So, I've been back a little less than a week and I've already fallen back into old routines. For those of you who didn't know, I'm in Oxford right now. I'm on another study abroad trip through ACU and I couldn't be happier. I got into London on Friday around noon, local time, spent a couple days there, and headed to Oxford on Sunday. It's been a quick few days, and it's not like I've seen a ton of stuff, but I'm so happy to be back. Everything I've done isn't new to me so I feel like posting about it would be slightly repetitive, except for Borough Market. I can't even explain in coherent words how much this place is my mecca. For a foodie traveler, this place has it all- fresh vegetables, meats of every variety (and I mean EVERY variety, there was even a kangaroo burger), TRUFFLES, aged cheeses, olives, ales, wines, vinegars, oils, breads, jams, I could probably go on for a day and half and still not cover it all.
The "official" Borough Market stand, where you can buy aprons, bags, coolers, potholders, and more. I of course, bought a re-usable grocery bag- so much better than carrying around all the plastic sacks from various vendors. ;)
Anyways, I probably spent more there than I should have, but when in Rome (or in this case, London), right? I think the food is my favorite part of traveling. The way things are cooked, what's available in the region, it all part of the culture of a city, of a country, even. I think it speaks volumes about the culture and the way people live, even in this day and age where you can have stuff flown in from the coast and on a customer's plate in a matter of hours. The fact that I see leek and potato soup everywhere I go, and local ciders each have a distinct flavor of their region amazes me because it speaks so much to how the people live.
Other than the food market in London I spent some time in Camden (yay cheap Chinese food and horse-stall shops!) and now I'm in Oxford. We got to tour some things today that I hadn't seen the last time around, and it's so interesting to be learning the true history behind all of the things I walked by without a second thought last time. I'm taking a Europe since 1914 History course here, and these first few days are loaded with readings and assignments while we have a classroom available to us. This Thursday we'll take our first exam and head to London as a class to see the War Rooms and a few monuments before heading out to Germany- Berlin to be exact. After Berlin we'll head to Prague, Czech Republic then Leipzig, Germany to wrap up the school portion of the trip. I'm so looking forward to seeing new things and experiencing new cultures- however not looking forward to the 50 pages of reading I have to present on in just a couple of days. After school concludes I'll be heading with Regan and Hannah to Greece for a nice two-week lounge on the beach vacation before heading back to Abilene (when it comes to this point, I might flat-out refuse to return and just live on an island forever) to work and move into the new apartment. Stay tuned these next few weeks for posts, as I've got some new tech that makes it much easier to post on the go while I'm here. Here's to hoping I'll be better about it than last time!
