First Impressions

I woke up to the sun shining through my window this morning - a very nice way to start my day, but I'm sure not one that will happen too often. Meghan and I have a great view looking out onto fields and rolling hills, so we spent a few moments oohing and aahing over the landscape before heading to the Castle for a day of orientation activities. 

Meghan checking out the view

Between activities, we had a chance to start exploring the Castle grounds. There are a few resident peacocks, which are pretty cool. The entire estate is around 500 acres, so it will take a while to see everything. Things I can look forward to discovering: nature paths, forests, Tudor gardens, and an observatory that shoots a sweet green laser into the sky at night. 

Castle grounds

Herstmonceux Castle's telescope and laser

The sky was very clear tonight and we could see tons of stars. After doing some research, I plan on paying a visit to the telescope at the Observatory Science Centre. Hopefully Wikipedia will help me recognize some constellations apart from Orion's belt...

This evening, we had the "Official Welcoming Ceremony to the Winter Term 2011." The professors all spoke a bit about their courses, and then we were served wine and cheese and instructed to mingle. The courses all sound great, and I'm very excited for the field studies. In the next couple of weeks I can look forward to both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, as well as a tour of the Globe Theatre and a performance of King Lear at an indoor theatre.

Apart from relatively frequent trips to London, all students at the Castle will be going to Brussels and Paris in February. Meghan and I are also hoping to make weekend trips to Dublin, Berlin, and Rome in the coming months. 

More updates to follow.