Parks and Markets

Today was our first entirely free day and it was fun getting to plan something on my own! I woke up decently early and got ready to leave the flat by 10. I traveled with Amanda and Shenee to Hyde Park to see Speaker’s Corner. The park was HUGE! And absolutely beautiful. I can’t wait to return in the spring when everything is in bloom and all the animals are out. I think the only part of the park I didn’t like was the hoards of pigeons that would fly at us as we walked. After walking quite a distance, we asked for directions to Speaker’s Corner and kind of backtracked to get there. We finally made it and listened to three speakers. The first speaker – I couldn’t understand a thing he said. He kind of bantered with one guy in the crowd, but nothing super exciting. The second speaker was crazy! He had laid out posters in front of his station saying “I speak on more topics than any other speaker” or “Britney Spears was never a virgin.” He was hilarious, if not a little creepy. We left him after a while and went to see the third speaker, who preached about religion. After Speaker’s Corner, we traveled on a bus back to the flats.

I made lunch and then went to Spitalfields Market with Michael, Casey, Amanda, and Chelsey. There were all kinds of fun stands and stalls. I went in looking just for a pea coat and boots and did not let myself get tempted by pashmina scarves and edible treats. Yay me! I can’t wait to go back and look around some more. I don’t think many purchases were made, but we all can’t wait to do more market shopping.

After that, we came back to the flat and ate dinner. Seriously, I need to go grocery shopping. I’ve eaten Nutella, apples, and almonds for two meals today. That’s not so good for me. Shopping is on my to-do list for tomorrow. Tomorrow is another somewhat free day. We only have an education seminar at 5 pm, so the whole day is ours. Fun stuff! I hope I have something interesting to tell you all tomorrow.