LONDON

So i know i am a little late in all of our london stuff. I kept putting it off because it takes so long to talk about 4 days! Let me begin by telling yall still how unreal it is that we are in a foreign country. Well, considering that we have actually visited 4 countries now is still very strange to me. So London! It is chilly! and the majority of the time, i was borrowing coats from ellen. We would switch off because she brought two. God bless you ellen! Ok, so here we go!

1st day: Our first day we traveled to London. We woke up pretty early and got on the bus to the train station. Then we Got on a train and headed to Liege where we had to change trains and then go to Brussels. In Brussels, we changed trains and loaded the Eurostar. We had a lot of time so we ate lunch, played some cards, and waited for our train to board. We got on the train, and i must have fell asleep because I don't remember a thing. That is the wonderful thing about traveling so much in trains and buses, I always fall asleep. So we got to London around three or four and relaxed in the room for a little while. Then Cami, Ellen, Decker, Jill, and I went to go look for a coat in Covent Garden. Unfortunately, it was 6 oclock on a Sunday and we saw that all the shops were closing. Soo we walked around trying to find a place to eat. We went into this little pub called the White Hart. It was so very yummy. I got fish and chips (i know mom, i ate fish) and it was delicious! Then we caught a train back to the hotel and went to an irish pub known as Waxy Oconnors. We had so much fun. we danced all night, and met some more Americans that were studying abroad. It was a great first day in London!

2nd day: This morning was hard to get up. We had to be downstairs VERY early and make our way to some pretty amazing places outside of London. First stop: Stonehenge. It was absolutely freezing!!

But it was very cool to see something that so many people question and wonder about. The most recent theory was that it was an ancient calendar. Pretty weird stuff though! Then it was on to Bath. Driving up and down the streets of Bath was pretty miserable. I really didn't think that bus driving could be so much skill! But here, it definitely was!
The first thing to do was to go see the Roman baths. According to the guide, they run at about 116 degrees F. People would come all around the world to get healing from these mystical hot springs. After a quick tour of the bath, we were set loose to wander the city by ourselved. We went to this cute little place called Sally Lunns for lunch, and then went and had high tea at the Jane Austin Centre. We walked around for a bit and, of course, i ended up buying a scarf at a cute little boutique in Bath. O well, it was cold. :) then we started on our 3 hour bus ride back to London. As soon as we got back to london, we went straight to the theatre. Les Miserables was so amazing. I had seen it once before and still cried my whole way through. That is usually a good indicator that the show was good. :) After Les Mis, we went back to the hotel and changed to go out again. After taking advice from a person on the street, we went to a real sketch club and soon left. We ended up walking almost the whole way back to the hotel because we couldn't find a bus and didn't want to take a cab. We were walking forever but we got to see a lot of things and walked down designer row in London. Absolutely beautiful!

3rd Day: Today was our free day! We got a group together and mapped out a plan of where we wanted to go. The order was: Tower of London, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Harrods and the V&A museum. And off we went! The Tower of London was so interesting. We got a guide that cracked us up the whole time and made it very enjoyable. We saw the bloody tower, the traiters gate, Sir Thomas More tower, the White Tower, the London Bridge in a distance, so many other things. This stop was definitely my favorite the whole trip.

Our next stop was Big Ben and Westminster Abbey:

These two building are absolutely breathtaking. Such a dream come true to see them close up! There were so many tourists other than us here as well. So many people taking pictures! We didnt go inside the Abbey because it was way too expensive. But we did take a couple of pictures inside a phone booth and a couple of jumping pictures outside the Abbey!

Then we headed to Trafalgar square. We actually saw our professor in the middle of the square and we took pictures on the giant lions. I needed some helpe because they are seriously enormous. But we left quickly to get everything in. We took walk through the park next to Trafalgar and headed to Buckhingham Palace. Took some quick pics and headed to Harrods! Honestly, it was much bigger than i was expecting. I understand 100% why people make such a big deal out of it! However, i would have to give up my life savings in order to afford ANYTHING in that huge place. So annoying! After Harrods, we went and had dinner at a pub down the street with one of Camille's friends from London. The rest of the night was one failure after another. Someone not being let into a club, someone meeting some super sketch people, etc. Just better left unsaid. We went back to the hotel exhausted and ready for a new day!

Day 4: The last day of London and we are not ready to leave! Cami's friend Ollie tells us about this place called Primark that we wanted to check out so we did. We went to Top Shop first and then walked down Oxford St. to Primark. Basically it is a wonderland of cheap clothes, accessories, and shoes. I was so in heaven. After such an expensive city, i was ready for some bargains! i found a coat too!! I spent 23 pounds on a coat, which is about 40 dollars. It is big and cozy and comfortable and I am happy!! We spent an hour in one store and came out with huge brown bags full of stuff! so great! Then it was time to load the bus and head home. We got on the tube and headed back to the hotel, picked up our stuff and headed back to the dorm! It was such a great trip and I am so glad that we got to go! This was Wednesday and It is now Saturday! I am almost caught up with days and will update tomorrow about our trip to Monschau today! Love you all!

Barb