Being a Tourist

After being in London for almost a whole month, I'm finally beginning to settle into a schedule. My classes are AMAZING and I have met some great people! To keep myself from spending all my time in my room doing my readings for class (but don't worry, I still spend plenty of time on my studies!), I try and mix up my schedule with visits to museums and famous London sites.

One of the great things about studying in a city like London is getting to visit several of the places we study about in class. Tomorrow, I'm going to the National Gallery for my Early Modern Art class to look at some of the artwork we studied last week. In my Architecture of London class, we were learning about the historical significance of squares and gardens in London. So last Wednesday, we actually went and visited some of the most significant squares of London! 

The Lyndsey House located on Lincoln's Inn Fields, one of the oldest squares in London

 This past weekend was very busy! Some of my friends and I decided to be tourists and did some of the top things to do in London. On Friday, we visited the Science Museum, which was very interesting. Afterwards, we were starving, so we went to a nearby pub for dinner and I got fish and chips with mushy peas.

Delicious!

Saturday Becca, her friend from home, another flat mate Maddie, and I were going to go to Westminster, but found out that it closes at 12:30 on Saturdays instead of 3:30 like we thought. So instead, we went to a local restaurant right down the street from Queen Mary and had a full English breakfast and then went to Oxford Street.

Yummy!

After an afternoon strolling down Oxford street, we decided to go all out and have tea at the Orangery. The Orangery is located right next to Kensington Palace and is a very lovely place for a proper afternoon tea. Unfortunately, Will and Kate were unable to accept our invitation to join us because George had been especially fussy that morning.

Map of Kensington Gardens, Palace, and Orangery

The exterior of the Orangery

Afternoon tea at the Orangery

When we were finished with tea, we strolled around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. During our walk, we decided to visit Big Ben and the Eye at night since it was only a couple miles away and a very pleasant evening. 

The bus just happened to drive by, making this one of the most British photos I will take!

This past weekend was amazing and I can't wait to keep you all updated with the rest of my adventures! Be on the lookout for an upcoming post about the Globe Theater, the National Gallery, and some visitors from home!

P.S. I think this Mini Cooper beats mine in the coolness category! But mine's still cuter ;)