October 31st 2005 — London, England
I ventured over to the UK for today’s Halloween celebrations. I left Dublin early Saturday morning, caught up with some friends studying at Oxford over the weekend, and am now in London.
Although London is quite the popular travel destination, this is the first time I’ve been here. The friend I’m staying with gave me a three-hour walking tour last night that included sitting on a lion and observing the statue of a limbless pregnant woman. This morning, I was going to visit Westminster Abbey, but was discouraged by the long line and wet weather. Instead, I went to IKEA. I’ve been looking for a cheap blanket and pillow, which both happened to be waiting for me at the Brent Park store. There was also a lamp that I couldn’t resist — it doubles both as a torchiere and reading lamp. My afternoon involved a brief nap followed by an “all you can eat” buffet at a nearby Indian restaurant.
Life is good for me right now. School at Trinity is great and I have this wonderful opportunity to travel regularly. In the next couple months, I’ll be traveling through Germany with a couple other Mitchell Scholars and hope to hike into Finnish Lapland. I’m also working on plans for an Africa trip next summer.