Camden, Ice Cream and History

It has been such a great and fast week here in London. We started classes on Monday, and it is absolutely wonderful to start getting into a regular schedule.

This morning I had a three hour advertising class with a professor that has a heavy Bulgarian accent. He is absolutely hilarious... when I can understand what he is saying.

After my class, Jill, Allie, Kathryn and I went to visit Camden Market and the Museum of London - both two sites that we had to visit for class.

Our first adventure: Camden Market
"I've never felt like such a small town girl," Kathryn said, and that sums up the entire experience quite well.

We walked through an entire lot devoted to clothes (some were cute), and then a lady with a mustache told us to keep walking to find more of the market.

It was intense. This isn't your typical fruit and veggie sort of deal - oh no. We are talking punk fashion. There were a lot of funky spikes everywhere. It was definitely an eye-opener compared to the area where we live.

Second adventure: Ice Cream
We had heard about a restaurant that served delicious ice cream, so this was definitely a top priority - especially after all the spikes and punkness.

We eventually found our way, and we had DELICIOUS ice cream. I am loyal to Dairy Queen, but I can't lie - this place was tasty!

It was all sugar and smiles until... the bill.

Now, in the States we are used to the server bringing us the bill when we are finished with our food. This is definitely not the case here. (We have run into many awkward situations.) After five minutes sitting at the table and debating what is and what isn't the right thing to do (this is our normal routine)... we asked for the bill.

We couldn't split the bill, and each of us did not have the exact monetary amount to cover it. We literally spent over 15 minutes trying to figure out how to pay the bill, who was going to pay who and how much. All the while, I have uncontrollable laughter because our server is just standing behind us, definitely staring (glaring, probably) at us.

I'm guessing her thinking went something like this... "Stupid Americans."

We ended up paying over six pounds in small coins. (I felt like I was five years old again, taking all my pennies to get a candy bar at Casey's...)

Oops...

The most important part: After 10 days, I finally had an explosive laughter in London. It felt so good, and as weird as it sounds, it made me feel like everything was normal despite all the adjustments I have made in the past week and a half.

The Last Adventure: The Museum of London
This was a small but very interesting museum. It had great exhibits on the Great Fire of 1666, Roman London and Medieval London.

My favorite part was a book that was made in remembrance of the 52 people who were killed in the London bombings of 2005. Each person had pages devoted to what their family and friends said about them. It was beautifully sad.


It was certainly a day full of adventure! Tomorrow we are headed four hours north to York. We will be staying in a Bed and Breakfast for the weekend, so I will be sure to write all about when I get back!