After a month....

Yes its been forever since I've updated, mainly for essay-related reasons.

Now, however, that we are 7 days and 1 essay away from finishing, I have some time.

I believe I left off at the end of Term, as I was crazily polishing off an essay on the Navy.

After term came Spring Break, a welcome relief to all involved. Mom and Dad came over (which was amazing), and we did stuff in Oxford and in London. Oxford they got to see th ecity (well, City Centre, mainly), and we got to hear Handel's Messiah performed by the Bach Choir, which was spectacular (why we don't use the sacred music of the old classical and baroque composers in our American protestant churches I'll never quite understand - the lyrical glory of English choral music puts American praise songs to shame), Then we went to London and saw the British museum, which you can just spend days and days in without getting bored; among other things we saw the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, and the Sutton Hoo hoard - the place has centuries' worth of archaeological treasure hunting in its neoclassical frame.

We also got to see the "classic" London sights, and stayed at an amusing B&B with an eccentric (internet-loving) keeper; as a bonus, we got to hear Bach's St. John Passion at St. Paul's Cathedral, which was superb.


After that it was back to the salt mines, but soon enough Easter arrived, and I took off for Glasgow with a group of friends from the program. We got to see the city known in its heydey as the "Second City of the Empire," as well as Stirling Castle and Stirling Bridge (and the Kirk of the Holy Rood) in an eventful day-trip to Stirling.

Easter service was spent in Glasgow Cathedral, conducted from the good old Church of Scotland Hymnary.

The trip also brought a new appreciation for finding places in coach stations to sit and enjoy bread & cheese (a staple for traveling students) - for the record, Somerset Brie is better than French Brie, and bagettes make for good snacks.

After that, its back to the salt mines again (including a long night writing an essay that somehow earned positive reviews despite my sleep-deprived and caffeine-saturated state).

All that - as well as so much more (including trips to a Roman Castle, the HMS Victory [Nelson's flagship], and Coventry - best known for it bombed out cathedral and Lady Godiva) - is passed, and I shall now go and read for my final essay. Cheers.