The Isle of Wight smells like Brazil

I attended a retreat this weekend on the Isle of Wight, which is a 4-hour bus + ferry ride from central London.  We stayed at a retreat house in the middle of the island, situated in 'Paradise Valley.'  The place was quaint, and the bathrooms, kitchen, and scenery reminded me of Brazil.  Gently rolling peaceful green hills were a welcome respite from London's regular rectangular tyranny.  Although it rained quite a bit, we were still able to explore the nearby areas during the brief spells of sunlight.  We walked to a nearby castle and took a trip to 'The Needles,' a geological formation off the tip of the western end of the island.  It was incredibly windy at the outcropping, and we all got soaked on the walk back to the bus, but we also saw a glassblower at work making vases and basked in the warmth of the hot glass, which ameliorated the situation somewhat.

Anyway, this next coming week entails lots of work for me as classes are wrapping up before finals.  Pretty soon I'll be home in South Dakota, and we're all feeling the pressure to see more of London as our days here draw to an end.

Update: Here's a rough map showing the locations of different places we visited on the Isle.


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