A Week in the Life

So since the last time I updated, the fam has come and gone, we have a new president-for better or for worse-and it's rained 4 times.

So, backtracking to last week--Monday I had CLASSES, and Monday night I met up with some people to go see a band, Ra Ra Riot play in London. The band was actually started at Syracuse with a bunch of students who used to just play at house parties, and now they're on tour, filming music videos, on Conon O'Brien and David Letterman and in London for the 2nd time this semester! It was pretty cool to see them all the way over here, and to hear them give Syracuse a "shout out."

Since Tuesday is my day with no classes, i plopped my butt on the couch ALL day watching the election. Luckily, out of the only 3 english channels we get they are CNN, BBC and Euronews. It was so weird being over here for the election, even as I traveled throughout Europe, once they heard you were American they'd ask "Ok, so McCain or Obama?"...I think the people over here cared more than some Americans about the election. But now all of that has come and gone so I'll move on.

Wednesday the family arrived! I was suprised on how awake I was for going to bed at 5:30 am (after Obamas speech) and waking up at 10:00, but that didn't last for long. I made my way to the Marriott Grovesner Sq. and met up with my mom, dad and Julie. We then made our way back to my flat to drop off some goods they brought, and for me to stuff the suitcase with things I didn't need anymore. Next stop: pub...you can't come to London and not go to at least one pub, so that's what we did.

The rest of the afternoon we spent walking around the area where I go to school, Holborn, before my class at 7. We did the British Museum, Russell Square, and more importantly, Pizza Express for dinner! After dinner I headed off to class and they headed back to the hotel to fight the jet lag.

Thursday morning we toured the Tower of London, then walked along the Thames to St. Paul's cathedral, we didn't really have time to go in so we just peaked inside, then grabbed lunch before I headed to class a 2. While I was at class they got tickets from TKTS to We Will Rock You, a show based on the music of Queen. It was really cool, we sat 10th row and the show was basically like a concert, except the bright lights and ridiculously loud music left me with a splitting headache the rest of the night-i know, i sound like an old lady-but it was worth it.


Friday we took a day trip to Cambridge. We got really lucky with the weather, it was a beautiful fall day, so we just took the afternoon to walk around the town, mostly spending time at the market that was going on and peaking into whatever schools we could.
That night we met my mom's friend who had moved over here a few years ago for a little while, then had dinner at this AMAZING chinese food place she recommended...mmmm...I can still taste the spring rolls.

Saturday was our day to see all of the little things we hadn't done yet-so we headed to Portobello market for some breakfast (where I got olives for later! mmm), then we went to Covent Garden to walk around and have lunch.

After lunch we went to Harrod's...I had been there once in September, but this time we walked around more and i COULD NOT believe how much crap they have in one building...this is mostly the food i'm talking about. We walked through the initial food hall where they have sandwiches, sushi, etc., into this room with a huge ice cream/gelato bar, huge italian pizzeria bar with a line of people waiting to sit at the counter, bakery, jelly belly area and krispy kreme! I couldn't believe I missed all of this the last time! We then went downstairs to find the bathroom-such is traveling with the Kings-to find this huge wine selection, a full pharmacy and a sit down tapas bar! WHAT! I was in awe, and then, while we were waiting in line for the bathroom there was an ad on the wall for "Mo's Diner" on the 4th floor...this place has too much food for even me!

On another note, the whole store was decorated for Christmas...they get ready so early here, mostly because of no halloween or thanksgiving to prolong the process. They had christmas music playing and everything...just a little too early for me.

After Harrod's my mom's friend picked us up and drove us around, gaving us a mini tour of the city, then back to her house to meet her family. Afterwards she dropped us off for our night ride of the London Eye. I think the Thames area at night is one of my favorite areas of London.

Saturday night I stayed at the hotel in one of the most COMFORTABLE beds ever, it made the transformation into my bed with springs popping out difficult. Sunday morning we had breakfast by the hotel, and then it was already time to say goodbye.

Sunday afternoon I went to a futbol game with my Sociology of Sports class, Fulham vs. Newcastle. It was a good game, Fulham won 2-1, which was good because it was a home game for them, and futbol fans are BRUTAL! Of course it rained the whole time and while we had great seats, they were uncovered, so that was...brutal as well. Yesterday i had CLASS all day, in Photo we had a guest speaker come in, and he showed us how to do more technical things with photoshop, looked at our pictures and told us what to work on, and showed us some of his work. In PR we had a project due, but other than that it was pretty boring as usual.

Today I woke up and the sun was shining, so, since this is a rare occasion, I took advantage of the sun and walked to Regent's Park, a place that I'd heard a lot about but hadn't made it to yet. This park is probably my favorite place in London. First of all, it's HUGE, I kept going to leave and finding a whole other area to explore. It was so pretty at this time of year with the leaves changing and all, and towards the end of my visit the sun was beginning to set (at 4:00, let's not talk about it)...so I got some good pictures.

There was one area of the park that I was looking for but didn't expect to find: Primrose Hill...from the top of this hill you can see just about all of London, it was beautiful!
And just so you can feel like you're sitting at the living room table with me, I'll show you my dinner! I've tried to get more experimental with my cooking because i'm getting tired of the same 4 things over and over again, so tonight it was time for some CAJUN CHICKEN! It tasted better than it looks!