2 weeks and counting

Time is running out for our hero. Will he be able to do everything he wants in the scant time that is left? Stay tuned. . .

So here it is, time to blog again.  This week, like many others, was quite an eventful one.  On Wednesday the NCSA group all went to Dover.  The plan was to spend most of the day at the castle, but that isn't how things worked out.  Unfortunately the "genuises"  that run the castle had closed it down for a company shooting a movie, and they neglected to put this on their website!  Everyone needs to boycott the "Bellini Sisters" when it comes out.  I have no idea who is in it or what it is about, but it is the film that kept me from running around a castle and pretending that I was a knight.  Instead of the castle a few of us went to the Dover museum, and got to see the worlds oldest boat.  3600 b.c.  Not too shabby.

Thursday was another action packed time.  We started the day off at the house of John Soane.  He was an architect in London in the late 1700's.  He had quite a bit of cash in his day, so he turned his house into a kind of collection of artifacts from around the world.  Everything from an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus to collections of paintings by Hogarth.  No hot tub though.  I guess money can't buy everything, or at least it couldn't back then.

Next on the agenda was a meeting with a member of parliament, Keith Vaz from Leicester (pronounced: lester).  He came and spoke to us about his efforts on the diversity council.  He seemed like a good guy even if the meeting was rather short and sweet.  Still I imagine that American college students aren't exactly his target demographic, so I am surprised that he found time to meet with us.
Then it was off to Saint Paul's for a concert of orchestral and choral music.  After I woke up it was time to hop on the tube and go home.  It is probably my uncultured American-ness but it all sounded like a score to a really dramatic and overblown movie.

Friday was spent on my own checking more stuff off of my list.  The morning was spent at the Sherlock Holmes museum, at 221b Baker street.  Then I headed one stop south on the tube and got a pic of the plaque on the building where Jimi Hendrix lived.  I would have pictures of all this stuff but I am currently using my host families computer and I am not familiar with their picture software, so I can't resize them.  Look for some next week, for now you'll have to make do with boring words.

Today my big plans include, working on my art paper, maybe taking a trip up to Oxford, but I doubt I will have the motivation.  Tomorrow I plan  to go down to Hyde park's speakers corner and listen to all the crazies rant and rave.  After that it is off to Petticoat market, they do sell other stuff there so don't worry, I haven't developed the British tendancy towards cross dressing.