Yesterday (Wednesday) we went on the stereotypical Big Red Bus tour all around London. This was great because it helped to orient us a bit more and we got to take in all of the sights and take (in my case) an absurd amount of photos. A casual 150 to be exact. I have to capture every moment! We were on the red line which basically just means that there is live commentary. These people are great-the brits are even sassier than I am, and they make fun of themselves and their history relentlessly. This makes for a great tour. Aside from the text-book facts that they are required to spit out at us, each guide brings a little personality to his or her tour. Our second guide told us that she was going to marry Prince Harry-glad to know that is not just an American dream! It was so amazing to see the eye, the houses of parliament, big ben (which, fun fact, is actually the name of the bell inside the tower!) and the tower bridge while we were cruising the streets.
As expected, I am still not used to cars and bikes driving on the opposite side of the road so it is a real struggle to figure out when and where to cross the street. Luckily, we travel in a big group so I just look to see what others are doing! So far so good. Also exciting news is the Tube is actually pretty easy to navigate. Yes, I am still walking around with my dorky little tourist map, but I, the queen of directionally challenged citizens have not gotten on the wrong one once (YET). Public transportation is so much easier (and cleaner!) than it is in the US which is great. However, brits basically never talk (anywhere, ever..) so we get some pretty interesting looks when we talk, laugh or look like we are having a good time. Quality people skills.
Anyways, we took a break at lunchtime yesterday because we had to find Jim who unfortunately had some travel struggles and just got here yesterday! I went to Pret a Manger (which you can find basically anywhere and are really cheap-great for our stipend life) and had a little sandwich action with some fruit. No one uses a reusable water bottle here which is SO annoying but the tap water tastes kind of weird so I understand. After lunch, we pulled an American and went to a Starbucks for some caffeination which was much needed, and it actually wasn't nearly as expensive as I thought it would be! I have found it is better to go to local coffee shops or cafés to get a better bang for your buck though.
After lunch, we went on a great boat tour along part of the Thames over to Westminster. We had a great view of all of the buildings along the river, as well as some boats that were actually used during WW I which I thought was really cool to see. Once we got to Westminster, we basically just got back on the bus after taking some touristy pictures along the way--but we will be going back there for the real deal on Saturday I believe!
We had the rest of the day free after the bus tour so obviously we decided to go to Harrods. OH WHAT A GREAT PLACE! I could live there. We (Haley, Rachel, Amanda and I) went to the food section first of course and got some dessert action. I had tiramisu which was fantastic and super wonderful! Happy girl. We went to every floor and spent an oddly long period of time in the children's section. Baby Dior is a wonderful line and I want to dress my children in it. Life goal number 28738. Ball gowns, on ball gowns and so many beautiful shoes everywhere! I will definitely be going back there multiple times.
Last night for dinner, we went to an Italian place and I finally met up with Abby! It was so good to see her and have some Theta love. We all had spaghetti with zucchini and red sauce with caesar salad. I have really been craving vegetables since I've been here!! So that was nice and festive. After dinner we went to Tesco which is basically just the local market here where you can buy anything from a krispy kreme donut to random vegetables I have never seen nor heard of before. It is nice and easy and pretty close to our hotel which is ideal. I have a feeling we will be going there a lot! We also went to paperchase and superdrug to stock up on school supplies and toiletries-everything is SO EXPENSIVE!! But the pounds are really pretty and I think we should change American money, so I will have to have a chat with the treasury department when I am back stateside.
Finally, my roommates officially experienced the real and weird Larissa last night, complete with me breaking my shaving cream (3 hours after I bought it, I might add) and laughing so hard that I fell into the wall and made a charger fall out of the wall. Classic.
Tomorrow (Friday) we are going to the national gallery and portrait gallery as well as Westminster Abbey, so I will be excited to write about that as well as today's (Thursday) adventures!
More to come. Still a bit jetlagged and so confused about when to sleep.
xx
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