Odds and Ends--and Portugal!

Tut, tut, folks. Last post was my 111th--the eleventy-first post õn this blog. And I did nothing. Anyway, I have a lot to catch up on!



Last weekend, I ran down to London to meet up with another friend from the Barrowdowns. She had been living in the Netherlands for the semester, and was finishing up her trip in London. So we decided to go see the Lord of the Rings musical together. It was, simply, amazing. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. Okay, yeah, there were some plot issues--Denethor and Theoden were combined in weird, confusing ways--but it was visually stunning, the music was amazing, and, not going to lie, I was moved. (Also, we went to the science museum, which was fun, but not as fun as expected. Such is life).



Then, I had my first exam, in Norman and Plantagenet England. It wasn't as bad as I expected. I definitely wrote two high B/low A (at least) essays, but they do history differently here, so I don't know what will come of it. But I didn't die...



Wednesday, after my exam, I took off for Oxford, meeting Teri in London. Oxford was great. Thursday was ridiculously hot, but we wandered around some of the colleges and hung out in the city center, and it was fun. I liked it better than Cambridge because the weather was nicer, though I can see how you'd think Cambridge was nicer. And, I got to take in a lot of Tolkien sights, which made me quietly happy.



Friday, we flew to Lisbon. Lisbon is absolutely gorgeous. I love it. While it isn't as warm as I wanted it to be, especially after Thursday, the weather is lovely. Today, we went out to Sintra to see a mansion out there and run around in the garden. I can't even describe how cool this place was. You'll just have to wait for pictures!



Tomorrow, we go down to Lagos, on the south coast of Portugal. I'm pretty excited. Lisbon is great, but it'll be nice to get out and see some countryside!

I'm actually in Lagos right now, and it seems nice. I haven't been out much yet. I wrote this post a few days ago and didn't get a chance to post it. I'm still having fun!