Tower of London

i'm staying home from church today bc i got hit with a really bad cold. i stayed in bed 12 hrs, 11 of which i slept through. so hopefully this day of rest will be what i need to keep going back to work tomorrow.

Tower of London
i went and toured the tower of london with a few friends yesterday. the history of it is quite interesting if you want to look it up. built by william the conquerer. it housed many royalty but is well known for keeping guard over royal prisoners and executing them: anne boleyn and sir thomas more to name a few.

the tour guide was wonderful. he's a yeoman warder which are the people who keep guard over the tower. it's a prestigious role. i don't remember all the requirements but one is at least 22 years of military service. but this guy was just a hoot! he was so charismatic telling his stories and was telling jokes left and right. here's one: he was asking where people were from in the group (it was a large group). when he asked who was from the States, several of us raised our hands. he said, "so, you've come to learn a little history, huh? it could've been your history too if you'da just paid your taxes." he also gave us the history behind some of those phrases that you use that you never really think about. like there was a guy, last name scot, who was being help captive until his execution. through a well-devised plan he was able to escape to rome and live happily ever after. so he got off scot-free. stuff like that.

the place was fun to walk around, but it wasn't worth all the hype it gets (and the cost of entry). i did see the crown jewels. all the girls around me swooned. and i saw the torture chamber. something i never realized before coming here was how these castles are really like their own little neighborhood. there's different housing areas and yards and streets connecting them. they're just all surrounded by a common wall.

you can kinda see the yeoman warder on the lower bottom (the guy everyone is facing)

a gun rack?! i don't even own a gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire gun rack!

protecting the crown jewels

Mom asked a bunch of questions that i'll try to answer here:

the ysa does have fhe and institute during the week, but i haven't been to either yet. i usually just end up hanging out with the friends i made here at the residency. since i'm around them all the time anyway we just keep doing stuff together. coming out here, i expected to make better friends through the church, but i guess not. i'd like to go to those things, but there always seems to be something else going on. i think they had a dance last friday but it's no fun going when you don't know anyone so i didn't really pay attention to the details.

grocery stores are definitely different here. there's just products i would never see in the states. like they sell blood orange juice here - something i used to love in the ukraine but never found in the States. their cereal selection is very limited, and a lot healthier. the only similar sugary thing that i've found is Frosted Flakes (called Frosties here). and all the containers here have more health information than we have on ours. almost none of the sodas are the same. they're mostly the same at fast food places, but at grocery stores 95% of their drinks i've never heard of. i usually end up buying a packaged meal that i heat up and eat. :) one of which was chicken kiev (sound familiar, mom?). others include shephard pie, cottage pie, pizza, and some sausage thing - all aren't particularly great but they fill me up. i did have a wonderful bacon and cheddar burger the other day at a pub. i don't know if i've mentioned that before but that is definitely the best meal i've had so far. the bacon is always a lot wider. not sure why. just a different cut, i suppose. i haven't noticed any new fruits or anything coming in for the summer season. of course, i never noticed any of that happening in the States either. ;)