The Parents in London

I went up to London to see the family yesterday. Of course, as things around here are difficult in nature, I had a few annoyances along the way. Basically, I couldn't get a replacement railcard on campus, I had to go to the station. So at the station I couldn't get a replacement card because I didn't have proof of my age (thanks, Home Office!), and although I had proof I was a student, if I wanted a student railcard I would have to do that from campus. So I had to pay an extra 10 pounds to get to London for the day. But what are you gonna do.

We managed to meet up relatively easily and decided to head up to Trafalgar Square and go to the National Gallery to look at famous works of art and be accosted by hordes of uniformed school children on field trips. There was some sort of whoop-tee-do being set up in Trafalgar Square as part of Comic Relief involving a 'mystery celebrity'. I will never know who it was now, sad! I was pleased to finally remember to go see this one painting they have there that is featured in the opening of Desparate Housewives, which while a bit sad, has been on my list since I forgot to go see it in October. After the museum we headed up to Covent Garden for some lunch, after which my dad got pulled into some performance art and performed admirably, it seems. We then sojourned up to the British Museum to look at famous artifacts. While there I learned that while I haven't acquired an accent, per se, I have perhaps picked up some English nuances when it comes to phrasing questions. It's hard to explain, but I was laughed at for the rest of the day each time I asked a question. Now I fear being one of those people who comes back to the US with pretentous foreign manneurisms. Feel free to slap me if I do.

After a quick pint back in Covent Garden, the parents had to be off to get back to their hotel to pick up their tickets for the concert they were attending that night at Royal Albert Hall. I went to Marks and Spencer and got a sandwhich (free range egg & bacon, the freedom of the eggs makes it tasty) and then headed back to Waterloo and caught a train that's first stop was in Winchester! This amazed me slightly. I kept glancing slyly at the magazine the girl next to me was reading. I think she noticed. Sometimes learning about celebrities is more interesting than reading about Iran (I had Vanity Fair).

The family will be coming down to Southampton this afternoon. I told them it's no deal and you can't see the water, but I'm not sure if they believed me. And I hope you like my button in the above photo.