We had a refreshing drink in the garden and Rhi & I passed out on the sofas when David left us alone for a moment to answer a phone call. He had quite a hard time waking us up, trying all sorts of tactics from the typical hey wake up, to banging pots and pans around in the kitchen. In the end a snack and a stern commanding to wake got us up and we went to the bigger garden to pick berries, which we only agreed to if we got to eat our findings with chocolate ice cream. All the houses I’ve been to (I hesitate to say a more general all, but I’m guessing its pretty close) have gardens in the back, David also had a plot in the communal garden a mile or so away. We picked black & raspberries, yellow and blue plums and apples then returned home to make dinner. 
It was a gorgeous meal – roast chicken with potatoes and greens and carrots. Both Rhi’s parents are very healthy, meals tended to be very much like ours at home ma & pa. The next morning we were woken with a biscuit and tea, and after many hours of piddling around the house (which was nice after the go go go pace I’ve been maintaining since I left home) we went to the most famous local spot. We debated between Shakespeare’s birthplace, a castle ruins and the castle ‘theme-park’, finally deciding on the last spot given its must-see reputation. I was thinking castle yeah yeah, but we got there and this was a CASTLE.Like I mean hardcore, built in the 11th century and lived in by Lords and Ladies until the middle of the 1900’s kind of castle. It was totally maintained, almost to the point of irritation, little things like blocking out little window holes and using artificial lighting instead. We wandered around for hours, watched a catapult show and an archery exhibition. 
Took pictures with some of the era costumes and in general wore ourselves out. It was difficult to grasp the scope of the history of the place (as with the country in general) because things have been around for so long, and any given room can only be decorated for one of any number of eras. They mixed it up a bit and we got a good sense of what it was like across the ages. 
It is absolutely amazing being in such an old building, of the type only dreamed of in the US, with such a different kind of age. In Nevada City a building looks ancient when its from the Gold Rush 150 years ago, here there are things from almost a thousand years on up till now all mixed together. It’s a totally different scope to think about. 
This was one of the big reoccurring themes throughout my journeys; I’d imagine it would be prevalent in any trip in Europe, the Middle East or parts of Asia, those areas where a somewhat consistent form of society has persisted through nearly all of our known history not only in culture but in visible landscapes and architecture.
We came home for an Asian-inspired dinner and then I started to plan my journey to London the next morning. David’s girlfriend, Iris, makes art with willows and straw and was consumed with a commission from Shredded Wheat which would be shown in a week in Leicester Square, London. Her mother Rhoda was finishing her master’s thesis in painting and was preparing for her final show, so there was an air of excitement and the anxiety of nearing completion around. Much like at Jocelyn’s house where she was in the last stages of finishing her PhD thesis. Exciting times. Rhoda only spoke a bit of English (she’s German) so we had a nice multicultural and academic artistic crowd, my time at UCSD made me very happy and comfortable with.
We had great talks of food, art, society and all the rest, and Iris told me about a friend of hers who was having a show in London which was of great interest to me – I plan to go to it as well as the modern art museum and a market, all which they recommended. Thank goodness as I had no plans, tour book or slightest notion of what to do with myself!
Took pictures with some of the era costumes and in general wore ourselves out. It was difficult to grasp the scope of the history of the place (as with the country in general) because things have been around for so long, and any given room can only be decorated for one of any number of eras. They mixed it up a bit and we got a good sense of what it was like across the ages. It is absolutely amazing being in such an old building, of the type only dreamed of in the US, with such a different kind of age. In Nevada City a building looks ancient when its from the Gold Rush 150 years ago, here there are things from almost a thousand years on up till now all mixed together. It’s a totally different scope to think about. This was one of the big reoccurring themes throughout my journeys; I’d imagine it would be prevalent in any trip in Europe, the Middle East or parts of Asia, those areas where a somewhat consistent form of society has persisted through nearly all of our known history not only in culture but in visible landscapes and architecture.We came home for an Asian-inspired dinner and then I started to plan my journey to London the next morning. David’s girlfriend, Iris, makes art with willows and straw and was consumed with a commission from Shredded Wheat which would be shown in a week in Leicester Square, London. Her mother Rhoda was finishing her master’s thesis in painting and was preparing for her final show, so there was an air of excitement and the anxiety of nearing completion around. Much like at Jocelyn’s house where she was in the last stages of finishing her PhD thesis. Exciting times. Rhoda only spoke a bit of English (she’s German) so we had a nice multicultural and academic artistic crowd, my time at UCSD made me very happy and comfortable with.
We had great talks of food, art, society and all the rest, and Iris told me about a friend of hers who was having a show in London which was of great interest to me – I plan to go to it as well as the modern art museum and a market, all which they recommended. Thank goodness as I had no plans, tour book or slightest notion of what to do with myself! 
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