Today!

That's right! Today was the day that it became a little less exciting to see Big Ben. I mean yeah, we still took about 500 pictures of it, but it wasn't as exciting as the previous days where we took about double that amount. I wonder how many pictures we'll take of it tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll keep you updated.

Seriously though, today was a very productive day, and yes, we finally went shopping a little bit. This morning we went to Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, and Piccadilly Circus, which was where we ate lunch at this Indian restaurant that refused to serve us tap water. The server came to the table and asked, "What would you like to drink?" and I said, "We'll just have water please." He then mumbles something like, "Still or Sparkling," and I say, "Still please, but..." and before I could finish my sentence he runs away. Then he comes back with this bottled still water that looked far too expensive for students on a budget, and I say, "I'm sorry, before you open that, can we please have tap water instead?" He then proceeds in saying, "No. We do not allow tap water." Eventually, one of the other servers decided to treat us like actual paying customers, and he brought us some tap water. The other server eventually came back and said, "We don't usually serve tap water, but we made an exception for you. Just you." I mean of course all I could say at that point was "Thank you," but I was kind of confused because I thought that getting water on your table at a restaurant was a give in. Technically, I could have brought my own glass, went to the bathroom and filled it up in there, and it would have been the exact same thing. Maybe their dishwashers get paid extra to wash glasses for some reason, but it all seemed kind of strange to me. Too bad I don't remember the name of the restaurant so I wouldn't even have been able to warn anyone to not go there if they want to drink tap water with their meal. I could tell you the location, but that wouldn't do any good either because there were 2 Indian restaurants right next to each other, and I am unsure of the other restaurant's policy on tap water rations.

Anyway, after lunch, we went to Westminster Abbey, which was really nice. I had been there once before, but the first time I came at a time when it was extremely crowded and it was difficult to get through everything. This time, we went at about 3:15PM, and it wasn't too bad. We got through everything in about an hour, and we still had plenty of time to sit and listen to the Abbey's evening song at 4:30PM. I recommend going there if you are interested in history at all because I learned a lot about Kings and Queens of England that were buried there just by going through the self-guided tour. I have to admit that Poets' Corner was one of my favorite parts though because I like being in the presence of such classic writers, even if its just their decaying remains.

So yeah, after that, we went to Harrods, which is the famous department store in London. On the way, we stopped in H&M because they were having a sale. I got a dress and a sweater (or a "jumper") for 14 pounds! Then we finally made it to Harrods, and we stopped at the cafe inside. I got a scoop of hazelnut gelato, and Mariel got an earl grey tea. Then we went to the Harrod's Arcade, which was where they sell all Harrod's merchandise. They were having a sale there too, AND they were able to charge me in American Dollars, which was great!

After that, Mariel and I met our friends at a pub for yet another pub dinner. This pub was pretty cute though, and the bartender was an American girl from Virginia. It was weird though because the whole time I was standing there she was complaining about Americans. I think she was trying too hard to fit in. Maybe people will like me more if I start insulting myself in public more often. I may give it a try tomorrow just to see what happens. As usual, I will keep you updated.