Weekend in Devon, continued

Some more photos, of Rose's adorable flat. Dinner in on Friday evening and sunny Saturday morning views out the living room door:

Weekend in Devon!

This weekend I went to visit my friend Rose in Devon, which was absolutely lovely. Some photos from a rare sunny afternoon (with some spectacular clouds from recent rain) on the bus ride out there:

Things you can't do in the U.S:

#1: Have a cider at the cemetery.

So, St. George's Gardens, near our dorm, is not exactly a cemetery anymore, more of a park, but you will see some of the original headstones stacked against the wall behind us. It became a public park in the Victorian era. One of our program-mates, Alan (pictured here), has been delighted about the fact that you can have a beer or cider walking down the street (or sitting in the garden/cemetery) so we finally tried it. Not bad!

The muse looks away, hopefully not too scandalized.

As promised

My door! And part of my building (my room is on ground floor to left of these windows).

The long and winding road...

...that leads to my dorm! (Will try not to make too many Beatles references while here, though I have picked up the unfortunate habit of occasionally talking to myself out loud in public about mundane things in a British accent.)  
So... today it was lovely and sunny for the first time in days, so I took some pictures of my walk home from the NYU in London center (centre). Walk with me!

NYU in London is in Bedford Square, in the middle of Bloomsbury, basically surrounded by a bunch of universities, most notably the University of London. This garden is theirs! But Katie and I had lunch there once and nobody noticed. Looking at the garden from this vantage point, if you were to turn your head to the left, you'd be staring at the British Museum. I still haven't gone (this time around, have been a few times previously) but our academic advisor recommended popping in whenever we have writer's block. Since I start this chapter in earnest next week, we'll see how many times I end up dropping in!

Directly behind you while looking at the garden is this guy. The University of London's Senate House Library, through which I walk every morning/afternoon as a shortcut to Russell Square. It looks more like a prison than a library, as they sometimes do, and has quite the history. It was used by the Ministry of Information during World War II, and legend has it that Orwell based 1984's Ministry of Truth on this building as well (not hard to imagine). Supposedly Hitler hand-picked it to be his headquarters once he conquered London, which is unsurprising given the...particular...1930s look it has. Cut through the ground floor and you're on Russell Square!

This is the gorgeous Hotel Russell. Built in 1898, the restaurant was designed by the same architect as the Titanic's dining room, so apparently they look alike. I haven't been inside, not sure if they'd let me in.

Walking through Russell Square past the fancy Brunswick Centre mall, you come to a little park with a long and winding path (see above) which eventually leads, past some ballfields, to my door! (photo forthcoming)

Best. Supermarket. Ever.

One of the things I was apprehensive about before coming was making the $50 per diem last in what is famously an incredibly expensive city. It's been mostly manageable (though there were the usual up-front purchases of a few kitchen/household items, warmer clothes, toiletries, etc). Eating out seems sort of out of the question (it's funny that proportionally it's WAY more expensive than in NYC), so we've been doing a lot of cooking, which is what I prefer to do anyway. Luckily, groceries are not too expensive, and even exciting, since we've been shopping at the most amazing place, which is only 5 minutes away!:

It's a very simple affair, the People's Supermarket, pretty small and without frills, but they have great produce, local and organic products, and admirable goals, like "to create a supermarket that meets the needs of its members and the local community by offering high quality, healthy food at reasonable prices," "to create a working environment that values every one's contribution, is welcoming, safe and non-judgmental," and "to minimise wastage, by creating prepared dishes from food coming up to its sell-by date, and by composting all other waste material." Plus unlike similar places you don't have to be a member or work to shop there. I'll stop raving but if you're interested: http://www.thepeoplessupermarket.org/home/

Speaking of the jubilee weekend...

I didn't attend any of the lavish festivities, not very excited about standing in large crowds in the rain to applaud the monarchy. But it was pretty surprising how excited most people here seemed about it (probably in large part because they got two days off work. Let them eat cake!). There were Union Jacks everywhere, red white and blue flags decking out shops, pubs, and restaurants, and jubilee-related merchandise everywhere. Even Old El Paso wanted to join in the fun, as this absurd billboard from near my apartment demonstrates - an American company making "Mexican" food to be enjoyed by the Queen? Don't even get me started...