Tales from Canterbury

So the weekend after York, Cameron and I went to Canterbury, where the Archbishop is and where Chaucer based his play on, although it doesn't happen so much in Canterbury as on the way TO Canterbury, haha.
It's a nice little town, although compared to how beautiful York is, it's not as amazing. But it's still a pretty town. It has it's wall, much smaller overall. I wouldn't spend more than a day there, you run out of things to do. We saw the wall, and of course the Cathedral. So far, it's my favorite in England. SOOOO imposing. I liked it a lot. We also visited two other churches: one were the rmains of an old abbey, although it was closed (the access to the field) so we snuck in through an entrance to the university and pretended to be students so we could se the ruins. The other church happens to be the oldest in England, tiny little thing, but still cool to see the early foundations and different additions to it throughout time.
We walked around town, looked for Chaucer but of course couldn't find him. Had tea at a cute tea house that inspired Dicken's writtings, and saw the remains of a Noramn Castle. That I liked a lot, different and massive.
Sunday was spend in Cambridge enjoying the town. Having seen by now many English towns I still like Cambridge best. It's just so cozy and yet active and still soo beautiful and not run down at all. Canterbury was not looking so good, the people there didn't seem to care. A lot like italy, a lot of grafiti and carelessness for the history and architecture.

In York with the Vikings

OK ok ok, I know it's been awhile. I can't keep up. Clearly I'm doing more things than I have to write about haha.
So lets see, after that weekend of Chinese New Year and Shakespeare's birth place, we went to York for the weekend. It was the viking festival there. it was awesome.
First of all, York is so so so beautiful and I want to go back when it's summer because you can tell it would just be wonderful to sit outside by the river in the tables along there. It's totally a medieval city with its wall and all. It has a rich Viking heritage, thus the festival.
Hour hotel was perfectly located and we could walk around the city. It had all these little markets with lots of yummy food being sold. Half the time we didn't even eat at restaurants we just grabbed food from the markets. There were German sausages and Dutch mini pancakes and Crepes and Oriental noodles and Spanish Paella, i mean sooo much food, sold cheaply at the market, ready to eat, it was like a daily festival. There was also the candy kiosk. They had every kind of gummy candy you could imagine, and then some, Cameron bought himself a ginormous (gigantic and enormous) bag of candy, which added so much weight to our luggage, haha.
We took the train up there, and did I mention I love trains? They're just so amazing, it feels so classy in an old-fashion style. Plus you get to see the coutnryside. The weather was nice, very sunny but freezing cold. Since it's further north it was soooo cold, I had to stop in a store and buy gloves and earmuffs.
As far as the viking festival there were some specific events, like the parade and the battle re-enactment. Tthe battle was fun. Although it's exactly what happens when you allow testosterone to flow freely and uncontrolled. Basically: a bunch of men, dressedin funny costumes, (cloaks, tights, rags, hats) running at each other with their wooden shields and swords hahahahahahaha.
It was a lot of fun to watch. We went to the one at night becasue it had special effects and all, like the soundtrack of the Mummy (the movie) playing as the Saxons and Vikings battled, and a narrator telling us the story, and sounds of swords clashings and women with fire torches all and then of course there were fireworks and a big structure in the shape of a viking ship lit on fire. The men liked that one a lot, Cameron certainly did hahaha. I liked it too, until I realized I couldn't move my legs and feet due to the cold.
Then there was of course York Minster, the cathedral. As with all cathedrals and churches in Europe, you can image what it looked like. And yet, it was still beautiful and so open and detailed. It's the largest Gothic cathedral in the UK. We climbed 273 steps to the top, and the view was stunning. York is so beautfil. I absolutely loved it. It's the typical English town you see in movies and read about in books. The buildings were so old that many of them were crooked and leaning, some of them still kept their foundations from the middle ages. We saw remains of an old abbey from the 11th century. And we walked around the city wall. Like Cameron said, it's a "miniature Great Wall of China", although not really. anyone is interested in seeing pictures let me know, give me ur email and I'll send u a link to see them.

Stratford-upon-Avon and China

Last weekend was chill, and fun. Lots of walking, walking walking. Friday, I didn't have class, so thursday night I took the train to Cambridge. Cameron had work during the day, so I stayed at his place watching Grey's Anatomy (anyone who has been keeping up with Season 4, I would be more than happy to share opinions and comments, hehe) and doing laundry. Afterwards, when he got home, we went for a walk around Cambridge. It's such a beautiful town. It doesn't matter how many other towns we visit in England, everytime I walk around city center in Cambrdige, I feel such peace and tranquility. It's a great place, small, manageable, pretty, it has history, it has high and low culture, it has the very convenient chains providing everything, as well as small locas stores. And a marketplace, selling everything from fruit, cheese, clothing, boots, jewelry, fossils and even tailoring and clothing adjustments. 

So we walked around, bought some stinky cheese (anyone who has seen Family Guy will know the quote "that's either bad meat or good cheese" haha), some fruit and continued walking around. Since I mentioned the other day that England gets no sunshine, there has been, of course, only sunshine. It's been great, it's lovely to walk around when the sun's out. 

The following day we went to Stratford-upon-Avon. It's a small, turisty town where Shakespeare was born and grew up. Of course it's turisty, hahaha. They still have the house where he was born, and it's silly and a bit lame, but it's still the original structure which is cool. But the best part is not the Shakespeare part, but rather, the town itself. It's a beautiful town. That's the best part of Europe, the small towns. They're so cute, it makes u want to put them in your pocket. It was a nice drive up, we had lunch there, walked around, saw some interesting shops, took pictures (i'll put them up soon) and then went home. That night, we went to London. 

My roommates were conveniently in Edinburgh that weekend so Cameron and I were able to stay in my tiny bedroom so that Sunday morning we could enjoy a quick day-trip to China , or China-town. As some of you may know, the Chinese new year started last week. The year of the Rat. London has the biggest celebration of Chinese new year outside of China. It was great. There was a parade a few blocks from where I work, in Trafalgar Square, then a celebration, and fireworks in Leicester Square and lots of things going on in Chinatown. We saw the parade. Oh and the British don't know the concept of arriving early for a free, public event that is expecting 300,000 visitors. We got there 40 minutes before the parade was suposed to start, we thought we were late. But no, there was NO ONE, ok, no one, in the streets yet. Actually the police had not even closed or blocked off the streets yet. So of course we had great spots. I took tons of pictures. It was a bit strange, getting all excited about seeing Chinese cultural icons when i'm supposed to be experiencing European culture. But I suppose when Europe's ambition drove the empires to expand so much, the consequences are being expeirenced now: there is no such thing as purely European culture, it now has African, Arabic, Asian and Hispanic influences.  

So we spend the day in China: had Dim Sum for lunch, got tons of free fortune cookies, although instead of telling me my fortune, they informed of curious tidbits of Chinese-related facts, hahaha.  We even got paper-mache little dragons that expand for a pound, hahaha. I had fun. Again, the weather was beautiful, so walking around was very enjoyable. We also left the crowd a bit and I showed Cameron the building where I work, and there is an art exhibition going on so we went in and saw the art work, and the building hehe. We had a pint and tea at a pub that opened in 1400-something. Then Cameron returned to Cambridge and I went home to get ready for the new week. 

This comming weekend, since it's Valentine's day, we are spending saturday and sunday in York (yes, as in where New York gets its name . . . haha). Apparently the Viking Festival is going on this weekend. Not exactly my idea of romantic, but they say York is very pretty. Off we go, we are taking the train to York. I love trains, haha. I'm not sure what to expect of the Viking Festival, so I looked it up online. Here's what it says: 

"The Festival sees hundreds of Vikings descend on the city and demonstrate battle-drills and training routines . . . " 

That scared me a bit: Vikings descend on the city?????? I didn't know Vikings were still around. I thought that was from like back in the day. It would be like saying that hundreds of Aztecs descend on Mexico City, and while there are people who are the descendants of the Aztecs, I didn't know there were Viking descendants . . . plus weren't the Vikings brutal? It shall be interesting. Ok, dinner time. 

Venice

Ok. It's been a few days or so. I know. It's been crazy though. I can't have time go by while I sit here writing about what I should be living out there.
This was venice:
We got in friday, and took the long, scenic route from Piazzale di Roma (Bus Station, from the airport, we took a bus) along the Grand Canal to our hotel. It was fantastic. The best little boat ride I've ever taken. I had seen Venice in pictures, but nothing, nothing, can ever capture what it really is like. When I was younger and learned that Venice was "a city in the water" I thought "ok, sure, so there's a couple of islands with a large canal in between and in order to make it easier humans built a couple of smaller canals going into the islands" WRONG! Here is how it happened: there was water, and several tiny islands, humans dumped dirt and logs into the water and built land around the water, then proceeded to establish and entire civilization there. With water, EVERYWHERE! Usually, first the land was there, then water-ways are opened up by humans. In this case, it was the other way around, first there was water, and THEN there was land. Which explains why it's sinking. So my first views of venice were from the Vaporetto along the grand canal. It rained the entire weekend. but it was still breath-takingly beautiful.
We had enough time to get to the hotel, and by the way, if anyone is thinking of going there anytime soon, I recomend the Hilton Stucky something somthing. It's brand new, and VERY nice with its own private shuttle every 30 min to Piazza San Marco. We just checked-in and had to rush, put on costumes and masks and go to an old hotel near San Marco for out opera/dinner/party event. It was no more than 40 guests. All dressed up like it was the court of Louis XIV, drinking Bellinis (Prosecco and Peach Juice, soo good). There was an opera performance in the lobby, just 4 singers, and it was the one with the Figaro song in it, I can't remember the name. Sooo beautiful. Absolutely fantastic. Then we had dinner and dancing in the ball room (look at the pictures). it was a great night. The next day we spend in Murano. We saw glass-blowing demonstrations, walked around all the shops, and were told how a lot of the smaller pieces are actually brought in from China, but claimed to be made in Murano which is in turn destroying the Murano glass industry, had lunch at a Pizzeria, mmmmmm, and then went back to Venice where we had dinner at a wonderful, and expensive (although the Consierge said it was "not so expensive") restaurant. Venice is known mainly for their seafood, and that's what we had, delicious seafood. So good.
The last and third day we spend in Venice, enjoying of all the events of Carnevale. People parading their costumes. A huge show on the stage in Piazza San Marco, well it was a city-wide party, and we were most certainly invited. We had lunch at a wonderful little tea room right in San Marco where the spectacle was happening on both sides of the glass windows. Inside: The room decor dated to the 17th and 18th centuries, the solid marble tables were still original, the food was served in silver trays, AND if you had costumes on you could skip the waiting line, resulting in everyone inside having elaborate costumes, the scene being as if taken straight out of a Versailles movie. Inside: people looking in, people walking with their costumes, people, people, people, and more people. The coffee was great too. Then we proceeded to walk all around the city, looking into all the shops and churches and streets and bridges and canals. It was fantastic. Afterwards, we returned to the hotel to pick up our stuff and left for the bus station again.

I put some pictures on snapfish and sent emil invitations. if you didnt get an email, let me know. I think the pictures came out great. I wanna know what you have to say about them!!!!!

Hello. 

It was a long and wonderful weekend. Venice, well, it's Venice. 

What can I say? 

Venice during Carnevale, well there are no words for it. I can sit here and type away until my hands go numb  and my wrists writhe in pain, but it still wont be enough. all i can is you have to see it for yourself. 

It's a surreal experience: old, traditional, sophisticated meets modern, euphoric, worldly to make a flamboyant, exhilirated extravaganza of colors, lights, people, costumes. The costumes, oh my god. SOooo amazing. Not halloween style costumes. No. There's a style to Venetian carnevale. It's Louis XIV's Court meets Star Wars' Queen Amidala and company. When put in a setting that originates from the Renaissance, you have what a true fantasy would be like: surreal, a futuristic time capsule. 

It was amazing. beyond amazing. Not just romantic, as in love, but Romantic, as in the ism (Romanticism) with the fear/craziness/extreme happiness. 

It was Venice. It was Carnevale. 

Nothing tops it, not Mardi Gras in new orleans, not st. patricks, nothing. Why? because no other huge city-wide party has venice as its backdrop. 

It's late, and I haven't slept much. tomorrow I will go into detail as to what we did and all. this weekend I will try to upload pictures, or put a link for pictures. 

Let me know how you are all doing. 

Ciao ciao!

Hello. 

I don't know how to turn the pictures. let me try. 

anyway. i'm in cambridge now, at Cam's and we were trying on the costumes so here it is!!!

Every piece was acquired separately. Actually the dark red outer skirt i had custom made for this outfit. you guys like it? we leave tomorrow. 

i'll let you all know how it goes. 

jealous anyone? hehehe. don't worry i'll enjoy for everyone back home. 

Ciao!

So today was the first day back to work after being sick. It was nice, having a routine again. I got there and all the old ladies were very happy to see me. I started a new project today. Turns out, recently the son of an art dealer who died donated all his dad's files to the library. The art dealer, when he was alive, documented every painting he sold and bought, taking notes, doing research, keeping all the correspondence between him and buyers and sellers, etc. So the files that the library has now in that collection having letters, documents, pictures, transparencies, etc. I have to look at each file, and put everything that it contains onto an excel spreadsheet, then go look up the artist and see if the library already has that image, and make a note of it. It's nice, i sit at the computer for an hour then walk around the library looking up artists for an hour, then back to the computer, then walk around again. It's a nice change. I love that i am constantly receiving visual input of art history. It helps with my creativity, inspiration and of course visual intellect. 

It looks like every few weeks i'll change projects so it will be varied and fun. 

Other than work, i got home, cooked dinner, showered, the usual . . . and now i'm going to bed. I don't want to be exhausted tomorrow. 

Ciao!! 

Hi again, 

I know, it's been a while. A week, to be exact. I got sick, really sick. They call it the British ManFlu, it kills you for a week. I don't know, maybe because it's an island bugs evolve and change and they're different than in the rest of the world. So i was in bed for a week, no work, not a lot of food, just meds (lots and lots of medicines) and sleep. 

I had to go to the doctor, and in a British accent . . . . not so cool. When was the last time you heard a doctor (read: professional) call urine, wee???? Wee?????? C'mon seriously, aren't they supposed to know the medical terms? Weird. 

Oh and the time i was acutally awake, I spent watching Grey's Anatomy. I had never seen it. It's great, funny, a bit repetitive, but the medical stuff keeps you interested. I'm up to season 3. Thanks to my new ipod video (Thanks Mom and Dad, or is it still Santa??? haha) i can watch my favorite shows wherever I go, though not recomended while on the metro (missed my stop several times) or walking (especially not in England, where cars and buses come from the wrong side, almost got killed several times, hahaha). It's been great having it. I can't wait to have it on an airplane, no more boring rides yay!!!

So this weekend i started feeling better, much better. Friday and Saturday were spent doing preparations for the trip next week. Where am i going, you ask. well, i'll tell you. I'm going to Venice. (YAY!!!!!!!!! VENICE!!!!!!!!!!) Next week, actually this Friday, starts a tradition that has been going on since the Renaissance: Venetian Carnival!!!!! 

So Cameron and I are getting everything ready for our costumes. Yes we need to have costumes, the dress code for most events is costume and mask. We bought masks, they match. They are black, gold and cranberry (deep red). Cameron rented a costume, it think the label said Georgian Gentleman, so a bit later than the Renaissance, but it works. I created mine. I'm using clothing that i have already, and i bought fabric: cotton velvet in cranberry, to make the top layer of a skirt, renaissance style. I'm having it made by the seamstress at the costume store. It's gonna look great. I'll definitely show pictures. We leave friday morning, then we are going to a Maskerade Ball (Gala Dinner, Opera performance and dancing) at an old venetian palace. The next day there's all sorts of events, parades, show of costumes, parties, etc. Also there's all the wonders of venice: the bridge of sighs, cannot wait to see the bridge of sighs. My favorite book happens in venice. 

Anyway, that's next weekend. 

This weekend we spent saturday in cambridge. Went to the Ale (British Beer) Festival hosted by the university. It was fun, very crowded, outside my comfort zone, hahaha. Had dinner at a pub, walked around town. Cambridge really is a beautiful town. I love walking around there,  the streets are so pretty and old. It's like a fantasy.  I love it. We went to some of the stores, a bookshop, got some books, it was fun. 

Today, sunday, we went to a nearby town called Huntingdon, where one of the American military bases is, and went for a hike. The area is flat, and it's all farming land. But since it's winter, a lot of the field are very wet, and some even flooded, so they turn into small lakes and ponds, making the landscape very pretty. We set out from the town, walking past a newarby town, then fields, to a small community of huge, expensive mansions, then to other fields, with the small lakes, and back to the town. In total it all was 8 miles and took us about 4 hours and some change. it was great. Got a great work out because we had to keep a fast pace since we started later in the day and darkness was starting to set. The fields turn pitch black once the sun sets, so we did not want to be stuck still out on the hike. One thing though: last week that area was flooded, i mean the town and all. So it was VERY VERY VERY MUDDY!!!! Good thing Cameron and I got all the proper waterproof gear (Thanks again mom and dad, hehe) and were able to treck through the mud. It was a lot of fun, I loved it. Afterwards we stopped at a pub and had a pint and tea (can you guess who had the pint and who had the tea?? haha) I know, i'm a tea junkie, but when in rome . . . . (do as romans do). Finally we came home, had dinner and are watching the latest from American Idol, hahahaha. It takes on a different perspective watching it from Britain, hahaha. 

Tomorrow, it's back to work. Lets see how it goes. Until thursday, when I will come to Cambridge to be ready to leave the next morning for Venice!!!!! 

VENICE!!!!!!!! 

I can't wait, i've never been. 

Well, i hope everything back home is great. Keep me updates on all the shenanigans on that side of the puddle!!!! 

Hello hello again. 

today was the first day at work. it was great. i like it. it's like being back in pre-school, hahahaha. No really. here's what I do: i work at an image library at one of the most renowned art history institutes in the world. Their images date back to the mid 1800s. the institute aquires images by donations of photographs of pieces, paintings, sculptures, architecture, etc. Or they buy catalogues from auction houses (think christie's and sotheby's), museums, galleries, etc. and they cut out the images they want, mount them then file them by artist. 

Great idea, for the 1800s when the library was first started. For the 21st century? not so much. My job is to go through catalogues, follow the marks that the art historians made, and cut out the images they have selected, cut them neatly, paste them onto mounting board, including artist info, title, etc, then file them according to name and geographic location. The problem? The entire concept of the library, and thus my job, is totally obsolete! I should be scanning the images into an online database. 

The thing is, here is what the people at the library are like: old, tonny blair-loving, conservative, traditionalist, techno-phobes, obsolete women who can't dress, don't know that the world outside the library changes and progresses, and have continued to do the same thing for over 200 years, they're as old as the building. You get the old librarians, the old art historians who hate modern art, and old volunteers who help keep the files in order. 

So it's totally and completely pointless. we live in a digital world, that's what the library should be, i mean don't get rid of the images they already have, but stop putting new ones in paper, and do it digitally. 

However, my job is quite fun, and quite a workout. It's fun being back in pre-school and cutting out images from magazines, gluing the to the paper, then of course, filing them means constatntly climbing up and down step stools to reach the top of the shelves, and walking all around the library back and forth to find the artists. 

I like it. It's fun, no computer work, i keep busy, so time flies and i get to learn and see art history on a daily basis. 

As obsolete as the women are, they are very nice. 

Ok shower time. 

Ciao ciao!!

Today was boring, and rainy. haha. we had orientations all day. about the internship, about the apartments and appliances, about the city, everything. lots of talking talking talking. 

i start tomorrow. yesterday, when Cameron and I were walking around london's legal center, hehe, we passed this beautiful building that we thought was a college. turns out, it's the building where i will be working. It's called the Courtauld Institute of Art. it's by the river, in the city center. that entire area is absolutely gorgeous. i can't wait, i'm excited. hopefully it will be a nice atmosphere for work. 

The people from the program seem nice, the other students I mean. it's 5 girls and one guy. The girls, I think, will eventually get on my nerves, they're a little too girly (yes i know, i'm the girly girl of all girls, but trust me, these are worse, haha) a bit too high maintenance. yesterday there was a whole lot of fuss over hairdryers. They are aparently just book smart, not bright when it comes to other things in life, like knowing that england and the US have different voltage. My roommate already blew her hairdryer and now she's having a fit. oh well, i guess looks do matter when you are doing an internship in parliament haha. 

my dress code is business casual, so i don't have to look s perfectly professional as my roommate, poor thing has to wear suits and all. 

I have to say, i don't think i could live in london, the rain is already driving me crazy. it gets tiring always having rain, getting wet, carrying umbrellas, ugh!

i think i can manage with the lack of space. although my roomate already has a mess, i mean with this little space, we can't afford messes!!!!! she has totally taken over the nightable, we are supposed to SHARE!!!! 

like i said, they're nice girls . . . . . hahaha. 

Oh, and emily, guess what? i went to walk Cameron to the front door yesterday before he went home, and when i opened the door there was a kitty cat outside our building. I couldn't tell if it was a male or female, but it had a collar, so it wasn't a stray cat. it was just visiting. it was an orange tabby (like Jack and Fox) more adult though, name Slash (according to his/ her tag) and soooooooo friendly. i hope she/he comes to visit more often. it'll be my adoptive cat friend. I was very very excited. Normally I wouldn't have started petting a cat in the street but since it had  a collar and a name and all, i figure it was safe, sooooo adorable. I miss Jack and Zoe and Sienna and Chai!!!!!!!! Kitties!!!!!!!!!!!! 

There doesn't seem to be enough time in this city for three meals a day. apparently people here only expect you to eat twice, that's all we've had these past two days. i hope the job doesn't give me any homework, i'm looking forward to being able to come home and have ME time, no homework!!!!! 

Ok, i think i'm going to bed.  Have a great day back home everyone!!!! 

Hello Everyone, 

So I have created this in order to avoid having to write the same email millions of times. I will try to keep a constant post on this and give you updates. Feel free to post comments, questions, and opinions. To my family, I will only write in English, it's easier and faster, if you have questions as to what I mean by something, ask me, and I'll explain. Also, I tend to write inside jokes in parenthesis, so if you don't get it, then it was clearly not meant for you, but I will be happy to explain it. 

So far it's been crazy. The plane ride here was ok. As usual, my impatient self got very bored. I can't stand the long long plane rides. I know they show 6 different movies, but they are bad movies and don't keep me entertained. I enjoyed the new ipod, although I didn't have enough time to put a lot of videos in it, and of course the new noise-canceling headphones were awesome. There was a baby a few rows back crying the entire time and I didn't even notice. I feel bad for the other passengers. The food . . . . well, it was airplane food. 

I finally arrived at Heathrow (London airport) and went through immigration and customs without a problem. When I came out, Cameron (my boyfriend, fyi) was there waiting for me. He had roses, yay. so sweet, haha. We drove back to Cambridge, about an hour and a half, and had a bit of a late-night snack. Then finally got to bed, since I was exhausted. Of course, 5 hours later, I woke up. It was 11 pm in the states, and EVERYONE knows I'm a night person, so of course at 11 pm I was wide awake. Small problem: it was 4:30 am in London. hahaha. I tried to go back to sleep, and woke up again at 8:30 am London time. Very rare for me. But since I couldn't go back to sleep, we got everything ready, had breakfast and left for London. Turns out I brought a bit more than needed, so Mom, Dad, I will probably send back some stuff. I also forgot some things I needed. 

Anyway, we took the train to London, along with my 20 thousand bags. Cameron was a darling and helped me carry them all over London. After checking in and all, we got to my mystery apartment. Turns out it sucks. No really, it's tiny and there's three of us in it. Since there was only one guy in the program, he actually gets a single room. The apartment consists of two bedrooms, a single and a double, one bathroom, kitchen and living room. It's divided, the bedrooms and bathrooms are downstairs and common areas upstairs. So I got there and in the single bedroom was one girl, who had arrived earlier and had settled in. She didn't know they had assigned a guy into our apartment so when I got there, I told her "um, there's a guy in this apartment, so I think the single bedroom is his." I wasn't about to share bedrooms with a random guy. 

Regardless, our bedroom is absolutely tiny, we only have one closet for the two of us. each gets 4 tiny shelves and we share hanging space, which is practically non-existent. no drawers, and we share night-table. nice huh? 

the rest of the girls in the program got lucky, i think. Their apartment is way larger, of course they have to share it amongst 5 people, all girls. They get two bedrooms, one triple and one double. The triple has a bathroom in it, then there's a second bathroom, and they even get a balcony. I think I should become good friends with them, haha. 

My roommate, can't remember her name, says that as soon as the sun comes out she'll try to get a tan in their balcony. Poor thing, little does she know that the sun, in fact, does not come out in this country, haha. 

Anyway, I will be keeping one empty suitcase in Cameron's house, since it wont fit here. So after a bit of unpacking and settling in, Cameron and I enjoyed an evening in town. we were a bit hungry so we decided to try out new pubs. Heading in the direction of Temple Church (from the Da Vinci Code) we walked along the river for about 20 minutes (Dra. Alvarez, como ud. recomendo, nos salimos dos paradas antes en el metro, jeje) then found a nice cozy pub for dinner. After dinner, we were walking around, saw Temple Church, it's beautiful, but it was closed, and realized we were smack in the middle of the law and justice section of London. All around us were the National Courts and lawyers EVERYWHERE. It felt like a movie set. 

We came across a pub called the Ale and Pie, which is where the National Bank of England used to be. We decided to have tea there. Turns out, the building stood right between the barbershop and the pie store from the Sweeny Todd legend, which means that it was in the vaults and tunnels of the old bank that his victims were butchered, aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

For those of you who don't know the legend: first of of all, it's about to be made into a movie with Johnny Depp (yes Emily, you HAVE to see it!!!!!!). Sweeny Todd was a barber and his mistress was a pie-maker, the meat kind, not the sweet, fruity kind , whose store was one building down from his barbershop. Sweeny Todd was a crazy mad-man who used to take his victims into the vaults and tunnels of the old bank, kill them, cut them into pieces, and then together with his mistress, would use the human remains and cook them up into pies, then sell them to her customers. EEEWWWWWW!!!!!!! I know, I was just as disturbed when I heard the legend. So, everyone, go see the movie, Johnny Depp is a good actor, and now you can all think of me, having tea, in a beautiful, old building, underneath which victims were killed. Nice huh?  haha. 

Ok, so afterwards, Cameron went back to Cambridge, poor thing, he got back to his house at midnight and had to be at work by 6:30 am today. I got to sleep in, since I don't have anything until 1:30. We have an orientation today, where I assume they will tell us about our jobs,which start tomorrow, and how to get there, and all sorts of other boring details. 

Look forward to talking with you all again soon. I will keep you updated with all sorts of shenanigans from here. 

How is everything back home??? 

I wish everyone the best for this new year. Oh and come visit me!!!