My 20th Weekend!

So, my friend from Semester at Sea, Katrina, came to visit for my 20th.
I had a daytrip with the program on Friday.

We went to Ely, and toured the cathedral there, the weather was horrible, but it was a beautiful cathedral.
Then, we visited Cambridge for the afternoon. We just kind of
wandered the area, stopping into shops and bookstores. The town seemed very chill and I wish we could have spent more time there.

Katrina is studying in Spain for the semester and was supposed to come in late that night. After some slight complications, she finally got in around 2am, and found the study centre. Guests can't stay with us, unfortunately, so Henry & Bill and I walked Katrina to her hostel about 15 minutes away.

The next morning, I just wanted to show Katrina the city, since she's never been before. We got breakfast and ate with a lot of pigeons on the steps of the British Museum. Then we took a little walk to Trafalgar Square, then to Buckingham Palace.











Then, we met up with Onalee, Emeri & Tagg and walked around Westminster and Southbank & got some fish & chips for lunch.
Katrina & I then rode the London Eye, which was pretty amazing...it was close to sunset & such a beautiful view of the city.



Then, we all went out that night...just danced and had a fun night.
The next afternoon, a bunch of the girls went to Harrods and had tea for my actual birthday.
The food & tea was so good & I loved it!




Then, we all just hung out at our flat that night & played Trivial Pursuit.
We walked Katrina back to her hostel and I said goodbye...it was so great to share London with her & I'm excited to visit her in Spain on my spring break!
Overall, it was an amazing birthday!

OBAMA!

Soooo...

I'll start from last week...
I finished up classes around noon on Tuesday. The next day was Dana's 21st, so we all went to an American sports cafe to celebrate...Then a bunch of the girls went to Harrod's on Wednesday and shopped around (mostly with the sale items :)

Thursday I had class again & went to the National Portrait Gallery with my Shakespeare class to research for Richard III.

Friday, Tagg (my flatmate who's been in London since August) gave me, Onalee & Emeri a tour of St. Paul's Cathedral. We couldn't walk all the way up and see the three domes, but we did get to go to the first level & there was a great view of the city. Then we went to the Museum of London & looked around the exhibits there (Anglo-Saxon England, the Great Fire, the Black Death). I love that all the museums in England are free.
We decided to try and see a play that night...Sometimes, you can go to the box office right before a show starts and get student or return tickets for a really good price...so we saw Les Miserables, for about 20 pounds...it was a little restricted view but still a really good show!

Saturday, Onalee, Emeri, Jaclyn, Henry & I went to Portobello Road. The market they have there every Saturday is pretty famous and just goes on forever.
Emeri and I wandered for a while...eventually splitting a jumbo sausage & then Onalee and I split a chocolate & strawberry crepe, sooo good!

Sunday, I had a bit of a lazy day. I've had a cold for about a week now, so that hasn't been too fun. I bought some school supplies I needed & wandered the area a bit. Plus, I had some reading to do.

Monday morning, we had our first Photography class, since the first class was technically canceled. I really like our professor and I think the class is going to be really cool. I already know so much more about my camera. We were supposed to go out and take pictures of anything and everything for an hour so I walked to the British Museum and just planted myself in one room for a while, taking pictures of the school children and random people. I have a couple ideas for my overall final project so I'm excited about that.
Then I had my Making of Modern England class. I like it a lot, it's just 3 hours long and extremely hard to sit through.

This morning, I did a walking tour of the neighborhood for my Bloomsbury class, seeing all the houses where members of the Bloomsbury Group lived and hung out.
Today, in honor of the inauguration, you could get into Madame Tussaud's for free with an American passport so Tagg, Kyle (my flatmates) & I went for a little over an hour after our classes. It was really fun, especially because it was free.

I just got back from watching the inauguration in our lecture hall in the study centre. I'm so happy right now and so excited to see what President Obama does in the coming months and years. Onalee and I both wore our Obama shirts all day and when we came into the hall, the library intern here at the centre asked if she could take our picture. Turns out, it was her grandfather who gave the benediction at the inauguration today. He was the head pastor at a Methodist church in Atlanta and marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. This was the coolest and craziest thing to me, that a girl sitting next to me in London had such a close connection to the inauguration.

I really wish I could have been in DC today, but everyone in London seems very excited about the inauguration as well.
We're all headed to the American Sports Cafe tonight to celebrate...

Today's been a good day...
:D

Coach Tour of London

frozen lake with view of Buckingham Palace
















Emeri (Onalee's roommate) & I took a 10am hot dog break at Westminster
















St. Paul's Cathedral

I LIVE in London!

I arrived in London last Thursday morning...I'm with the FSU Program & one of my best friends, Onalee, is also doing the program, so we traveled together. A big whole group of us was picked up at the airport and we finally arrived at the Study Centre around noon.
We got our room assignments and settled into our flats...
I share a room with Darin and Haley, who both go to the University of Central Florida, in Orlando. We share a flat with Kyle, Henry, Thomas & Tagg. There's a kitchen, living room and 2 bathrooms. The flats are old but considering the location, I feel pretty lucky to have this space in the center of London.
We all got lunch at a pub the first day, then had a welcome reception. That night, we all just kind of hung out at our flat, and tried not to completely pass out because we were so jet lagged.

Friday morning, we had our program orientation, then went grocery shopping and walked around our area a bit. At 3, our graduate counselours offered a practical walking tour of the area, so we got to see which banks we should go to, which restaurants are cheap
We went out to get fish & chips that night, then to one of the oldest pubs in central London and just explored a little more of the city.
I really love all the people in the program. I'm in Flat 15, and Onalee is next door in Flat 16. Our two flats seem to hang out every night and we're always hanging out in each other's living rooms at all hours of the day.
Saturday, a big group of us walked over to the British Museum, which is literally just less than a 5 minute walk from the centre. I went to church that night with Kyle at St. Patrick's.
Sunday morning, the FSU program offered a coach tour of London, which took us to all the classic touristy sites...Tower of London, St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, etc.

Classes started Monday...
I'm taking Photography for Non-Art Majors, The Making of Modern England, Intro to Shakespeare and The Bloomsbury Group (English classs)
I have two 3-hour classes every Monday, then two 1 1/2-hour classes every Tuesday/Thursday...so far I like them a lot and I think it'll be a really interesting semester.
Yesterday, after class, I walked to the British Library with Henry, Thomas, Kyle and Bill(Onalee's flatmate). We saw a pretty sweet exhibit with the Magna Carta, some Beatles artifacts, and even one of Jane Austen's manuscripts.
Last night, Monday, our whole program went to see Momma Mia. I had seen it before in New York, but I thought this showing was so much better and I really enjoyed it.

Basically, in my free time, I've just been trying to run errands and not spend too much money. Probably eat out for maybe one meal a day, and then I try to just buy groceries and make them last. I'm not the best with orientating myself, so I'm really trying to get to know the area.

I'm really enjoying everything, yet it hasn't really sunk in that I'll be living here in London for the next 4 months...I'm so excited to start all my traveling and feel at home in the city.

Till then...