The streets of London

I can't believe I'm already at the halfway point of my visit to the Crossmodal Research Laboratory. Time sure goes by fast when you're having fun, I guess. My fifth week in Oxford started off with festivities of Professor Spence's birthday on the 18th. There had been much debate over the weekend of what to get him, and what he likes, but in the end we decided on a stone mortar, a hearts ice cube maker, and some drink stones.The weather was beautiful throughout the week, and I even spent some time relaxing and reading by the Thames.Throughout the week, I continued to gather more participants and by Thursday I had 15, a good number from which I could see if there was a trend in the data. So far, it looks like we have a trend and are receiving our desired results!

The lab is slowly becoming even more empty, as some of the of the other visitors are heading back to their home countries. This week, we said a preliminary goodbye to Emanuela, a PhD student from Italy. We attended a SciBar event at Port Mahon that explored the possibility of life on other planets and grabbed dinner to eat in the park soon after. I tried an gnocchi, a breaded ball full of rice, cheese, and vegetables. We continued with the goodbyes on Friday at lunch in the University Parks. Friday was also the summer solstice, the longest day of the year-it truly felt like it too, since I only headed to bed around 3am, working late to submit my secondary medical school applications. Pressing submit was a bit anticlimactic, but now I can relax for a bit..

the lab outside the Italian restaurant

Earlier this week, my cousin Sanya landed in London to start her research internship through Arcadia University and we had made plans to meet up over the weekend. I spent the weekend with her, exploring the streets of London and navigating the London Underground. We truly made the most of our weekend-eating, exploring, and just spending time together.

I arrived around 10 a.m. on Saturday morning to King's Cross station (the same one that the "Harry Potter" series refers to) and by the time I had put all my stuff into her room, it was time for brunch. We headed to Cafe Oz, where we both had a full English breakfast-filling enough to last until dinner. We visited the British Library and spent a while looking through the "Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library" exhibit. The gallery hosts a permanent display of over 200 fascinating items from sacred texts to early literary works. From the Magna Carta to the Gutenberg Bible, from the scrawlings of Handle to the backs of letters with Beatles lyrics, it was truly a marvelous collection. As an ardent Beatles fan, I loved reading the manuscripts of John Lennon's lyrics to "Strawberry Fields Forever," "She Said She Said" and "In My Life," together with letters by John Lennon that were donated under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by Hunter Davies. After exploring the past in the Library, we went on to the British Museum, where we saw the Rosetta Stone and parts of the Parthenon. According to my cousin, there is much debate about the Parthenon. To cap off our busy day, we went into the heart of London for dinner at Nando's, a popular chain restaurant in England, where I finally got my hands on a veggie burger-so delicious! We then ventured to Piccadilly Circus and Big Ben to see them at night with all their lights.

The British Library

part of the Parthenon

Rosetta Stone

Piccadilly Circus

Big Ben at night

Sunday was an equally busy day, full of sightseeing. We spent the day at visiting popular landmarks like Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and went to the banks of Big Ben and the London Eye. Since the weather was particularly beautiful, we had the chance to sit out and enjoy the beautiful city.

Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben during the day! 

London Eye