My new home...

My second day in London wasn't too bad.  We had orientation in the morning, just across the way.  That was almost two hours.  Mark, the director, talked to us about the programme and what to expect.  A metropolitan police officer came and talked to us for a little while as well.  He was pretty funny and I enjoyed listening to him.  After our orientation some of us headed to a tube station to fill up our oyster cards.  They are the cards we use to get onto buses or the tube.  I like them a lot more than what people use for the metro and the subway.  Then it was lunch time.  They had rolls, ham, and various vegetables and salads that we could make sandwiches with.  I stuck with my roll and ham.  At 1:30 we headed out for a little walk of London.  We went to St. James Park station and got on the tube to Tower Hill.  We got off there and met up with a tour guide.  There were supposed to be two tour guides but one got a bloody nose at the last minute and it wouldn't stop.  So one guy showed us around and talked to about 52 of us.  A little difficult to hear at times, and he had some very interesting things to say!   We walked through some park in front a building :s Yikes!  I wish I could remember names.  It was right across the street from Tower of London.  So amazing.  Our tour guide actually has an ancestor who escaped from the Tower of London, and one that was also killed.  Awesome roots none the less.  We also saw a little stone square, I'll call it a small stone court.  Where I believe they used to cut peoples heads off at, they had stones that had the names of the people killed at that spot and the year they were killed as well.  Then off we were to get closer to the Tower of London, very big.  I didn't realize how huge it was.  Then we walked the bank a little to get closer to the London Bridge.  Which is actually the fifth London Bridge.  And...the bridge that Shakespeare walked on had nine pillars into the water.  The river used to be much wider then, hard to believe.  We walked a little courtyard area a little off from the bridge, it was by a church, and in the courtyard they actually had snoes from the 3rd and 4th bridges.  I believe those are the right numbers.  I got a picture of the stone that came from the bridge Chaucer and Shakespeare walked on :)

Pretty awesome, no?  Off we were then to look at the statue they built in memory of the Great Fire.  Now, I remember reading some guys diary about the day the Great Fire started.  If anyone can remember please let me know!  Thanks!  I want to say Sam something...Peeps? :s  We took the tube then to Embankment where we got off and walked through a park that actually used to be part of the river.  Oh, and we also saw the oldest thing in London, Cleopatra's Needle, I need to go bank, not because of that but what I am about to say.  We then headed up to Covent Garden where the church in the square, St. Pauls' Church :s, was where Eliza Doolittle might have sat.  By the pillars of the church.  Then of to part of the theatre district.  That is why I am coming back there!  The street we walked down had a whole bunch of books shops, for antique books and I think newer books.  Fantastic, it was!   The guide showed us where we can buy discount tickets for shows, I may have to use that sometime :)  We walked to Trafalgar Square, didn't spend much time there, but we'll be back, and take a picture on the giant lions!  We walked by Gordon Brown's house, well kind of, we saw the back of it, he lives at 10 Downing St.  Nothing like where Hugh Grant lived in Love Actually.  I can't remember what building it was by, something to do with the guards and soldiers.  Horse guards I think...Horse Guards Parade.  Also walked by the Cabinet War Rooms.  We walked through part of St. James Park, up through (ahhh, boy does this London map come in handy! Thanks Rachel.) Anne's Gate I believe it is.  Named after Queen Anne.  Then we headed back to Vandon House.  It was a nice tour and I enjoyed it greatly.  I can't wait to go and explore more of the theatre district and Leicester Square.  Pretty much just go and explore more. 

When we returned to Vandon House we all went our seperate ways.  After relaxing a bit.  A few girls and myself made our way to the grocery store.  I got a bag of noodles, butter, Honey Cheerios, and creamy sauce for lasagna that I used as alfredo sauce.  It's not very good.  I should eat it anyways though :p  After that I came to my room sat around a bit looked at some maps and read through some booklets then I headed downstairs to see what was going on in the lounge.  We watched Glee, a very old episode, and then we switched to Hell's Kitchen because nothing else was on.  They do not censor here :s  A lot of F-words!  Oh well.  I'm out for now, I'll update you about today later!  Cheers