Greetings!

The past few days have been amazing! Since my internship doesn't start for another week, I have been doing a ton of sightseeing. On Friday, my roommates and I took the tube to Covent Garden. Covent Garden is this cute, little shopping district with live (and very talented) street performers. There was a flea market with London gift items. There was also a really cool soccer store called "Soccer Scene." Afterwards, I went to Nottingham and specifically Portobello Road. Portobello Road is an outdoor market with all kinds of antiques and jewelry shops. Unfortunately, it was raining and cold so I didn't stay that long. My roommates also wanted to find the blue door from the movie Notting Hill. Unfortunately, we later found out that the door was sold to some U.S. company a few months ago. So, all that's left is an open hole in the ground. So, that was kind of disappointing.

On Saturday, I took a sightseeing tour on the famous double decker buses. It was interesting learning more tidbits about the city of London. I didn't realize how much the city is preparing for the 2012 summer Olympics. All the new Olympic venues will be held a few miles outside the city. Also even though it was in the mid-40s and windy, we rode on the top (open) deck on the bus for the experience. Even in the cold, it was well worth it. Afterwards, we went on a roundtrip ferry ride from Tower Hill (outside the Tower of London) to Westminister, which is by Big Ben and the London Eye.

Today, I got up fairly early to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. It was really interesting, but I'm not sure it was worth waiting out in the 35 degree weather for two hours. I would recommend seeing the Changing of the Guards in the spring and summer months. Afterwards, me and two friends took the tube to Piccadilly Circus. We ate at this cute little cafe, where I had a delicious chocolate croissant. In London, it costs more to eat in a cafe than to take away. It's generally only around 20 pence more, but that's very different from American cafes. Afterwards, we went on a walking tour of famous Beatles landmarks. We saw the famous London Palladium, their Trident recording studio (the other recording studio they used in London besides Abbey Road), Carnaby Street and where the Beatles performed their famous rooftop live concert. The tour was very informative and interesting. Besides that, I took the tube to Victoria to scope out the location for my internship. The building is ultra modern and gorgeous. It's also located next to the theaters where they are currently showing Wicked and Billy Elliot. So maybe if I'm lucky, I can get cheap tickets to see these shows after work.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to do more sightseeing during the day before going to my International Journalism class at 6p.m. More to come on my sightseeing adventures.


Portobello Road in Nottingham

The London Eye

The Tower Bridge in London

London Skyline