Today was a great day. We signed in for attendance at class at 9:30 a.m., left class at 9:32 a.m., ate McDonalds for breakfast, and arrived at Chelsea Football Club at 10:50 a.m. We got tickets for the 11:30 tour of the stadium.

While we waited for our tour to begin, we went to the Chelsea FC Museum that just opened on June 6. There were a lot of interactive exhibits, making the museum very modern and engaging.

Our tour went something like this:
1. The press box and the press room. I sat in the seats that the press sits in – the seats are very nice, with little tables in front of the chairs. I got to sit at the podium/desk (whatever it’s called) in the press room, which was pretty cool as well.
2. The away team’s locker room and Chelsea’s locker room. The away team’s locker room was not pink like Kinnick’s, but it was very small and nothing compared to Chelsea’s locker room. Chelsea’s locker room was like a mini-mansion. There was a huge dressing room, an amazing bathroom, tubs and showers, a massage room, a TV room, etc. The players’ jerseys were hanging over which locker was theirs. Most teams are assigned lockers numerically, but Chelsea players get to choose which locker they want so they can sit by their friends.
3. Next, we were taken into the hallway outside the locker rooms where both teams line up before the start of a game. We got to walk through the tunnel onto the field and hit the same Chelsea sign that the players hit before every game for good luck.
4. We sat in Chelsea’s dugout for a little while and learned where all the important people in the stadium (the owner of Chelsea FC, the wives/girlfriends of the players, etc.) sit. This is where I learned that to rent a private box you have to pay 1.8 million per season and you have to commit to 10 years. All the private boxes are sold out.
5. The tour ended with the gift shop.

We left Chelsea to go sign in at our field trip, got to the Victoria and Albert Museum at 2:00 p.m., and left by 2:02 p.m. I just don’t have time for this whole school thing this week – I have too many sites I need to see! We went to Prêt a Manger, which is my favorite chain restaurant in London. I’d compare it to Panara, but without the soup and salad.

Our plan was to go to St. Paul’s Cathedral. On the way there we passed a cookie shop called Ben’s Cookies that Jessica pointed out and suggested that I take a picture in front of it for Ben. I laughed, took the picture, and we decided to check out the cookies. I am very glad that I took a picture in front of the shop because I had a milk chocolate chunk cookie and it was the BEST cookie I’ve ever had in my entire life. Jessica said the same thing about her cookie. It was so warm and fluffy, and melting and gooey on the inside, but crispy on the outside, and it was just delicious. I will be going back there –maybe everyday – to take advantage of these miracle cookies.

We finally moved on from gushing about our life-changing cookie and made our way to St. Paul’s. I successfully climbed the 257 steps to the Whispering Gallery, the 376 steps to the Stone Gallery, and the 528 steps to the Golden Gallery. The Whispering Gallery is 30 meters up from the Cathedral floor – you’re basically walking along the inside of the dome. It’s said that you can whisper on one side of the dome and the sound travels along the wall to the other side, but there were too many people there to try that experiment. The Golden Gallery was outside and 53 meters up from the Cathedral floor. We had to wait in line for about a half-hour before we started the final trek to the top, the Golden Gallery. The Golden Gallery was beautiful. It is 85 meters above the Cathedral floor, and from this point you can pretty much see ALL of London. The view was amazing, 110% worth the climb.

The climb, however, was terrifying. The steps are very narrow and you have to walk single-file because the walls along the winding staircase do not leave much room. There’s a little window that you can look down when you’ve almost reached the Golden Gallery – it was terrifying. I’m not really afraid of heights, but man, I did not like being up that high in crowded, confined spaces. The view at the top made me forget all about that though, it was unreal.

When we made it back down to the ground, we stopped in St. Paul’s Café to get afternoon tea. I’ve been in London for almost 2 months, and I have not had afternoon tea until today! That’s pretty much a sin in this city. The tea was yummy and came with milk. I had never put milk in my tea before, but I will do it again because it made the tea taste thicker and less watery. It really brought out the taste.

We were going to go to the London Eye next, but decided to save it for another day. I want to go at night so I can see all the pretty lights! Now I need to do some homework and prepare myself for my 12-hour trip to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath tomorrow! What an amazing day - and tomorrow might be even better!