Day 5

Today I went on my first field trip with my History of London class. We took the tube down to St. Paul’s cathedral and walked out to the middle of the Millennium Bridge. Our professor showed us how big London was when it began and it’s surprisingly small. It’s also really interesting how the thieves of London would do their thieving in town and then take a ferry across the Thames to Southwark (literally right across the river) and be able to hide out there and not get caught by the London police. From the bridge we walked over to see the ancient Roman wall. There are still a few parts of the original Roman wall built in 122 AD. Can you imagine that? Literally thousands of years ago this wall was built, and some of it still stands today.

From here we walked across the street to the Museum of London. I actually didn’t stay to see the museum because I was feeling really sick so I talked to my professor and he said I could just come see it on my own when I’d better be able to appreciate it. I’m planning on going Friday afternoon because tomorrow and Thursday will both be a little busy for me. So I rode the tube home and took a nap for a few hours until my next class. That really helped, I felt a lot better after I woke up. My second class, Stately Homes of London, meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 4 30. I already know I’m going to love this class. The professor is really interesting. The class started with her walking in wearing a big fur shawl and knit sweater and her sunglasses still on, two minutes late saying, “I’m so terribly sorry I’m late, there was a fatality on the tube this morning. Someone jumped in front of my train.” She gave us our syllabus and gave us an overview of what houses we’ll be seeing and what the class is all about. There are no tests or papers in this class since it’s a zero credit course. Every class period from here on out we’re meeting at the houses we’re going to see, so we have to find our way all around London. On Thursday we’re going to see the Queen’s House in Greenwich. I’ll actually already be in Greenwich because my first class is going there to see the Royal Maritime Museum and the observatory. Actually I’m not sure if my class is going to the observatory, but since I have two hours in between the two classes I’m going to see everything there is to see in Greenwich on Thursday. I’ll be there from 10 am to 4 30 pm. Other houses we’re going to see include Syon House, Marble Hill House, Kenwood House, and Apsley House (which is the Duke of Wellington’s house). We even get to go see parts of these houses that aren’t open to the public, and one of them is completely closed to the public but we get to go anyway! I’m very excited for that. Today in class though we just talked about the Queen’s House and how it was the first to be built specifically for a woman and her needs.

After class I needed some down time so I just chilled at the dorm until dinner and then afterwards I worked on my reading for class tomorrow. The article I had to read was pretty long but actually kind of interesting about the hospitals of later medieval London. Then after a bit we decided to go out since it was such a nice night. Not a cloud in the sky! That’s the first time I’ve seen that happen and I didn’t want to let it go to waste. A big group of us went and took the tube over to Trafalgar Square. It was beautiful! Especially at night with the fountains all lit up and the National Gallery all lit up. We got some good pictures.

Then from there we walked over to Westminster Abbey to see it all lit up at night. Big Ben was very pretty looking. Basically we just did the tourist thing and looked around. The protest was going strong in the square. Raki told us that he heard the leader of the group in Sri Lanka that’s being oppressed was shot, so that’s probably why the protesters were out in full force tonight. They were all contained within the square surrounded by police though. That’s probably a good thing. I would really like to go see that square at some point because it’s filled with cool statues but I don’t really want to go join in the protest. I would stick out like a sore thumb. After we walked around Westminster and parliament we took the tube over to Piccadilly Circus to find some hot chocolate. We walked to Leicester Square and found a great little corner café that we got some at, and then we just headed home. Took the Piccadilly line all the way to Gloucester station, which is home base for us. It’s just a short walk home from there, and now its bed time. I still haven’t managed to get to sleep before 1 am. Not because I’m not trying but I just don’t get tired until then. It’s getting really frustrating being exhausted during the day and awake all night. I hope this jet lag goes away!

Love you guys!

Jaime

P.S. When is Lily coming!??