So... this is a little late, but last Saturday I was at Windsor again! The first trip was run through Royal Holloway for the benefit of all the international students. This second trip was one I purchased through Arcadia University (the people that organized my studies here) before I knew that Royal Holloway was bringing us. I like it enough the first time that I figured it couldn't hurt to go again. I pretty much saw all the same stuff, but with a different group of people (they were all Americans studying at various universities around the UK through Arcadia).
Turns out that Windsor is about a ten minute bus ride from Royal Holloway, but Arcadia wanted everyone to meet in London at 9:30 AM on Saturday and ride a bus out from the city center. So essentially my choices were to wake up super early, take a 40 minute train ride and another 15 minute tube ride, followed by an hour long bus ride to approximately the location from which I began (and then do it all in reverse at the end of the day), or wake up later, buy a less expensive bus ticket, travel for 10-15 minutes by bus there, and 10-15 minutes back. It was a simple choice. Doing it, however, was less simple as the Brits once again lived up to my expectations of being terrible at returning emails (I had to ask to make sure it was acceptable to meet the group in Windsor instead of London).
Nevertheless it was fun, and I got to do/see a couple things I missed the first time. For instance, this time I grabbed an audio tour guide thing. I had seen them around the first time, but assumed you had to pay and was not really all that interested. As it turns out, they are free with admission, so I got a little more in depth understanding of what I was looking at. Another enhancement to the trip was that I got to see the changing of the guard. Yes, those dudes in funny bear hats came out in a big group, did a little marching around and stomping, played some tunes, and even tried to get the crowd clapping along. The whole time I was watching I couldn't help but think of what a fearsome fighting unit they were, what with their bear caps covering their eyes, their immobilizing long trench coats, their flutes and drums, and of course their willingness to allow potential assassins essentially to touch them. I still cower in fear just to think of it. During the performance I met up with Ben and Viral, two of the guys that I had lived with on my homestay (they go to King's College through Arcadia's programming).
After the rather silly display we went back into my favorite building (possibly ever), St. George's Chapel. It's soooooooo ornate, you simply wouldn't believe it. I asked one of the information ladies (who double as anti-photograph enforcement agents... we saw one make a girl delete about 20 photos off her digital camera) a question at one point and then felt really bad as she fumbled around with her many paper apologizing because she was new. The sad thing is I don't even remember what I asked, nonetheless what the answer wound up being! Still, St. George's chapel is pretty cool, and it is fun to stand on Charles I (the king they beheaded during the Civil War) and Henry VIII, and their tomb is marked by a stone in the middle of the walkway in the chapel.
Afterwards we did all the other Windsor stuff, none of which is of particular note since I have already commented on it previously, got some late lunch/early dinner, and went home.
Since then things have been relatively small scale. I have my first two papers due next week, and another due the week after, so I've been trying to focus just enough to get those done. I also finally submitted my application to an internship I would like to get over the summer with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Of cultural note I would say the last significant thing I did was go to the Happy Man pub last night with my friends Win and Leah (it was really weird when Win was on the phone and said "I'm at the Happy Man with Leah and Jason") to get some Sticky Toffee Pudding. I figured I had to after hearing Doug rave about it. Verdict: it looks really gross, but tastes pretty good. Definitely will be having it again if my wallet doesn't feel too light. Tomorrow is hopefully a trip into the city, possibly to see a museum and Harrod's. I'd also like to pick something up....
PS - Pictures are a Statue of Queen Victoria outside Windsor Castle, me in front of St. George's, the funny bear hat band, and me in front of the extremely long walkway that leads up to Windsor, where the Queen's dog's are apparently walked on occasion, though I'm sure not by her.
