Five years working at a bank and you'll be excited for a bank museum!

I finally found time to go for a run through Hyde Park - boy, that wasn't easy though! I am excited for warm weather so I can get back into semi-shape. I ran past a nasty, dead, bloody rat on my way to the park and remembered how dirty a city can be. Bleh...

I had the morning/afternoon free to do whatever so I headed to a museum because the sun wasn't shining. I was pumped because I went to The City (London's business district) and I love the feel there. The tall, old buildings and people in business attire presents a comfortable atmosphere for me. I found the only building without windows on Threadneedle Street (funny name!) and went inside. The Bank of England Museum was free and so was the audio tour - score! I learned all about the pound and currency/notes in England. There was a gold brick that the Queen had given to Westminster on her coronation that was worth around 299,000 pounds! I got to touch and lift it - it weighs nearly 28 pounds so it was difficult to do with one hand. I also learned about the bank's history. I found it exciting that the bank was one of the city's first institutions to hire female employees. Especially during the war, women became important parts in the structure of the bank. The displays were informative and interactive which I loved! I learned all about inflation (a nice refresher), tested my pounds to make sure they weren't counterfeit and learned that watermarks date back to the 17th century! Ok, you can call me a nerd, but I just love this stuff. I spent about an hour and a half strolling around the museum with a bunch of old men, presumably bankers because who else would care?!? It was great :)

No play for theatre class tonight. Instead, we got to talk with a young female director. Her name was Sophie and she was about 28 years old. My professor, a director himself, stated what an accomplished director Sophie was so her input was fun to listen to. We discussed the importance of theatre and compared theatre in London to that in the states.

I've been working on a presentation for Senior Sem that I have to give tomorrow. We were asked to research something in England that related to our major. I decided to write my paper and present on Sir Richard Branson the entrepreneur who founded Virgin Group. I hope it goes well!