3 days in London

While our stay in London was brief, it was very nice. We stayed in a neighborhood of northeast London with some distant relatives of Maya's. Charlotte Hodes, an accomplished artist, is Maya's father's third cousin, which to my new understanding means that her children, William and Lauren, are Maya's fourth cousins. Charlotte's husband, Paul (1, 2) is also a talented working artist, and Maya and I felt right at home in their Finsbury Park townhouse.

The first evening we were there we met up with Mollie Claypool, a friend from Pratt who was a year ahead of us and has now graduated from the AA's Histories and Theories program and currently teaches in the DRL program, coincidentally the program Maya is applying to. We went to a baller little pub called The Dove, where we enjoyed a few great Belgian beers and the best burger I've had outside of the states. Both Maya and I were proud of ourselves for navigating the 236 bus line back to Finsbury Park effectively, even after a few 9% Chimay blues.

The next day we ventured out.

Walking through Finsbury Park.


A school we passed on our way to the "tube."



Maya had raved about the Modern Tate, so we went there first thing.




By the time we left the museum it was dark.



The next day, we met Mollie at the AA so Maya could get a quick tour around. I felt weird about taking pictures, so there are none, but the school is organized in a very cool way.
From there, we went to the firm of a guy who teaches at the AA and Yale who was willing to meet with Maya to talk about schools, his experience, and look at her portfolio.

And once again, by the time we got out, it was dark.







At 9 am the next morning, we flew out in a snow storm. De-icing the plane was a half hour process in and of itself.


As nice a diversion as London was, we're very happy to be back in sunny LA.