Back to class (5 July)

This morning started out with a lovely jog around Kensington and Hyde Parks, which are right next to our flat. It's an awesome place to run--everyone is out riding bikes and horses, running, walking, stretching . . . you name it. Chrisse and I were running along and then we look up and there's Kensington Palace. I go running in the coolest places on this study abroad. And there's a chance that William and Kate will soon be moving into Kensington Palace. Maybe Duchess Kate goes jogging at 6:30 am, too.

We went to the Hyde Park Chapel for class at 9. The chapel is actually like the Church Office Building for England, so it's bigger than a normal chapel. It's about a 10-minute walk from our place. We are there for three hours and we each have our two various classes and then one study hour while we're there. I had been almost dreading going back to classes, but when I was there I remembered how much I love school. I'm a student at heart!

After class we went home for lunch and then I went out into the city with 5 others. It was my first time on the Tube, the London Underground. All went well. I've changed a lot since my New York experience 8 years ago! We went to the National Portrait Gallery, an art museum with hundreds of famous portraits. In three hours, Lori and I only completed one floor (we're both pretty slow museum-goers). It was a floor that covers most of English history. It was really awesome to see the original paintings that I have seen in textbooks my whole life. I saw Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare, John Milton (the real deal - not just my recent depiction of him and Paradise Lost), John Locke, Thomas Hobbs, and many other very famous people (Goerge Washington, too! He's a part of British History). I really loved it. It was so interesting to see the change in the painting styles over time--the painting style also teaches us about the history.

At 6:00 the museum closed and we were forced out. At that point I got separated from Lori (and the others had long deserted us), so I had 30 minutes before we were meeting at a certain place. We're not really supposed to be alone, but what can you do? I just wandered the streets, observing. People are really interesting. London is a bustling place.

We met up at 6:30, grabbed a bite to eat, and went to a play. As students, we get a pretty good deal on the leftover seats right before the plays. The play was called '39 Steps.' It's a comedy and a few of the people I was with had seen it before and loved it. It was really good! It's acted by only 4 people and many of them are changing character the whole time. It was great. I was so exhausted by the time I got home. The end.

Waiting for the underground (the tube) after the play.