Monday, January 08, 2007

Holiday Over.

So the holiday is officially over. My classes start tomorrow. Talk about being depressed. I miss London terribly. Even the cold, cloudy, grey weather. On the flight back they were showing Love Actually. And despite having seen it, despite thinking it is probably one of the cheesiest movies I have seen, I saw the whole thing. And like when I saw it for the first time I kept laughing and giggling throughout. Really, it speaks volumes about the talent of Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Colin Forth, Bill Nighy, Hugh Grant and the like that they actually manage to pull off the movie. The only reason I started to watch the movie was, well, because it was set in London and it just seemed apt. At one point they show Liam Neeson and his son sitting somewhere in the South bank with a view of the Millennium Bride and St. Paul’s and I felt so sad.


Probably had something to with the fact that I spent almost 18 days in London. That’s even more time than I spent in Paris. And while for me Paris will always be the greatest city in the world, London was really, really nice as well. There was just so much happening all the time. I loved the area around Leicester Square and Covent Garden. And Westminster. And all those museums! I visited so many of them. The National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, British Museum, Natural History Museum (which is really quite superb), the V&A (I think I spent close to two hours just in the Ottoman and Islamic Middle East section, for obvious reasons it was really interesting for me), Tate Modern, the Royal Academy of Art, Somerset House and the Dali Museum near the London Eye. Phew, I never listed them and now that seems like a lot.

I had planned to visit places close to London, but there was just always so much to do in the city itself that I really didn’t get to do all that. I went to Windsor and was blessed with the most god awful weather the entire time I was there. And I visited Greenwich as well and was officially right in the centre of the world. Cambridge was beautiful. There weren’t many students around and it was quiet, but just so pretty.

No surprise then that school just seems so, um, drab. And I am still jet lagged! There are these stupid freshmen who have moved in next door and they make just so much noise the whole night. I am probably going to end up whacking them very soon because requests to "Please keep it down" have had no effect. Jackasses. The only good thing is that this is my last term and I keep telling myself it’s only another four months and that’s it. Four years of undergrad studies is just really too much. Especially when you have to bear some really idiotic freshman and their equally inane comments in some of the classes. I have to do everything in my power to stop from banging my head against the desk. Hopefully my classes this term will be better than last term. Seriously, advanced macro has to be the greatest kill joy in the world.

Anyway. The point was that I am missing London. I miss the British accent. Miss my daily tube rides. And I miss my free daily copy of London Lite. So ya, I miss London. So much so that I went to the library and borrowed loads of Wodehouse. Because if Jeeves can’t lift your spirits, who can?




13 comments:

Tabula Rasa said...

*beautiful* pics. way to go!

twip said...

Bah. My classes have started and I have homework due by the end of this week as well. Double woo.

Not.

:(

thalassa_mikra said...

You had such a great vacation, I'm really jealous! May the new year bring many more such memorable trips.

thalassa_mikra said...

Oh, and I just saw your Rome pictures. Sigh, sigh a hundred times! Rome is my most favourite city in the whole world. The only other one that comes even close is Napoli.

Nowhere can you find better coffee, nowhere better icecream, the people are just incredible, so animated, so full of life. And the men are gorgeous, and ready to flirt at the drop of a hat.

Well, you can't help being vivacious, when you have such layer upon layer of beauty and civilization surrounding you.

I hate admitting this to my French friends, but I loved Italy a hundred times more than France. Perhaps Paris would change my mind, but I found France very reticent and distant, unlike Italy which just overwhelms you aesthetically and emotionally.

Szerelem said...

TR: Thank You!!!

Punkster: Sigh I am in the same boat. Totally sympathise....school sucks :(

TM: I really did have a great vacation. And thank you - I really do hope I get to travel more this year!
I loved Rome as well! And I agree with everything you said! The coffee, the food, the clothes....sigh!! The whole place is bustling with noise, activity - just life!
I would say I like Italy in general more than France. But Paris is just different...it is so multi cultural, cosmopolitan, with stuff happening all the time. Other places in France...meh, Italy wins over them in my opinion. I would just love to go back there...that country has too much to see.

MockTurtle said...

TR already said it, but I really love your photographs. My vacation pics usually have a finger over half the lens or the sun obliterating the subject.

That Armchair Philosopher said...

That first picture looks like Capitol Hill to me..

yayy, i'm out of school for a while so i can totally relate to the feeling. now that i'm on the other side that is, and can afford to be smug about it :))

ever heard of Jeeves' pickmeups? the one with worcestershire sauce and all that? THATS supposed to life your spirits up. heh, I've been re-re-re-re-reading (you get the picture) "What Ho" Jeeves. Good stuff.

Oh you don't study in the UK? Where then?

That Armchair Philosopher said...

oh and yes, you can blogroll me :)

Emma Blowgun said...

Just a note to let you know that I am officially a nutjob and have managed to delete my blog. So I have created a new one and am now: hazaarfucked.blogspot.com.

Gosh yuck blech your classes have started and I start full-time corporate work in less than a fortnight. Sucks to be us.

MISSquoted** said...

1. jealous of the trip.
2. jealous of the obviously wunnerful camera[or your photography skills...grrrr]
3. just jealous.

ooooh and i finished my name is red...niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice ;-)

Anonymous said...

the london eye photo is the best that I saw so far.

Cheshire Cat said...

Oooh, V & A - lucky you. And judicious as well, I might add. A week doesn't suffice for the British Museum, and the Tate Modern is the best museum I've ever been to - trumps MOMA any day. How about Tate Britain though? It's ironic - the work of all those British artists probably gets seen less because of the split.

Sigh - I'm just as unreasonably Anglophilic as you are :)

Szerelem said...

Cheshire Cat: Sigh. I so know what you mean about a week not being enough for the British museum! The museums in London were just fabulous. I think thanks to London and Italy I spent the better part of a month in museums!
I haven't been to MOMA but i loved the Tate. Better than the Georges Pompidou even (though I adore the Pompidou building!)
I didn't see Tate Britain. I am not a huge fan of English art from that period and also because I went to the National Portrait Gallery (which is great) instead. And went back to the Tate and National Gallery a couple of times each. Oh well...something for when I go back to London I guess :)