London Weekend!

Right after getting back from Edinburgh I wrote a paper Tuesday-Wednesday and had my tutorial on Thursday and left Friday afternoon for London Weekend hosted by IFSA-Butler Study Abroad crew. Our hostel called The Clink like the prison that used to be there (classy, I know) was right near Kings Cross Station:


Here I am at Platform 9 3/4. Alexis took it and she is opposed to vertical pictures for reasons unknown to me and there was a line and my camera was failing. All these things combined resulted in this pretty crap picture, but you get the idea. I was there. That happened. I had a magical time and all that.


The Clink. Our room was bright orange and we felt like little kids on these bunk beds with wacky ladders.

Dinner at Mestizo, probably the only authentic Mexican place in all of England. I have never been so excited about black beans in my life because I was deprived for so long!!


I took the opportunity to get this huge margarita which was delicious but sooo alcoholic and it was frozen so I was drinking it too slowly and my friends helped me out a little. :)


Lexi and I went on to meet up with her friend Mitch from Tufts who is studying abroad at King's College. Left to right: Mitch, Lexi, Mitch's friend Anna (who goes to the U of M) and Me!


This was deemed necessary for some reason I can no longer fathom.


London Underground backup! Some lines weren't running and they had to have crowd control because the station was so mobbed. It was a little frightening. Blurry me can be seen swiping through in the middle.


London Bridge. Gray sky, gray concrete buildings, gray river. Welcome to London!


The side of The Globe Theater. The original burned down but this copy is as exact as they could make it down to the thatched roof.

There was a troupe rehearsing so we weren't supposed to take pictures inside hence the slanty-ness of this off-limits photo. The circle on the stage and the netting at the back etc were added for the upcoming production of Macbeth they were rehearsing.


After the Globe, Lexi, Alexis and I wandered through this cool garden full of statues while looking for the Ben Franklin Museum.


Still lookin for Franklin! This is the London architecture school, I think.


AT LAAAAAST! Look how thrilled we are.


Thoughts on the Ben Franklin Museum: It's kinda cool because he actually lived in it and the floors and stairs and fireplaces are all intact. There was also a display about the scientist who lived there at the same time who stole bones from graveyards for anatomy instruction or something. Creepy! However, the display needs work. Mostly you go from room to room on a semi-virtual tour led by someone in period dress. The storyline also presents some kind of awkward sexual tension between her and Franklin. This is definitely off the beaten trak of London attractions.

Waiting for our boat cruise on the Thames. That bright purplish thing is the London Eye:


Alexis, Grace, Mike and Lexi waiting to get on the boat.


Some pictures form the boat cruise:


The theme was Favorite TV Show: Fry from Futurama and Lindsey from Freaks and Geeks.

Karaoke on the cruise. Yeaaaah.

The next day there was a free brunch and then Lexi and I tracked down books we needed for our tutes that week by Piccadilly Circus. It was annoying lugging our bags with us on the tube but we managed to get what we needed and postpone going back to work for a little longer!