as museums go...

chunk of the parthenon the brits stole from greece.

i'm not a fan. the frist at home holds my interest, as do a few sculpture gardens, and certain parts of the louvre. but in general i'm not into waltzing around a massive building full of things that don't impact me. call me snooty but why should i care? i'm a horrible artist so i really just wind up feeling bad about myself.

see jimmy. see jimmy run.
see jimmy get histoplasmosis.

after st. pauls we had a little picnic in the park. adorable, we know. imagine approximately 50 college kids picnicing, now say awww. no we're not cute we're essentially a group of adults. that is of course until the inner child comes out. and did it ever. one of the guys in our group is apparently the self proclaimed pigeon man. you know how i feel about pigeons, rats with wings, the plague in the air, vermin, filth etc etc etc. jimmy thought it would be hilarious to throw the birds a piece of bread and then race into their midst hoping to catch one. the only question i have is what would he have done had he gotten a hold of one? been pecked blind? been pooped on without a doubt, and he'd probly have been so excited he'd have squeezed the poor thing to death. it was disturbing and lucky for us he didn't discover his love of pigeons until the end of our lunch.

rosetta stone

poor simba.

after the lunch we walked to the british museum. there are apparently lovely things here but i was held captive by my teacher. my class was the ONLY class who had to tour with her. and when i say tour i mean people followed us around because she talked so much in front of each piece people assumed she was a guide. we looked at approximately less than 10 pieces in nearly 2 hours. granted we saw some cool things like the rosetta stone! and some that were horrific like assyrian lion hunt wall reliefs. looking closely at the photo you will see a lion that has been hunted by an assyrian king. this man (whose name escapes me...shocking i know) was clearly bloodthirsty and cruel. the lion has been shot in the back, it is now paralyzed, dragging its back legs, and throwing up blood. fair sport right?

she stopped and talked about a head for approximately 40 minutes, the bronze head of augustus. nothing spiffy just a bust. everyone was on the verge of fainting because just like their bars, the brits don't air condition their museums. while she rambled about this eerie head i noticed something worth looking at. an alligator suit of armor! its the only one intact in the world. very cool. not the best photo but its was fascinating to me.

carmen, saira, stacey, some stranger.

after the museum, which seemed to drag on forever, probably because i was miserable and forced to sweat while looking at things that don't interest me at all.... we headed to the tower of london. this is an ominous place which is home to the crown jewels and probably some of anne bolyne's dna. (she was beheaded here) they also have ravens, which are not, as i thought, like crows, but more like a black eagle. easily a foot long and tall. solid black and so creepy. they have signs everywhere warning that they bite. if a raven bit you i bet you'd lose a finger. so i didn't mess with them. we waited in a bizarrely long line to see the crown jewels. i understand the line. they're INCREDIBLE, each door protecting them weighs 2 tons each. and photos are strictly not allowed. its the most secure location within the area. after the tower we headed to our 4 hour boat ride. this was actually a booze cruise. please note the photo BEFORE the boat.

carmen, myself, and adam at dinner. 

they didn't know what they were getting themselves into putting all of us on a boat with a bar and no activities. they didn't even list the locations we were passing. needless to say that was one of our more out of hand nights, but all in good fun. we had a nice dinner early in the ride. there were many occasions at the bar when people would order a bottle of wine (it was cheaper to get a bottle and just share) and the bartenders would ask how many glasses. sadly several individuals replied "a straw" highly entertaining evening. lots of dancing and laughing and then a bus ride home... they had barf bags thank god, because yes people vomited on the bus... how foul. i was asleep thank goodness. once home we all crashed and i stayed in town for the weekend.