Snowpocalypse v. Westminster

So, there was a blizzard in the Midwest or something?

Oh. Right. That little thing.

I understand this storm is one of those crazy stories that only happens every ten years or whatever, but seriously, can everyone calm down? All I see is a tremendous storm and a wonderful opportunity for a snow day.


Photo Courtesy Mom and Dad Allen


Okay, maybe I'm just jealous of your snow day... good old, perfect, MY University of Wisconsin... And maybe I miss the snow a little.

But when all anyone can talk about is the blizzard, I seriously start to wonder whether all of this transatlantic communication technology is really worth it.

My Typical Skype Conversation This Week:
Me: Hello?
Somebody: Hello?
Me: Oh good! The internet is finally working, [which it never does over here because high-speed connections are non-existent.] It's so great to talk to you! How are you? How's everything going?
Somebody: Well, we have this blizzard coming, did you hear?
Me: Yeah I saw on Facebook and everything. You even got a little shout out on BBC-
Somebody: Oh it's going to be a big one! Everyone was grocery shopping like there was going to be no tomorrow. On the Weather Channel it's stretching over the Midwest to the East Coast! It's all ice on the ground now, but then there's going to be some major snowfall!
Me: Right, I saw it on weather.com-
Somebody: It's going to be a big one!
Me: Yeah, well at work today-
Somebody: All the school's have a snow day!
Me: Aw, I missed it! And I had to work today-
Somebody: Yeah, everyone had a snow day! Classes kept getting canceled or delayed, and then they just called a snow day! Everyone was so excited... yada yada yada for the next 10 minutes.

New Rule: If I suddenly lose all communication with you because of a blizzard, or if all you can talk about is a blizzard, I will stop going on Skype, Facebook and updating Twitter and Blogspot.

...Ok not really, obviously. But I really wanted to.

So what did I really do this week besides feel grumpy about this ridiculous blizzard that I don't even get to enjoy? You know, walking through Westminster, listening to debates, writing writing writing, website work, class. Keeping busy.

Proof:

Why are these buildings always under some sort of construction? [Because they're really old and need preserving?] Anyway, you get the idea, I hope. I finally snapped this picture when I didn't feel ridiculously self-conscious about pulling my camera out in the middle of Westminster Hall.

Ok, more updates that are more exciting than the snowpocalypse to come soon!

Toeing the Tourist Traps

While we new Londoners still had week-long Underground passes paid for by our study abroad program, we decided to put them to good use and see some of the sights over the weekend.

Thus, it was off to the British Museum on Saturday! The British Museum is by far the greatest museum I have ever visited. It is well worth even the hour you might be able to spend there if you ever travel to London. Extreme academics anywhere could easily spend a week cooped up in the Museum though.

Since we normal people are not usually too interested in every part of ancient history, here are some Must Sees at the British Museum:

1) The Rosetta Stone:

No. Not from the stupid infomercials. The real Rosetta Stone is the broken slab of stone that basically says the same thing in three different languages: Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic script and Ancient Greek. It was discovered by French troops and transferred to the British during the Napoleonic Wars. It's also been the most-visited item at the British Museum since it went on display in 1802.


If you can't find it, it's the thing in the glass box that everyone is crowding around even though they can't get a good picture of it because it's surrounded by glass.


2) Mummies

There are a lot of mummies at the British Museum. And they do a lot of cool stuff like CAT scan sarcophagi (seriously, apparently that's the plural of sarcophagus) to see how the mummy died.

Plus it's just plain cool.



3) Greek Parthenon Statues



The British Museum has a huge section on statues and monuments taken from the Greek Parthenon. I think this part is the most impressive, because it was part of an old tomb in what is now Turkey.




And these three must-sees don't even include the sections on Asia, the Americas, Africa or modern art.

So seriously, if you go to London, take the time to be a little nerdy and go to the British Museum. You'll love it even if you don't know anything about history.

On Sunday, we had to visit all of the Iconic London scenes. When you picture London, you probably either see the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament & Westminster, or Buckingham Palace.
Conveniently enough, they are all located within a roughly 20 minute walk of each other.


If you've been my Facebook friend for about two years, you've probably already seen these exact pictures. But I love them so much that I can't resist posting them everywhere anyway. Plus they're worth another glance, especially in person.

Still to come from this area: Westminster Abbey, the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace and just generally a ton of photos.

Anything I missed that I should check out?