memiors of a mustard and other european thoughts

i was accidentally an illegal alien. when i arrived in dublin for my transfer, the immigration officer asked me how long i'd be in ireland and where i'd be staying. i said i was actually on my way to cambridge for a week. she sighed in an exasperated way and threw my passport back at me, pointing me to my new gate. when i got to london and wandered around until i finally asked where customs was. the guard said, "you're passed it! you got through!"i thought, "huh. that wasn't bad at all." because,in fact, i missed it. go figure.

illegal or not though, it was a fun trip. we spent the first couple of days at cambridge in jeff's apartment. obviously, the school doesn't expect multiple people to live in one room. it was...cozy. i appreciate a double bed so much more now.

i also appreciate grass. only faculty is allowed on the courtyard grass at cambridge. and in some parts they make the lawn especially big, to exphasize the drama and prestige of someone striding where others are not allowed.
on the other hand, they do have gardens where students can walk or study. jeff and i took pictures for posterity.




when we actually got to london, we did all the free stuff we could. here's the list:
- saw kensington palace and gardens.
- hyde park
- saw buckingham palace, and the beginning of the changing of the guard. we didn't stay because it was packed and i'm short.
- the outside of westminster abbey and st. catherine's chapel.
- the outside of harrod's
- big ben and the parlament building
- london eye (from a distance)
- covent garden (street market with lots of performers)
- the national gallery
- and the british museum



phew. i'm tired just thinking about it.



we grabbed some groceries on the way home. i love grocery shopping. the milk is expensive though, and comes in funny containers. otherwise, most things are pretty cheap. their cheese is amazing and cheap! and this mustard cost about a dollar. for whole grain, super-delicious, amazing mustard. we were going to bring it home (hence it's sitting in a sink of what was ice) but considering i was an illegal alien, and our backpacks were bursting already, we left it. i was sad.