Having a Touristy Time

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Today and yesterday were the first times that it has actually felt like I was in one of the greatest cities in the world, though I may be biased on that last part. Since we have arrived, we have been in orientation meeting after orientation meeting. The group that was in our place last semester had some issues with attending classes and internships. This lack of attendance could cause the company our program runs through to lose their license and essentially be shut down. So, to make up for this, they have instituted procedure after procedure that we must follow. Thank you Fall 2010 for making this difficult for us in Spring 2011. Though, thanks to them, our flats are pretty nice! (see picture 1 for the outside view of our flats)

As the main problem was attendance, we cannot have an unexcused absences unless we want the grade for that class to drop a letter for each absence. The only excused absences are for doctors/medical appointments, conferences that are already cleared ahead of time, and if we are too sick to move...so there goes my plans to miss one class for St. Patricks Day...

But, onto more pleasant things. I finally got into downtown London where all the touristy things are, like Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye, etc. Let's just say I was impressed. The drivers here can dodge everyone from the old lady crossing the street to the school children dashing around. Also, the feeling of the place is amazing.

There is so much to see, so much history in one place. I love the architecture and how the style of the times the buildings where built have stayed with the building and possibly influenced some of the buildings around them. But then again, you have some buildings that are completely opposite, old and new.

So, while we oo and ah at the buildings, there is so much behind the building (not literally of course!)...the history. I'll admit, I've been slightly obsessed with British history since I was maybe 7 or 8. Though, and this may sound strange, I love reading about the time of Henry VIII. Because of him, Britain would not be what it is today. He set so many things into motion it's amazing and bind blowing to think about.

*Learning Alert, do not read if you don't want to possibly learn something*

Some history for you, which I find interesting, but you may find dull and boring...we'll see. Starting out with Big Ben. Big Ben is the name of the bell inside the tower. It was made in 1858. The reason it was made was because most of the building burnt to the ground after a fire broke out in the building on October16 1834, Parliament decided the new Parliament building should have a tower and a bell. Well, what they say goes, so the idea for Big Ben was started. Once the bell and clock were finally finished in 1858/1859. It took 16 horses to full the carriage the Clock/Bell were placed on to Parliament. The bell rang for the first time on 31st May 1859. You can visit the foundry where the bell was cast today and they still have the original mould that was used. It's about the size of the building entryway.

The building of Parliament is known as Westminster Palace is where the House of Lords and House of Commons meet today. Most of the building was burnt down in 1834. King William IV actually offered Buckingham Palace to Parliament to use as its new headquarters, but Parliament rejected the gift because the building just wasn't suitable in design. Kin William disliked Buckingham Palace and wanted to be rid of it. The chambers of both houses were rebuilt quickly, but a huge debate over the rest of the building began to surface. Some wanted to build something in the style of the White House, but that thought was killed because it brought up memories of the revolution and the loss that the British had to the Americans. Could you imagine a White House-esque Parliament building now?

Anyway, some other fun facts about the Parliament building:
*It was hit 14 separate times by bombs in WWII.
*Some of the stonework began to decay because of the pollution in London near the end of the 18th century, but nothing was done until the mid 19th century.
*There have been two recorded fires in history that have burnt down most of the building...they have no luck with fires do they?
*After the first fire, the royal family moved out and gave the building to parliament.
*There are supposedly 19 bars in the palace.


So, I'll leave you with that lovely history lesson! I would go into some stuff on the London Eye, but it's a little past midnight and I'm tired...so another time! Have to be rested for Oxford and Warwick Castle tomorrow!

Cheers!

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