Day 2 in London

the whole class had the second day in london to explore independently. i walked around london with 6 other kids from my class. we grabbed some free breakfast in the hotel, then got on the tube heading for the london bridge. i had not known that the old london bridge is no longer there (but thinking about it now, i realize that i'm an idiot). the new london bridge is ugly and dull. we walked along the thames to the tower bridge, which is much cooler. it is big like the charles bridge in prague, but not as extravagant. soo we walked to the tower of london by crossing the tower bridge. we didn't enter in an attempt to spend money. also, it just looked like a big fortress/castle thing, and seeing it was just as good as walking around in it. the crown jewels are in there i think, and i would like to see those at some point. 

i don't exactly remember the precise order of the day after this because we took the tube a lot and walked even more and i had forgot to bring my small digital camera, my slr's battery had died, and i forgot to bring the extra (that i had brought and charged) out that day. 

okay so we saw the london eye, but didn't go on because the line was absolutely enormous. the street leading up to the eye is full of street performers. it was like a circus. there were so many diverse performers...some statue-like people, some musicians and a lot of people just doing stupid things. we crossed back over the thames at another point, which took us right past parliament, big ben and eventually westminster abbey. i am ashamed to say that we didn't go in those either! it all cost money and we were all tired and hungry. that is why i will have to go back at some point. we got some fish and chips for lunch, which are really good! we saw piccadilly circus, and then the girls i was with and i went to go buy tickets for the show mousetrap, the agatha christie play. my one roommate had wanted to go, and we got relatively cheap tickets. we went into the national art museum for a little while, then the girls headed back to get ready. 

the play was really cute...it's the longest running play in britain! cooool. our seats were really uncomfortable, but i got to see the entire stage, so it was fine. i also got to get starbucks before the show, which was great. after the play, the boys met us in leicester square near the theater. we walked around for a while, but ended up just going back to our hotel.

we woke up early sunday to go see the changing of the guards at buckingham palace. it took a lot longer than i thought, there were a lot of pushy people, and it was a little boring. i ended pu just hanging back a little instead of shoving myself into the crowd by the palace gates. i found out that the guards will be exiting again. i strategically sat down on a curb that had been abandoned in the rush to watch the show in the gates. i ended up getting a front row seat when the guards marched back out of the gates. i had remembered my camera, so we got some good pictures of that. 

we went to harrods after buckingham palace. the building is enormous! literally an entire city block, 6 floors high, stocked with basically everything under the sun. it was so overwhelming. they have everything in there from the designer goods to a butcher shop to a post office. it was crazy. i think samm would be in heaven there!

we need to head back to the hotel because our bus back to the aiport was leaving at 2:30. we got to the airport, on the plane, had a decent trip, got a bus back to our residence, and i was back in my room by probably 9?...i don't exactly remember. sunday night was the start of daylight savings time here, so we lost an hour. we lost another hour coming back to rome. yikes. luckily, i didn't have any homework due monday!

london was a really great city. i really want to go back...i just wish the exchange rate weren't so bad. it kind of has the same feeling as boston. a lot of people, but nobody is in a crazy rush like in new york. it wasn't as dirty or cramped as rome (because the streets in london are wider than the ridiculous side street-sized main roads in rome).

in conclusion, i had a good time going to all those meetings and learning a lot of information about various career opportunities in finance. i really liked walking around london so much too. that was my last international flight during this study abroad experience, which is sad, but i feel like i got to do everything i wanted (which was a lot). yay.