London

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So Mel and Lexie and I left Paris this evening and took the Eurostar to London where we met up with my friend Becca who I know from Wash U. We stayed in her tiny dorm room in London (in a shitty part of London). I have to admit, so far the weather has been stereotypical British weather- rainy, windy, and grey. The three of us dropped our stuff off and then the four of us went out for Indian. I had been preparing myself for Indian for days now, anticipating the wonderful Indian food I would be eating in place of nasty bland British fish and chips! Then we went to a pub and met up with Becca's friends and boyfriend including one guy I knew from Wash U and two others who lived in my dorm. We hung out for a bit and then met up with Victoria (another suitemate from Barnard) for a half hour. Then the three of us attempted to get a good night's sleep in the tiny dorm room- yea right! They made me sleep on the floor and neglected to share even 1 of the 2 blankets that Becca offered us. I was freezing and miserable all night and even less prepared for the following rainy miserably windy day exploring London.

In the morning Lexie, Mel, and I headed to see Parliament, the Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace. The weather was windy with intermittent bouts of sun. At the palace we watched the changing of the guards, something we learned only happens once a day and we happened to arrive just at the right time. It's funny, most of the tourists I've encountered so far in London have British accents. I always forget that just because people sound British, doesn't mean they've seen their whole country!

Then Mel and Lexie and I headed toward the subway to go to the Tate Modern. This is when, low and behold, it started to pour. Lexie luckily had an umbrella, so the three of us huddled under it and made our way toward the subway station which eventually took us somewhat near the museum.

On our way to the museum we stopped at a tiny cafe to grab a bite to eat. Lexie was throwing a temper tantrum for some reason and refused to eat (I think because we chose a place without a bathroom) so Mel and I proceed to order- cheeseburgers! Because Mel and I were inquiring about toppings for our burgers and the correlating prices, the man behind the counter got frustrated and made a comment about us being Americans. We were far from pleased! So we ate quickly and made our way back out into the rain only to trek across a large swaying bridge through extreme winds and rain in search of the Tate Modern.

We finally took refuge in the entrance of the Museum and proceeded to lose ourselves in the Picassos, Dalis, Monets, and Jackson Pollocks of London.

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Photos

Parliament
First thing I saw when I emerged from the subway.

Humps Anyone???
Saw this sign on the way to Buckingham palace. Since then I've seen half a dozen more. The British and there alternative vocabulary words!

Comments

[Mommy]

humps
We only find this funny because we Americans have another weird meaning for hump. Languages are strange indeed. Britain is famous for its rainy summers, except the one summer I was there in 1974 (?) when there was a drought and we prayed for rain. There's a new movie by Al Gore on Global warming which we saw last night. Bottom line: the planet is messed up, and areas that are rainy can expect a lot more, areas that are dry can expect bad droughts. All of us near the coast or rivers will have to move to higher ground. Hope you have at least a few sunny days. Did you get those guards to smile? Mommy