London is vast. It sprawls across a huge amount of land, but you get the impression that all of it is real city. My 40 minute walk took me down the river starting at the London Eye (the big ferris wheel next to the millennium bridge) and ending at parliament and Big Ben. I then turned right and walked past a fancy building titled "The Institution of Civil Engineers." Subsequently, I noticed an equally posh building labeled "The Institution of Mechanical Engineers." However, as much as I hoped to follow this progression to get pictures of institutions devoted to Course 3, 4, 5 and my beloved 6 and 8, I had an obligation to meet with my friends, so I continued along the road to reach Queen Victoria bus station.
My next sight was Buckingham Palace. I don't really know how I managed this, but I got there right at the changing of the guard (11.30am). So that was a bit of luck. There was a bunch of music, then the soldiers with their rigid discipline, funny walk, and furry black hats. About 30 of them marched from the building I can only assume was some guard building, through a mass of tourists (barricaded by the police), and into the gates of Buckingham Palace. You're going to have to imagine that all, because I didn't get any good pictures. Here's a picture of the palace, with a bunch of tourists. I took it because it indicated to me that I was no longer in Cambridge (there are people walking on the grass...).
After picking up my friends, I helped them bring their stuff to an amusing hotel (the rooms were tiny and highly modularized) and after lunch, two of us caught an opera at the Covent Garden (quite literally caught: we ran for five minutes, ran up to the ticket agent, ran to the usher, the usher ran with us following to the auditorium, and then the usher told us that we had to run to our seats). All in all a well done tour of London. The next day, we all flew back to the states together (and AJP joined us).It was so, so nice to be back in the States. I don't think I can emphasize that enough. So I won't try.
I was in Edinburgh with all of my family (on my father's side) for Christmas and New Year's. There were about 15 of us, and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun (despite being rather cramped for several days). I'll leave off with a great picture my grandfather took of my brother and I playing with a miniature table soccer set that was probably not built to be played by people of our respective sizes.
I hope everyone had a fantastic New Year's. Hopefully I'll have lots of interesting things to write about when I get back to Cambridge. Tomorrow I leave for Stockholm, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark for five days. Not nearly long enough, but that's how it is.
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