Well, it’s been one week. Just about, anyway. I’m gonna call it a week. And all I’ve learned this week is Goddamnit, I suck at navigation. (Yes, I know I addressed this in my previous blog entry, I swear this is the last time I'm going to complain about it.) Every single time I think I’ve finally understood in my mind where a street ends or a way begins, I get turned around and I’m standing in front of a restaurant with torches on the outside boasting pork in the middle of a crowded street with taxis honking at me. Speaking of which, the cars here are going to destroy me. I thought Boston was bad; oh, no. I don’t know how many times I’ve jumped back on the curb and stared as a taxi blared around the corner at approximately a gazillion miles an hour with four or five cars close behind. Jesus, London, why are you in such a rush?
We went to Greenwich on Tuesday (aka MY BIRTHDAY), and by “we went to Greenwich” I mean we got on a ferry and were left in Greenwich. But it ended up being fun. I wasn’t all too excited about going, especially because it was rainy, but once we got there, it was beautiful. The Observatory is gorgeous, ancient and so well-constructed, and the Prime Meridian made me feel like a super villain. Like “Now I have BOTH the world’s hemispheres under my feet!” But then I just moved on and other people got to do the same thing.
I don't know why I chose to wear sandals that day.
We saw the Queen Anne’s/Queen Henrietta’s house, which was very pretty. I thought it’d be more of a house museum, with each room set up with period furniture and everything, but it was an art museum because it hadn’t been used as a house in a very long time. LAME. But it was still nice; our tour guide was American, although she had been living abroad for long enough that her accent was a little strange. But she was super friendly. We then went back to Kensington and made dinner and had cupcakes for my birthday, which was awesome. I had told Fallon back in, say, March that I wanted to do something for my birthday with her, but I never anticipated having made so many friends so quickly. Everyone on the program is so fantastic, and so nice. It boggles my mind. Two people bought me cupcakes! And Piper bought me wine!
Protip: It tastes like Franzia.
It was a great birthday. Regardless of the fact that I’ve almost died via car several times and have gotten caught in the rain, as of this very second, a grand total of seven times since Sunday. I think I missed a couple times in my count, even.
Anyway, in addition to that other stuff I did, today my program climbed a big-ass tower and looked at an incredible view of London from the top. It was a monument to the Great Fire of 1666, and it had this incredible mural of people burning in flames and King Charles II looking like freaking God. (Propaganda is so fun, isn't it?) Unfortunately I didn't even know the class was going to be 4 hours long, let alone we were going to be traveling, so I didn't bring my camera. NONE OF US DID except Alex, so she wins the prize. I discovered on the trip there that the other girls and I in my program are all equally dorks about history and like to touch old walls and marvel at their age. We ate at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese last night before we went out, and not only was the top portion from 1667, but apparently the bar in the basement had a foundation of a monastery from the 13th century. Margaret posed an idea that Henry VIII destroyed the monastery when he decided "to hell with Catholics!" and turned it into a motherfucking pub. Awesome, right? Awesome for us, anyway.
Also, I had bangers and mash. Which is DELICIOUS.
Cheers!
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