Exploring and Fun

i'm getting tired of titling these posts already. Oh well. Sorry if they get kind of uncreative.

So yesterday we had class and then afterwards I came back to the dorm. I wanted to go shopping in an effort to find warmer things to wear, since it has been much colder here than I was expecting, but no one seemed to want to go with me so I decided to use the time to venture out on my own. Really, I didn't end up going very far, but it was enjoyable to walk around and explore a little by myself, without worrying about getting to know the people around me or feeling the need to socialize and make small talk. I could really just enjoy the city and look around me, and take my time. I ended up finding a white sweater at a relatively cheap store and a scarf at Oxfam, a thrift shop here. Not a jacket, but layering is helpful, and they kept me warm this evening. I also stopped at the store to get some frozen veggies and lunch meat.

After making myself some dinner (eggs and vegetables), I called my friend Tim, who goes to U of M but is in London visiting his brother for a month, and he came over. I met him at the tube station (after some confusion, because apparently King's Cross/ St. Pancras station is tremendous) and he came back here where we went with some people to a pub, and I had my first pint of Guiness. It was an enjoyable and quiet evening and we came back early and put Tim in a cab to go home since the tube closes at midnight. I came back and attempted to read some of my homework, and somewhat succeeded before falling asleep.

Today, I woke up kind of late and read more of my book before getting up to make breakfast and plan my day. My friend Eszter from Michigan is here visiting me, and she was supposed to get into Victoria Station in Westminster around 2pm but did not make the first bus. This was actually not a bad development since I had planned on walking all the way there (about an hour and a half from my dorm) and sightseeing along the way, but it started pouring around noon when I had planned to leave, and there was no one at the front desk to help me find linens for Eszter. So I waited to get linens and then started out. It took over an hour to walk to Victoria station, but on the way I saw lottts of things. I saw Leister Square, and Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace, and St. James' Park, taking touristy pictures the whole way. It took me awhile to find Eszter at Victoria Station (which is a tremendous train, tube, bus, and coach station) but when I did we got her some food and I ate the lunch I brought with me, and we planned the rest of our day. From there we went to Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey (which was closed since it was after 3:45pm...weird) and to Parliament and Big Ben and the Thames. We wandered around for quite awhile, taking pictures and just enjoying the sights.

After seeing a good deal of Westminster, we headed back toward Buckingham Palace and asked someone when the changing of the guards is so we could plan on seeing it the next day (it's at 11:30). We took more pictures, and then walked back to Trafalgar Square to the tube station to get back to my dorm, since it was almost 6pm. We braved the tube during rush hour, and got back safe and sound. We made dinner and then wandered around this area afterwards, stopping with some of my friends at a pub, once again, to talk and relax for the evening. And now we are back here, and Eszter is sleeping so I should probably take a shower. Tomorrow we plan on getting up early to see Westminster Abbey (the inside) and the changing of the guard, before doing some more touristy things and meeting up with another TBS (Tau Beta Sigma, my band service sorority) sister who is also in London.

I suppose I should also address briefly the news situation here...there have been a couple of car bombs found around the busier parts of the city today. Everyone on the program is, understandably, a little bit nervous about the upcoming second anniversery of the 7-7-05 tube bomings in London, and this does not help much. However, both bombs were successfully diffused, and it seems like people are being very diligent about looking at their surroundings carefully and reporting anything suspicious. The area I am living in is not very busy or touristy, and therefore not really a target area at all. Eszter and I plan on being very careful with where we go tomorrow, and will concentrate mainly on places with high security or not too many crowds. And now I should go so we can get up to go to those places tomorrow. Hope everyone is well, as always.