Goodbye Europe...

Last day in London…and Europe for that matter. I’m sad, but at the same time sooo ready to go home. For our last day, we went to visit the Queen. . .even though she wasn’t home. We got to Buckingham Palace around 9:15, and after getting sent into and out of line twice, we finally got our tickets and went inside. We did an audio tour through the house. A lot of the palace was designed by John Nash, even though Parliament strongly disapproved of his spending. After the King George IV died (he had commissioned Nash), Parliament quickly took him off of the project and it was finished by others. It was pretty similar to the other palaces we’ve seen, just a little more extravagant. One of the major design trends in the palace was white and gold ceilings that really added to the rooms. One of my favorite parts of the palace was the grand staircase. Just the way it was placed and served not only it’s function, but also as a focal point and template for the layout of the room was, in my opinion anyway, a great example of form following function. Although Buckingham Palace has a form of gardens, we didn’t really tour any of the grounds. The rest of the day was a free day, so Michelle and I left to do some last minute souvenir shopping at Piccadilly Circus. We got a little lost on our way back to St. James subway station, and somehow ended up at Victoria station…which was closed due to somebody dying…I think. The announcement sounded like it said that somebody fell off a train. Surprisingly, that happens a lot here. After finding that out, we had to walk another ten minutes to St. James Park, and do a transfer. It was a great adventure. We finally got to Piccadilly Circus, found the shop we were looking for, and spent too much time and money shopping for gifts. But we got some good stuff, so it was worth it. From there we just headed home, stopping at Hummingbird Cupcakes on the way. They’re supposed to be, like, the best cupcakes you ever eat, but I tried two different kinds and wasn’t super impressed with either. But I had to try them. The rest of the day was pretty boring; I packed, did some final homework stuff, mailed some postcards (Yes, I know it’s really late), and cleaned up. We all hung out in the common room for a while, then Kylee, Megan, Michelle and I went out for dinner. That’s pretty much the end of my day….5 am at the train station, 9 hour flight, 3 ½ hour layover, 4 hour flight, then 2 hour drive home all tomorrow…whoot! America, here I come!!