Summer in Cambridge

As of this writing, there are 57 days left until I grab my backpack and set out on yet another adventure. This time it'll be six weeks in England, studying at Cambridge University, preceded by a week or so in Dublin and interspersed with a few weekends of leisure travel in and around England, with a possible trip to Paris or Prague.

I've always wanted to do a semester abroad, and now in my senior year of college I'm finally making it happen. You can't do much better than Cambridge, the number one university in the world, especially for an English Literature major. Among Cambridge's literary alumni are John Milton, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, and A.A. Milne, to name but a few. I'll be staying at Gonville and Caius College, founded in 1348, and will have the opportunity to experience Cambridge student life while studying Shakespeare, J.M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll, and Phillip Pullman. I'll travel to London to see the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, to Stratford to see two Shakespeare plays in performance, and to Grantchester to have tea at the Orchard, where Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group spent their summers. I can't imagine a more perfect summer for an English student!

Right now I'm in the planning phase: making packing lists, sorting out airfare and rail tickets, and soaking up as much information about Cambridge as possible. It's the end of Spring Semester now at UAB, and my enthusiasm for the coming summer has become quite a distraction from the paper-writing and studying that should be consuming my time these days.

Right now, my travel plans are as follows: I fly from Birmingham, AL to Chicago, IL on June 28th for a long layover with an old friend before setting off for Dublin. I arrive in Dublin early the next morning, and will be there until July 6th or 7th. As a new "Joycean", I'm disappointed to be missing the great Bloomsday celebration, but I'll make up for it by exploring Sandymount Strand, the James Joyce Museum, and taking the Leopold Bloom walking tour through Dublin. I'll also visit the Guinness Brewery, the Jameson Distillery, and Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. From Dublin, I'll take a ferry and a train straight to Cambridge, and from there, my plans will probably be made on a day-by-day basis. I hope to explore England, as I've never really been out of London before and I'd love to see the English countryside. I also hope to travel to Europe, possibly to re-visit Paris (it's close and familiar) or explore Prague (I've wanted to go there for ages), or possibly somewhere else.

I'll try to update as much as possible, with pictures and stories, or you can keep up with me via Facebook. If you'd like my mobile number, e-mail or inbox me and I'll be glad to hear from you! I will post sporadically as my plans solidify, until June 29 when I arrive in Dublin. I'd love to be able to bring gifts back for everyone, but as my funds are extremely limited, I'll have to settle for postcards. If you'd like some real mail this summer, e-mail me your address and I'll be sure to send you something!