Staying Busy in London

Alright, so the spring break countdown is officially on, and I can't believe that I already leave in only 4 days now. It's just unbelievable to think that in one week I will be sitting on a beach in Barcelona, followed by trips to Madrid and Toledo, and then of course off to freakin Africa!

I did have an exciting weekend here in London though. It was definitely busy. Friday I took a tour of Parliament. I got to walk through the house of commons and the house of lords, and stand where the Prime Minister gives speeches to the country and where the Queen sits when she opens up the government each year. Sadly I'm afraid I'm starting to become immune to all of this stuff and I'm not even thinking twice about these type of things.

Saturday we took a day trip to Brighton. It is a city on the English Channel, and it is simply beautiful. I got to go to the beach and see the ocean for the first time. I had to go in, so i walked in a few feet and it was freezing cold. I also tasted it, which was a really stupid thing to do, but oh well. I was really excited and am definitely going to go back when its warmer out.

Sunday I went to my first ever football match. It was a great time, and we are already planning on going back to some more. As I said earlier, I always liked soccer, but since I've gotten here I've really gotten into the game. We saw Fulham play West Brom and as we walked in my friend Jordan and I placed a bet on the game. To bet on soccer you have to be the final score so he bet Fulham to win 2-0, I bet Fulham to win 2-1. We both were pretty sure Fulham would win, but we were just guessing the score. To cut to the finish the score is 2-0 at the very end of the game. Jordan is going nuts and just before the final whistle a guy from Fulham tackles a West Brom player from behind and the West Brom guy is awarded a penalty kick. If he makes it, I win 70 pounds (about a hundred dollars) and if he misses Jordan wins 120 lbs (190 dollars). Penalty kicks are from only 8 yards away, and NO ONE, I mean NO ONE ever misses a penalty kick, so at this point I am so excited. And just as you might guess, the guy lines up for the kick, and kicks it right into the goalies chest. It bounces away from the goal and the game was over. I nearly cried. It worked out ok though, Jordan collected his money and is going to be me all day breakfast with it. (All Day Breakfast is this thing that we fell in love with at a pub called The Slug. It is a full English breakfast with bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, bread, baked beans, and a fried mushroom and tomato. It is also served with a pint of beer. All for only 4 pounds. A pint of beer usually costs about 3 pounds so basically you get a a full meal for a pound).

Today Megan, Kelly, and I got up and went to the National Gallery. It is just a gigantic art house. We got to see several really famous and cool paintings. My favorites were definitely the ones from more modern times. The outdoor scenes, especially the ones by Monet were really amazing. After we left we sat outside in Trafalgar Square and sketched it. It was actually a lot of fun. It made me remember how horrible of an artist I am but it definitely made for some good jokes. If you get a chance google Trafalgar Square. It is one of my favorite spots in London, and then you can just imagine how I butchered it with my sketching of it.

I'll be continuing the Spring Break Countdown over the next couple days. My goal is to make all of you hate me with jealousy as I describe to you all my trip. ;)