I'm running out of time to do things!!! It just hit me today that there's so much I want to do and I only have four weeks left to do it all! School is really getting in the way of my fun time...

Okay...Wednesday night Christa and I took the tube to St. Paul's to just walk around and take pictures. I got a really pretty one of St. Paul's from the Millenium Bridge at sunset. The Millenium Bridge is a foot bridge that goes across the Thames. I guess when it first opened there were a lot of people crossing it and it was really shaking so they had to stabilize it. The view from the bridge was great, especially as the sun was setting. To the north we could see the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London and to the south was Big Ben and Parliament. Right on the other side of the river is Shakespeare's Globe Theatre too. Once we crossed the river we just stayed on the walkway next to it. There are so many little cafes and pubs all along there. There's even a Christmas shop that's year round!!! Christa and I decided we're going to go back there next week. I love the commercialization of Christmas. At the end of the walkway before you get to the Tower Bridge is the Scoop. It's a neat outdoor movie place. Next Friday night we're going to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's there.

It was dark by the time we got to the Tower Bridge, but it looks so majestic when it's lit up at night! I got some pretty awesome pictures of it too. When we got to the other side of the bridge we passed the Tower of London. It looked spooky and the moat is all grass now, but still...just thinking about all of the things that went on in there. It gave me the creeps. Right around the corner from the Tower was the tube station so we hopped on and took it all the way back to Gloucester Road. Then I went straight to bed because I was pooped!

Yesterday I didn't do a whole lot. I ran in the morning and came back for lunch and that's when I got hit with the need to be in the country. Last night was A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. We were supposed to be there at 7.40, but the Regent St. station was closed so we had to go to Baker, the one right before Regent and then walk the rest of the way. We waited 15 or 20 minutes at the tube station near our building! When it finally came it was already 7.30 and it takes 15 minutes to get to the Baker Street station! Once we were on Baker Street, we walked the wrong way! So we had to turn around and go back (and on the way we passed the Sherlock Holmes Museum) and find Regent's Park. By then it was already 8 and the show was starting! It took another 10 minutes to navigate through the park and find the theatre and when we got there the usher got on her walkie and said, "we've got another load of Americans". HAHAHA! But the show ended up being AMAZING! It's still my favorite Shakespeare. The actors were hilarious and the fact that it was the first night of summer made it even better.

Getting back was another adventure that I won't even get into, but I'll just say that it took an hour and a half just to get back!

This morning I got up and went for a run again. There was a royal car that passed me as I was going past the palace. I couldn't see who was in it though . I ran over to Hyde Park and stopped at the Diana Memorial fountain. It's so beautiful. It doesn't really look like a fountain, but it's hard to describe. There was a film crew there getting ready to film and it started to rain. It felt so good after my run. Class was interesting today. We talked about the European Convention on Human Rights and how it affects the Constitution of the United Kingdom. He let us out early though because he said he had a hangover! His son had called him last night and told him that he was graduating from the University of Leeds with a first degree which is like a diploma with honors in the States. Then he said "so I had a bottle of wine to celebrate. Actually it was a little more than a bottle, but who's counting?" I love this guy. He cracks me up.

Let's see...this evening Christa and I went to Harrods. That store is huge!!! It's not set up like a typical department store either. I don't even know...it's just incredible. There are 7 levels all packed with anything you could ever imagine, including race cars! We only covered 2 sections in almost 2 hours and that was just skimming. We went through the designer section for ladies' fashion. It had all the big names: Versace, Burberry, Armani, and a bazillion others. Then we went through the eveningwear and wedding dress boutique. The dresses were so pretty that I was afraid to even touch them! I felt so out of place there too, especially the way I was dressed. Plenty of other people were dressed the same as me, but the next time I go I'm going to dress nicely. I felt like I really stood out with my hair too. There were so many blonde haired and light brown haired ladies and all of it was straight and then I walk in with my dark brownish reddish wicked curly hair and felt like an oddball.

The next part we went to was the Food Hall. It's not a food court, but like a market where you can buy things. They have cafes, Lebanese, sushi, seafood, champagne & oyster bar, tea room, tapas bar, chocolate bar, bagel factor, delis, gelato, Krispy Kreme, pizzeria, rotisserie, a pub, and a market.The market is divided into food orders and hampers (picnics/gift baskets), florist-fruit-vegetable, fish-meat-poultry, chocolates-confectionery, and a candy shop and bakery. The confectionery was the best. All of the little candies...Turkish delight, marzipan, fondant, cheesecakes, cookies, macaroons, madeleines, any kind of chocolate you could ever imagine, and a ton of other sweets.

We also went to the Egyptian Escalator. It's dedicated to Mohamed Al Fayed's heritage. It actually looks like you're in an Egyptian temple. In between the two escalators is this huge golden sphinx. The Dodi and Diana memorial is also there. It's a picture of each of them and there's a little fountain beneath it where people throw in coins. There are 2 candles burning too. On the ground level is the statue dedicated to them. I got such a weird feeling when I saw it. They're standing facing towards each other and they both have an arm outstretched reaching for an albatross, which is the symbol of freedom. But the base of the statue says "Innocent Victims" and it just gave me chills. Behind it there is a book of condolences for people to sign. I went up to it, but I couldn't think of anything to put. It was so sad looking at all of the signatures and notes people wrote for her.

Okay, so here's the best part to this post: I walked past Mohamed Al Fayed coming out of Harrods! He's Dodi's father and the chairman of Harrods! It was crazy. Seriously. Now I'm getting psyched about the trip to Stonehenge and Salisbury tomorrow! I'll probably post pictures on Sunday.