- the last week in london was absolutely insane. i visited a lot of museums (british imperial war museum, which i really enjoyed - especially the holocaust exhibit; national gallery - fabulous paintings and i still can't believe i was that close to da vinci, rubens and van eyck!; tate modern - one of my least favorites, minus the fact that i did get to see andy warhol. the rest was a lot of abstract art that i had trouble getting my very scientific, rational mind around)
- also visited westminster abbey - a lot of fun! the abbey is beautiful and decorated so well...just a little bit overwhelming at times! i saw a lot of famous graves and memorials, including Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary I, Shakespeare, Cecil John Rhodes, Livingstone, Faraday, Isaac Newton and my absolute favorite... Charles Darwin!!! I have realized over the last few weeks that I really am meant to be a science major. I'm gonna wear my nerd label loud and proud right now coz i really miss the sciences and i've notice myself gravitating toward those topics when at all possible in our discussions and even telling other people what i learned in my bio classes and how interesting it is! haha. represent bio! jeff, mcmahon and julio cannot be disappointed! :)
- we also went to canterbury and saw the canterbury cathedral - i have been to a few cathedrals already and have worshiped at St. Paul's (also decided to see an organ recital there by myself one sunday) and i have such a new perspective on other christian traditions. the insides of the churches are all so magnificently decorated and i can't wait to visit more
- the girls (jaq, amy, allyx and alex) and i also went on a ride on the london eye and the guys (cody, dusty and jay) made us dinner one night. our last day amy, jaq and alex and i also went to hyde park and had tea overlooking the lake. it was so pretty! all the girls on europe semester also had afternoon tea at a nice restaurant - complete with scones and fruit cake and cucumber sandwiches! finally, i also got to see the changing of the guard and shopped around in harrod's - pretty much cramming all the touristy stuff in before it was too late.
- then it was off to ireland - gorgeous country but it was a long traveling day...our flight got cancelled so we had to stay in the airport for 7 hours till the next flight came. bummer. we stayed in Lecale Cottages in Northern Ireland though and they were adorable! It was so good to be able to cook for myself again coz i really haven't gotten enough fruits and vegetables. it's a bummer that cheap food is usually junk food...we also visited dublin, belfast and the irish coast while we were there...i realized i've missed the beach a lot too...
- we visited some historic sites in ireland as well: kilmainham jail (not sure of the spelling) and newgrange ( very old temple for the sun and on the winter solstice, the sun comes into this tiny hole in the temple and lights up the inside for a few minutes).
- other than that, i spent my time relaxing a bit and going on hikes/a run...it's hard to find time and energy to exercise here but it felt so good to take in some of the fresh irish air and run along the farm roads and the monastery where we went to church. the benedictine monastery was also an experience that i'll treasure...Northern Ireland has been a country of conflict for decades and to see people (including the monks and regular people) work for peace was incredible. We also were fortunate enough to sit in on some traditional irish music by Tommy Sands and his family...it was so touching and I just missed South Africa so much listening to it...He also wrote a book (i think it's the Songman?) that i'd recommend to anyone...
i miss all you guys and can't wait to see you all! ps - i posted more pics from england and ireland!
Elri! Glad that you had a lovely time in Londontown. I was in Bruges during this time last year...oh how time flies! Just so you know, there's a chocolate museum in Bruges that is totally not worth it! It's an adorable little town, though.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you, friend. :)