Birthday fun, sightseeing, and a social life, Round 2

As my lack of blogging probably indicates, the second half of October has been just as busy as the first half.  As my date of departure from London draws inevitably nearer, I've been trying hard to do everything in the city that I want to do!


Last Wednesday I went on another London Walk day trip, this time to Oxford.  The trip started in the Cotswolds, a region of rolling hills and meadows outside of London that back in the day was used for grazing and keeping sheep.  The Cotswolds is designated as an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" and is exactly what one would imagine the English countryside to look like.  We started our trip with a visit to a quaint little village full of thatched-roof cottages and a decayed 15th-century manor house, Minster Lovell (also the name of the village itself).  The cottages are still used as residences, but they are mostly occupied by rich Londoners who use them as weekend houses.  We drove through the countryside, stopping in another slightly larger village, Burford, for lunch.  Our tour guide told us that most of the shops and places of business in these little villages have closed since there are so few permanent residents, but there were a few cute little shops to explore after lunch.

I made a friend in the Cotswolds

Inn in Minster Lovell

In the afternoon we made our way to Oxford.  The tour was similar to the one in Cambridge: we learned about the history of the university and it's famous students (and even saw the bar where Bill Clinton "did not inhale"), current student life, the architecture and art, etc.  Oxford is a unique university because rather than having large seminars or lectures, students attend tutorials with their professor and maybe 1 or 2 other students.  Not necessarily how I would want to go through university, but to each his own!  Also, Oxford if famous for being the home of some of the buildings used in the Harry Potter films.  I saw the outside of the building used for Hogwarts library (unfortunately only students are allowed inside) as well as the outside of the building used for the Great Hall, plus some others.  Apparently you have to go on a specific Harry Potter tour to see the insides, sadly.  Oh well.

The Divinity School, Oxford University
Used as Hogwarts hospital in the Harry Potter films;
the library across the courtyard is used as the Hogwarts library.  

Visiting Cambridge and Oxford made me a bit nostalgic for college--and made me feel a bit intimidated by the incredibly smart people that study at these two universities!  In comparing the two visits, I think I liked Cambridge University itself better than Oxford--it was very charming and historic and felt very academic--but I liked the town of Oxford better than Cambridge.  It felt a bit bigger, and it seemed like there was more to do there.  


After I returned from Oxford, I went to happy hour at a bar downtown with a new group of girls.  They were all very nice, and I think it might turn into a semi-regular meet-up, which would be fun.  On Friday I went out to an Australian bar with another new group of people.  After a bit of socializing, the DJ came out and it turned into a dance party.  There were plenty of '80s tunes, and we were all belting them out.  I had a great time, and ended up missing the last Tube home and had to take the bus.  Oops.


October 23 was Xavier's birthday!  I think it's pretty cool that we both had our birthdays this month, and while I turned 23 on the 1st, he turned 1 on the 23rd.  We had a lovely day: we all went to lunch, went to the park and played on the playground, and visited with friends.  I gave him a little toy piano, which he liked, although I think I've been playing it more than he has.

The next day I went to Camden Town for the first time, a neighborhood in north London that is the artsy, hip, funky part of town.  I met up with a couple friends for lunch and shopping and bought myself a fabulous leather jacket--my birthday present from my parents.


On Wednesday I finally saw the musical Wicked!  I have wanted to see it ever since it came out in 2005--I read the book ages ago, and I know the album by heart.  It did not disappoint!  Beth and I met up for a drink beforehand at the glamourous Goring Hotel, then went to the show.  I was singing every song in my head and had a smile plastered to my face the entire time.  Unfortunately, in the last 5 minutes of the show, there was a bit of commotion in the audience--someone in the front was apparently sick and was calling for a doctor.  It was quite distracting--I'm sure even more so for the actors--but the issue was taken care of pretty quickly, in time for us to enjoy the final song.  All in all, a wonderful evening!

So, with all this fun stuff I get to do, you may be wondering if I ever actually do work here.  Nannying continues to go well, and we've hit a milestone in the past couple days--Xavier's been walking by himself!  We practiced walking all afternoon yesterday, and it was very exciting, as well as adorable.


I've also been going into the House of Commons office about once a week, and my big task is responding to all our backlogged mail.  Maybe not the most thrilling work, but it needs to be done, and it gives me a feeling of accomplishment to watch my piles get smaller and smaller.  And on Wednesday, I finally got to meet my MP (Member of Parliament)!!  He's a rather important guy, so he's not often in the office, which is why I hadn't met him until now.  He was extremely friendly and welcoming to me, and I even got to sit and pass him mail as he signed it.  Obviously I was a bit star-struck!


Tomorrow morning we leave for our weekend in Antwerp, Belgium.  I won't really be celebrating Halloween (for the first time in my life!  But European Halloween is nothing like American Halloween anyway--it's not nearly as big of a deal here), but I think a little trip abroad will make up for that.  


Sorry for another long post, I'll try to be better about making my posts shorter!


And happy Rally to Restore Sanity/March to Keep Fear Alive for my lucky friends in DC!