So much sightseeing!!!!!!!!!!

Hey again! I've had an awesome few days here. First, on Monday, the one class that I was supposed to have was cancelled!!!! Every kids dream! In the morning, I went to the British Museum to take some pictures of the art we looked at for my Art History class so that I wouldn't forget what we saw. Then, I went down to Green Park to meet Jen Etkin for lunch. Jen is my brother Adam's best friend from Colgate, and she lives in London. It was really nice to catch up with her. She was so nice and gave me lots of advice on stuff to do and see. She invited me over to her new apartment for dinner next week, which was so nice. Anyways, after that, I went and did some homework, and then got an email from Bob, our program director, asking if anyone could babysit for his two kids that night. So, I volunteered, and hung out with his 11 year old Jackson and his 7 year old Mason. Jackson is very quiet, but really smart and funny once you get him talking. Mason is quite the firecracker. That kid is so energetic and so funny. We had a good time, the boys taught me how to play Xbox Kinect, which was pretty cool. After I put them to bed, I did some more homework, and went home when Bob and his wife Candace came back from the theatre.

Today, I had history class in the morning. 9:30, yuck. I was up at 7:45, which is the earliest I've been awake since I've been here. But, I love the class. Keith is so funny and knows so much about the most random things. It's also nice that Liz, Michael, and Naeem are in the class also. Otherwise, it would be me and all the freshman haha. After class, the four of us grabbed lunch, and then me, Michael and Julia went on a sightseeing extravaganza. Here we go...

It's hard to see, but Prince William is in the window winking at me. Kate was not amused haha.

The square/fountain outside the palace

We took the tube to Green Park, and walked through the park to Buckingham palace. To anyone who hasn't been there, you have to find your way there. It truly is spectacular. When you get there, you can't stop staring. We missed the changing of the guard, but we still caught a glimpse of a few of them. We stood there for about 15 minutes just gawking at the palace. Michael, Julia, and I kept saying, "I can't believe I'm looking at this right now". Amazing!

After the palace, we walked through St. James's Park, which is also beautiful. We then made our way towards the big leagues, and by this, I mean Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben.

While we were doing all of these things, I kept thinking to myself that people who live and work in this area walk past these amazing monuments everyday, and don't even notice it. This idea baffled my mind. I feel like I would get lost in gawking at all this stuff. Maybe it's because I'm a huge dork, but oh well. I don't care.

Downton... whoops, I mean Westminster Abbey.

As you can imagine, Big Ben and the Abbey are crazy beautiful. Here are some pics. After these amazing things, we kept piling it on. We walked along the Thames, and looked at the London Eye!   We also found a hidden gem. We found this beautiful monument to soldiers from WWII. I found this particularly touching, as my grandfather was a pilot for the U.S Air Force during the war. It was so beautiful, and while I was looking at it, all I could think about was Gramps, and remember how lucky I am that I am there because of him.

This one is for you, Gramps.

Big Ben!

London Eye!

After all of that really heavy stuff, we kept on walking and saw the royal guards. Julia and Michael made silly faces at them, which did not break there concentration. While we were there, we saw the Chinese Paralympic team. I still think that those athletes are incredibly talented and motivated, it really is cool to watch them compete. After that, we checked out Trafalgar Square, which is being used for coverage of the Paralympics. We also happened to bump into the Canadian Embassy. I felt very at home looking at all those flags!

A guard that was much taller than me. Who isn't?

Trafalgar Square!

Oh Canada....!!!

Then, we made our way through the National Gallery. We didn't stay very long, as we were all very tired. I really can't believe we did all of this in one afternoon. I really want to go back to the area all the time. I don't think I will ever get bored of looking at all of that cool stuff. We came home, and our host dad Mark made us dinner. He is a really good cook! We had grilled salmon fillets, sauteed veggies, and potatoes. Now, I'm working on a presentation for class on thursday and relaxing. Hope you have all enjoyed being jealous of what I get to do everyday! Oh, and you will also find a long awaited photo of our host dog (lol) Coco. Be jealous. She is really posing for you all.

Today's quote comes from Oscar Wilde. He once said:

Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.

The National Gallery!

Werk it, Coco!