Primark, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, and much more.

Exhausted, but so content. Today was even more adventurous than yesterday. Our entire group was still feeling the jet lag this morning, and I think every one of us slept past ten. Can you believe it, KrisCorinneKorinneLiz? :) First thing, we took off for Primark, a department store that just about sent me to heaven. They have everything for cheap! Rain boots, shoes, scarves, dressy shirts and pants.... it's gonna be dangerous. Then we grocery shopped a bit and came home for lunch, and I found out that deli meat here all tastes the same: each kind of meat its own version of bologna. Yuck. But I found a few of my other staple foods such as rice cakes and apples and diet coke.

Later in the afternoon, I set off on an adventure to find Buckingham Palace with Hadley and Kyla. We found an adorable crepe shop along the way--just what I'd hoped for! I'm a sucker for anything that includes bananas and nutella, so I was a happy camper at that little place.

We walked along Gloucester Road, stopping to explore several overly-priced gift shops and fascinating pastry shops along the way. When we finally reached the Palace, we were a bit camera happy and took advantage of every photo opportunity, while being followed around by three little German boys who so desperately wanted to be included in our pictures. That palace is amazing! I can't believe how old everything here is. The castles, palaces, apartment buildings, galleries... ancient and so beautiful! I am trying to study the history of each place just a little bit on my own, and I'm hoping that once we start classes (tomorrow), we'll research some of the amazing places around here and get to know the story behind each.

Sean, this is for you... this is the closest thing to a beefeater so far. I'm sure I'll be meeting one soon. :)

We couldn't just call it quits after the Palace, so we headed down the road (via the path of Green Park) to the hoppin' Trafalgar Square, where we visited the National Gallery. Before my Music 201 class, I'm embarrassed to say that the gallery would have meant very little to me. However, after studying many of the artists whose work is displayed there, it was actually really fun to be able to recall facts about specific paintings and artists and their stories. I wish I could have remembered more (Hollie...)!

Typical tourist, I know.

I finally visited Hyde Park, which is close enough that I probably should've explored it before now. Hadley convinced me to run almost five miles with her.... sheesh! Usually a person builds up to that. But despite the dreadful wind that was somehow always blowing against us, I really enjoyed the scenery. We stopped to see Kensington Palace on the route home.

Exciting things are always going on in London, and I'm so dang happy to finally be a part of them after dreaming about it for years. My apologies for these never ending posts; I'll try to keep them a little more concise from now on... but it probably won't happen. More to come soon!

-Cass