Experiences

Wow I haven't written an update in a week, sorry about that.

Ok, where to start...Last Friday I went down an explored Hyde Park. It was beautiful. It's crazy to be in such a huge city and have lush, huge parks all over the place. From certain points in Hyde Park you can see all the way to Parliament and the Eye...very cool. After walking around in the park for a few hours, I went to Harrod's, the department store (if you can even call it that). It is honestly like nothing I have ever experienced before. It has 6 levels, and as the saying goes (the have anything you could want, from a thumbtack to an elephant). And that's not a lie. They have fancy restaurants, a pet store, a bank, a full size grocery store, a travel agency, an optician...and that's not to mention all the clothes, jewelry, accessories, home products ect that the extremely rich may want. I guess that's important to mention. Ordinary people don't shop at Harrod's. I think my favorite department was the "Fine Jewelry and Watch" room. its not everyday when you see £100,000 watches and £80,000 cell phones. You get the point. Its amazing to think that some people are so wealthy that price tags mean nothing to them. While I was walking around Harrod's I saw a man buy two suits for £4200...CASH. Also when I walked outside there were two Bentley's parked next to each other...I took a picture, when all of a sudden a Rolls-Royce followed by a Lamborghini drove in front of them. It was sweet. It only takes money I suppose. Anyway, yesterday we got to go back to Harrod's with ISA for afternoon tea. It was really fun. It cost 30 quid (thats slang for pounds, kind of like how we say "bucks") in advance, but was definitely worth it to do once. How it works is like this:

On the top level of Harrod's there is a full-scale gourmet restaurant. We go to go there for tea. Tea is much more than just tea (although we did get to drink as much as we wanted and it was delicious). Tea also included all you can eat sandwiches, pastries, and deserts. We sat down at a table, and instantly our waiter came over and explained how it works. For the first round, he brought out 3 plates of various sizes all situated on a golden rack...the bottom plate had small sandwiches (salmon, ham and mustard, egg, cucumber and cheese and pesto) all cut into perfect triangles, no crust. The second plate had scones (honey, raisan, and some plain one), and the top plate had deserts (fruit tarts, literal fruit cake, mini cheese cake)...It was all so good. But after the first rounds of plates was eaten, the waiter came back and asked each person at our table if they wanted anything specific, and then brought out whatever we had asked for just for us (along with another full rack of the works). Of course we got to drink tea (the traditional English way- garnished with milk and sugar cubes)...also delicious. Like I said, it was fun to do one time, but obviously the price is steep, so we probably won't be going back.

This past week has been pretty low key...We went to the zoo on Sunday...Not going to lie, for being in the biggest city in Europe and costing £15, the London zoo was a little disappointing. Small enclosures, typical animals...Idk I was just not overly impressed. Classes are going well...I think my investments seminar (discussion) leader may drive me insane. He's a smart guy but has difficulty explaining (teaching) concepts to people when they have questions. Like the other day, someone was asking about bonds that sell at a premium, and why that happens, and I had to end up explaining the answer to the other student cuz our seminar leader couldn't convey what he was trying to say and have the student understand. Oh well, at least I understood already. Other than that everything is good in terms of school.

Today we get to go on a tour of the Houses of Parliament...should be awesome, and then tomorrow we are going to Tower of London and the Jack the Ripper walk...all three things are ISA events so they should be very good (ISA hooks us up)!

I'll be sure to blog about the next two days sunday after our adventures