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I spent most of early this week in the library finishing my essays. Today, I went to Brighton, which is by the ocean about an hour away by train. It has a really really cool palace decorated in Asian themes. I think my favorite was the huge chandelier with the dragons and flowers. I wish I could put some pictures up, but since my laptop is still broken, I won't be able to download anymore till I get home. Anyway, Brighton is really cool. It's where Lydia ran away with Mr. Wickham in "Pride and Prejudice". I also walked along the pier, which has rides, games, and food.

Tomorrow I have my last class, then I'll probably spend the rest of the day packing. Friday, my Dad will be here. We'll move my stuff and we're going to see "Avenue Q"! Then on Saturday I'll be home!!!! It's been a really great semester. I'm definitely glad I decided to come to London!!!!!!!!!

Icky Computers

Tuesday I pretty much just worked on essays. Wednesday, my class was just talking about the essay and since the visiting students' is due sooner, we'd already gotten all the information, so I didn't have to go! So in the morning I went and saw the Fleming Collection, which is very small, but nice. Then I walked through the parks back to the station. In the afternoon, my computer got some kind of virus and wouldn't turn on. It wasn't any better on Thursday, so I took it to the IT services in the library. The guy said they don't fix people's personal computers (he was actually kind of rude for an English guy) but I could bring it back later and some other guy might be able to help. So I brought it back after my class and the other much nicer guy worked on it, but after a few hours and no progress, he said I could bring it back today and he'd try some more, but it was unlikely that he would be able to fix it.

This morning, I went to the Royal Academy of Arts to see the Byzantine exhibit. The reason that I'd kept it this late was because my Crusades class was supposed to go together, but that was pushed back to next term, when I won't be here. It was a very nice exhibit. I think my favorite was the huge chandelier. Afterwards, I walked to Trafalgar Square to see the Christmas tree. I would put a picture up, but I don't have a computer to download them on. So I'm writing this on a library computer, which I hate because the keyboard is different, so I keep pressing the wrong buttons and it's taking forever.

Thanks for listening to me complain.

Pictures from Nicole and Naomi's Visit

Nicole and Naomi Visit!!!!

On Friday morning Nicole and Naomi arrived from Glasgow! We quickly dropped their stuff off and headed out to the Tower of London. We walked along the river on the way and stopped for bagel sandwiches and explored Tower Bridge. It was rainy, so instead of the usual tour at the Tower, the Warder just talked to us inside and didn't go as in depth. But it was still a lot of fun, we talked to some reenactors and got to see the ravens up close! Next we walked down to Southwark Cathedral. Then we had dinner at the pub where I had had the awesome treacle tart, but they didn't have it anymore! :( After dinner we walked around a bit more, past the Globe, across the Millennium Bridge, and to St. Paul's. Then we went back to my flat and watched "Pride and Prejudice" in preparation for the next 2 days and tried the honey spiced mead we had bought at the Tower, it was strong, but had a pleasant after-taste.

Saturday we went to the British Museum. The 3 of us took a class, "Women in Antiquities" together last year and we got to see some of the stuff we'd studied, most notably The Warren Cup, which was included in a presentation Naomi and I had given. Next we went to Platform 9 3/4 (Nicole and Naomi are also big fans). Then we went to the Library Exhibition, we were especially excited to see the Jane Austen writings. Next, we went down to Piccadilly Circus and had dinner at an Italian place. Then we saw Les Miserables!!!! It's just as wonderful the 4th time as it is the 1st!!!! After the show we walked around a bit more to Westminster.

Sunday we took a bus tour to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge is very cool. It was very cold and windy out there, though. Next we went to Bath, which is a lovely little city. I wish we'd had more time there. First we went to the Roman baths, which were especially pretty in the dimming light. There is a little museum and you can see all the ruins. We sampled the water in the Pump Room. Everyone always makes a big deal about how horrible it tastes, but I thought it tasted fine. By the time we'd finished there, there was only about 20 minutes left. Bath had a little Christmas festival going on at the time with little crafty booths which we looked at. We got back to the city around 8. The driving was actually quite terrifying at times because the defroster would go out every once in a while, so the driver couldn't see (I was in the seat right behind him). I don't recommend driving down the highway into London with an opaque windshield. We were hungry after the tour and ate at the 1st place we found, a pub called The Duke of York. I had a steak and ale pie. It was my first beef in about 5 years. I'd forgotten how wonderful dead cows taste.

Nicole and Naomi left this morning. I was able to turn in 2 of my essays today! There's only 2 weeks left! I'm still not sure how I feel about that.