Lots of papers due this week meant a quiet weekend in London last weekend, but a rest from our usual breakneck speed was definitely welcome!
On Friday afternoon, Kaitlin, Megan, and I went to the Rail Europe office and booked all of our trains for our Spring Break trip. We leave on Thursday night, which is crazy...the semester is flying by! The Rail Europe guy valiantly tried to con us into buying a rail pass that actually would have cost about $200 more than just buying each ticket individually (we did all the math the night before...more math than I've done since high school, that's for sure), but we weren't having it. I put on my best "I am practically a grown up and want you to take me seriously voice" and told him that we already knew what tickets we wanted and their prices and that the pass just wasn't worth it. I think he was a little surprised that we didn't just blindly agree to the pass and we may have lost him his commission, but I was pretty proud of myself for standing up for us. Which is probably something I would have been more reluctant to do in the past, since I hate confrontation, even in its mildest form. It may have only been a small instance, but it really showed me how good this semester has been for me. And to celebrate our booking success, we went to Covent Garden, easily one of my favorite spots in all of London, and got crepes at Creme de La Crepe, this cute little place in the market.
On Friday afternoon, Kaitlin, Megan, and I went to the Rail Europe office and booked all of our trains for our Spring Break trip. We leave on Thursday night, which is crazy...the semester is flying by! The Rail Europe guy valiantly tried to con us into buying a rail pass that actually would have cost about $200 more than just buying each ticket individually (we did all the math the night before...more math than I've done since high school, that's for sure), but we weren't having it. I put on my best "I am practically a grown up and want you to take me seriously voice" and told him that we already knew what tickets we wanted and their prices and that the pass just wasn't worth it. I think he was a little surprised that we didn't just blindly agree to the pass and we may have lost him his commission, but I was pretty proud of myself for standing up for us. Which is probably something I would have been more reluctant to do in the past, since I hate confrontation, even in its mildest form. It may have only been a small instance, but it really showed me how good this semester has been for me. And to celebrate our booking success, we went to Covent Garden, easily one of my favorite spots in all of London, and got crepes at Creme de La Crepe, this cute little place in the market.
Saturday was a combination of homework and a wonderful visit to St. Paul's Cathedral. It is the oldest cathedral in London and the fourth cathedral on that site dedicated to St. Paul. It has been through bombings in both world wars and the Great Fire of London in the 1600s, so it has changed appearance many times. The current cathderal was desgined by Sir Christopher Wren and built between 1675 and 1710. The outside is an impressive part of the London skyline (look for it in the opening scenes of the sixth Harry Potter movie!), with a magnificent dome (although it still can't compare to the Golden Dome, in my mind). Kaitlin, Kelly, and I took a tour of the inside of the cathedral with Jirinia, a woman from the Cz
ech Republic now living in London. There seem to be so many people living here from other countries. They told us at all those pre-departure meetings that this was a global city, but I have really seen it in my own experiences. But back to Jirinia and St. Paul's. She was a great tour guide--very knowledgable and even told us the best place to snap covert photographs, since technically cameras weren't allowed inside because it was a place of worship. It was a beautiful sunny day (shockingly), so the sunlight streamed in the windows of the cathedral, catching the mosaics and making them sparkle in the light. It was just a breathtaking view, so I had to take a picture, even though that was not one of Jirinia's recommended spots. These mosaics on the ceiling were my favorite. The colors were just brilliant.
ech Republic now living in London. There seem to be so many people living here from other countries. They told us at all those pre-departure meetings that this was a global city, but I have really seen it in my own experiences. But back to Jirinia and St. Paul's. She was a great tour guide--very knowledgable and even told us the best place to snap covert photographs, since technically cameras weren't allowed inside because it was a place of worship. It was a beautiful sunny day (shockingly), so the sunlight streamed in the windows of the cathedral, catching the mosaics and making them sparkle in the light. It was just a breathtaking view, so I had to take a picture, even though that was not one of Jirinia's recommended spots. These mosaics on the ceiling were my favorite. The colors were just brilliant.After our tour ended, we climbed the 530 steps up to the top of the Dome for absolut
ely breathtaking views of the entire city of London. The climb was a little dicey--it just seemed to get steeper and smaller the farther up we went. Definitely not for the claustrophobic! And I just had visions of tripping and falling and taking out all the people coming up behind me, but thankfully my trademark "Maura wobble" did not make an appearance at St. Paul's. The weather was on our side and the sun stayed out, so we were able to get lots of photos. Big Ben, the London Eye, and the Thames were in one direction, with the rest of the city spread out before us in the other. I was almost certain I could see Kamen House, the flat where I live, which is actually pretty plausible, because the flats on the upper floors have great views of the 355.5 foot-tall Dome and spire. I tried to take a picture, but the lady behind me was a little 
bit antsy and overly rule-abiding and yelled at me that I was supposed to keep moving. Ergo, there is no picture of Kamen House from St. Paul's to post in this blog update. But I could have sworn I saw the strange brick and white arches of Kamen. I moved on and managed to snap many more photos without the crazy lady yelling at me again, so I was happy. This was definitely one of my favorite things in London so far! And an added perk, Jirina gave us some advice for our upcoming trip to Prague and is even trying to put us in touch with her nephew who lives there and can show us the sites.
ely breathtaking views of the entire city of London. The climb was a little dicey--it just seemed to get steeper and smaller the farther up we went. Definitely not for the claustrophobic! And I just had visions of tripping and falling and taking out all the people coming up behind me, but thankfully my trademark "Maura wobble" did not make an appearance at St. Paul's. The weather was on our side and the sun stayed out, so we were able to get lots of photos. Big Ben, the London Eye, and the Thames were in one direction, with the rest of the city spread out before us in the other. I was almost certain I could see Kamen House, the flat where I live, which is actually pretty plausible, because the flats on the upper floors have great views of the 355.5 foot-tall Dome and spire. I tried to take a picture, but the lady behind me was a little 
bit antsy and overly rule-abiding and yelled at me that I was supposed to keep moving. Ergo, there is no picture of Kamen House from St. Paul's to post in this blog update. But I could have sworn I saw the strange brick and white arches of Kamen. I moved on and managed to snap many more photos without the crazy lady yelling at me again, so I was happy. This was definitely one of my favorite things in London so far! And an added perk, Jirina gave us some advice for our upcoming trip to Prague and is even trying to put us in touch with her nephew who lives there and can show us the sites.Sunday was a day full of homework at the London Centre. I just seem to work better when I am sitting at a desk in the library there than when I am in my flat. I really like the London Centre library. It's this old-fashioned room in the London Centre with decorative moldings on the ceiling (pulled that out from my Home and Garden Television viewing with Mom and Julie!) and big windows. It's much more open than the ND library, which is I think what I like about it. It's a good spot to get work done, but I don't feel like I am locked away from the rest of the world and stuck in a maze of bookshelves like I am at the Hesburgh Library on campus. Although I still really like the study cubbies. For some reason, having something on either side of my head helps me study better. Which probably means I need my head examined...
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