London: Day Three/Four

It has been another couple of jam-packed days here in London.

London Day 3/4:

-I fell madly in love with the Tower of London. All of the stuff about King Henry VIII, traitors gate, the crown jewels (it looks like somebody went crazy with a bedazzler) and everything was really neat. All the stuff that I had read about in books was right there in front me: incredible. Plus everything is all just so old

-St. Paul's Cathedral was a sight, even if I never actually went inside (Pay $15 to go into a church? No thanks).

-We went on a little walking tour and came upon the church with the steeple that inspired today's modern wedding cake. Funny thing, the church is called "Bride Church" by complete coincidence.

-My sister and I were surprised with tickets to see "Mamma Mia" in Piccadilly Square (which looks strangely like Times Square). It was a great musical, and I got a real kick out of it.

-The next day we headed off to Hampton Court (One of King Henry VIII's palaces) to meet up with some family. Hampton Court was alive with all sorts of people dressed to be the King and Queen. I met this real handsome fellow there..

-Last but not least we got to experience the London Eye which rewarded us with a short line and a great view.

-We went to the grocery store today and discovered all sorts of strange things. Example: hot dogs in a jar, pickled cockles (ew), prawn cocktail flavored chips.

Until Later!

London: Day Two

Second day in London, and it was a marathon day. Here are the highlights from today:

-For breakfast this morning, they tried to serve us stewed tomatoes. Let's just say, I wasn't feeling so hungry.
-We got to march in with the band for the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. The best part... the band was playing "Mama Mia" while the guards were marching about. All the tourists starting singing along, and it was completely priceless. Also, I have never seen so many tourists in one place..
-Westminster Abbey blew me away. We were seeped in history. It really lived up to all the expectations. Rick Steves guided us to the best parts including Queen Elizabeth's and Bloody Marys burial chamber, the royal coronation chair, and tributes to Charles Darwin, William Shakespeare, and a whole spectrum of poets, scientists, royalty, and all sorts of important British people. Even Martin Luther King, Jr. made an appearance.
-Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament were very impressive and worth the walk.
-In the British Library we saw original Beatles Music lyrics, the first Alice in Wonderland, Da Vinci's notes, the Magna Carta, and the list could go on and on.
-The British Museum (besides being free, a rare thing in London) showed me how much the British pillaged from other countries! We were hard pressed to find something that was British in the British Museum. And most of the statues were headless with signs stating that the heads were in some other European museum. Strange
-Platform 9 and 3/4! Cheesy, but it was a must.
-We ended our long day with a true London meal.. Indian food!


It's still hard to take in all the history and culture that this city has to offer. Not to be cheesy or anything, but it's only been two days and we have barely scratched the surface of this ancient city.

Arrival in London

After about 24 hours of travel, we arrived in London (not without changing planes in Iceland of all places, now there is a cool stamp to have on my passport).

A couple observations about London thus far:
1st: The first accent I heard when I stepped off the plane was not a British accent, but instead an Indian accent. Welcome to London
2nd: On all of their trains a female voice goes "Mind the Gap" as opposed to "Watch your Step". It's all very British.
3rd: People weren't joking when they said that the weather here is pretty miserable. Today started out a little warm, and then got gray, foggy, and rained on us all afternoon. I'm going to have to get used to this weather
4th: Traveling halfway across the world does tire somebody out. We went on a double decker bus tour of London just so we could have something to do, and so we could see the city. It seemed like a good idea in theory. I kept nodding off, and it just so happened that at one point when I was asleep, the bus lurched and I whacked my head on the seat in front of me. This happened twice. Now I have a lovely bump on my forehead and I think I better get some sleep.

A couple more days in London and 5 days until I start at AC!

Hates the Sounds Goodbyes Make

Today was my last day in Corvallis.
On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best) I'd say it was about a 9.5! It's 3am, and I am still packing. But that is me.. always leaving it all to the last minute. I said some really important goodbyes today, but I know that everyone will be here when I come back. So this is it, my last day in Corvallis, in the USA, my last day before life as I know it is turned upside down. Here goes nothing!

ps. thanks to everyone who came to my goodbye party, called me, or just wished me luck. It means a lot.
pps. I will miss you all a ton!

Visa

After lots of stress and even a trip down to LA (by my dad) I finally have my Visa! It is such a relief, it seems more and more like I will actually be able to get to the UK. Now that I have my visa, my house, and dorm mates everything is already seeming less like a dream and more like reality.

Ah, Packing

5 days left in Corvallis, and the packing has begun.
Right now, it seems nearly impossible to fit my entire life into two suitcases. But I printed off the packing list and am beginning to make a small dent into the huge list.
I'm also making list of people I need to see before I leave, things I need to do, etc. Here is what I have so far:
-See all my friends, and say goodbye. well more like see you later
-American Dream Pizza
-Gelato
-The Beanery
-Something exciting?

Dorm mates!

I have discovered that I will be in Powys house (one of 7 dormitories on campus: Dyfed, Gwynedd Morgannwg, Powys, Sunley, Whitaker, and Tice).

Each house has about 48 students, half girls, half boys. Each dorm has about 3 or 4 people. I will be rooming with 2nd year Marieke from Germany, 2nd year Kimberly from Gibraltar and 1st year Nicole from Malaysia. Talk about international.

6 Days Left!

Leaving

One week left in Corvallis until I move to Wales to attend United World College of the Atlantic.