FOUR

Well, I had my first minor crisis since getting to London. Yesterday the bank called my house saying they thought there was fraud on my account, which my mom then took care of by clarifying that I am abroad. However, today my credit card was frozen for the same reason...presenting quiet an issue when I tried to book a flight to get to Oktoberfest and my card was declined! I called the bank and it has been taken care of - but it freaked me out for a minute or two there. Hopefully thats the last of my banking troubles but who knows with all this travelling I'm planning on doing!

This past weekend I started to explore a little more outside of the area I live and go to school in. I made a trip down to the tower of London, London Bridge, and I walked to the top of Tower Bridge. I love the old area of London down by the Thames river you can just tell that there is so much history there it's incredible. After the siteseeing we made a trip to the oldest pub in London- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. It was definitely the coolest pub I've been in...it had a bunch of different levels and went about two floors underground. Its been preserved so well and being inside makes you feel like you're living in the times it was built in.

On Saturday I ventured out to Oxford and got to see the university, the castle, and the cathedral. It's amazing how old and beautiful all of those buildings and I can't even imagine going to school there - it seriously is Hogwarts.

Last night I went to Shakespeare's Globe theatre and was a "groundling" for the play 'As You Like It.' The play is a comedy and was definitely the most fun I've had seeing a Shakespeare play. The humor translated to the audience even though it was in olde english and the actors did such a great job of setting the scene since there are very few props and no backdrops or visuals.

Today I went with my English Architecture class to Westminster Abbey and the Banquet Hall. Westminster Abbey is the most decadent building I have ever been in. It blows my mind to think of all the time and money that has gone into creating it. I saw site such as Sir Issac Newton's tomb, Queen Elizabeth I and Mary I's tombs, where Winston Churchill was buried, and King Henry VII's tomb. It was almost eerie how close you can be to some of the most infamous and influential people in history. The Banquet Hall is this amazing building that was commissioned by King James I to host some of his parties and it's still rented out today for weddings parties and performances- obviously for a ridiculous price. It's also the place that Charles I was beheaded- so that was a little creepy.

I've finally started making food in my flat instead of eating out all the time so I can start saving my spending money for when I go on all these trips. Today I made sweet potato fries- delicious.

Still haven't mustered up the courage to try and figure out the washing machine- I can see this becoming a problem. I'll keep you all updated on this situation.

I hope everyone back home is doing well - I miss you all!