It is crazy how quickly one week goes by! One day I’m bored in my room then the next thing I know the weekend is over and other week has begun!

For class we visited the Banqueting House in Whitehall. The building was closed to the public because the Prime Minister was holding an event there later in the day, but somehow my professor got our entire class in! We mainly looked that purpose of the building and the massive Rubens paintings on the ceiling. After that I spent a good majority of the afternoon walking around the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square. It somehow happens that every time I go to a museum I stubble upon the room that I have the most interest in first. At the National Gallery, without looking at the map, I immediately found myself in the room with Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Gauguin. The next thing I knew found my way from Expressionism to Impressionism where I was surrounded by works of Monet, Manet, and Seurat. Needless to say, it was an enjoyable afternoon walking around there.

On Friday, Chelsea and I made our way over to the British Museum. The Rosetta Stone and relief sculpture from the pediment of the Parthenon were just some of the highlights. I was surprised how much of the Greek and Roman sculpture I recognized from my sophomore year art history class. After the museum we made our way to Oxford Circus where we were on a search for Primark. We kept seeing other people’s shopping bags so we new we were close but it took much longer than we anticipated. Since the store has such discounted prices and it was late Friday afternoon it was jam packed! Thus, we decided we would need to go back during the week when more people are either at work or school.

Saturday was our day trip to Stonehenge and Salisbury. Thankfully the sun was out all day, but Stonehenge was freezing because it is pretty much in the middle of an empty, flat field. We walked around taking the typical tourist pictures and then we were back on the bus to warm up! An hour was the perfect amount of time to spend at Stonehenge; you see the rocks, you appreciate and question the meaning, and you move on… to Salisbury! After briefly being guided around the center of the city we arrived at the Cathedral and were given the rest of the day to explore. Of course, since Chm and I both have taken art history, we had to go inside the Salisbury Cathedral with the tallest spire in England! We tried to recall all of the technical terms for the parts of cathedrals from transcept, nave, and crossing but other names just escaped our memory. After studying the stained glass we headed for the Chapter House to see the Magna Carta! Chm was really excited about this since she was in a play in grammar school about it! After our little history and art lesson we headed back to the first thing we saw of Salisbury from the bus – a pub that made hamburgers! The picture looked so great that we instantly decided we needed to eat there and have a good ol’ American hamburger. They were great and hit the spot. We spent the rest of the rest of the afternoon wandering around the city; however, we somehow managed homing back to the exact some spots and just walking in circles! Nevertheless, it was a great day with touristy things, hamburgers, and delicious pastries!

Finally, yesterday Chelsea, Chm, and I went for a strole through Hyde Park. When we got off the tube Chelsea and I discovered Primark was one block away! We did a lot of unnecessary walking the other day for nothing! Beginning at Speaker’s Corner we walked down by the water and talented roller skaters and bladers then up past the Peter Pan statue (as seen in Finding Neverland) to a different tube stop. Next, we went to Portobello Road in search of the newest Banksy piece. He is an “underground” graffiti artist. Some people really follow him closely seeing that they appreciate his messages; yet, others view it as just graffiti art on the side of a building. I just wanted to check it out for myself since the building is selling that one wall for over a million pounds! Plexi glass is protecting it, but junk and rubbish are already strewn across the small parking lot area in front of it. It was still good to see one in person after I’ve heard so much about him.

So far, March is looking to be the busiest month of all! From my beginning of the month visitors to my birthday to visiting friends in Galway for St. Patrick’s weekend to traveling to Rome for Easter, I’m sure to be constantly doing something!