Sunday, Funday

After almost 11 hours of sleep I woke up at 7:05 am. It had rained throughout the night and it was stilling raining when I got up. I showered, ate some Rice Krispies and some peanut butter on bread, and then typed up a post for my blog. We had to meet Tom outside at 9:45 because he was taking us to our ISA orientation and showing us how to ride the Tube and where classes would be as well as the ISA office. I was excited to wear my wellies aka rain boots since it was going to be a rainy day and I knew we would be walking around a lot. When I went outside the first thing Tom said was, "I like your wellies!" I was super excited about that haha. British approval.

I told them on the way to the tube how I had some trouble setting up my internet the night before because it required basic fields to set up but then when I submitted it, it flagged me saying that my first name field, address, and town/city were all incorrect. So from there I had to play the guessing game. I discovered they had my first name as Ashlee Marie, in my address it was BLD (no period, no V), and in the town/city you were also supposed to add the state, so not just the city. After some trial and error though I figured it out.

So we rode the tube for the first time which was fantastic. Everything is so clean and it isn't smelly at all like it is in NYC. And everything looks like a tube...there are no flat walls. There are some great ads in the underground. One I saw was an ad for eating organic (they are all about healthy eating and recycling here; very green) and it was a picture of some carrots. I forget the copy on it though! I need to look it up and post it on facebook for everyone! Something else I noticed is that there are many book ads here. You hardly ever see that in the US. They have movie and music ads as well but equal amounts of book ads which I found very interesting.

Anyway, after Tom showed us our various offices and campuses we went to ISA orientation. There were beverages and chocolate pastries and there was a music channel on the tele. When we first arrived Backstreet Boys "As Long As You Love Me" was playing. I thought that was HILARIOUS. After orientation we were free to explore so Maria walked us to Oxford street. She should us some cash points along the way (ATMs) and pointed us in different directions for some shops. There is Primart here which is Walmart prices but Target quality. I didn't end up going but I am curious to check it out! We ended up first going to a cash point and then to Top Shop which is like a Forever 21 but a little better and you can multiply the size by a thousand. There is a whole floor for shoes and it's HUGE. The middle floor has more purses and wallet than I have seen in my entire life. It's crazy. AND in this store there is a place to buy cupcakes, candy, and frozen yogurt. It's ridiculous. I found the most London umbrella there and bought it for 15 pounds.

Then Sara, Emily, CJ, Oniwa, and I went to H&M for a second to look around. There was another girl with us, Jourdan, but we got separated in the ginormous store. Anyway we weren't there for long because we had to make it back for our Double Decker London Tour. We were lucky to be able to have a historic double decker and it was fantastic. Apparently the new models of buses will be designed like the older ones so there will be more around with the retro look.

Our tour was two hours long which was great but unfortunately it was so much to pack in that I cannot recall everything we saw. And it definitely got to a point where I just wanted to have it done so I see all the places on foot! There is just SO much here to see and do. I loved the tour though because you were getting an introductory to London and main attractions in 2 hours. Plus she was very knowledgeable on everything haha. We went down many streets like Baker street where Sherlock Holmes "lived" and around Piccadilly circus. We saw the House of Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and many gardens. We drove on the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge. We saw the London Eye and where Gringott's "was". We actually stopped at Buckingham Palace because it was closing down the next day until July 31st in order to prepare for the Olympics. They need to repaint the pavement red and decorate because the Queen will be doing something there to start the games (I couldn't hear all the details that she was saying). So that is the reason we got out so that we could take pictures. The Queen was not in that day and we knew this because there are three different flags that sit out to let everyone know. I don't remember what the third one is...sorry! I'll have to look this up. So we won't be able to see the changing of the guard but a couple of streets over apparently the  trainees do it on the weekend outside of their quarters and they will do it unless it is raining. If it is (not just a sprinkle but rain) then they won't because it would damage their 1000 pound bear hat that is imported from Canada lol. So I might try and do that on a weekend morning if it doesn't interfere with an excursion. I also was hoping after the tour I could come back and buy a ticket to go inside but as I walked by I heard the gentleman say they were sold out for today. So that was a shame! Buckingham Palace will have to be for the next trip ;)

After the tour Jourdan, Emily, Sara, and I went to the market which was a "designer" market and that meant that people crafted and designed their own items. So it's like our Art hop or arts and craft shows but with a lot more clothing involved. I was really tempted to buy some London pins because they were so cute and I love pins and London obv, but I resisted because it was a little pricey. Way more than our 50 cent exquisite pins back home. We looked only briefly because we were hungry so we went to the place (I forget the name) and had burgers. I had a cheddar cheese burger with salad (lettuce), relish, mayo, and red onion. We also had water with lemon, lime, and mint. It was delicious. I tried some fries too which we like Steak and Shake fries in the sense they were straw like but they tasted better (there was rosemary on them). There was also a barrel of peanuts that you could eat while you waited and it had a sign on it that said MAY CONTAIN NUTS. lol...I should also note that at the restaurants/pubs here you go to the counter to order and pay first. You aren't really waited on and you don't tip unless you go to a really nice place and then you tip 0-10%. They don't wait on you except to bring you your food for the most part plus they actually get paid and a form of a tip is already included in the price. I'm trying to think of some differences for you all, but I think that is all I can think of now. Oh one more, you don't get water like you do back home. If you want water, you ask and if you want free water you specify that you want tap water. At this place they gave you a pitcher of water and you poured it yourself at the table. And the ketchup is close to ours but a bit sweeter actually.

So after our lunch we talked with some bobbies (police officers) in order to find our way to the nearest tube. After staring at the Underground map we planned out a route to the Tower Bridge. We  went there and took pictures of the tower bridge and the London bridge (aka one photo for me bc it isn't very picturesque; just famous and important not really extravagant). We then tried to watch a free, outdoor theatre show at the Scoop. We were waiting and ended up talking to the actors before the show started however, right when the show was about to begin, it started to pour. At first we just pulled on our rain coats and pulled out umbrellas but it was pouring and I was wearing a knit dress so as soon as the water touched me, my dress absorbed it and my bottom was soaked. The three of us except Emily got up to take some cover, but she was determined and was going to wait in hopes that it would stop. They did cancel it because even though it stopped, it was outdoors and it needed to dry. We ended up leaving to head over to see Big Ben instead. Even though I got wet the fastest, I dried the quickest. Other girls had jeans on so they stayed wet for quite some time.

We made it over to Westminster bridge and saw the London Eye (I haven't ridden it yet, but I will), Big Ben, House of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. I forget the name of the building next to the London Eye at this second but there are two Lions on them and there is a saying that "If the Lion drinks, London sinks." I should mention that for those that don't know the River Thames runs through this part. The lions are pretty high up but I wonder if it has ever happened or been close. I don't know all the details or history behind that. So yes, we wondered around and took lots of pictures. We have an excursion to do the Tower of London, see the Crown Jewels, White Tower and Tower Bridge so I am not worried about that. I know I am going to do the London Eye, hopefully a day and night pass, and I want to try to go to a service at Westminster Abbey. You can't go in the Houses of Parliament, so for Sunday I think we did pretty good on seeing some sites!

For dinner we went out to a pub called Princess of Wales and I ordered my first fish and chips with a strawberry and lime hard cider. Everything was delicious. The fish was seriously an enormous fish, not like getting a few small ones back home, just one giant piece served over pub fries. It also came with "mushy peas" which were yummy. In the end our checks were all on one and it was up to us to figure out have much each of us owed, which was kind of comical. We figured it out though and headed home. We were exhausted. BTW on the menu they had Blue Moon! I was so excited b/c I love Blue Moon and it said Nebraska, USA next to it. I didn't order it, but still!

So yes, we headed home and for Emily and I, part of our line was closed for maintenance so we had to come up with another plan along the way. For the most part the lines and stops are really easy to figure out once you've been through it a couple of times.

I came home and skyped with the family for awhile and then went to bed around 1am and had to wake up at 7 to start my day.

I'll right a new post for today since this one is so long! I hope you lovely people are enjoying my posts despite the length!

Cheers!