Dali at the Tate and More London

I slept in until noon yesterday, packed my things, said goodbye to Kate’s family and headed to Irungu’s place at Canary Warf. After dropping my bags I tubed into London. While I munching on authentic local British food (a.k.a. Kentucky Fried Chicken) in Leicester Square, Caio mistook me for a local and introduced himself. Caio, like me was, looking around for things to do and people to meet. We had a nice chat. Caio is an American/Brazilian high school student who lives with his family on a US Army base in Germany. He is in London on holiday. His Mom is in the Army and he’s lived at American military bases all over the world. He was thinking of applying to Stanford so I tried to answer some of his questions. Maybe he’ll have his own StanfordGrad blog soon! It was a good day of exploration, and by nightfall I had walked all of the way from King’s Cross down to Westminster.

When I got back to Irungu’s place all of the i-bankers were unwinding after a tedious day of training on Excel. Irungu’s apartment is a lot of fun and has a dorm-ish atmosphere. There are four people living there and two guests, me and Nina. Nina is the girlfriend of Solomon, one of Irungu’s roommates. Nina lives in Germany and is here visiting for a few days. She spent 6 months living in London a few years back so she is an absolute pro at navigating the city.

Nina and I spent the day touring and it sure is great to be with someone who knows this city like a local. We saw the Dali exhibit at the Tate (just like in the movie Match Point) and Nina’s background in art history was particularly useful. After that we crossed the millennium bridge and wandered around SoHo and Covent garden. Nina knows all the little nooks and crannies, like a pleasant grove and garden tucked behind a gateway amidst the hectic Covent Market. We’re at a NetCafe nearby and Nina has to go to meet Solomon when he gets off work. Meanwhile, I’m going to meet an old camp friend!

I wish Ethan and Tina were here. More adventures to come….