Wherein I recount...

the rest of my vacation, and a few other things.

Thursday the 1st, I spent a lot of the day at the science museum. Lots of interesting exhibits and scientific historical artifacts, though a few of the newer exhibits tried too hard to be "fun" at the expense of being informative; are kids really likely to learn anything about renewable energy from a bad Dance Dance Revolution clone? I also spent some time wandering around Picadilly Circus. Tacky, but amusing, much like Times Square.

Friday, I woke up early and took a train to Nottingham. After arriving, we had lunch at a vegetarian cafe and went for cocoa at a great place called Chocolate Utopia; after that, we went to the City of Caves, which was interesting, if somewhat tourist-trap-ish; Nottingham has a huge number of caves, and the tour there covered their use as tanneries and WWII bomb shelters. Afterwards, we vistited the Castle (no, it's not medieval) and a museum there. We avoided the Tales of Robin Hood, which apparently is an overpriced, Disneyesque indoor ride.

Saturday: went to synagogue with my parents, which was interesting largely because of the differences from the American services I'm familiar with - for instance, a prayer for the health of the Queen was given. After touring U. of Nottingham's campus (which is really quite nice) with Mom, Dad, and Aaron, and dinner at a Thai/Indonesian place, I went to a Purim party with Aaron. By the time it was over, I could still tell the difference between Mordecai and Haman, however.

Sunday, I had phô with Aaron at a Vietnamese place, and then took my flight back to Paris. It was great seeing him again - hopefully, his visit to Paris in a few weeks works out.

Sadly, I have to leave soon, for a French poetry slam on the outskirts of Paris; it should be fun, though probably mostly incomprehensible. I'll post more soon, probably including photos.