The past few days have been so busy and exciting! It’s amazing how quickly the week went and the end of the week crept up. The days are getting longer in London, making the beautiful nights here so special and everlasting! Except for the other day when I wanted to pass out at 9pm and it was still kind of light outside.
Starting with Wednesday:
After work Justine and I went to a service at Westminster Abbey. Even though it was a Church of England service, we couldn’t really feel the separation or difference. Being in the presence of the Lord and giving thanks to Him in the Abbey was a wonderful offering after such a hectic workday.
It was off to explore the inside and outside of Victoria station next. Took the tube over there and walked around the surrounding streets of Victoria station. The Victoria Palace Theatre is here which is showing Billy Elliot. The theatre showing the London Broadway production of Wicked is also in this area. We then walked back to the massive Victoria station and explored the noshing options there. We resorted to the cafeteria upstairs that offered lots of different options. Filled our tummies and then headed off to Embankment.
Embankment is much closer to Westminster than I originally thought. We walked out the station, down a little street, through an alleyway with two cute pubs across from one another (love seeing all the people congregating outside pubs laughing and drinking) and then out onto the street right in front of Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is the square in front of the National Gallery, the focus being Nelson’s Column. We walked down the Strand for a while took a right turn and then walked down Victoria Embankment, back to around the Embankment tube station. Tattershall Castle was the location of the every-other-week BUNAC Pub Meet. The pub is on a very attractive old paddle steam that is now moored to the Victoria Embankment along the River Thames.
It boasts spectacular views; overlooking the Festival Halls, the London Eye, and of course, the Houses of Parliament. There are 4 bars on the pub; 2 of them being on deck. When we first got on the boat, we were a little confused as to where to go to find the BUNAC students and coordinators. So we decided to walk around the deck, then grab a drink and wait a little bit. Eventually we found Caroline from BUNAC and other students. Talking with other students who are interning abroad was so enjoyable. The warm welcoming environment of the location and the people was relaxing.
Moving onto Thursday.
Fairly normal “day”. The best part of course was going to Sports & Social after work. All six of us were there which made it special and so work-chic. I talked with the friends from my office before paroosing the area and talking to some new people. Met a few people who were visiting Parliament as reporters and journalists. Also met friends of my flat mates. There was a man at the bar working on a brief. Secretly m-uploaded him.
Then it was Friday...Friday!
My day started out great! For real! I finally got my Parliament Pass! Little uniqueness about mine is it is Red, because my sponsor is of the House of Lords. Woot woot! I feel so official now! I cannot wait to go on a tour with Paul this week!
My PAs and I had a great day of work and laughs in the office on Friday. Evaluated some interesting casework responses. Furthermore, we received an interesting phone call in the morning. All I will say is that the other side’s use of explicables is not necessarily if they are aiming for having an intelligent discussion. Productive workday overall. Learned a lot about the Conservative view of certain policies, which was really helpful.
After finishing a good pile of response and copying them, I left work and headed to Leichester Square to meet Justine. Making a decision to live wildly and do something we didn’t intend to in the morning, we purchased half-price theatre tickets for Chicago.
Before going to show, we had a fair amount of time to cruise around town. Stopped in for dinner at a little Mediterranean place in an alleyway we spotted while walking. In all honesty, it was not that good. At least he didn’t charge us for water (wink wink Justine).
Both of us were craving a sweet treat of frozen yogurt. Being so close to Covent Garden and knowing a great place next the Round House we made a bee line for there. SNOG, no not saliva swapping, but a tiny frozen yogurt franchise is fun and funky. The frozen yogurt is made with organic dairy ingredients coming in three different flavors: Natural, Chocolate and Green Tea. Of coure to make your snog more exciting, there are a variety of toppings ranging from fresh fruit and to chocolate brownies, cookies, and granola. Come here and you will be hooked.
We continued to walk around the Covent Garden, Leicester Square, and West End theatre district areas. What always amazes me when I return to these places is how much there is! There is always more and more to see. Especially if you walk down little alleyways, a whole square can open up before you with restaurants, pubs and shops. Did a little window shopping; just peeking in and browsing around. Across from the Urban Outfitters and down the street from the theatre there is a pub called Crown and Anchor. The pub caught our attention earlier when we passed it because there was a mass amount of people outside, just drinking and mingling. Wanting to see and be a part of the fun, we spent the last time before the show enjoying a pint of cider outside with the crowd. Nearly 8:00, it was still so light outside and the temperature was so comfortable.
The Cambridge Theatre, a West End theatre, is where we saw Chicago. I learned that it is actually one of the youngest theatres in the WE theatre district, having opened in 1930. The theatre is a comfortable size for both plays and musicals. The show was wonderful and as with any great musical you come out singing its tunes!
I decided I am going to wait until tomorrow to update you on what the happenings of my day today were. Thought I would spread out the updates and enthusiasm. Hope everyone is having a wonderful start of summer so far! Yours truly, certainly welcomes the warm weather!
Cheers!
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