Touristy Stuff and a Star-Sighting

I'll try my best to start where I left off.

On Saturday the 6th I headed to London with Sarah, Jennifer, and Curtis. We went to the Tate Modern, which I must say I loved and wish I could have spent more time there, and walked around for a bit. We had by accident, taken the long train to Waterloo so we were a bit late to get started.

We also went to Shakespeare's Globe but the Merchant of Venice was sold out and we didnt really want to do a matinee viewing because it would cut down on our time to do other things. So with heavy hearts we continued on our journey.

We were supposed to meet Sarah's friend from Riverside in Leicester Square, so we walked to a tube station but found out that some of the main lines were closed for repairs. Eek!!! At least we got some exercise as we made our way along the Thames and to a tube station that had a line in operation that went to Leicester Square. Once we arrived we decided to grab some food. We went to some burger place with a cheesy name like Burger Shack. Horrible service, but hey at least we didnt have to tip them! It took us way too long to eat because of their forgetfulness so after we decided to hit the discounted ticket booth. We got tickets for the Woman in Black for half price. After we decided to go shopping on Oxford Street. I continued my mission of finding a pair of rainboots or at the very least flat boots that wouldnt soak up the water and failed miserably. I found 2 light sweaters at H&M that were really cheap so I was content. We then went to get some coffee but the line was too long, so we just sat for a bit before heading to a pub. We went to Oniells and got a bit to eat before we headed to the theatre. The nachos were surprisingly good, not the same as real nachos, but not bad. (Sarah and I had been craving nachos for quite some time). We then headed to the theatre. I really enjoyed it. It basically had 2 actors in it, and was pretty barebones but I guess it went with the storyline. After the play we headed back to school. We caught the last train out of Waterloo and were on our merry way. I think we all slept well that night considering the amount of walking we did because of the Tube closures.

Sunday was primarily a study day and the rest of the week went accordingly.

Thursday I met with my director to go over classes and I guess someone told him about my room, so I told him it was a crackden and he thought that was hilarious. After class, we all went into town for a nice dinner. I had pumpkin soup and Moroccan style chicken with couscous. Delish! Then for desert I had a brownie with ice cream. The ice cream was good, the brownie not so much. It was more like cake so I was slightly disappointed. Overall the night was fun. We all were chatting. Andrew, my director, told us that the girls studying in London, who probably have never officially met a British person, were planning on going all out for our Thanksgiving dinner and asked us to show them up. . . Basically he said "But I know you girls can outdo them". So we told him we would. Which is nice because it gives us a reason to use the nice clothes we all brought along. After dinner, the majority of us went around town a bit more and then we headed back to their dorms. I once again just slept over there because its too far too walk late at night.

That night, I started feeling a tad sick. . .boooo . . .

On Friday, I was finally pressured into buying tickets for an event at the Student Union (even though I wasn't feeling 100%), The Hogwarts School Disco. I did my best to dress Harry Potterish but considering I have never once read the books and have only watched portions of the movies while babysitting, I was pretty clueless. And then add on the fact that I don't necessarily have a wide array of clothing to choose from for events such as these and you've got yourself one confused Margaret. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to finally be able to go out with the girls I live with considering every other time they go out I'm either catching up on work or with the Californians.

The following Sunday, aka this past Sunday, there was a free trip to London for international students. We went to the Tower of London and got to see the Crown Jewels. We then hopped on a boat and cruised down the Thames toward Greenwich. Once we got there we went to have lunch at Queen Mary University. As we were walking we saw that they were filming something. I made some crack about it being for the history channel since it was obviously meant to be a few hundred years ago. We got to the gates of the school and at first the crew was confused as to why we were there. But then we were let in and walked through part of the set to the dining hall.

Turns out they were filming a movie: The Duke and Dutchess of Devonshire and I guess some people saw Keira Knightley. . .my friend used my camera to snap a photo of her inside a carriage but honestly you really can't tell that it is her from the photo.


Once inside, I saw the dining hall sign with various typical foods listed and wasn't all that surprised, but when we actually walked in I was shocked. It was a beautiful dining room all set up for us with a set of dishes on the table and chandeliers hanging above some of the tables.

We were served chicken with green beans and seasoned potatoes as well as a really good dessert. It was a strawberry based cream in a pastry shell. After we drank coffee out of our extremely tiny cups. We were then on our way to the National Observatory to stand on the Prime Meridian. Once we got to the top of the hill, there was a beautiful view down the hill, over the Queens Building, through the courtyard of Queen Mary College of the Thames and the financial district of London.

We waited for a while to stand on the prime meridian but finally got a few pictures.

The bus ride back was quite long. Once back we grabbed dinner and crashed. I had basically no voice and had a hot cup of tea with honey and some hot chocolate because I had a presentation in the morning.

This week has been okay. I have a lot of reading and had some difficulty getting the books for the classes, but I'm handling it. I read today for a 2500 word history essay thats not due for another week, but since I'm going to Stonehenge and Bath next Sunday I need to get it done. I spent today reading for it and will hopefully be able to write it tomorrow. I've also booked a trip to Spain for early November and then found out two days after booking it that I have a paper due the day we get back. . .eek!. Oh well, I'lll figure it out. I have 5 essays this term. Starting on numero uno tomorrow and hoping to complete all 3 that are due before Christmas plus one that is due after Christmas.

I'll post pictures later since it won't let me do it now for some reason.