Blogs from Bloomsbury, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 6

Well, here I am, arrived at my dorm all safe and sound (although a little worse for the wear). I spent Friday night at my dance teacher's house, which was aboslutely wonderful, and it made me feel much better that Brian wouldn't be able to see me off. Saturday, my teacher and I spent quite a bit of time chatting, doing a little dance, and generally just trying to relax before my long flight. Her husband dropped me off at the train station, where I caught the New Jersey transit train to Newark. It is a miracle that, with the amount of stuff I had, I managed to get through the airport and to my plane just fine. I have: 1. a 50+ lb. rolling bag 2. a 25 lb. touring backpack 3. a 20 lb. ... read more

I know I've left you all hanging with what my big plan for last Thursday was, so here it is. I went horseback riding through Hyde Park, on Rotten Row. Apparently people have been riding these routes for several hundred years, especially the wealthy who had the time and money to ride for pleasure not just work. Anyway, I found this lovely little spot, from one of my guidebooks, and they set me up! They trusted that I could ride, so I hopped on and we went for an hour through the park. It was such a lovely way to see this beautiful green park full of gardens. Plus, I got to trot and canter, and really just enjoy! (and it didn't rain)! I was really pleased with the whole adventure. It gave me a new ... read more

So Saturday July 14, Angela left for home. We really had a marvelous time together, and it was sad to have her go, particularly since I probably won't see her until November, but other than that, we were happy! Once I had her safely on her way to the airport, lugging suitcases up and down stairwells for the tube, I hopped off and headed back into the city. I "alighted" in the Kensington area to finally go to Portabello Market. What a fun place it is! The tiny street is just lined with antique stores as well as little clothing shops, pubs, coffee and tea shops, and more! Then there are booths who come on Saturdays only: antique silver, maps, books, jewelry, modern of all the same, crafts, signs, posters, odds and ends, nick-nacks, foods ... read more

So today was our last class with Dr. Madsen, which just seems terribly sad to all of us! I was saying to my classmates that we should retake his class every summer in London, since he says that people take it multiple times anyway! I think we have all learned so much in such a short time about ourselves and that is a beautiful thing! I received a great birthday card from Gretchen today, and opened, my first to open! It was fun because we have such a nice history together. I also received a great compliment from the guys at "Eve's." Let me tell you a bit about Eve's. The London Center people told us they have good coffee, so we've been going there since the start of school, but they also have great ... read more

So yesterday was a celebratory day in the U.S. I wore red! But other than that, it was not a normal July 4. Our class spent the day at University College of London with four music experts. One is the lead professor of music education and research, two are associate professors, and one is a local music freelancer with children in music education. It was quite a day of learning from each of these experts who gave of their time so generously to us. We talked about the importance of music acquisition as early as possible, practiced our conducting gesture, learned some great new warm-ups with effective uses, and saw cutting edge technology for musical research. One of the greatest things stated all day had to do with the in utero responses of fetuses to music. ... read more