Some Gibberish and a bit about today: spoilers for BGT ahead

I feel bad. The past few of these that I have written haven’t been long or heartfelt, and the reason for this is that I don’t really have time, and by the end of the night when I can write, I am exhausted and don’t really want to. So I thought I would just sit down and talk about the things that I haven’t really discussed yet. Now I have talked about the Tube, and how fast Shawnold walks, but I haven’t really discussed lessons I have learned here. So lesson number one: when crossing the street you don’t have to wait for the signs, you wait for the cars. Now the cars drive on the other side of the road (I hope you know this), and there are signs on the road that tell you to look left or right, normally I look the wrong way then the right way, and if I see no cars I cross. This is all very important because cars do not have to wait for pedestrians, they expect you to wait for them, so they will hit you if you are not careful. There have been a couple of times that I have walked in front of them by accident, and got honked at; not fun. In smaller towns like Bath this really isn’t an issue because there are not many cars, but in the center of London, where we are at, it is a huge issue. We have seen people get hit by cars. Now there is also a huge homeless population here, but it isn’t what you think when someone says homeless. They are actually quite nice, polite, and talented. I have given a few pounds to some of them and they were very gracious. Also, the amount of street performers here are insane, I highly suggest coming here and watching some. Let’s talk about chocolate now, since that has been a big part of my diet. It is so good, I’m munching on some now and I couldn’t be happier. The British put in more Cocoa and fat than America, where Americans add a boatload of sugar as the main ingredient. Now I don’t know if you know anything about sugar, but you actually need more fat in your diet than sugar because fat is no worse than carbohydrates, where sugar actually does a lot of harm. Neither are particularly good for you, but british chocolate for starters taste better, and is actually better for you than the kind you can get in America. Something else that I have picked up here is that paying is kinda difficult. The group that I am with goes to eat out almost everyday. We have sandwich stuff, but you can get tired of that really fast. So with that you run into this somewhat different problem of them putting it all on one bill and then you tell them how much you want to pay. This takes forever but it is either that or you go to the counter and pay after you order, which I prefer. Depending on where you eat, they may charge you for eating in or out. If they normally don’t give you a plate then they charge you for eating in, if they normally don’t give you a bag, they will charge you for the bag. They are very green conscious here. They also don’t use styrofoam or plastic straws which I think is awesome! They use paper straws and most of their containers are cardboard. I think I have already said this before, but food is also super expensive and just because we are eating out a lot doesn’t mean we are eating super expensive food. We find a lot of cheaper food, and we eat a lot of fast food and Tesco, probably not the best for our health but it’s the best we can do. Also, I am learning budgeting (mom be proud of me), it is difficult especially due to the conversion rate from dollars to pounds and also because I want to buy nearly everything in sight, but I am holding back and getting things slowly and toward the end of the trip. We have also not taken the tube for a few days and we have just been walking everywhere, which is in my opinion better. We have also found fun without having to go very far. We have been enjoying movies and playing card games which is very relaxing considering for the past two weeks we have been going non-stop. Now, I bet some, if not all (that’s a joke), care about my Britains Got Talent experience, well it's an interesting one. Considering that I only watched one semi final and the finale, I had no idea what was going on and I wasn’t really invested in any acts, that is, until Colin. Colin was the sweetest old man who dedicated his life to fight in the Royal Navy and after he couldn’t be in the Navy anymore all he wanted to do was sing for the queen. Well this already made me cry, then he sang and was amazing, and all of his Navy buddies joined in, and now I’m a mess, and we take a break. Well my heart is racing, I just want one thing in this world and that is for Colin to win and sing for the queen. When we get to the announcement of the final three I sit there hands grasped wondering will he make it and guess what, HE DOES! Now Colin is up against two magicians, you can feel the tension rise as they say who third place is, and guess what, NOT COLIN, then when they announced the winner of 2019 Britain's Got Talent, guess who gets to sing for the queen, IT WAS THE ONE AND ONLY COLIN!!!!!!!! I was so happy for this old man who finally gets to live out his dreams that me, and everyone else in the room screamed for him, I even started crying again! Not to be dramatic but I would die for Colin. Overall, today has just been a good day. One because of COLIN WINNING and two because I just cleaned, did a face mask, ate some Nandos (which is always good), facetimed my dad and dogs (also always good) and hung out with my friends while we watched some Harry Potter, oh and actually got to write a proper blog post, which I love doing. I haven’t been doing much since Bath, but I have still been making memories with the people around me. Get ready for tomorrow’s blog I will be talking about this museum that involves space! (I really love things about space).

Regions Park and Our Town

Last night we went to Regions Park to see Our Town written Thornton Wilder. Regions park was full of beauty with their roses in full bloom. When we got there we went to a restaurant to eat, but I brought a whole loaf of bread and made peanut butter sandwiches. The we played many card games as we tried to hold them down while the wind attempted to steal them from us. Then we decided to explore the park and climbed a few trees. Then we went to see our town. I was not impressed. We walk in and the scenery is already throwing me off. They had stadium sitting with stuff on it and I thought those were special seats for audience members, nope they chose to put those seats there for the show. Most people who do this show do chose a very minimalistic setting, but it was almost as if they were making it look as if they don’t care. When the actors entered the only one who looked uniformed was the stage manager, the rest of them were wearing clothes that they would wear almost everyday, but then they would add bits a pieces at certain points and it almost threw you off because if you are going to have a non realistic set why randomly add realistic clothes? They did use the stadium seating, but I almost wish they would have just kept the seats they needed and got rid of the rest. Also the Stage Manager went into an American accent once the show began, but the Stage Manager kept taking us out of the play on purpose, so why have an American accent? I know it is set in America but it would just make sense to give the Stage Manager an accent from where they were putting on the show would it not? Also the Stage Manager and the two mothers are the only few whose acting I actually enjoyed. No one else really did it for me.

Bath

Oh Bath is a beautiful town with a weird name. Home to the old Roman bath houses there was plenty to do there. Now most may not know that the Romans, like how they did other places, invaded what we call Britain and claimed it as their own, and they built one huge bathhouse and then later peopled named the city bath, interesting right. Well we had to get there by train, and this was not my first train ride, my first was in Germany but that is a whole other story ending with us in another city and having to convince strangers to let us use their phones, but this train ride was super exciting because I really like trains (You can blame Harry Potter). When we get there a bunch of us were absolutely starving and so we went to an Italian pizza place where they told us that pizza wasn't super big, then it was, then I ate the whole thing by myself. Then we went into Bath’s cathedral (dad you would of loved it). Then we went to go get some candy. Not impressed, 3/10. Then we went to go see the Roman Baths, more expensive than I expected. It was very interesting though, the water was green, and we wondered why until like twenty birds decided to use the baths as their toilet at the same time, it scared me. Also you got to drink natural spring water that smells like egg, but I did not smell the egg smell, then filled a whole water bottle of it that I don’t want to pour out, IT’S NATURAL SPRING WATER! Then we sat in some grass till I got itchy and wanted nachos. We got back on the train and played card until we got home and got Tesco sandwiches, no we are gonna get well rested for our second FREE DAY!

Borough Market: Bad Pad (Thai)

Today we were told to try something new at the Borough, I decided to try Pad Thai since I have always wanted to, and that was a bad idea. I don’t know if it was this vendor or if it was the sauce, but the food smelt like dog food and I just couldn’t get over it. The food tasted fine, but once I get stuck on a smell it is very hard for me to get passed it. So I ate enough, and moved on. Next I got some tiramisu cheesecake, absolutely delicious, and some ice tea. Made that pad thai much better. Then I saw a juice place and couldn’t help myself, fresh juice is a weakness of mine. It was apple raspberry, very very scrumptious. Then I came back to hotel to take a nap, since I stayed up a bit late watching Britain's Got Talent. Once I woke up Landan, Megan, Jamie, and I went to a very big book store where I tried to get a coffee but I didn't realize it was a espresso shot and when the baristria handed me the smallest cup I thought I got the wrong size until she explained that I could get it in latte form or espresso form. The more you know. I also got a book called The Psychology of Time Travel which is a crime novel, very excited to read it while on this trip. Then I stopped at a shop because I was craving watermelon and went back to the room, ate, and face timed one of my best friends Hannah for a bit. Tonight I plan to watch the finale to Britain’s Got Talent because now I'm invested and need to know who is gonna win, this comedy singer or these magicians.

Days 5-8: Super busy time

AHH! I am so sorry to anyone who is trying to follow along and waiting for a post for these past couple of days! These past few days have been crazy fun and crazy busy! So this post will be quite long, buckle up, grab a snack, and get prepared for days 5-8.

Saturday: Made me exhausted on Sunday

Our first free day! Don’t get me wrong, we have tons of free time, but this was the first day that we got to choose what time we got to wake up that wasn’t up to Shawn. The majority of us decided to go to the London Eye. Now we were very confused how this all worked, we thought you bought tickets, and that reserved you a car for a certain amount of time. In reality you buy the tickets, show up, and they shove you on a car with as many other people it takes to reach twenty five people. The view were phenomenal though. We took so many pictures and giggled the whole time. The eye moves very slowly and so it takes you about an hour to get all  the way around. Then after we got done with that we went and got some overpriced but very tasty pizza and cheap ice cream. We stopped and watched this street performer who I thought was really funny and all he did was three tricks, but honestly he made me want to watch more street performers. I then saw a carousel that went pretty fast and kinda looked at it then at the group and said “can we ride the carousel?” some agreed and we got on. Fastest carousel I have ever road, completely worth it! Then Jamie and I went and explored this festival hidden area, and hung out for a little while before we went to this outside, antique book, poetry, and map sale. We looked around there for the longest time before meeting backup with two of our friends. We sat on this bench and then just chatted for hours about one of the guys that came along and his life, then we watch this really (cute) amazing street artist from Australia. We decided to head back because we had a show that night! Jamie, Aahron, and I went to go see Woman in Black. Now we thought Shawn was being a big chicken when he decided to warn us about this show telling us it was scary, but boy should we have listened to him! This show was so amazing and that why it was terrifying! The sound design, set, story, everything added up to create something that in all honesty made me scream a couple of different times. 10/10 not seeing again but highly suggest. Then we went and got some Tesco sandwiches and went to bed.

Sunday: The day that Saturday made me not want to do

So if you have ever met Shawn Irish then you must know, and this has been stated before, he walks really fast. It takes me eight steps to keep us with his one. I have counted, for every step he takes, I have to take like three. It’s all in the stride! This is important because we walked a lot on Sunday because we made a wrong turn and got lost. When we, finally, figured out where we were headed we went to the Brick lane market. I ate so much good food! I got some kebabs, and some pancakes (weird combo I know), and some sugar cane and lemon juice. Now let me tell you, that was the best juice I have ever have! We all just shared and everyone ate off of each others plate so we could try many different things, not over eat, and keep it at a lower price. We then explored underneath the market where there was a vintage clothing shop full of clothes from the 70’s-90’s. I did not buy anything but I was very tempted. Klara, they had so many clothes that reminded me of you, you would of loved it. Then we went to The London Museum which I went through pretty quickly because I was exhausted from the day before and jogging eight miles with Shawn, that I just went back to the hotel and slept till dinner, ate another Tesco sandwich (thank you Megan) and went back to sleep.

Monday: More walking, but this time there are stairs

As some know, I am a sucker for a museum. There are quite a few here luckily, this days whole purpose was The Tate Modern Museum. This museum is full of modern art, which was beautiful. For class we had to write about two pieces from that caught our eye. I chose these two art pieces because one they were eye catching and two they weren't like pieces I have ever seen before. The first piece I looked at was “Colour Cycle” by Peter Sedgley. It is an optical illusions that involves different color circles on a canvas and when in a dark room, whatever color light is shown, shows a different painting. This was done in the 1970’s and I really believe that is why it stood out to me, because even though this is still considered modern art, it's still in a later time where this art would be difficult to accomplish and I believed it was done later in time. Next I looked at is “The British Library” by Yinka Shonibare CBE, this exhibit showed many, many books that had names of people who migrated to Britain for various reasons, and included tablets that allowed you to read the peoples stories that were in each book. It also showed the researched that went in to creating this exhibit. We then went to the top and looked out on Britain after climbing ten flights (I complained the whole time) of stairs (thanks Landan) and took a deep breath (we should of just waited for the slow elevator) of the cold London air. Once we were finished with the museum we went for a walk on south bank again and enjoyed lunch at this little place that I see everywhere that serves pretty cheap salads and lemonade call EAT. We then decided that since we were back on Southbank (we really like it on Southbank) to go back to the little hidden festival Jamie and I found and chill out for a bit. I also remembered this little shopping center down the way a bit and asked if maybe they wanted to go look at what they had there. We went, I bought myself some space socks. We then headed back. We had another show that evening called “The Three Sisters” and I loved it! There were some issues I had acting wise and scenic wise but I would see it again for sure. There was was also a dance number in the middle of it and we all know, I love a good dance number. 8/10 forcing my mom to take me so I can see it again! Then of course after a long day, I came back to the hotel, wrote my blog post for Shawnold (his new name) and past out.

Tuesday: Museum #3, tired of museums

Oh Shawnold, you must of heard about my love for museums and pack three days worth of them. Bad plan. Today we went to the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. I went so I could fulfill my blog post and see Van Gogh and Monet, and get Wingstop. Over all the art would be amazing and I really do enjoy it, but looking at them for three days is a bit tiring. In our blog we had to write about two different pieces from the two museums and compare and contrast them. The two paintings that I chose to discuss about are, from the National Gallery, Ophelia among the Flowers by Odilon Redon and, from the National Portrait Gallery, William Shakespeare associated with John Taylor. The main and most obvious reason I chose these was because of their association with our favorite boy Willy Shake. Ophelia among the Flowers is pastel on paper and only happens due to Redon’s interest in Hamlet during the early 20th century. He devoted numerous works that depicted Ophelia. This piece in particular shows Ophelia drowned surrounded by flowers. I found the color scheme that he chose very interesting, when most people paint this scene they choose duller colors and white a blue flowers, but Redon chose a bright sky and and bright red flowers as almost the focus of the painting, and Ophelia blends in on the bottom right hand corner. This could possibly try and show how Ophelia easily blends in with the beauty around her and that her death shouldn’t be seen as dark, but as a gorgeous experience. The second painting of William Shakespere has a completely different vibe. By now one can only hope that the world knows of this man, but this portrait is the only one that has a good claim of being painted from life so even though he is well known, this is all we have to guess what he looks like. This is oil on canvas, and even though I know very little about art I am pretty positive that is very different from pastel on paper. This portrait is very dark and Shakespears expression is very serious, but what stands out the most is his ear ring. Now in the gallery I may have said “how e-boy of him” but it being a gold earring has some significants showing his wealth at the time. I then bolted because Wingstop was calling my name! I ate a wonderful lunch, went back to the hotel to sit and write my blog post, made a grocery list, and I am about to have a relaxing night in with few other girls on this trip, watch Britain's Got Talent, and you may of guessed it, sleep the night away.

Day 3 and 4: Combination of days

I just slept for the longest time and I was definitely not in ship shape. No matter how much you travel, jet lag will always be a thing. I am writing the start of this blog at like one in the morning. We are gonna go see the tower of London tomorrow and the crown jewels. Day three on the other hand wasn't as exciting as I believe day 4 will be, so I decided to combine the two days and get some rest. Now day three was originally supposed to be almost like a free day. We had class in the morning, and then we could do as we pleased the rest of the day, but the schedule got moved around and we explored the southbank today, this required a lot of walking. I didn’t know about the schedule change until breakfast and I had worn the wrong shoes. I now have big blisters on not the back of my heels, but the bottom of my feet. Gross right? But you live and you learn. So we took the wonderful, eight million degrees, tube to the St. Pauls stop and walked across the millennium bridge (there you go mom) to the south bank. We saw the Globe theatre, but didn’t explore, we do that another day. Then we walked across the south bank and then split to get food. Well most decided that they wanted a sit down lunch, but not Jamie and I. There was this cute bar and burrito place, and we decided that was where we wanted to eat. It was so good! The pork burrito was kinda spicy, but really tasty and I definitely enjoyed it 9/10 want to go again! Jamie and I then just sat and talked, her and I have never really talked during school, but we had such a nice time getting to know each other and exchanging stories. Sitting outside listening to the music in the shade kinda made me realize, this is me studying abroad in London. We then tried to tackle the tube by ourselves, and we did it! There was a lot of looking at the map, a lot of second guessing, and definitely a lot of turning around, but we found our way. We thought we would go down to the hotel bar with a few others and play cards, but at that point my feet were hurting so bad, I just needed to stay off of them for a while, I am definitely wearing different shoes tomorrow. I also haven’t really slept a full amount of time due to jet lag, so I fell asleep and woke up at 1 AM so I could write what I was planning on writing earlier. Now I am going back to sleep so I can have a fun day tomorrow.

Day 4: Tomorrow or Today

Tower of London! What a time! I was really excited about this adventure and I was not disappointed. First we went to the bloody tower with Shawn and it was so interesting. The exhibit talked about how the two sons of Edward the fourth mysteriously disappeared and they are believed to have been murdered at the Tower of London since that is the last place they were seen, then a specific tower was renamed “the bloody tower” due to the belief that it was their uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was the one who murdered the two boys. They found a box years later with small skeletons in it buried on the grounds and in the 1930s they did testing and found out it was two boys bodies, the bodies were buried in Westminster Abbey where they remain today. Another interesting site was the torture room. Very small and only included three form of torture, the manacles which hung your arms above your head and you can't put them down, the rack which stretches you out, and the scavenger's daughter which crushes you to death. Finally this is where Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII second wife, spent her final days and was executed. Arrested in May of 1536 she stayed at the tower until she was executed there by sword after staying there for only seventeen days. There were so many steps and the views were all amazing. You could walk from tower to tower seeing all the places where they fought off intruders and even where they kept their animals. Probably one of the biggest exhibits is the crown jewels! They were so pretty and they have so much history that it was amazing just to stand so close, sadly i couldn't take any pictures of them, but they were stunning. Then I went shopping at this grocery store nearby, Went back to the hotel room and four of us joke around until it was time to go to dinner. We were planning on going to this pizza place, but it was crowded and expensive, so the food trucks next door were the option. I got this four different kinds of pasta bowl which was absolutely amazing! Then we went and watched a show call Rutherford and Sons which is one of the shows we read in class. In all honesty I really did not enjoy the show. It was boring, it was three hours long, and the plot line is very confusing if you haven't discussed it prior to seeing the show. 2/10 not again. Oh, I also saw the cutest dog and he just came right up to me and let me love on him, it was great! I then came home and immediately fell asleep! I was exhausted and a bit sunburnt! Now that I have had plenty of rest, and I believe over jet lag, we have our first official free day, and we are gonna go see the London eye, and Women in Black which will be very interesting!