Monetary Policy and GOLD!

The last two days have passed much like the two before them: trying to take advantage of London while I still can. A friend and I went to the Bank of England Museum. This seems (slightly) less dorky when you remember that my friend and I spent all year learning monetary policy and international finance mainly from the perspective of the Bank of England. Plus, in one of the rooms they have a real bar of gold, currently worth 240,000 GBP. We got to touch/lift it! Something like 28lbs.

Also interesting side note, the bank is along the side street of a main square dominated by the old Exchange Building. The Exchange Building has been converted into luxury shopping (Cartier, Du Beers, etc) but still looks quite grand. When all of the G20 protesters were in London, they stood outside this building, chanting and railing against the BOE. So all those protests you saw on tv? At a mall, not the bank...

That night we saw an outdoor (free!) opera at the Scoop, which is the amphitheater outside New City Hall across the Thames from the Tower. It was a modernised, Anglicized version of Rossini's Barber of Seville, with the music mostly unchanged. Very funny, and you can't beat the price!

Then yesterday was another day of sightseeing, this time with a friend's family who is in town to help him move back (guilt trip, guilt trip, guilt trip). And then coffee and later drinks with friends, as people slowly leave and I have to say goodbye. It's by far the worst part about moving so much and seeing so much of the world: every time you get close to people, you invariably have to leave within a few months. Still, wouldn't trade this year for the world.

My best to all!