[Insert Song Lyrics Here]

Bobbing for apples in Somalia
the man with the iron curtain is following you
no one’s coming for tea time
except my own holy ghost
you’re somewhere far probably drinking a whiskey
I'm dating jack daniel’s and Caleb - swiss miss, Nicky - tea,
nacho's with cocoa -- hey, to each his own
lovely people, lovely places
I can’t remember names and I can’t remember faces

Above are song lyrics by Regina Spektor and they're the theme for this post, but a whole verse is far too long for a title so I had to improvise.  

If you are wondering if I went to Somalia, the answer is NO. I did not go to Somalia.  I did not bob for apples there.  Nor did I deworm orphans (Legally Blonde anyone?).  However, I DID go to St. Ives, which is wholly unrelated to Somalia except for the presence of the letter 's'.  St. Ives was rated the number one beach in the UK and number six in Europe, just below a bunch of beaches in Greece and Cyprus.  I'm sure you think I'm lying and that that couldn't possibly be - why would anyone go to England for the beach?  Well, I asked the same question, but to my immense pleasure I discovered the beauty of St. Ives and I only wish I could go there in the actual warm season instead of on a dreary, drizzly, overcast day! Regardless of the clouds, it was still stunning and a nice change of pace from city.  

We took an overnight train to get there, which was one of the most miserable experiences.  It was FREEZING on the train. I'm not sure why they insisted on NOT putting on heat in the midst of frigid England weather when people are trying to sleep, a time when a person's body temperature drops naturally anyway and heat is even more necessary.  Also the seats were less comfortable than a normal non-sleeper train, so it was just a failure.  But we made it to St. Ives around 8 in the morning and popped into a hotel to ask the concierge if he had breakfast restaurant suggestions to which he responded: "Subway."  Lizzie, Katie, and I just blankly looked at him, not able to believe he was serious.  We ended up going to a chain pub/restaurant which was decent enough - it was food, and I wasn't complaining.  With full tummies we wandered further into the town and went to the Tate St. Ives, a branch of the Tate art museums which are in London.  It featured a good deal of modern art, so it wasn't my favorite but still neat.  Then we wandered down the windy streets and stared at the beach for a long, long time.  The water was a gorgeous color, there was SAND unlike in Brighton, and there were rolling hills, which added an interesting dimension not usually seen in American coastal towns (at least not the ones I frequent).  

And there was a graveyard!! Talk about prime real estate - I'd love that view if I was buried there. The town is full of little art galleries so we spent much of our day wandering in and out of those, wishing we could afford to buy some original oil paintings of the scenery we were admiring so much.  We also went to the Barbara Hepworth Museum; she was a sculptor and the museum was her studio and a garden designed by her with her sculptures specifically placed by her.  It was interesting to learn about her, as I had no idea who she was previously.  Apparently she was one of the first artists to poke holes through sculptures and use strings with wood/copper/etc as sources of tension.  There were some neat pieces and the garden was especially cool because you could touch those sculptures! 

St. Ives is in Cornwall which is famous for its Cornish pasties (you'll recall the definition of a pasty in a previous post) so I had to get one of course! I had a steak and stilton and it was quite delicious.  I also bought some fudge and Cornish Bleu Cheese which was rated World Champion of Cheeses in 2010. It was FABULOUS.  I'm trying to devise a way to ship boatloads of it home for various Christmas presents.  We also had afternoon tea with Cornish Cream, which is the original clotted cream, which if you don't know what that is, it's super thick, almost butter, cream.  I'm becoming quite a fan.  We left St. Ives around three and embarked on a six hour train ride home.  It was a lot of transportation for a very brief day but it was so worth it. 

Thursday was a day I'd been anticipating for some time - Gabby, Rich, Dan F., and Dan H were coming to visit!! I picked the first three up at Baker Street tube station and we headed to Kings Cross Train Station to pick up Dan H, as well as have a photoshoot at Platform 9 3/4, from Harry Potter.  It was so beyond wonderful to see all of them.  We went out for Indian food that night and had a lovely first evening catching up.  Friday we did a walking tour of the Old Jewish Quarter of London, which was a really interesting walk.  The most exciting thing was that I went into my first synagogue!!!! It was a Spanish-Portuguese orthodox synagogue and the oldest in the city.  The Jews are the longest existing, non-interrupted minority in London, originally showing up in 1066, then they were expelled for a while, but returned is 1600 something (I think) and have been consistently present ever since.  I was one of about 3 non-Jews on this tour but I like to think of myself as Jewish at heart because I study it so much. :)  

After the walk we went to afternoon tea at the Crusting Pipe in Covent Garden, with an opera singer to boot! It was really yummy and nice to sit and relax after walking around so much.  After tea we went to the National Gallery and I gave them a tour of the paintings I studied in my class field trip; it was fun to act as the guide.  Afterward we wandered over to see Big Ben at night and then went to the Tate Britain to see the special exhibit of the Pre-Raphaelites, who were a brotherhood of painters who took Raphael's style to a new level of color and accuracy, painting religious and literary images.  The paintings were amazing and very worth the extra fee to see them.  

Saturday we were joined by Aly who had arrived late Friday night.  We had every intention of doing a Beatles walking tour, but all the tube stations leading to the one we needed to get to were closed, so we just went to Abbey Road and tried to take pictures crossing, which was very difficult as it's a really busy street.  Then we met up with Dan H. and Evan and wandered around Marylebone and Baker Street, stopping in to the Beatles Shop and Sherlock Holmes Museum Shop.  Then we went to Portabello Road and enjoyed the market.  I was again thwarted in regards to finding a bedknob.  

After we finished up there we went to Soho, where we met up with Lydia and Hannah and got dinner at Hummus Bros, which was really yummy.  After dinner we parted ways, saying goodbye to Dan H. for good, and Aly, Gabby, and I headed off to see Singin' in the Rain at the Palace Theatre, which was a fabulous show and the rain on stage was just amazing.  We almost didn't get in though because I went to claim our tickets and the man claimed there were none under my name!! It was such a scary moment but eventually he found them, thank goodness!  After the show we headed back to Mile End and met up with the rest of the gang and went out one last time together to a bar next to campus, which was full of interesting characters dressed up for Halloween.  I had a Jack and Coke, which is why that line is the song at the beginning is relevant.  It was a fun last night with the Maastricht gang, who had to be up at 4 am to leave for their flight.  I was so glad to have seen them and look forward to our permanent reunion in the spring semester. :)

Yesterday was Halloween, and I finally made it to a pumpkin patch!!!!  Kyle, Brigette, and I went off to Surrey and spent the day at Crockford Bridge Farm, running around with five year olds and their parents, sliding down slides, rolling around in tops, eating ice cream and chili, taking a Wicked Woodland Walk, listening to ghost stories, and most importantly, picking out pumpkins!! There was a shop there that sold all manner of products and one section had American food products!!!!! It was the most exciting moment.  I bought Aunt Jemima pancake mix, Betty Crocker cake mix and frosting, SWISS MISS, and breadcrumbs.  It was magical. I love Crockford Bridge Farm forever and always. It was a delightful day, finally fulfilling my need for autumnal spirit.  We returned to London and I headed to a party at Lydia's flat and we watched Zombieland, which was actually a really good movie.  I recommend it to anyone who enjoys zombie farcicals. After Lydia's I headed back to my room, got into sweats and was in for a warm evening, when the fire alarm went off at two am and I had to evacuate my room and go outside where it was now pouring rain.  We all stood there miserably for about a half hour (seemed like forever), getting soaked.  Finally we got to go back in.  I went to bed around three, only to be woken at four for ANOTHER fire alarm!!! Needless to say, I was irate, but at least the rain had basically stopped by this time.  I finally returned to my bed in paranoia but was so tired I passed out regardless.  I hate drunk people who trigger fire alarms. That is all.