London, London, London

Tower Bride picture, taken from the London Bridge. Lol London Bridge is nothing but a bridge like at home over Drakes Creek. :)

Oh wow, okay, I am sure you all have been waiting for this...or maybe I am just conceited but anyways, there has been so much going on! Jet lag has gotten the best of me and so I didn't blog last night because I was soooo tired. Anyways, let me tell you all.

Plane ride was not that bad. I read the third Twilight book for most of the day at the airport and then couldn't sleep cause I kept reading. I only have a few more chapters left. I had a fairly good dinner for a plane ride and then finally once I went to sleep, they woke us up at like 12 in the morning (my normal time) to give us breakfast, which I thought this was hilarious.

My first messup as an American in a foreign country was right outside the airport. I was getting into the coach and went to the other side of the bus....yes, I know, make fun of me, everyone else has. :)

The ride to the hotel took an hour and a half and I didn't expect my ride to be anything like it was. It was through tiny tiny streets in a big coach bus that felt like it didn't fit on the road with billboards for American movies everywhere...strange I thought that there was so much American influence over here. I thought there would be some different movies.

By the way, this is the view out of our hotel window....very beautiful! To the other side is my future flat home....complete with rooftop garden!

Our hotel is very chic and nice. Supposedly it is 600 US dollars to stay here a night but we wouldn't think this because the rooms are tiny. lol. Our shower is all mirrors and a tiny piece of glass for a shower curtain, needless to say the floor gets wet.

After dinner and orientation at the hotel last night, we went out in search of something to do and when to this pub called Prince Regent's. It was fun but the most interesting experience was the supermarket, which sold really wierd snacks and bread in loaves....yes, I got ciabatta bread because I was starving. After that, we went to sleep.

This morning breakfast was pretty good...croissants, ham, cheese, cereal, yogurts and oatmeal. And it's free! After that, we got in the biggest coach I had ever seen....extra long and double decker. You can only guess which seat we wanted...front row up top. It was INSANE how well the driver had to maneuver through the streets. Stoplights would be inches away from our face in the bus... it was always crazy.

This ride though was the best. I finally felt like I was in London today when we saw such things as Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Harrod's, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Bride, the Tower, and much more. These are the things that I have always dreamed of seeing and so it was really fascinating today.

At Buckingham Palace, I got my picture made with a guard, actually right outside of Prince William and Harry's house (they weren't there, I was real sad :( ) It was quite crazy to see them so stiff! I wanted to hug one of them, but I refrained. I caught eye contact with one that was pretty cool but then got scary quick. :)

But the best experience I had today was St. Paul's Cathedral, this is where Princess Diana got married. Also, Mary Poppins was filmed here (woman singing "Feed the Birds") Since it was Sunday, there was Mass, so the bells were ringing so loud and it was perfect, even the pigeons were flying everywhere, which may not sound very appealing but it was just the perfect London moment. We stood outside taking pictures and I felt like I was in a dream. We snuck inside to get a peek in between Masses and it was breathtaking. I cannot imagine the wedding that went on there. I think we are going to go back because you can go up into the dome part.

This afternoon we had our first class meeting...which was pretty funny because we got to leave the hotel and just roam around taking pictures while the other classes were sitting in the lobby writing papers! Ha! We grinned as we left...

So we took the tube for the first time. For an underground system it was pretty easy to maneuver around so we went to Camden Park...this is the "rock/mohawk" side of town. Neat little shops (I made my first purchase of a cute vintage dress for 20 euros!) We also ate Indian food, which was something I tried for my first time, it was okay, but I think I am ready for some regular food tomorrow!

Anyways, right now we are chilling in the room, getting ready to go out with some people in our class in about 30 minutes. I can't believe it is in the afternoon there! I am still so tired! I finally got my first cup of coffee about an hour ago and it was well needed! Anyways, I love you all! Hope I can write again soon!