The British Press makes me laugh

On Monday night a few girls and I decided to explore the Southbank area of London. Originally we were planning on visiting the Tate Modern Art Museum, but it turned out that it was only open past 6pm on Fridays and Satrudays, and we just didn't make it on time. No matter, though, because we had a blast walking down the Thames on a beautiful evening. Big Ben and the houses of Parliament looked absolutely amazing at night.

All of us were craving dessert (we've been living off of canned soup and peanut butter sandwiches, with no extra money for delicacies like sweets), so we embarked on a mission to find some and came upon a crazy underground arcade in the process. But that's for another day. Finally I spotted a man carrying a cup of gelato, and we traced his steps to a little shop along the Thames. Everyone got gelato, and I got a delicious blueberry sorbet. The flavors here are so intense. The mint tastes like real mint, the caramel like real caramel, and the hazelnut like real hazlenut. I know all of this because I tried a bite of everyone else's dessert. I suffered for it later that night when my stomachache woke me from sleep. I won't do that again, but it was worth it at the time. Oh, and my sorbet was pure bliss. A big pile of the finest blueberries atop a warm waffle cone.



We asked a Japanese tourist to take our picture, and he did so several times in order to get the lighting just right and Big Ben in the background. Then he asked to have his picture taken with all of us. It was pretty silly.

After that we spontaneously decided to take a flight on the London Eye, the giant ferris wheel that gives a spectacular view of London, 25 miles in every direction.

Geez, I have so many more pictures, but this blog is being difficult and won't let me post them. I suppose you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that the skyline was gorgeous; I'm so glad we went at night. After that we took a liesurely stroll back over the bridge above the Thames and from there we broke off. The rest of the girls went to see the Tower of London lit up at night, but Caroline and I decided to stay around Parliament. The night was too beautiful to be rushing around. We sat in a park just outside of Big Ben and listened to the clock strike 10pm. It was really lovely. We both commented on how unreal it feels to be in London, in the UK. It's one thing to know you're going, it's quite another to actually be there. I never want to take this opportunity for granted.

On Tuesday we took a walking tour around the Financial District of London called the "Blitz Walk." Our tour guide was absolutely brilliant, and she taught us a lot about the terrible bombings that Londoners endured during the first and second World Wars. The destruction is still visible on some of the buildings. By that night I had had more than my fill of tours though, and decided to stay in with my roommate Anna. Our backs were aching and our legs were so sore from all of the walking we've been doing, so we needed to take it easy. We walked around town, I bought a cell phone, and we got a baguette and some nutella for a snack. I can't tell you how delicious that was. I can still taste the fresh bread... We also went to the Imperial War Museum and learned all about WWI and II. That was impressive, but tiring after 8 hours. Yes, 8 hours. I'll be heading back there soon, hopefully.

Yesterday (Wednesday) we took a field trip to Bath. Bath is beautiful! It was so quaint, so ancient, really breathtaking. I'll post some pictures from Bath on my next entry. I ate lunch in a botanical garden that I can only describe as being fit for a painting. I saw the Bath Abbey (INCREDIBLE) and heard an organ concert. I also visited the Roman Baths, the Costume Museum, where I tried on a corset, and The Crescent, which is one of the most majestic streets in Bath. I spent a lot of time sitting in the main street of town. There were so many people, so many things to see. By 5:30pm every shop in town closed besides the restaurants. The men singing packed up their guitars and the pastel artist rolled up his rendition of the Madonna. We ate dinner at a thai restaurant then caught the train back to London by 10pm.

Today we had our first quiz in class, and I think I did well. I'm about to leave for the Tate Modern in a minute. It's a beautiful day. We've been so lucky with weather.

I miss my family and friends. I kept thinking yesterday in Bath, sitting in my striped chair, eating my turkey ham sandwich, that I wished everyone I loved could experience this moment as well.