Updates from Londy

Wow, it's coming up on my last week of school here in London...I cannot believe the 10 weeks are almost over. This past week was pretty low key with not a whole lot going on so that is why there have not been any updates. I will just give you a quick rundown of what I've been up to.

I have been doing a ton of walking lately--my walking boots are already wearing out on the bottoms because I wear them too much! The weather has been pretty nice lately so I have started walking to school and I love it. It takes about an hour to get there from my flat but usually I leave a little early so I can actually stop in Regent's Park to read :) I have become such a bookworm on this trip.

I also found my new fave thing to do is grab a muffin and flat white (usually costs me about 4ish pounds) and head to one of the Royal Parks to soak up the sun (when it comes out which is usually one day a week) and people watch. The flowers have also started blooming here and everything is starting to smell lovely!

Flowers by Hyde Park

Flowers in Hyde Park

Cute little guys :)

These ones smelled extra good

So pretty!

On Thursday, it was kind of cold and gloomy so I decided to do some indoor activities that day. I went to Knightsbridge to find the Saatchi Gallery. Well, no one informed me that in order to get to the gallery from the Knightsbridge tube station you had to walk down this street called Sloane Street...let me give you a brief rundown of what I passed on my way. Gucci, Versace, Valentino, Robert Cavalli (who by the way is my fave if I could afford it), Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Jimmy Choo, you get the picture. Pretty much every designer store possible was on this street. I of course was in my grungy jeans and tennis shoes and felt pretty stupid yet again. Thank god I don't care what people think otherwise I would have been mortified.

It took about 20 minutes to reach the gallery and it was so awesome. I might rank this as my favorite gallery so far. It was another more modern/contemporary gallery which I really enjoyed. I didn't really know any of the artists who had work in the exhibits, but each piece was unlike anything I have ever seen. There was this main exhibit that seemed as though you were staring into this deep hole in the floor...in actuality, it was just a reflection from the ceiling. I cannot explain it, but it was the weirdest thing ever! Here are some of my favorite pics from Saatchi.

"Arse flowers in bloom"

Couldn't tell ya who painted this but I just liked the abstractedness of it

I liked the pizza in this one!

Do you see the 2 random dots in the middle of this?

They were 2 random fruit-loops! Made me "LOL"

Neat. I like this a lot.

I spied a face in this one...do you?

This was the crazy reflection thing I was trying to explain to you...it probably would be more weird if you'd have seen it live...

After the museum I walked past all those stores again and made my way back to the tube. I then went to Picadilly Circus where I visited London's #1 toy store Hamleys. Let me tell you, if I was a small child, I would have gone crazy inside. Pretty much every toy, game, or stuffed animal imaginable was present. I was sooo tempted to purchase something for myself (a nice cuddly teddy), but I resisted. Then it was off to the bookstore to browse for a while. I ended up browsing for 2 hours because the book store was 5 stories high! It was so nice just to take my time and scan all the books though. OH I almost forgot to tell you, I also revisited Flat White and got a yummy piece of apple strudle coffee cake and a flat white (of course)! It was so yummy!

I was pretty pooped by this time so I made my way back to the flat, showered, and sat down for a little while until Monica came and got me to head out for the night. We ended up going to this cute little place for Gelato called Scoop! I got plain yoghurt flavor mixed with this super dark chocolate kind...it was amazing! I would almost go as far to say this Gelato was as good, if not better than the Gelato in Milan...then we walked around for a while and ended up in Picadilly Circus where we hopped back on the tube and headed home for the night. All the walking seriously tires me out and I am ready to crash by 10pm every night!

Now today (Friday) I had my first big presentation at school. It was for my business leadership class and I would say it went well to fairly well. I mean, we did throw the presentation together about 15 minutes before class, but it went rather smoothly...especially compared to a few of the other groups in the class. See, here at AIU, teacher's are very lenient with the "degree seekers." So many students either don't show up to class, or come meandering through the door with 15 minutes left in the session. The teacher's usually still allow these students to sign the attendence sheet and even explain to them the material we have covered up to that point. It really frustrates me because I work extra hard to make it on time and do all my work when these kids can just pass by without lifting a finger...ugh! Going to AIU has been an interesting experience to say the least...it definintly makes me appreciate UW-Stout so much more (I am actually looking forward to going back in September)!

After class, I figured I deserved a treat since I was fuming over what I explained above. I walked all the way from school to Covent Garden where I came across SNOG (coincidence?) and stopped in to get meself anice big bowl of frozen yoghurt. Today, I chose natural flavor with brownie, strawberry, and granola. So good...I'm gonna miss me some SNOG when I leave. Then I walked down to the Thames and followed the path along the river for a while becasue it was sunny and the sun made me feel warm and happy. It was lovely and so refreshing. It was starting to get late so I hit up the Leicester Square tube station and headed home. Kirsten was just arriving at the same time and asked if I wanted to try this little Mexican place called Benito's Hat (think Chipotle) with her. We agreed to meet in half an hour and I quickly refreshed myself.

At 5:30, we met in the hall of our flat and headed out. It took about 30 minutes to get there and when we enetered, my nostrils rejoyed at the smells they encountered. It smelled so good and everything looked fresh and delish. I decided on a buritto with chicken, black beans, rice, guac, cheese, lettuce, salsa, and sour cream, washed down with a diet coke. It was so good and was probably the first thing I have eaten all week that has actually sort of filled me up. Since there is only 8 days left, I am letting my food supply dry up which has left me with not too many options meal-wise. But that's okay, I will survive :)

I am probably going to hit the hay pretty early tonight since I am planning on doing a lot of walking around again tomorrow...hopefully it is extra nice!!

Counting down the days till I get to see you all!!!

-Little Londoner