Such Angry British Rain

I have a few days to cover, so bear with me on the length of this post!

First, let me say that I will never again complain about Midwest weather. English weather is about 10 times as bipolar and unpredictable. The temperature fluctuates between 10 and 20 degrees Celsius...about every 20 minutes. One minute it will be sunny and warm, and the next it's cold and absolutely POURING rain. (Quoth my friend Katie W: "I've never seen such angry British rain!") This goes on and on and back and forth all day long. The only way to survive is wear layers and scarves and remove and reapply them throughout the day. (I'll also be purchasing a trench coat shortly, I'm sure.)


THURSDAY
Thursday I had my first Shakespeare class. Our professor is HILARIOUS and extremely knowledgeable on all things Shakespeare. Which I would have expected, but it is so incredible to learn about one of my favorite authors from a Brit who really understands and is a part of the British culture. Which, I'm finding, differs more from American culture than I originally thought.

Thursday night we also went to a place called My Old Dutch, a pancake house. But let me be the first to tell you that these are no ordinary pancakes. These pancakes come in ginormous crepe form, filled with any combination of items you could possibly imagine. Here is a picture of my chili con carne "savoury" pancake, and of my friend Katie W's berry compote pancake. We also found out that Mondays is all you can eat pancakes for just 5 pounds. We have decided to formally rename Mondays as Pancake Coma Day. We even got punch cards.

FRIDAY
Friday we did some boring orientation-style meetings about traveling around the UK and Europe while abroad. However, we then did some surprise sightseeing, and I was caught off guard without a camera. So no pictures from this day. We
went to Little Venice and road in a long narrow boat that used to be used to carry literally tons of cargo through the canals...and before there were motors, the boat was pulled by only ONE HORSE tied to it with a rope. Crazy! Now there are narrow boats lined all up and down the canals where people and entire families LIVE. We also went by a floating Chinese restaurant. Bizarre!

This night we also went to a very nice pub called Founders Arms with everyone in the program. We had DELICIOUS bar snacks and a few drinks before heading to a club called Zoo Bar & Club. It was just like a club that you see on TV or in the movies: flashing lights, expensive-looking clothes, bumping music, dance poles, the works. As my friend Katie H said, it looked like we were on the show Jersey Shore. But we had tons of fun dancing! A little less fun spending an hour trying to figure out how to catch a bus home, since the Tube closes at 12:30am. (Which, by the way, is quickly becoming my favorite form of transportation and actually makes me much less nervous than riding the public transit in Chicago.)

SATURDAY (today)
We just went on a bus tour of London (finally!). I took some pictures on the bus, but the only pictures I have while off the bus is at St. Paul's Cathedral, because we did not get off anywhere else. I'll put some of the best pictures in now! A caption to come before the pictures.

The following 4 pictures were taken at St. Paul's Cathedral, which has the largest cathedral dome in Europe, right after the Vatican.





The following picture is of Tower Bridge from afar, and the next is of the bridge while we were driving on it!
The image below may look like a picture of nothing, but that piece of ancient wall is actually the biggest remnant of the Roman wall that was built around London when they had control over the city.
Below is the London Eye, with 32 carriages fitting 25 people each. We will be making a trip to the London Eye to see London from 450 feet in the air!
The following 4 pictures are of the Palace at Westminster, which is also home to Big Ben. (Note: Big Ben is not the clock, nor even the clock tower. It is the bell inside that is named thus. So technically you hear Big Ben, but you don't see him.)

A statue of Nelson Mandela, which I thought was awesome. They also have statues of Abe Lincoln and George Washington, ironically enough.

Below is a (somewhat poorly angled) photo of what is simply called Marble Arch. It used to be the gateway to Buckingham Palace, but the queen HAD IT MOVED to this corner because she said a horse-drawn carriage couldn't fit through it. Apparently this is "rubbish," because a carriage can fit through it. The true reason is because dogs really liked to use it as their very own "loo" and the queen didn't quite approve.

Other Things I've Learned
Charles Darwin is buried in Westminster Abbey. A church. IRONY.
There are unofficially about 10.5 million people living in London.
About 319 different languages and dialects are spoken in London, and all races, nationalities and religions are represented.
However, London is EXTREMELY secular in comparison to the United States. In fact, when a Brit finds out you're American, they assume you are Christian and ask why our politics are so riddled with religious rhetoric and sayings about God, even though we supposedly support separation of Church and State.
The diamond residing at the Tower of London with the crown jewels is 530 karats (about the size of a fist).
The story of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, and Mrs. Lovett's meat pies is TRUE. We drove by where the pie shop used to be. It is now a McDonald's. How fitting.
The Australian Embassy in London may also be known to you as: GRINGOTTS BANK! Mind. Blown.
Brits are extremely blunt. They tell you how it is and don't beat around the bush. Their sense of humor is very sarcastic and sometimes seems mean to unknowing Americans.
Americans, on the other hand, are viewed as being extremely friendly (we strike up conversations with people sitting next to us on the Tube, something which never happens in daily Londoner life) and considered almost overly polite. For example, if I am buying a latte, and as I'm leaving I say, "Have a nice day," they are somewhat confused. Or if I was making a purchase and I said, "Hi, how are you today?" They would probably ask if they were supposed to know me from somewhere.

Well, I think that's about all I can give you for now. Thanks for sticking through that with me. Cheerio!