Weekend in London

So, I finally got to do some exploring around London this weekend. Saturday was a beautiful, but a little windy, fall day. I tried going to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard, but they weren't doing it that day, so I walked around St. Jame's Park instead. It is a beautiful park, probably my favorite one I've been to so far here. It's small with a lake running through it. There are lots of weeping willows, flowers, and animals. It's especially pretty now with all the leaves changing. People were going crazy over the squirls there too, watching them, taking pictures of them, and feeding them. I also saw some huge pelicans.

I walked to Covent Garden after I left the park and loved it there too. It's an area with lots of shops and eateries, a market and street performers, and it's one of my favorite places in London. I watched a performer juggling knives on a ladder in a kilt and a sextet orchestral group that played very well and kept wanting people to give them money. They told the kids watching that if their parents loved them they would buy them a CD of the orchestra's music! They would also block people trying to walk somewhere and were just funny to watch. I went into one area of Covent Garden called Neil's Yard that has more shops and places to eat and discovered a wonderful restaurant called World Foods. It was a small place with only 3 big tables and a counter surrounding the cooking area. There were only 4 women working and preparing all the food. They had vegetarian food from all parts of the world and the menu was written on a chalk board. I ordered the West African, which was sweet potato cooked in sauces and peanut butter and served with rice, salad, and a banana. It was so good and I want to go back sometime before I leave.

On Sunday I explored one of the markets here, Borough Market, and they were having Apple Day. I bought 20 apples for £1, so now I will have to make an apple pie or something with all those apples. It was really crowded there and there were many vendors selling delicious looking food. Later on in the day I went on the Harry Potter London Walk. It was a guided walk around London where the guide talked about Harry Potter and how J.K. Rowling was inspired by various things around London when she wrote the famous Harry Potter series. I thought we would see more things from the books/movies, but we didn't really. It was also more of a show for the kids, as there were a lot of them on the walk. It was alright though.

I think that's about all for now. I will try to write about my internship this week.