Exploring London, Day III

Our third and final day in London was another busy one.  We once again met Pavel in the morning and traveled east to the north bank of the Thames.  Our first stop was St. Paul's cathedral, a magnificent creation of the Anglican church during the baroque period.  As is true of any great cathedral, St. Paul's is architecturally exquisite, filled with gilded columns, vaulted ceilings, sculptures, mosiacs, and paintings of the holy saints.  The cathedral also provides visitors with endless views from the golden gallery high atop it's dome, as well as the chance to look upon the tombs of the Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson, hero of the battle of Trafalgar.  

After leaving the cathedral, we then proceeded to the London Museum, which displayed a comprehensive history of the city of London, from prehistoric times, through the Roman era, the middle ages and the modern day.  With such an extensive and culturally rich history, London or Londinium, as it was formerly known, is one of the greatest and oldest cities in the western world.

The remainder of the day was given for free time.  Some of us took this opportunity to rest and catch up on some sleep, while others used to time to attend a play, which hopefully we can describe in greater detail at a later date.

As per usual, the early evening consisted of watching football as a large group at the hostel.  Pavel's (and thus most of our) side Russia was taking on the favourite to win the Cup, Holland, in the third quarter final match.  Both sides traded missed opportunities in the first half, with Russia looking to be the stronger side.  In the second half the Russians jumped out to a one-nil lead that seemed as if it would hold until the late equaliser from Holland's Ruud van Nistelrooy would force extra time.  Pavel was filled with sheer ecstasy as Russia scored two pretty goals in the second extra period, stamping their ticket to the semifinals where they will meet the winner of tomorrow night's match between Spain and Italy.

After the game, and attempts to collect winnings from a few bets on said game, a large majority  of us went out to enjoy our last night in London.  We arrived in Leicester Square, where our attempts to gain entrance to the world famous Zoo Bar were quickly thwarted.   However we were then subsequently invited into a venue called Ruby Blue, which turned out to be quite fun.  There were a broad range of peoples enjoying the... we'll say... more up-to-date musical offerings of the club.  After a good few hours at the club, we made our way back to the hostel to rest and pack up for our trip up to Cambridge tomorrow.