London and home again home again...

Well, obviously it's been a bit of time since I've gotten home and posted, and I completely spaced out on blogging about London. Since I have now started studying for my qualifying exams (scheduled for the beginning of September), I am of course looking for things to help me procrastinate. It's amazing how many "really important" things there are to do, like update my blog from the last part of my trip, start blogging about new things (because I think I'm a little hooked on the idea that people are actually reading this - of course, that was while I was in a foreign country...hmmm....) and anything and everything including scheduling an appointment to get my annual eye exam....

Anyway, London was fabulous, as it always is! I spent lots of time there in the summers while I was growing up, thanks to my wonderful parents who always took my sister and I on trips with them. I took the train back to London from Paris and arrived on Sunday afternoon, just in time for Sunday lunch with my dear friends the Collinses. We know them through my uncle who is a world traveler, and all five of them are dear, wonderful people who are just like family to me. It was a lovely change from being in France where I didn't speak the language and felt somewhat isolated to being in a city that I love and know well, with such a wonderful family!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous in London - much unlike any of the last few times I've been there in recent years. I always love it, but the temperature this time was just as you'd wish it to be - warm enough to sit out in the sun in Hyde Park with a lunch but not so hot you felt like you needed to douse yourself in cold water regularly (much like here in Florida during the summer).

I enjoyed my leisure time immensely and spent my first free day shopping, buying very little actually. On Tuesday, I went to Kew Gardens, one of my favorite places because it makes me think of my mother and going there as a child. The weather was again perfect and I even got a little bit of a sunburn walking around there! I took a lunch and a book and walked a little, then sat a little, then ate a little, then walked a little. It was amazing being there by myself and getting to stop and go whenever I wished! I remember being a little girl there and wishing desperately that we could stop walking for a while....the torture!

On Wednesday, my dear friend Chaska (one of the Collinses) and I spent the morning at the Picasso exhibit at The National Gallery. Wow! Although I am not the biggest fan of "modern art" I enjoyed the exhibit, and especially the audio guide (which I always advocate spending the extra money on because it's like having someone explain everything to you - well, that's actually what it is, isn't it - duh!). I always thought of Picasso as an artist who did weird stuff, but this show had a variety of his paintings which showed off his amazing artistic abilities and helped me to understand his brilliance. Now I'm a fan....

Wednesday evening found Chaska and I at a play at the National Theater on the South Bank, a place I had never been. The play was incredible - called Death and the King's Horsemen - and was something I probably never would have seen on my own. But I'm so glad we went! It was incredible!

Thursday morning came way too quickly for my taste and back to the land of Gators I came. I hit the ground running when I came home - in the office on Friday for a while to try and start getting back to "post-France/London life" and then on to a conference on Saturday in Des Moines. I can honestly say that I've had enough of buses, trains, and airplanes for a while now!

I know it won't quite be the same, but I'm thinking that I'll turn this blog into a chronicle of life in my last year as a grad student. I know increasingly that I'll have less time for everything, but I also know that a number of people (mainly family!) have said that they liked how this helped them keep updated on what I am up to these days. Again, of course, that was while I was in a lovely foreign country, so who knows....

Coming up for me, as I mentioned, are my qualifying exams in September. The summer is packed with dissertation deadlines, as well as papers and other assignments for classes that I'm taking, but maybe writing entries in my blog will help me put things into perspective - in that way it's likely more for me than for anyone else!

Hope you enjoy reading! You may see some changes to the way the blog looks - I get antsy from time to time and need to shake things up.....

Cheers!