With my archival work completed, we had all day Wednesday to sightsee. Since it was Alicia's first trip to England, I opted to skip Hampton Court in favor of the Tower of London. While Hampton Court better fits with the era of history I enjoy most, the Tower offers a lengthier pedigree. But first, Alicia wanted to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. I've seen the palace, but I've not been there for the famous ceremony. So we got there about 45 minutes early and secured a good spot next to the wrought iron fencing that surrounds the palace. The first disappointment for Alicia was that the guards were not the usual palace guard in the red coats and furry black hats. These blokes wore more common-place military jackets and berets. Four of them stood in front of four little guard houses - stock still. Every few minutes, a pair of them would begin a choreographed routine where they would turn, walk away from each other, turn back, walk toward each other, and the...
I am a bit sad to say good-bye to England and to know the core of my researching is nearly over. But being apart from Steve for so long and being incredibly anxious to get back to him means that happy definitely overshadows sad at this point.
ReplyDeleteAs for GTAing - yes, I think I am ready. Last semester was horrid and it took me some time to recover. I spent at least a week here actually dreading going back. But time to decompress and do the historian bit has helped me reacquire my enthusiasm.