Lords, Commoners, and Queen

Yesterday was jam-packed with some really cool things...I can't wait to tell you about them! First I had class which was okay but afterward My roommates and a few other people and I all took the tube to Westminster. When you pop your head out from the Underground you see the London Eye and the aquarium across the river and when you look behind you, Big Ben! I finally felt like I was really here in London. We walked around and took pictures and made our way over to Westminster Abbey which was spectacular. We didn't go in but I'm sure we will in the future. After taking in the sights for a while and getting a whole bunch of new facebook pictures ;) We broke off and went our separate ways. Alyssa, Mike and I decided to catch the debates in the Houses of Parliament. I would recommend this to anyone! It's free and it's one of the coolest things in London so far. You just go through security and they give you a cool badge with your picture on it. Then you either go to the House of Commons or the House of Lords. We went to both but first, the House of Commons. It's a lot smaller than you would imagine and it's fairly plain but the architecture is still amazing. We got to listen to the members debate the U.K.'s stance on the violence in Gaza...really interesting. Especially since there have been several protests right near where I live...it's easy to steer clear of them but I have gotten to see some of the action from a distance. So it was great that we got to hear what the British perspective is on the situation. Then we went over to the House of Lords where there was a Q & A session going on. The House of Lords is much more ornate than the Commons and there is a huge golden throne at the head of the room...it is reserved for when the queen comes to open a new term each year. We stayed there for a while and then left to go to Picadilly Circus. There was a sale going on at a sporting goods store so we all got England soccer...I mean football jerseys.

After that it was time to head back to the dorm and get ready for the play we were going to see...We Will Rock You! The show was absolutely amazing simply for the beautiful voices of the actors and of course to hear all of those Queen ballads was cool. It actually felt more like a concert than a play. The outside of the theater is decorated with glitzy signs and a monstrous golden statue of Freddie Mercury...you couldn't miss it. After rockin' out for about three hours we headed back to the dorms once again. I still have Killer Queen in my head ;)

Until next time,

Kelsey