I went to Brighton Beach today with some friends and I am now definitely burnt.  I'm only here a few more days and how often am I going to get to swim on this side of the Atlantic???  I'll post pictures...soon.  Maybe not until after I get back because I've got exams and packing to do this week. 

On the 4th of July, my friends and I tried to go to the Chili's in Covent Garden.  One problem.  It's not in Coven Gareden.  In our weekly email, the GC's gave us a list of American things and places to eat for the 4th and this Chili's was on the list, complete with phone number.  Buuuuut that number was to Chili's in Canary Warf.  Not close.  We ended up at a place called Fuel and then went to Roadhouse (Roundhouse?  I'm not sure, there are both here) afterwards for the Germany/whoever-they-beat game.
 
On the 5th we went to Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Castle.  It rained.  I wore my trench...Danielle wore my trench and it was floor-length and Matrix-y.  We had a good time :)  HCP is one of the first royal residences built that was not also meant to be a fortress.  But they couldn't get away from the familiar architecture so there are battlements.

On the 6th, my theatre class saw "Hay Fever" with Dame Judi Dench!!  I don't have pictures but I do have the 4£ program.

June 7th.  1 year anniversary of the tube and bus bombings.
My friends and I went to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham and got to observe the 2 minutes silence (as opposed to the loud 2 Minutes Hate of "1984")  Being at Buckingham for that was amazing.  They stopped traffic on the road and most people (stupid tourists) were silent.  Also, the mounted police at Buckingham are super witty and make me laugh.  People were standing in the walkway or in front of the main gate where the guards leave from and they'd say things like... (for those of you already in the entry: "You're not allowed to be there...Do you have a special ticket??")

That's all the pictures I have uploaded right now, so next update will start with my trip to Stonehenge and Bath!

It's SO hot here; we're in the 2nd day of a 5 day heat wave (32* C so...90s F).  It's hot and me and my one pair of shorts are becoming great friends.  The 2 skirts I bought here and the one I brought are also becoming good friends.  I'm definately realizing that there are some things that I wish I had brought with me.

Classes are going well, there is a lot of writing to do; mostly reviews or just talking about the plays we see here. 

Next weekend I'm going to Bath (probably for just a day) and then from 21-23 July I'll be in Dublin.  YAY!

I know you just want to see

( Click for Pics! )

Tonight I saw "Mary Poppins" and it was SO amazing. It was better than Wicked. Yes, I just said "Better than Wicked" and it's not just because I love Mary Poppins. The new songs and scenes were just as good as the Julie Andrews version. This Mary took some getting used to, but she acted the part SO well. Bert was fabulous. I was sad that Mrs. Banks wasn't a suffragette because that is one of my favorite songs in the movie, but she was still a strong female character.

My first class was today--British Composers of Stage & Cinema. We're watching The Who's "Tommy" right now and will be watching a few other things on dvd (a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, "Hard Day's Night"...) in class and seeing "Midsummer Night's Dream", "Sunday in the Park with George", "Phantom of the Opera", and "Billy Elliot" live.

So...I'd really like to be posting pictures, but livejournal isn't giving me that option here in rich text (and I can't remember how to do it in plain text). 

I got bored this afternoon so I bought a week-long Oyster card and hopped on the tube to Marble Arch (I wanted to go to Trafalgar Square, but I couldn't remember how to get there).  So, I walked around Marble Arch and the park.  Took pictures.  Had a jolly good time.  :)  When I got back to the flat, I looked up where Trafalgar Square is and how to get there on the Tube and took 2 other girls with me to go visit.  BUT they're making improvements (uh...building a cafe.  Or..."Preserving London's Past for the Future.") around the obelisk and lion statues.  Should be completed in July.  Will go back then.  We just walked around after that; tried to find the Thames, but it was pretty hard without a map in the dark so we just ended up walking and getting back on the tube to come home.  It was a fun day :D

Bus tour of the city tomorrow! :D

Sidenote: Almond croissants from Starbucks pretty much rock my world.

So, I'm here in London. It took me about 5 tries to realize that the at sign and quotation marks are, in fact, switched. I don't know why, but a lot of things I typed looked @like this@. Or signing onto facebook looked like "gmail.com. I think I've got it now.

I walked around London for a bit today with 3 other girls. No one really had a specific destination, except for a stop at a grocery at some point. I don't think one of the girls liked that too much because she kept asking if we were going anywhere. We walked almost to Picadilly Circus and back to the Study Centre, only having to stop and look at a map once on the way back (just to check, of course ;) ) No pictures yet, because I forgot the connecting cord in my flat.

OHH the flat. 4 boys, 4 girls, we'll all pretty cool ;) I'll post pictures next time.

Welcome! This is the before-I-leave entry, there probably won't be another until I arrive at the Study Centre--so probably not until the 22nd or so.

Explanation: wc1b is the FSU study centre postal code. W=West, C=Center, 1b=more specific. (Which means it's west of center)

Make sure to bookmark this page to see what's going on with me (or if you have a livejournal, friend me). All entries will be public, so there's no need for you to get a livejournal account (unless you really want to) and you'll be able to comment without an account as well.

I'll write as often as I can, but I'm not going to London to sit in front of the computer, so don't expect a post every day. (This means posts could be long.) As for pictures, I'll try to add them as often as possible, I have a flickr (piccali) account and I'm hoping that I can delete the pictures from the computer once they're hosted there which should make posting easier.

Talk to you from London!