(no subject)
So, let's try for a coherent update this time, now that I've had sleep and am more or less organized. I'll just give you some highlights from the past few days.
The evening of the day we got here (Sunday) Dave Becker, our trip leader, informed the entire group of us that if we met him at a particular restaurant, he would buy dinner for all of us. He then gave us rather sketchy directions and turned us loose. By "us" I mean twenty or so college students who had just spent a day on planes and in airports, were incredibly sleep-deprived, and had no idea how to find our way around London. Still, he offered free food. We weren't about to let a few minor disadvantages stop us. Which means that the first night here, I got to learn how to navigate London's bus system. In case you're curious, the directions we got involved phrases like "Take the bus to Trafalgar Square...you can't miss it, it has lions and fountains and a giant column with a statue of Admiral Lord Nelson on top." Which is actually completely accurate. We didn't miss it. We got off the bus and after only one wrong turn, found the restaurant. It was down a little street that almost looked like Diagon Alley without the wizards. Who knows, perhaps Diagon Alley was indeed just behind those shop fronts...it's entirely possible. London is a maze of little streets and alleys that pop up in unexpected locations.
Yesterday was spent walking through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, which I will have to take pictures of and show you. It's incredible to walk through these beautiful, tranquil parks right in the middle of the city. And it's quite an experience to be walking through a park and come across a medieval palace.
Last night several of us went to the nearest pub, which is, in the words of our tour guide, "within staggering distance" of our residence hall. Imagine every single classic image of an English pub. That's what it looked like inside, seriously. I bought my first legal drink there, although I certainly did not have enough to require staggering home. The point was more to relax and talk to people rather than get completely drunk. At least, that's how I saw it.
And today, the major achievement of the day was that Rebecca and I managed to (mostly) stop the cold air from coming in our window. We did this by propping two bottles of laundry detergent against the window to force it closed, and then shoving plastic bags along the edge of the window to block the cold air. Hurray for creative solutions!
I'll post pictures as soon as I convince the Internet that it wants to upload them.
The evening of the day we got here (Sunday) Dave Becker, our trip leader, informed the entire group of us that if we met him at a particular restaurant, he would buy dinner for all of us. He then gave us rather sketchy directions and turned us loose. By "us" I mean twenty or so college students who had just spent a day on planes and in airports, were incredibly sleep-deprived, and had no idea how to find our way around London. Still, he offered free food. We weren't about to let a few minor disadvantages stop us. Which means that the first night here, I got to learn how to navigate London's bus system. In case you're curious, the directions we got involved phrases like "Take the bus to Trafalgar Square...you can't miss it, it has lions and fountains and a giant column with a statue of Admiral Lord Nelson on top." Which is actually completely accurate. We didn't miss it. We got off the bus and after only one wrong turn, found the restaurant. It was down a little street that almost looked like Diagon Alley without the wizards. Who knows, perhaps Diagon Alley was indeed just behind those shop fronts...it's entirely possible. London is a maze of little streets and alleys that pop up in unexpected locations.
Yesterday was spent walking through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, which I will have to take pictures of and show you. It's incredible to walk through these beautiful, tranquil parks right in the middle of the city. And it's quite an experience to be walking through a park and come across a medieval palace.
Last night several of us went to the nearest pub, which is, in the words of our tour guide, "within staggering distance" of our residence hall. Imagine every single classic image of an English pub. That's what it looked like inside, seriously. I bought my first legal drink there, although I certainly did not have enough to require staggering home. The point was more to relax and talk to people rather than get completely drunk. At least, that's how I saw it.
And today, the major achievement of the day was that Rebecca and I managed to (mostly) stop the cold air from coming in our window. We did this by propping two bottles of laundry detergent against the window to force it closed, and then shoving plastic bags along the edge of the window to block the cold air. Hurray for creative solutions!
I'll post pictures as soon as I convince the Internet that it wants to upload them.