Leaving London

Tonight is our last night in London. In a way it is sad because I feel like there is still so much we did not get to see, but I'm glad we're moving on. I think constantly moving and seeing new things helps me not to get too homesick and definitely keeps things interesting!!

Wednesday morning we did not have class so Erica and I went to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. There was some sort of delay on the tube, so we were a little later than we had hoped and by the time we got there we could hear the band already playing as they marched. Of course, not wanting to miss anything, I yelled to Erica to follow me and began sprinting across St. James's Park. It was the typical movie scenario - through the pidgeons that flew up all around me, almost knocking over the elderly lady in orthopedic shoes, and barely catching up with them where the sidewalk and road met, but we made it! What can I say, I am my mother's child; it would not be a day without causing some sort of ruckus like that. After that, which was lots of fun, we met up with the group to go to the Imperial War Museum. I am not really one for looking at all of the different weapons and such, but they had an amazing Holocaust exhibit, a whole exhibit about Imperial Warfare and Wars over the years, and another about artists commissioned by the British during WWII that I enjoyed immensely. After leaving the museum, Abbey, Erica, and I went to go buy tickets to see Wicked. Alicia, Kristin, and Paige already had their tickets. We were able to get an awesome student rate and got great seats for half price. The show was fabulous. Mom and Mimi - you will be happy to know (or maybe just feel sorry for the people with which I am travelling) that it is like a repeat of our first NYC trip - I have been singing the Wicked songs constantly. At least it's not Old Man River, right?

Yesterday we had a history class in the morning and then in the afternoon we went to the British Museum. Surprisingly, there is little British anything in the British Museum. We did get to see the Rosetta Stone, though, which was cool. Even though I've seen it about 100 times in pictures, it still somehow looked different in person. They also have the Elgin Marbles there, which are the marble carvings that used to be around the outer [upper] facing of the Parthenon. There's been a lot of debate about whether or not they should be returned to Greece (they were bought privately by a Briton and then given to the museum later), but I doubt they will be given back. The detailing is amazing. All of the facial expressions, the veins in the arms and legs of the men and the legs of the horses, their hair, just everything is so perfect even after all of this time. There is one particular sculpture that used to be a horse, but now is just his head (I think the body is elsewhere), and it reminds me of the scene in the Godfather where the horse's head ends up in the bed...I would probably upset a lot of people if they heard me say that (apparently it is very famous), but that's what it looked like to me. Last night the group went to see Othello in the Globe Theatre. We were in the standing room only part, which was not fun after about 1 1/2 hours. Plus, this version just did not stand up to the film versions of Shakespeare once viewed in Mr. Saunder's/Mrs. Baltz's AP classes.

Today we had another free morning so Erica and I went shopping at Covent Garden. It is a "market", but I think there were a lot more actual shops and a lot less booths. Still, it was so cute and a lot of fun! There was also entertainment in the market throughout the morning - we had a juggler, opera singer, and chamber music, and that's just what I saw. This afternoon our group went to St. Paul's Cathedral, the 2nd largest cathedral in Europe (behind St. Peter's in the Vatican). Charles and Diana were married there, and several notables are buried in the crypts. We also climbed over 430-something very old, narrow steps to get to the top dome to the gallery to look over the city. If you know my fear of heights, you know this was a huge accomplishment for me! After that we went to the Tower of London, which is actually more like a castle. It is even surrounded by a moat, which to my sadness is no longer filled with water, only grass. We saw the crown jewels, which are indescribable. I've never seen/never will see again anything like that. There literally was a diamond that would have filled my entire palm. No joke. Unfortunately, there were also sheets of glass and armed guards keeping me from that diamond. After the jewels, I basically just wandered around the buildings looking at the various times that they were built (and rebuilt - 1776, 1945 - oops on us and the Germans). It is weird to think that a lot of them were there before they even knew that the continent on which my entire life is based existed.

Okay, before I leave London I am going to answer some questions/write some because of some requests:
Mom asked about the architecture -
Basically, in my opinion the architecture and city structure is much prettier here than in the US. The city is so much older, so there aren't really any high rises or anything like that. To me it is really cool to think that you are walking through buildings that existed in the 12th century. In the "City" which is the actually financial district, there are a lot of high rises, steel and glass buildings, etc. That section of the metropolitan area was destroyed at a couple of different times during history, so it is really one area that has evolved into more modern architecture. One buiding that I recognized was the Gherkin (I think that's how you spell it) - to me it kind of looks like a big glass and steel pinecone and is part of their financial/banking district. Other than that, there are basically random more modern buildings scattered throughout, but most are older.

Steven said I should dedicate a section to the random phrases/words/sayings -
tube/underground - subway (apparently subway is just under the street, so the little tunnel part that you walk through that connects different parts of the underground can be a subway, too)
water closet (W.C.) - bathroom (the one with a shower)
toilets - restroom (like a public place, with, well, toilets)
way out - exit (yep, that's what all the signs say, and it looks like the little man is running to the door)
loo roll - toilet paper
lift - elevator
cheers - what they say at the end of every conversation
black or white - how you order coffee (still haven't ordered white...and sometimes black is actually espresso with water.)
white or brown - types of toast. refers to white or wheat bread, not degree of toastiness.
Mind the gap - careful of the gap! as in, watch your step when getting off the tube. Or, you may see a sign that says, "mind your head", etc.

I will probably think of more later, but it's hard to come up with these on demand. As the British would say, "cheers!"