It's all in the face.

My mother didn't really teach me that--duh.

(Also, credit to Brenden O'Neal for the picture. I wish it was mine.)

Lambeth & South Bank.

It's not very often that Lady Sunshine likes to make an appearance in these parts. In fact, I think it was in the prep class that I was told to only expect twenty-one hours of sun in the whole month of February. Yeah.

Well, She came out on this day. I even got to take my my coat off--yes, outside! It felt like Christmas cheer (in a non-cold/snowy way).

It was GLORIOUS, especially when alongside the river embankment, opposite Big Ben, Somerset House, and Cleopatra's Needle. I'd have to say, it was probably my favorite walk of all time.





Prominent events of the walk:
1. Getting up-close & personal with the London Eye.
2. Spotting the first (and probably only drinking fountain in England--same goes for trash cans, root bear, toilet-seat covers...actually, probably just toilets period, and Crystal Light packets, in case you were wondering.)
3. Finishing the estimated 90-minute walk in only forty-five minutes, all thanks to the best walk leader Kaylee. I may have broken a bit of a sweat at one point.
4. Seeing everything from the opposite side of the river.
5. Feeling like home while passing through a skate park next to the BFI Southbank Theatre. The graffeti in that den was pretty sweet; I would have taken a picture if A. Kaylee wasn't so athletically endured and B. I didn't feel like I'd get beaten up by a skater for doing so.

Central Parks.

Brenden, Spring, and I decided to take this stroll through four of London's royal parks on the quintessential Spring-like morning that was Thursday, before class.  (Spring-like in the sense of both the season AND the person :) We couldn't have planned it better. Everyone was out and mingling for an early lunch hour enjoying the sun-rays reflected on the pond waters, which allowed for some worthwhile people watching. The birds and ducks were plentiful and friendly, enjoying every moment of the wheat attention they were getting. Brenden was encyclopedia-worthy with all the avifauna mating protocol he provided in conversation, which was more than I ever learned in my freshmen biology class. And as if the feathered birds & bees talk wasn't engaging enough, we rounded the area of Buckingham Palace just in time to watch the Changing of the Guard and catch bits of an Iranian protest going on at Hyde Park corner. It was definitely the most interesting walk I've been on. I gained an overdue appreciation for living just across the street from one of these pretty parks, and discovered more of it than I probably would have otherwise (i.e. the Peter Pan statue--a highlight).

Those Romans.

Today I was in the V&A museum looking at an impressive collection of Roman sculptures (this one in my non-art educated particular, was the tender favorite) when I remembered the last time I was looking at similar carvings.

I was in the Ceasar's Palace hotel in Las Vegas with my family. We were waiting in the shopping mall there for our dinner reservation at the Cheesecake Factory. I was about thirteen or fourteen, and was still being closely followed by my sister two years younger. To save you from the math, that would put her at around eleven or twelve--somewhere around 4th or 5th grade.

I was looking at a Roman statuette. I really liked the marble, I guess.

Okay, maybe I'm lying. I had just finished my Sex Education class and didn't know what to make of all the inconceivable facts I had just been told, the ones that very nearly flipped my whole world upside down. To my horror, Mackenzie shows up at my side and catches me in this very deplorable act. I was thirteen/fourteen so I knew by then that when things of that nature showed up, I was to avert eye contact and keep walking. I knew that. I was ashamed and uncomfortable. I didn't know what to do.

She looks at me, and then the statue. She proceeds to look back and forth a few times more. Then she turns to me a final time and says,
                                   "Is that where lettuce comes from, Hay?"

Roman sculptures at Ceasar's Palace are different than the Roman sculptures at the V&A museum...

Fleet Street & St. Paul's.

This walk was a teaser. It started with the striking St. Paul's cathedral and lead us up and away to a plethora of other churches that albeit charming, weren't nearly as comparable. As the old centre of London's printing and publishing industries, this western section of the city was highly commercial, brilliantly incorporating the grizzled buildings responsible for the area's traditional reputation and the new buildings of a more diverse economic sector. I imagine it's quite a fun game for the city planners to find innovative ways to work around such historical construction. Other notable sites were the private, residential neighborhood we stumbled into while lost, Shakespeare's Blackfriars Playhouse (an indoor theatre that was unusual for the time), and the funky Blackfriar Pub (the only one in the city decorated in the art nouveau style)--to name just a few.


Elise, our fearless leader, in front of Dr. Johnson's house--he wrote a dictionary.

working on my fitness.

It takes 68 steps to get to my very America's Next Top Model-esque room.

68 steps. Sixty-eight!

It doesn't matter that I've already had one month's practice under my belt, I'm still huffing and puffing by the time I make it to my haven of bunk beds. I have re-think every trip to the bathroom (one flight down), or the classroom (three flights down), or the servery (five flights down).

At least I re-think every mid-afternoon or night snack.

And I'm just thankful I don't have to climb the ladder flight of stairs to the top bunk.

faces.

Can you imagine having your head lacerated by this face?

Shoot. Can you imagine having your head lacerated at all?

I can't. Bless the souls of all those that fell under that fate. Whether they were truly guilty of treason or just a helpless pawn in the game of politics, like Lady Jane Grey. No one deserves such cruelty.

I mean, this face is cruel and creepy enough.

Like....what is that? An elephant trunk for a nose AND a cleft lip/palate?