I know I promised y'all a fantastic introduction to the breakfast we get every morning, but it was soo delicious I forgot to take pictures! Sorry! I guess I'm just going to have to use it as a cliffhanger...
After breakfast, all 17 of us gathered in the lodge to talk about the day's event - The Death March. For all the interns coming on this England abroad trip, the Death March is a sure way for us to 1. stay awake, 2. orient ourselves around the city, 3. find our way back to the lodge BY OUR SELVES. We were up for the challenge :)
How it works : we start out as a group, walk around, eat lunch, go on the London Eye, and after that we get ditched. It's up to us to navigate the rail and bus system home. Do you think I made it? With OUT any problems? We shall see!!
From Surbiton (Warwick Lodge) to Waterloo Station (London)...
We made it to Waterloo Station (London) and met Jeff, a history buff that gave us a wonderful tour. Here, Mr. Talbert is explaining the tube schedule. The British pronunciation for schedule is "shh-ed-jule."
RIGHT when you get out of the station,
what is the first sight you see in London?
BIG BEN!! And let me tell you, Ben is BIG.
What an impressive first sight of London.
Something incredible happened around this time. Did you notice that today is 11/11/11? Well, in England, today was Armistice Day, a holiday also known as Remembrance Day. It is very similar to the U.S. Veteran's Day. At 11:00 am, the whole city seemed to stop. Everybody remains silent for a minute in remembrance of those who have served in the military.
You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day.
Poppies were popping up everywhere! The poppies are the symbol for the soldiers who have died and could be seen worn by many citizens and tourists today. The leaf is supposed to face the eleventh hour when worn over the heart.
A beautiful memorial out in front of Westminster Abbey.
To think Will and Kate were here! I die.
After we payed our respects to the veterans,
we walked to Trafalgar Square.
We ran into some bobbies (policemen)...
... next to a Women of World War I memorial...
...met some attractive soldier men...
...passed the gates of Buckingham palace...
...and ended up in the square!
Sic 'em, Bears! = appropriate everywhere.
Poppies in the fountain.
We walked on a bit more as we headed toward lunch. Look at this street performer! Laying on NEEDLES! Ouch. All for a few pounds.
This was a 3 hour meal. An appetizers (I had salmon terrine), a main course (bean and veggie pie) and dessert (blackberry hazelnut custard).
SO FULL. So warm. So much great company!
On to more London..
Walking across the Thames River.
Can you see what we are about to get on?
We are going on the London Eye on the Thames River.
Enjoy the Ride!
Whew! We made it down just as the sun set. Trying to get the official picture proved to be a bit more difficult for us Americans. We faced the opposite direction of the photo camera and smiled toward the SECURITY CAMERAS. All of a sudden, a flash came from behind us and we realized...we just took an official London Eye photo of all of our behinds. HAHAHA.
Here was the moment of truth - could we make it on our own without the whole group? Well, some of us made it to Harrod's, so I was pretty sure we would be juuust fine!
For Brittany and Whitney: a Swarovski crystal MINI! With the British flag on top! All of that detail is in crystal; this picture does not do it justice.
We got some dinner-to-go from an adorable market and ate at the fountain of Trafalgar Square.
We did make it back to Surbiton and Warwick Lodge. I HOPE you had faith in me and knew that I would! Okay, okay, I have to give some credit to the other girls. In fact, I'm just going to give ALL the credit to them.
What an eventful day! Amidst all its activity, there are only so few words that can describe a day. Thankfully, I have a picture that best sums up the evening.
Good night! See you tomorrow! mwah
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