Okay, for one, I've been attempting to complete an entire masters thesis in less than 3 months (ALMOST DONE!). And two, I've also been attempting to squeeze in copious amounts of fun and see as much of and visit as many people in England/Scotland/Ireland/ Europe as time has allowed this summer between bouts of said thesis. The end result? I have hundreds upon hundreds of photos, loads of good stories, and only about 5 draft blog entries (which I never managed to finish writing and post) to show for it. Sigh. And I had such good intentions.
Considering that I'm turning in my thesis on Monday, defending (ORAL VIVAS!) on Wednesday, partying like it's (a decade past) 1999 and saying likely-to-be-tearful goodbyes to a lot of truly wonderful people on Friday and Saturday, packing on the following Monday, flying home that Tuesday, and getting a much needed haircut on Thursday (whoo hoo!), I decided that one final act of procrastination, in the form of a highlights reel, might be in order. So, here we go, a selection of favo(u)rite pictures from a truly fantastic summer:
ROLL TAPE#1
Location: Nottingham
Month: March
Purpose: To visit our dear friend Darren before he moved far, far away to Exeter. And to visit our other dear friend, Clare. And to meet Robin Hood, which of course, we did.
We also explored many historic things, such as this famous pub, which was the last stop and meeting point for knights heading out on The Crusades (thus the name, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalum). Obviously, we were able to learn more about these crusaders by enjoying a pint or two in this history-laden pub, which happens to also be built into caves! So there were nifty limestone ceilings to gaze at while drinking said pints. 
We also found yet ANOTHER pub that had caves. This time, they were down in the cellar. Apparently Nottingham used to have a huge underground network of caves connecting much of the city. As one might imagine, this network was a boon to smugglers and evil-doers, so it was eventually closed off. But individual pockets of cave-network still exist, which you can visit if you sweet talk the barmen, which we did with aplomb.
There were also modern things to gaze upon, such as this awesome metal reflecting-dish/sculpture, which made for fun photo-opts.
This is the 'Left Lion' - the official meeting spot in Nottingham. As in, you want to meet your friends downtown but it's the olden days and there are no cell phones, so you would pick a time and tell them to meet you at the left lion. There is a right lion as well, but apparently no one cares about that one. Sad, really.
We did not ride the prettily lit-up ferris wheel, but it was pretty, and very close to the left lion, and I was a picture taking fiend on this particular trip, so yeah. 
We also learned that the people of Nottingham are multitaskers. They have created an establishment for gettin' their church on while ALSO gettin' their drink on. Yup. A bar. A bar INSIDE a church. A REAL church, with stained glass windows and everything. Now, I'm not a religious person, but even I felt a little odd watching scantily clad young women getting their jollies by dancing where the alter would normally stand. This is apparently what happens when The Church has too many churches and can't afford to keep them all. They get sold. And turned into bars. Hmm... I wonder, What Would Jesus Drink?
And finally, what trip to Nottingham would be complete without Darren and I commandeering some dinosaur costumes in the children's section of the Nottingham Castle Museum and having a ruckus-filled dinosaur fight? Good thing Andrew was there to document this PREhistoric event. Oh, and no matter what Darren says, I totally won.
ROAD TRIP#2
Location: The Lake District
Month: also March
Purpose: To celebrate Darren and his roommate (the other) Caroline's 30th birthdays by taking over an entire hostel (pictured below) in one of the most remote areas of England.
The first day in the Lake District we decided we would hike many miles in order to locate one of these famous lakes. It was a gorgeous hike, and while we started with about 40 people, by the time we reached the lake that number had dwindled to about 6. Generally, people hiked for an amount of time inversely proportional to how hungover they were from festivities the night before. 
There were many treacherous obstacles on the hike. It was very windy (windy enough that I could open my coat, lean into the wind, and do the Michael Jackson move from the Billie Jean video, which I did... repeatedly), and it kept threatening to rain/snow/hail on us, but it didn't, thankfully.
There were even dangerous river crossings, with no passing natives to help us ford the raging rapids nor oxen to pull us across in a caulked wagon. Sigh. Below, Darren demonstrates the proper technique for such a crossing.
Finally, we made it to the lake.
SUCCESS! PROOF! DARREN! CAROLINE! LAKE! MOUNTAIN! 
...where we stopped an enjoyed the scenery, a few sandwiches, and a bit of whiskey. Few things warm the soul like sharing breathtaking views and a flask of whiskey with good friends on a cold day.
Then the sky became slightly menacing, so we proceeded back to our hostel to drink more whiskey and eat birthday cake.
It is also worth mentioning that this is the trip on which I learned how to drive on the wrong side of the road. My patient and steadfast navigator, Andrew, helped me through the various traffic circles and tiny, windy (how do you differentiate between wind-dee, as in the wind was blowing me all over the road, and wine-dee, as in the road was very twisty - they're spelled the same! - anyway, I mean the second one) roads lined with high stone walls which keep you from seeing around the corners and force you to (a) honk to avoid hitting other cars, trucks, sheeps, etc. hiding around the corners and (b) back up until you find the nearest bit of shoulder to pull onto so that those other cars and trucks can get around you. Maria, stuck in the backseat, was fantastic as snack and entertainment director, and did not get car sick, just to give props where props are due. The somewhat stressful nature of the teeny tiny one-lane stone-wall-lined roads in the Lake District is also partly to blame for the elsewhere emphasis on whiskey. I needed something strong to help relax my white knuckled steering-wheel-grip enough that I could be pried from the car...
Anyway, when we left the Lake District, we decided it would be fun (and more direct) to drive over Hard Knock Pass. This pass, which is closed in the winter because it becomes dangerous and significantly less pass-able, is considered one of the worst/most challenging roads in England. Why did I think this was a good idea? Because I LIKE challenges, because I live for danger... and because I didn't know any better. I really got a kick out of all the CAUTION, STEEP GRADE! signs, which were punctuated by evidence of trucks running off the road in various unfortunate places.
In any event, the boys only had to get out and push once, I mastered the use of the handbrake when starting in first gear on a steep hill, I finally stopped accidentally downshifting into 4th gear (problematic when you are aiming for 2nd), we didn't hit any cyclists, we did not hurt the car, and afterwards I felt that I TRULY had learned how to drive in England. Plus we all got home alive. Success!
FESTIVITIES#3
Location: La Tasca Restaurant in Leicester
Month: early April
Purpose: Celebrations resulting from the end of the second semester of classes. We still had lots of final projects to do to actually complete those classes, but as many of our classmates would not be coming back to Leicester to finish those assignments, we felt a celebration was in order.
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