the city

Before I came to London I remember looking at a map and thinking that it wasn't as big as I thought it would be. Or else how did they manage to fit it all on one small map? The truth is, London is huge and today I saw more of it than I thought existed. We spent the day walking through the London financial district (when I say we I mean myself and three other students) and the Westminster area which is the seat of government. We joined the other throngs of tourists snapping pictures of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Here's a picture on the other side of the building in a place called Victoria Gardens.

Everyone in the financial district is in a huge hurry and are quick to push curious American tourists out of the way. I guess they have the world's economy to run so they have no time to wait behind slower pedestrians. The center of London called the city, is incredible. It has some of the earliest churches in the area like this one dedicated to St. Michael.

For lunch we stopped into a fish and chips shop close to the Centre for some deep fried bliss. Apparently you can stop into any pub in the middle of the day and order some fish and chips that ares supposed to be out of this world, but only before the evening when the drinking starts. During the afternoon we took a walk through some more of the banking area. All of us in the group are following a series of walks in a sort of mini-textbook guide that we received last semester. We have to complete eight of them before Saturday evening and each last anywhere from one to three hours long, so that is how we have spent our time so far. It has been a great way to get to know the different areas of the city that the tourists normally never see. Tomorrow we'll go on a walk on the South Bank of the Thames and through the West End theater district. Only three more to go before we are finished.
This morning I decided that I couldn't stand another day of no exercise so I pulled on my running shoes and headed out to Kensington Gardens. I told myself that I wouldn't run, that swimming was more of my thing, but since it has been raining all week swimming was out of the question. I started through the gate for a quick run into the center of the park. It turned out to be an incredible morning! It was the first time I had seen the sun the whole time I've been here. There were tons of people out who ran funny like I do, so it encouraged me more. Later, I stopped on the grass for some pushups and situps and I realized I was right in front of Kensington Palace where Princess Diana used to live. Right then, it hit me how incredible that was; that I was halfway around the world in a place I had only heard about for so long, and it felt great. Looks like I'll be going on more runs in the morning.