Day 6: First Rainfall

Day two of class improved a bit on the first. I think I have a better sense of what Prof. Murin wants out of us in terms of the paper, but day to day classes are still a bit rough. He fishes for answers, specific ones, and class can absolutely stop until we can read his mind well enough to move on.

After class, a handful of us schlepped over a few blocks in the rain to a Pub called The Lamb. It was a very quaint place with lots of brass railings and hard wood panels. The people were very nice, and actually interacted with us (just a hair) which was more than I can say for many of our other experiences. The pints were tasty and the atmosphere was great. The Food on the other hand, was out of control expensive. Fish and Chips were 9 pounds, and there are very very few types of fish I would pay 18$ to eat breaded and deep-fried.

We headed back to the Tube when Blake spied a Krispy Kreme. Four of us decided to split a dozen, which made for a really nice and reasonably inexpensive bite to eat.

We took the train to Picadilly Circus and walked to Trafalger square from there to see the National Gallery. My better judgement was to go back to Chelsea and work, but as my roommate pointed out, never have I been glad I skipped doing something to read, but I’ve certainly been glad to skip reading and do something.

The Gallery was very cool and the paintings were, of course, incredible. The layout of the exhibits made it difficult to move through the space and feel like you saw everything. Also, it made it really easy to get lost. We couldn’t even keep 6 of us together and had to send out search parties by the end to make sure we didn’t leave anyone in the halls. I felt like I saw most of what I wanted to see, but we’re coming back as a class, so no one was too worried about the things we missed.

Once back in Chelsea, I set to work, but was having a lot of trouble staying awake, so I napped. Normally, I have trouble falling asleep when I know I’m going to wake up soon anyway, but this time I was dead. I didn’t so much as move after I slid under the covers, so I’m glad I decided to sleep.

Arsenal’s second Champions’ League game was this evening, and it was the first full game I could watch. They certainly didn’t disappoint. They crushed FC Porto 4-0 and generally dominated the match, it was a really fun game to watch in the lounge with people coming in and out to see what was up.

Most of the rest of the evening was spent in anxious anticipation of the Twins game, which I’m currently suffering through. Nick Blackburn pitched the game of his life, which is all you can ask for. We’ll see how it ends, but I really hope it doesn’t go too deep into extras. I gotta sleep at some point!