We arrived on Thursday the 29th after leaving on an 11 am Eurostar from King’s Cross. Got in at 2 pm after a very pleasant train ride - Loveline is the best traveling companion. For the first night we were staying in a hostel on Rue D’Alsace. We asked a man for directions from Gare du Nord as we couldn’t find it on our maps. He told us it was way down in the 6th, by Saint Germain. This turned out to be false, we found out, after a very long walk with our heavy messenger bags. We saw lots of beautiful stuff on the way, but we saw that Rue D’Alsace had been right around the corner from where we started.

The hostels have been perfectly nice, I was surprised. Get a lot for what you pay for here. The Metro has also been a revelation. Very cheap and makes it very easy to get around.

So Day 1, the 29th: Dave has never been to Paris, but he’s an excellent travel companion. Good natured, easy to please, and appreciative of what he’s seeing. We saw Notre Dame, Tour St. Jacques and the St. Michel area as we walked around. We ate dinner at the Cafe Bonaparte in St. Germain. Dave ordered a Croque Monsieur and his reaction was loudly audible - he loves them! He has eaten three or four now, by my count. That night we also walked around the Louvre and Tuileries before heading back to the hostel.

Yesterday, the 30th, we woke up and switched hostels. While we waited to check in (after another long walk which could have easily been avoided, this time by metro), we ate a good lunch and got some pastries. We sat and watched a guy practicing bocci by himself - it was scary how accurate he was.

We took the tube to the Eiffel Tower and actually waited in line for the hour-plus to get on the elevator and took it all the way up to the top. Annalisa and Dad and I had gone to the second floor before, and I don’t think Dad would’ve been happy on the way up to the 3rd floor. I had trouble with it, but once we got up there it was really beautiful. The floor up there is metal plates, which sometimes without warning dip when you step on them - very disconcerting, although it was harmless. We got lots of good photos.

Afterwards, we tried to get into Napoleon’s Tomb at Les Invalides, but it was closed. Still, the oustide was nice, and the weather was gorgeous all day. About 80 degrees and sunny. We then tubed over to the Luxembourg Gardens, and watched six guys play bocci at a very high level. They also clearly knew each other well and were laughing and joking as they played.

We had dinner at a place called La Fontaine by St. Michel. Our waiter was very energetic and presented everything with a flourish. He complimented my French, as well. The steak and ice cream I had were both delicious. We headed down to the Pont Des Arts with some wine to enjoy the Friday night party out there, and to walk along the Seine and the Ile De La Cite. Very crowded, but it was fun. One French kid played Hit The Road Jack on his guitar and sang it, and I don’t think he quite understood the words…

I am now writing this from the Internet Cafe on Rue Git-le-Coeur, which my family will know. Breakfasted at Le Clou, and then headed over to Cluny. It was free as we were students, and yes, Mom. I got the rabbits. I was joking with the cashier in French about how my mother insisted I buy them, and she commented that Mom has a “passion” for rabbits. I explained, “Just THESE rabbits.” (They were on sale too, I’m just not sure how I’ll fit them in my bag).

The museum was very nice. Not sure why I threw such a tantrum about it when I was 8 or 9. Next was the Conciergerie, which was sadly a bit disappointing. Smaller areas than I remembered and the displays were kind of in disarray. Some things were missing that I remembered as well. Oh well, the main hall was still cool and it didn’t take long.

We also then made it into the Crypte of Notre Dame, and then inside Notre Dame, where I ran into a friend from Emory and there was a big choir singing. I’m going to insist Dave try Escargots tonight. He seems hesitant, but open to the suggestion.

I also had a long conversation last night in French with a security guard from Monoprix. He was from Africa and was very interested in America, and seemed to love the idea of it, and wanted me to give him authentic slang phrases in English. I tried my best. He complimented my French, and asked me which was better - Paris or New York. I said sometimes one, sometimes the other. He was stunned. He kept saying how New York had nicer buildings, and I agreed that they were indeed bigger, but not always nicer. Then I told him perhaps Chicago has nicer buildings than both. Really a difficult question. Who was better - Ted Williams or Lou Gehrig? I’d be happy with either one.

Off to Belgium tomorrow!

Tanner arrived early in the morning on the 26th, and left early in the morning on the 28th. In between, he told me a lot of stories about his semester in Africa, and showed me pictures and videos he took while down there. Highlights included photos of the summit of Kilimanjaro, a video of a scorpion stinging the lens of his camera, and about 6 lions falling asleep up against their jeep.

He was pretty worn out, understandably, and so we spent a lot of time just catching up and watching The Simpsons. Dave did join us as we headed down to the Tower Bridge area and looked around. We also met a friend of his from high school who is studying at Oxford and had a great dinner and an hour or so at a pub.

Today Dave and I checked out the Tower of London. The first time I’d been it was about Sophomore year of high school and I went with my family. It was some absurd heat wave and I remember squabbling and overwhelming heat.

Today was a little gray, but otherwise very pleasant. The White Tower has now been opened to the public, and serves as an armory. The revelation here was that James I had been given a suit of samurai armor by the shogun of Japan around 1610. This seems so unbelievable to me, and I got very excited about it. The trees were covered in new leaves, ivy covered the walls, and the whole experience was wonderful - except for maybe the entire school of French children who seemed willfully and hatefully unaware of their surroundings.

They have added a monument for notable people executed at the tower, and a big display of the crown jewels. There was a diamond there that was about the size of an apple embedded in a scepter. Huge cases of just enormous solid gold objects, clearly made “because we can”.

We also saw a little staged combat performance which was a bit silly, but fun. I’m glad they do those things.

Tomorrow I am off to Paris, Belgium, and Amsterdam and will return late on June 4th. Then I have a day to run last minute errands, pack, and say good-bye to London as I return to the states on the 6th.

It seems I begin every entry with an apology for slow activity. I’ve fallen very far behind in my correspondence with home, and other “internet obligation” type things. Part of this is due to having my last three papers due in a week.

I handed in two on May 12th - one on Tom Jones and one on Much Ado About Nothing. As mentioned previously on this site, I saw Much Ado at the National Theatre here in London, and I feel that it greatly shaped my opinion and understanding of the text.

The last paper was handed in on Monday the 19th, and I had quite an adventure with it. Carelessly, I assumed that I would be able to select my topic from the list of essay questions as had been the practice for the first one. So, having perused these and begun collecting sources, I checked the details of the assignment in my Affiliate Handbook on Sunday night - the night before it was due. It turns out that the second paper had an assigned topic, which was posted in the History department on the bulletin board. Now, this is where I see big differences between Emory and UCL. At Emory, the History department would email us our topics, or our professor would. At UCL they make one print out, and post it in a building that isn’t open on weekends.

Why can’t they email it to us? It’s old technology and a simple idea. It’s abundantly clear that they have our email addresses as we are bombarded with spam from the departments and student groups constantly.

After a few panicked emails, I resolved myself as to what to do. I woke up very early on Monday, made it down to the History building for its opening at 9 am, found my essay topic choices, selected one, researched it, and wrote it. I had it in by 3:30pm that afternoon, and with that I am done with academics for the semester.

Simultaneous to this time period I came down with congestion, then a cough, then a fever. Once the fever broke, my voice went away. I feel much better now, and my voice is almost all the way back. Still, very unpleasant.

I had guests from home in town for a few days this week, although we only got to spend one evening, and I had to cancel plans for the Tower of London with them due to illness. Tanner arrives from his travels in Africa next week, and he’ll be staying here a few days. Then it’s off to the continent one last time, this time with my friend David - and then off home.

I have quite a few other things to update, and am feeling newly inspired to do so.

The other day I went with my Emory group to see Shaw’s “Major Barbara” over at the National Theatre. Unlike the last time I went, it was now a warm spring day, and Embankment was beautiful in a different way. A glowing sunset.

Our seats were very good, and I was once again impressed with the sets and technical aspects of the show. The weapons factory emerged in a magnificent way on stage, with fog and noise, and platforms upon platforms of shells being lowered from the ceilings. The transition to the Salvation Army shelter was smooth and visually pleasing as well.

The actor playing Andrew Undershaft - Simon Russel Beale - was the same man who played Benedick in the Much Ado production reviewed here in an earlier post. He managed to sound very different, changing his voice to a much more baritone growl, but maintained the same amount of comedic timing and charm, with a capacity for tenderness.

The rest of the cast struck me as a bit weak, although for the most part they hit on their comedic lines. But Alponsus did not really establish clearly what was going on with his character at any point, and quite frankly the title character was flat. Barbara was certainly attractive, and had very distinctive mannerisms and facial expressions - but I feel like a lot of them were simply pointless business, as she has quite a bit of time on stage without lines. I did not really care whether or not she would still marry Alphonsus if he accepted her father’s offer. Mrs. Undershaft definitely fell under the heading of “Good Comedic Timing and Delivery”, but like Barbara, she went to the well with her business quite a bit. I wonder if it had to do with the director, because a lot of the actors had habits which - while not irritating - seemed to be indicating a little bit.

At times when cues were not immediately picked up I could tell it was supposed to give the impression, “Look at how REAL this is!” Instead it felt like the actors couldn’t quite remember what they were supposed to say.

Still, Undershaft carries the show, and it is still Shaw. I consider it worth seeing.

Annalisa has sent me the first third/half of the trip in bulleted event form, and did so several days ago. The delays are on my end as I have just finished my sixth paper of the semester, and I’m about to start in on the seventh. Both are due tomorrow. How’s that for time management?

To give a little taste of what will be coming, here’s a small thing that happened to me and me alone while I was in Paris.

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. The rest of the family was returning to the hotel for a few hours before dinner, but I still had some energy, so I decided to go for a walk with the promise of meeting them again at St. Germain. My goal was to see how close I could get to the Eiffel Tower by walking along the Seine in the hour and a half or so that I had. There were enormous amounts of people sunbathing down by the banks of the river, and I made sure to walk along the actual bank for as long as I could.

I got very close to the tower before I decided I would have to turn back. On the way back I saw an Asian man with very large, bulging eyes and a shaved head walking along the road in the opposite direction on a very crowded street. I glanced at him and looked away, not wanting to stare. For the next five minutes until he was out of sight, he kept staring at me over his shoulder. I kept looking back in disbelief, assuming he would have stopped, but it was like some horror movie where a character reveals they an swivel their neck 360 degrees.

There are some weird people out there.

I arrived back in London this past Sunday after traveling on the continent with my family for about 18 days. Fortunately, all three other Schaefers besides myself documented much of the trip, and I will be able to use their bullet lists to reconstruct the interesting elements of the trip for any readers that haven’t vacated these premises forever.

I picked up a paper from a professor today, and I was very pleased with the results. He was asking me what I thought of the History department, and I was glad to honestly tell him that I enjoyed my History courses here quite a bit. Then he was stunned to hear that I found UCL under-computerized. He said he remembered when he first started working here 11 years ago and essays were hand-written.

I will soon start posting from the beginning of the trip and work through it. It all seems a bit overwhelming at the moment, but I’m glad to be back, and even more happy that it’s sunny and beautiful here, and even MORE glad that summer is on the horizon.

The past two days with the family have been great. Yesterday we headed down to the National Gallery. I’ve been a few times, but going with an artist like my sister, and generally brilliant people such as my parents yields very good conversation. Annalisa really helped me appreciate some paintings in a new way - even the one I claimed was my favorite. Shows what I know. She noticed that the pines in A Winter Scene by Friedrich mirror the cathedral’s shape in the background.

Annalisa and my father both successfully guessed which one was my favorite in the room, although my mother’s guesses made me pay closer attention to a few other ones that I really enjoyed.

Today we went to Westminster Abbey.

A quick side note - London weather. I left Camden at about 12:30 and my walk to the tube I had to take off my coat as it was sunny and hot. When I emerged at Leicester Square 30 minutes later it was pouring and hailing. Chunks of ice were on my shoulders. Baffling.

It was really stunning how many royals and authors are buried at Westerminster. Edward I and III, Richard II, Henry VII, Elizabeth I and Mary I. Then there’s Henry James, T.S. Eliot, Noel Coward, and on and on. A beautiful building, although very busy. Tons and tons of people, and tons of objects and coffins and tombs packing every inch of it. Not the big open spaces like Salisbury Cathedral, for example.

The highlight had to be my dad noticing that the author my mom had written her PhD on was buried there as well. Thing is, it took her ages and she hated him. Bulwer Lytton I believe it was. So we watched and waited until she noticed it, and her reaction was priceless.

As we were all starving, we took the opportunity to hit up the National Gallery restaurant, and had a great tea and meal. We then went to the theater to see the Lord of the Rings musical/play thing. It was very strange, but on the whole enjoyable. Some scenes were kind of asinine, and the story telling was truncated in the interest of time. They skillfully (as Annalisa said) adapted the script, though, and their shortcuts made sense. The stage was a rotating disc, except it also had square sections of it that could rise and form ramps, platforms, and rocky scenes. The lighting was spectacular, and actors could descend from the ceiling.

The small scenes amongst Sam and Frodo and Gollum were very, very good, although I think I had quite enough of Galadriel whimpering about Lothlorien. The acting was spotty. Actors would be strong in one scene, and then behave as if they were uncertain of their lines and not pick up their cues quickly in the next. Gandalf sometimes spoke with great understanding, but other times bellowed for no reason. Boromir put in a strong performance. The best dialog was lifted right from the books, and fortunately they did that frequently.

The most amusing thing for me was that in between Acts II and III, orc actors roamed through the audience with the house lights off, growling at people. It startled me as I was right by one of the doors they first came through, and their movements were very animalistic. The best had to be when they found people in the audience who were terrified by it, and they hounded them. Excellent.

So tomorrow we head out to Italy, Switzerland, and France. I will try to update from the road, but if not, this will be on hiatus until April 27th or so. Needless to say, I will have quite a bit to write about then.

My family arrived in London early this morning.

For background, before I turned nine my family took our first trip to Europe. It was such a resounding success that we spent 2-3 weeks in Europe every year for the next 5 years, and six in total. So, for me to be in Europe the past 3 months without them has seemed strange. Sightseeing doesn’t quite seem to count without their presence and commentary. It was very refreshing to have their enthusiasm here again.

I met them at their hotel near Gloucester Road, which is in Kensington, a very posh area of London. I gave them the presents I had picked up for them in Denmark and Dublin, and then we headed out to a patisserie for lunch. Next we took the tube over to Leicester Square and walked down through Trafalgar Square, and down around Parliament and Westminster Abbey. On the way back we hit up two different pubs, one for a drink, and the next for dinner.

The conversation as always leaned towards the artistic, and whenever my Dad and I could sneak a moment, the White Sox. A wholly satisfying evening, and we have two and a half more days in London before we fly out to Rome. Very exciting.

I’ve spent most of the past week reading and dealing with various obligations. Today’s project has been to get my signatures and information on lease and rental agreements sent back to the states. Unfortunately UCL’s printing network has been down for about three weeks, and internet cafés that I’ve checked don’t have scanners. One of them said it did on the sign, but the employee informed me that the sign was false.

I’ve also spent a good deal of time listening to the archives of Loveline, the old radio show with Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew. Adam’s ability to come up with analogies and witty phrasings is really staggering. I’m envious of his off-the-cuff wit, and it’s really a pleasure to listen to.

My family arrives in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, I believe. I’ve been looking forward to their arrival ever since I arrived on January 2nd. Dan will also be in Rome and Florence around the same time we will.

I may be most excited to see Lausanne. It’s up by Lake Geneva, and has several Roman ruins nearby.

Yes, I’m still alive. Activity has been minimal on this end. Everybody’s out of town for the holidays, and I’m pretty much killing time until my family gets here. Fortunately, that’s coming up soon and it looks like Mom has put together a great trip. It’s interesting, traveling alone seems like it doesn’t count. It feels like you need another witness there with you to make it matter. Or perhaps I’m just co-dependent.

On a baseball note, I watched the White Sox-Indians game last night. The umpiring was pretty good up until it actually started to matter, and they blew an important call at home plate. Then Ozzie brought in Dotel for some reason, and left him in despite clearly not having any sort of control. I don’t really understand, but I guess if you sign them to big contracts you’re supposed to play them.