Beginning of an End

This morning we had our last Literature in London class. It's funny to think that's it's already over. Sure, those three hours every Tuesday morning could seem a bit long at times, but they were enjoyable, exciting, and I feel as if I learned a lot. Remembering it all's just the issue, now.

We talked about Oxford University for the first half of class (we're visiting there tomorrow on a day trip), and we analyzed literature from John Milton, George Herbert, and John Donne. We read an excerpt from Paradise Lost, and some of Donne's prose. As for Herbert, we read one of my favorite poems by him, "Love (3)." Professor Talbot truly loves the written word, and that love carries electricity into the words. The words were powerful to begin with, to be sure, but when Professor Talbot gets his hands on them, they become truly magical. I'm going to miss that class.

After Professor Talbot gave his closing remarks the class began to applaud, as per BYU custom. Although, apparently not everyone does that, because some girls were confused. In any case, I like the tradition. Everyone deserves applause every so often.

Then class was dismissed and everyone scattered. I still had two walks to do for my London Walks class, so I set out to do the longest one today. Before the walk I dragged Sarah and Lizzie to me to find a playground for my family picture this week, but, as it turns out, playgrounds are hard to get into if you're not a child or with a child. And you can't exactly see them from outside the fence. So that was a dud idea. It all worked out, though.

We parted ways and I began the walk solo. I really hate trying to read maps. I should probably hone that skill. . . you never know when you might need it.

This walk took me from the Centre to Holland park, and back. I only got turned around few times in the park, and inevitably saw all I was supposed to see, if a bit out of order. Holland Park is beautiful, though. There is one section called the Kyoto Peace gardens which are modeled after an oriental garden. It was beautiful, but the peace and quiet the signs suggested could be found inside was a bit disrupted by a group of teenagers. Oh goodness I sound old saying that. They were loud, though, and a guard came up to them as I was leaving.

After getting home I decided to buckle down and get my assignments done. I did it! My literature final is complete and turned in (so I hope it was good because I didn't exactly do any proofreading aside from my usual edit-while-writing method), I only have one more walk to do (and it purportedly only takes twenty to thirty minutes), and my Fine Arts Final to study for. I'll be done by mid-morning this Friday. Well maybe Friday afternoon. . . I still have to watch Parliament. But other than that I'm done! That's a crazy thought.

Aubrey Walk. These houses were originally built to be cheap housing for people. Now, they sell for millions of pounds.

I love the houses here, but I feel so weird taking pictures of them. Same goes for their gardens.

I found my street. Every lamppost was green. It was the most pleasant sight.

Mew Street. The mews used to be where horses were kept, but they have been converted into rather charming residences.

A turtle sundial

This peacock was a bit to comfortable around humans for me to be entirely comfortable. Thank goodness for the ability to zoom.

The Kyoto Gardens

I randomly found this place on my walk back to the Centre.

This was the Churchill pub. It was completely covered with flowers and was by far the prettiest building around. The flowers were the reason for that.

Also, Kris, sorry they've been so long in coming, but I did finally take pictures of the refurbished Centre. Here you are, my friend :)

The staircase right as you walk in

The library

A dining area where the faculty and my room eats.

The servery

A window looking out to the balcony that I've never been on.

And that was today. It was a good day.