Cherrio!

London 8/25-8/26

It is impossible to do all of London in two days, but we came pretty close.

After settling in at the International Hall at the University of London, I set out with my roommate Valarie to explore our surrounding area of Bloomsbury. We found ourselves at the British Museum where, as our AIFS guide pointed out, we saw everything that Britain stole.

By the time we were out it was already getting late so after a quick dinner and a round of touristy pictures we called it an early night.

The next morning I woke up early and went on a run of London. I stumbled upon Kings Cross and fulfilled my lifelong dream of going to Hogwarts!

I got a little too excited though because I got lost on the way back. Thank you to the nice policemen who helped me find my way back home (ya thats right Dad- I did it without the help of a smartphone!)

Luckily I made it back before our tour left for the day. With AIFS we got into doubledecker buses and took a driving tour of London. Some places we visited were Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Bridge. After the tour they dropped us off in the middle of London and a group of us (including my other roommate Alex- by the way, did I mention I have 10 roommates in Italy???) navigated the tube back to Big Ben and London Bridge for a closer look. From Big Ben, a smaller group of us decided to break off and take the London Eye for a trip and then go to Abbey Road (where I signed my name on the wall in front of Abbey Road studios!)

For dinner, I met up with the Toft Family who are our family friends from Kensington, where I was spoiled to a delicious home cooked meal.

Tomorrow we are up way to early (4:30am.. as if we aren't jetlagged already) and off to Pisa, Italy! I can not wait.

But! As this is my last day in London (for now at least) I decided to compare London to the States:

Who does it better:

London The United States

Toilets (they are just 100x better) Free Toilets (the cleanliness and privacy come at a price)

Clean Streets Available Trashcans*

Public Transportation Water fountains everywhere!!!!

Free Museums Visible street signs (its impossible to tell in London

Beautiful architecture Less smoking

The cappuccinos (and Im not even in Italy yet!)

*Fun Fact I learned today: supposedly London does not have Trashcans on its streets because Irish Rebells used to put bombs in there. Now, if there is a trashcan it is usually a clear container and in semi-remote areas. How they keep the streets so clean despite this lack of trash cans, I have no idea.

Anyways! Excited to continue my vacation before "school" "starts!"