Monday, July 13, 2009

The Move (7-9)

I am typing this up from my new room, which includes its own bathroom and 2 beds. I asked to be sure I wouldn't have a surprise roommate, and they asured me I wouldn't. I went out today and when I got back I was told to "pack up my duds" by one of my classmates. She didn't know when or where we were moving, just that we were. The place we're at now is near the Eye, far from Camden. No internet here, but there's supposedly a pub across the street with free wi-fi. I'll sure miss the Camden Coffee House. Still, I'm a bit irked right now. I was so hoping I could make it through the trip without that female thing happening because I'd just finished a day or two before I left! I must be pmsy because I feel like everyone in the world is being condescending and talking to me like I'm an idiot (not to mention the physical evidence).
So anyway, I did the usual update at Camden Coffee House and looked up Jane Austen spots in London. There weren't a lot, because she didn't live in London. I was hoping I could find some that were maybe mentioned in the novels or something, but I didn't get the chance to search that thoroughly. There were two that I found. One turned out to be really great, and the other one wasn't. The first was the British Library. It not only had her writing desk with a first draft of Persuasion but also an early manuscript from when she was a teenager. It also had first drafts of Handel's Messiah, recordings of Joyce reading Finigans Wake and Yeats reading a couple poems including Isle of Inisfree. It had the Magna Carta, First Folio Shakespeare... No pictures of course with that kind of old stuff. It's a shame those things are never legible. I grabbed a sandwich at the cafe there on my way out. Then I went back to Kings Cross tube station and had a real London experience. It was closed due to some sort of electrical failure, so they were sending everyone to Euston station. I went down to Euston. Then I looked at the signs and my tube map and found that the line I needed isn't there, so I had to got to Warren Street Station. By that time I got on the Victoria line and went one stop to Oxford Circus. I might as well have walked. I walked a lot and had to ask a few people where to go. I had actually looked up sweetshops on Regent Street and google mapped it and found exactly where this place should be. I still never found it. The only candy store I saw was a Godiva shop and I know that wasn't what I'd found online. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go somewhere else. After that I went to my second Austen destination, 10 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, where her brother lived and she stayed when she was in London. Nada. No plaque. No nothing! But since I was already there, I explored the market a bit. I got some ricotta/spinach ravioli from an Italian booth. It was mediocre. The tomato sauce was all watery and got all over my new dress! Ugh. Ooo, but then I went and got a couple of little mini cupcakes. They were yummy. I went back to the dorms and found out we were leaving. The rest of the night has basically been us moving, and I'm exhausted, so I'm going to bed now.

No comments:

Post a Comment