Well hey
guys! I have lots to update you on so this is going to be a long one. Stay with
me though and you’ll hear some awesome stories & see amazing pictures!
Thursday 26th:
Today I had my world religions class again followed by the History of England: Sport
& Society! This class is going to be awesome! The theme is about sports so
we will be studying the history of sports such as “futbol,” rugby, cricket…and
more. We’ll get to tour some
amphitheaters, the sites for the 2012 Olympic games and some colleges
well-known for specific sports. It
should be a very interesting class- I love that my history classes actually
take you to sites. I have a feeling I
will learn a lot more from traveling and seeing these places, then I would have
if I stayed in the classroom. I’m really
excited to get out there. After class,
Emily, Elizabeth and I decided to go out and explore another shopping
area. We headed to King’s street which
was a little more upscale area. They had
a few “London-type” stores but also common names such as Banana Republic and
Laura Ashley (remember when this store was in LEX?? I loved it as a kid). We walked around for about two hours before
heading back for dinner and the bars. We
ate at the refectory and then headed to a bar called O’neils. This bar was soooo much fun! It was right in
the middle of Soho-China town. This place was three floors! The first & third floor each had a live
band, which was really neat, and a lot of fun.
It’s funny because at Transy everyone kind of goes their separate ways
in the social group; however, here at Regent’s everyone that goes out…goes to
the same bar! So it was great getting to know some new faces from school and
people from London attending other universities.
Soho- China Town
Friday 27th:
Today we went everywhere! My feet were killing me by the end of the day. We woke up around 9 and ate breakfast and
left by 10. We got on the tube and
headed to the St. James area. We started
off strolling through the park where we saw pelicans! Then we headed to
Buckingham Palace. The gates to this
palace were absolutely stunning.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the guard change because it was the
“off day” but we did see a parade of horses walk by. We didn’t figure out the significance of it
but we saw them, so that was neat.
Also…it was a bummer because the palace was closed. We knew this ahead of time but I wish we
would’ve had the opportunity to go through because there is no doubt in my mind
it wouldn’t be stunning. But anyway, we
got our picture taken together and then headed to see Big Ben and Westminster
Abbey. On the way we passed some other
sights such as the Duke of York statue and Queen Victoria’s Memorial. The walk in this area was beautiful with
bright green grass and gorgeous buildings.
I wish we still had the knowledge to build like this because it is
beautiful.
St. James Park
Pelicans
St. James Park-- River
Parade to Buckingham
Buckingham Palace
Gate outside Buckingham
On the way
to Big Ben we became tacky tourists and took pictures in the telephone
booths. I think the clock is so neat, so
I took a million pictures of that; and then we headed to Westminster Abbey. We didn’t go in because there was a long line
but I think we will go back to tour the inside soon. The outside was incredible though so at least
we got to see that. Right next to this
church was the St. Margaret’s Church and we did go on there. The stained glass was beautiful and they had
old sketches of the church too which was neat.
That was a quick run through though so after that we headed out the back
door and ran straight into the parliament.
Talk about a government building! I mean I keep saying everything was
beautiful but the architecture here is just one of a kind. The detail that the people put into the
buildings is like nothing you’ve ever seen. I am absolutely in love with it!
Telephone booth & Big Ben
Westminster Abbey
Parliament
We started
looking for a lunch place after this near Trafalgar square. We ended up at a Sherlock Holmes
restaurant. I got a chicken bacon
sandwich and it was pretty good. The
bacon is really weird here, its almost like a thick ham. It’s different, but not too bad…except when
you get a piece of fat then it’s gross haha.
After the restaurant we had warmed up and headed back out! We went to the Eye of London, which is the
Ferris wheel type thing- except we got about 15 people in one cart! Crazy! The
view was amazing and luckily we hit it just as the sun was starting to set
which made it even better. We could see
from miles and miles…so it was really neat.
That process took about 45 minutes and we were almost ready to head back
but wanted to hit up the national portrait museum. I am really glad we did because
1st we climbed up this huge lion statue and then saw the countdown
for the Olympic games! I love the Olympics so it was really neat to see
that. We headed up the steps to the
portrait museum and walked around for an hour or so; then headed back home.
Olympic Countdown
Lions
View from the EYE OF LONDON!
Dinner was
nasty so we ordered in pizza from a delivery place. Went to bed around 12 because we had to get
up this morning and be ready by 830!
Saturday 28th:
TODAY! We went on a 2 hour bus ride to Cambridge! Of course I slept the whole
way, so the ride wasn’t bad. However,
once we got there, I completely regretted my outfit choice…it was
FREEZING! The wind was blowing and it
was just miserable…definitely needed gloves & a hat. We started off with an hour walking guided
tour. We saw Queens College, King’s
College and Trinity College. We also
walked down some really neat alleyways and ate lunch at a local restaurant
called the Bath House. After lunch we
headed down to the docks to take a punting boat ride! Although I absolutely loved it, it was freezing
on the water! We saw some gorgeous sites and luckily we got a really
informative (and cute) tour guide. That
tour lasted about 45 minutes and then we got back on the bus. We drove about 15 minutes to a local British
English Cream Tea room. Unfortunately
since there were 77 of us…we had to eat OUTSIDE at tables. I’m not a tea person but I did try it (I
didn’t like it) but we also had a scone & those were delicious. We stayed here for another 45 minutes and
then got on the bus to head home! They played the King’s Speech but I fell
asleep again…it was a long day.
Ceiling in the Chapel
Out back of the Chapel
Punting Boat!
Mathematical Bridge- my favorite one, made of wood.
Tonight I just
took a shower and uploaded all my pictures…skyped a few friends from home and
now I’m writing you! Hope I was able to keep you updated with everything! Miss
& love you guys!
"These are the days of the endless summer; these are the
days. The time is now. There is no past, there’s only future, there’s only
here, there’s only now." - Van Morrison
y.o.l.o -- court
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