2 Weeks

Today marked 2 weeks since I arrived in London. I can't believe its been that long! That means I leave in 3 weeks, which is MUCH too soon... I'll definitely be needing to come back sometime. :) I love this place!
Today was also a free day! Freeeedom! ;) We had the day to ourselves to do whatever we wanted, and it was great! The beginning of this week was pretty education-heavy, full of concerts, rehearsals, and class, so it was nice to have all of today to be able to see the sights and roam around.
We started off going to Buckingham Palace to witness the famous changing of the guard. It was weird because as we walked up to the palace we saw MOUNDS of people (tourists) and I thought they looked ridiculous! Haha. I guess I just haven't felt like a tourist here. I'm going to school and learning so many things that I haven't felt like a stupid American tourist... until I joined the masses today. Then I realized that's exactly what I am. ;) Haha, anyway, it was kinda weird. But neat. I guess I just feel like I'm legitimately living here, not just visiting. :)
Back to Buckingham Palace. The fact that there were a bajillion tourists there made things a little less fun, but it was still neat to watch. Situations like this, along with those on the basketball court, are times when I really wish I had inherited more of the Astle height. I tried to wiggle my way nearer the front, but was basically completely unsuccessful, so I apologize for the pictures. My friend Josh explained to us that the changing of the guard happens every 24 hours and is the process of one regiment replacing the other. So these guys are all seriously trained soldiers. I was a little disappointed when we first got there because the regiment on duty weren't wearing the red outifts with the ridiculously large hats! They looked like normal soldiers! Fortunately though, the regiment that replaced them was in the expected attire, so I was satisfied.
After they switched posts, the band played some music. I was expecting some impressive version of "Rule, Brittania!" or something, but instead they played elevator music type stuff, which I was also ok with. ;) Anyway, overall I'm glad I went. Definitely something to check off the list! :) Sorry the pictures aren't very good but here we go...





Ok well seeing as it took me 20 minutes to get those pictures to work, the next part won't be quite as good as I was planning on...
Alright after the changing of the guard we walked around the place for a while and some people got food. Then we headed over to "Her Majesty's Theatre" to get tickets to see Phantom of the Opera tonight! After that we headed over to Portobello Road- a street (well actually a road) full of lots of shops and little outside market type things. Its also a touristy thing, so yeah, I just decided to be a tourist today. ;) It was really fun to walk around and look at everything, although I didn't buy anything. The area was really cute and there were so many fun colors that I had to take a picture! Check it out! :)



AFter Portobello Road (oh yeah. like the mushrooms. I tried to find out which name came first, but had no luck) we went home for dinner/laundry, then back to the theatre to see Phantom! It was SO great! I guess I had forgotten that its like my favorite musical ever...? I loved it, even though I was about 3 rows shy of being in the worst seat in the house. ;) Its funny though, when I say I loved it, its a completely different thing than when I said I loved Arvo Part's Nunc Dimittus that we heard last night. I loved that piece because its like life-altering, but I love Phantom of the Opera because its just entertaining and really fun to watch. Anyway, just thought I'd make that clear. Different type of love. Maybe I should just expand my vocabulary, then I wouldn't have to make those distinctions... ;)
Here I am outside the theatre!

Ok well sorry this really isn't a very exciting post, but I had to write something! It was a really fulfilling day, I feel like we were doing something every minute, which is great! I want to do and see as much here as I can! :)