Monumental City

Everywhere I look, there are different architectural styles in all the buildings. They differ even from street to street in some places. It seems like it would be easy to get lost around here. Everywhere you look there is a monument of some sort, or a statue or even a regular building that still looks just grand. Just walking down the street with nobody around there was a sign on the building dedicated to T.S. Elliot where he was born and died. There are quite a few differences here than at home. I keep thinking to myself "There isn't anyone driving that car!" then I remember the wheel is on the wrong side, or rather the right. I almost get run over every time too because I look the wrong way. I can sometimes barely keep up with some of the accents around here. I enjoy them overall though and reeeally want to imitate them but I don't know if they would get mad or not... For a city with 7 million people, the buildings sure are small. I don't see many taller than five stories, but the bottom floors in all of them are underground. It is large but there's a lot of public transportation around. All of the busses are double-deckers and the "tube" train is very efficient with maps posted everywhere. Good tip though, don't lose your Oysters! That's what they call the public transport pass cards. You would think they would have a pearl in them for what they cost. So far I have gone on a bus tour taking us around the tourist area to see all the good stuff.We just drove by Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, New Scotland Yard, really a lot of places, then we got to tour Westminster Abbey! No pictures allowed on the inside however :(. There was a square in there that looked just like a corridor in Harry Potter! Then there were dead people everywhere too. Kings and queens had their own caskets in their own areas, many other shrines of other aristocrats too. There were also many others buried right beneath our feet too. I have walked over the bodies of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Charles Dickens. Then today we went to the National Art Gallery where pictures also were not allowed. Beautiful pieces of work from all over Europe. On the way in, we saw a really cool square with a tall monument and two fountains on the side. Captain Morgan was there taking pictures at the fountain for some reason. I am having a great time here, theres many things to do, drink, shop and go see. Everything is so expensive though. London should really market to America weight watchers to come and lose their pounds. Surprisingly I have not yet jet-lagged. I haven't gone to bed early yet since I've been here. The Double-Deckers actually run throughout the night too. Yet I get the feeling most of the passengers would be the kind to drool on your shoulder asleep. The class doesn't look terribly difficult. I got an assignment today to look at certain works at the National Gallery and answer some questions in 100 words. 9 questions due by the day we leave. Not bad. I'll continue to post and you continue to read and spread word because I can see my stats and it looks like almost nobody cares about me :(