Olympia

As our time comes to a sorrowful end, the lists of things we must do and see seems to be increasing in length. So, it’s only natural that we jam pack every moment of every day with stuff. We had class in the morning and we had an assignment due. We paired up and were given trivia questions to answer about London people, places, etc. Kelsey and I had one about death. Morbid, but interesting. After learning all this trivia, we found there was just so much more that we needed to do. We needed to explore the random places and learn the interesting events that took place there.

After class, we wanted to go see the Olympic site, because it would have been a waste to come to London and not see where the Olympics were being held. It’s a 40 minute tube ride, so we stopped in at Pret A Manger to get some lunch to eat on the way there. Eating on the tube isn’t the easiest thing so we held off until we made it to our destination. The first thing we came across was the Westfield Mall, so we set off in hopes of finding a food court where we could sit and eat. This is a massive mall, like three or four stories with a ton of stores. We had heard about a store called John Lewis, which looks out over the entire Olympic site. We didn’t think you could go into the site, because it’s still under construction, so seeing an overheard view was great for us. This John Lewis store is fantastic. They have everything and a ton of really cute British items, such as tea and biscuits. At the top, where you look over the Olympic site, they have a huge Olympic store with tons of official merchandise. So we went to work. We skimmed every crevice looking for great merchandise to take back home. The more we spent in that store, the more I found that I needed to purchase. So, don’t be surprised if you end up with Olympic memorabilia for a present. They have a massive look-out at the back of the store where you can look at a map while looking at the Olympic village. We saw the stadium and basically the entire venue. We also saw a monument called “The Orbit” which is an artsy looking tower that was recently built. I read in the paper that this is supposed to be the next big London monument, so it was interesting to see. I wonder if it will become extremely popular as predicted. We also went back downstairs at John Lewis and got some British items. Since we were in a mall, we decided to continue our shopping expedition. They have a Primark there! It was crowded but nowhere near the same level as the one on Oxford. One could actually try on items in the dressing room without waiting 45 minutes in a line. And of course, everything is very cheap. Naturally I got a few items and a few presents. I mean, I can actually try on clothing, so why not take advantage of that?! The shopping has officially begun people. I seriously am going to need another suitcase to fit everything.

Olympic Stadium

More of the stadium with The Orbit

After dropping our many purchases back at the flat, we met up with everyone else and had dinner at the Real Food Market. I have been there before, and mentioned this in a previous blog, but it’s a natural food market with food from all over the world. This time I had a burger. The two guys working the stand were super handsome and nice to talk to. They worked on a farm/ranch in Wales and came to London to sell burgers. Gotta love cute British guys. And the burger was delicious and very healthy tasting! I also had a brownie, but who can blame me? We walked around for a bit afterwards and made our way to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament because we wanted to see them at night when they are all lit up. We got there a bit too early, and it was raining, so we went to the tube and headed to Harrods, because it is also lit up at night. It was quite amazing to see! Though it was still raining pretty hard, Emily, Lindsay, and I made our way back to Big Ben to see the lights. It was so worth it. These monuments are beautiful during the day, but they reach a new level at night. We took tons of pictures. We also needed to see Tower Bridge all light up. That was even more spectacular and we got to see the Olympic rings. This was all occurring at like 11:30 and the tube closes at 12, so we were pressed for time, but we made it back in just enough time. Thank goodness.

Harrods at Night

The London Eye

Big Ben

Tower Bridge

When we finally got back to the apartment, we were absolutely exhausted and went to bed pretty quickly. It was another great day in London and I’m going to miss it so.

Week Five: Day Five: BLC 23