ducey

Yesterday was Guy Fawkes Day here in the UK. Also known as GF or bonfire day, it's a day that the British let off fireworks, hold carnivals, and light big bonfires all over the country. Guy Fawkes was a man who, 400 years ago this year, tried to burn down the Houses of Parliament, including Big Ben. Fortunately, for the country and the history of wonderful architecture, he failed. Although somehow, just for his effort in trying to bring down his home country, his attempt is celebrated by bonfires. Victoria Park is known for having the best Bonfire Day celebration, so of course we ventured out to Zone 2 to check it out. When we got there, a big carnival was set up, along with a smaller version of The Houses of Parliament. The city actually built a recreation of their own parliament and then set fire to it, while everyone watched and cheered as it fell to the ground. It was the craziest thing! I was amazed thinking about a holiday like this in the states, if every county built a small White House and then cheered as it burned. Although then I remembered that I'm from Colorado, and even if we did have a bonfire day it would probably never happen cause we would always be on fire ban. The fireworks show was fantastic though, Imust say.

Another good thing came from Bonfire Day, I met Morgan, a fellow Bunac-er who just came to London 3 days ago. She is from S. Carolina and met some of my friends at a Bunac pub meet last week, we got to talking and since we are both looking for a place to live, we decided to look together. I was going to look at a room today, and she came along, which was great because we took the flat, which means, I have a place to live!! It's great when you're travelling by yourself, everyone you meet instantly becomes your best friend. It didn't matter that we just met last night, now we're living together....it's funny.

Anyway, the flat is in Bayswater, which is near Hyde Park. We live on the side near Kensington Gardens, and down the street from Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana lived. The flat is tiny. Seriously tiny. But, everything is this city is, so it's ok. The room has 3 single beds, and the third is a girl who is in London studying. We were laughing later that neither of us ever thought we would be sharing such a small room with other people again after we moved out of the dorms. The guy who owns the flat is from Brazil, and he talks a mile-a-minute, you really can't help but laugh. The best part about it is that it's really cheap-68 pounds a week, which is 30 less than I'm paying at the hostel, and we don't have to sign a lease. So, even if we're there for a couple months, it will still be saving us money.

After the apartment I went to meet friends at Leicester Square, where every tourist in London was gathered for the premiere of the 4th Harry Potter movie. It was exciting to see the actors, but there were so many people bumping into each other and it was pouring down rain, so it became pretty miserable and cold after a while. It's back to work tomorrow, and I'm tired from sitting out in the rain, so I'm going to go to bed early.