Saturday 1/16 - Day 5

I was actually on time getting up and out today, which was pretty incredible. I stopped to talk to Gillian, my maternal host figure, on my way out. She was talking a little bit about the other students they've had. It sounds like this is something they do quite often. It was nice to talk to her, since I haven't really done much of that. She seems like a very nice lady.

Karly & I walked back to school again to catch the tour for London. We're supposed to get brunch at the Ref on the weekends, but since we were leaving so early, we weren't able to do so. Our tour guide was a little late, but so were some other people, so it wasn't a huge deal. Kaitlin's family dropped her off at the door, which we all hassled her about, since it was raining, & we all had to walk.

From the school, the huge group of us walked to the Strawberry Hill station to catch the train. We used our rail passes to get the day passes, and fortunately, we didn't have to wait long to catch a train. Everyone was very excited for our trip into London.

Our tour began right from the Waterloo station, where we came in at. From the station, we walked to The Eye, then to the Houses of Parliament & Big Ben. We walked past Westminster Abbey, then through St. James' Park to Buckingham Palace, where we watched a great portion of the changing of the guard ceremony, although we weren't close. We mostly got to see the marching band. From there we walked to the house where Prince Charles lives, and were able to see the changing of the guard there, which was kind of neat. We walked back through St. James' Park to the Horse Guards Parade, looked at where the Prime Minister lives, walked up to Trafalgar Square, into Leicester Square, & finally ended up in Covent Garden, at which point it was pouring.

The four of us were starving, so we walked around trying to find a reasonable place to eat, & finally found a nice Irish pub to eat at. I had a burger & chips. Beef just isn't the same here as it is in the States, so I think I'll stick with fish for the duration of the trip. From there, we decided to check out the National Portrait Gallery. It wasn't raining by the time we walked outside, which was nice, considering that we were all basically drenched. However, the National Portrait Gallery was jam packed with people. We all broke up inside and made plans to meet at a certain time. I looked at the Lady Jane Grey exhibit, which was very interesting, then walked around to find Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth I, a portrait of the Bronte sisters, & enjoyed the rest of the exhibits. There was a really incredible modern portrait photography exhibit that I briefly got to see, but it too was completely full of people. The Twiggy exhibit was pretty fascinating as well. I bought some postcards in the gift shop, & we decided to call it a day. I'd definitely go back, since it was free. Very enjoyable afternoon.

We ate dinner, then decided to finish up booking the Ireland trip. When I got back to my house, I noticed that I somehow had managed to lose the postcards I'd purchased, which was upsetting, but easily replaceable. I was exhausted from walking so much all day, but had some housekeeping issues to maintain at the house. I also resolved to curtail my spending, because money goes very, very quickly over here. Again, I wasn't able to take many pictures, but the weather was primarily to blame for that. Hopefully, the next time we go to the city, it cooperates with us.

And so ends Day 5.