I don't really have anything much to write about these days. No recent pictures to share or adventures to tell. Pretty much I've been hanging out in my room and the library writing papers and reading. Which is why I am here in London in the first place, I suppose.
Spring break is around the corner (a couple weeks from now) and in addition to having a friend from home visiting me the first week in April, I hope to spend some time in continental Europe too. All I have to figure out now is where? So many choices!!! I'm thinking somewhere warm and sunny...

Incidentally, I read somewhere that London gets half as much rain as Chicago! This does not seem right, so I should really check another source to confirm. But, I guess here in London it rains several times a week, on and off, whereas in Chicago it rains less frequently but more steadily; it might be possible. Right now it is pouring! It was sunny 30 minutes ago!

Another unrelated tidbit of information...a girl who lives down the hall from me has chicken pox! I had a little panic for a second after I heard that because I've never had chicken pox and don't really want to get them at this stage in my life. But then I remembered I got the vaccine shot (or 'jab' as it's called here) a couple years ago. At least I think I did...

Today I skipped class...but it was for a good reason!
I spent the day in Cambridge with Stephanie and Meredith.
I knew I wouldn't be missing much in my class because we were going to be talking about using graphing calculators and that topic doesn't apply to what I teach. And besides, I learned a lot in Cambridge, so I think the trip was fully justified.
We took a two hour walking tour of the city with a guide first thing. This was a great decision because we were able to get oriented so we could find our own way around later.
Our guide told us lots about Cambridge University and its colleges, including that the academic year at Cambridge U. consists of 3 8-week terms--that's it! When you consider that a college education only takes 3 years in the UK (as opposed to 4 years in the US) this just does not seem like enough time to learn much. But, I must say I was keenly aware that the students I saw everywhere are among the most brilliant in the world. Nerd alert!

Below are pictures of some of the things I saw in Cambridge.

St. Benet's Church-the oldest building in Cambridgeshire.
Built by Saxons in 1025.

The 'Round Church'--second oldest building in Cambridgeshire.
Built in 1130.
One of only 4 round churches in England.


The library of Trinity College.
Why couldn't Trinity College in Palos Heights, IL be this cool?!

Bridge over the River Cam behind Trinity College.
Also cannot compare to the 'creek' behind TCC in Palos Heights.

Walking toward St. John's College.

St. John's College.

King's College Chapel.

Carved stone ceiling in the chapel--amazing!

One of the many stained-glass windows in the chapel.

Carved oak 'curtain' with pipe organ on top.

The next pictures are just show some, how should I say it...
...unusual place names.
Can't help but giggle, I don't know why exactly.

'Christ's Pieces' is the name of a park.
WHO thought this would be a good name?

Another river shot--I just liked the covered pedestrian bridge.

My travel buddies--who did not have to skip class to go to Cambridge!

The weather in London has been amazing lately. Today it was in the mid 50s again. It is hard to believe, but I kind of think it's not going to get cold again--that this is actually the beginning of spring. How weird.
In order to take advantage of the mild, rain-free weather, I spent the afternoon at the Royal Botanical (Kew) Gardens with Lauren, Vanessa, and Reina. London is a pretty gray place, winter or spring, so we were in the mood for some color and some fresh air. Kew Gardens is no doubt a fabulous place to visit in April when everything is blooming and there are leaves on the trees, but there's plenty to see in the low season too (plus, admission is discounted, which is always a bonus!). There are three big greenhouses on the grounds, one of which was hosting a tropical flower exhibition.

Aerial walkway in the Palm House.

What are these called? I always forget!

So many orchids!

"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."
I saw this on a sign outside of a pub on Saturday--cracked me up.
Anyway, what is more important is that the pub is located in Bath, England (pronounced 'Bahth' :) ) and that is where I spent my day (in Bath, not the pub).
I've been in a dry spell as far as outings and day trips are concerned and have been really antsy lately to get out of London and explore more of England. Vanessa, who lives a couple of doors down from me, was feeling the same, so we decided to venture to Bath for the day.

Bath gets it's name from the Roman baths located there. These baths are different than other Roman baths because the source of this water is a natural hot spring laden with minerals which were believed to promote health.

Mineral deposits coat every surface.

A video from my
tour of the Roman Baths.



For 50 pence you can sample the water--it's got a strong irony flavor.

Visit the Roman Baths yourself!
Go to the Roman Baths Website

Other than the ruins of the Roman baths, Bath is also famous for its Georgian architecture. It was a city which attracted the elite of Britain in the 1700s. Just about all of the buildings are the made of limestone, so they all are the same creamy color.

'The Circus'-a circle road with houses all around.

'The Crescent'-more Georgian homes arranged in a crescent.

An intersection lined with limestone buildings.

Pulteney Bridge is lined with shops.

Yesterday I was amazed to see flowers blooming in February. Well, this morning I woke up to snow! I had heard rumors that the 'biggest snowfall in London in 7 years' was on it's way, but I didn't give this prediction much merit. (Probably because in Chicago every snowy forecast is exaggerated--I have become desensitized.)
After breakfast, I went outside to take a couple pictures of the scene. There's quite a bit of snow on the ground, but it's very wet and I think it will all melt by the afternoon.




Also, watch this movie: Snowing in London

Those of you who are reading this from West Michigan or the Chicago area have been experiencing some extremely cold and snowy weather and you're probably getting sick of it by now.
Here in London the temps have dipped below freezing once or twice at night and the daytime temperatures have been in the 40s for the most part. Two weeks ago it snowed about one inch, but it melted before I got out of bed to see it. Experiencing some wintry weather has a certain appeal to me lately but I must admit I do not miss commuting back and forth to work in it at all.
It hasn't been so warm that I would think spring has arrived, but apparently nature is confused. I took these pictures this morning. Imagine--flowers in February!




I do love daffodils and it is so tempting to sneak out at night and cut a few stems for myself, but I'll resist. Passing them each day on my way to school will have to be good enough.

I REALLY need to be working on my essay, but I think I've acquired ADD in the past week because I can't focus on this paper no matter how hard I try.

Lately, I've been trying to figure out how to create a movie from the videos on my digital camera so I can post them on my blog. Still photos just aren't good enough sometimes, you know?
In this, my movie debut, you will see where I live. That's right, a video tour of my room! Yippee!
I had narrated the video originally, but something got messed up and I accidentally disabled the sound. But, it's pretty self-explanatory anyway.
Just click on the link below and voila!

Room Tour