I'm having issues with the pictures.  I did finally get some of them uploaded (God, the school computers were going so slow...), but when I looked at them today, they were too huge to even fit the screen, and I don't know how to make them smaller. *sigh*  So until that happens, probably no pictures.

I decided I'm not going to York this weekend.  I made tentative plans for Tower of London tomorrow with Evanie (she also goes to UPS, has been in a couple of my classes before), but I'm waiting for her to text me back.  I would like to see the Tower of London -- properly this time.  One of my clearest memories of England from the first time I was here was getting bored at the Tower and sitting on a bench to read early on while my family looked around.  This memory is probably so clear because when I remember it I think about what an idiot I was for wanting to read a book I could read at home rather than seeing something as interesting as the Tower of London.  Well, at least I'm not going to make that mistake again.

Last night I looked up the weather and saw today was supposed to be pretty clear, so I decided to go to St. James's Park, though unfortunately I forgot my camera.  I grabbed some lunch and ate it there, and I fed the ducks, and I walked around the whole park a couple of times.  I ended up walking out by the Horse Guards and wandered around the area a bit.  Which was awesome.

I saw 10 Downing Street!  Some cars were leaving just as I got there so the gate was open for a bit, but I couldn't really see much besides a street.  Still, it was 10 Downing Street!  I'd seen Buckingham Palace from St. James's Park, but I hadn't gotten that close.  I also saw the Houses of Parliament, since they were right there, and I got quite close to Big Ben, which was very cool.  It's very pretty when you're looking at it close up in the sun.

I wandered over to Westminster Abbey, but I didn't go inside because it was twelve pounds and I'd only gotten there about an hour before closing so I didn't think I'd get my money's worth if I went in then, especially without my camera.  I'll be going on an excursion there with one of my classes anyway later, so it's not like that was my only chance to see Westminster Abbey.  I did go into St. Margaret's Cathedral, though, which is apparently where Members of Parliament traditionally go to worship.  It had a lot of memorials on the walls, including apparently Sir Walter Raleigh, but I must have missed his because the only person I recognized was Olaudah Equiano.

From there I went back to St. James's Park, and on the way passed a statue of...Abraham Lincoln.  I was walking up to it and thinking "That guy looks familiar -- a lot like Lincoln, in fact," and then I looked at the inscription and it was.  It surprised me because I was not expecting a statue of an American president in the middle of London.  I think on Tuesday I'll ask my history teacher if Lincoln had any special significance to the British, because now I'm really curious why he was there.

A few days ago I told one of my online British friends how I was missing goldfish crackers, and she told me I should try an international food store.  I looked one up and decided to try it, but when I found it, it was very small and didn't have much of anything, very little seeming particularly international.  I was disappointed, but I suppose I can do without goldfish a while longer. :p  I did stop at Tescos, though, to get some things to make for lunch.  My first Tescos! XD

Today was a really nice day, if chilly, and Sunday is supposed to also be a nice day, so maybe I'll go to Hyde Park then, or some other park.  It's been very rainy recently.  People always warned me about how rainy Washington would be when I went to college, but when I got there I found the amount of rain was exaggerated.  Well, it doesn't seem to be exaggerated here, because it has been raining, a lot.  I do wish I'd gotten a jacket with a hood, but at least I have an umbrella!