Lincoln and Other Things

First order of business: Happy birthday to my Mom!!! I love you and I hope you had a great day!
Ok, I think the next order of business is to apologize for not updating my blog in over a week. Especially since I went down to London to visit Mike last weekend. Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot to tell, since I have had strep for the last week and a half. The day I left for Mike's I went to the doctor and got prescribed a week's worth of penicillin. This experience taught me to realize how much I depend on my couch and my TV and my family to go "there there, pookie" when I'm sick. I found that I don't much like taking care of myself.
So my weekend with Mike was extremely low-key. We did not get into London proper because I couldn't walk for more than twenty minutes at a time without having massive coughing attacks. Still, it was a great weekend all around because I got to see Mike. We watched movies and went out to eat and mainly stayed around his neighborhood. (And I went to Primark and bought a shirt!)
This weekend, we went on an excursion to Lincoln, another city that was at one time a Roman fort. During Roman occupancy, the legions built many roads. The longest road (that is still in use today, though now it's a highway) is Fosse Way, which goes from Exeter to Lincoln—about 200 miles in a roughly straight line! Well, Lincoln is known for the walled castle (where a portion of the Magna Carta is displayed), the bishop's palace (which is in ruins now), and the Lincoln Cathedral. My favorite part of the visit was to the cathedral. For some reason, though the day started out overcast and miserable in York, by the time we reached Lincoln, we were stripping off our coats and scarves and taking in the sunshine. Because of the sunshine, the lighting in the cathedral was spectacular; we spent most of our time there. We spent a great day meandering around the town, though I think we could have left an hour or so sooner.
That night many of us in the group went to a pub just to relax and talk. I spent the evening talking to some of Jessie's flat mates and their friend. They are all international students. One girl is from Mexico, one from Italy, and one from France. They were really awesome to talk to and I hope I'm starting to make some friends outside my Calvin group!
On the agenda this week is lots and lots of homework. My 3,000 work essay is due this week for my 19th Century Writing course. This is the only paper I have and makes up about 70% of my grade for that class (the other 30% is our final exam). We're also going to the Castle Museum on Wednesday. And, most importantly, it's less than three weeks until our trip to Edinburgh! Huzzah!