Day 3

Today we went on two walking tours, both set up by our program.  The first one was with a man from a separate company and he showed us the west end of London.  At the end of the tour, he left us at a farmer's market where we had lunch.  All of the food was very fresh and inexpensive.  I had a buffalo mozzarella and tomato sandwich and a brownie with Belgium chocolate and walnuts.  The second tour was with the man who will be our professor for our British Culture and Life course.  He was very enthusiastic about the history of London and about specific landmarks in London.  In particular, he claimed his favorite object in London is the canon that is rising out of the ground near the London Bridge, which was put there after the war with Napoleon and there was no use for as many cannons anymore.  Each week for our class we will have a day of learning in class and a day for visiting a place that relates to the lesson of the week.  In addition, we will also have an assignment of doing a certain task each week.  This week's task was to go shopping.  Once we got back, we went to the nearby grocery store, Tesco, and had an unusual shopping experience.  First there was an error when I scanned paper towels.  Then, I had to wait for someone to come over to take the safety off my wine. And third, whenever I use my credit card, the cashier must verify the signature on the back to the paper or to identification.  The credit card use here is much more strict than in the US.  Also, for dinner that night there was a 10 pound minimum for purchasing food.

View of St. Paul's Cathedral

Link to Pictures from Walking Tours