A Day of Royalty

Today I felt like royalty...well kinda. We woke up early this morning in order to report to Her Majesty's abode (Buckingham Palace) by 11 am. Once again, there was not a cloud in the sky and

the sun was simply beaming so this just set off the day to a great start! We arrived around 11:30 and hopped in line for about 30 minutes to get our tickets for the tour of the Royal State's Rooms. This included rooms such as the picture room, a full exhibit of her beautifully adorned gowns...ohhh what it would be like to wear a Gold chiffon dress overlayed in lace with diamonds around the hem. WOW...talk about some BLING! We also walked through the room where Prince Charles and Prince William (and probably all princes) were baptized with Thames River water.

It was such a cool feeling to get to walk through the halls where the Queen of England spends her time...oh what it would be like to be the Queen for the day-no big deal I'm sure. As you will see in the picture to the left, that was a sneaky photo of the picture gallery...look at those elaborate walls and high arched ceilings! Absolutely Beauuuutiful! My favorite part of the palace was getting to see all the gifts that were given to her at different countries she has visited. And come to find out, she has dispersed every single gift, no matter the size, around the Palace.

Between tapestrys and jewelry, to a shawl and carved polar bear made from stone, there were so many interesting gifts dispersed in every room.

Anyways, all I can say is that it was simply marvelous to walk where the Queen of England walks on a daily basis when she is in England! After this, we all got to enjoy the day in the gardens in the back of the castle...in the video below you will see the room where the Princes get baptized. We continued our day at the National Gallery with our professor who is living

here in London with us and teaches a class. Her specialty is art history so we asked if she would mind taking us through some art history in the museum. We got to see a bit of everything...Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, etc. It was very cool to say the least! I have always wanted to appreciate art but have never really understood it, but Kirsten provided stories and answers for all of our many questions about these elaborate (and some simple) paintings. Come to find out...all the big names today (picasso, etc) were poor when they were artists. Now to think how big they have gotten over the centuries and they aren't even alive to appreciate it! After the museums, we decided to go into Trafalgar Square to climb the great lions...and that was an adventure in itself. After many many laughs and some failed attempts at first, we finally hoisted ourselves up on the feline..and boy, was the picture worth it or what!

Overall, today was one of my favorite days yet! I have been busy at work trying to plan all of my upcoming travels...next weekend its Paris, soon to follow Italy then Spain and Morocco for Fall break! Yes...I may even be riding a camel in the desert and experiencing waterfalls-no big deal! SO EXCITED for all of the traveling coming up but I am also trying to enjoy my home of London for now! Tomorrow we may get to go see Les Miserables for matinee or an evening show...we shall see! I am loving all the different aspects that London offers...now if you could just imagine with me what it would be like to live in that royal palace. But for now, I will go retire in my bunk bed in the flat-gotta love the life of a college student studying abroad!