Saturday, March 12, 2011

Tourist Day

So, some USU students came to London, stopped by Deloitte yesterday, and invited us to join them on a tour to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath. So, Brett and I went, and we didn’t have to pay!  It was great.  Windsor was really was cool; the castle is a lot bigger than I had expected.  It’s kind of crazy to think that the Queen actually lives there while thousands of tourists walk outside gawking at it and touring parts of it.  It was an awesome day today as well, weather wise.  Unlike when we did the river tour and bus tours, it was actually pleasant to be outside checking out the sites. 
windsor, stonehenge, bath 013windsor, stonehenge, bath 009
After Windsor, we went to Stonehenge.  Stonehenge wasn’t super exciting, but it was still cool to see.  We only stayed at Stonehenge for 30 minutes, but there really isn’t much to do there except look at the stones and take a few pictures.  I liked being able to see it though and it was definitely a worth-while stop.  It’s cool to see stuff in real life that you see so much on TV or in books, etc.
windsor, stonehenge, bath 030 windsor, stonehenge, bath 034 windsor, stonehenge, bath 031windsor, stonehenge, bath 053
People have all these different theories about what Stonehenge was built for, but nobody actually knows really anything.  It remains a mystery to this day, but these crazy old men in the above picture think they know and are protesting about bringing back the Druid Guardians, or something.  Who even knows.  People are crazy, and this is just another proof. 
After Stonehenge, we were off to Bath.  I really had never even heard of Bath until I got to the UK, but Bath was a really cool place.  The Roman baths were pretty cool to see and the city, in general, was really nice.  We only had an hour and a half there, so I would definitely go back and spend more time in Bath. 
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Brett and I walked through the streets a bit on the hunt for a place selling crepes.  We finally found a place and both got a Nutella crepe.  They were good, although a little pricey for the size of crepe they gave us.  It fulfilled our cravings though.  So, after Bath we boarded the bus and took a 2 hour drive back to London.  All in all, I would say the tour was successful. The stuff we saw really was pretty cool.  We finished the day off with a tasty meal at Nando’s (after walking around for an hour trying to find it...) before calling it a night. 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Running Through History

This is such an awesome city. Let me give you a better idea of how great it is by explaining what simply going on a run here consists of.

Tonight I ran through the shadow of one of the largest cathedrals in the world,

London 297

alongside the famous Thames river,

London 138,   

across one of the most, if not the most, recognizable bridge in the world,

London 128

past a 900 year old castle,

London 162 

and on cobblestone paths that are older than anything I’ve ever walked on.

This city has so much character; what a great place to live!  I completely smashed my knee on some lame cement barrier during my run tonight, though.  It was still a good run…I mean you can’t complain too much about running through a city with so much history.  My knee immediately started to swell and I got a pretty good goose egg on the bone I hit.  My knee is probably going to be sore for days now.  Soon, though, I’ll be back running through history in one of the greatest cities in the world.