24 Mar

Since I don’t have seminar for Sociolinguistics, I’m all done with classes! Our first stop today was St. Paul’s Cathedral. Unfortunately, my parents did not spend a very good night at their hotel. Their experience was so bad, in fact, that they really wanted to leave and find a better place. While my mom got ready, my dad and I left to do just that. We found a nice room at a nearby Quality Inn and were all set to cancel at the B&B and move-in there, when we were told by the B&B staff that they would not refund us the remaining nights. Unfortunately, my parents had went ahead and paid for the remaining nights and the manager’s claim was that they approved of the room and thus had no right to complain and demand their money back. We disagreed and though we couldn’t get a refund, we demanded a different room. It was slightly better and after a much delayed start, we finally left for St. Paul’s.

This cathedral is amazing. I can see why it is the pride and joy of Christians all over England. It’s the second largest church in Christendom after St. Peter’s in Rome. The gildings, paintings, and delicate yet stately architecture truly make it a marvel. We visited several cathedrals and churches in Europe and this place certainly rivaled if not surpassed many of them. Although photography was forbidden, I saw other people shooting and decided to do the same. I made sure not to use the flash (as that is what they were really concerned about) and managed to take a few decent shots. I was worried about getting caught while my dad was egging me on to shoot more openly.

We climbed to the dome together and then Dad and I went all the way to the top with a bunch of Canadian rugby players. What a view! I told Dad that this was arguably the best view of London from any point in the city and one of the rugby players overheard me and said that he had been on the London Eye (big “observation wheel” on the Thames that was built for the millennium) and that this view was much better. It was cold, windy, and rather gray but still stunning.

Once we got down, we had lunch at a nearby café before catching the Tube to Tower Hill. The journey took much longer than I thought since the Tube stations we had to change at were much larger than I had anticipated. It probably would have been easier to walk! When we finally reached the Tower, we were told that although the place wasn’t closing for another couple of hours, the last guided tour was just on its way out and that if we hurried we could catch up with them. We didn’t think it was worth it and decided to visit Brick Lane instead. We walked down the street for a while and stopped in a couple of grocery and sweets stores. We looked at different restaurants before choosing a Balti House. The food was okay and I was happy to leave the place since it was quickly becoming smoky with a new wave of smokers.

We bought some delicious sweets before catching the Tube back to Victoria. While I waited for my train, my parents stayed with me and we ate some of the sweets. I made it home around 22:00 and met Katie at Checkpoint Charlie. She had just returned from a day out at the library and then a play and dinner with some friends. I wasn’t feeling too tired so I hung out in her room for a while. We talked about all kinds of things from scuba diving (she’s swum with sharks!) to the X-Files (she’s a huge fan) and my theories on how the Harry Potter series will end. What a cool kid. Before we knew it, it was near 1 a.m. and I had to get up early to meet my parents at the Tower of London. Eek! Cheers!