humpday

Two weeks in England so far! ...and I'm already getting cabin fever! I think all the crazy sales on flights to the continent are making me a little crazy. Two days ago, I found a flight to Geneva for £1.99! Amazing! Sadly, I'm not too sure about who/when I'm traveling with quite yet. One of the girls who went on the program said not to rush planning trips because you don't quite know who you're/what you're getting yourself into. I HAVE to go Italy (and maybe the south of France) for my long break... but almost everyone I've met so far seems to want to go to Spain or Scotland?! What is this madness?!

So Sunday was the Regent Street Festival (more free events!), and Shelley and I walked from our flat to see what was poppin. The theme was "A Walk through Spain" and promoted Spanish tourism. There were lots of food giveaways (free champagne, sangria, tapas, etc.), but OMG tourists (or Londoners) who attend these things have no concept of personal space! At the table with olive oil/bread and cheese, this Japanese lady was putting her whole body weight on me! I nearly fell over the whole table of oil. UGH. Everyone wanted a piece of bread, so I helped this old lady get one- not a good idea. Give them a little bread, and they walk all over you! It was impossible to get out! Seriously, the crowds here are RIDICULOUS! Way too close for my taste. That's Shelley and me with our precious cheese that we almost died trying to get. ._.

They brought sand all the way from Spain!

Shelley and I got ambushed by pirates in front of Hamley's (like FAO Schwartz)

Part of the Narnia-themed staircase in Hamely's (5 stories!)
Painting a Spanish mural
Santa Claus decided to get some sun before heading up north
The human tower! No wires or tricks :)
If you look to closely, she has this really long spoon that she uses to serve wine (free!)

In front of the festival banner with our free wine samples!

Today, since we don't have class until 3, Shelley, Pheobe, and I headed over to Buckingham Palace. We arrived just in time for the changing of the guard, since Pheobe hadn't seen it yet. We got to see the band play for a little bit; they played the Star Wars song (when Darth Vader walks around) and the Olympic song! haha... it was quite nice to hear the band. After braving the crowds again, we grabbed a snack from a cafe then bought tickets to see the State Rooms of the palace (rooms that are open to the public). Since it's summer, and the Queen's on holiday, the rooms are open for two months of the year for visitors. We got an audio tour of the palace- SO AMAZING. I thought I knew what a palace would look like, but this was 1000x fancier, prettier, and just spectacular! There were so many paintings, marble scuptures, gilded tableware, chandeliers... the staircases and the ceilings were my favorite part. Too bad we can't take pictures!! :( My favorite part was looking at the Queen's collection of ball gowns and looking out the window to see the gardens and the lake (and get a nice breeze!). Since it's her 80th birthday, 80 of her gowns were on display. SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL! Every square inch of all the dresses had pearls or jewels on it. My favorites were the ones from the 50s/60s... the Queen is TINY! I think I'm taller than her! The window to the gardens were so nice- really different from the hustle and bustle of the city. I could totally image the garden parties they had, and it reminded me of Pride and Prejudice! *_* We got to walk through the gardens and look at the lake for a bit after wandering the palace.

Buckingham Palace from the front... like a postcard!
The back... I can see Mr. Darcy now :)

I'm afraid that's all the excitement for now... today was so HOT! I wore my summer clothes and was still sticky! It sucks how the building our classes are in doesn't have A/C! Everyone I think was dozing off... :( poor Prof! Everyone here's been so nice so far... I'm not too sure who reads this (I don't think anyone on the program reads this), but my roomates are a bit erm... difficult. I guess it's good for me to experience living with different people. The saddest thing: my roomies don't buy toilet paper! And it's not an urgent need for them either O_o. So after being sick of using my flatmate's bathroom, I bought my own secret stash. :X I just can't belive how ridiculous this is! Apart from the TP situation, I get along fine with one of them, but I swear the other one hates me! :( Sad how I've never met anyone who has been like that with me less than two weeks! ::sigh:: I'm sure it'll get better though!

Just some random things:

• The British are obsessed with 9/11. I'm not sure if there's as much talk about it back home, since we're coming up to the 5th anniversary, but over here, I hear about it almost daily. There are documentaries about it everyday (and I think until next week too), and we watched Yasmin, which showed how that event caused discrimination of Muslims in Britain too.
• I miss ice cream! It's incredibly expensive here :( I'm going to pig out in Italy.
• I visited Topshop again (bad idea), and the turnover rate for the flats is amazing! I went on Sunday... only a few days after my first visit, and there was already a new shipment of shoes! They totally rearranged the whole shoe floor! This is not good...
  

As for the cold, no more phelgm (EW), but the sore throat remains! :( I'm trying salt+water now. Cheerio, dearies!