The last week has been very busy! It was week 2 of classes and it went by pretty fast. The group of people I hang out with are mainly leaving next Saturday too, so quite depressing. Anyway, we started off the week by going to the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. All of them are free which is really nice. The science museum was the most fun, they had a bunch of little activities in one of the main sections we went in. One changed your face to make you look older or like a baby, that was hilarious. For most of the week we didn't do much, just went to class, looked at shops and wandered.
Thursday was pretty awesome. It was the Harry Potter movie premiere for the last movie in Trafalgar Square. People literally were camping out all week to get a peek at the stars. They had a big screen that showed all the stars when they showed up and rolled the trailer over and over again. My friends and I wanted to see what all the excitement was and headed over there to see the amounts of people that were there to see it. The stars didn't show up until 4 and we were there around 3. Luckily, youtube was streaming it live which I thought was better. Even though we were there in the Square, I was still in LONDON! Better than anything anyone else can say :)
Friday we were off to Canterbury and Dover with ISA, the group I signed up with. Canterbury was really historic. We mainly saw the Cathedral, most of them look the same. But this one was different because it was home to the people who took a pilgrimage out to Canterbury in the olden times. Hence The Canterbury Tales, which tells the stories of all the different types of people on their journey to Canterbury. Luckily I'm taking a class on the Tales so I'll be able to learn a bit more about it! :) It also has a lot of meaning because when King Henry VIII changed the country from Catholic to Anglican, this Cathedral had to as well, and Sir Thomas Becket didn't agree with the King and he was actually killed in the Cathedral.
After the Cathedral we headed to Dover, which was the best part of the day I thought! It's on the coast of England and you can see France over the 17 miles of water, the English Channel. It reminded me of Catalina a little, just being able to see the peaks of the "island," but in this case, the country. We saw the white cliffs of Dover, amazing, and then went up to the Castle. Everything is ridiculously old. We walked about 5 staircases to the very top to get an unrealistic view of the seaside, France and the original cell towers. After that we went to the secret underground tunnels, not so secret anymore though if I can go in 'um. But basically, it was rad. The guide took us to all the places they used to have to look out and incoming enemies, and showed us clips of WWII videos about the Dunkirk problem they had over in France during the war and how they had to rescue troops and Dover was the closest to help. History lesson! That was the end of that day, and it was back to London.
Saturday we headed off to Brighton, famous beach spot for the English. We took the train from London and it took an hour. Unfortunately it was so packed that no one had seats and we stood for an hour. It was a bit cold and windy, but overall the pier reminded me of Santa Monica and they had a bunch of shops, fish and chippy's and an arcade and rides! We had fish 'n chips for lunch at a proper fish and chippy also. It was pretty good and cheap. After that was all done, we headed over to the Royal Pavilion, which kind of got the idea replicated from the Taj Mahal in India. King George IV had it constructed to have it for his beach home, although, when Queen Victoria was living there, her room was small and didn't even have a seaside view. The palace wasn't very ideal for the Royal families because of how many kids they had and including everyone that helped them in everyday living. The Pavilion has a different style, it's very oriental and not Westernized at all. We couldn't take pictures, so that wasn't nice, but considering it is a Palace and it was extremely small.
Sunday we headed to the Tower of London, where a majority of King Henry VIII's wives were murdered. AND where the crown jewels are housed. That was really something. The largest diamond in the world is on the current Queen's crown for the coronation and for other really important events. Other jewels were in their such as the septor, Queen Victoria's mini crown all made of diamonds and other stuff. We also saw the Bloody Tower and the White Tower. The White Tower is the largest and the main one. Also we saw the place where Anne Boleyn and others were murdered under false pretenses. After that we headed to St. Katherine's Docks to have a nice Sunday Roast :) Overall, it was a great weekend!!
Now that the week has started, I'll be studying! I have my first International final for Finance! Wish me luck, it shouldn't be bad though :D
Today, I had class then went off to the Bank of England to see all the different currencies and what not. And for dinner I tried Indian curry for the first time! And I don't know why I never tried it before! Now I can eat it with my Parentals. :)
Anyway, this week is going to be fun! A broadway show, 2 going away dinners for the 3 week people and a final exam!
Talk soon :) xx
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