I get by with a little help from my friends . . . . Thanks Cory!!!!

I have promised myself that I would get this out today.  It has been harder than I thought to post regularly.  Not because of technology issues, but because we have WALKED everywhere.  I like to think of myself as being in decent shape, however, when we return each night I am dead dog tired and quickly proceed to sleep like a log.   So, here is the update on our adventure 
so far . . . . . .

Day 6 - First off I have to say thank you to Cory Bemis (Marshall) a fellow Cornellian and friend.  Cory is currently living in London and came to speak to my class.  Her topic:  the Sport of Cycling (Cory has raced at the amateur level in both the US and the UK).  Having an athlete of her caliber speak was amazing.  I have an MS in Exercise Science and 15 years of experience, but I am not an athlete.  I don't enjoy pushing my body to its physical limits, and I don't enjoy training for the long hours.  (At one point Cory trained about 20 hours a week, on top of working and kids- another reason I hate to hear someone say they don't have time to exercise.)  The students LOVED it.  She shared an amazing amount of information with them over an hour, and definitely broadened their perspectives.  Thanks Cory for a great class!!!!!

Day 7 - No responsibilities for us today - our first day alone in London.  We saw the Tower of London and Notting Hill.  In our years together, this was our first Historic Tourist Venue.  The results were a success, however, there were some hitches in our giddy-up.

At the Tower of London you can get a Yeomen guided tours - for you and 75 of your closest friends- no thank you.  Instead, we bought a book for a self guided tour.  Now remember, my undergraduate degree is in Russian History, so I love to read about historic sites, so my plan was to take the guide book and follow it step by step, reading everything as we go.  Megan, however, had one mission- The Crown Jewels.  She did not want to pass go, and did not want to collect $200.  She wanted to  beeline for the Jewels.  I guess she needed a little Bling.  So the compromise- we saw the Jewels first, then I was able to wonder and read to my hearts content.  The Jewels themselves are beautiful, but for me the interesting piece was that they are a living part of British History.  The Jewels are still in use by the Monarch, and some (Mace and Crown) are used for the opening of Parliament each year.  The rest of the Tower is equally amazing, I especially enjoyed the history of the beheadings and prisoners.  I know that we all think we have issues with our families, but in early London, if you were frustrated with a sibling/spouse off with a head or a convenient disappearance solved the problem.  Hmmm, how we have evolved:). 

After a day of touring, a quick stop by Notting Hill for some window shopping and a quick glass of wine before home.

Later, we enjoyed a wonderful evening hanging out in the kitchen with our new friends from University of Tennessee in Chattanooga who are taking an Art class while they are here.  Yes, just like in College:).

Day 8 -  I am on call today- what that means is that I have the CCSA cell phone and if there is a problem with any of our students, the call comes to me.  Ek gads, who thinks I am that responsible:)  So I am using my time to take care of little things, like updating my blog, and academic responsibilities back home.  I taught a quick yoga class, then off to lunch at Camden Market - AMAZING ethnic food, from little street vendors.  We are definitely going to have to go back up there to eat again.  The evening's adventures included Laundry and the Divinci Code.  (I forgot to mention we say the Temple Church yesterday as well.)  Yes, just like in College- laundry on a Friday Night:)  As a side note, happy to report no issues with any students on my watch- YEAH!!!!

Day 9-  Ok, all week I have been Polly Positive-"Embrace your inner Brit" has been the mantra.  (It has rained all week.) Today the temperature dropped.   We set out to see Wimbledon and the Olympic Venue - prior to our tickets- to get a lay of the land.  It is a great area of London, very suburban, very quaint.  At Wimbledon Park, we saw a junior sailing group.  They were sailing Laser Pico's (a smaller version of the Laser I sailed on in my youth, but bigger than a Sunfish.)  We caught the end of their class, when they were all jumping off the pier into the water- yes it was only 60 degrees F yesterday- and yes this was the high point for me.   After a quick lunch, we came back and crashed - movies, naps etc.  Cold and rainy was too much for our fearless travelers- both of whom started to feel under the weather both literally and figuratively.  Last night, we cocooned ourselves against the rain and stayed in. 

Today - bright and sunny and off the see Kensington Palace.

Cheers