Day 2 - Tom and the Old Street Gang

Today was filled with fun London sightseeing. We started off the day with ISA orientation. I took the Underground, or the "Tube" for the first time. It's super easy and really clear to follow! After the ISA Orientation, we had a couple hours to walk around Oxford Street, the biggest shopping district in England. There were so many giant stores, including H&M, United Colors of Benetton, and Top Shop (the U.K. version of Forever 21). It was great to walk around this busy street and enjoy a small lunch at the popular chain, Eat. I was able to take the typical touristy picture with the bright red telephone booth. We snapped a quick picture of our group  by the BBC Headquarters. This is also where the University of Westminster is located. I'm really happy it's in such a central area of London. I'm excited to be able to walk around before and after my class. We then headed back to ISA for our double decker bus tour. On this tour, we drove around London and were able to see some of the main sights. Although it was a little rainy, it was great to see everything briefly. We stopped at Buckingham Palace for a while to take some nice pictures and watch the guards on duty. I would really like to go up to a guard and bother them. Then, we climbed back onto the bus and drove by the Big Ben/Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, and many more. We even saw the entrance to Gringotts! The tour guide referred to us as the Old Street Gang and Tom is a ISA On-Site Staff that the girls in our group are kind of obsessed with. He's literally the perfect British guy - young, tall, slim, and he has the most typical British accent. He's awkward, but super sweet.

Later in the evening, we headed to the Freemason's Arms, a pub where all Westminster students were invited for a free drink. It was great to bond with our ISA group a little more. We then had dinner at the Prince of Wales. After, we decided to go to the Houses of Parliament to see them at night. We were able to successfully use the tube, on our own this time! As soon as we arrived and exited to the street, the Big Ben bell was ringing because it was 10 o'clock. Our perfect timing really created a magical moment and we finally felt like we were actually in London. We then walked around enjoying the atmosphere and taking many pictures of the London Eye and the Jubilee Bridge. Someone was playing a guitar and it was really romantic.

Finally, we headed home to Old Street on the Northern Line.

Tomorrow is a busy day starting at 8:15am. We have our University of Westminster Orientation and our first day of class. I'm hoping I can figure out where everything is because I feel a little lost right now.