Greenwich and Parliament!

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Another fabulous day in London. This morning we took a river cruise on Thames River towards Greenwich... it's also a part of London, but very different from the city itself and takes a little while to get there. It was a beautiful place, and the ride along the Thames was awesome too. We basically got a great view of everything... Big Ben, London Eye, London Bridge, Shakespeare Globe Theatre, Tower of London, Tower Bridge... the list goes on and on!!! Once we got to Greenwich we went to see the "Prime Meridian of the World". It was really cool, because we got to stand on the line where it is 0 degrees longitude on the Earth...essentially where the world's longitude is measured. It is also the exact point at which time is set. The world's clocks are set according to Greenwich mean time (i.e. on one side of the line it is an hour earlier than the other side and the cycle continues as it moves around the globe to 2 hours earlier, 3 hours, etc.). After that we went the market there and had some lunch. We bought what are called "cornish pastys" (pasty, not pastry!) which are quite different but also very good. We all just got the traditional kind which was like a flaky pastry that contained steak and potatoes inside. It was very heavy and filling... I'm pretty sure I won't be hungry for dinner tonight!! But anyways, it was very delicious and after hearing some friends rave about it I just had to try it!! MMM!!! Once that was finished we headed to the National Maritime Museum which was also very cool (or as people say here, "brilliant!"). There were lots of displays of ship models and crafts which, normally bore me, but I found them to be quite interesting!
After the museum we headed back into central London on the tube and were able to have a tour of London Parliament!! Apparently this is very hard to get nowadays, but since there are people in our program that are interning there we were lucky enough to get through. The inside was incredible. I wish I would have been allowed to take pictures-- every single detail on the wall, ceiling, floor-- was so intricate and perfect. It was absolutely beautiful!! I had no idea how big that place was... I actually thought it was much smaller and thought it just consisted of Big Ben and the small tower next to it... but turns out, it extends much farther!
Well they certainly know how to wear me out around here!! I'm back home again relaxing for a bit... it's been nice having down time at night when we get home. Going to bed early tonight, as tomorrow we are heading to Oxford bright and early at 6 am!! I don't know why we decided to leave so early... I think the tickets were like 4 pounds cheaper (that's $8!) and we are poor college kids so we took 'em!! ha. Well I'm looking forward to tomorrow... I've heard Oxford is a great place to see. Hope everyone has a nice night!! It's been nice receiving comments and messages from everyone!! I love hearing from you all and it's good to know you're all doing well!! Take care!!

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Comments

[Brittany]

ahhh
I am so jealous darling! I wish I was right along with you!!! We would make great travel buddies, not just to florida! I'm so happy to hear you're having a wonderful time and making friends and starting your cute lil job that i want as well. things are okay here...getting pretty sick of nannying and doing nothing and not having you. Andrew and I went to a jazz concert at Ravinia tonite so that was very fun...he bought some wine coolers for us! it was great! i love you and miss you.

[Mom & Dad]

Hi Erin! We enjoy reading about all of your travels. Sounds very cool. We look forward to seeing you next week. Have not done alot of homework and will depend on your guidance when we arrive. Love you!