Big Ben and Westminster Abbey

Monday was my first day of class. It was fine, except I found out in class that I had to go to lab immediately after. Not the best surprise ever, but I at least had Ananya as my lab partner!

That took up most of my day, and my friends and I spent a few hours in Leicester Square at night. We got pizza, but still were not satisfied--I'm still looking for good coffee and good pizza in this city!

Today, I was done with class by 11 AM and it was absolutely gorgeous out. Sunny and 70, pretty fantastic for a late September day in London! So, Ananya and I decided to head into the city and do a bit of sight-seeing.

 Let me start by pointing out what I'm wearing here. A tank top, people! In September, in London! Let's savor this for a moment.

Big Ben is one of the most iconic sites in London. He sits right on the end of the Parliament building, looking like he's straight out of a postcard. In the background is the London Eye, a Ferris wheel you can ride (for a pretty steep price) and see views of London.

Westminster Abbey is right across the street. It's a gothic-looking church, beautifully ornate and very impressive.

 Parliament in (almost) its entirety.

 Right below the London eye, you can get a fuller view of the Parliament building.

St. Paul's Cathedral is right around the way. It's the most famous cathedral in London and its crypts are home to monumental people in British history like the Duke of Wellington and Sir Christopher Wren.

Ananya and I spent a lot of time just perusing our way through this part of London. Along the way we stumbled upon a book market,

a garden up on top of a building, complete with a really creepy mural,

and this magical little place home to a side show that's been playing for the past few months in London!

To top it off, we saw a really fantastic sunset right over the Thames River on Blackfriars Bridge.

Despite getting lost after exiting the tube (the Mile End stop was closed down due to a power outage, and apparently tube stations aren't important enough for backup generators), it was still a great day and an afternoon well spent in the city!

Brick Lane Market

Brick Lane is a long street in the East End of London that hosts an absolutely amazing street market every Sunday. This past Sunday, we decided to check it out with the intention of maybe spending an hour or two there, and ended up exploring it for our entire afternoon.

The appeal of Brick Lane is that it is just so cool. It's an eclectic mix of vintage shops selling anything from old Levi's to chinaware to Polaroid cameras. It stretches on for what feels like miles and the shops and food choices are really never-ending.

You quite literally could get any kind of food you could possibly want here. Indian, Italian, Mexican, Ethiopian, Greek, Venezuelan, Dutch, French, Pakistani, the list goes on and on. There are not enough Sundays in my semester to possibly come close to trying all of the amazing food they have here!

Brick Lane is something I'll look forward to for many Sundays to come!

National Portrait Gallery, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace

Saturday was a bit of a day of exploration. We started out with the aim to go see Leicester Square and the surrounding neighborhoods. By the time we arrived, we were ravenously hungry and I was more than ready for my first authentic plate of fish and chips.

Needless to say, it was glorious.

After gorging ourselves on fried goodness, we popped into the National Portrait Gallery, another great free museum, right in Leicester Square.

Convincing, right?

Madonna on the top and the artist's self portrait in the bottom right hand corner.

Nicole Kidman

We then wandered a bit around Piccadilly Circus and nearby Trafalgar Square.

 People climb up on these humongous lion statues in Trafalgar Square to take photos. It's harder than it looks!

Flags hung around Piccadilly Circus advertising for the NFL games that'll be played in London this year.

Eventually, we made our way over to Buckingham Palace, home to the queen herself.

She's actually on vacation right now! 

We spent the majority of the rest of the afternoon in the park directly next to Buckingham Palace. The Queen has tons of parks and each is prettier than the last. This one, like most of the others, was loaded with wild birds, especially ducks. They make for great lazy entertainment. And with a view like this, who would complain?