On Leaving the Holy City

To put it simply, being back in the States is weird. People are louder, no one walks anywhere (nowhere I've been trying to walk, anyway), I have the freedom to actually drive places, breakfast doesn't need to cost more than $4, and I have access to internet whenever needed. What a wonderful world, eh? (I can hear a crowd screaming, "'Merica!'" in my head as I write this.)

Being back has made me re-evaluate the semester, and I now know that it's impossible to fully convey the breadth of my experience abroad in words (especially in a short blog post), so I've decided to simplify it and condense it into numbers and a video (embedded below) instead because that seems to be the most my befuddled brain can process at the moment.
Days abroad: 99
Cities visited: 25
Plays seen: 33
Papers written: 43
Pages written: 108
Words in said papers: 25, 073
Photos taken: 5,023
Time-lapses made: 7

That being said, I'm going to miss what Dr. Pate calls "The Holy City" (hence the blog post and time-lapse title). It's no Jerusalem, but it is divine. I know I will miss the bustling, the theater, the museums, and (of course) the delicious coffee, but, for the moment, I'm going to enjoy good, ole Texas: the land of breakfast tacos, the Alamo, and Whataburger. 

This is a time-lapse I made of some of my favorite spots around London, which includes: Russell Square, a walkway along the South Bank, outside of the National Gallery, a view of St. Paul's Cathedral, and two views from Waterloo Bridge, which is quite possibly my favorite spot in London. Videos aren't really my thing, but I'm trying to give this whole time-lapse fad a spin. Enjoy!

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” 

--Ernest Hemingway

Nightfall

L   O   N   D   O   N

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In the 12 days I've been in London, I've:

-Seen 6 plays

-Walked approximately 75 miles

-Drunk more coffee than I ever have in my life

-Visited 5 bookstores

-Gone to 7 art galleries

-Visited 5 historical sites

I'm ashamed to admit, however, that since arriving in London, I have taken few photos and hardly ever carry around my camera with me anymore. Between walking a minimum of 5 miles every day (I'm afraid I'm going to wear through my favorite pair of Converse any day now), seeing plays, going to class, and simply being in London, I hardly have the time or energy to carry it around. It's a sad truth, and hopefully it'll change soon. I did try to do a time lapse of the sun setting behind Parliament and Big Ben, though! It's one of the many that I'm hoping to make, so this is just a brief sample of what's hopefully to come.