Spotted Dick

This morning I was a new woman. I was rested and finally ready to eat something. Deanna and I went to the hotel breakfast which we were informed was £15..sweet just $30. Luckily Arcadia was paying for our breakfasts this week. The spread included a traditional English breakfast which includes baked beans, fried tomatoes, fried eggs, toast, tea, meats, breads, jams, and fruit. After breakfast we had meetings about adjusting to English life. We talked about safety and they asked questions about the UK. For each answer right you were given a candy bar you thought you knew from the US but it was something different, either familiar or totally new. Something I'll be bringing back with me. We had a lunch break during which we went to get cell phones. I bought prepaid with £20 for UK minutes and £10 for US minutes. In total for minutes and phone it was £45. After our break we had 3 politicans come and speak to us and answer questions we had. One was a black woman representing the labourer party in Parliment, a conservative man from Parliment, and a liberal democrat from the House of Lords. They were all very informative and hilarious...they also made a lot of remarks about Sarah Palin who is not popular over here.

After this meeting all of the Goldsmiths students went to the Tower of London. We had to take the Tube alone and meet everyone there. We had no idea what we were doing so we hopped on any train, which was the right one luckily. Outside the station an accordian player was playing for money. When she saw the group of Americans (yes, we stick out that much) she played the chicken dance...umm okay? The Tower of London was enormous and we barely saw anything. However, we did take a kind of tour with some dressed up actors. Deanna, Megan (another girl in the program) and I had been part of the trebuchet during an attack and were the best launchers of bladders filled with urine...something to put on my resume. We saw the crown jewels and other beautiful pieces that belong to the Queen and past rulers.

Next we went to this Italian restaurant called Ask. So delicious. We had appetizers, a main course, and dessert, which was this delicious honeycomb cheesecakeeee. YUM-O (just for you Laur ;) ). A few of us took the tube to see some sights. We went to Westminster to walk around. As we walked up the steps Megan said "Oh something cool and old!" As we keep walking we all realize its Big Ben & Parliment...no big deallll. After we walked around a bit we headed back to the hotel to get some rest because we realized we were all jet lagged still.

Don't know what spotted dick is? Well don't panic no need to see a doctor. It's a dessert that is a cake with raisins in it that look like spots. The Brits have a way of naming their food to make it sound appetizing.