Hi All!

We are fine by the way.... I know it's been a few days. We got in to London Saturday morning to find out they don't provide free internet like they said they did on their website. We were all a bit irritated about that, but what ever. We all found a coffee shop with free wifi and this is the first time Heather and I have made it down here to fill you all in.

The room Heather and I are staying in is soo nice. it is a double (single sized) room with huge double hung windows on three walls (five windows in total). We opened the top and bottom of one and the bottom of the others and it keeps it literally 15 degrees cooler than the rest of the building (which is quite uncomfortable) making our room perfect. Unfortunately we will only be in that room for the next night and will be staying in Whales for a week in the boonies with some Welsh students. We have to move out of our current rooms and return after Whales but in different rooms :-(

Anyway, we have been walking tons and using the Underground (Subway system) a lot! Saturday once we got into London and checked into our rooms went on a long walk just Heather and I through Trafalgar Square along the Promenade to the Buckingham Palace (the Queens Palace) then back to the British Parlaiment (Big Ben). Our feet were so tired we took the Tube (Subway) back to our dorm. Whew.

Yesterday was fun too. We ate our full English breakfast then rode the Tube to Cambden Town (hundreds of stands that sell cheap cool stuff (clothes, accessories, the works). It was great. Then we got sandwiches and went to Regents park in an attempt to go see the Serpentine Pavilion (which is actually in Hyde). We ate lunch in Regents in the shade of a tree to escape the beating sun. Next it was off to Hyde Park for us. Gorgeous! The Serpentine (body of water in the park) was great with row boaters afloat and huge green trees. We found the Serpentine Pavilion but because it isn't done until the 12th we couldn't get a great view of it and just took pictures over the fence. This pavilion is something a different architect designs each year and they build it in the summer. We are actually going to be presenting our charette projects in this pavilion at the end of our trip to any and all that want to come! That is quite exciting. We picked up some brews on our way back to the dorms and relaxed in the courtyard.

Today was the best of London so far. We first met at St. Pauls Cathedral and got a long in depth tour of the church. We also climbed 567 stairs to the very top of the dome of the church and got a great view of all of London. It was a bit cloudy today but it was clear enough. We wandered a bit saw the Boiler atrium of the Tate Modern and a new building by Alsop. Next we took a ride on the London Eye which takes about half an hour and we got awesome views and was a fun ride. We then made our way to the coffee shop and are on our way to get some thai food...you know the rest :)

Loves and we will treat you with pictures soon. I hope to get internet in Whales, but we might not. If not we will get back to you on the evening of the 12th.

Cheers,

Corey and Heather