London

London is quite a big city.

After arriving on Friday, I walked from Westminster to the British Museum (stopping in Chinatown for a $10 ramen noodle lunch!). From there, I headed on to the museum to see the Rosetta Stone and other ancient artifacts. For dinner I headed to the University College London to meet an old friend (who's studying the History of the Book at UCL). After a delicious Indian meal we headed to the Tower of London. Since it was Friday the 13th we joined the Jack the Ripper walking tour – a vivid story and tour full of graphic recounts of the first serial murderer in the western world.

On Saturday, my friend Andrea and I walked back to the Westminster area to check out the Churchill museum including the old underground cabinet war rooms. It was an impressive museum -- an astonishing look at the tiny mole hole in which Churchill and his top advisors lived and worked during the Second World War.

Following the museum visit, Andrea and I decided to walk all the way across the city to get to the pier where the Gates Scholars were meeting for an evening boat cruise on Thames. The long walk took us through markets, passed Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre, the London Eye (which should be called the London Bicycle Wheel), and across the London Bridge.

As for today, I’m reading, writing, and getting ready for the second full week of lectures.