Ivy League

I had an interview this morning that I was NOT looking forward to, mostly because I scheduled it at 7:30 a.m. so I could still get in most of a day of work. Plus, it was an hour away, at Stanford University, in the OPPOSITE direction of work.
But nothing, nothing compares to seeing Stanford University for the first time when it is completely empty of all people, when the sun is just rising, when is is 30 degrees out.
I got tears in my eyes.
This is Ivy League, baby.
It is a campus. Other colleges I've seen, like NYU and Madison, are integrated right into the city they're in. NYU is cool, of course, but it's hard to tell when, if ever, you actually cross into the "campus." And Madison has things like Bascom Hall that are all up on a hill and cool, but mainly the rest of the campus is just buildings.
Stanford is grand brown sandstone buildings, with red slate roofs as far as the eye can see. Arched outer hallways and statues of Plato and Socrates by Rodin give the whole place a historic feel. There is a big church, with gorgeous stained glass windows that borders one side of the main quad, and while I stood there gaping at it, a guy came up, knelt in the middle of the quad facing the church and starting praying.
No kidding.
I was glad I got there early, so I had some time to wander around, though my ears were ice cubes by the time I could go inside.
Be sure to click on the pictures I linked to.
I'm not sure how the interview went, but it was totally worth it, just for the views!