Wednesday was the last day of class. We had a short lecture on British design and then we had the Grate Kultcher Kwiz where we had twenty some odd questions over what we covered. I can proudly say that I got 14 correct which was the second highest! Oh, yea! Everyone got a Cadbury chocolate medal and it was delicious ;) Class ended early and we went over to The George where our teacher once again bought us all a round. We sat and chatted for awhile as we all enjoyed our drinks (I had the hard cider) and after some pictures, Emily and I went to ISA to use the internet. I didn't stay long since Sara and I had the Beatles tour to go on at 2.
I walked down Oxford St to meet Sara and she was very hesitant to do the tour and I don't blame her. The guy that was supposed to be the guide looked really nerdy in a way that he was just hoping to find some friends but everyone was just passing him by. We talked each other into doing it and it was somewhat worth it. Afterwards we decided that we could have just gone to Abbey Road on our own since that was kind of the highlight of the tour. It wasn't a bad tour per say, it just was bad timing and as mentioned our guide was a bit of a weird fanatic. It wasn't quite the fanatic where they make you interested even if you aren't and they just love what they do, but instead like I'm sure he has purchased every Beatles memorabilia that ever existed and lives in mom's basement. He was super nice, just awkward. And what I mean by bad timing is that there was a lot of construction going on and so buildings and streets were covered or blocked and it was difficult to get a great picture. Since this was in London, this was also a lot of what happened after the Beatles blew up. It was cool and all but I think I would definitely love going to Liverpool and doing the Magical Mystery tour more (and I plan on doing that next time!). It was cool to see where the Rooftop Performance was and where Hey Jude was recorded as well as Paul McCartney's studio and Abbey Studios/Road.
After the tour we had to get ready for the ISA dinner so we went separate ways. I ran home as fast as possible and took a five minute shower, changed my clothes, and ran out the door. I totally made it on time to the station where everyone was meeting but apparently I was on the wrong side. I found a Starbucks but not THE Starbucks. I was not even five minutes late but there was no one in sight from ISA so I called Sara and then talked to Maria and found the right path for meeting people. Tom was supposed to be at the Starbucks but I must have just missed him. At least at that point I knew where I was going. I rushed to Strada and found everyone. I was dying of thirst and drank THE MOST still water imaginable. At one point I had been waiting for water foreverrrr and the waiter finally came back and was giving it to everyone else but me and went to turn around with the last water and my mouth dropped and my eyes narrowed. I was about to attack but then he turned back around and I got my water. I think all the girls thought that was funny lol. Dinner was alright...we didn't get a choice and it ended up being the same chicken meal that I had at the other Strada with Sara, but this one wasn't as good and that is probably because of being in the group. It wasn't warm and pretty dry and not much sauce but oh well. The gelato afterwards was delicious though! So that made up for it all =) The view was great too- glass windows to look at the Tower Bridge.
After dinner we went outside to take pictures with Tom and Maria. And then it was just kind of over. It was weird. It didn't feel like the trip was basically done and that people were leaving in two days. Some people gave hugs and I hadn't even realized that that was going to be the last time I saw them. It made it really sad and I felt kind of bummed out. And the dinner wasn't quite what I expected. I thought it would be more of a social thing and kind of branch out from there but it was just like here is your meal and goodbye. No more excursions and no more friends for the most part...it was so weird.
After that realization, Emily, Sara, and I went home, but when Emily and I got home we were wondering what the heck we were doing. We still had a whole evening/night to do things. The sun was still up! So instead of just kind of bumming out about it ending in our rooms we decided to have some fun instead and go out. I still had not gone out to this pub that Tom recommended called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. I knew it was on Fleet St. and that is close to St. P's, so we went on an adventure to find it. After we went the wrong way the first time, we did stumble upon it. The entrance was in an ally and at first I was slightly confused to as if I was going in the right door so I even asked a guy that was outside smoking. When we went in the front bar was small and packed but the lady said we could go down to this other door for another bar. There were other rooms upstairs even but we never ventured in them. So we went downstairs and that place was HUGE. There are so many rooms in there and another jumbo bar downstairs. Everything was wooden and stone. It was dimly lit and rustic looking. And to top it all off they have stouts! The first place I had been to that served stouts (other than a few places that served Guiness but that doesn't count). It is mainly pale ales and hard cider in the pubs that I had been to. So needless to say I was excited and had two lol. It was the Samuel Smith Extra Stout. I was the MOST happy. Emily and I chatted for quite some time and had a lot of fun. I'm so excited that we decided to go out because it turned everything around and I found my new favorite bar. In the end it was a fabulous evening and my stout was 3 pounds 40. SOOOOO worth it. =)
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