Amazing vanishing Sparrow

I have not been successful at updating this blog. Sorry, loyal followers! I've been spending lots of time with my friends and staring at the glowing rectangle of a computer monitor has been even less of a priority than usual. I'm back on my own for a few days, but a serious update isn't going to happen tonight because I've already spent a lot of time online trying to plan my onward journey and internet cafes ain't cheap. However, here is a list of places that I have been since last I updated this blog:

-Aberystwyth (for Sonia's fabulous wedding, and again for Danny's graduation)
-London, where I went to small portions of several museums, saw Troilus and Cressida at the Globe, and much more
-Telford, home of the amazing Danny and his many cats
-Stonehenge, which wasn't as good as I'd hoped but still interesting
-the Lake District, which is stupendously, astoundingly gorgeous, though rainy (hence the lakes). I want lots more time there.
-Liverpool, home of the super Sonia and her family, plus interesting public art and annoyingly muddy beaches (Those were my cleaner walking shoes, darn it!)

Now, I'm in York, which I really like. The cathedral alone ate much of my day. More details about all of this later, possibly. Or not.

Fourth of July in England: No fireworks

I'm in England, staying at a farming community called Canon Frome in Herefordshire. It's near the Welsh border. It's rather idyllic here, but first let me discuss a bit about what's happened since my last blog post.

After leaving Cardiff, I took a train up to the Welsh town of Abergavenny. It was a hot and humid day, more suitable for Georgia than the UK we imagine. I didn't get in and check into my hostel into mid-afternoon, too late for any of the neat mountain walks around Abergavenny. Luckily, the tourist info office pointed me down a 4.5 mile, largely flat hike that was doable in the time I had. Part of it was along a canal, through woodlands, and quite nice. Before that, though, I had to cross a roundabout of pedestrian peril. Throughout, it was really hot and humid. I had loaded a bit too much stuff in my daypack, and my feet were not getting along with my boots. At one point, I thought, this hike will be really fun when I'm done with it! And so it was. I did see a neat some neat old-fashioned canal boats, and the decidous forests in the sticky weather reminded me of home.

The next day, I set off on bus to the ruins of Tintern Abbey, made famous by a poem by William Wordsworth, "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey" (or something...I can't be bothered to doublecheck that title right now). Getting there involved two bus rides. On the second, I was the only passenger. The driver was new, and an experienced driver was leaning over his shoulder to consult on the route. They spent the first part of the bus ride having a rather loud conversation about the new driver's divorce, his new fiance, and comparing the frequency and quality of sex with the ex and the new fiance. Later, they decided to talk with me and asked me why I wasn't traveling with a boyfriend. I think I am capable of riding a bus without a man. I hate it when people act so shocked that I'm traveling alone. You can bet they wouldn't be so surprised if I were male. We are in the 21st century, for crying out loud! In a developed country! Grr, sexism.

Anyway! Tintern Abbey was gorgeous. The ruins are close to a road and quite popular with tourists, but on a weekday they weren't so overrun that I couldn't have bits of time alone with the ruins. It must have been beautiful when it was whole, but I liked it even better ruined. Swallows swooped among the towering pointed arches, and the lack of a roof gave it a marvelous lofty feeling. It's a cathedral for the birds and the sky.

Anyway, I haven't described anything about the farm I'm at, but I should really get off of this borrowed computer. More later.

TARDIS tourism

I'm in Cardiff, a dynamic city full of exciting sights that is only on my itinerary because I am ridiculously nerdy. Doctor Who and its spinoff Torchwood are filmed here, and so I came. If television is to be believed, Cardiff is absolutely crawling with aliens. Mostly they are concealing themselves well, with the glaring example of Millenium Stadium, a building that is clearly a giant alien spaceship despite its thin disguise of a rugby/football/etc stadium.

Cardiff has some very old things, like a splendid Norman castle built on Roman ruins and some excelent medieval churches, but it also has a lot of fairly new construction. The city is full of skyscrapers of posh flats. I'm wondering if there is some sort of ordinance against plain, flat roofs on these tall buildings, because they all seem to have jauntily sloped roofs or some sort of strange roof topper (possibly more alien spaceships?) Possibly these are all installed to offer challenges to Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood, who is fond of standing on roofs. I've managed two roofs myself. The belltower at St. John's church was having a special open to climbing day, so I went up a steep spiral staircase to a great view. I even got to ring one of the bells! I also climbed to the top of the castle keep. The castle was having some sort of Armed Forces day gala when I was there, featuring lots of marching soliders in a mix of historic and contemporary uniforms, plus one marching goat, evidently the local regiment's mascot.

I've done a lot of walking, gotten a little sunburned, eaten some excellent Indian food, gotten caught in an annoying crowd of people exiting a motorcycle rally that were mixing with the saturday night annoying crowds of drunk people, taken the backstage tour at the Millenium Center (the spiffy new arts center whose front can be seen on Torchwood and Doctor Who), seen some really cool ancient artefacts in the museum, and avoided the temptation to stroke the costumes in the Doctor Who exhibition. (Barely...I'm normally a model museum-goer, but it took a lot of will power to keep my hands to myself). It's been great...my only wish was other nerds with me so I could have someone to hear my exclamations of 'the invisible lift is RIGHT HERE!'

Let me just state my love for the fact that there is an actual locked door with the information center symbol and newspaper clippings, including the fake one about the Slitheen mayor trying to put a nuclear power station in Cardiff, just where the Torchwood entrance should be. It's not a set that is taken down when they're done filming; it's a real door. Possibly with a real Hub beneath? One can hope.

The next post will be more comprehensible to those who don't share my nerddom. Possibly.