
Dr. BeardoPuff
[London] My Study Abroad class leaves today. My flight out isn't until 10:30pm EST.

Dr. BeardoPuff
I've been packed since the 23rd and in a state of "well, now what" since then.

Dr. BeardoPuff
Dog has been given to a friend to dogsit whilst I am gone.

Dr. BeardoPuff
laid low by ennui


Dr. BeardoPuff
I'm waffling between bringing my (smaller, mostly just internet browser) work laptop, or my personal (larger, able to install my own programs) laptop or NO laptop.

Dr. BeardoPuff
I don't technically need one. And in theory I should be Going to London and Seeing and Doing Things while there.

Dr. BeardoPuff
But also I'm leading a class during the day and will be spending 4-8 hours a day out of the hotel and at various Places of Interest.

Dr. BeardoPuff
And I know that, mentally, I'm going to need some me time.

Dr. BeardoPuff
(I have tickets to the Globe for one night on my own already)

Dr. BeardoPuff
(Gonna see All's Well that Ends Well at the candlelit indoors theatre)

Bret 🍄🟫
planning downtime is important uAu

Dr. BeardoPuff
PLACES I AM TAKING MY CLASS: Highgate Cemetery, the British Museum, the British Library, the Keats' House Museum, the Dickens House Museum, the Foundling Museum, the Tate Museum, the Tower of London

Bret 🍄🟫
that is many places!

Dr. BeardoPuff
Bath (the city) and Oxford where we're getting a tour of St. John's and the surrounding area by my friend Matt and then meeting with Tamsyn to talk about her writing process.

Dr. BeardoPuff
We're going on a Bram Stoker walking tour (daytime), a Jack the Ripper walking tour (nighttime) and we're going to see Hadestown as a class in the West End.

Bret 🍄🟫
ohoho

Dr. BeardoPuff
I think. I'm going to bring. My personal laptop.

Bret 🍄🟫
nods deeply

Dr. BeardoPuff
It should still fit in my messenger bag.

Dr. BeardoPuff
I've required my students to join a Discord and post things for various museum visits.

Dr. BeardoPuff
And I cannot install Discord on my university laptop. :\

Dr. BeardoPuff
(I know, there's a browser version, but still)

Dr. BeardoPuff
We get back Jan 8th. THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS whoops.

Dr. BeardoPuff
Because I have to be at the airport at 7pm and I lose an hour driving there and I need to get dinner BEFORE the flight... I have to leave in like 40 minutes.

Bret 🍄🟫
oops

Bret 🍄🟫
HAVE A SAFE JOURNEY

Dr. BeardoPuff
THANK

G30FF
Safe journey!

Dr. BeardoPuff
THANK

Dr. BeardoPuff
AN FAREWELL CATTE??



Unthwackability
Safe journey! Let Catte bring good luck!

Pixel
Catto!

Pixel
And good luck!

Bret 🍄🟫
they will guard the home

Dr. BeardoPuff
ate good Japanese dinner in Atlanta before getting to the airport.

Bret 🍄🟫
:9

Dr. BeardoPuff


Bret 🍄🟫
oishii

Dr. BeardoPuff
waiting for the student to arrive.

Teeff
Safe journey!!! I do genuinely enjoy London!

Teeff
If you're going to places dotted along the Thames - I suggest using the Thames Clipper, they're little catamarans that go along the river and have drop-off points all along it. The quickest way around the city as a whole though is always gonna be the Underground -might be a tick if you've got a gaggle of students to wrangle but absolutely cheaper than taxis

Dr. BeardoPuff
I've got 4500 tube station connections planned out

Dr. BeardoPuff
I've got a small group, only 6 students

Dr. BeardoPuff
The hotel is in Mayfair.

Dr. BeardoPuff
Buckingham Palace within a 15 minute walk.

curby&coughing
have fun, have a wonderful trip! may the catte bring good tidings

Dr. BeardoPuff
soon 🛫


Bret 🍄🟫
there you gooo

Dr. BeardoPuff
Good morning from the plane where inexplicably I have free wifi and no sleep.


Bret 🍄🟫
Powerful

Dr. BeardoPuff
landed at 12:30. bus to hotel was supposed to arrive at 1. arrived at 2. hour to hotel.


Dr. BeardoPuff
no sleep in 24 hours.

Dr. BeardoPuff
it's now 2:30. last orientation is supported to be

Dr. BeardoPuff
at 2pm.

Dr. BeardoPuff
i.thunk we're not gonna make it

Dr. BeardoPuff
my spelling belies my sleepinesse

Teeff
Oh you're READy

Teeff
and oooh Mayfair, NICE

Dr. BeardoPuff
I'm SO TIRED

Dr. BeardoPuff
it's 8:00 p.m. I've made it as late as I planned to I'm going to bed

Dr. BeardoPuff
the absolute ninney who is in charge of orientation because we got in too late moved orientation just to at 3:45 and then we didn't have the students try riding the tube until 5pm. Rush hour on the Piccadilly line.

Dr. BeardoPuff
a bunch of people just decided to leave. they just left.

Dr. BeardoPuff
also when I checked into my hotel there was part of a chicken sandwich from Tesco in the refrigerator.

Dr. BeardoPuff
so when I told the front desk this they were mortified and insisted they never heard of anything so terrible ever happening in this hotel before and they would do everything in their power to rectify it and they got me some fruit and some wine

Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff







Teeff
oh ew on the sandwich but glad they tried to make good on it!

Teeff
also rush hour on Picadilly is absolute fucking hell, you have my sympathies

Dr. BeardoPuff
hotel restaurant Cocky



Dr. BeardoPuff
😐


Teeff
cackles

Dr. BeardoPuff
WESTMINSTER ABBEY PHOTODUMP GO

Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff









Dr. BeardoPuff












Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff






Dr. BeardoPuff
TATE BRITAIN PHOTODUMP, GO:

Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff










Bret 🍄🟫


Dr. BeardoPuff
Yes, that is the cool leaning guy funeral effigy pose.

Dr. BeardoPuff
ST. PANCRAS OLD, BRITISH LIBRARY, TOWER OF LONDON

Teeff
woo!

Dr. BeardoPuff
the last image is Mary Wollstonecraft's grave, before she was dug up and moved somewhere else. The English love digging people up and sticking them in different churchyards.




Dr. BeardoPuff
they rob their own graves, so it's fine when they do it elsewhere.

Dr. BeardoPuff
When we got to the British Library we discovered that, haha, the special collections exhibits we're all closed. They had only announced this last week. After I was done with the schedule. 🙃





Dr. BeardoPuff
so I convened the class in the library's cafe, I had a slice of Victoria Sponge, and we talked about places we've gone the previous day. Also the towels in the Men's Room was a roll towel, an item I have not seen an over a decade.

Dr. BeardoPuff
it's me at the Roman wall



Dr. BeardoPuff










Dr. BeardoPuff
we love a bunch of engravings from prisoners trapped inside of a jail who evidently just carved things into stone in their free time beautifully and perfectly

Dr. BeardoPuff
Sir Walter Raleigh and also weaponry






Unthwackability
Well, if you're in prison you got the time

Dr. BeardoPuff
Uh, King Henry VIII, you might want to take care of something there.



Dr. BeardoPuff
more armors






Dr. BeardoPuff
"It's not like I like you or anything."


Dr. BeardoPuff









Dr. BeardoPuff
he's just a little guy




Dr. BeardoPuff
spaghetti good enough for Keanu





Dr. BeardoPuff
now I can be a true Scotsman


Dr. BeardoPuff
LET'S GO TO BATH

Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff
you can tell it's bath because everything is just light yellow colored stone and also there is a large bath

Dr. BeardoPuff
abandon your Christian God, children!




Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff
"Baby, I'm going to take you down to..."


Dr. BeardoPuff






Dr. BeardoPuff
WALKIN BACK FROM WAGAMAMA'S

Dr. BeardoPuff






Dr. BeardoPuff
HIGHGATE CEMETERY AND HAMPSTEAD HEATH

Teeff
fuckin poundland

Teeff
6 years free of that hell next month and I still get full body shivers when I see one

Dr. BeardoPuff










Dr. BeardoPuff
Teeff
: how do you live without the amazing value

Teeff
amazing value every day!!!

Dr. BeardoPuff
George Michael's grave


Dr. BeardoPuff
Christina Rossetti's grave.


Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff
Radclyffe Hall's tomb


Dr. BeardoPuff





Dr. BeardoPuff
I had the veggie breakfast for lunch and it was fantastic.



Dr. BeardoPuff
Salad with raspberry vinaigrette, sauteed spinach, grilled portabello mushrooms, halloumi cheese, vegetable sausage, baked beans, eggs on whole grain toast.

Teeff
oooh

Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff
we ended our tramp through Hampstead Heath at the Spaniards Inn where I had a old fashioned as I am an old man.

Pixel
Nice

Dr. BeardoPuff
BRITISH MUSEUM

Dr. BeardoPuff
We went to the Hew Locke exhibit on colonialism in the museum archives










Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff










Dr. BeardoPuff












Dr. BeardoPuff












Dr. BeardoPuff












Dr. BeardoPuff






Dr. BeardoPuff
A fine collection of Stuart Monarchs going :-/ :-| :-V





Dr. BeardoPuff







Dr. BeardoPuff
Bram Stoker Walking Tour

Dr. BeardoPuff










Dr. BeardoPuff










Dr. BeardoPuff
it says FLICKER ALLEY

Dr. BeardoPuff
KEATS HOUSE and SURPRISE JIM HENSON CAMEO

Dr. BeardoPuff






Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff










Dr. BeardoPuff







Dr. BeardoPuff
CANDLELIT SHAKESPEARE THEATER

Dr. BeardoPuff








Dr. BeardoPuff
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS (FOR CHILDREN)

Dr. BeardoPuff
the entrance: the excellence of every art must consist in the complete accomplishment of its purpose



Dr. BeardoPuff
hot guy miniature, possibly Satan


Dr. BeardoPuff
Henry VIII got hit by the face shrinking ray


Dr. BeardoPuff
17th century decorative porcelain figures that I'm sorry I love so much because they're not very good but I love them and the ones with strange bodies are called NOBODIES.





Dr. BeardoPuff
18th century dress silk
☆SUGAR☆RIOT☆
where are you



Dr. BeardoPuff
a profusion of copies of every statue




Dr. BeardoPuff
the only good paintings




Dr. BeardoPuff
tapestries somehow




Dr. BeardoPuff
Margaret Thatcher from that one Genesis music video


Dr. BeardoPuff
so I heard Jesus was ripped, I heard our lord had an 8-pack


Dr. BeardoPuff
lunch




Dr. BeardoPuff
kimono






Dr. BeardoPuff
ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL CHORAL EVENSONG

Dr. BeardoPuff












☆SUGAR☆RIOT☆


Dr. BeardoPuff


Teeff
I love V&A

Teeff
anyway that candlelit Shakespeare looked cool as hell!!!

Dr. BeardoPuff
IT WAS SUPER GREAT.

Dr. BeardoPuff
he said much later

Dr. BeardoPuff
there was a little spot at the end of my bench that confused me because if anyone sat there they had no place to put one of their legs and there is a pillar blocking most of the stage

Dr. BeardoPuff
so anyway during the play one of the characters ran up and sat next to me and started crying

Dr. BeardoPuff
FOUNDLING HOSPITAL

Dr. BeardoPuff
some of our favourite orphans like Tom Riddle and Becky Sharp.





Dr. BeardoPuff
also, my coat of arms will also have the word help at the bottom but I think perhaps fewer than eight breasts on one person.

Dr. BeardoPuff
the last pictures are tokens left with infants meant to be able to identify them if their mothers ever came back to reclaim them. fewer than 2% did.





Dr. BeardoPuff
last one is a bust of a guy I could cosplay as











Dr. BeardoPuff
Handel left some of his music to the foundling hospital in his will and you can see two pages of his will; one early page where his signature is good and one page page near the end of his life where his signature is very bad.





Dr. BeardoPuff
cheeky Nandos for lunch


Dr. BeardoPuff
DICKENS MUSEUM

Dr. BeardoPuff












Dr. BeardoPuff









Dr. BeardoPuff
sanic and Dickens's wine prison

Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff
my student's hedgehog and the Peter panbulance




Dr. BeardoPuff
PUB DINNER AND HADESTOWN

Dr. BeardoPuff









Curdy&Comfy
OHHHH HADESTOWN I hope you enjoyed!!!

Dr. BeardoPuff
it was very good

☆SUGAR☆RIOT☆
Peter Panbulance....

Dr. BeardoPuff
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Dr. BeardoPuff
one of my students is an artist and she has been drawing everyone in the class


Dr. BeardoPuff
STRAWBERRY HILL HOUSE

Dr. BeardoPuff











Dr. BeardoPuff












Dr. BeardoPuff










Dr. BeardoPuff
I love the wizard glass

Dr. BeardoPuff












Dr. BeardoPuff
ITS NOT WALLPAPER ITS WOOLEN FABRIC FROM SPECIAL, GLOSSY SHEEP




Dr. BeardoPuff
I should add that the complicated ceilings that look like stone work is paper mache

Dr. BeardoPuff







Dr. BeardoPuff
AFTERNOON TEA AT STRAWBERRY HILL

Dr. BeardoPuff






Dr. BeardoPuff
The sandwiches were stone ground mustard and ham, salmon and cream cheese, and rhubarb compote with rocket Cheddar.

Dr. BeardoPuff
The scone came with strawberry jam and clotted cream and then the cakes were lemon drizzle, raspberry jam, and carrot cake.

Teeff
god I wanna go see Hadestown

Teeff
ooooh nice a proper cream tea then

Dr. BeardoPuff
£24 a person but it was worth it.

Teeff
yeee the big fancy ones on those circular pyramid plate displays are pricey but so good

Dr. BeardoPuff







Dr. BeardoPuff







