To Float on the Wayward Wind

Dover It's taken me quite some time to get this blog post up, but I'm dedicated to cataloguing each of my excursions. This one was a whirlwind, as they all are seeming to be to date. I went to Dover Saturday morning and planned to head to Canterbury that night, stay the night in Canterbury, see Canterbury Sunday, and return late Sunday night. It was a slog, but well worth it. When I arrived in Dover I was fortunate to be able to store my luggage at a pub across the way from the one train station in Dover. I wandered for a bit until I found the center of town and a tourist information center. This was a good thing because on my way I noticed... a huge castle... that I hadn't known about at all! After receiving instructions from the tourist office I proceeded right up to the castle since they told me that was the first thing to do and it did look impressive. It was a surprisingly easy hike compared with what I would have expected given how imperiously the castle towe...

My review of the Royal Opera House's production of Strauss' Elektra has been posted at: http://passionofopera.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/not-quite-frenetic-madness-strauss.html

My review of the Royal Opera House's production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro  has been posted at: http://passionofopera.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/a-classic-in-fine-form-mozarts-le-nozze.html

Well, with that somewhat less than gorgeous but characteristically "London" view out the window of my little room, I can say I'm settled into London. I think I was the only one in the program to take a cab in from the tube. I don't know if that makes me elitist but it was sure as hell easier with all I had to lug. Over the next couple of days buying groceries, a few kitchen essentials, and hooks & hangers for clothes were essential tasks. Fortunately, the local department store, apparently once frequented by none other than Princess Diana, was on hand. Since then I have had a whole variety of wonderful, informative experiences. Before the week of orientation ended I had a "traditional pub lunch" of fish and chips (although a street vendor I tried was better!), met some of my professors, visited the Foundation House building where classes are held, and gotten acquainted with the other Lawrence people at the Lawrence London Centre this term. In tan...