Despite the sleeping pills and being utterly exhausted, I still didn't sleep much on the plane. But I still managed to rally some energy when we finally landed. It was a little stressful because our plane got in a bit late and we had plans to meet up with a friend who lives in Windsor for a Shakespeare play. But I was really glad I had Spencer with me since he at least had an idea of how to get around on the Tube. We knew what station to go to, but after that we didn't know where the hostel was. Luckily we found wifi somewhere, got in touch with Tina and figured everything out.

It was such a relief to get checked into the hostel, put away our bags, and change clothes! Luckily Emma was running late too, so she wasn't waiting for us too long. We definitely took the long way to the Globe Theatre, but I didn't mind because we walked by the Tower of London and across the Tower Bridge.

When we finally got to the Globe and met up with Emma, the play was almost half way over. I felt like kind of a jerk sneaking in during the middle, but there really wasn't anything we could've done. We saw Henry V, which I had never read before. Luckily there was a synopsis in the program. There were a few passages that went a little over my head, but for the most part my tired mind still managed to grasp most of what the Bard had written. We all really enjoyed the play. I kind of want to see it again so that I can see the beginning too. But really, the actors were so amazing. The costumes were fantastic as well. Basically everything about the Globe really impressed me and made me want to go back. If I lived here, I'd get those £5 tickets all the time.

Food was our top priority after the play, so we walked across the Millennium Bridge and took the Tube to Parliament. I finally got to see Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye. We walked along the Thames and Emma took us to wagamama, a chain of delicious Asian food restaurants. Noodles tasted amazing after not eating since the night before.

We weren't really sure what to do next and it was a little to early to turn in for the night, so we went to Parliament Square and saw the statue of Abraham Lincoln. It's pretty awesome that he has a statue here in London. We also saw the outside of Westminster Abbey and looked at the times for daily Evensong service. Hopefully we'll get a chance to go to that next week. Then we walked past Downing St., the Horse Parade, and saw Buckingham Palace from a distance all on the way to Trafalgar Square. There are giant lions around the monument to Horatio Nelson, so of course we decided to climb them. There is also an Olympic countdown clock in the square.

We stopped by Picadilly Circus, just to see it on the way back. It was pretty nice, lots of bright lights. It looked like fun, but we were all pretty tired. We hot off the Tube at King's Cross and made a quick stop at platform 9 3/4. I have to admit, it was a little bit of a disappointment. It's not actually between the two platforms, but rather off to the side a little bit. Still, we got the obligatory pictures pushing the cart. Back at the hostel we saw the happy news that we got our first paycheck. After a quick snack of a scone and cider, it was most definitely time for bed!