Gold monkies, cirque statues, stomping string quartet, and scruffy London tour guide from NYC...

Sarah said... So yesterday... We started out wanting to go to the Tate Modern Museum but kinda had a misunderstanding. We got off the tube walked to the Tate Museum and realized that we forgot they share the same name. So we decided to walk down the Thames towards the Modern. On the way we passes every tourisy highlight of London it seemed. We got lots of good pictures as well as foot pains! Later we came back and decided to add up how many miles we probably walked. We figured around 5. Ryan was worried that we had hit too many of the highlights all in the one day. We decided that it was an "overview" and next month we'll know exactly what we want to do each day. So we came back and ate dinner...we took pictures of our meal because it was such a "creation"...oatmeal, grapenuts, and fruit "soup"....Yum! Our roommates showed up later that night...while Ryan was taking a shower. So that was wierd... [Just to note. The shower is a self-standing shower in the corner of our room. So like, you could hold a conversation to the one showering as you lay in your bed.] So they came in... It is a family of three from Quebec. They speak mostly French which is really fun. (Good for practice since tommarow we'll be in Paris). The daughter is a teachers assistant in Wales and her family came to visit for a month and they are now vacationing in London. Ok I'll let Ryan talk now... Ryan said... Okey-dokey... So the Thames thing was fun... Sorta... When you are in a famous place or any place for that matter you have a sense of that place.. the London "sence" did not kick in. It was just another city with pretty buildings. It was actually very tiring. I think I felt this negativity because of the media, family, friends, travel books, and the other culprits that told me that Europe was out to get me. I am actually afraid of other people. I have a feeling that they are going to kill me. . . or at least take advantage of me any chace they get. That night I felt a little relief after meeting our charming roommates. The le Blanc family. They are so cool. They have been everywhere. Very nice. This little exposure to other people made me trust other people more. So the next day I was very much at ease in the city of London. Today we visited Covent Garden. (As the druck Scottish rocker told us to...) Covent Garden is the independent performing arts and theatre district of London. It is typical that I feel at home here. Covent is a great little narrow road neighborhood with a large piazza, market place, garen, and church in the center.....here street performers and other "baskers," as they call them perform to the extreme. There were statue people, a man in a monkey/astronaut suit making chimp noises, and another man just standing with a basket making noises...haha. The best group of baskers I saw was a string quartet that stomped and winked and walked around this sidewalk cafe. Very, very entertaining. I love thius area of London. Even the architecture of this place was interesting. I loved the narrow streets and sidewalk delis and cafes. Poor Sarah had a headache though..but we spent time taking pictures in the garden and that made her feel better. Hooray for grass!!! She took some great photos as well. We also met this guy from New York who had been living in London for several years....he still had his New York accent, but used British figures of speach so it was hard to pay attention. He talked forever...we basically got an entire historical summary of the Catholic/Protestant conflict in England. It soon strated to rain so we went into the church. And listen to this....perfect timing, because inside the church was s concert....we finish off the day by listening to "Winter" of the Four Seasons being played by a local music group. perfect....(it was actually a rehearsal but so what....(I think it is interesting that even the homeless people look more culturally enlightened than us... like even run down places like dirty subways and tenements look "cultural." funny...) Well, right now outside the internet cafe are loud drunk people because some "football" (soccer) team won a game. It is amazing how long they have been celebrating....an hour. ha... Ok I am getting tired of typing and if you have made it this far...congratulations.... Good job. Talk to you tommorrow.