WHY DO THE PUBS CLOSE SO EARLY????

Real quick before we start:
All of the pubs here close at MIDNIGHT AT THE LATEST!!! What is this????

Anyways...
Oh man... so much has happened since my last update. So here's some highlights:

• Windsor Castle
  Breathtaking. Windsor Castle is one of the castles that the Queen stays at, and she happened to be there the day that we visited. We didn't get to see her or anything, but we got to walk around the castle grounds and go in a few rooms. This place was GIGANTIC. And the view from the outside was incredible all by itself. However, we got to go inside and see the Royal Apartments, Queen Mary's Doll House (It was an actual doll house that was about 10 ft. tall by 15 ft. wide), and the cathedral, which was by far my favorite part. We couldn't take pictures inside, but the cathedral's intricacies and stonework were astounding. There were also a ton of tombs inside, including Henry VIII, among many others.
  
  
  After seeing the castle, we had dinner at a traditional English pub that was just outside, and I had some amazing fish and chips! Great end to this part of the day.
  
• Later that night, we went to Covent Garden which is a square with a lot of restaurants and nightlife, a HUGE Apple store, performers and shopping. Here Laura and I found a lush store (lots of organic soaps, lotions, bath bombs, etc.), but then later the TCU group went out for pastries and coffee.
  
  Hightlight:
  Man selling flowers: "Are you guys American?"
  Us: "Yes"
  Man: "I can tell. Great dental care. Perfect teeth."
  He then proceeded to kiss our professor on the cheek and give her a free flower, which made us all giggle.
  
• We finally got moved into our dorms, which are TINY. My roommate is really cool, and it took a while to get everything working right (ie: internet, and THE SHOWER), but all in all it wont be too bad.
  
• 2 adventures to Primark, which is a department store where everything is SUPER CHEAP but relatively good quality. The first time, the entire TCU group went to buy essentials such as towels, bedding, etc. This was around 11:00am. Later on, around 4:00pm or so, Laura and I decided to go back on our own, which was a horrible idea. This place was like Christmas shopping on crack. Laura's analogy was "If we had stood still, we would have been as dead as Mufasa in a heard of wildabeasts." Everything that had been there that morning was GONE, and the shelves were empty. We decided to call it an adventure and take ourselves home empty handed.
  
• Speaker's Corner
  And now everything is stuck being underlined... awesome.
  Anyway, There is this corner of Hyde Park called Speaker's Corner, where anyone can get up on their soapbox and talk about anything they'd like. Popular subjects include religion, politics, etc. Well, Laura, Devon and I were all minding our own business, listening to someone talk about how sports suck when this short little man comes up to us.
  
  Man: "Can I ask you a question?"
  Us: "Sure"
  Man: "Are you all American"
  Us: "Yes..."
  Man: "Do you know about the Tea Party Movement?"
  
  We then go on to explain the Tea Party Movement to this man, after which he asks this question:
  
  Man: "Why are Democrats trying to kill America?"
  
  Let me tell you, this guy was a NUTCASE. He started talking about the 2nd ammendment, the pope, 9/11, how democrats are trying to kill eveyone, etc. The best part was, a group of people started forming around us listening to our conversation, and it was a pretty large group. Others around us were like, "Why are you evening listening to this man? He's obviously crazy!" The man then pointed to an Arab looking man in the crowd and said "You see this man? He's a Muslim. He wants to kill you!" And proceeded to read verses to us out of the Koran about how all Muslims want to kill everyone else. At this point, we decided that we were hungry and left this crazy man to rant about absolutely nothing. It was quite amusing though and made for some great free entertainment!
  
  Afterwards, I got an INCREDIBLE hug from a man holding a Free Hugs sign. There's one thing of my bucket list!
  
  
  
• Today we had orientation at Westminster University, which was very long and very boring. However, we got to see our first West End show tonight! It was The 39 Steps, which was a farce adaptation of a Hitchcock movie which was an adaptation of a novel. It was really funny, and a great first show. And free! Thank you again, TCU!

Laura and I are currently planning our trip to Paris with Annie and Andrew. :D