Sunday, September 16, 2012

"There was a student who was crossing the street and got hit by a bus... It was fatal"

     Today we had our ISA orientation. Of all the information they tried to shove into our brains which is the one that stuck? "There was a student who was crossing the street and got hit by a bus... It was fatal". Now imagine that being said by a serious looking woman with a Bulgarian accent. Intimidating? Yes. Besides that, it was all information about London.
     We had about an hour and a half after the ISA orientation before we had to be back to start the double decker tour of London. We went to Primark which is just a big department store with really cheap stuff. There were SO many people packed into that store it was crazy. I'm talking Black Friday crazy.
     Seeing everything from up high on the bus was really cool. There was a tour guide on the bottom level of the bus but of course I sat around people that talked the whole time and couldn't hear a word he said, which was a big bummer because I would have liked to know what I was passing besides the big landmarks! Oh well, just another excuse to go back.
     One of the coolest things I saw today was the war museum that had a poster about the blitz. On the side of the building it had a sign that said "air raid bunker this way". That was really cool to see and just a reminder of what London was like during the second world war. When we passed St. Paul's Cathedral it had the same effect of wondering what it must have been like to live in fear seeing as the cathedral was the main target during the blitz.
     We also passed where they used to film Diagon Alley and Gringott's Bank from Harry Potter, the London bridge, fashion week, Trafalgar Square... I'm probably missing things.
     Anyway, when the tour was over, the bus dropped us off in some random spot and they let us go. We had dinner then headed back to the flat. First fish and chips of the trip! I don't even like fish, but I had to get it at least once. We are all exhausted so everyone is just spread out and watching Downton Abbey. Everyone at home must be jealous because it doesn't start in the US for a few more months!

fish n' chips

clock tower

view of westminster from the waterloo bridge

tower bridge

view of st. paul's from the waterloo bridge 

tower of london

war museum

tower bridge

westminster abbey
   

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