July 4th

I celebrated America's independence by crashing a party! I went with two friends in search of a good traditional British pub only to end up at the Park Plaza Hotel at a private party dancing to American music.

Before we ended up there though, we walked through Trafalgar Square and saw Nelson's Column.

We then headed towards the Thames, passing the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben right as it struck midnight! 

From there, we could see the London Eye all lit up.  On our way to a tube station we met a New Yorker and an Irishman, Stephen and Paddy, and went with them to the party that was back at the hotel they were staying at.

A few videos!

Sorry in advance for my terrible camera operating skills!

The first two are videos of us walking across Tower Bridge and some views of what is visible from the bridge.  The last video is the very end of our climb down the 311 steps of the Monument!

My feet hurt!

Today we had the first of many field trips for the program.  We began at the Gordon Museum of Pathology located at King's College London.  The museum is filled with medical specimens that range in age from the 1600's to present day.  The museum is not open to the public because it is intended to be a place to teach medical professionals and students.  We were given a presentation before being allowed to wander through.  Unfortunately, taking pictures was strictly prohibited, but some of the more interesting specimens included an ovarian tumor with teeth in it and various gunshot wounds.

King's College is located right next to Guy's Hospital, which boasts the largest hospital in the UK at 50 stories high.  From afar, the building looks more like a sky scraper than a hospital.  After the Gordon Museum we were free to grab lunch around the South Bank area.  Four of us went to a little cafe called Cafe Rossi, where you could dine in or get take away.  I had a toasted Ciabatta sandwich with avocado, basil, mozzarella, and tomato.  It was delicious and only £4.50!  We then had three hours to sight see before having to meet back at The Old Operating Theatre Museum.

First, we decided to head over to Tower Bridge.  Due to this year's Olympics, Tower Bridge has been decorated with the Olympic Rings.  We took some pictures from the south side of the Thames before walking across Tower Bridge, allowing me to cross two things off my London Bucket List.  We could see The Gherkin and Tower of London among other buildings.  We then walked toward London Bridge, passing the Tower of London and All Hallows by the Tower Church.  All Hallows is famous for being the place of William Penn's baptism as well as John Quincy Adam's Wedding.

We also passed Shakespeare's Globe, walked down Clink Street (home of London's very first prison), saw a replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship The Golden Hinde, walked through Borough Market (a farmer's market), and climbed the 311 steps to the top of The Monument.

 Before heading back to the flat we stopped off to see the London Eye!

Kings Cross

We had our first day of classes today.  It wasn't too bad, but I am definitely not used to staying awake for 6 hours of class.  We had to take the Tube from our flat at Kilburn Park (pictured) to Baker Street.  After class let out, we caught the Tube back to the flat to drop off backpacks before heading out to explore a little more.  

We took the Tube to Kings Cross Station to find Platform 9 and 3/4. When we entered Kings Cross, the center had this huge white lattice ceiling sculpture thing! It spanned from the middle to both sides.  We saw a sign for Platforms 9-11 so headed over to look for 9 and 3/4.  I was almost disappointed when I realized it required a ticket to get to the platforms, but then Rachel spotted 9 and 3/4.  It was just off to the right before proceeding onto the platforms. 

Luckily the line was only two groups of people, so we didn't wait long before taking our pictures with the trolley cart.  I pushed hard, but the trolley wouldn't go any further.  Looks like I'm a muggle after all.

After we exited Kings Cross, we went across the street to St. Pancras Station, another stop with several transfers and the national rail trains.  The architecture on the building was beautiful and unlike any of the surrounding buildings.  We didn't venture inside but got some great pics of the outside.

Last, we headed next door to St. Pancras to The British Library, which holds some of Shakespeare's first drafts, the Magna Carta, Da Vinci's writings on architecture and other topics, some of the world's first translations of the Bible, Mozart's tuning fork and one of his compositions, Handel's Messiah, and original hand-written lyrics by the Beatles.  Unfortunately, we weren't permitted to take pictures in the exhibit but I got a few of the entrance.  The statue in the plaza area was of Newton.

Piccadilly Circus

Rode the Tube to Piccadilly Circus this evening where we stopped in a little Italian eatery for dinner.  Food was delicious and not too expensive; appetizer and entree for £9.95! Lots of fans out getting ready to cheer on Spain in their match against Italy.  It was pretty crowed here at the center, so I only got some pictures in passing.  I'm sure I'll be back through here soon enough.  First day of classes tomorrow so I'm off to bed!

Riding the Tube

Most of the Tube is underground, hence the official name "The Underground."  But a small stretch between the airport and our stop at Baker Street was outside.  I filmed a bit of the ride!

Arrival

We didn't end up departing DTW until around 10pm.  However, the total flight time ended up being 6 hours and 45 mins instead of 7 hours and 45 minutes due to some favorable winds.  Flight was pretty smooth throughout.  We were served both dinner and breakfast on the flight. 

Landed smoothly around 10:15am London time.  I could see some famous London landmarks (specifically Tower Bridge and the London Eye) as we came in for a landing to Heathrow Airport.  From there, we caught the Tube to Regents College allowing me to cross an item off my London Bucket List!