House of Duomo - Part 1

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Ok, I know, I know, I am a little behind on the blog but it is only about a 2 and a half weeks, although it feels like months!

So when I left you I was sitting in JFK airport, Terminal 7 to be precise and spending the wait in the departure lounge listening to Michael Buble', updating the journal and doing suduko puzzles. Yes, I like Mr Buble' and yes, I do suduko. I am a nerd, you should realise that by now. And I am keeping a journal so that I remember what on earth I am to write on the blog. Despite having 2 empty journals waiting for me in England I've had to by another one here in New York because I used up the first one already!

But, I digress, I'm supposed to be talking about my travels here in England but I'm still yammering on about New York...oops! Ah well... So anyway, eventually we got on the plane and after a bit of a delay we were up in the air, flying back across the pond. Now at this point, I'm not sure if I was just over tired or it was the emotional emails I received that morning or just the fact I was having to say goodbye to such wonderful friends, I started to feel very sad. So sad in fact, that when decided to watch "PS, I Love You" I burst into tears at the first scene where the two actors are walking home. To my street. Where I was staying. In New York. Anyway, long story short, I didn't get any sleep on the plane and made it to London Heathrow feeling very, very tired.

Sailing through customs on my EU passport and then onto the underground, I finally made it to Willsden Green, which is on the Jubilee line, and treked to the apartment we had booked for 2 weeks, struggling along with my pack and my bag (which the groundstaff at either airport had kindly broken for me). I have to say to the man at the tube in Willsden Green who gave me directions, you are a beautiful man! Once I had made it through the front door, I collapsed on the stairs where luckily enough the owner/maintenance man kindly gave me the keys early and I trudged upstairs. Now I don't actually have any pictures of where we stayed but I will put some up once I steal them from my housemates!

The apartment itself was booked by Bob-lette, Physicist of Team Duomo, and was to house, John, aka Gonad Man, and Rangerover lover, Sami aka Bo-at, Angie, our team chef, and myself. So there I was in a one bedroom flat, set up to sleep 6 people, absolutely exhausted. So I promptly put myself to bed! And after a couple of hours sleep, from which I woke even more dopey, the girls arrived and after heaving what can only be said to be the heaviest bags in the world up to the 3rd floor and having a quick gossip, the boys arrived too and the House of Duomo was complete.

For the next 2 weeks we lived in this little flat all 5 of us with no fighting, arguing or mischief (does waxing John's feet count as mischief?). Amazing. Sharing the responsibility of cooking, although I have to admit a lot fell to poor Ang, the chef of our party, we were well fed and housed. We were a little naughty, with lots of late nights, sitting up to all hours chatting and listening to music, eating 2 whole boxes of Krispy Kremes (that's 24 doughnuts! Sami, I am sending you the bill for my new cholesterol tablets!), feasting on caramel wafer biscuits (did you know they come in milk AND dark chocolate) as well as indulging in lots of yummy cheese. The only real catastrophe was when we arrived home only to find that the roof above our bathroom had collapsed. That's right, there is/was apparently a leak and the plaster ceiling caved in, right down the stairs on the landing above the phone! Not our fault at all but it made one feel a little apprehensive about using the bathroom! At one point the possibility of the bath falling down the stairs and launching itself out of the front door and down the road was discussed, making showering feel like it could possibly become an extreme sport!

All the toursity spots were visited, Trafalger Square (more than once!), Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace (ok, i missed that one, but I saw it when I was here in March - I promise), Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus (very good hot chocolate nearby, and a great little market). We also all visited various gallery's and museums, both as a group or on various individual expeditions. Bob and I were lucky enough to see the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum which has a phenomenal collection of artifacts from all over the world, which I can't help thinking are a dramatic example of the consequences of colonialism. Wouldn't the Egyptians rather we go there to visit Egypt and learn about their culture and history rather than be provided the British version? Perhaps I am being too judgemental, or perhaps I am unduely influenced by the various court cases arguing for corpses and body parts to be returned to their true homes. But there is something rather unnerving about seeing young children having their smiling photographs taken with an ancient mummy, or mummified cat.

From the British Museum, it was on to Regents Park which became the site for many a picnic. Did you know that one pigeon managed to eat 14 almonds? I wasn't there but I was told about it! This is such a beautiful park, one of many lovely gardens and just relaxing in the warm sunshine was absolutely glorious, although now the weather has turned cold again.

A couple of days after arriving back in London, Nessa kindly organised for Team Duomo to return to da coacha and visit Bath and Stonehenge. Bath is absolutely gorgeous, with lots of beautiful buildings built with this honey coloured stone. We visted the the old Roman Baths, which in actual fact have had three separate incarnations thoroughout the past. With an extensive tour, guided by a free audio guide, it was easy to see how the baths had functioned and played an extensive role in society across the ages. I would love to go back to Bath and spend some more time exploring the town itself, if only for a weekend. As you can see from the pictures, it is very pretty - yay, more tulips!

After taking a few happy snaps and a quick lunch, it was back on da coacha, where I promptly passed out. I seriously don't think I have ever been so tired. Every time I tried to open my eyes it was a stuggle so I just gave up and had a nap! Then, Stonehenge. Wow, what an amazing sight. In a field in seemingly the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by grass and a handful of sheep, these big stone blocks stand in their symetrical pattern. With another informative audio guide (I really like these, much easier to learn about these amazing places than struggling to see a sign on the wall that everyone is crowding around) we wandered around, taking it all in. During the same time period when it is thought Stonehenge was built, the Egyptians were building the pyramids, giving you an odd context in which to view this strange structure. And, while it is commonly thought it could have been built by the druids, this has been denounced because druids commonly used woodland settings and glades, not large open spaces. It is amazing and confounding all at once. This structure lines up with the midsummer and midwinter sun, aligned somehow to the calendar of the earth.

The following day we headed to the hustle and bustle of Camden Markets, which are fabulous. I only wish I had a little more room in my luggage and was earning pounds so I could treat myself to a couple of items! I do believe that I will be going back! At the very least I can find myself a new nose ring there, with piercing and tattoo places everywhere. Go the punk culture!

With such glorious weather it was off the following day to Hamstead Heath for another picinic, where we indulged in the largest water crackers I have ever seen - as you can tell from the pictures! The papers here love to take pictures of people out and about enjoying the weather so we were forced to endjure a photographer taking pictures of this group of barely clad teenage girls. Tedious group of posers.

Now as you are probably aware I have a bit of a thing for the academic - and by that I don't mean those smelly old men that have no idea what is going on around them becaue they are so absorbed by their studies - I mean academia, learning, education...curiosity and the search for answers. So, off to Cambridge we went! Luckily for me, I have some old work colleagues who are now working in Cambridge, Kerry and Shehan, and I was lucky enough to catch up with Kerry on her lunch break. Cambridge is a very picturesque town, similar but different to Oxford (perhaps I only think so because the weather when I visited Oxford was so different when I was there!). With beautiful, large colleges, hiding perfectly manicured lawns and undoubtedly some very hard working minds behind their gates, we wandered around taking in the views. Watching people relaxing in the sunshine and gliding up and down the river Cam, punting along, you can see how studying here would be so easy. Or maybe the sun has gotten to me! Catching the train back to London, I was again so suprised how small this country is - less than an hour by train to London! You could almost commute!

Here concludes part 1...House of Duomo...please turn the tape over to hear part 2...

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Photos

Aw...
John, Bob, Angi and Sami

The Spring itself
you should be able to see bubbles

Comments

[Michaela]

points to consider
1. damn you and your spring like weather, while im over here dying of a winter that will never end. 2. love the tulips, and the tulip trench. 3. the pigeon must have been counting calories/watching it's figure. we all know that 14 almonds is exactly one half of a standard serving. really. i know these things. 4. the british colonised everything that moved. its ok. we got them back with vegemite.