Monday in London

This week is a little crazy because I will be leaving Wednesday for Paris and won't get back until Saturday afternoon. On Saturday my mom, dad, and Makelle will be here then I leave for Liverpool on our way to Scotland on Tuesday! So we packed our day full of things we haven't done yet here in London. The morning started off of course with school from 9-12 then we headed home, made some lunch, gathered our things, and were off! The first stop of the day was Kensington Palace, our neighbors! It is right across from our apartment but we haven't been there yet. We walked around outside and in the gardens. It was hard to get a good look around because apparently Kate is having some renovations done before she moves in. I don't think it would be too shabby living in a palace in the middle of a park and I hear Prince Harry is single! After Kensington Palace we took the tube to Harrod's and walked around inside. That is one VERY nice department store. I felt out of place the whole time but it was so fun to look at all of the amazing clothes and shoes they have there! We walked into one room that was dark except for the lights under the shoe towers, it was like a dream, then we picked up one shoe to get an idea of how much they were 1000 pounds (or 1500 dollars) no thanks! We also walked into the wedding dress room and were like little kids in a candy store staring at all of the beautiful gowns. On the bottom floor there is a little memorial for Princess Di that we went and visited, it was beautiful. We also stopped by one of their "luxurious wash rooms", and let me tell you it was luxurious. Yes, I did sample the perfume and partake of the cold glasses of water being given out at the end.
The next stop was afternoon tea! We haven't had a chance to do this yet and I did a little researching and found a cute place called Bea's Bloomsbury. We navigated our way over there and had peppermint tea with the most delicious scones. It was a perfect afternoon pick me up! The scones were warm and served with some tasty strawberry jam! When we were done soaking in our afternoon tea time we headed towards St. Paul's Cathedral.
The cathedral is beautiful and there is supposed to be an amazing view from the top of the building but we got there too late and it was closing for services. We did get to take some pictures out front though! Last night we had a fireside from a man that was a child during WWII and he told us all about the bombings in London. One of the coolest pictures he showed us was of St. Paul's Cathedral standing amongst all of the rubble. He told us stories about how Winston Churchill said that if they could keep St. Paul's Cathedral standing they would make it through. So, after hearing all of that it was so cool to see exactly what he had been talking about!
Our last stop was the National Gallery. We got to see paintings from Van Gogh, Da Vinci, and many others. I took Humanities last semester so I knew a lot of the paintings from that class. It was so cool to be able to recognize them and really understand their importance. We walked through the museum until it was almost closing time then headed out.
We ended the day at a delicious little Kebab restaurant. We have been hearing about them our entire time in London but this was our first experience with them. I got the chicken one and it is grilled chicken with lettuce, cabbage, onions, and this tasty yogurt stuff served in a pita. It was great! (Mom, Dad, Makelle we are going there!) I am now sitting in the building down the street from us waiting on my laundry. Another great day in London, I wish it didn't have to end.

Pictures: Kensington Palace, Harrods, Tea, St. pails, and Kebabs!!