Hello from Across the Pond!

Yesterday's plane ride was long and uneventful. We actually landed a half an hour early so we got here around 9:30 local time. I was able to see the London Eye as well as several displays of fireworks as we landed! We then took the tube from Heathrow Airport to Euston Street, where our flats for the week are located. We arrived at the flats around 11:45pm. We celebrated the New Year by going to a little shop for some snacks. Nothing to eventful. We did not have enough time to head over to Picadilly Square, which I am told is like the Times Square of London.

This morning we woke up feeling like it was the crack of dawn, and shlepped out around 9:30am. I did not have a great night of sleep last night and am hoping that it is better tonight. The first thing we did was take a boat ride on the Thames River, called the Thames Clipper, where we saw some of the major attractions that London has to offer, such as the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, the Globe Theatre, Tower Bridge, and several other major attractions. We arrived at the Museum of Docklands and spent about 1 1/2 hours looking around. I then gave my fabulous presentation which I am glad is over and done with. My professor said I did a good job so hopefully he thought it went as well as I did. After a small discussion about our readings, we went to a "food court" in the mall. I call it a "food court" because it was like gourmet. They had a Pret a Manger, Paul, and sushi.

After lunch we journeyed over to the Museum of London which we took the Light Rail as well as the tube. We learned some new phrases such as "mind the gap" which the lady says every time you stop at a new station on the tube. Apparently it is an infamous phrase! We took a guided tour with a wonderful lady named Janet who gave us some background on London and especially the royals which we all truly enjoyed. At this point every single one of us were fighting through jet lag as we made our way to dinner.

Yes, dinner was Indian food. It was a first for me and I can't say I enjoyed it that much. I was really proud of myself for trying it though! After dinner, we had an optional outing with Dr. Bell to visit some of the sights at night when they were lit up! We saw Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. On our way back, we stopped at Kings Cross Station and saw THE PLATFORM 9 3/4! Of course Dr. Bell made fun of us the entire time! What can we say, we are a bunch of Harry Potter nerds! Well that its for now, I have to go write the blog for our class about the day now!

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Big Ben! Wanted to upload at night too, but it takes about a year to load one pic!

The London Eye and Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station:)

P.S. Got an A- on my landing paper! Boo-ya!!!