'ello London! (and Oxford)

After a few great days in London, I am successfully situated at Pembroke College. My dad and I had a fantastic time in London (largely thanks to Michael) and were able to do a bit of sightseeing and British fun. The flight was fine and we arrived ready to go. On our first night, we went to La Famiglia and ate dinner next to Paul McCartney! It was a great start to my time in England.

The next day (Thursday), Dad and I stopped in at Michael's store (which was very impressive) and then made our way to th

e Tube. We decided to visit the British museum on a whim and it was fantastic! We were both really impressed by the architecture of the main lobby which is covered by a beautiful glass ceiling. Their Egyptian and Greek collection is amazing. We saw the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin marbles. SO COOL. Right before we went in, we discovered a shop called "It's All Greek" which sells reproductions of Greek and Roman antiquities. I think I am going to have to go back there to get some decorations for my room. I have my eye on a Greek bronze helmet...

We then walked to Westminster Abbey, going by Trafalgar Square on the way.

We decided to go to Evensong at the Abbey which was really interesting. The abbey itself is beautiful and the service was attended by the high commissioner of Cyprus. We headed back to Michael's and had a great dinner/ club experience.

On Friday, we visited the Natural History Museum which was a lot of fun. The building itself was great. Then we swung by the Sherlock Holmes Museum which was a little weird but kind of quaint. I got my picture taken with Dr. Watson! We decided we still had some time left and headed to the Tower. They were having a Henry VIII exhibit which was very interesting and very well done. We then made it back to Michael's to change and headed out to dinner with some friends. Dinner was amazing and I had a wond

erful time and a lot of fun.

After a quick stop at Portobello Road, Michael drove us to Oxford on Saturday. We wanted to move my bags in early but the master's son was getting married so I decided I probably should avoid disrupting the wedding. We headed to the Tilbury Inn and then back to town. We walked around Oxford for a bit, said goodbye to Michael, ate an early dinner, and returned the the inn for an early night. Unfortunately, I have come down with a cold so I didn't sleep too well.

I finally moved

into Pembroke on Sunday morning! Dad helped me unpack a bit and then I walked him to the bus station. I'm glad we were able to have such a good time in London! I walked back to Pembroke and unpacked some more, met up with Tufts (and nonTufts!) people, met the coordinators of the Tufts-at-Oxford program, went shopping for bedding, had predinner drinks, and had dinner in the impressive dining room. But they weren't done with us yet! The JCR staff (orientation leaders) took all of us out to a local cocktail bar and we had a great time mingling and getting to know each other. Everyone is so nice here!

Today hasn't been that exciting. I'm about to go take a tour and go to a

talk or something. I'm trying to learn as much as possible about the way things work around here! It's going to be a very busy year!