Saturday aka the day we walked until our feet fell off after at least 4 miles.
We started off with an early morning orientation where we got more information on the Madison House and the program itself. Then we walked to Trafalgar Square (where the Harry Potter premiere will take place in a month or so) where there were dozens of Barcelona football (soccer) fans because it was the European Cup Finals between Barcelona and Manchester United. Barcelona won. But not until after its fans spent the whole day drunk in Trafalgar Square singing the MANY fight songs. How many songs can a soccer team have? Answer: At least 10.
Then we went exploring Covent Garden and the West End. Each of 4 groups had a different route. There were tons of small shops and booths as well as many street performers. Afterwards we had lunch at an Italian restaurant. There are TONS in London. And this one was actually really good for relatively cheap! We then walked to Westminster Abbey, where I started to take tons of pics of the Abbey as well as Big Ben and Parliament:
After the tour of the GORGEOUS and yet a little creepy (because of the dead people) Abbey, we walked down to the Thames River and crossed the Westminster Bridge for our walk on the South bank. Along the bank were even more street performers and bands as well as The Globe and the National Theatre, where I will be spending a lot of time for class. We saw a lot of famous buildings, such as the steeple for St. Bride's Church, where we get our wedding cake shape from (three tiers) and St Paul's Cathedral (which is featured in Mary Poppins) as well as the Millenium Bridge (which is in Harry Potter) and we saw London Bridge (of the falling down variety) from there. After getting to St Paul's, we took the Tube back to our neighborhood and got dinner, then went out to a pub in Holborn. We met a group of Britons who were celebrating the 25th birthday of their friend by dressing up in medieval costumes and pub crawling.
Sunday aka the Princess day
Sunday we spent the whole day on the Royal Walk, which included many of the royal parks and viewing the outsides of some palaces. First we saw Green Park, which the Spencer House overlooks. We could also see the side of St. James's Palace as well as Clarence House (where Prince Charles lives, where the Queen Mum lived until she died and where Princes William and Harry stay when they visit their father in London). We then scurried to catch the Changing of the Guard, which is a daily event. During it, the old guard (who have been on duty for 24 hours in shifts) change ceremoniously with the new guard (who will go on duty). To do so, they must be inspected at the barracks and march to Buckingham Palace, which we did with them. On the way, we RAN through St. James's Park in order to catch the inspection of the new guard and then to see the big finale at the palace.
We then went back to St. James's Park and toured the beautiful garden with all the exotic birds of the Queen's. Then we walked towards 10 Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives. Then we saw the building where Winston Churchill directed WWII. Hopefully I will go inside the museum there later. Our tour guide, Deborah, thought he was and still is "the greatest Briton ever." At 13.00 we ate lunch at a panini place on Villiers Street, a small alleyway next to Charing Cross Station. We then had more orientation and a visit from a local police officer, who spoke about safety in London. Finally, we got our first stipend and spent it on groceries and extra toiletries. I then made myself pasta with mussels and green beans (for about 3 quid) (quid=pounds) and relaxed with a glass of wine before going to bed.
Monday aka Londoner day
Today was the first day I felt like a real Londoner because it was also my first day of classes! At 8:40am I made toasted a crumpet and put some nutella on it, then headed for the FSU building (about a 5 min walk) for my first class, Media and Politics. We talked a lot about the differences between the media in the UK and the US and the differences in the governments of the UK and the US. We also learned that the UK is Big Brother. There are literally surveillance cameras everywhere. Even in the entrance to our flat. Even on the street randomly. Our outing was to the Science Museum. Since today was Memorial Day as well as half term (spring break) for schoolchildren, there were TONS of parents with their kids on the tube. The queue (line) for the National History Museum went all the way back to the Underground station! Luckily, we had no such wait, as science is not as fun as history. The exhibit we went to focused on the "privacy" of the internet. It featured a large wall of small LCD screens that showed live text from chatrooms all over the world. Some of what people said was offensive, weird, or dumb... but it was interesting to see that all of that information could be intercepted. After we got back to Madison House, I finally purchased a plug adaptor that works (stupid Radio Shack for telling me the continental Europe one was good for the UK) and made lunch, which Catherine, Courtney and I enjoyed on a picnic at Russell Square Gardens, not even 2 min walk from our house. At 4pm, it was off to Theatre class. This week we will see Harold Pinter's Betrayal at the Comedy Theatre. After class, most of the group decided to go see The Hangover Part II at the Odeon Cinema. There I tried Wine Gum candy for the first time... sooo good. The movie, not so much. I'll be back at that theatre for Harry Potter in a month and a half :) Tomorrow is the start of my Media and Society class, and I will hopefully celebrate my birthday at a pub around midnight tomorrow night! Signing off now, as it's almost 1am. More to follow soon!
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