Oh my, it has been quite some time, hasn't it?

I knew this would happen. I get so caught up in school and travelling and random writing that I forget to update my blog for days, even weeks on end. But I have so many things to say! Some of them are super exciting!

First, I am about halfway done with American Gods. Finally. I have only had that book a year; about time I make some serious headway on reading it. Crazy, crazy book. Quite excellent, though.

I am in the midst of a week-long Shakespeare binge, starting with Measure for Measure. I have never read that one before, so it is interesting. There is a guy going to be beheaded for knocking up his fiancée, and the real duke is gone and his stand-in is a stickler for corporal punishment, and the condemned guy’s sister — who is a nun-in-training — is going to try to acquit him somehow. And it’s a comedy. Excellent. Next is the ubiquitous Hamlet, since every English class that discusses Shakespeare must always read Hamlet. But I want to read both the Folio and First Quarto versions, since they’re apparently quite different. I might write my paper on why they’re different and what the effects might have been and what the differences are and how they transfer to the meaning of the play. Oh yes. It will be good.

Now for the big thing: This weekend, I went and visited my dad’s cousin in Lancashire. Lancashire is on the other side of the country, somewhere north of Manchester. The train was quite exciting. I do love taking trains, and we went through some very quaint villages in the lovely English countryside. Adorable. I also was able to figure out the York bus system, which was quite exciting as well. I now am capable of taking busses myself! Yay!

I had a transfer in Manchester, which is a very large city with a very large train station. It also is the home of two of the biggest teams in the English Premiership, ManU and Man City. It just so happens that the day I took the train was also the day these two teams play each other. Talk about a huge, hard-core rivalry. There were so many people at the station dressed in predominantly red and white. I have never seen so many Rooney jerseys in one place in my life. And the train to Old Trafford (the stadium) was so packed with people, it took a few tries to get the doors to properly close.

But that train was not my train. The train from Manchester to Chorley was much less crowded, and I got seats. The entire journey took about two and a half hours, which is bizarrely about the same as a train from York to London or Edinburgh.

Once I arrived in Chorley, I met up with Julia, my dad’s cousin and her partner Alan. Between the two of them, they know everything about all of England. I know so much trivia, it’s completely ridiculous.

Like how all the old buildings were constructed by balancing stones, and they don’t have any concrete involved at all. And all the new buildings have to look like they were built the same way. Or how the M6 was the first motorway in England. I don’t even remember half the things I learned, because I learned so many things.

In fact, that kind of sounds like college in general.

Anyway, we went up to the Lakes District, which is someplace I wanted to go but wasn’t sure if I would get the chance since it’s a little out of the way for me. Everyone says it’s gorgeous. They’re all totally right. I would wax poetic, but I’m pretty sure William Wordsworth beat me to it and did a better job than I could ever hope to.

It’s a very touristy location, even in February, but we didn’t really have any trouble getting parking or anything. There was a ton of people eating ice cream (!), since that’s apparently the thing to do when you visit Windermere. The geese and swans and ducks were all quite used to people, since they get fed so often, and you could get very close to them if you so desired. Personally, I find geese and swans huge and terrifying, so I stayed a good distance away.

And like a proper tourist, I forgot camera batteries so we had to get some. Silly Anne.

Anyway, we took a boat out onto the lake, and it was quite gorgeous even though there were storm clouds on the horizon. It was also rather cold, but I have come to expect that from this country. I keep seeing pictures of my friends in Santa Barbara going to the beach in their swimsuits, and I get all annoyed since I’m sitting in my room with the heater on wearing a big coat. Brrrrrrrr.

Back on topic now. After the lake trip, we hopped back in the car and had an absolutely lovely drive around the lakes to Grasmere, where William Wordsworth lived. Let me say, I can totally see where the romantic poets were coming from now. I can’t even describe how pretty and green and hilly the area is. And Grasmere is such a cute little town! It’s really easy to imagine what it looked like years ago, before cars and modernization and things. And I got to see Wordsworth’s grave, which was awesome. It would have been more awesome if I had more than just a passing familiarity with his work, but at least now I can say I’ve seen a famous dead writer’s headstone. I feel like a proper English major now.

We stopped for dinner somewhere outside Grasmere, at a cute little pub. I adore the old-fashioned pubs. They’re very rustic and have a proper pub feel. I proceeded to look silly by first proclaiming my distaste for fish, then ordering scampi and chips. I also had a pint of Cumberland ale, which is the local brew. I might not like beer much, but I felt obligated to try the local beer. I was also able to snag a beer mat, which is only the second beer mat I have found in this country. At this rate, I’ll have one for each month. I guess it could be worse; I could find NO beer mats and be quite sad about it.

It rained all day Sunday, and I was informed that I was getting a taste of what summer would be like. Except instead of coats, people would be wearing shorts. I was duly horrified. I also received a very delicious English breakfast, which was quite exciting. I miss home-cooked food.

We visited a flea market of sorts, except it’s put up by a charity, and I ended up with more books than I know what to do with. At least now I have the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes, so I don’t have to keep looking for it. I’ll get around to reading it someday. Perhaps when I take the detective fiction class that UCSB offers. I’m pretty sure they do Sherlock Holmes.

I was also taken to meet some more cousins. I say “cousins,” but in reality they are the more obscure parts of my family tree, and more related to my father than they are to me. I can’t even figure out what we are. Second cousins? Cousins once removed? Cousins thrice removed? I DON’T KNOW. But we’re related, and it was great meeting family members I didn’t know I had. Everyone was really nice, and I was loaned the Complete Works of Shakespeare, which solves one of my schoolwork-related problems. Now if I’ll just sit down and read the cursed thing...

Getting home was a harrowing affair, since the trains were packed. I ended up standing in an aisle for most of the two-hour trek. But at least the bus back to the university was easy enough. Not that I expected it to be hard, but getting home was always going to be a slightly dicier affair because I wasn’t 100% sure where the bus stop was. Now I know, so when Heather comes I’ll look knowledgeable about things.

All in all, it was a completely wonderful trip and I’m looking forward to visiting again. This time I’ll actually think of things I want to see. Liverpool? Blackpool? The beach? TOO MANY CHOICES.

Suggestions?

Also, Valentine's Day. I have not received any Valentine's, so it will just be me and my Digestives and Shakespeare this year. One of the guys in the flat mentioned, jokingly, that I did not give him a Valentine. My response was that he did not give me one either, which was met with a "good point."

Victory for Anne!

I'm going to go eat cookies now and despair about my paper.