Here I found traditional weekend activities of university students and of British people in general. A couple of guys knocking a football around and a girls rugby team in training.
People her are generally happier than Londoners which arena obvious as its a college town but it definitely has a buzz about it that makes one feel good. Or maybe its just the happy music I'm listening to?
So as I meander through the half paved, half cobblestoned roads I come across kings college. Upon entering the chapel I am lucky enough to walk in on the orchestra and choir rehearsal. Now I'm not a big fan of operas but they were rather impressive I must say.
Walking through the chapel is interesting as I am learning much about its history and relation to the British throne. Plus I am amazed by the architecture in most cathedrals and this one is no different. I have to say my interest is not properly vested being American. But as s man of the world (joke), it is not a waste of 5 pounds (not a joke).
So I leave kings college chapel to the venture more walking around in the weather which is worsening as the rain comes down more steadily. I quickly realize how much nicer going to school here would have been than in Storrs, CT with the cows...
On another note: Im trying to find book called 'how to get into the top business schools' and wander into a book shop inconspicuously named Wesley Owen. In it, all I can find are books about the bible (not the actual bible funnily enough) and Christian worship CDs. Needless to say I haven't found my book yet.
And despite the REALLY urgent need to urinate, I pop into the apple store cuz I definitely need to add to my collection of 3 ipods. Could use a Mac computer though....
After repeated efforts to buy 2 books from 3 different book stores (where the first store, borders, an international chain, only sells the one book out of the us and doesn't carry the second book; the second store carries the 2 books but are out of stock; and the last store doesn't have one book but find the other book unfortunately when paying I realize that the CD part of the book has been stolen and there are no others in stock), I stumble on trinity college shortly followed by st john's college. I check out Trinity college and instantly prefer it to King's. Its multiple courtyards and marble statues are very charming.
Entering one of the buildings I am presented with another opportunity to see a rehearsal. This time a collection of horns. This time not as nice as the the choir and that would be generous. Ok no sugar coating, they were horrible. Lots of work ahead them I'm guessing. As for St John's, I don't even enter because frankly I'm bored of the colleges at this point and am really hungry and food always leads me to the next stage in life. But i did take a few pics...
So with that I'm ready to sit at a pub, watch some football, eat a burger, and have a beer. Unfortunately I can't find a pub showing the game and the one I do settle on has a 25 minute wait for food! Miserable. So I decide to just catch the next train back to london. Thing is that the train is in 10 minutes, but I'm about a 15 minute walk away. My competitive nature kicks in and I commit to making this train. After walking briskly for a while I can now see the station but only have 2 minutes to make it so I pick up the pace with a full sprint. Weaving in and out of people on the sidewalk and narrowly missing getting run over by a perfectly innocent driver of a corsa, I reach the station in time and jump onto the train with only seconds to spare, breathing heavily gasping for air and sweating profusely!
Good cultural day trip in the bag, its time to do some good old fashioned partying back in London!!
