Might as well update now, before things get really crazy. Trip back to Nottingham was uneventful.

Not much has happened this week -- back to the usual academic routine. The campus JSoc did do a big party for Yom Ha'atzmaut, which was fun. I've been working on essays pretty heavily -- I have one (for The Politics of Science Fiction) due a week from tomorrow (May 4th), and one (for Representing the South) due a week from Tuesday (May 8th -- it was originally due the 7th, but that got changed because it's a bank holiday).

My exams are, respectively, the 19th (unfortunately, they do have exams on Saturdays here), the 21st, and the 24th. Or maybe it's the 19th, the 22nd, and the 24th. Whatever. This is a little compressed, given that the exam period lasts over two weeks (May 15th - June 1st). It could be worse, though -- I've talked to people who have all their exams in as little as three days, and I get done relatively early -- more time for travelling.

I'm going to Prague from the 27th through the 31st. After that, there are still-very-tentative plans to go to Amsterdam with some British friends. I return to Philly via London on June 12th.

More to follow at some point. Let's just hope the academics don't drive me nuts.

The holiday is coming to an end -- today is my last full day in London.

A few notes on things I've done in the past week:
--The Imperial War Museum is well worth your time, even for someone like me who isn't exactly a huge military buff.
--The Globe Theatre is kinda interesting -- well, I only saw the theatre itself, not any of the exhibits.
--The Lives of Others (the most recent Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film) is, indeed, very, very good. Strongly recommended.
--The Cartoon Museum, right near the British Museum, is a fascinating diversion, though it probably depends on one's interest in the subject matter. Good collection ranging from vintage caricatures to mondern comic art.

And oh, how they danced...

A change of scenery, even a very temporary one, is very good for my sanity at this point, so it was good timing for a visit to Stonehenge. The weather was lovely (not too hot, not too cold) and the site was, as I surmised, not terribly crowded on a Monday afternoon. Beautiful to see, but not that much to do -- I think I only spent a little over half an hour there in total.

Afterwards, wandered around Salisbury for a little while -- see the photos. The Salisbury Cathedral is, I guess, nice, but with all the cathedrals I've seen in the past few months, I've gotten very jaded about such things.

Note that I've added a few photos (of St. Peter's Basilica) to the Rome album; I had mistakenly left them on my camera without uploading them. Anyway, the Stonehenge photos are here.

The last day in Rome was a day of failures of various sorts, albeit not severe ones. Nathan and I had planned a bit of a food trip, visiting a Jewish bakery that was recommended by the guidebook, the (allegedly) best pizzeria in Rome, and a gelateria for which I'd found a recommendation online. Except that the bakery was sold out of most of their pastries by the time we got there, the pizzeria was only open at dinnertime, and we couldn't find the gelateria. We made do.

Trip to the airport was uneventful. Unfortunately, my flight back to London was about an hour late, and passport control was woefully understaffed (at least for non-EU passengers). Didn't make it back to the flat until after 2AM. And failed to get a good night's sleep, unsurprisingly.

Friday, didn't get much work done (though I hadn't planned on it). Did my laundry, browsed around a comic book store (ah, nerdiness), saw "Sunshine" -- great visuals, disappointing narrative).

Today -- got some work done on an essay. Then off to the Museum of Childhood, a small but charming collection of children's toys. Very enjoyable.

Barcelona & Rome photos

Barcelona
Rome

Rome Updates

Tuesday 4/10:

Certain parties had repeatedly suggested that the two of us make a day trip to Pompeii. This would, however, require spending at least twice as much time in transit as at the actual site, which did not seem a particularly ideal use of time. Instead, we visited the massive ruins at Ostia, which are only about half an hour away by train (and accessible via a regular Metro ticket!) Beautiful weather, and great scenery. Dad, you'll be thrilled to know that they have the "oldest preserved synagogue in the Western world" (I took photos for you) although there's not much of anything recognizably Jewish there.

Wednesday 4/11:

The Vatican.

Waited in a dauntingly long line to get into the museums; fortunately, we elected to disregard a tour operator's advice that it would take another three hours to get in. (It was more like one; I guess they have tickets to sell, honesty be damned.) Sistine Chapel was amazing, though the museums as a whole suffered from a severe lack of explanatory signage or labels.

After lunch, another incredibly long (but nonetheless manageable) line for St. Peter's Basilica -- definitely one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. We were both a tad worn out and in need of some refreshment after that -- so, generous portions of gelato were in store. (I'm going to miss this city for that, if nothing else.)

Tomorrow, not much planned pre-flight other than some food destinations: the place that has the best pizza in rome, according to Let's Go Europe, is on the itinerary.

Brief summary:

Trip to Rome was uneventful. Despite it being Easter Sunday, we managed to find good pizza and gelato not too far from the hostel.

Today: visited the Ancient City. The Colosseum is certainly impressive, but expensive -- more time spent waiting in line than actually seeing the structure itself.
Ate lunch at a restaurant nearby, and learned the hard way that it was perhaps rude to decline the bread (standard with all meals, but seems to typically cost a euro per person) and ask for tap water -- an angry waitress chastised us ("This is bar, not restaurant!")

Spent some time in the Roman Forum, then walked to the Pantheon (impressive on the outside... it was closed), and the Trevi Fountain (just beautiful). Always amusing how certain sites (particularly Trajan's column) were very heavy-handedly Christianized by the Church.

Went for gelato at San Crispino, allegedly Rome's best. Personally, though, I didn't think it was so superior to other gelaterias to justify the small portions and high prices (over twice the typical cost). A disappointment, but a tasty one.

Today´s travels:
Sagrada Familia -- probably the most famous Gaudí building (see the Wikipedia link in the previous entry.) Has the bizarre distinction of being in construction more or less continuously since 1882, with no real interior, and much of the exterior still absent.

Stopped at a very impressive chocolate store near the hostel, and bought a gift for Bencie -- hope she appreciates it.

Had a nice lunch at a Let´s Go-recommended restaurant. Then, Nathan and I headed off to the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) -- a surprisingly small main collection, but their highlighted special exhibit was very cool: weird, elaborate "sound sculptures". Will have to explain this more sometime.

Tomorrow: off to Rome! Pizza and gelato = yummy. I also hear there´s some ancient stuff of some sort. And some church or something.

quick update

Need to sleep - a brief overview of today´s adventures:

--Returned to the Cathedral with Nathan, who wanted to see it. Got to actually keep some pictures this time.
--Back to the hostel for a walking tour of town, spotlighting the buildings of Antoni Gaudí (famous modernist architect who designed spectacular buildings throughout the city). But it was cancelled. Went instead to La Pedrera and Park Guell. (See the links -- yes, they are as impressive as the photos would suggest. Didn´t get the full tour of La Pedrera, though -- too much time to spend in line.
--At this point, Nathan returned to the hostel for a nap, while I went to another museum, only to find it was closed for Good Friday. Maybe tomorrow?

--Definitely on the roster for tomorrow: Sagrada Familia and MACBA - the city´s modern art museum. And a (hopefully) good Spanish lunch at a well-reputed restaurant.

Barcelona

Both seders went wonderfully. First seder was with the family of a friend of one of Dad´s colleagues; second was with Beit Klal Yisrael, a (very) liberal London congregation. By sheer coincidence, met Danny Sapon´s sister at the second seder.

Arrived in Barcelona yesterday, and did some wandering around -- got there too late for substantial sightseeing, but it´´s a beautiful city. Ran into some fellow americans I knew from Nottingham, which was wonderful.

No progress, that I´m aware of, in finding a place for Shabbat dinner tomorrow. Will have to check with Nathan (oh, yeah, he should be getting to the hostel soon).

Today, anyway, was enough sightseeing for one lifetime. Walking from the hostel (which seems to be fantastic -- clean, great facilities, huge breakfast), I visited:

Barcelona Cathedral (my guidebook refers to this as Eglesia Catedral de la Santa Creu, but that´s not what the signs I saw called it): between England and Paris, I´ve seen my fair share of cathedrals over the past few months, but this was still utterly stunning. Also free! Unfortunately, my camera wiped all my pictures taken there, and when I returned in an attempt to retake some of them, the line was too long for me to feel it worth bothering.

Monument a Colom: Towering monument to Christopher Columbus, with a statue of the man on top, inexplicably pointing towards Libya rather than America. Took an elevator to the top, which provides for quite a view. Again, my camera ate the pictures.

Dalí Museum: Right near the Cathedral. I´m a big fan of Dali, so I couldn´t pass up the chance to visit this, even though it was a tad pricey (€6 for students) given its small size. It also consisted mostly of his later work (1960s and 1970s); his better-known stuff is elsewhere. (There´s another museum in the town where he was born, about an hour and 15 minutes away from here, which is reportedly excellent, but there´s no chance I´ll make it there. There´s also a Dali museum in Paris, which I missed. Cést la vie.)Some interesting stuff there, including a menorah (!), various weird sculptures, and some truly nightmarish depictions of Hell (for an illustrated version of The Divine Comedy).

Museu D´História De La Ciutat: as the name suggests, this regards the history of Barcelona. Part of the museum is the former palace of the Catalán monarchs; part is a huge archeological exhibit containing ruins of the Roman city of Barcino (which preceded Barcelona). I almost skipped this, but I´m glad I didn´t -- pretty interesting, and effectively free (if my ticket in fact, as I was told, admits me to another museum to which I was already planning on visiting.)

Enough for now, I hope.

Interesting Things I Did Today

--Returned to the Victoria & Albert Museum to see a new special exhibit they have on Surrealism and design. I quite like Dali, Magritte, and Man Ray, so it was good to see them well-represented. Definitely worth the £5.

--Made a stop at Harrod's, the famed department store. Beyond massive, beyond pricey (often to the point of hilarity, particularly the food prices at the many cafes throughout the store).

--Walked back from there to the flat, all the way through Hyde Park, which is utterly massive. Wandered into an area which is apparently a location for street preachers of all sorts -- all of them rather angry. Several Muslims, a Christian guy of some domination (giving an anti-Muslim diatribe), and, most unusually, a Jesus-looking (long beard, long hair) man in a white robe and a yellow security vest, wearing a plastic lobster. He delivered a long, very funny rant/comedy routine about religion, and his intention to start his own (with the aforementioned lobster as its icon).... maybe you had to be there.