This City, So Pretty

Yesterday (7/5/12) started off like every day here has so far. Class 9:00AM-12:30PM at Regent's College, except this time we were treated to the fact that we had the afternoon and the weekend all to ourselves.

My friend and I decided to take full advantage of this fact and the second our professor dismissed us, we hopped on the next tube toward Trafalgar Square.

As soon as I walked up the steps and looked out upon the city, my breath was taken away, it was amazing- it was the London I had seen in so many photographs and I was quite eager to start exploring.

First we got lunch at this small cafe, and then ventured over toward the square for a small psuedo-picnic on the steps in front of the National Gallery. I had a delicious chicken and avocado sandwich and some lemonade!

my lunch! 

my view!

When I was just about done and ready to head into the National Gallery I looked up one last time and turned to my friend, pointed out into the distance, and asked: "I don't want to sound stupid, but is that Big Ben?"

It was, in fact, Big Ben!

We headed into the National Gallery and looked around, they had some DaVinci there (which I've never seen in person before), some Michaelangelo and a lot of the Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Rembrandt etc. It was beautiful, and I was excited to see some of the original pieces I've only ever seen prints of!

After the National Gallery, we walked down the street toward Big Ben, my excitement building with every step. My friend (who was just in this area the day before) instructed me to look up, and there right before my eyes was Big Ben!

I know, I look silly and touristy in the second picture!!

After we had soaked in all of the "awesomeness" of the clock tower, we began to walk along the Thames and just look across the water (we didn't end up walking over to the South Bank because we figured we would save that for another day, we are here for another 5 weeks....)

Looking across the River!

After that small excursion, we walked back toward the main city area and headed toward Westminster Abbey to attend the Evensong service because unfortunately, the tours of the church/grounds stop at 3PM and at this point, it was already closer to 5....

The service was beautiful, as was the inside of Westminster Abbey, there's tons of people laid to rest there like Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, and Laurence Olivier and there are memorials for people like  William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Winston Churchill and so many more!

After the service was over, we opted to take the bus back instead of the tube so we could see things while we were riding (as opposed to being underground) and not to mention it was my first time in a double decker bus! We sat on the second floor, obviously.

When we got back, I practically collapsed into my bed and slept almost 11 hours! It felt good to finally finally work to get past my jet-lagged state.

Today, I went back to Regent's (we don't have class on Fridays) to work on some homework and take advantage of the unlimited free wi-fi they provide for us!

I hope to explore more this weekend, but I also would like to take some advantage of this free time I have to sleep and to get ahead on my assignments.

I'll keep you updated!

-Lauren

P.S. look what I found more of yesterday!!...

the artist designed telephone booths! There was one that looked like Big Ben!