Just a few stolen photos and some comments

Just a quick post to show some pictures (that I have stolen from my friends here). I still refuse to put any of my photos up on the internet (or even take them off my camera) until I get home because I like the anticipation of holding out an entire month to revisit all the sites through my photos.

This is Rachel A., Rachel P, Meghan, and I (in that order) climbing up the front gate to Buckingham Palace after just seeing the Queen!!


This is me, Meghan, Rachel A., Rachel P., Kelly, and Corey standing out behind St. Paul's Cathedral (not a very good shot of the cathedral but asking random people to take our picture tends to lead to this type of photo)

This is just a silly picture of me that Rachel A. took while I was figuring out how to get Big Ben in the background of a picture (Big Ben is out of the left side of the picture I promise)

Tomorrow morning Rachel A., Meghan, and I head to Ireland for the Bank Holiday weekend. We will be there for Friday night and Saturday night (mainly only spending all day Saturday touring.) We are taking a train and ferry to get there so it will take most of the day Friday and ALL of the day on Sunday to travel between London and Dublin. Sunday's train trip is expected to be around 10 hours because they will be so crowded because it is a bank holiday on Monday. We have brought books, card games, ipods, and cameras to pass the time watching the land pass us by. We are all really excited!!! (Wondering why the 4th member of our group Rachel P. is absent from this trip? She left for Scotland by herself for a bus tour for the entire weekend! We begged her to take photos so we can see when we all return on Sunday/Monday.)


I have neglected to tell much about the classes that I am taking over here. One is an Education class taught by Dr. Unks (crazy, old man but super nice and helpful!) He talks about British things and how things differ. We learned about the differences in education between European schools and American schools the other day. We discussed the succession of the crown this morning. (I know my Aunt Kaki could go back much further than we went today though!) The other class is a drama class taught by Dr. King (super cute and sweet old man who travels around the city holding hands with his wife!) We discuss the plays that we see every other day. He gives us ideas to think about as we watch the plays so we all center around the same ideas in class discussion.

One of my friends (Jenny Tenney!) asked me on facebook the other day what my favorite thing I have done/seen so far in London would be. This is incredibly difficult to answer. We have done an extraordinary amount of things within the past week and a half. I really enjoy the differences between the UK/US cultures. Looking right instead of left when crossing the street, having coins for the smaller amounts of money (£1 and £2), the total lack of litter bins anywhere, and the accents (love them!). I guess what she probably means though is more along the lines of what has taken my breath away. Three things stand out here (all cathedrals/churches). The Coventry Cathedral ruins were absolutely spectacular. Knowing the history of it (it was bombed during WWII during the blitz) and just sitting there during the Sunday church service and being able to hear the congregation singing hymns as I watched the rays of sun through the empty windows shine on the broken floor. This is something that I will never be able to describe in full. The second would be Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-Upon-Avon where William Shakespeare is buried. The thought of being so close to the remain of a literary genius was mind blowing. I was totally speechless the entire time walking around in there. The stained glass windows were also beautiful. I can't fully describe this either! The last one (so far on this trip at least) would be St. Paul's Cathedral in London. It is massive and gorgeous from the moment you entire the doors. The ornate gold work and paintings on the walls and ceilings is something to be marveled for hours. Not only could you walk around in there but you could also climb the 434 steps to the very very tip top of the cathedral and have the absolute BEST view of the city. I took tons of photos from up there. You could see EVERYTHING! London Bridge, Tate Modern, Big Ben, Thames River, National Theatre, everything!!

We saw Billy Elliot last night at the Victoria Palace Theatre and it was absolutely amazing!! The singing and dancing was unbelievable!! The lead was 13 years old! The plays here are so great! After the play, a few of us went to Kings Cross train station in search for Platform 9 3/4 (Yes, Harry Potter fans, it exists!) The picture below is us in front of it. We all got individual pictures pushing the trolley through it too! Everyone was so giddy. We are all dressed up because we went straight after the play.


I have 5 minutes left on here and must find some things for Ireland for this weekend. I hope everyone is doing well. I miss everyone (especially mommy and daddy!) but I will be home soon.