Halloween Holidays

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, spooky movies and parties, dressing up, eating candy, and carving pumpkins. What’s not to love? Too bad Halloween isn’t that big in the UK. But before we get to Halloween we must recap on the last ten days. To sum it up: my feet hurt.  I’m still exhausted from my holiday but it was wonderful, and a few things I’ve discovered: The UK and the continent (as the Brits say) are two very different places, I never thought I liked red wine until I went to Italy, Michelangelo was incredible, eating out for ten days straight is EXPENSIVE, Amsterdam is actually gorgeous, having to pay for ketchup and bathrooms is ridiculous. But I’m back in London on familiar ground in a country where I speak the language and I couldn’t be happier. All the girls in my house plan on watching Halloween movies all day, making some variation of apple cider, and then dancing the night away at a masquerade ball tonight.  It'll be such a nice relaxing day after all our travels. And to put everyone in the mood for Halloween festivities here is one of my favorite pieces of literature:

Round about the cauldron go;

In the poisoned entrails throw:

Toad that under cold stone

Days and night has thirty-one.

Sweltered venom, sleeping got,

Boil thou first I’the charmèd pot.

Double, double, toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake

In the cauldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder’s fork, and blind-wonrm’s sting,

Lizard’s leg and howlet’s wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth, boil and bubble.

Double, double, toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,

Witch’s mummy, maw and gulf

Of the ravined salt sea shark,

Root of hemlock digged I’the dark,

Liver of blaspheming Jew,

Gall of goat, and slips of yew

Slivered in the moon’s eclipse,

Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips,

Finger of birth-strangled babe,

Ditch-delivered by a drab,

Make the gruel thick and slab.

Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron

For the ingredience of our cauldron.

Double, double, toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

{IV. I. Macbeth, William Shakespeare}

Happy Halloween everyone!

Joining the Jet Set

{My last food field trip was last night to Sambrook's Brewery}

I have one more class this afternoon then I’m grabbing my stuff and flying over to Milan.  I’m actually quite sad my classes are over, even though they were easy they were by no means a joke.  They were just so fun and interesting that they didn’t seem like work. It’ll really stink when I’m back in the states and taking vertebrates lab and other classes that definitely can’t meet in a pub. But before I have to face that little piece of reality I’m going off to Italy for six days with my best friend who happens to be studying in Paris.  I am beyond excited to explore Italy, eat lots of pizza, gelato, pasta, Italian wine, and soak up the Tuscan sun with her.  After that I’m jetting over to Amsterdam and then back to London to spend a month taking one class and being a total tourist.  I’ll probably be too busy soaking up all the beautiful places I’m going to post, so everyone have a wonderful week!

Halloween-inspired

{Hummingbird Bakery decorated for Halloween}

 Halloween is very soon and just about everyone will be back from fall break to celebrate. I’m trying to plan some things I’d like to do now, but unfortunately Halloween isn’t as big here as it is in the States.  The British have lots of delicious cider but they don’t have regular, as in non-alcoholic, hot apple cider.  If anyone has any good fall/Halloween inspired recipes for hot apple cider (spiked or not), pumpkin bread or muffins, or other good treats please share in the comments below! They would really help make our British Halloween a special one.

{More stores have Christmas than Halloween decorations!}

Finals Week

{Scenic park in Chelsea}

Happy Tuesday everyone! It’s only been about two days but this week has already been crazy.  After a fun weekend that started with my class meeting at a pub on Friday and was then filled with techno music, the week and its work have set upon all my friends and me.  It’s finals week here and although it’ll probably be my easiest finals since middle/high school, it’s still finals. And as always, I tend to let the stress of tests get to me, especially when I’m worrying about flying by myself to a foreign country this Friday.  So I went for a walk and soaked in the beautiful city in fall and reminded myself that fall break will be an amazing experience. Then I bought chocolate cake from Hummingbird Bakery.

{Most expensive houses in London}

{The Cinema}

Tate Modern

{Eliza darling, this one's for you}

I finally got to go to an art museum last week.  As I said before all the museums in London are free, which is incredibly nice and convenient.  I went to the Tate Modern for class but ventured back there on my own by the end of the week.  The building used to be a power plant so it’s very industrial and open inside.  The permanent art they have is expressionism, abstract expressionism, surrealism and such. There’s Dali, Picasso, Pollock, and Warhols.  It’s not my favorite kind of art to look at; I’m more of an impressionism kind of girl, you know Degas, Monet, Renoir.  But they had this one piece that was huge and I immediately loved from far away. After I walked up to it I realized it was a Monet, so no wonder I liked it.  Why it was in the abstract expressionism section I’m still not clear on.  Either way walking around for a couple of hours there was refreshing and inspiring.

*We weren't allowed to use flash photography so these pictures don't do the art justice.

{Water Lilies 1916, Claude Monet}

{Jackson Pollock}

{Unfortunately I forget the name of the artist}

{Salvador Dali}

{Pablo Picasso}

"Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable." -George Bernard Shaw

Five Things

{Traces of fall}

I stole the idea for this post from my favorite blogger, Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere.  This week has flown by and so has the term; next week is my last week of classes. As the classes end and then I jet off for fall break I have lots of things to do in the coming days.  From papers, printing tickets and planning for Halloween, the days will be packed. So here’s five little things currently making me happy.  

{Picturesque teacup from the wonderful world of Harrods}

{Pretty magazines and postcards serve as art}

{Delectable organic ice cream}

{Being able to rock the denim on denim look}

As an added sixth thing, this was us post-horseback riding. I thought it was a cute picture.

Theatre Thursdays

{My favorite theatre}

I return to you again just coming from the Royal Court Theatre.  The playwright of “The Faith Machine”, Alexi, was there! So we all got to tell him how wonderful we thought the show was and everyone but me got him to sign their copy of the play.  But, I saw “Jumpy” by April De Angelis; it was opening night and wonderful.  I have really come to love the Royal Court because it has such a great ambiance and atmosphere. If you’re ever in London you should definitely make a trip there, and the play is bound to be good. I would love to go back if I can before I leave. 

{I got the playwright to sign my copy!}

I also really cooked tonight, which I don't do as much as I should.  I’ve been deprived of fish and relished this meal, and I’m quite proud of it actually. I used this recipe and I also had broccoli, it just wasn't done cooking yet :) 

{Delicious food and hints of October make a perfect night}