Though neither Ryan nor I celebrate easter we did recieve lots of nice easter greetings and certainly always appreciate a chance to say hello and wish our loved ones well! So, hope you all had a happy easter! On our side of the pond, the weather is finally giving indications of summer to come, with the occassional bright and sunny day and finally a bit of warmth! We are trying to take full advantage of this by getting outside as much as possible! Since I have been finally feeling better we have been running a lot, and on friday we went for a 18 mile bike ride out of the city. To our delight, we discovered that there is a really neat old canal just a few blocks from our place that flows through several aquaducts right out of town, along side it is lots of vegetation and yes, a fairly new bike path. Feeling inspired we are now discovering a number of hidden bike routes throughout the city and so hopefully we can start riding instead of taking the bus anymore.
Other than the outdoor adventures, the last few weeks have been somewhat eventful. Ryan went on holiday to Amsterdam (a posting with pictures is promised to follow), and I went to London to meet Queen Elizabeth II and some of her family (no, her grandsons were NOT there). On both counts, we had a very good time. For my part, the reception with the queen was extremely interesting (no I do not have pictures, cameras were not allowed so you will have to take my word for it). I have to say I felt pretty dang special passing through all the tourists mobbed at the palace gate to stroll right inside! The palace was very beautiful, with a whole lot of guilded mouldings and some very old furniture. There were about 400 Americans there, some a real variety of fields, some of whom were famous, though most of us just happened to be in the UK and somewhat well-connect ed to the right people (turns out one of the main guys in charge of the guest list was a formal Marshall Scholar!). A highlight for me was the photographer Annie Leibowitz. Apparently a few real famous people, like Gweneth Paltrow and Madonna were invited but they didn't show (I did see Paltrow's nametag on the table!). Anyway, I did get to spend lots of time chatting with some Fulbrights and members of the Oxford rowing team, as well as a few American-born footballers. I did meet the Queen and shook her hand (she wore a black glove). What I can say is that she is a very pleasant and interesting lady. She looked very nice in a yellow tweed suit, though I was surprised how short she is! I guess famous people really do seem larger than life to us.. Anyhow, she is a keen feminist in her own way and was very interested in us students. I think that if I would have had the chance, I could have really enjoyed a long chat with her. Unfortunately I just missed out on that because I had drifted away from my friends and just as I returned they told me the Queen had just been there for several minutes chatting! Oh well. I did get to have several prolonged chats with the Duke of Edinburgh (her husband), who I must say was a rather funny guy (and not in the ha, ha way). There were also lots of really old, rich royals, and all together (with exception to the queen) they struck me as pretty snooty blue-bloods. Incredibly old-fashioned and not very keen on anything too intellectual. One of the highlights, was talking with members of the royal houshold, most of whom were former military men, who had become the personal secretaries, etc of different royals. The queen had about six or seven staff, while other members of the houshold had a few each. It was really interesting to hear how carefully orchestrated everything was, especially with regard to the queen, as while the staff made it a point to blend in with all the guests, they at the same time were constantly watching her, and monitoring who got close to her and how many people were around her at a given time so that she didn't stay too long in one place but didn't get mobbed either. I especially enjoyed the waiters, who would silently use their giant silver trays to manage the crowd, and politely urge us from one room to the other! Overall, the whole thing was a lot of fun and makes a great story to tell!
I had cocktails in this room!!
Other than that, I have been plugging away at my schoolwork and looking forward to the visit of Amy and Max this next week! I am sure that by next monday I will have much more to tell you all.
Much love from Scotland
Alletta
No comments:
Post a Comment