Turns out my goal of writing a post every 2-3 days might have been a little too ambitious. JMac has been keeping us so busy with events throughout the day that I barely have energy left to do my readings and HW at night, let alone anything else. That said Sunday was our first free day. I didn’t set an alarm figuring I would sleep in but my body had other plans and after waking up at 7:00am I went for a nice long run along the Thames. Then I went searching for the famed giant shirtless statue of Jeff Goldblum (put up to commemorate the 25 year anniversary of Jurassic park). Tragically it has been taken down, but in my quest for Jeff I stumbled upon the Chinese Food Festival which was fun, and an outdoor amphitheater called The Scoop, where I was fortunate enough to see a (free) performance of the Wizard of Oz. I also took a tour of the warship the HMS Belfast which sits in the Thames nearby the Tower Bridge.

On Monday we went to the Royal Society, (‘the world’s oldest independent scientific academy’), where we got a guided tour. Highlights included Newton’s Principia and Hooke’s Micrographia. Sam and I had ramen for lunch and then a few minutes to walk around Trafalgar square and through The National Gallery (we did the standard 5 minute art museum speed run). Next we had a classroom session and a quiz. In the evening I attended an optional Prom concert in the Albert Royal hall, which consisted of 20th-century classical music by Bernstein and Shostakovich, performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Photos

Morning Run
Cool Orb Looking Thing
Aboard the HMS Belfast
The Wizard of Oz
The Scoop Theatre
Design for Cart with LEGS
Ramen for Lunch
A street artist on Trafalgar Square
Lion Statues in Trafalgar Square
The National Gallery
"Feature us on your blog Noah"
Venue for the Proms Concert
The route I ran Sunday morning
What Could Have Been

click here see all my photos

Observations

  • Taking the bus is way more fun than the tube, worth the extra time.
  • I will however have nightmares of being a London bus driver. The things are huge and the spaces they have to fit them are tiny. There are pedestrians and bikers everywhere and they frequently cut in front of busses forcing abrupt braking.
  • Their traffic lights go green-yellow-red-YELLOW-green. I suppose it’s slightly more efficient since drivers known when to start getting ready.
  • Even though his statue is gone I know that Jeff Goldblum was there with me in spirit. Forget Nick Cage, Jeff Goldblum You are the real national treasure.