My second leg of travels took me back to England, a country I once thought I would love, but strangely its mystique has waned. I suppose that happens to every country I visit. I have grandiose dreams of one day living there, of settling down abroad (read: meeting a cute guy with an awesome accent), but once I'm there I suspect whether I'd really like leaving the States permanently. Don't get me wrong, England is great, and France is too for that matter, but they do somehow loose their magic after you visit. Maybe that's for the best. I suppose it's better to like a country on it's own terms rather than on some flighty fancy you dream up from afar. Anyway, after my brief stay in the States for my sister's graduation, I returned to Europe to go to Elodie's wedding, with an extended layover in England to
visit Bristol and London.My flight was long, as usual, but less daunting than my first few transatlantic flights. Something about your 4th flight in 2 months forces you to adjust to the length and discomfort. I landed in London and found my way to the bus bound for Bristol. I was sleepy, no doubt, but not exhausted, not yet. The bus ride was rather cozy, and I dozed off while absorbing the odd array of accents (with one lady I could have sworn was from Belfast...). I was greeted by Chris at the bus station, and we made our way up to the philosophy department at Bristol University. Chris was a wonderful host, as was his wife Pauline. They were both very kind and very welcoming, and I felt right at home during my stay. You may ask yourself what brought me to Bristol, of all places, and I'll be honest --I asked myself the same thing as I neared the city. Chris is friends with my adviser, and I was desperate for some intellectual stimulation, so a trip to visit a prominent political philosopher seemed, well, amazing, and the Bertrams were kind enough to have me. I'm quite glad that I went, and between discussions about Rousseau and God and the like, I got a good look at a rather lovely English city. In no particular order, here is some of what I learned/saw in Bristol:
Indian food: I had my first taste of Indian food here (and no, I have no idea what specific type I ate). It was great. Slowly but surely I'm going ethnic (which Daena will be pleased with for next year in LA!)
The New Room: Wesley's old church. The sanctuary was of the typical protestant-minimalist
style. The most interesting feature was the pulpit which was built specifically to give the preacher time to get away from a mob of rioting parishioners! If only they still made 'em like they used to (and if only preachers were preaching something with some fire and passion in it, enough to convict and stir up some action! not that I approve of mobs and rioting...). I was there just in time for their afternoon service, so I stayed and listened, prayed, and took communion with the odd melange of tourists and Wesley enthusiasts who were also visiting the old church.Queen's Square: I watched a pickup game of cricket in the park. And, I almost knew what was going on. Bowling and wickets my friends, that's all there is to it. (which reminds me, I also watched a rugby game, and I think I actually do understand that some...)
Banksy: fun stencil graffiti. Apparently his work is "hip" now. It is interesting, I'll give it that.
Galen: I sat in on a metaphysics guest lecture... chuckle. I'm not a metaphysician (is that what you'd call them?), but the article I read that morning to prepare for the talk was a touch dull. I generally enjoy metaphysics, to a degree, but thin-subjects --or whatever-- are not my cup o' tea. I guess the other Bristol philosophers weren't all that impressed either, esp not when he starting
talk about that whacked out time theory where time is not liner but in chunks of, idk, well I forgot the name. But anyway, it was funny. I'll just stick to ethics...Dinner Party: Alexander (?) had the Bertrams and some others over for dinner, and they let me come with. I've forgotten a majority of what we talked about, but I will say this: I was grilled. I was asked about a million cultural/philosophical/etc questions, none of which I had ever heard of. Needless to say, there was both the age and culture gaps working against me on that one. It was fun though, exceedingly, and I left with the hostess's copy of Rebecca, because everyone was shocked that I hadn't even heard of it...
Laycock Abbey: we took a trip up to this very quaint village,
home to Laycock Abbey, and old home of Henry Fox Talbot (pioneer of modern photography). I totally understand how cameras work (old school ones), for the first time in my life. This is why I love learning, and museums, etc. I'm tempted to find my mom's old camera and tinker around with it. I tried once before, but I couldn't even load the film in. Sad day. Anyway, the abbey itself was beautiful, and was (interestingly enough) used in numerous films, including the famed Harry Potter movies. The most exciting discovery was that the old town itself was used in Pride and Prejudice (my heart melts just at the title).The other notable event, well not really an event, was my date of departure. I was planning on leaving June 2nd to go to London, and in my head that was on a Tuesday. However, my head is not an accurate calender, and this time it was wrong. The 2nd was on a Monday, and Chris figured this out for me on Sunday night. Oops. At least he did catch it, and we made sure I could get a bus ticket back to London. I had to miss the grad student seminar, which was a bummer, but oh well.
Okay I'm going to wrap it up here. The further I go into this post, the less detailed I write. I'm sorry. This is hard to do in the summertime. The moral is: I really enjoyed hangin' with the Bertrams in Bristol. I saw a wonderful city and learned quite a bit from Chris about a number of things, philosophy and what have you. I had, as we pretend like the British typically say, a jolly good time.
Coming up: London and the wedding...
