The last two days have been our first two free days of the trip. Other than plays in the evenings we had both days to do as we pleased. For some this consisted of navigating the train system to go on a journey to Cambridge (another university town that makes us feel thoroughly uneducated), while for others it was a great day to see all of the sights we could soak up before our departure on Wednesday. I was in this latter group, and due to the odd nature of these days (freedom? What does that even mean?) this blog is really just going to be about my days.
Monday began with breakfast as usual before hitting the Tube for an adventure back to the British Museum. You may be wondering why we would ever choose to go to yet another museum, but you must understand that when we first came to the British Museum we spent about one hour running through the highlights of this vast museum and there were whole centuries we did not even peek at. We had been told that the museum had an awesome history of money exhibit so we decided it was worth a meander.
The money exhibit began with money from long before the year 0 and showed the progression to the plastic we now use as money. What I found the most interesting was the progression of tools that have been used for making money, and the ways that counterfeit money have been found since the founding of coinage. The various sizes of coins were also amazing: they ranged everywhere from as small as the tip of my littlest finger to about the size of my head.
After the museum we headed out to lunch near Trafalgar Square and then to a lunch-time concert at St. Martin-in-the-fields. The concert was a pianist and a clarinetist, both of whom were beautiful musicians. After being on the move for 20 straight days it was wonderful to take a moment to sit back and enjoy the music.
We then headed to Oxford Circus to explore little shops, people watch, and appreciate the sounds and smells of London. We then went to Hamleys, a colossal toy store similar to F.A.O. Schwartz. This was 7 floors of joy. We played with toys, oood and ahhhd at the newest and shiniest, and told stories about the ones we remembered playing with when we were little.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at a coffee shop studying for our final exam. Around 6 we got dinner at an Indian place (which there are a surprising number of in London) before heading to Oliver!, this evening’s play. Oliver! Is the musical version of Oliver Twist. The set was mind blowing, and the play was enjoyable, but not the best play I’ve seen. Really it was all about the incredible set!
.
Tuesday began with a final cramming and then our final test. Celebration echoed through the halls as one at a time we handed in the test and successfully completed Core 250. This meant our last afternoon was one of jubilation! We headed out to celebration lunches or to weekday markets or to do last minute souvenir shopping. This was a day of last minutes: last minute returns to favorite museums; last minute window shopping; last opportunities to eat at a restaurant; last minute picture ops., etc.
--Chelsea Zink
