Sunday, October 22, 2006
Sunday October 22nd
Hello everyone...I am here in London with Mom, Moira, and Kirk and we are having a great time. I'll just update you really quick...
Last Wednesday and Thursday I was basically studying all day and my midterms were alright. My stupid design midterm was crazy. She said that we should "look over the readings", but what she should have said was "say a prayer because you are never going to find the random pointless facts I am going to pull from the readings and ask you about." So that was interesting. My Italian midterm was pretty easy so no worries there. Then I took a shuttle to the airport. It was a bit awkward because no one spoke. It was the driver, me, and three Spanish priests. I had to wait a bit in the airport because I got through security so quickly. I was, literally, the only one in line. It was strange. But the flight and everything was fine. Then when I got to Heathrow, I was in this really small terminal but there were a bunch of people there just sleeping and so I joined them. It was really weird. I slept on the floor and it was freezing. But I had my little pillow and eye mask and a sweater, sweatshirt, and my jacket on and so I was okay. I slept on and off till 5:30AM and then I went to figure out where my Mom's flight was coming in. I went to a totally different terminal which was much sweeter and waited there for them. I was so nervous waiting for them...and it was so awesome seeing them again. I was so happy!!!
We took a car to the apartment, which was about an hour with traffic and such. The apartment is really really nice. It is so much better than staying in a hotel. It is three floors and the middle floor is a dining room/kitchen and living room. Plus, we get internet!! Momo and Kirk fell asleep almost as soon as we got here, but Mom and I walked around a bit. We are a two minute walk from Waterloo station, and we went and visited the Thames and stuff like that. Then, Mom Moira and I went for a longer walk and we saw the Palace of Westminster, the London Eye, the Globe Theater and some other random art galleries and such. It was a nice walk along the Thames. Then we came back and went out for dinner at a local Thai place. It was really good and the service was quick, which was great because we were all starving!! Then at around 8:30/9 we all went to sleep.
Yesterday, we went to St.Paul's Cathedral, which was really cool. It is a beautiful church and you can climb up these really narrow stairs (I was a bit claustrophobic) to the top of the dome. I think that it was 512 steps. It was a long journey, but worth it. The views from the top were great. You could see everything, although I didn't know what a lot of it was. London is very different from Rome because it is a modern city as well as having a lot of history. Rome doesn't have any big skyscrapers or anything really that looks like a city. There are no grey office buildings or anything like that. I kind of like London better than Rome. Maybe it is just because I am on vacation here with the fam. I mean, Rome has a lot of interesting things, but I feel like it banks too much on its history. I don't think that I would want to live there. Anyway, after the cathedral we had lunch and then went to the Museum of London. It was cool because it traced the history of London from pre-Roman times to 1915. The ancient Roman stuff was the most interesting part to me. They had everything from statues, coins, models, blah blah blah. Anyway, it was awesome because the museum was free (as are all the national museums in London) and it was really nice. So by the time we got back to the apartment it was time for dinner. We took the tube (which was crazy!!) to Leicester Square and walked to Covent Garden for dinner. We ate at this little place called Porter's English restaurant. I had roast beef with yorkshire pudding and we got spotted dick for dessert. It was a very English meal for me. Anyway, then we walked to Trafalgar Square and then home. There were so many restaurants and people out and about. It was really interesting and lively. Okay..we are leaving now for Hyde Park and possibly Harrod's!! Cheers!
Last Wednesday and Thursday I was basically studying all day and my midterms were alright. My stupid design midterm was crazy. She said that we should "look over the readings", but what she should have said was "say a prayer because you are never going to find the random pointless facts I am going to pull from the readings and ask you about." So that was interesting. My Italian midterm was pretty easy so no worries there. Then I took a shuttle to the airport. It was a bit awkward because no one spoke. It was the driver, me, and three Spanish priests. I had to wait a bit in the airport because I got through security so quickly. I was, literally, the only one in line. It was strange. But the flight and everything was fine. Then when I got to Heathrow, I was in this really small terminal but there were a bunch of people there just sleeping and so I joined them. It was really weird. I slept on the floor and it was freezing. But I had my little pillow and eye mask and a sweater, sweatshirt, and my jacket on and so I was okay. I slept on and off till 5:30AM and then I went to figure out where my Mom's flight was coming in. I went to a totally different terminal which was much sweeter and waited there for them. I was so nervous waiting for them...and it was so awesome seeing them again. I was so happy!!!
We took a car to the apartment, which was about an hour with traffic and such. The apartment is really really nice. It is so much better than staying in a hotel. It is three floors and the middle floor is a dining room/kitchen and living room. Plus, we get internet!! Momo and Kirk fell asleep almost as soon as we got here, but Mom and I walked around a bit. We are a two minute walk from Waterloo station, and we went and visited the Thames and stuff like that. Then, Mom Moira and I went for a longer walk and we saw the Palace of Westminster, the London Eye, the Globe Theater and some other random art galleries and such. It was a nice walk along the Thames. Then we came back and went out for dinner at a local Thai place. It was really good and the service was quick, which was great because we were all starving!! Then at around 8:30/9 we all went to sleep.
Yesterday, we went to St.Paul's Cathedral, which was really cool. It is a beautiful church and you can climb up these really narrow stairs (I was a bit claustrophobic) to the top of the dome. I think that it was 512 steps. It was a long journey, but worth it. The views from the top were great. You could see everything, although I didn't know what a lot of it was. London is very different from Rome because it is a modern city as well as having a lot of history. Rome doesn't have any big skyscrapers or anything really that looks like a city. There are no grey office buildings or anything like that. I kind of like London better than Rome. Maybe it is just because I am on vacation here with the fam. I mean, Rome has a lot of interesting things, but I feel like it banks too much on its history. I don't think that I would want to live there. Anyway, after the cathedral we had lunch and then went to the Museum of London. It was cool because it traced the history of London from pre-Roman times to 1915. The ancient Roman stuff was the most interesting part to me. They had everything from statues, coins, models, blah blah blah. Anyway, it was awesome because the museum was free (as are all the national museums in London) and it was really nice. So by the time we got back to the apartment it was time for dinner. We took the tube (which was crazy!!) to Leicester Square and walked to Covent Garden for dinner. We ate at this little place called Porter's English restaurant. I had roast beef with yorkshire pudding and we got spotted dick for dessert. It was a very English meal for me. Anyway, then we walked to Trafalgar Square and then home. There were so many restaurants and people out and about. It was really interesting and lively. Okay..we are leaving now for Hyde Park and possibly Harrod's!! Cheers!
# posted by sarahconcannon @ 1:45 AM 
