The Past Couple Days

I have had so much fun already these past couple days! Actually, every morning when I wake up and realize where I am, I get really excited--you could say I'm really loving it here (minus the weird weather)!

Sunday:
We walked through Regents Park and happened to see an actor from Doctor Who, and we were told to continue walking by the director because they appeared to be filming for something (I don't think it was for the show though--not even sure if they are still filming for that or not because I don't watch it). It was gorgeous despite how dreary the sky looked and how windy and cold it was. Oh, and after I had my first drink in a pub--a cider! Other than that, we didn't really do much else that day besides that, but it took up a good portion of the day!

Monday:
I learned how to navigate/ride the tube! We went to see the building where we are taking our classes for the program, and we later were treated by our program to a lunch at a Turkish restaurant. I wouldn't say it was my most favorite food ever, but it was pretty delicious (and it was free!). Following the lunch, everyone in my group was split into groups of 5 to do a scavenger hunt around Central London and Camden Town--the winning team received some sort of food voucher (sadly my team only got 2nd place). It was so much fun because we got to get a quick view of all the things that we should come back and explore further--Oxford Circus, the theaters, Trafalgar Square, the British Museum (we saw the Rosetta Stone!), and so many other things.

Oh, and Monday we also impulsively decided to head to King's Cross to get a picture at Platform 9 3/4! So there's that. Basically, going to Hogwarts now no big deal.

And of course, we followed our long day of adventures up with a drink at one of our local pubs--we decided that we will probably become regulars there because of how nice of a place it is!

Today (Tuesday):
First day of classes! We learned how to take the bus but I think I will stick with just taking the tube--it's a lot faster and I still don't really understand the bus routes yet. Also, it's only been a few days but I really feel like I am getting close with a lot of people in my program, so that's just making this experience that much better :) Some girls I have been hanging out with and I went to get a snack from a small deli before our fairly successful day of shopping and exploring! We went to Primark--which is basically the UK version of Forever 21--in Oxford Circus and walked around for a while until we got to Big Ben (fun fact: Big Ben actually isn't the tower--it's the bell at the top!). We saw the outside of Westminster Abbey, and though we wanted to see it, we decided to pass on going inside today because of the expense of going in. We're now planning on going to church on Sunday so that we can get in for free and see the inside that way. Following that, we trekked all the way to Buckingham Palace (was definitely hoping to see some royalty, but obviously that was a long shot). I'd say it was a pretty successful day!

(I'm ready to pick up my tiara now)