The Whimsical World of Carson A. Byrd: "Just Waiting 'Til the Shine Wears Off"

"Every chance that you get is a chance you seize" - Coldplay

What I'm Listening To:
Green Eyes - Coldplay
Life in Technicolor - Coldplay
The Scientist - Coldplay
Lost - Coldplay
The Hardest Part - Coldplay
Viva la Vida - Coldplay
Fix You - Coldplay

Well, I have now successfully completed my first week in LONDON! It's been the best time I have ever had!

Classes started on Monday and we went to the British Museum for one of my science classes and the National Gallery for one of my humanity classes. My humanities professor, Rachel Barnes, is very well known throughout London and the fourteen of us sit around a painting each week as she spends thirty minutes explaining everything about it. A crowd usually gathers because they want to hear Rachel's interpretation of the painting. It is incredible to be a part of such a unique experience each week.

Friday we went to Stonehenge and the town of Salisbury and had an incredible time. I think it was used for a calendar after hearing all of the theories, but you never know, aliens from mars is also a choice too. We then went to the town of Salisbury, to the cathedral there. It houses one of the four copies of the magna carta and, of course, we weren't allowed to take pictures of it, but i have photos of the cathedral!

We have been eating at some lovely restaurants this week. Aubaine was a great French/Italian place and Jaks, I mentioned it in my last post, is homey food, like lasagne. Also i have discovered a wonderful frozen yoghurt (English spelling) shop called Snog that makes it feel a little more like LA as well as a great cookie shop, Ben's cookies. I already told you about Hummingbird's, the cupcake shop, YUM YUM!

We are starting to get very well accustomed to the city and I can now say I know how to navigate the tube perfectly. Still working on the bus, its a little tricky.

The grand finally of my week was Saturday. We went shopping on Oxford Street and took the bus. There was a bomb threat on one of the bus queues way ahead of us so the buses shut down and we walked down oxford street looking at twenty to forty red buses just sitting in the streets as the bomb squad arrived. Typical london I'm told, and in typical London fashion, everyone continued their shopping because nothing was wrong.

THEN, we hopped on the tube and headed to Wimbley Stadium for the Coldplay Jay Z concert. IT WA THE MOST AMAZING SHOW EVER. We only bought our tickets two days before the show and were in the general admission standing room only section. Somehow we managed to move our way all the way to the front, about four people from the stage. AMAZING!

Both Jay Z and Coldplay were the best and they performed all of my favorite songs. It was a lifechanging performance. Wimbley is an open air stadium so at one point, of course, it rained. It was during two songs. One called Fix You and the other, Life in Technicolor. I can honestly say this was more than a concert, it was an experience. I laughed, I cried, I sang my heart out and danced in the rain with my girlfriends and 17,000 other people all feeling the same thing. This was as close to Woodstock as I will probably ever get. BLISS.

This morning we went to grab breakfast at le Pain Quotedian, a great little cafe if you are ever in L.A. or New York, and came back to the house where I just completed some reading for Humanities and Political Science. Azzurra and I are about to read "The Birthday Party" aloud for our English class.

A lazy Sunday is nice for a change.