The Longest Weekend That Ever Was

Over the past three days, I have traveled from Oxford to Tintern Abbey in Wales, up to Grasmere in northern England, then down to Oxford, over to London and finally back to Oxford. It was a weekend that I could have never planned and will never experience again. My body is exhausted, but my heart is happy.

Saturday was the longest and most dramatic day of my weekend. I woke up in a quaint little cottage in Grasmere, England. Breakfast was all homemade by the inn keeper, Kate. Since I was in the English country side I opted for the "full english breakfast" option. It included ham (yum), sausage (yum), a poached egg (yum), tomatoes (yum) and mushrooms (yum) and baked beans (unexpected but also yum). Of course, it was all washed down with a cup of English Breakfast tea.

The precious inn we stayed at in Grasmere. 

After breakfast, we headed to Dove Cottage. My trip to Grasmere was apart of the excursion for my Romantic Literature class. The romantic poet, William Wordsworth, lived in Grasmere and wrote most of his important works there, specifically in Dove Cottage. The house was cute and old and full of history, but it was a typical historic museum house.

Following Dove Cottage we went to Wordsworth's manuscript museum. Museum is too harsh a word for this place. I think of museums as sterile places where you aren't allowed to touch anything. There is a glass wall between you and the history you came to see. At the Wordsworth Trust, Jeff, the curator, showed us one of Wordsworth's small writing books. This tattered blue book that had more creases from being bent open for writing than actual pages was incredible. The book was this nugget of history.  Inside, there was the handwriting of Wordsworth, his wife and his sister. There was line after line of Wordsworth attempting to translate the genius within his mind into poetry on paper. I eventually closed my jaw and suppressed my nerdy excitement, but it only got better.  

These are a few manuscripts copies that we worked with. 

Jeff asked us if we'd be interested in seeing a manuscript they had gotten in on Wednesday. Besides the employees and interns at the museum, we were the first to see it. The manuscript was a letter written by Dorothy Wordsworth, William's sister, to her doctor. Jeff then gave us a long white sheet of paper and had us decipher the handwriting from the original. I found out that 1) I can never be a school teacher, because I am terrible at making out handwriting and 2) there is so much more to these handwritten letters than the finite words on the page. We then discussed the letter and its place within the museum's collection. It was a once in a life time experience and something I'll never forget.

Once our session at the museum was over, our professor said we were going to take a little walk. At first I thought it would be a casual stroll around Grasmere or a maybe an easy trek around one of the lakes. I have never been so wrong.

Our little walk was actually a hike up a mountain. Also, we didn't know the hike would be so extensive or that it was going to be on year's the hottest day in England. So there I am in my trusty leopard print ballet flats, skinny jeans, and white blouse – not ideal hiking gear. It took about an hour and half of rocky paths and steep inclines to get up the mountain, but I have to say that the view from the top was well worth it.

The view from the top. 

At the top of the mountain, we walked over to a valley that inspired one of Wordsworth's poems. Our professor read the poem aloud and let us take in the scenery. It was absolutely beautiful. The color of the rolling hills in northern England redefines the color green. We slowly made our way down the mountain in an hour or so with no broken legs or sprained ankles – a success in my book.

The day should have been over after the hike. We were headed to the bus to drive the six hours back to Oxford, which we would happened if everything didn't go so terribly wrong.

About ten minutes into the bus ride, one of the graduate assistants on the trip got sick. Not the end of the world. We stopped, got her some water and let her do her thing. I was hopeful that she was just dehydrated and overly exhausted from the hike and just needed to, how do I put this delicately, "restart her systems." After our impromptu break, I put in my headphones and immediately fell asleep, because I am a champion road trip sleeper.

I wake up an hour later completely oblivious to the world, and we're at a rest stop. The poor girl who was sick before was still sick and had been for the entire ride. We took a break for her and a restroom break for everyone else. We all head to the Starbucks at the rest stop for some snacks. Then our driver sheepishly gets my professor's attention and pulls her aside to talk. After a long chat, she comes back to tell us this thrilling news:

There is a leak in the gas tank. The leak is so large that it is pouring gasoline onto the engine, which is overheating, and if we were to continue our trip with that bus, there would a risk of explosion. The driver called for another bus which would be there in at least three hours. Thus began our camp out at the Starbucks in the middle of no where England.

It really wasn't that bad. Especially when you consider the alternatives were getting stranded on the side of the road or spontaneously exploding. The rest stop had a Starbucks and free wifi. What more could ten American gals ask for?  The workers at the Starbucks even took pity on us and gave us free muffins. English hospitality is no joke.

The bus eventually came three hours later. The remaining five hours of our bus ride went by seamlessly, and we were back in Oxford at 1:30 a.m. It wasn't the 9:00 p.m. arrival time we expected, but we were all safe and now have a fantastic story to tell everyone at home.

I got back to my room, jumped into bed, slept for about five hours and then groggily got up to go to London for the day. I'm already a third of the way into my stay here. I wasn't about to let a near bus explosion and insufficient sleep to hold me back!