London and Trip Wrap Up

Well, I am back in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but will try to recount all that I can from our four days in London. The Hubbert sisters were great hosts, full of information and very gracious considering the limited space that student apartments in London permit. Dave, Greg and I were joined by our friend Jason from TU, Cassie and Sally (2/3 of the Hubbert triplets), and Jessica, who made the short trip from Canterbury, where she is studying. We had an absolute blast in London. We spent time at the National Gallery, the Tate Modern Art Museum, the Science Center of London, and the Imperial War Museum (which although a bit off the normal path, is absolutely wonderful and interesting). We walked along the Thames, and took in St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower Bridge and London Tower, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye (we didn't spend the money to go up into it). This was so enjoyable because we had absolutely beautiful weather the last two days in London. They may have been the only two days of sun London will get all summer. We went to see Avenue Q, an incredibly humorous comedy and we had an absolute ball. We had the cheap "restricted view" seats, but a little neck bending was well worth seeing such a funny, well acted play. We also did a good job of taking in some traditional British food and ales, even having an Indian food picnic in the park with some Strongbow cider.

Overall, the trip was an absolute blast, went by with very few snags and too many new experiences to count. Dave and Greg both agreed it was an absolutely great way to end our college careers. My experience with Greyhound Bus getting to and from Chicago was the worst part of the trip, but I got to Des Moines and now to Tulsa safely, with a special thanks to Jane for picking me up in Chicago after I forgot my bus tickets and there wasn't another bus for a day. I hope everyone enjoyed reading my blogs during the trip. I am working this summer in Tulsa (job TBD) and then head to Qinhuangdao, China in August with Dave to teach high school English.

Madrid & Salamanca

I write you from a peaceful student apartment at the University of Kent-Canterbury, in Canterbury, England. Since the last writing, we spent two nights in Madrid. We went around the city, saw lots of great things, and the three of us went to a bullfight. It was the second to last night of the San Isidro bull festival, we saw the "rejones" which means that the "toredores" are on horseback. It was a great experience for all of us, as Greg noted, the first bull or two are kind of gory, but after that you begin to understand the challenge to the bullfighter and see why the Spanish consider it an art form. We spent the next two nights in Salamanca, the town where I studied abroad last spring. It was a great time for me, to catch up with olds friends. We visited with my host family and ate hordes of delicious Spanish meat, tortilla de patatas, and delicious olives. We also hung out at the McDonald's at the mall with some of the kids who I helped coach in basketball. After Salamanca, we travelled up to London, England and spent the last two nights with the Cassie and Sally Hubbert, two sisters from TU who are doing an internship there. Yesterday we won the metaphorical lottery at the House of Parliament. As we were preparing to wait in line to watch the House of Commons, when MP Colin Burgon came up to us and said "they're Americans, they can come with me." Well, Mr. Burgon is a staunch Laborer from Leeds, and a big US Civil War historian. So, he gave us the grade A tour, going into many restricted areas, explaining the historical significance of paintings, statues, and rooms, as well as taking us to the Members only Terrace overlooking the Thamses. It was truly great, see here for more on Mr. Burgon: http://www.colinburgon.co.uk/. Then, today we (the Hubbert sisters, and Jason, a friend of ours from TU who came over to visit and use some frequent flyer miles) travelled to to Canterbury to meet up with and stay a night with Jessica, our friend who is studying here and joined up with us in Greece. Canterbury is great, a little rainy, but very traditional England aka peaceful and green. I hope everyone is doing well in the states!