[Day 9] Buckingham Palace

It's really strange that this is my ninth day; it feels like I've been here for only a few days, yet it feels like I've been away from Pittsburgh for forever. I guess that's what happens when you're in a new place.

As I said, yesterday we (being me, Kate, Anna, Sammi and Erin) went shopping at Canary Wharf. When we got back to QM, I took an hour long nap. All of this walking is really getting to me, I feel exhausted after every single trip. I'm happy that I didn't sign up for the gym because all of this walking is more than enough of a workout.

I would just like to quickly explain that the nightlife and hanging out culture is very different here than it is at home; people go to pubs and clubs just to hang out, which is not what people do at home (they go to bars to drink). A lot of my flatmates and other friends will just go to a pub down the street to hang out and watch futbol. Because that's the culture here, that's what my American friends and I are doing too. At the pubs here plenty of people will get pub food and drink pop or any other non-alcoholic drink, or just get one beer. I don't know what bars are like at home as I'm still underage in the US, but the pubs here are more of a hang out spot than a spot to drink.

Back to my night...after I woke up, my friends and I decided to go visit a famous pub in our neighborhood. I took a bus a few blocks down the street to The Blind Beggar, which is an old pub in Whitechapel (the next town down from Mile End). I went with Kate, Erin, Sammi, Talhah and Anna. According to the Fodor's London book that I have, the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, preached his first sermon at The Blind Beggar. The pub is more famous for its affiliation with the East End's old underworld gangsters, in particular Ronnie Kray and George Cornell. Apparently Cornell was the "godfather" of the London gangsters and in 1966, his rival Kray shot him in the saloon. It was pretty cool to be in there knowing what happened there. It was very Victorian looking, dark and dingy. It had two big fireplaces, a small pool room in the back and a beautiful dark red ceiling.

After The Blind Beggar we headed back for QM and stopped at another pub, the New Globe, on the way. At the New Globe we sat and talked for a little and watched some futbol highlights on tv. I really need to learn some more about futbol and pick a team to root for. This pub had a much newer feel and a much younger crowd, I guess because it was closer to QM.

We got back to QM fairly early and realized we hadn't eaten dinner, so Anna cooked some food she bought at Sainsbury's. I'm not really sure what it was that she had, but they were like pizza pockets with onions, potatoes and cheese in the middle instead of pizza. They were actually really good, it tasted like a pierogie covered in bread.

This morning I didn't want to get out of bed because it was so comfortable and I could tell it was cold outside, but the promise of seeing Prince Harry at Buckingham Palace gave me the incentive to pull down the covers. Today I went on a tour of Buckingham Palace, which was amazing. Erin, Sammi, Kate, Daphne, Anna and I took the tube to Hyde Park around 10:30 this morning. We walked through the park to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards at 11:30. There were so many people there, I couldn't believe it. I took a few pictures of the crowd, but it was absolutely insane. We got there about 45 minutes before it started and barely found anywhere to stand.

We were able to hear the drums and watch the guards march into the front gates of the Palace. It was really funny actually, it seemed like the old redcoats from the Revolutionary War were marching in. The drums were really loud and there were a lot of guards marching, some in red coats and some in black. We couldn't really see what they did inside of the Palace gates, but we heard the drums and we saw them march out.

Here is a picture of what I could see:

 
After that ended at 12, we went to pick up our tickets for our 12:45 tour of the Palace. We stopped at a little bakery to pick up a quick snack. I got a chocolate croussaint, which wasn't very good. The people on the street were so rude, everyone was pushing and trying to get into the different bakeries, and the guy inside the bakery was rude to me. It wasn't a very pleasant experience.

We had to go through airport-style security to get into the Palace and we weren't allowed to take pictures. The whole time through the tour they had different doors open so I kept my coat on because today was pretty cold (probably in the low 50s or high 40s). It was a self-guided audio tour for 15 pounds and it was definitely worth it.

We each had head sets that took us through a bunch of rooms in the Palace and told us tons of facts about each room. There was so much information in the tour, it's hard to remember it all. One of the things that I remember is that there is about 750 rooms in Buckingham Palace and around 230 bedrooms. Also during World War II (I'm pretty sure it was II and not I, I guess that's kind of a big deal and I should figure it out), the Palace was actually hit by a German bomb. Another thing I learned is that there are a lot of trap doors in the Palace, they even showed us one in the White Drawing Room. A mirror and end table are attached to a trap door that's used to enter or exit the room. It was so cool to learn things like that! I also learned about the traditional Christmas broadcast that the Queen or King gives on Christmas Day. I'm really happy that I decided to go on the tour, it was something I'll never forget.

Here is a picture of me standing on the steps behind Buckingham Palace and a picture of the Palace from a bit farther back:
        


I wore a new flower hair clip that I got at Canary Wharf yesterday, a red polka dot skirt, black tights, a white shirt and my new black rain coat. I love my new black rain coat, it's perfect because it's not too heavy or too light and the collar flips up around my neck to block the wind. Don't I look like I belong in that house? I think so.

We got back to QM around 3:30 and I found my debit card right away, which was awesome because I thought I lost it. At 5:30 I walked down the street with Kate, Daphne, Erin, Sammi and Catherine (another girl that we're friends with) to a restaurant called the Greedy Cow. It was so good! I got a beef burger with cheddar cheese and a side of mash (Mash = mashed potatoes). I got a tasty banana milkshake too. The meal was only 11 pounds too! So far the food hasn't been that bad here, just really weird. They have a lot of chicken burgers and different forms of potatoes. In Mile End there is a lot of Indian food as well. The banana milkshake I had tonight was so good though.

It was cold and drizzling when we walked back to QM, which was only about three blocks away. On the way we stopped at a little grocery store, Budgens, to pick up some odds and ends that we needed. Of course I needed milk. I also need milk. This is the third carton of milk that I've bought in a week, I really need to slow down on the milk consumption.

When I got back I hurried up to my room to put on the Steelers game. I turned it on the X online radio, it was halftime and we were killing! I'm so happy that Charlie Batch played so well today and it was sick that Brett Kiesel got that return for a td. 3-0 is absolutely wonderful. It makes me so happy to be able to listen to the Steelers while I'm here.


M