More Adventures!

I've been remiss, but not to worry! I decided today was a day to procrastinate, so it's time to catch up! An exploratory wander along Regent's Canal kept me occupied with a friend one evening, and we found an interesting pub where you can trade your credit card for a tarot card so you don't forget it!

Doug and Carolynn had a little vacation to England and Ireland, which was fun because we got to hang out a bit! And even more exciting, they got engaged in this pretty little park!

We had a bit of a wander around central London...

And headed off to the train station.

To go see Bletchley Park!

Bletchley Park was the major code-breaking compound of WWII, where the Enigma code was first broken. They have a lovely museum with lots of bits of code machines!

And a memorial to all the hard work that went on in order to decipher the various codes.

A mock German communications room.

Some of the actual codes being worked out on paper.

Although the Enigma code and the Germans were a big concern, there was also a lot of effort into breaking the Japanese codes, too.

So many machines!

Alan Turing's ideas for the first computer arose from his work here with the codes. He died unfortunately young, but is certainly still one of the biggest names in artificial intelligence studies today.

This was the Turing Bombe, which was built to pretty much calculate a bunch of random possibilities for an Enigma code decipher at once. It could run millions of possibilities in a go based on suggested matches from the code-breakers and sped the process up considerably.

On average, it came up with the correct combination a handful of times during an eight hour shift. Which doesn't seem like a lot, but was an immense help. It's solutions could be checked with this little machine, which would take the suggested code and see if it worked out like it should when typing a message.

It was a lovely day all around outside. Bletchley Park was a lovely country residence before the war. During it, it was built up with numerous huts for a variety of purposes aside from the basic work that went on there. Many huts remain today, but a lot of them haven't survived and the park has returned to being... well, a park.

The original mansion that stood on the site.

The interior of this, too, was used during the war.

It was quite lovely, though!

Part of the film about the code breaking efforts, The Imitation Game, was filmed here. They've some of the props and the pub scene that was filmed in the mansion is still set up.

We had yummy fish and chips for lunch!

They had a nice explanatory exhibit about the efforts and methods of conserving the site and the huts that remain, including some of the materials they found while doing so. Though I forget the name of it, this was a print out where the holes suggested alphabetic probabilities for deciphering various messages.

Such a lovely blue sky!

The train was fun too!

The rest of the afternoon was given over to a wander through the British Museum to try and see the highlights. Certainly not a quick or easy task in such a big building! But we saw the Parthenon Marbles.

Some of the statuary from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassus - one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Maussolus and his wife.

A lovely Etruscan sarcophagus.

And an exceptionally detailed mosaic from Pompeii.

The siren vase!

These cups were actually done by an artist who had a mini art display on a Starbucks shelf.

The find of the day, though! Was a whole book of logic puzzles!

I loved these things as a kid! And they're still just as much fun.

Another night I hopped down to see the lights on in the city. Oxford Street is still lit up.

Regent Street had turned theirs on, too, which seemed slightly less impressive. The strings of lights actually have little mirrored pieces that have the added benefit of shining in the daylight and making it look like there are still lights on.

They had some nice gears and bits that felt very Steampunky, too, which was neat, with little projections playing on the bigger pieces.

Mostly of firey looking things! (Watch the left side ^^) 

Lights everywhere!

Carnaby Street is a little pedestrian zone with lots of little shops and cafes and restaurants, and they, too, had their lights up.

This bit's there all year round...

So is this guy! He was hanging out over near Chinatown, though.

Which still looks fantastic at night with the lanterns lit.

A nice, dark, view out over the Thames!

I came across this church somewhere in wandering...

And this cute little building standing all by itself!

One of my classes took us back into the British Museum, and I had a bit of time to photograph parts of the Amazon frieze...

And this massive horse, also from the Halikarnassus tomb.

One afternoon it was relatively nice out, so I headed over to peek at Buckingham Palace. This was a Canadian Monument in Green Park.

With these pretty bronze leaves beneath a sheet of flowing water.

Ta-da! Palace!

And the lovely monument outside it.

A bit more wandering nearby uncovered this lovely pub, looking somewhat lonely and out of place among a bunch of big ol' modern buildings.

And this curious wind-inspired sculpture.

But there was a nifty church!

And I happened upon the Victoria Palace theater on my way to the tube station.

This building was pretty cool.

Tom and I went out one evening to try an Ethiopian place near our hall. Having never had Ethiopian food before, it was a delicious adventure! There was even fancy Ethiopian beer.

Christmas decorations are everywhere now!

This was a lovely building facade.

This most recent weekend some of my classmates and I wandered around, starting in Notting Hill.

(Loved the contrast of this little place. The bottom bit radiated neon.)

And found our way into Hyde Park.

'Physical Energy'

Apparently there are parrot-things that also live in the park!

The Italian Gardens.

I'm not sure what one has to do to live in this adorable house in the park, but I would very much like to!

The Winter Wonderland experience has also come to the park.

With all sorts of rides and fun houses.

We mostly just looked around and then headed out of the part to find delicious Lebanese food along Edgeware road, passing through the Marble Arch.

One the way home I found more lovely blue lights!

Other than that, classes and upcoming essays keep me busy. It's quite fun with a good subject, even if it is time-consuming, haha. I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and that all is well!