Winding Down the First London Weekend

Oh man, oh man. It feels like this has been one LONG weekend! Ever since I got here it has been go, go, go! I am finally in my room and vegging out! My cold isn't getting better, but it also isn't getting worse so that is good. Classes start tomorrow and thankfully I only have one at 3pm. It is history of London so I am excited for that. Friday was the boat party on Thames river and it was SOOO much fun! It was pretty much like post prom on the Spirit of Chicago, however it was on Thames River and 4 hours long! We danced the night away looking at the London skyline. My favorite was going under the Tower Bridge. So pretty!

The girl with me in the picture is Becca. She goes to Lewis University and she is such a sweet girl! We will have a few classes with each other.

Like I blogged, Saturday I went to Westminster Abbey and BBC studios. Long, long day.

Today was a very fun day! I woke up to sunshine!! But it only last about 30 minutes :( I went on a tour of Chelsea Stadium. I enjoyed the tours from yesterday, however soccer is something more relevant in my life and something I can relate to so it was a lot of fun. We went inside the stadium, press room, away and home locker rooms, and through the tunnel that the teams come out from. The locker rooms are called "dressing rooms", cleats are called "boots", and the field is called the "pitch". The home dressing room was much nicer than the away one. In it they have 6 massage tables, lockers that are air conditioned to keep the clothes smelling good-boxes to hold their "bling"-outlets-and a place to hang their Dolce & Gabana suits that are given to them. Rough lifestyle wouldn't you say? :) The away team has a small little white board they can use during half time, however the Chelsea team has a smart board. It is very interesting to see the little tricks they use against their opponents.  It is funny because since London is obviously not the place with the most sun, so they have lamps that they put over the grass so it grows and matures after each match. A few of us were dieing to go on the field which isn't allowed. Because of this, our guide found a chunk of grass on the side and let us take some if we wanted to. Don't worry Paul Johnson, I will have a nice souvenir for you when I return!!

Tonight I went on a Jack the Ripper tour. This was a very different tour, probably like the mafia one in Chicago. We walked around a part of London where he murdered 5 woman I believe. We had the same guide from Westminster Abbey and once again he was great. He told the stories very well and let me tell you, they were gruesome! While on the tour, I got to know this boy, Jose, from Colorado. I met him when I landed because his connecting flight was my flight from O'hare. He is a really nice guy and very interesting! There are so many people here with so many stories, I can't wait to get to know even more of them soon.

Now I am back in my room and relaxing. I am going to Skype some friends and hopefully that will help a little of my homesickness :) I want to give a quick shout out to my dad because his website is amazing and I am so proud of him! First a book and now a website, truly amazing. Also, I wanted to tell Tori that I see soo many yorkies that could be your boyfriend, however I wouldn't want Harley to get jealous! Yesterday I saw a guy walking a boxer and a husky and I had to look at his face to make sure Justin didn't secretly move to London with me. Well that is it for now, two posts in one day should hopefully make everyone happy! I hope everyone has a good Martin Luther King Day...They have a statue of him on the outside of Westminster Abbey as a catholic martyr, however they don't celebrate the holiday here :/

Cheerio!