hooray, i'm in london! i got in rather late on friday, and made my way, with very large backpack on back and smaller one in front down the piccadilly line to these wonderful people's house that i am staying at. i was careful to "mind the gap" as i "alighted" (brits and their phrases and fancy verbs). on saturday i saw a ton of stuff - piccadilly circus, big ben, parliament, the eye, st. paul's cathedral, westminster abbey, and got lost a bunch, which was great. oh yes also had some fish and chips. started getting really cold (there's snow on the ground, which apparently never happens here), so i stepped into the tate modern for a couple hours and appreciated some modern art. apparently its so cold that kids aren't even going to school (brits and their excuses). sunday i went to a baptist church just around the corner, i am staying with the pastor. he had a fantastic sermon! and everyone was, rather surprisingly, very friendly, although with all their accent and british mutterings and whatnot one has to focus to understand what they're talking about. and then after church i was invited for lunch which was brilliant! it was some older people from the church that were over at the pastor's house for lunch, and i must say that it was quite the prim and proper ordeal! lunch followed by these fantastically ornate traditional desserts and then orders for tea; stretching on ito the late afternoon. then i went back into london, saw some more stuff like the tower bridge. after which i fled from an altercation with a drunk bloke outside a pub (i did nothing wrong, i assure you). next day i went down to trafalgar square, feasted my eyes upon the overated beauty that is buckingham palace, and then got lost searching for this massive department store that i have heard so much about called harrods. when i finally found it it did not dissappoint! absolutely everything one could ever want in one building, and the best brands and all out luxury at that. also varieties of cheese that apparently can be found nowhere else. not that i was prepared to buy anything, buts its fantastic! then i went to the british museum for the entire afternoon, and gazed upon such objects as the rosetta stone!
