Apologies for the extreme delay in posting, but school started last week, and I've been extremely busy (and sick)! I love all of my classes. Mondays are my busiest day with three classes (Advanced Software Engineering from 9 to 10, Renaissance Art History taught in the National Gallery from 2 to 4, and Image Processing from 4 to 5). Then I only have one two or three hour lecture per day, except no classes on Thursdays. On Friday, I have a three hour lecture: Financial Institutions and Markets. It's fabulous!!
Classes here are pretty different from home. Much less time in the classroom and MUCH more time reading textbooks. I've almost finished my first textbook (I don't think I've ever read one cover to cover before!). There are multiple full textbooks for each class! But most of them are pretty interesting, so that's a plus! Other than classes, I have gotten pretty involved in the Catholic Society, the tennis club, and the investment society (maybe the gliding and riding societies, too, but I haven't quite decided)!
This Saturday, Aurora and I went to Paris for the day. We took the Eurostar, which left at 6:22am from London (I had my first experience on the Night Bus, getting to the station at 4:50am) and arrived in Paris at 9:30 (they're one hour ahead). Then, we spent the day sightseeing. Our first stop was a crepe shop (where I got a delicious breakfast crepe, while Aurora got nutella spiked with Grand Marnier (ew)... it reminded me of how Nana used to spike our brownies when we were little) on the way to Sacre Coeur, which was absolutely beautiful. It sits up on a hill that overlooks Paris. The architecture is very Eastern European, with domes and Taj Mahalish looking structures. Then, we took a bus down to the Eiffel Tower. After getting tons of pictures of the Eiffel Tower, my camera died! So, Aurora had to be in charge of pictures for the rest of the day and she loves taking random candids (of me)... Then, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and continued on down Champs-Elysees. (I can't pronounce any of these places!) We stopped at a delicious French restaurant where we took pictures of our food to show Lizzie (Gill, let her know they should be on fb soon!) since Gill and Lizzie take pictures of ALL the good food they find.
After lunch, we continued down Champs-Elysees, past the Vogue magazine covers, to the Louvre. It was enormous! We got in for free (after I convinced them I was an EU resident between the age of 18 and 26, with my UCL ID card and ISIC card, neither of which said anything about me living here)!! We wandered around (since I have a such a profound knowledge of art), while Aurora told me what was famous. I did, however, recognize the Mona Lisa, which just isn't all that impressive (sorry Mona Lisa fans...). It's this really little kinda dull piece of art, and I didn't even think it was the prettiest da Vinci piece in the room, but somehow it is the most famous piece of art in the world...
Next, we wandered through the streets, finding Paris-ish paintings and sketches to bring home with us. We stopped at a small French cafe, where I had French Onion soup (I had to try it in France) and bottled tap water! Finally, we went to mass at Notre Dame. Notre Dame was also beautiful, but completely different than Sacre Coeur. While Sacre Coeur was extremely eastern looking, Notre Dame is very much the opposite. It has a very Gothic and western look and feel. The only problem was mass was in French... After this, we took the metro back to the train station to catch the Eurostar back to London! (We mastered all types of their public transportation!) Overall, Paris was an interesting city. It was definitely very beautiful, but I never got the real city feel... The streets are so much wider than any European city I've seen, and the parks aren't nearly as nice as London's!! (I still like London the best of all the cities I've seen here!)
On Sunday evening, the relics of Saint Therese came to the Carmelite Church in Kensington in London. University students were asked to help with the veneration for an hour, so I volunteered to read reflections on her life and clean the glass case holding the relics. When I arrived at the church at 8:15 (the relics were on display beginning at 8), the queue was over a kilometer long! It was absolutely incredible! People came from all over the world (and many straight from the airport). Luckily, I didn't have to wait in the queue! It was truly a beautiful and blessed evening for everyone!
Sending love from London to all! I can't wait for this weekend when Gillian and Lizzie are coming to celebrate G's 20th birthday in London! We have lots planned (including tea and Les Mis!)... I hope everyone is doing well!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment