My Graduation Weekend

So I'm finally here to talk about my graduation weekend a week late. Sorry about that :-)  I'm getting caught up slowly but surely. Anyway, it was a great weekend and it was a big moment in my life. It was also just a lot of fun!

We took the train into London on Friday around eleven o'clock and we had a good journey. I love taking the train!  It's a great way to travel and only takes half of the time that it would for us to drive to London. We ate something quick at the train station when we arrived in London and then we headed to our hotel to check in.

Once we got checked in we decided to get out and enjoy the city. We walked around a bit and did some people watching and then decided to go the O2 complex to have an early dinner. You know how I love taking pictures of food, but I forgot because I was feeling greedy and went ahead and ate. LOL. We ate at a place called Nando's. They have really good spicy food and it's right up my alley.

After we left Nando's, we walked around the O2 Arena. That is one thing that I love about the O2...there are loads of restaurants and things surrounding the arena so you can do everything there. On that particular night there was a Rod Stewart concert getting ready to happen, but we got in and out of the restaurant before the rush.

After we left the restaurant area of the O2, we went outside and walked around. This is a picture of this cool structure that's outside the O2 and I love the way that it was catching the evening light. It's called the Peninsula Spire.

Next to that is this interesting building called the Ravensbourne. It looks like a big toy to me. It seemed to glisten that day.

The next day was the Saturday and it was my graduation day :-) We had to get up really early in order for me to be there to get robed up and everything. Everything was very well-organized and The Barbican where it was held was lovely inside. It's a nice size...not too big, but not tiny. Before the ceremony, there was a mini concert given by the Westminster Brass band. They played about five songs and then the faculty marched in. Here's a slightly blurry picture of the band onstage.

My graduation ceremony was the last one that the chancellor of the university was going to preside over, so it was a special ceremony. The chancellor was David Putnam and he has had an amazing career within many arenas. The thing that I was so impressed by was that he produced the Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire, along with many other films. He was so genuine and inspiring when he spoke. I just loved it! There were two honorary degrees given out. One was given to Anthony Barnett, who is an activist and the other was given to the former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. It was so wonderful! I truly felt this was a milestone in my life...I really felt it and I'll have that memory forever :-)

After graduation, we headed back to the hotel so that I could change out of my uncomfortable outfit ;-) And then we headed to our favorite place to eat....Sophie's. I was feeling so good that I got a cocktail and it was so good! It was called a Frozen Sicilian and it had vodka, lemon, and raspberry in it. Check it out!

And here's my appetizer. It was calamari and it was so good.

I forgot to take a picture of the main course because I was greedy again. LOL. But I had a peppered steak salad and it was great too.

After we ate, we decided to take a good stroll around London. Here's the thing, I don't drink much so that cocktail had me feeling beautifully fuzzy. LOL. I was fine, but just laid back as heck ;-) I was so relaxed and everything.

We walked all around and eventually ended up in Trafalgar Square. It was really buzzing with people, but it didn't seem overcrowded at all. I got free hugs from these two girls who were dressed up like two cats. I've often seen them or others like them there, but I never joined in. Well this time I did and it was great! :-) I just felt in love with the world that evening! Here's a picture that I took across Trafalgar Square and if you look in the center and in the distance you can see Big Ben.

It's always a hive of activity there and there are always sidewalk performances or something going on. There is this section of Trafalgar Square with this pedestal called the Fourth Plinth and it features an ever changing display that lasts for a particular period of time. Currently there is a huge blue chicken called Hahn/Cock by Katharina Fritsch. Here's a picture.

That weekend was one of the best I've ever had and I'll never forget it. I saw so much, I did so much, and I loved it all!

P.S. ~ I just realized that I didn't tell you about my broken heel. This post is already long enough so I'll save that for another post :-)