Afternoon Tea

I've really enjoyed the past few days here in London. On Sunday I went with Eric, Allegra, and Dave to Bodean's BBQ near Oxford Circus (a big shopping area) to watch the NFC Championship game. It was a great night; great friends, great food, and a great game. 

Me and Allegra!

Just enjoying some good, old-fashioned BBQ in London

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were pretty low key. I did laundry for the first time (thrilling), went grocery shopping, and finally got around to buying rain boots (London has not been kind to my shoes so far).

Today I went to my three morning classes, and then traveled (by myself, for the first time!) to the Ruben's Hotel London near Buckingham Palace for afternoon tea with a few other Boston College students. It was a neat experience; the hotel was absolutely stunning, and we were given our own private room where we sat at a big round table, drinking tea and eating the cutest little sandwiches  scones, and pastries I have ever seen. 

Ruben's Hotel London

Fancy-Shmancy!

Since I was already downtown, I decided to walk around for a bit to do some sightseeing. The hotel was a mere three blocks from Buckingham Palace, and I was able to walk right up to the gate and get a closer look. I then walked to Westminster to see Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. London is such a walkable city; you can pretty much walk a few blocks in any direction and see an iconic London site. 

Buckingham Palace

Queen Victoria Memorial

Guarding the palace

The London Eye from a distance

Westminster Abbey at dusk 

Abraham Lincoln statue! 

Big Ben at night - so stunning (notice the double-decker bus too!)

Later, Eric met me at Westminster and we walked to Trafalgar Square. We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant in Piccadilly Circus, which had pretty good food, but a very strange atmosphere. For example, 50 Cent (the rapper) music videos were on in the background. Not exactly what you think of when you imagine an Italian restaurant. On the way back to the tube, we stopped at Cafe Concerto for dessert; I had a mocha and a strawberry tart - delicious. 

Trafalgar Square

The National Gallery

Colored fountain

Just chilling

Enjoying a mocha for dessert at Cafe Concerto!

Tomorrow I'm going to head to Camden Market, which I've heard is a really cool place to find all sorts of neat, cheap stuff (perfect!). One last picture for the day - my parents were kind enough to send me some pictures so that I could brighten up my room a bit more! 

A little bit of London, a little bit of home!

It's certainly come a long way since I moved in almost 3 weeks ago. I'm looking forward to the weekeend; hopefully the weather will hold up!