Snowdonia

I traveled to Snowdonia National Park a couple weekends ago with a couple guys from my lab and their wives. The park sits on the west coast of Wales, and contains Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales (3560feet). It is a gorgeous area, and very unlike other areas I've seen in England. If you removed the pine trees (and I believe the beetles are doing that for us), it looks vaguely like the Black Hills.
Hiking Snowdon is a popular activity, and there are many routes to the top. There's even a train going to the summit! We chose one of the harder, less-populated, but non-technical routes. We hiked along a knife-edge ridgeline, the beginning of which you can see in the center of the pictures below.The area had numerous lakes, and we lucked out with a gorgeous day (well, possibly minus the 60mph wind on the knife-edge that caused my compatriots to stay low to the ground...)

The scramble up to the ridgeline,And the line we walked for a couple hours. It wasn't difficult, but with the wind and the drop offs on both sides, it required a bit of caution. The summit of Snowdon in the background below,


And the view from the top. Such an enjoyable day!We stayed in a hut owned by the Oxford Mountaineering Club that night, which was basic, but charming. The next day, on the drive home, we stopped at the oldest Slate mine in Wales. We toured the mine via the old miner's tramway, built in 1846, and learned about the world of the Welsh slate miners during the reign of Queen Victoria. It sounds like a very random detour, which it was, but it was rather cool. The tour was done in English, though the Welsh accent was pretty difficult to decipher!

Balliol Garden Party

Balliol had it's last party of the academic year a couple weekends ago: our annual Garden Party. This year's theme was 'Arabian Nights,' and we lucked out with amazing weather. Finally, after all those winter nights of being jealous of the guys' jackets while I shivered in formal dresses, the summer evening suited the girls just fine!This party had been in the works for the last 3 months, and those who planned it did a marvelous job. It was complete with a champagne reception, an outdoor dinner, and a few speeches. Then the floor was cleared for dancing, and a couple bands played while we drank 'Arabian' cocktails and watched some belly dancing. After the bands were exhausted, a DJ took over and the dancing continued until around 2am.The graduate community, referred to as the MCR, is governed by students. I have been utterly impressed at what a great community the students serving on the MCR committee have created at Balliol. Thus, I decided to join this committee for the upcoming year. I designed a platform and ran for Secretary, which I won. At midnight on the night of the garden party, we had the official ceremony, which handed over responsibilities to the new committee members. Below is Michael, the former Secretary, placing an imaginary crown on my head.Now an official committee member, I got the opportunity to join in the clean up process of the garden party, which started around 2 and lasted until 6am! Afterward, I managed to catch a quick nap, then awoke to a lovely brunch in the garden :)