London Town

***Disclaimer: Ok so I totally already wrote all of this then LOST it all sooooo I will try to be as enthousiastic but I am NOT promising anything; HAHA KIDDING***

Wow London....you are a lovely friend. I had such a great time there I cannot believe it! I don't know what I was expecting but it was certainly above and beyond that. We took the ferry over which was an experience in itself as I got to experience the English Channel first-hand and I saw the white cliffs of Dover. I was a little queasy needless to say!

Our bus driver got a little lost but we made it to London in good time and hopped on the tube to go buy theatre tickets in Leicester Square. (More on that later) A lot of movie premiers happen there and there is a giant move theatre on each corner which only features one movie at a time; We had a kick-ass lunch at an Indian restaurant - I think London is the best place to get Indian food outside of India. I got Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan Bread...I even took a picture! Oh and they have sweet, glorious Starbucks on every corner so we picked up a caramel macchiato for dessert!
Raelene, Malika (from Milwaukee), Kate (from North Carolina) and I headed over to the "Manet to Picasso" exhibit at the National Gallery in Trafalger Square. They did an excellent job of timelining the evolution of modern art and included pieces from Manet, Monet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat, Van Gogh and Picasso among others. I feel so cultured that I should be speaking in a British accent!
A stop at Topshop, a super sweet clothing store. I totally restrained myself and didn't buy anything...Are you proud of me? And we grabbed a bagel (!!!!!! they don't eat bagels ANY-FREAKING-WHERE in France) and yet another Starbucks nectar of the gods to wait for out theater show - STOMP -. Let me just say...I didn't realize how funny it was supposed to be! I was worht every penny of the halfprice ticket and more!!! They really involved the audience and made music out of everything including garbage cans and paper bags!!

The next morning we headed over the Westminster abbey for church and stopped at Big Ben on the way (tourist moment!) which was pretty cool. The service was SOOO PRETTY and the choir was great. It's amazing to sit there and think of all the history the place has to offer!
Next up was Hyde Park and a visit to Speaker's Corner...a Sunday morning exhibition where anyone can come and preach on a soapbox about anything...there was even a guy giving out free hugs!! Often, someone listening would start debating with the speaker...I guess everyone has an opinion. AND, a guy was there preaching on the same book that the minister at Westminster was preaching on...God is everywhere hey?
We stopped a a great little market and I picked up a bright yello handmade leather wallet with a hot pink picture of a ski lift with snowboarders on it...it reminded me of home!!! We were the last ones back at the bus because we needed to run and get Italian dictionaries for our test that Tuesday (it went well by the way!) But we made it and enjoyed the way home on the ferry. The second time around was very relaxing!!!

There is so luch more to say, but it was a great introduction to London and I am grateful for the experience...up next? Berlin and Paris!