London 101

As it turns out, the first class  train car is just as good headed north as it is headed south. I’m home now, and, while London in all its glory is fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing it, the quiet streets of St Andrews are equally as glorious and welcomed. I had a great week with Mungo; that is, anyway, other than upon discovering he had peed on the corner of a bed whilst I wasn’t looking. Twice, mind you. Great dog sitter I am. Keep that in mind if you ever are in Spokane and need a dog sitter!

I won’t inundate you with narrative ad nauseam; just a few photos of highlights. I begin with the Major himself--Mungo Pug. We  had walks morning and afternoon in Clapham Commons, the area of Greater London where William Wilberforce and other like-minded abolitionists lived.

Between morning studying and walks and evening walks and studying,  I explored The City.

The London Eye

Trafalgar Square

In the business district, there are more men in suits on one street at any given time than I’ve ever encountered anywhere at any time. Architecturally, though, it boasts a smooth mingling of the old with the new.  I quite liked it.

St. Paul’s Cathedral from the Millennium Bridge

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. I took in Romeo and Juliet… from the yard (i.e. standing, in one place, in the sun, for far too long… but for 5 quid!) Sadly, no photos were allowed once actors took to the stage.

Harrods. I managed to walk around for twenty minutes or so. Finding a jacket I loved, I decided it was time to get back to the streets. The jacket was 500x the price of Romeo and Juliet. I’ve acquired a taste for the expensive since moving here, obviously.

Instead I wandered through the Natural History Museum. Fantastic, and free! But not fantastic because it is free. Just fantastic because it is fantastic. Fantastic in and of itself. You get the point.

The building is gorgeous, and, had I the time, the displays could have captivated my interest for the day. But Mungo wouldn’t have appreciated it. I did manage to check out the huge cross-section of a Redwood, as you can see in the upper right corner of the below photo.  Also note the dinosaur on the floor. Fantastic, I tell you!

In fact, the entire dinosaur display was fantastic. And it was even more so whence I stumbled upon this ditty:

Montana meets London!

Parliament and Big Ben. Did you know ‘Big Ben’ refers to one of the bells in the clock tower, rather than the tower itself?

St. Pancras Hotel. Beautiful!

I liked London. It is classy, ornate, contemporary, and has everything a person could want. That is, besides peace and quiet, and empty sidewalks, and roads without traffic, and the ability to walk everywhere, and the whole small town feel that makes a person raised in the woods feel sane. But besides that, London’s great!

I had a good week. And though I was ready to say goodbye to the city, I wasn’t terribly keen on bidding farewell to this guy. Knowing that departure day from Scotland is now less than two months away, it was one of many final farewells to come.

Mom and dad arrive five weeks from today. That’s five weeks of the Scotland life I’ve known for 3.5 years.

Cue the official start of Transition Time.