Things had certainly been wrapping up in Cambridge with end-of-year and Christmas dinners, students and staff departing and things generally heading towards the Christmas holidays. Given that the decorations had been up in stores since early September, it's not surprising I guess. I, however, was not slowing down.

The weekend after Amsterdam, Jo and Erin, who used to live in the room in which I now reside, so that would make her my ex-flatmate once removed, were having a housewarming party in London. Another good excuse to get down there, but I'm never one to waste a London trip, so I packed in the action, heading to the Wallace Collection on Saturday afternoon. Or evening really, as it was 3:45 when I arrived there, so the sun was basically down.

The Wallace Collection was amazing, particularly so as i'd consumed the remainder of a little souvenir from Amsterdam, which enabled me to gain certain insights into the paintings, and myself and life and the universe, which i may not have otherwise attained.

Highlights were Frans Hals' Laughing Cavalier (incorrectly named on both counts)

Francois Boucher's tributes to Louis XV: The Rising of the Sun

and The Setting of the Sun

and Titian's Perseus and Andromeda.

Wandered through Marylebone, Soho, etc to Trafalgar Square, seeing the Christmas tree there,

which I'm told is an annual gift from Norway.

Then went south past Big Ben (and the tower containing it, for Big Ben is in fact the bell),

and Westminster Abbey, and along the Thames.

Went to MJ's then headed, with Amsterdam love birds in tow, to Erin & Jo's party. It was great to see Erin & Jo and to check out their cool new apartment. Unfortunately, a bout of laryngitis limited my contributions to conversation; this, as you can imagine, was a great tragedy for all concerned.

Highlight of the night was going over Tower Bridge on the taxi ride home.

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Went to the Rubens exhibition "A Master in the Making" at the National Gallery.

Painting Massacre of the Innocents found in a stately home in Austria in 2001. The owners didn't even like it apparently, so were happy to put it up for auction when it was identified as a Rubens.

It went for £45million.

It was great to see his early works in the exhibition and note how his style developed formatively, then go upstairs to the main collection and compare with his later works.

Dashed back home to ready myself for the arrival of my old PhD supervisor who was paying Cambridge a whistlestop visit somewhere on his way between Wisconsin, Indiana, London and Austria.