Thursday, July 02, 2009

Goodbye Founders...

Before Phoebe and I could embark upon our adventure Part II around Europe, we first had to bid farewell to our home for the last 6 months...

Now Founder Hall and I have had a love-hate relationship, but as I spent the last evening roaming the halls, walking through the quad, and strolling through the near by garden area, I realized that no matter how frustrated I became by it's short-comings, I still loved every minute inside that place.
I started my evening with my last meal in the dining hall. Phoebe had gone to her Improv group that evening, so I ate alone, but I didn't mind. They serendipitously had my favorite English meal on the menu - Roast Lamb with mint sauce!! Sadly the vegetable was peas - yuck. But I splurged on a full meal with chocolate cake for desert and everything!
After I finished eating my camera and I set about capturing the good and the bad on my castle dwellings...
The stairs I walked up almost everyday to get to my floor (the 3rd floor)... they have an elevator too, but only one.

My hall way... kind of looks like The Shining... doesn't it?

My door... #350

the toilet where you have to pull a chain above your head to flush the toilet... how old school

the tubs... they had over 20 tubs on the floor... but only 2 showers for almost 80 girls to share...

... and the shower. Having almost 80 girls take showers in a day, you can see the hair build up... it you enlarge the picture, prepare to gag... I did- every time I took a shower.

This was the quad I looked out on to from my window every day. I will miss waking up and pulling back the curtains to let the sun in and to take in the gorgeous view... I actually lived here... I still can't believe it.


Walking down to the garden/pond area by Founders... there are stairs everywhere and I walked up and down then several times a day every day... I'm in shape :)

This leads us to my favorite place at Royal Holloway... you may remember it from Phoebe's and my photo shoot...


On to the rest of campus... the history building where I spent much of my class time

Cool Dr. Suess-eque flowers by the Windsor Conference Building

The College Shop... where you can find sandwiches, gossip magazines with all the latest British Celeb gossip, grocery essentials, RoHo souvenirs, school supplies, and ben & jerry's ice cream :)

Where I would get my mail

... and some bunnies


Founder's you were a Castle - both the bad and wonderful aspects of a Castle. You hold so many memories - Phoebe and I falling on my mattress in the middle of the hallway, me screaming at the girls in my hall at 3:30am to be quiet, you surprising me with ice cold hair filled showers, the summer ball, yummy dining hall dinner, disgusting dining hall dinners, sitting in the sunshine filled quad while studying, waking up to snow, waking up to snow with Bronchitis, Feng Shui girl who lived above me who I swear to this day must have been rearranging her furniture EVERY NIGHT, people stealing my food out of the fridge, yoga in the middle on my room, Phoebe living just 5 doors away, watching movies in my or Phoebe's room weekly, slow internet, waking up to thick thick fog outside my window, the clock tower chiming every hour on the hour, disgusting litter in the bathroom, the beautiful chapel, watching boys play soccer from the window, getting asked out by the "young electrician", hearing Lady Gaga play from at least 3 girls rooms at any given moment, cuddling with my radiator in the dead of winter, Phoebe and I screaming with laughter while sitting and talking in our rooms, skyping my parents, skyping my parents with bronchitis, singing to Emolyn on my computer, facebook chatting, thanking God for every moment I got to say I lived in a Castle in England... just 40 minutes outside of London.

3 comments:

Amy T Schubert said...

nice overcast day for you photos, too.
xo

Anonymous said...

Did you share Christ with the RH bunny rabbits? :-) Just askin'. Love, Aunt Etna

NanAZ said...

Still so thankful that you had the chance to have this experience. I'm sure it will be a treasure in your heart forever.