London, Day 2

Hello again!

After last night's blog, we had a cocktail social with our group. We filled up the entire restaurant area of the hotel, with overflow! A group of us decided to take the subway to the SoHo section of London for dinner. There, we found a small Indian cuisine restaurant where we ate. We've eaten out nearly every meal while here, its hard getting used to not leaving a tip, there is a 'service charge' on all bills. After dinner we walked around the area, stopped by a couple pubs. There was a soccer game last night, so the pubs were filled with fans watching the game.

This morning our entire AIFS group took a 3-hour bus tour of London. I was really hoping that it would be on a double-decker bus, but unfortunately, just a regular old tour bus. After the self-guided walking tour yesterday, we had hit many of the same spots we saw again today, but learned more about what we were seeing. In addition to yesterday's site, we drove across London Tower bridge, saw the City of London, which is the financial district and the original city the Romans built. We also saw Piccadilly Circus, the Times Square of London. After the bus tour, we had the afternoon free. The weather was colder today, with a stronger wind, nothing like Vermont though!

With our afternoon, we walked through Piccadilly Circus, and sort of stumbled upon Leicester Square, which is houses all ticket sale outlets for London plays. We had lunch on a side street, had my first ever fish and chips! With influence from the show biz all around us, 3 of us decided to purchase tickets for a show tonight. We will be seeing Les Miserables at Queen's Theater. After lunch, we walked to the Center of London, where the National Gallery is. This art museum is free and open to the public. After a brief tour, mostly to warm up, we headed out to do some shopping.

Pics to come soon! I'm hoping this weekend I will be able to use my own computer and access the Internet. So far, I'm relying on computers provided by the Internet cafe.

A couple observations about London:
1. 'Way Out' signs replace 'Exit' signs.
2. Stop lights also turn yellow inbetween going from red to green
3. Crosswalks all indicate which way pedestrians should look before crossing (i.e. look left), on coming traffic won't yield for people!
4. In the city, you won't find SUVs or old cars (guess I can't bring my Volv here), all cars look new, shiny, and expensive
5. Everyone always looks so good! Its dress to impress atmosphere
6. The city is very clean, very little trash on the streets

Thats it for now! We are leaving tomorrow to fly to Pisa, then on to Florence. I am instructed to be checked out, ready to go by 4:15 am, yes am, to catch the flight. Bright and early!