Dulwich, bowling, and texting failure.

In architecture class this week, we ventured out to Dulwich Picture Gallery.  It was far enough away to require using the National Rail, which was very exciting.  Built by Sir John Soane, it was England's first public art gallery and, interestingly, also includes a mausoleum.  The building combines Gothic with Classic architectural features, a mix which results in something resembling a fortress.  To protect the art?  But don't get me wrong, it's a pretty cool structure, and was completely novel at the time Soane built it.

The mausoleum in the back was a bit odd...

That's Spike, our professor, the one who looks like Dr. Who.  Also, the doors on this building are fake.

...but includes a very important decorative element that is the inspiration for the design of those famous red telephone booths!

See it?  It's bit on top.  I tried to get the booth in the background for comparison. 

In other news, a bunch of folks on my hall and I went bowling!  The facility was set up to look as American as possible.  They were playing country music and there were lots of British people trying to line dance.  I've come to the shocking realization that I haven't really talked about the people who live on my hall, but they're all very nice, very fun people, so I thought I'd put a picture of them here.

L to R: Top - Ani, Matas, Bottom - Alex, Rey, Juri, Faz

I don't actually remember ever having bowled before, but I didn't lose!!

Also, this was awhile ago but I need to include it for my family: I went to see St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the famous church and more importantly, home to my very, very favorite orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

Note the gorgeous weather we're having!

Finally, to increase the randomness of this post, I am including this text fail, courtesy of Steven Chau, because it just made my day (and for those of you who know Steven, it should be particularly entertaining):

Back to writing essays.  All day opera rehearsal tomorrow, so there will be lots to report on that account!