nothing like that in Southampton. The waterfront is 100% industrial. Which takes a little away from the pretty, honestly. Because it WOULD be very pretty. The city is on a peninsula right at the confluence of three rivers. So there is a LOT of water. It kinda reminded me a little of Seattle in that sense - except that Seattle is much prettier with the trees and the green.
The major "thing" in Southampton is the Bargate, the old city gate that still stands in the city centre. It's the city logo, and also kind of right at the center of town.
The old Roman walls kind of stretch out through the city from the Bargate.
In some places, such as in the above picture, they've been a little modernized. In this case, it's because the wall leads to the mall. Southampton also sports the largest mall in the south of England, West Quay.
Once you get away from the city a bit, it does have a pretty skyline. Here is the belltower of Saint Mary's Church popping up from the trees.
We ventured out of Southampton for a day trip to Winchester on Monday. Again, neither of us quite knew what to expect. Tas suggested it because she heard about the Winchester Great Hall, where they have "the Round Table", which I insist on putting in quotes because I'm not convinced that Arthur was anything besides a legend. However, it is a VERY old table, probably constructed by one of the Kings of England in the 1300's, so honestly, it is a very cool thing to go to see.
They also had a very lovely garden at the Great Hall, that I rather enjoyed taking pictures in.
And out the other end of the Great Hall, this very cool sculpture was constructed in honor of the Queen's Jubilee.
Walking around through the rest of Winchester, we discovered something that we did NOT know prior to our arrival there: Winchester Cathedral, a lovely huge church in town, is the location of Jane Austen's grave. I feel like a teensy bit of a literary failure for NOT knowing that in advance of our visit.
And one of the coolest bits of Winchester, was the high street. Yes, it was all shops and restaurants and cafes, but dammit, it was pretty and cool. I wouldn't have minded a little more shopping time while we were there!
All in all, Winchester was a very pleasant surprise and well worth the visit. I highly recommend it to future travelers!
And that brings us back up to the past 24 hours! I took the train back to Stratford-upon-Avon yesterday. Last night I went to see David Tennant in Hamlet, and it was fucking amazing.
So amazing, in fact, that it deserves a post of it's own. Which will take me some time to compose. In a few hours I'm heading to London for the weekend. And then Sunday evening I'm off to Prague for the week!
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