Tea and Teasers

Today was our final day in London, so I suppose Buckingham Palace was a fitting place to visit – a royal ending to our London trip. We received an audio tour at the gates and then proceeded through the various royal State Rooms at our leisure. The State Rooms were beautiful enough, although much of the detail looked pretty much the same, probably because many of the rooms were designed by the same person (John Nash). However, I was intrigued by the rolltop desk in the White Drawing Room, because it reminded me an awful lot of these cabinets that I found in Louis XIV’s furnishings at The Louvre. I don’t know if the artist was the same or if it was a style of that time period, but I do like the pictures on panels effect.

After Buckingham Palace we practiced a little motion photography, and then went to lunch at the original Hard Rock Cafe. Honestly, my favorite part of the day was walking over to Whittards with my flatmate Liz, to pick up a few more bags of Strawberry Kiwi tea. Thanks to Carolyn for pointing it out to us, because we were going to visit the Oxford Street location last night, but that branch closed. Liz was new to Whittards, so it was fun to watch her wonder from tea stand to tea stand smelling one and then another, and then debating which ones to buy. Whittards has dozens of different types of teas, so it can be quite difficult to choose.

I am more than ready to return home, but I am going to miss a number of people in this program. Not to mention, this is my last academic experience. It’s still surreal to think that my “educational” experience is over. But I now have network connections all over the states. And maybe I will see some of these people again at ALA.

I also need to write a blog about my visit to Forbidden Planet yesterday. I went to an author singing at the bookstore/comic store/collectables store. The store is absolutely gigantic! I came out with four books and honestly wanted to buy many, many more. I also bought a Doctor Who mug featuring all eleven Doctors. So, look out for that blog later, after I return home. I will be taking pictures of many of my souvenirs once I'm back in the states.