During the tour we made a really quick stop at St. Paul's Cathedral. This was by far the most impressive building of the day. We made a really quick jump off the tour bus to take a picture and this one certainly doesn't do it justice. It is huge and absolutely beautiful. Many of the surrounding buildings in the area have been rebuilt and/or are partially destroyed because of the many bombings during world war. Interesting fact: The cathedral was prtoected from the bombings because there was a large group of guardians of the cathedral that kept watch throughout the war. The majority of the bombs were firebombs... sothey would run and throw sand to put the fires out as soon as the bombs hit. As a result it is stil quite intact. cool.

I spent the afternoon in the National Gallery at Trafalger Square (in pic) with my art History class and the prof. Daphne. It was awesome! Ive been in some art galleries before, but never had any clue what i was looking at or the context of the paintings. We spent three and a half hours and looked in three different Impressionism rooms and one Degas Exhibit. We studied pictures by Manet, Monet, Saurat, Van Gogh and others.. My favorites were the Monets and Saurats. it is really interesting learning the history behind the artists and the progress of the impressionist movement. I was pretty exhausted by the end of it .. but i am anxious to go the Musee D'orsay in Paris as well as the Tate Modern later in the term to see more paintings. Im getting cultured... wicked... 

After The National Gallery, I made my way back through Trafalger Square (In pic..sorry a little blurred).. I had some sweet Pizza Hut, which was actually quite nice after a couple weeks of cafeteria food. THere ewre a few drama classes going to a play near Picadilly called "Festin." I wasn't supposed to be going to the show but I showed up at the theatre any way in hope that maybe there were some extra tickets. Lucky for me.. there was. It was a really nice medium size proscenium theatre. the set was a bare stage and there were various set pieces that entered and exited and moved about the stage. it was a story fo a sort of disfunctional family with all kinds of secrets.. i wont get into it.... Ive been getting to know many of the students quite well and really enjoying it! I get along quite well with most of them and look forward to the day when i know all 173 of their names... (im getting there).. An amazing day overall! I can't believe this opportunity i'm having right now... I just had a completly jam packed day in London... and all free... I love it!! I cant wait till the next time!  

Almost De-Jet Lagged

Well.. alright.. Ive been here 5 days.. seems like longer.. and im lovin it. This is one of the sweetest jobs.. We went over a bunch of the trips we will be going on today and i am going to be in London virtually every weekend. I will be seeing tons of plays.. possibly visiting the observatory at Greenwich, Oxford, Bath, Wales, tons of stuff. The students are great! I really enjoy hanging out with them. So far they have been really outgoing in approaching and getting to know me, so that is nice.

this morning i went for a jog with Annetta (co-SLC) thorugh the rolling hills and fields surrounding the castle. We got lost. But it was really nice! Im rather enjoying the warm weather here.

Classes begin tmrw. It feels strange not having to go to school, but i am really quite excited. I am planning on auditing a third year ARt History course. One of the amazing things about this course is that every single piece of art that we study in the class we will get to see the actual piece in an exhibit in the National Gallery in London or in one of the galleries in Paris. That is the way to study art if you ask me. Needless to say, I am excited about that.

Well, that is all for now. Ill keep writing as things happen.