London Week 1

I have now been in London for a little less than a week! I left early Monday morning from a really relaxing weekend at Christie's and I got to the London Centre mid-day on Tuesday. It was a really long day of travel. Since I've been at the London Centre i feel like we've been running all over London. We have to complete these London walks for one of our classes, so we've been trying to fit all those in this week. I've seen most of the high tourist sights in a very shallow, brief, touristy way. I've seen Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey (we actually went inside Westminster Abbey and it was really cool to see poet's corner), Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly circus, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Portobello market, the Notting Hill neighborhood, the Globe theatre, the National Gallery, the Tower bridge, the Tower of London, and many more places that I'm sure I just don't remember. We have oyster cards, which allow us unlimited travel through zones 1 and 2 of the underground. I have a new love for public transportation. Anyway, my days have mainly been filled with walking around and seeing the sights of London. I'm so exhausted! Classes start tomorrow, and I think it will be nice to add some structure to our days. So here are some pictures to document the week.

First Picture: This pictures speaks for itself. We went to Wicked on wednesday and it was amazing. Second Picture: We went to Kings Cross station to get our train tickets for out day trip in Paris, so we had to stop at platform 9 3/4 of course. Third Picture: This is me and the Tower Bridge is in the background. Fourth Picture: This is Trafalgar Square. Fifth Picture: This is Westminster Abbey. I actually got a bloody nose as we were buying tickets inside. How embarrassing. Sixth Picture: This is the London Centre from the outside. It's in a really nice part of London. Seventh Picture: This is Big Ben; you can see the London Eye in the background. Eighth Picture: This is Covent Garden in the early evening. Ninth Picture: This is Me, Makayla and Rachel on the top of a double-decker bus.

Overall, I have really liked the program so far. The London Centre is really beautiful and the food they feed us is amazing. Some of the girls in my room are really loud and stay up late, which is obnoxious, but other than that I can't believe it has been a week. Part of me really loves it here and wants to stay a long time, and part of me can't wait to get back to the states (and dollars instead of pounds).