Weekday Fun!

On Mondays I am usually to lazy to get ready and do anything in the morning before class, but this was the exception!  One of the girls I go on trips with, Renae, and I went on a morning walk to Hyde Park.  We were originally going to walk by Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards, but we got there only a few minutes before it started so the area was too packed for us to see anything.  That's why we decided to bypass this and walk on to the parks in the surrounding area.

Some park views...

It was actually sunny and pretty warm, so it was a really nice morning for a walk in the park.  I think a lot of other people had this same thought because there were many people taking walks with their kids...or my personally favorite, their PUPPIES!!!  Apparently everyone in London has a dog because every time we go out we see sooo many dogs! I always really want to pet them, but I'm pretty sure I would creep people out if I did that...

Besides the dogs, Hyde Park also contains a large pond with swans and other birds living in it.  I don't mind the birds, except the pigeons, which are disgusting and everywhere!  They like to fly right at your face and freak you out.  Not my favorite thing.  But people also ride horses in the park as well.  We saw 3 or 4 people riding on the outskirts of the park and another man riding one in a ring.  Not something I would have thought I would see in the middle of London.

Like I said...tons of birds.

We also had time to see a couple of fountains and statues in the park, including a memorial fountain for Princess Diana.  Its not like a normal fountain, its kind of like a little concrete lazy river that you can play in.  It was different, but also really cool and relaxing to sit by.

These are different parts of the fountain.

The rest of the week was spent in my internship and classes.  I actually started my internship on Wednesday of last week, but this was the first week that I had to go on both Tuesday and Wednesday.  I have to say right now it is a bit of a let down because I don't really have any set tasks or goals to fulfill so I sit there being bored and occasionally looking things up on the Internet.  A little bit of a waste of time, but hopefully they will figure out what they want me to do for next week.  I'm trying hard to keep and open mind about it because it will look good on my resume no matter what!

This morning was really fun though...we went to the London Sea Life Aquarium!  It was in a really large building right next to the London Eye.  This also makes it just across the river from Big Ben and Parliament, which meant we had to stop and take pictures as the clock struck 10.

The view of Big Ben and Parliament from the London Sea Life Aquarium.

The aquarium itself...huge.

The aquarium had 3 whole floors filled with sea creatures!  We spent about 2 hours looking at all the different fish, sharks, starfish, turtles, etc. that were in the aquarium.  I love to go and see all these deep sea creatures that you could never see any other way!  I took a bunch of pictures (most of which didn't turn out because you can't use flash and the fish are swimming so fast!) and there were even some open air pools that you could look into.  My favorite was the one that contained sting-rays and large fish.  Some of the sea life that we saw we soooo BIG! It was just crazy.

At the aquarium we saw Nemo...

and Dory!

We also saw sting-rays, 

more-stingrays,

starfish,

turtles,

and a shark!!!!

The only disappointing thing about the aquarium was that the penguin exhibit doesn't open until May, so we didn't get to look at adorable penguins this morning.  Oh well...I made up for it by getting a souvenir penny with a starfish on it.  So touristy!

I also spent a couple of nights last week trying to book trips for some weekends and Spring Break.  I have decided that I really dislike planning trips.  There is so much that goes into it, and when you go with a group it gets even more complicated!  I did book several flights, to Ireland and Italy, but we still have to look into where we are going to stay, how are we going to get there, what are we going to eat, etc.  So much to think about! Not to mention the money that I am dishing out to do it! Its totally worth it, but that doesn't make the planning or paying anymore enjoyable...

Also only 2 more weeks till Mom comes! Can't wait to see her and get some grape jelly!
Emily