Day Three: Orientation, Neighborhood, and East Side of London

This morning was orientation over at the Florida State building where we will be taking our classes- lots of information, not a lot of fun. But hey, we learned stuff. We were split into groups again for a scavenger hunt of sorts around our neighborhood (our classroom is super close to our house), and it was actually really helpful in orienting me to where we live and what's around. We went through Brunswicke Centre which had lots of awesome shops and restaurants and a cool market that's there on Saturdays. We finished our scavenger hunt and ended back at the house, got lunch money, and went back to the market to have lunch.

I got the best empanada ever- mozzarella and tomato and basil...yummmmm. Got an awesome dessert too- a tart with custard cream stuff and strawberries on top, so delicious. Best food ever. I'm trying to go to every market London has...they're seriously the best and I'm in love.

We went grocery shopping for laundry detergent and such at Waitrose (the biggest grocery store we've been in so far). We had to be back at the house by 2 and then we were off to the East End of London. I had no idea until we got there, but the east end is definitely not as nice as the west end where we are staying. It felt much more sketchy and definitely less nice... We had a tour guide to take us around, but I hardly could hear anything he said and when I could hear him, it was all about Jack the Ripper and murders around the area and I really wasn't engaged in what he was saying at all. It was the longest afternoon EVER...either really hot in the sun, or pretty chilly and super windy in the shade, and it wasn't a really exciting area at all. Not the best afternoon, but at least we saw it. No real need to go back.

After the three+ hour tour, half the group went to Diagon Alley from Harry Potter and the other half of us found an awesome vintage market that sadly was closing right as we got there...but we're definitely going back soon. Such cool stuff to look through!

We came back to our neighborhood and Amanda and Kelly and I got dinner at The Spaghetti House- I got a four cheese pizza that was awesome.

After a little chill time at home, a group of us went out to Oxford Circus to go shopping- TOPSHOP (British classic!) and H&M. Seriously so cool. Aaaaand...so expensive. A reality check about how poor we really are... Fun to experience though. We'll go back for sure.

Came back to the flat, and just hanging out and such this evening- another early morning tomorrow!