Day 27 = Jan 30

Friday!!!

The first day of my weekend.  Got up at 11 today,  it felt good to sleep but I keep waking up with a sore back, this bed has no support.  The first thing that I did was go and have my computer fixed.  It did not take long but I was happy to have it fixed.  I got back and talked to Amanda for a little bit then I went to town to buy food.  From the time i left to the time that I got back was almost three hours, but I got a lot of food that should last me for a long time.  When I got back I made myself some supper and then I worked on some stuff on the Internet and my computer.  Later I got ready for my trip to Avebury and Stonehenge.  I had to make myself a lunch, it saves me money that way.  Amanda went out tonight so I was here alone, it was alright, I keep myself busy doing all kinds of little things.  I am also trying to get rooming situation done for next fall.  To much to do! Oh well.

Rick

Day 26= Jan 29

Thursday, which are going to be my big day of the week.

I had 4 hours of classes today.   My first two were in the morning.  The first one was at 10, then I had an hour break so Rachael and I went to the cafeteria.  She took a nap and I had some pasta and chips (fries).  Then we went to our second class.  After class I came back the flat. I took another nap and then I had to back to campus for my last two class which were at 4 and 5.  So when I finally got done with class, I walked to the bus stop where I stood outside there for 25 minutes waiting for the bus.  Then,  if there would have been 2 more people in front of me in line, I would not have gotten on the bus.  It was packed.  Over 20 people had to sit and wait for the next bus yet.  That night I was ready to throw my computer out the window.  I don't know why the we have to have this program on our computer in order to sign onto the Internet. Well it was not working and so from about 7, I did not have Internet connection.  That did not make me happy.  Oh well.  

Hope things are going good at home.  Take care,

Rick

Day 25= Jan 28

Wednesday

I had 3 hours of classes today.  I went to the first one, then I was going to eat at the cafeteria, but the building that the main one is in had the fire alarms going off in it.  so I went another little one.  I had some pasta stuff with meat balls.  It was alright.  Then I went to my second class.   Had an hour to kill.  Went to the last class and came back to my flat.  I was getting tired because I was still not sleeping well at night, so I took a nap.  I had some supper and just relaxed here at the flat.  Sometime that night I met up with Wendy and we went over to another flat and hung out with some people.  Met a guy from Wales here and talked to him for a while.  Then we went down town to a club that was having a student night.  I did not stay out real late and came back then went to bed.  Nothing exciting once again.

Rick

Day 24= Jan 27

Hey everyone.  I am slowly getting this thing up to date again. Sorry it is taking so long.  

I had my second class today.  It was at 11. I got up a little bit earlier this morning so I could go sing up for a trip to Amsterdam, then I went to class.  Then I went and talked to people about trying to get into my last class,  and then went to the post sale again. I finally found some that I liked.  I will take pictures so you can see them.  After that I came back to the room and had some lunch.  That afternoon I went to sign up for my math class that I wanted to take and then just came back here to the room.  I sat in my room and did not do a whole lot of interest.  Made myself some Mac and Cheese and peas for supper, it had white cheese sauce on it.  It was not to bad but I like the Mac and Cheese from home better.   Then I spent the rest of the night hanging up my posters, updating this thing,  talking to Amanda and mom and I finally got a system set up for keeping track of how much money I have spent so far and for the rest of the trip.

Take care everyone

Rick

Day 23= Jan 26

Monday, first day of classes.

Well I had my first classes today,  well actually my first class.  My second one the teacher never showed up.  It went alright.  just found about how the class would go and the little things that we needed to know.  After class I went and talked around the club fair, not real exciting. I don't really want to join a club to only be here for a semester.  I think that I will have enough to do without a club.  After that I ate my sandwich that I brought with me for lunch.  Then I went to my second class which ended up being canceled. There was a poster sale going on today on campus so I went and looked through some of them.  I did not really find anything that I liked so I did not get anything.  I might go back tomorrow to look again.  After that Rachel, Alyse and I went to try to get train tickets for our Dublin weekend.  We did not get it figured out.  We will worry about it later.  On our way back we stopped at the stores.  I got something to drink and then I picked up a plate, bowl and some glasses.  Since we don't have any around here.  I am borrowing a fork and knife from the cafeteria for now. I will return them later.  I need to save as much money as possible right now.  That night we booked hostels for our stay in Dublin and that ended another exciting day.  Right. 

Well hopefully now I can get into a regular schedule and time will fly by.  

Take care

Rick

Day 22= Jan 25

Hey everyone.

so i am way behind on this.  today  i slept in and then ate some lunch.  Rachel, Alyse and I went for a walk down on the beach.  the tide was way out so the beach was huge.  we walked along it for probably over a mile. It was my first time on the beach, it was kinda cold so not what you normally think of the beach but it was cool.  We kept walking and ended up walking down town to go get some food and try to find school supplies, that went real well.  they do not have such things as a two pocket folder over here, everything is portfolio style.  So I did not get any.  Oh well.  We did find where there was some more shops at and where the Staples store was.  it is just like the Staples in the states.  After that I did not do much the whole day.  That night i book plane tickets to go to Dublin in March. Other than that it was nothing exciting.  

Take care everyone,

Rick

Day 21= Jan 24

I slept in today.  and it felt really good.  

Today was kinda boring,  did not do much.  Early this afternoon we went down town and did some shopping.  i got some food and few little things that i need for school.  I was able to see a lot of down town and learned where to find some different stuff at.  after that i came back and relaxed.  talked to Amanda and finished setting up my room.  i also hung out with my friends for a little while.  

From Swansea

Rick

Day 20= Jan 23

Hi.

Today SUCKED!!!!!   we had orientation this morning.  it was 3 hours of people talking to us about everything that we needed to know and most of it was important so we were trying to remember it all and write stuff down.  enough to give me a big head ache.  after that we had about an hour to try to find something to eat and get back to campus for signing up for classes.  which that is another headache in itself.  there scheduling is so annoying.  its not class on MWF @ 9,  no it might be M @ 11, then W @ 9, then R @10,   OR,  W @ 11, then R @ 12, the R @ 4.  it is totally random.  so if you have one math class, 2 engineering classes, and a Econ class  (which is what i have)  there is a really good possibility that they could have class at the same time a day or two or more.  so it sucks,  it makes a lot more headaches and makes no sense.  so after we got signed up for classes a few of us went and got some food from the supermarket and then came back.  i was shot by that time of the day.  it just sucked all around until we got back.

After we had time to settle down a little bit we decided to go out for the night.  we went over to Wendy's for a while and then went down town.  it was a good night.  it was nice to relax for a while and and just enjoy our time.  we were out quite late so we had to get a taxi back.  sometime during the night one of the girls lost her coat and then one girl never brought a coat out.  so i gave one of them my coat and i gave the other one my long sleeve button up shirt so they could stay a little warm.  when we got back i went to bed.  it was a good night.  i met a lot of new people and got to experience the night life.  it was fun.

Everyone back at home,  take it easy.  hope everything is going well. 

Rick

Day 19= Jan 22.

Our trip to Swansea.  we got on the bus at about 10 and headed out of London.  we were on the bus for about 30 minutes when we finally started to get out of the city.  and we got to see cow for the first time.  it made me feel a little better.  we had were on the bus for about 2 hours when we stopped for lunch and a stretching break.  i got lunch at burger king.  

It is some pretty country here.  there are a lot of rolling hills with farms in the valleys and yeah.  Lot of sheep.  i did get to see some farms,  could not really tell what they were like, just farms.  I did get to see some tractors too.  got a picture of one.  sad thing is that it is green.  oh well i did see some red ones but i don't think that they were IH.  

On our way here we had an entire charter bus for 7 people.  so we had a lot of room.  i slept for about an hour of our 4 hour trip.  i was tired and glad i did sleep.  driving on the bus it was hard to try to get any good pictures so i gave up after a while. 

When we got to Swansea, we were drove right to our housing area.  we got checked in with no problems and got into our flats.  i am with all Americans.  Jeff, who i was in London, is one of my flat mates.   the others are=  Megan and Ashley who are both from Colorado.  the there is Jeff, Paul, Nathan and Jack who all go to ISU.  Yeah and there are a lot of Iowa people here.  i keep getting,  "oh, your another Iowa kid, there are a lot of you here"  

my flat is alright.  it not a very friendly place.  it is very closed and not oven and inviting.  when i got here the kitchen was a pit.  it was so dirty.  my room is alright.  is about 9 by 12 feet.  so not to bad.  i have a bed, desk, wardrobe, dresser, shelves, and a night stand.  when i first got here i had these peach colored sheets for bedding.  then i was out with my friends and Rachael was talking and she was complaining that she had these ugly green plaid boy sheets,  so i said, well i have peach colored one, and she popped up so fast, "can we switch?"  so i got green plaid sheets, i like them better than the peach ones.  the bathroom is small.  there are three rooms in it.  one has a toilet and really small sink, the second one has a toilet, bath tub and a sink and mirror,  the third one has a shower,  a really really small shower.  it is about 30 inches square maybe,  and you have to step into the shower in order to close the door to it.  it is said.  so i spent the afternoon packing and getting stuff organized.  i went out with some of my flat mates for supper at a pub.  it was nice and good eating and it was only 5 pounds for my whole supper,  which i thought was cheap compared to London anyways.  then i got a some food from the supper market.  that night i just stayed in and talked to Amanda and family at home and went to bed.  

during the night i also realised that i left the lens cover for the camera on the bus.  so i need to get a new one of those. oh well.  it should not cost to much.  

Rick

PS.  sorry this is taking so long to get posted.  

Day 18= Jan 21

Wednesday January 21.  Today is our last full day in London. We had to take our test this morning and turn in our papers.  The test was not very hard.  After we got done taking the test I went back to the room at some lunch and worked on packing. I took a real quick nap in there too.  At a little bit before 4 I left and went to the Hard Rock Cafe's gift shop and bought a T-shirt.  When I got back to the rooms everyone else was ready to leave to go out to eat for our last night in London.  We went to this place called Earl of Camden. It was really good food. I had potato wedges and then fish and chips.  After we left the restaurant we went to a pub called O’Neal’s. We watched a soccer game and hung out for a while.  We meet up with another group of people who were from the states.  We went down the road to a different pub and had a beer that was 12% alcohol.  It was interesting. Very strong.  After that we went back to the first pub and hung out for a while and then decided to go back.  We had to walk a long was in order to get to a tube stop that was still open. We ended up going to Burger King and getting ice cream.  After that we decide to call it a night.  And that ended our trip in London.  I had a lot of fun here in London.  Hope all is well at home. 

Rick

Day 17= Jan 20

Hey everyone again.  i am slowing getting caught back up on this.  i am sorry i have not gotten this up to date sooner.  not been feeling well and we have been pretty busy the last couple of days.  

So today we went to the National Portrait Gallery.  it was interesting.  You started at the top of the building where the oldest portraits were at, some from the early 1600's.  They were all of Kings or Queens. So you worked your way down the floors to the modern portraits.  There was also a exhibit on there right now of Annie Leibovitz.  She is one of the most celebrated portrait photographer of the time.  She does a lot of photography of modern pop culture, celebrities and political figures.  

After the portrait gallery we went and got a bit to eat and then walked to St. Paul's Cathedral.  On our walk to St. Paul's Cathedral we were shown a lot of the heart of down town London and its business district.  We walked past part of the BBC News buildings.  When we were in that part of the city it felt like, to me, that we were actually in a bigger city. There were a lot more people walking the streets and not many homes at all. 

We go to the cathedral and we were met by Sarah who would be our tour guide again. She was a really good tour guide. Very informative and liked to talk which was good.  This is the third St. Paul’s cathedral that had been built on the same site. The first two got burnt down. One was during the great fire of London.  The current church was partially rebuilt after WW II and the blitz when two different bombs hit the church. The only damaged a small part of the building.  Inside the church was beautiful. It is not a Gothic style church. It is more modern; it is still really tall and has this huge dome in the middle.  But it does not have very much stained glass in it. It also has more painting on the ceiling than what the other Gothic churches that we saw.  When you are in the church you can go up into the dome. It was 257 steps up to the top. They call this the whispering gallery because if you stand on the opposite sides if the dome and you whisper something the people on the other side can here you. It was cool. It was also a long ways up in the air. But then u could go even higher if you wanted to. You could go up another 130 or so stairs and go to the outside of the dome and walk around.  It was not as high as the London Eye but it was still a long ways up.  One interesting thing that I learned was that during the bombings of WW II they used the top of the church where we were at for look outs on where bombs had been dropped on the city.  One of reasons for this was because the bombs that were being dropped were fire bombs and they wanted to be able to put the fires out as quickly as possible. 

After that we went back to the rooms and most of us worked on our papers. We also watched the inauguration on TV.  I feel asleep during part of it.  The nap felt good.  That was the day. Nothing real exciting happened that night. 

Rick

Day 16= Jan 19

Monday the 19.  This morning we went to the imperial war museum.  There was a lot of stuff there.  There were army tanks, planes, submarines, there was exhibits on WW I and II and about the battle in the trenches.  They had model ships and everything you could think of from a war was there. Too much stuff to see.  They also had a holocaust exhibition.  There was so much to see it was over whelming. 

When we left the museum, we came back to the rooms. We ate dinner. Then I worked on my paper all afternoon and then decided to out to a pub and watch a soccer game. Came back here, wrote my blogs from the last three days now I am getting ready for bed.  Hope to post these tomorrow.

Rick

Day 15= Jan 18

Sunday. We went to church this morning at Westminster Abbey.  It was an Anglican denomination, which is the Church of England.  It was a good service. It reminded me a lot of a catholic service.  That church is breath taking as well. It was so tall. So tall.  I did not get to look at the church itself to much but. The thing that makes Westminster Abbey so special is how many important people are buried there.  It is right across the road from parliament.  I got some post cards from the church to show what it looks like. 

After the church service we came back to the room and ate lunch. Then I took a nap. Worked on my paper. Played a game for a little while then talked to all u there at home.  Then I went to bed.

Rick

Day 14= Jan 17

This was one early morning.  We got this morning at 7 in order to make it to our train that was to leave at 8:28, at 8:26 we finally made it to the platform to board the train.  We were cutting it often close, we ran after we got off the underground in order to make it on time.  Our train ride was out to Winsor Castle, this is one of the residences where the queen resides for part of the year.  This is the largest castle in the world that is still used to live in.  It was huge. I was told that it covers over 20 acres.  There was a huge tower that stands right in the middle of the castle on a hill kinda.  This was neat. At the base of the tower there was a moat of sort.  It had this garden at the bottom of it that it even more pretty.  I think it might have been manmade but there was a little stream than ran thought the garden and mot.  It made it really neat.  All of the streets in the castle were stone or brick so that made it neater.  On the one side of the castle it sat on the top of a hill. And you could see for a long ways.  The other thing that was really cool in the castle was the doll house that one of the queens had.  It stood about 6 feet tall and was absolutely breath taking.  There was so much detail it was so cool. Also there was a church in the castle.  It was not the biggest church I had been in but had some of most beautiful craftsmanship that I have ever seen.  The way that the pillars went clear to the ceiling and then it looked like the just exploded out ward, then it cleared a really wide span between the two sides of the main portion of the church.  And there were little details all over.  Then there was this smaller place where there was a seat for every knight in the royal arms.  Prince Charles had a seat there along with about 30 others.  The wood work and brass work in this area was indescribable.  Without seeing it you just can't get what it looked like.  Absolutely beautiful. 

While we were there we got to see the changing of the guards. It was not near as big as the one Buckingham palace but we were actually able to see it so that was cool. The one thing that we were unable to see was the queen’s quarters because she was staying there at the time.  But I got a pass to go back again for free so I am planning to use it some time. 

When we left the castle we went to a couple of gift shops and got some stuff. We then went out to eat at this nice little restaurant. Had fish and chips.  We then walked around for a while at the shops there and then came back to the rooms.  After we got back we did not do much. Ate supper and worked on papers and took naps. Few of us went to the pub that night for a while but nothing exciting. 

Rick

Day 13= Jan 16

Hey everyone. I am sorry I did not get this up yesterday. I am still not feeling well and hope this gets better soon.

Well yesterday we went the Nature History Museum in the morning.  That was definitely worth the time to go.  I could probably talk all day about the museum.  The first thing we saw was an exhibit on volcanoes and earth quakes.  Then we saw some of the history of the earth.  One thing that I learned was that if the life of the earth was put into a 24 hour day, humans would be here for the last 20 second and what we know as the modern human would only be earth for about 6 seconds.  After the history of the earth, we went and saw a bunch of gem stones which was cool but it is was like any other place that had gems.  So it was nothing new.  Then we got to see a dinosaur exhibit.  They had this one really big one, not really sure what it was but it was about 25 feet tall, a 25 foot long neck and a 35 foot long tail.  They had all kinds of different fossils of different dinosaurs.   They also had a fake T-Rex they move and roared.  Then after the dinosaurs, we basically saw a zoo but of all stuffed animals. There was a little bit of everything.  The one thing that I had not seen before was a meteorite, it was about 30 in long, by maybe 25 inches tall and 20 inches wide, the wild thing was that it weighed 1400 pounds.  That was kinda cool.

Then in the afternoon we did not do mush other than relax and then do a little bit of shopping before we went to the London Eye.  If you don't know the London Eye is this huge ferris wheel that is 450 feet tall.  It took 30 minutes to go around once.  When you are 450 feet in the air with nothing around you to block your view you can see a long ways.  It was really cool to do this.  It is also just across the river from parliament so we got to see that really well.  It was a lot of fun.

After the Eye, we came back to the room and got supper and relaxed for a little while.  A couple of us went down to Oxford Street because Jack wanted to get some souvenirs before he left for Cardiff on Saturday.  When we got back, most of us went out to have one final night with everyone before Jack and Keith left us.  We went down the pub on campus and then pretty much ended our night.  A couple of people stayed later but most of us went back.  Then I went to bed. I was ready for that.

Rick

Day 12. I FORGOT

For those who know what i am talking about.  i (OK well Amanda) found my headphones,  they were in my bag i was using for school.  that one that i traded Amanda.  it turns out that on the shoulder straps, there was a little cell phone pouch.  and that was were i put them on the day i moved out of school.  so everyone who was still looking for them, which i doubt if many of you were but anyways,  they have finally shown up.  i was happy when i found that out and just thought everyone else should know.  OK thanks.  

Rick

Day 12= Jan 15

Hey everyone.  i am sick.  i got a nasty cold that is just knocking me out.  it is the same stuff i get every year about this time.  it sucks.  anyways.  thanks to meds i am able to make it thought the day.  

This morning we slept in a little bit.  we did not have to be to anywheres until 11 so we did not try to do anything before hand.  at 11 we went to bricklane.  it is the poorer part of town,  it is called brick lane because in older days it was where the bricks for the city were made, and it was kinda outside of town.  It was out of town so in case the brick making process where to cause a fire it would not burn down the whole city,  which was not uncommon, and had happened before.  In brick lane currently is mainly the Bangladesh community.  It is still a poorer part of town.  While we were in bricklane we saw many street markers and other old "projects"  (housing).    We were treated to dinner today at a Tayyabs.  "Specialising in traditional Punjabi dishes from Pakistan.  Try the succulently marinated chicken and lamb grills, mouth-watering karrahi dishes and fluffy naan breads for an unforgettable culinary experience."  that is off a little hand out that they had.  it was very different eating.  we were given this like sampler brunch type dinner.  it was like a buffet but we did not have to go get our own food, it was brought to us.  we had lamb ribs, lamb kabobs, spicy chicken, rice, like sweet potato's, some other type of chicken, flat bread,  some mango sauce, a spicy sauce, another white sauce, and i don't remember what else.  there was a lot of food.  and for the most part it was really good.  i was stuffed when i left.  

After we left dinner, a few of us went back and looked through some of the markets.  did not buy anything but just looked.  there was some cheap stuff there thought.  after the markets we came back to the room  Wendy was getting tired and Rachel was not feeling good.  she ended up having an allergic reaction to the food,  she cannot have peanuts so there must have been peanut oil or something in the food.  she if fine now.  but several people took naps and just relaxed.  i did the same.  

at 6 we went over to a store that was having a huge sales on everything in the store.  The store was called Lillywhites.  it kinda reminds me of Scheelds.  but i found a few things for only a couple pounds.   after that we went to pub called The Grenadier.  it is a really old and small pub here.  there is a story behind the neighborhood that it is in.  

This neighborhood is around this Y shaped road.  originally on the inside of the Y was a really rich and Fancy place to live.  then on the backside of all the housed were these little shacks where the servants lived.  well over the years.  these little shacks started to get famous for some reason.  now,  if one of these places goes for sail it will cost you over 2.5 million pounds to buy one of these little places.  and what use to be the rich part will only go for 1 million pounds, which is still a lot but the houses are twice as big, so, its kinda crazy.  it was a quiet neighborhood and were different from other places that i have been in, it was nice.  

Anyways, this pub was where Madonna had her wedding reception.  it was a nice place but it was really small, and it was crowded for being a Thursday night.  after the pub i came back here to the room and that's where i have been sense.  

That was my day.  i hope i feel better soon,  willing to bet i get worse before i get better.  oh well i will survive.  Everyone there at home stay warm,  and hope you survive this crap of weather that you have there at home.  

Rick

Day 11= Jan 14

So the start of the day sucked.  i woke up with a really bad sore throat and i had so much junk in me that i could not talk.  so after a really hot shower and a lot of blowing my noise i felt some better.  we started out the day by going as a whole group to the Tate Modern.  it was a modern art museum.  i am not real big into modern art so it was real interesting.  there was some stuff that was really good but most of it was not for me.  then just a block down the street was the location of Shake spears Globe Theater,  the original one had burnt down in the 1600's but it had been reconstructed recently,  we cost to much to go in so we just took pictures of the out side.  after that we got some lunch and went to Platform 9 3/4.  for those of you who have not a clue on what i am talking about.  it is famous from the books of Harry Potter.  it was a magical train platform that you had to walk through the wall to get too.  anyways

After the train station some people went out to the future location of the Olympics, the girls went to see princes Dianna's dresses, others went shopping,  i came back to the home zone.  i stopped at a store and got some cold meds and gel insoles for my shoes.  i did not realize how worn out my shoes had gotten.   after i got back to the room i just relaxed. i was kinda beat from being under the weather.  

I got up and at some supper and then we went to a sports store on Piccadilly Circus.  there had just about everything in the store marked for 50 to 90 % off.  so i am going to go back later and get some souvenirs.  after the store we went to The Comedy Store.  it was hilarious.  it was a great time.  

And that ended our night.  

This is a picture of me on the Millennium Bridge with the Tower Bridge in the background.  

Cheers everyone and stay warm (Roy)

Rick

Day 10= Jan 13

 Day 10. i am into double digets.   still does not feel like it.  today we had the morning feel so we decided to go to the Science Museum and the Queen Victoria and Albert Museum.  

The Science museum had a lot of cool things, but it was a mixture of kid stuff and some adult things, but not bad over all.  the first thing that i saw that was cool was a Foucault's Pendulum.  some how you can keep time with it and it rotates in a circle.  it was cool.  it has been swinging for years.  the next thing was this Toyota concept car made of all plastic and was only a one person car  and it did not have a roof, it was different.    we also saw some far set ups and showed how farming use to be,  so it made me feel a little more like home.    One of the neatest things for me to see there were Differential Equation solvers.  they were not computers but all mechanical machines.  it was very interesting.  the one was made in 1876.  There were some model boats too that were really cool.  there were several other things too.  but we did not spend much time there.    

Next we went to the Queen Victoria and Albert Museum.   this was more of a museum  it had a lot of old stuff.  anyways,   The one really cool thing that i saw there was a this tall column.  It was a Trajan's Column, built in Rome, Italy in 113 AD.  it was huge.  It was 125 feet tall and about 25 feet in diameter.  it was tall.  then all the way around it there was carvings depicting some story i am willing to bet.  it did not say of what.  There were many other statues and sculptures there too.  there was a piece of modern art that was made of these glass pots and vases and many other green and blue glass pieces.  it was kinda neat, different.  one other thing that was almost breath taking was the jewelry section.  there were these diamonds and if there were real there were huge, as big as a silver dollar.  and there was just indescribable things in there.  i was unable to take pictures in that part of the museum.  

after the museum, we had to go to class.  it was class nothing worth talking about.  after class no one wanted to do anything so most of us just stayed in.  a few people went to the pub across the road.  i walked about 10 blocks down to the supper mark so could have ice cream.  it felt really good on my sore throat.  for the rest of the night i just sat around and went to bed.   

the two pictures at the top is that big column i talked about earlier.  you should be able to figure out which on was the top and bottom.  

that is about all for now.  talk to everyone later.

Rick

Day 9= Jan 12

Day 9,

Today we started out the day with a tour of Parliament.  In the tour we got to see just about every part of the build, for the most part.  we got to see the house of commons, and the house of lords,  and several other rooms.  the most impressive part of parliament was the architecture in the building and the craftsmanship and detail.  it was amazing.  every room was completely detailed in every little corner and was just neat to see.  in the house of lords there was a place for the queen to sit that was all gold.  30 feet in the air and 20 feet wide and so much intricate details on everything. there were also paintings in every room.  some were 20 feet tall by 40 feet long.  just huge.  it is really hard to describe the detail that was in everything.  it was definitely worth taking the time too see.  we ended the tour in the oldest part of the building.  it was completed right around 1400 ad.  it was one huge building.  this was the only place were we could take pictures in Parliament.  

After we got done with our tour Alyse and i went to work on our assignment for class.  we ended up going to the 3rd zone in London, which would have taken us about an hour and haft to two hours if we had to talk it.  so we were a long ways from our current area.  we had to go out there to learn about Jewish life in London.  we found this restaurant to have some traditional Jewish dishes.  i had lamb.  it was good.  little spicy but it had a lot of flavor.  it was worth the trip to say i had lamb and to say i was in a different part of London.  after we ate we were going to go to this culture center.  we were thinking it to be like a museum.  when we got there we found out that it was just kind of a school and play and speech house.  so we spent a good 30 minutes finding this place to find out that we would learn nothing from it.

Anyways after that we came back and relaxed.  Wendy and Jack made us all supper tonight.  jack made this chili rice and Wendy made spaghetti and some veggies.  after we ate we went the pub on the campus just down the road and hung out there for a while.  there was one guy that was really drunk and ended up making one big scene.  we left there and came back to the rooms and that was our day.  

I will have to send pictures out on email again.  if anyone wants pictures of my trip, email me at rajohnson.2010@gmail.com  and i would be glad to email you the highlights.  

take care everyone.  stay warm in the blizzard that is going on right now.  

Rick

Day 8= Jan 11

today we did not do much.  we  started out the day by going to St. James Church.  we were going to go to a church service but we had to wait for an hour and haft so we decided to leave.  the church was huge.  very beautiful, we could not see much of it without paying and they did not allow anyone in the church for tours on Sunday anyways without going to a service.  

we ended up going to a store called Harrods.  It was one city block long by one city block wide and was 7 stories tall.  it was something like a million square feet, it was huge. it had everything you could imagine in it.  the only thing i did not see for sale in it was a car.  it was kinda like Wal-Mart, where it had everything under the sun. but was supper expensive.  there was a fer coat that cost 45000 pounds, i saw a snicker table, its like pool but with a bigger table and more balls, but it was a million pounds,  yes 1,000,000 pounds, that would be $1.5 Million.  anyways after that we ended up coming back to the rooms here and not doing a whole lot.  Alyse and i went for a run and i then took a nap later. that was the day.  not real exciting.  anyway that was all for the day.  hope things are going well at home.  talk to everyone later.

Rick

Day 7 = Jan 10

Day 7.

I cannot beleive it has been a week already.  it is just insane that i am even here.  i don't know much it has accually sunk in yet.  The biggest thing that i cannot get use to is that i am 6 times zones away from home.  

Today we went to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  It was a neat experience.  It was bag event.  it was not just a couple of guys changing places.  there was men on horses, there was an entire band and group of soldiers.  and they marched down the street and into the palace.  it was really cold out and the people infront of us decided even though they were the front people that they would stand on the raised cenent platform so no one behind them could see.  they finally got down after several people asked then too.  

In the Morning before the changing of the gaurd.  Aylis, wendy, rachel and i went to a market.  it was kinda small but it was neat to see.  after changing the guard, we came back to the room and did not do much.  that night we were went out to eat and were going to go pub crawling,  but it was 12 pounds and you did not get much out of that and drinks cost more on top of that 12 pounds.  so a few people went and a couple of us came back and were hermets and stayed in our rooms.  it was too cold out to feel like doing anything.  and a lot of people were tired and ready for a break. 

Rick

Day 6 (Jan 9)

Hey

Day 6.  Hylights were the British Museum, attempt to go on London Eye, and not much else.  

We started out the day with a tour of the British Museum.  we were given about a 2 hour long toour of the hylights of the museum.  to start with when you walk into the museum there are 4 sides to it.  and in the middle there is a round building and a dome over the center court.  the dome is made of all triangles and there are 3312 triangles making the dome.  everyone of them are different.  no two are the same.  it was pretty cool.  

In the museum  we started out our tour in Africa where we say these brass peices that showed kings and everyday life.  also a "quilt" made of wine bottle tops, the metal that goes around the cork.  we are also shown some new peices of art made from retired weapons.  after that we were shown the Rosseta stone.  it is a stone that gave us the ability to read old hyrogrifics.  

then our tour took us to Athens.  we were shown these carvings of a lion hunt that had really good details.  it was cool. we were also shown parts of what was left of the greek Parthnon.  a old greek worship house that got blown up in a war when it was being used as a storage for gun powder.  no the only thing left standing to it is pillars on the outside of the building.  

We were then shown some mummies that were over 5000 years old.  and many other mummies in there castets things.  after that were were free to look around as we wished.  the museum was very neat.  we are thinking about going back later to see more.  

after we left the museum we were going to go and try to go on the London Eye but i closed today for schedualed mainance.  oh well i will be open at the end of the week.  so after that we just came back to the room.  

I have been attemping to add pictures but it is not working so i will have to try later or try something different.  thats all for now.

rick

Day 5

hey.  everyone

Yesterday was a a cool day.  the castle was very interesting.  It was kinda exspensive to go into the castle but it was well worth it.  we started out with an hour long guided tour of the place.  Our tour guide told us about when different parts of the castle were built, the last part of the castle, the outer most wall and mote around it was build about 900 years ago, if i remember right.  We also learned about all of the exicutions that took place in and around the castle.  

That night we sent to the play called "We Will Rock You"  it was a play about how music was lost over the years and ended up being only computer generated and musical instraments we all destoyed.  the main characters were on a quest to find out what music was.  it was a great play.  we found out later that it was one of the longest running plays in london.  it was a great play.  it had a lot of rocking music and was very energetic.  one thing i will say that i am glad i did not have to pay for it, it was 40 pounds for the play and it was in one huge theater.  there had to be about 2000 people in the theater.  for not going to many plays it was really fun.  after the play we ended up just coming back to out rooms for the night.  

well i was trying to load some pictures but it would not let me.  so that is all for now.

rick