Just a Saturday in London

Yesterday was a lot of fun. My roommates and I continued our tradition of taking extremely long walks around London by taking a three-hour walking tour. It was a ton of fun though and we got to see all of the touristy places while learning about the history of the sites themselves. Our tour guide was Ed, who was horribly hung over but hilarious. It seems very normal here for the British to be hungover a grand majority of the time so it wasn't quite as alarming as it may have been in the States. Ed was wonderful though, very typically London and quite informed on where we were going. We saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, and so much more! It was awesome and I actually wouldn't mind seeing it again sometime. Plus it was free so who can go wrong with that!

Me in front of Buckingham Palace

Big Ben et moi.

Last night the Tate Modern, a modern art gallery in London, was open late until 10 p.m. so several of us went to explore that. We live in an amazing area of London so it is even more apparent than it might normally be to us when we're in areas that aren't quite as picture perfect. The Tate Modern was definitely in an area like that. We had to walk through an area of town that is probably heavily trafficked during the week but felt a little deserted last night since it was a weekend. The gallery itself was kind of frightening to me. It was great to see some of the classic pieces, like ones by Picasso and some by Andy Warhol, but some of the things that they called art were just disgusting and almost frightening. I thought that I liked modern art but I now know much better. I am glad that I experienced it but I definitely will not be returning anytime soon.

Today has been a pretty good day at well. I got to sleep in until around 10 so finally got some good sleep then went to Primark with some of the girls I've met here. Primark is a cheaper, fashion-forward store on Oxford Street here in London. I got a dress, scarf, and some other necessities for only 14 pounds which is quite the steal here! It was extremely interesting to try to figure out my size since they're about two above what you normally would be in the US. However, since we've been walking lots and eating little, it was actually fairly close to what I would be in the US which was a nice surprise! We're planning on heading to a service at Westminster Abbey this afternoon which should be a good time!

My week is looking like it will be pretty exciting as well so I'm not sure I'll be updating as much. I am going to see Wicked (the musical about the land of Oz) tomorrow night, Tuesday is a CAPA tour of the Imperial College Student Union, and then Wednesday my roommates and I are going to learn how to do Scottish dancing! I absolutely love that in London I have so many choices for what to do, and most of them don't even cost very much at all. Hope everyone is doing well at home! I miss you all a bunch but I'm having a wonderful time which helps out a lot! : )