2012 London Olympics

As everyone in the entire world knows, the 2012 olympics just so happen to take place in London. Besides the massive amounts of people everywhere causing me major anxiety, it was a once in a lifetime experience nonetheless. You couldn't go anywhere without seeing something Olympics related which I loved. All the hype and commotion and about team GB was hilarious to hear about because I knew they didn't stand a chance in the medal race against team USA. So me being an athlete, I took a day to travel to Olympic Park. I was so excited! The sun was shinning, I got to wear some shorts finally and I was in a patriotic mood thinking about all the athletes coming over for the events. However I was shot down when I got there. I was wanting to get as close as possible to some of the venues, but that wasn't very close because everything was gated off unless you had a pass. All that traveling in the hot and smelly tube only to leave me disappointed. I didn't let it get to me too much thought because I knew I was fortunate to even be there in the first place. I had heard on a tour that the the London Olympics cost the country 9.4 billion dollar. I knew that London was filthy rich and that it would cost a lot to host such an event but I wasn't expecting that figure. I started to wonder how that effected the people living in the country. I know most of the workers were volunteers so they must of relied heavily on tourist giving some of the money back. I know I did at least.

Royalty

It's safe to say that the buildings the royals lived in were beautifully constructed. Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana once lived, lies in Hyde Park which enhances the beauty even more. And if you ever want to feel like you're in a medieval era, take a trip to Windsor Castle because it is amazing. The traditional castle look, beautiful gardening on the inside, and the fact that royals still live there, just makes you feel small to be honest. Even the bloodiest place in London, the Tower of London, is awesome to see in person. The weather really fit the scene the day we visited the tower. The skies were gray, the rain started to pour, and it gave the castle that extra creepy feel to it. This is also where they keep the crown jewels which was hard to get a picture of without getting kicked out, but I did my best. The room was so dark and the only light there was was coming off these jewels. It was incredible to see how rich this one room was. There was more history in these different places than I could even begin to imagine. It made you start to think how things would be different in the states if we had a king or a queen. It's crazy to think about, but I suppose most of the people in the U.K. are doing well.

History of Health Care

A lot of what we have today as far as healthcare in the U.S. originated in London. One of the most famous nurses, Florence Nightingale, changed healthcare dramatically during the Crimean War. Penicillin was found in a one room lab by Alexander Fleming on accident. One of the first operating rooms and herb garrets was in the attic of St. Thomas's Church in London. Bottom line is a lot of milestones in healthcare happened in London. The science museum in London even had a whole healthcare display on one floor. My favorite picture from the museum was the one on the psychologist Sigmund Freud and gave me a good laugh. The operating theatre was really cool. it had a winding stair case that you had to climb to get to the actual theatre and herb garret. Most everything was preserved in the attic and the herb garret had a mixture of different smells. It was kind of creepy laying down on the original operating table because basically all they did back then was amputations without anesthesia, which is the field I intend to get into. It's impressive that so many different major accomplishments came from London.  It's Another part of why London's culture is so rich and remarkable.

Stonehenge and Roman Baths

Stonehenge was the main reason why I decided to choose London as my study abroad location. The idea that no one really knows what this mound of rocks is or what they were used for is truly fascinating to me. It's one of the greatest and oldest mysteries of our planet and it was remarkable to be able stand within such close distance to it. It was partly cloudy that day and gave it that eerie look but the breeze felt amazing. I couldn't of asked for a better day to see something I had admired for so long. You used to be able to get right up next to the rocks but they stopped allowing that awhile ago because people were chipping the rocks. I don't think they would of ever allowed that in the first place in the U.S. but it's probably best.

We also visited the Roman Baths that same day and it was also a sensational feeling to be in a building that was occupied by the Roman's so long ago. It was sort of nasty to think about how tons of different people bathed in the same water but it also makes sense. Back then no one could afford to have pipes go to their own homes so bathing at home was a rarity. Therefore, they would go to the Bath house to meet their sanitary needs. It was very advanced for that time to have lead pipes deliver the water to the Bath house and it was impressive. In some parts of you could feel the steam coming off the water and it felt good in the dark and cool chambers.

Protect and Serve U.K. style

Yes the U.K. does have a police. However, I hardly saw them do much of anything over there especially traffic wise. I literally seen two guys fighting in the street and a police officer came up said "knock it off" and continued his walk. So needless to say it isn't exactly the same as the U.S. It was still interesting to see the different branches of military like service while I was over there. I saw every thing such as: London bobbies outside of Westminster; foot guards and horseman with swords outside Buckingham Palace; officers with assault rifles outside Buckingham as well; and the British Red Coats inside Windsor Castle. It was a little nerve wrecking and awesome at the same time to see the guards with assault rifles, but I can't imagine how the locals felt about seeing them because you can't just get guns in the U.K. like you can at home so it was probably a rare sight for them. Personally I think the worse job of them all would be to have to sit on a horse all day or even be one of the foot guards.  Especially when people come up all the time and try to get you to crack a smile or something. I know they had to be burning up in all that heavy armor though because it got toasty on some of the days when we were just walking. Either way, I would never mess with any of them because they all look like they can put up a tough fight.

Only In the U.K.

These are just awesome and random photos I took in London that I really didn't think I would see anywhere else. Only In the U.K.: would you order tea in Pizza Hut and get a hot pot of tea; call a stroller a buggy; have open view porta potties and have to pay to use other restrooms; see a man playing the bag pipes in a kilt; see a giraffe in a traditional UK phone booth, and see the queen with sideburns in a rock pub. I found all these things very unique and had to take a photo of them. Some things just amaze you at how different they are from the U.S. and remind you that I'm thousands of miles away in the U.K. I mean I don't see how the city could be so rich to have a random art display of a giraffe in a phone booth and then also have to charge you to use the restroom in a train station. I'm also not a fan of their idea of tea. Hot tea really was not for me and had one sip, gagged, and picked up my water. However, I did enjoy the bag pipes. I saw them in a few different locations and the sound of them in the distance really caught you off guard when you're probably used to hearing a guitar or saxophone on the streets of St. Louis.

Drinks!

I had a lot of different drinks in a lot of different places in London. I believe our class favorite was the Rock Pub in Oxford. This place played a lot of music I wasn't used to, but had a traditional Pub feel to it. I felt like I was in a cellar of some sort and it had a chill, but I enjoyed it. The coolest place I think I enjoyed a drink at was the James Bond martini Bar. That was awesome and made me think back to all the great movies when Bond ordered a drink. However, martinis are not for me and made me wanna throw up. We also had some wine where Ben Franklin used to enjoy a drink as well. The smell of the cellar was awful and I'm not a wine person, but the place had a cool spooky feel to it and obviously a lot of history. I enjoyed most of the new beers I had in London even though they were a lot stronger, but I still had to enjoy my american favorite Jack Daniel. I never had a problem finding a place to have a good drink in London or Oxford and I respect the drinking culture of the British.

Nighttime scenery

There were always interesting and fun things to see at night in London. If you just walked around you were bound to find something whether it be bright lights lighting up the streets or even giant gentlemen's clubs pulling in a crowd. Westminster and the London Eye were even more spectacular looking when they were lit up at night then they were during the day. One of the things I wish I could of done the most while I was in London was go to the Michael Jackson show live. I could hear the music from the street as I walked by and it put me in a dancing move. Even though it was always a bit too cold and wet for me at night I always enjoyed the way the people of London portrayed there city at night. All the bright lights and music from the pubs and shows seemed to always put you in a good mood.