Oh Bloody Hell, It Is a Downpour!

After a traditional British breakfast of baked beans, scrambled eggs (looked and tasted like space food), a sausage, a stewed tomato and bacon (more like a chunk of ham, way to go Brits!!), we headed to Tate Britain.  It is an art museum which is highlighting the romantics, such as Turner and Blake.  Quite interesting though, was the fact that a huge airplane was hanging from the ceiling on a thin little wire, almost like a Christmas ornament. The museum was interesting and it was impossible not to smile at the pretentious little grins in the portraits of great English monarchy (God Save The Queen)!

After seeing the very brown Thames River, we decided to do the traditional touristy things. We took a stroll through St. James Park, checked out Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace and then walked through Picadilly Circus, checked out the local shopping.  Thankfully our college budgets stopped us from buying anything but a cupcake at one of the greatest clothing stores in all of London, possibly the whole world, Topshelf.  Self-control at its greatest!

We were making our way home when it started drizzling, generally not much of a concern to us Northwest girls, especially after surviving the "storm" of yesterday.  Slowly but surely, it started raining harder and harder, and it came to the point where there would be not better description than referring to it as a hurricane-like torrential downpour.  Okay okay, a little dramatic, but it was raining awfully hard.  I finally gave in and bought an umbrella.  After spotting a Starbucks, I felt obligated by my personal unwavering loyalty to stop in and get my favorite drink.  All was right in the world until I stepped outside, opened the umbrella and it broke. Sigh... note to self, spend more than $8.00 on an umbrella when it is basically monsoon season (dramatic, I know, but true).

We walked allllll the way home, about two more miles, enjoying Hyde Park, juggling our Starbucks, my slightly useless umbrella, and as well as attempting to shield that cupcake from the damn rain.
 

After grabbing dinner from the local market, I settled back in the room.  Who knows what tomorrow may bring...

Why 'ello, London (Day 1)

After about 24 hours of traveling, we arrived in London, but not without the normal "oh dear God" kind of travel moments...

As we (Beth ad I) tried to board our last flight from Philly to London, an older, disgruntled man at the counter took a look at our passports, sighed, and in a monotone slightly rude voice told us we were not allowed to board because we did not have the proper proof of leaving the country. WHAT!?!  Cue scramble mode, Beth and I tried to pull up our etickets proving we were leaving the UK, but to no avail... after talking to a much more helpful women at the main ticket counter, we were relieved to find that due to our visas, we were fine to get on the plane.  We walked through the terminal, with me cursing the first ticket agent and Beth thanking God, and said goodbye to the United States for the last time.

We arrived in London and dragged and pulled (more cursing on my part) our VERY heavy luggage through the tube to London Victoria where we walked (yes walked) the rest of the way to our hotel, Morgan House, which is a nice little hotel nestled in the heart of London.  We spent our first day walking around, experiencing Harrods, and getting caught in a rainstorm.  At one point, we both nearly died as we cross the street, Beth yells, "Oh look, Starbucks!", naturally we became slightly intrigued, and a car starts backing into us. A worthy death if you ask me, but we did manage to dodge the car at the last minute.  Walked a good half hour in a down pour (our own faults, as we had decided against purchasing an umbrella) and got turned around a few times. A cop even had the audacity to say to us, "You look more miserable than I."  We arrived back at our hotel, soaked, deliriously tired, and more than ready to curl up and sleep for the next....(prepare yourself)... 14 hours.

Last Day In The United States

And so the countdown begins... did I pack everything? What do I do if I lose my luggage? Will there be Starbucks in my airport terminal?  As you can tell, my priorities are slightly skewed.  Hopefully this blog will allow family and friends to keep up with my travels, as well as what I learn in school,  but most importantly it will be a tracker for my growth and change.  Leaving the States in about 24 hours!!