Bus Tour

Today was our first real day in the center city of London. We had orientation this morning which took a while for us to find the AIFS Student Center again but never fail we made it even if we were ten minutes late.

After orientation we ate lunch in the student center which is actually the University of London Union. It has a store, pub, gym, pool, classroom, and cafe for lunch. After lunch we went on a bus tour for three hours driving around the city and pointing out important landmarks.

We got off the bus to see Buckingham Palace, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and then walk across the Millenium Bridge to tour St. Paul's Cathedral. St. Paul's was absolutely breathtaking, it was the moment that brought tears to my eyes and made me realize I was really here in Europe getting to see the places I've always wanted to see.

The cathedral had an incredible dome ceiling with mosaics that were so stunning I swear I could have stood there and looked up at it for hours to catch all of the details. I also really liked that it was Anglo-Saxon so they had Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John represented in the mosaics. We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside so I got a few postcards in the giftshop to remember it by.

After that we went to check out the Soho area to see what it had to offer. In general it is known as the gay-friendly side of town so that was really interesting to see. When we walked by the Soho park we saw a full on passionate make out session between two young females. There were also numerous young people stretched out across the park with their friends. They were just lying there as if they weren't in the middle of an enormous crowded city. It looked like how they how portray the fronts of high schools in movies with kids sitting around talking on the lawn but here in London they actually do that. We had dinner at a wonderful Chinese restaraunt where we were able to eat outside and visit shops in Soho.

My favorite part of the day was definitely St. Paul's and the tour bus because we were able to see so many things and get some great pictures.

Observations:

1. It appears everyone drinks at pubs after work on the streets.

2. Everyone minds their own business on the tube and don't even look at each other or people watch. They read, listen to ipods, or just stare at the floor or ceiling.

Tata for now.