A Week In the Community (March 26-30)

This week of rotation was to give us a chance to see life in a community pharmacy. Before I tell you about it I thought I'd explain the structure of the next few posts. I figure, since I did mostly the same thing everyday I'll go ahead and devote and entry to what life in the pharmacy is like. A following post will contain the touristy things we did during the evenings this week. So, no pictures for this post.


Ashlyn and I were each assigned different pharmacies to attend for the week. They were both independent pharmacies, though there are big chain pharmacies here. The biggest chain pharmacy is Boots, which is similar to a CVS/Walgreens/Rite Aid except more welcoming. They have nice layouts and Ashlyn and I have even spoken with a Boots pharmacist about pharmacy in the States one day when we stopped in for some purchases. But, like I said we were assigned to independent pharmacies which was interesting for us because both Ashlyn and myself have worked in the independent pharmacies in the States. Ashlyn was assigned a pharmacy in Central London and I was assigned a store in the far reaching corner of the London Borough of Lewisham in the neighborhood of Grove Park.


I should start with getting to the pharmacy. Luckily, I could take a bus directly there (the 136 to Grove Park). The only problem is that the 136 is potentially the most unreliable bus route in the history of all bus routes. There were days when I left the house 10 minutes early and arrived to work 10 minutes late and days were I left the house 15 minutes late and arrived to work 10 minutes early. You never know when the bus is coming, which could potentially be why people don't seem to get as irritated when others are late. If you left it up to the 136 bus you'd have to leave at a ridiculous time to insure you arrived in a timely manner. The bus ride is between 20-30 minutes depending on how many people were on and and how long it takes to load and unload at stops. I'm not sure that I've clarified this, but when you ride a bus in London those are the double decker red buses you see when you think of London. I always thought those were tour buses, but that are actually legit transportation. So, there's something to make Atlanta's MARTA buses look even worse. As I may have mentioned before London has the most expensive transportation in the world and a bus fare (whether you're going one stop or ten) costs £2.00 without an Oyster Card and £1.35 with one. We pay for the unlimited pass at £29.99 a week, so I don't have to worry about that. It's hard to decide if you are getting a good deal (besides the 136 inconsistencies London transportation far surpasses that of any other city I have been to in the States or internationally) or if you are getting ripped off. The 136 bus has to pass through some nice and not so nice areas. In runs right through the neighborhood of Lewisham, which I was consistently told was not a good place to be. When I asked why, they said I would get my bag stolen. Interesting perspectives. When I tell someone not to go somewhere in Atlanta, my usual reasoning is, "you might get shot," which makes getting your bag stolen look like a cake walk. Either way, passing through various neighborhoods with their mixtures of socioeconomics makes the bus ride interesting to say the least. It basically ends up looking like the "People of Wal-Mart" website, but with British accents. There are also always teenagers who I think should be in school, but aren't. Including one who I'm 99% sure was wearing an ankle bracelet. That's the 136 for you. 


The pharmacy I am at is in a small strip mall within walking distance of a Tesco Express. Tesco is a grocery chain. They have big Tesco's that are similar to like a Super Wal-Mart and also small stores at gas stations. I also went past a Tesco Extra once, but I'm not sure what made it extra. Anyways, they have good pasta and sandwiches that you can grab and go with. They also have candy, so each day I tried another candy bar. Bad for my health, but you do what you have to do to get cultured. Cadburry is the main candy here (as popular as Hershey's back home). Sorry, for getting derailed, but I figure if you're reading this in the States Tesco means nothing to you, but it's major here so I wanted to explain. Independent pharmacies here are just smaller in general than at home. My store is long and narrow and sits adjacent to a train track so you have to get used to the entire building shaking every 15 or so minutes. The pharmacy floor plan is long and narrow with a small behind the counter area. Even with such little space they managed to fit one pharmacist, six technicians, a pre-reg (equivalent to me) and me. They have really figured out how to work in a small space. They have a computer system that works fairly similar to how ours works in the States with one HUGE difference. For us, when a prescription is filled electronically the information goes directly to the insurance company (private or federal) so all the payment and reimbursement is handled right then. Here EVERY, SINGLE paper prescription must be mailed to the NHS (the National Health Service) to be processed. Meaning it often takes the pharmacy two months to get their payment. This is how things used to be done in the States, before the internet existed. 


At this point I will explain community pharmacy here further in question and answer format to keep me on track and to hopefully not confuse the few people who will actively read this. 


Since they have nationalized healthcare in the UK how are the medications paid for?
Good question! There is an option to get your own private insurance in the UK (but it is expensive, much like getting your own plan in the States is expensive if you are self employed, etc.) Medications are paid for by the NHS, discussed earlier. Every prescription carries a one time fee of £7.65. No matter how much the medication costs (expensive or cheap) or how often you get the medication in the year you pay this one time fee per new prescription. There are certain exemptions. People who are exempt do not pay this fee. They include children under 18, pregnant women (and those 1 year post giving birth), those with diseases such as diabetes, those with severe handicaps and the unemployed. Much like the debate here it seems everyone I talked to does not like the fact that the unemployed don't have to pay. It's funny that they can't believe that in the States our insurance will reject medications the doctor wants us to take. They just looked at me dumbfounded. If you think you will be getting a lot of new prescriptions during the year you can pay a one time fee of about £140 and then you get your medication unlimited. 


Do they have to wait a long time to get their medications since governmental bodies are always slow?
No. It is true that they often have to wait for non emergency procedures, etc but medication is not a wait. They bring their prescription to the pharmacy and get it filled just as you would in the States, but with one exception. They are not given refills on their prescriptions. They either must get in contact with their physician or have the pharmacy send the physician a list of what they want. This theoretically would lead to a wait as physicians offices or "surgery" often take a while to get back in touch. Luckily, they are allowed to give 30 days of a medication (with the exception of narcotics) if they haven't heard back from the physician. 


Speaking of narcotics how are those regulated?
Narcotics are regulated pretty tightly, just as they are at home. Interestingly, they don't use hydrocodone (the main ingredient in Lortab). Each narcotic prescription is written on a special, blue colored prescription pad and then must be organized and sent to the NHS for a review/audit every month. In the States the drug methadone (often used to help treat narcotic addiction) can only be filled in a pharmacy if they physician has clearly stated the medication will be used for pain. If the medication is being used to wean a drug addiction then the patient has to go to a "methadone clinic" and be given their dose there. In the UK pharmacists are in control of this process. The physician writes the prescription and the patient comes to the pharmacy where they are given the dose and watched by the pharmacist to ensure they took the entire dose (some patients do not have to be watched - this decision is made by the physician). My pharmacy used about 2 liters of methadone a day. Which is a TON. Speaking of regulation, in the States you have to sign and show identification for Sudafed or any product containing pseudoephedrine due to the way it abused and used as an ingredient in Meth. Here it is kept behind the counter, but there are no real regulations. I've discussed this with a few different people and apparently Meth use it just not an issue over here. 


What other products are kept behind the counter?
While in the States we have really just began to have prescriptions kept behind the counter that you can buy with the pharmacists approval, over here this process is much more defined. Some things we can't get over the counter such as APAP with codeine (Tylenol #3) and Volteren gel can be purchased if the pharmacist reviews them with you. Ibuprofen is also kept behind the counter. There are other drugs you don't need a prescription or to talk to the pharmacist to get. My two favorite are generic Zovirax (for fever blisters) and generic Flonase (nasal spray for sinuses). They are OTC and very cheap here, which is interesting as they are prescription only and break your bank expensive in the States. 


Is there anything a pharmacist in the UK can do that an American pharmacist can't?
Not really. I've been told pharmacists can immunize (just as we do), but no one seems to do it or show much of a desire to participate. They can run the methadone supervision as mentioned above, but for the most part they can do the same things. They offer MUR (Medication Use Review) to patients yearly and they can get reimbursed by the NHS for up to 400 of these patient counseling sessions. They also participate in smoking cessation and they are required to do weekly follow ups with patients who have started new, higher risk medications for the first four weeks. Pharmacists in the States can do all these things as well, but typically get no reimbursement. The big difference are the techs. Pharmacy techs in the UK get a lot more training then in the States and thus can often legally do the final medication check after the pharmacist has approved the original written prescription. 


Who gets paid more?
We do, by a landslide. 


What do they think about our healthcare system?
Overall, I have gotten the same feed back from everyone I've talked too. No one understands why we let insurance companies bully us. They love that healthcare workers get paid more and that there is very little wait time for most procedures. They do not love how much prescriptions can cost us and they can't even fathom the concept of how much you might have to pay out of pocket to meet your deductible (a concept they've never heard of). In addition, they can't believe how much we pay to go to grad school (thus leaving so many students under mounds of debt). We've often heard people say they don't mind getting healthcare that isn't as speedy as we have because theirs in "free." Ashlyn and I often remind them that their healthcare isn't free, they pay for it in taxes. The NHS is struggling for funding, so slowly more people are moving to a more privatized world. And I'm not saying America is right, because we have healthcare areas that MUST be adjusted, but as of right now I'll keep getting my medical care in the beautiful United States of America, even though I could potentially loose my house and life savings in the process. My favorite people to talk to are those who have lived in both countries. They all have pretty good things to say about America and how we do things. 


This was a very informative week for me. Even though I often just stood around observing and asking questions I was able to help dose pack some medications. I also spent a good time reading the British National Formulary (BNF), their drug reference source and was shocked to find they have antibiotics we don't use and vice versa. I was able to counsel a patient on how to use his new inhaler and as education has always been my favorite thing it felt good to be able to help a little bit. Other highlights of the week included discussing American food and candy (jealousy over how many M&M flavors, free refills and me trying to explain what a biscuit is), the reason everyone should go to Las Vegas, popular television in America and American football. It always amazes me when people find American stuff interesting as I just find it boring. My favorite thing to happen all day was when I told them the morning after pill is branded "Plan B." Over here it has a much more fancy, floral sounding name. Everyone laughed for a quite a while about that one. 


When I left on Friday afternoon I felt I had made some new friends, but I won't miss that 136 bus ride. 

Celluloid Footsteps, London As the Movies Show It (March 24-25)

It's the weekend! Time to site see! Time to do everything we've been wanting to do! Most importantly it's time to sleep in. Ashlyn and I both value our sleep more than food. In fact, I've been waking up to eat breakfast only because I'm stubborn and I've already paid for it. So, this weekend it pretty monopolized by getting copious amounts of beauty rest.

Saturday:

After getting our required rest we were ready to head out into one of the most beautiful days we've seen in London. A day that doesn't require a coat or umbrella. A day that needs sunglasses. It's the kind of day that would have made a skeptic feel the charm London so often hides behind it's gray skies. With this in mind we headed for the famous Portobello Road Market. Located in the heart of the Notting Hill  district it's swanked on all sides by charming pastel town homes and flats. It's the quirky appeal of the place that brought Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant together in the movie by the same name and it's easy to see why. The market runs through the heart of Notting Hill and has around 2,000 booths. It contains everything from antiques to food to clothes. And everything you would never want in between. It only took me a few booths to find a necklace made from a tie that I had to have. It's the perfect way for a girl to wear a tie without looking like I'm in Clueless or going to boarding school. The salesman wanted 8 pounds and as I knew I still had a lot more to take in I felt the need to continue on. Ashlyn then spotted a dessert waffle stand and since I had been harping about how much I wanted one for the last week I got a delicious one covered in dark chocolate. I discovered a few years ago in Brussels that the dessert waffle is far greater than the breakfast waffle. Today's only confirmed this conclusion. After continuing to look around, making it to the very end of the market row and then being so overwhelmed we headed back to the front, Ashlyn was able to haggle the necklace guy down. So I got my tie necklace for 6 pounds and also left with a rainbow colored scarf for about 3 pounds. Not to shabby.

We then hopped on The Tube and headed for King's Cross Station so we could see Platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter books and films. Of course, the platform is not real, but they've added a little tourist trap for people like us. When we couldn't find it initially I went to ask an employee and I could tell before I even reached her that she knew exactly what I was looking for. She pointed in the direction with a bit of a laugh. Obviously, this has become a tourist favorite. It was still worth it.

Heading for the Hogwarts Express!

After this it was time to climb out from the underground and look for a bank. As I am a Bank of America customer I can get free cash withdrawals from Barclays banks here in the U.K., so it's nice not getting hit with a $5 fee every time I want to take cash out. After getting my qid (that's what they say instead of bucks), we went to McDonald's for a Coke. McDonald's here is fancy in that they have the most comfortable chairs ever. It's 100 times nicer than the average McDonald's here in the States. It was while sitting at the McDonald's and looking at my map I made the connection that we had been near the British  Library for the past few hours (a place we really wanted to see), but now it was too late in the day to visit. Saved for another day I suppose. At this point we headed towards Blackfriars Pub (recommended by the Rick Steves book). If you are traveling to any European country you shouldn't go with out a Rick Steves item. You won't regret it, as he knows everything. Blackfriars in a Bank pub. There are a lot of Bank pubs in London and they are so named for being housed in old banks. Now that online banking has overtaken the industry it just wasn't cost effective for banks to keep the high rent, old buildings in the heart of the city and so now many of them have been converted to pubs. Great for us, maybe not so great for the people who don't currently online bank. Either way, we had the most precious waiter ever. He even made a group of guys who were just drinking move to a bar table so we could sit and eat in the restaurant area. He'll be added to the list as one of my favorite British men.

On The Tube ride home we meet a group of college aged guys and girls. One of the guys offered us a beer from a shopping bag (we declined), but then I just had to ask him if drinking on the train was legal. He said, no, but no one ever gets stopped for it. Good enough for me. This then lead us into conversation about the best ciders (they agree with me that Aspall takes the cake) and which Tube stops should be avoided for safety. Turns out the girls with them were from Philadelphia or maybe it was Pittsburgh. Either way, I know they were from Pennsylvania. I was really cool to have a train ride home full of conversation and not just awkwardly starting at strangers. For one slightly glimmering moment we had a crew.

Sunday:

Our Sunday goal was to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace . The night before I had checked the schedule to make sure we got there at the right time. So we headed towards the palace only to find out there was a charity race going on and the guards would not be changed that day. This kind of disorganization, while I imagine is not was The Sex Pistols were singing about could actually cause Anarchy in the UK when you've lost out on sleep so you can see the dang guards changing.

Buckingham Palace

After watching the runners for a bit (including two people in one of those front and back end of a horse outfits) we walked through St. James's Park to enjoy the nice weather. It's gorgeous with a canal that runs through it. It has a much more natural feel then the average park. It's much more woodlandish. Which is funny since it's flanked on each side by Buckingham Palace and government buildings. 

St. James's Park

From here we headed to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. The Gallery is a plethora of paintings from every time period and genre. Of course, they is no way you can see it all and no way you could ever actually know what you are looking at. Luckily, the Rick Steve's book does a tour to help you hit the highlights. For those of you who know me, paintings have never been my favorite art form. I have always preferred artistic expression through the written word and music (and probably because music at some point must be transcribed to paper, in it's own written word form to be remembered). And when you look at enough old paintings you just can't bring yourself to look at another piece commissioned by the Church ages ago. They all start looking the same. Just like how seeing Botticelli's Venus on the Half Shell in Florence opened my mind to art, the room of Monet's just took my breath away. They are so fantastic. Painted with all the colors I would use if art were up to me. But as all good things must come to an end the gallery is not composed solely of Monet. We were also on painting overload. So we went back outside, checked the countdown on the Olympic counter and headed back home. Upon arrival home we learned everything closes early on Sundays, but we have the always faithful Pizza Hut to back us up. 

At the conclusion of my second full week in London I'm starting to really love this city. I know I warmed to the city immediately, but I feel like it has began to warm up to me too. I've never felt unwelcome, even when I was being a hassle because I couldn't count change correctly. There are a few specific things I've already committed to miss as soon as I head home (Pret sandwiches, men's fashion and Aspall cider to name a few) and I know as the time passes I'll only start to grow more fond of this place. I wanted to leave here with a sense of knowing the city and I feel like if I accomplish nothing else while here I will have gained this most important goal. 

How I Became a London Commuter and Other Short Tales (March 22-23)

Thursday:

Today's pharmacy task was a visit to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Central London. This is the body that promotes the profession in England, Scotland and Wales. It the equivalent of our American Pharmacists Association. So getting invited to visit is the same as getting invited to the APhA building at the National Mall in Washington D.C. Seems legit. When we told the pre-reg pharmacists we were going there they were shocked, as apparently, they never get the opportunity to go. After hearing this and the fact that "royal" is used in the name we assumed we should dress nice. So we got fancy and headed in that direction. I should add our meeting wasn't scheduled until 2:00 pm, so we were able to have a relaxing day. Upon arriving at the Society we were presented with a locked revolving door. The revolving door is quite possibly the dumbest invention ever known to man. While reading the instructions for which button to press and how to enter and employee came by, went in and then pressed a button on the other side and ushered me in the door. Apparently, this is the equivalent of a major breach in national security as a secretary proceeded to tell him to never let anyone in again. At this same time Ashlyn was trying to come in and she was locked out of the building by said secretary. Finally, upon her release we were able hurry through so we could sit and wait. After a bit the lady we were supposed to meet showed up and lead us to the top level of the building, which basically has the best views ever of Parliament and the Thames. This is what we learned:

• The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is just like APhA, in fact they are basically identical, but with British accents
• We should watch our bags and belongings around Lewisham Hospital (yeah, we'd already figured that out)
• There is a huge increase of Malaria in East London (where we are) due to second and third generations going to visit family in Africa and thinking they don't need to be vaccinated. So, obviously education is a problem here. When they return the NHS (National Healthcare Trust) has to pay for their care. Basically, learning to take care of yourself is a problem everywhere. 

After finishing our meeting we hopped on the Tube and headed for Covent Garden to do a bit of shopping. Our goal was to head into Paperchase (a great stationary store) to get a few cards. This goal was successful. We did a little bit of odds and ends shopping and then headed to the Borough Market in the London Bridge area of town to meet Ashlyn's parents for dinner on their last night in the U.K. Of course, there was confusion about how Ashlyn and I were to find them, but with a little bit of resourcefulness and magic we found Ashlyn's parents and the restaurant. They were also able to provide us with the elusive Southeast London train map, which must be some sort of national secret as Ashlyn and I had looked for one everywhere and never came across one. Upon the bus ride home we didn't hit the "stop" button as it seems like the bus always stops at out stop, so we just thought that was how it worked. WRONG. So now we know. When in doubt, press the stop button. One step closer to being a true Londoner.

Friday:

Oh this day. First, Ashlyn and I had to head back to Kingston-upon-Thames to go to see a lecture given to first year pharmacy students at Kingston University. If you recollect from an earlier blog post, Kingston in out in Zone 6 which is a pleasant way of saying one has to vacate their home at the crack of dawn to get down there. On our last trip to Kingston we arrived significantly earlier than necessary so we made the executive decision to get a little more sleep and leave a little later. BIG mistake. London rush hour has no pattern. It's just works however the hell it wants. So we get to the New Cross Gate station right as the train is about to leave. Ashlyn and I run for it. Ashlyn jumps on. I'm right behind her, except the door closes. So now I'm standing on the platform and she's looking at me through the window of the currently moving Overground line and we're making hand gestures and trying to mouth to each other a meeting spot. It's like a movie. Except not good. So now Ashlyn has to wait for me at the massive Waterloo station and hope she catches me when I get off the later train. This should be easy because we have phones, right? Well it isn't because our phones don't work a billion miles underground. Luckily, we meet and make a train to Kingston, but just in time to make us 30 minutes late to lecture. Thankfully our preceptor was great about the whole situation. It apparently takes a while to become a good London commuter. On that note it's time for a bit of social commentary. It seems that arriving early to things is not the norm. Ashlyn and I originally tried to get everywhere 15 minutes early as that is what we are accustomed too. Whenever we do this here it seems to cause confusion. Showing up 15 minutes late actually seems to be more appreciated as usually no one is ready for you when you arrive. But, back to the pharmacy school lecture. It was very similar to something we would have received our first year. Privacy policies and some basic laws were discussed. After the lecture was over we were able to discuss similarities and differences in the American and U.K. systems with the guest speaker. He was impressed to hear how much smoking has been banned in the U.S., but was quick to point out they are moving in the same direction (currently new legislature is requiring LARGE print warnings be placed on cigarette boxes and all adverts are being eliminated). Adverts in Brit speak for ads. We discussed the push for more clinical education in pharmacy school, non physician prescribing and how the Kaiser medical system here in the United States is something they'd love to copy. Since the University is only two train stops away from a large palace it was suggested that we head that way after class. So off we went.

Hampton Court Palace was built in 1514 for a favorite of King Henry VIII, but as soon as dude become a non favorite Henry took it back for himself. It sits directly on the Thames and the Olympic torch will actually be sent down there river, starting here to Central London for the start of the games. You'd probably like to see some pictures, right? I thought you would, so upon seeing the palace I reached into my bag for my camera and realized my camera was sitting back in my room on my desk. Fabulous. So I'll do my best to describe and then you can fill in the gaps with the Wikipedia link provided above. The front of the palace is in the Tudor style and basically looks like a place where you would expect knights to be walking around. It has a big front courtyard reminiscent of the place Shrek visited when he went to meet Prince Farquad or whatever his name was. It even has a (no longer functioning) wine fountain. King Henry VIII, you might have been onto something. The back of the palace was remodeled in the late 1600s to the Baroque style to look more like Louis XIV's Versailles over in France. So in non historical terms this palace is business in the front, party in the back. Probably the most amazing part about the palace is the gardens. I can only imagine what they must look like in the summer. They are everywhere and in every possible design. Some are well manicured and seem almost as if the ground is serving as a canvas for the flowers of paint. Other areas are made to look more wild and natural. There is even a famous maze. We preceded to go into it, find the center and then get lost trying to get back out. We had to follow/chase an employee to find the exit.

It only seems fitting that this day started with Ashlyn and I separated on the maze of the London transit system and ended with us lost in a medieval maze. We've come full circle. 

Zone Six and a Game of Match (March 20-21)

Tuesday was the first official day of rotation and also meant it was Ashlyn's and my first attempt at being a true London commuter. We left at the crack of dawn as we were meeting Professor Cairns at Kingston University to go to class with the third years. The problem with Kingston University is that it is located in Zone 6, in the charming town of Kingston-Upon-Thames. It takes FOREVER to get all the way out to zone six and there is no direct route from Zone 2. So you basically have to go into Central London to turn around to go to the southwest corner of the city and beyond. This involved us walking to the Brockley station to the take the Southern train line to London Bridge station, where we took the Southeastern train to Waterloo East station, where we then walked a million miles underground to the Waterloo station (including getting stuck in a human traffic jam because ticket inspectors were stopping everyone to scan tickets) and then taking the Southwestern train to the Kingston station. From there we then take a bus for a few minutes out to Kingston University. It's about an hour and fifteen minute commute during London rush hour. But we actually arrived without making a SINGLE mistake. This is where we first met Professor Cairns, who is a super nice Scottish man and we went over a basic schedule of life while on rotation. When we finished getting the low down we headed to class, just like the olden times.

Pharmacy school in the U.K. doesn't have as much of a clinical focus as we have in the States (even though they are moving in that direction.) Because of this there is a pharmacy practice elective which is the class we would be attending. When we arrived they had already been given their first case and had worked up their patients. We were given the worksheet to look over and Ashlyn and I were proud to say even though we only had about five minutes to look it over, we came to all the same conclusions the professor was looking for from the class. For the next case we were actually put into a group and were told to be the patient. This was really fun because after we went through the role play (and impressed the students with our clinical knowledge) our group started asking us all sorts of questions about school in the States. They loved everything we said and were ready to move back with us until the heard the cost of tuition. Education is much cheaper here and they had no desire to get bogged down in six figure student loans. I can't blame them. When they found out we were from Atlanta one of the girls said, "Where all the rappers are from!" in which another student said, "she's knows everything about America." In general though no one here knows about Atlanta and rappers.

When class was over Professor Cairns took us to lunch at Jamie Oliver's. He's the celebrity chef who had the American tv show about changing the food children eat for school lunches. It was an Italian restaurant and it was delicious. We also had the nicety of having the most adorable waiter on the planet serve us. After leaving lunch we were given a mini tour of Kingston-Upon-Thames (sorry, no pics. I promise I'll get some on another journey down there). We walked along the Thames and the tons of swans who make their home in this little town. Apparently they are protected swans and can only be removed on the Queen's orders. After Professor Cairns left us we stopped into John Lewis (a huge department store), Primark and the famous TopShop. At this point it was getting near London rush hour again and knowing we had an hour and fifteen minute commute home we hoped on the train lines bound for Brockley. We came home to our leftover Pizza Express, which we weren't thrilled about, but damn it we aren't paying for food if we already have some.

Wednesday saw us taking the bus for our first day at Lewisham Hospital. We arrived, were given a short tour and then off to get name badges from security. Of course our names are in all caps and the lady who typed mine in put a capital "I" instead of "L" in my last name, so my name badge is inaccurate and looks stupid, but whatever. We now have name badges on a National Health Services lanyard, making us look legitly British. We were able to go onto the floor with the pre reg pharmacists for a bit to get a basic idea of what goes on there, but as we won't be back until the week after next so we didn't see much. More importantly, today was Match Day. For those who don't know, this was when I found out if I was going to get a residency from one of the hospitals I interviewed with. I was pleased to find out that I have a position with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. I'm already nervous about starting, but I'm also super excited. I'm finally going to get a paycheck and start the next phase of my life. It's crazy! And no one over here understands what a residency is, so I've just given up trying to explain.

I shall end this day with the email I received:

This message provides you with your Match result for the 
ASHP Resident Matching Program for residency positions 
beginning in 2012.

Congratulations!  You have been matched to:

Residency: CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA

Program: PGY1

:)

From A Levels to O.W.L.S: A Brief History of School in the U.K. (March 19)

I should have added Sunday was "Mothering Sunday" here in the U.K. or Mother's Day as we know it. Ashlyn and I both sent our mom cards, simply because they all say "mum" on them. Oh, it's the little things. 

Today was our first day of rotation, but it was a pretty simple day as it involved Peggy picking us up to give us a bit of an orientation to life in London (Brockley in particular) and how the education system works in the U.K. Of course Peggy was extra prepared and had packets ready for us. She had a packet about being in London, things you need to know when living in Brockley and a really good breakdown of school here. So the first few things you must know are some basic terms. While in the U.S. we say "school" to mean any kind, here it only means early grades or primary school. College only refers to technical schools or associate type programs, while a traditional degree program is referred to as "University" or "Uni." I thought there was no way people actually use the term Uni, but they do and I've heard it used often. What we call a "degree" they call a "course" and what we call a "course" they call a "module." Confused yet? Good. Now we can move onto how school actually works. 

While in the U.S. 11 and 12 year olds are skateboarding and drawing hearts over the "i's" (British kids probably do this too), but they are also applying to "secondary school," which would be the equivalent of our early high school. They actually apply to school and rank their top 5. I've recently read in the paper (yes, I'm reading the paper here) that due to the population increase in London many children aren't getting any of the schools they rank. A lot to deal with as a 12 year old. While we are in the 11th grade they are doing "GCSEs" which are essentially classes they have to take in order to be competitive if they want to go to Uni. If you don't take a GCSE test then you aren't going to get into University. You just aren't. It's becoming less and less common for students to not take the GCSEs, but it still happens. If you're planning on applying for pharmacy then you MUST take a GCSE in math and English. Then we move on to 12th grade while they move on to A levels which last two years (essentially year 12 and 13). For the first year of A levels you take 4 subjects. The three that you are best at you continue on to your second year of A levels. In order to get into a pharmacy program you usually need to get at least one A and two Bs in your courses (usually English, math and a science). Back in America we'd be in our first year of pre-pharmacy. Once we start our second year or pre-pharmacy they have started their pharmacy program, which last for four years. So to add things up in case you're lost, in the U.S. you are required to take at least 2 years of pre-pharmacy classes and then 4 years of pharmacy. They take just the four pharmacy years. After the four years they then do their "pre-reg" year, which is just like our fourth year except they get paid. And they can not believe that we don't. After all this they then can join the STEP program to work towards getting a "post grad diploma" in a specialty. Which is like our residency programs. It's all very convoluted. The funny part is I feel like they have it a lot harder. I mean at 12 you're ranking schools and at 16 you have to start deciding what you want to do for the rest of you life. In America, we get a lot more time to soul search, if you will. It basically sounds like you're going to Hogwarts to me. 

Of course we constantly got off topic because I had some burning questions about London. My most important question was related to men's fashion (which I love over here). They dress sharp and wear super bright colored dress socks (pink, teal, you name it). So I asked what's up with the socks. Men in America do not wear exciting socks. Peggy says this is something I will notice with rich guys. Of course,  my favorite part about London fashion is a status symbol. Whatever, it looks amazing. I guess I should continue on my men's fashion topic while I'm on it. They get the tailored suit. In fact no man (bright socks or not) wears a suit that isn't perfectly tailored for them. There is even a whole street in London (Savile Row) dedicated to men's tailoring. They're known for "bespoke" tailoring. I'm not sure what that means, but I know I like it. If you remember, in "American Boy" Kanye West says, "Dressed smart like a London bloke / Before he speaks his suit bespoke," clever Kanye, clever. Casual dress involves this awesome late 50s throwback. We're talking good hair, jeans that actually fit and are sometimes rolled up at the ankle and jackets that hit that the waist. It's James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause all day, every day. It's so amazing. The white Converse All-Star low top sneaker also seems to be a favorite. 

After Peggy taught us about school and boys she took us to lunch at a small little sandwich shop. Upon arriving we realized it must have been Mommy and Me day or something as Ashlyn, Peggy and I were the only three people there who did not have a baby with us. Then Peggy confirmed her amazingness by driving us to Sainsbury's (like a Kroger or Publix without the bells and whistles, but you can buy electronics there). We were able to stock up on some groceries to keep us from starving when we need a snack and are to lazy to walk and find some. 

The weather was just too fabulous for us to end the day here so we headed to Central London to take a ride on the London Eye. I had been on the Eye in 2008, but the day had been dreary and was not ideal for viewing. This day was perfect. You could see for miles and miles. The Eye gives you a nice 30 minute ride where you can really take it all in. I think it's way overpriced, but at the same time something that's hard to justify ignoring. Apparently they did Valentine's Day Specials this year. I hate Valentine's Day, but it might be kinda cool to have a special date on the Eye. 

As we left the Eye we walked along the Jubilee Bridge towards the Pizza Express. It's a large chain restaurant here and nicer than the name suggests. Unfortunately they are too fancy and Italian to do thick crust, which Ashlyn and I both prefer more than the actual pizza part. So that was a let down. Another successful use of our time in London, complete with leftovers for the next day. 

Chim Chimney (March 17-18)

Saturday:


Saturday's weather was a drizzly and glum which quite fit the mood I was in that day. Aimee and Megan were both leaving me (Aimee for Manchester and Megan back to Atlanta) and it was hard since at this point I had seen Barcelona and London with them. And experiencing a city you've never been to (Barcelona), with others who have never been there is sometimes the very best way to do it. Unfortunately, them leaving now meant I couldn't say "stag do" whenever I wanted and it make sense to someone, but if you read my Barcelona section it'll make sense. Saturday was also frustrating as it was the day REGIONS MASTERCARD shut off my credit card without telling me over a disputed $8.86. Yep, that total is correct. Eight dollars and eighty six cents. So, while I should have been giving Megan a proper goodbye as she headed to Heathrow I was crying on the phone with a credit card lady who didn't care and making multiple phone calls to the States so someone, anyone could help me. By the time all this was said and done I'd paid more money in phone calls then the stupid $8.86. About the time all this was straightened out I walked Aimee out to the bus that was taking her to Euston Station. I was kind of emotional about it. It seemed like I was sending my kid away or something. I always romanticize things in my head a bit and something about being left alone in the huge city of London (and home of the my favorite lady, Mary Poppins) on such a gloomy day had me feeling very adult and very sad. I walked down to the McDonalds on the corner to get a fountain drink and realized for the first time since arriving, at that moment I might not have looked like a tourist. The city wasn't fun for those few hours I was alone. It's was a just a big, beautiful place full of big red buses and two trips full of memories.

Luckily, and to end the doom and gloom of this post Ashlyn and Peggy came to pick me up from the hotel around 2:00. Peggy is a phenomenal American lady (New Yorker to be exact) who married the famous Brit Ted and moved to London. She has been a life saver for us. An absolute life saver. She helped arrange our London housing and has just added a sense of normalcy to this trip as well as the feeling that someone out there is looking out for us. Peggy drove us all through Central London to get to our new home of Brockley (a neighborhood in London). The first time you ride in a car driving on the side of the road you have been taught to believe is "wrong" is quite the experience. Peggy is a great driver though, so I knew I was in safe hands. It's just so hard to make yourself not want to shut your eyes. When we arrived in Brockley I was finally able to see the life of a Londoner from eyes not overwhelmed by a stunning metropolis. Brockley is in south London and sits only a surprising five miles from the bustling Charring Cross, but you feel a world away. The streets are lined with big, brick Victorian style homes from the 1900s when Brockley was an up and coming neighboorhood for those with money to burn. But as with many things in London the scars of war have not left little Brockley unscathed. This neighborhood was on the flight path for V-2 bombs during the Blitz in WWII and now every so often you may pass a place where the building is noticeably not Victorian. These are where homes were rebuilt after being bombed. After the war, many of the homes were divided into flats and town homes (as most of them remain today). Brockley is also the home of Goldsmith's College, famous with the artsy group. So this adds a nice little flair to the area. It is here at the guest house where we will be staying for the next 5 weeks that Peggy drops us off with the promise of returning to collect us in time for dinner.

Our guest house is such a nice place and far better than anything we could have found without the help of Peggy. The home is ran by a super nice Malaysian man named Elan, his wife Claire and their two precious daughters and one pup. Ashlyn and I have our own hallway, which means we have our own toilet and after two weeks we will also have our own shower (currently being remodeled). We each have our own bedroom, with sink/mirror, big tv and plenty of space to store clothes. We have use of a refrigerator, the shower is just up the steps and we have breakfast provided for us every morning. It was far more than I could have expected. After unpacking Ashlyn and I relaxed a bit and I began to let the idea sink in that this was my new home away from home. A little spot for me hidden in the big city, just the way I'd hoped. Sweet Elan even hooked me up with a U.K. phone so I wouldn't have to drop 9.99 (in pounds no less) on a phone I could never use again. Just as planned, Peggy picked us up for dinner right as Ashlyn and I were getting hungry and I could not have imagined how much I would have enjoyed this night.

I first have to describe Ted and Peggy's home. It's also located in Brockley on a street than I can not believe people are able to fit their cars down (it's amazing!). The first thing you notice is that there literally seems to be warmth oozing out of her front door. And when you consider that English homes are often brick with no real color, seeing that sunny orange cutting through the misty haze of a London night is the absolute best welcome gift. In addition to a hallway of orange, the rest of the house is dotted with fabulous colors and decorations you just want to reach out and touch (including a glittery toilet seat). Had I not already decided I loved it there, the deal would have been sealed when I walked into a room with French doors, blue walls the color of a Monet painting, whitewashed floors and shelves full of books. And so many of the books were biographies. I just didn't even know what to think other than being overtly pleased. She had a great dinner ready for us, including appetizers and dessert and we were able to spend dinner chatting with Peggy, Ted and Natasha (a delightful lady, formerly of the Ukraine who is studying to be a nurse here). We discussed everything and one of my favorite parts of the night was when Ted showed us a book of words used in the U.K. and not in the States and vice versa. When the night finally came to an end Peggy invited us back for another dinner when the boys from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville arrive. We wouldn't have to wait that long to see her though as she would be giving us our orientation to rotation on Monday.

Sunday:


Ashlyn and I decided to start our morning off right, by sleeping in. It was our last day before the rotation started so we figure we deserved it. Anyways, I normally sleep in on Sunday mornings so this was no different. After we finally got ourselves together and on the move we headed back to Harrods. Even though I had been Ashlyn hadn't and I knew she would be quite amused. We started off by grabbing a map (yes, it needs a map) and ventured to the jewelry section. While perusing the Tiffany room we met (and by met I mean stared at) a young guy picking out an engagement ring. He seemed amused and we gave him our seal of approval, which I'm sure he'd been waiting all day to receive. We then headed to the toys as the "Toy Palace" as it has been deemed by the Harrod's map. It was even able to find a Thomas the Tank character (Hiro) that Jonathan and Kelly had been searching to no avail for in the States, so I felt pretty productive. We also took a look at the pet section, because I thought it might be cute to pick out a little Union Jack patterned dog collar for Ringo. What.was.I.thinking? The collars there were averaging around 200 pounds. So no. Won't be doing that. We also took a look at the Harrod's gift shop, yes the mall has it's own gift shop. Everything there is priced 30 pounds more than it should be and idiots are gathering it up like they can't just order it online if they really need it. Which then brings me to the point that nothing says tourist like buying a souvenir commemorating the department store it was purchased. After doing this we had a quick Pret lunch (as usual) and headed off to be a bit more intellectual at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The V&A had come with high recommendations from both my Rick Steve's book and Megan. It's a short walk from Harrod's and you get to walk through the fabulous Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea  giving you the opportunity to feel like you are on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous for the duration of the stroll. The V&A is another free museum and it's known for its large collection of decretive pieces. We started the visit off by taking a one hour tour of the British section of the museum. It was quite wise to do this or we probably would have had no clue what we were looking at. I was slightly disappointed as I was hyped to see the bed built for seven, only to see it had been moved temporarily to another museum. After finishing this portion we had to walk through the ironworks section which we found overwhelmingly dull and I quite imagine it was placed in route to the jewels as no one would go see it otherwise. The jewels were obviously a crowd favorite as it was the most crowded place in the entire joint. We also saw original plaster molds of some of the most famous statues in the world (think Michaelangelo's David), but as I have had the grand opportunity to see many of these in their home city of Florence I wasn't too taken with the exhibit. I was also excited for the fashion exhibit only to find out that was currently closed as it was being redone. To make me feel better I was told they had recently gained an Alexander McQueen collection. I was disappointed to discover they only had one dress from his final collection. Total. One dress was all the Alexander McQueen they owned. Anyways, even though my exhibits were gone, we saw some amazing things. Including rooms that had been removed from homes to be demolished or changed and so they were made into rooms at the V&A. Crazy. If there is one thing the British people sure are doing right it's this preservation business.

After leaving the V&A and yet another day of information overload we hopped on the Tube and headed towards Westminster. I never get tired of taking a quick peek at Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and The London Eye. We walked along the Thames, up Northumberland Avenue, crossed over Great Scotland Yard and on to Whitehall to eat at one of the many pubs dotting the street that looks north to Tralfagar Square. Why did I just give you the Google Maps version of where I walked? Because I know it by heart. And nothing makes me feel better than knowing a place (even a small section of a place) by heart. We ate at The Silver Cross pub (once again, love pubs).

Again. A good end to a British week.

Just Touched Down In London Town (March 12 - 16)

Sorry! I'm still about a week behind, but I plan to be a week behind in a fews days. This is going to be a very long post as it shall cover the week I spent in London as a tourist. I've attached links for sites of interest. Hope you enjoy!

Monday:
Today was our arrival to London day. OF COURSE our flight out of Barcelona was delayed due to heavy amounts of fog in London. The good part about this journey was British Airways didn't screw us like last time and a super amazing British man with a fancy British Airways sky miles card asked for an upgrade so Megan and I could sit together (he was supposed to be sitting next to me). At one point he made a comment about bringing us up to first class with him, but that didn't happen. My first London fail if you will. Arriving at Heathrow is always a pleasure. And when I say pleasure I mean torture. Luckily, the two dudes behind us in the immigration line were from NYC and worked for a record label and were sharing stories about things that happened backstage at the Grammys so that was enjoyable listening. After security was sure we weren't a national threat we were able to promptly buy a ticket for the Heathrow Connect and load up our Oyster card (the card you use to travel on public transportation) for a 7 day pass. The city of London is divided into zones (1-6) for the purpose of travel. The average tourist will never leave zones 1 and 2 and travel to each additional zone costs more money as it is farther out. The cool part is buses (yes, the fun double decker, red ones) cost the same per trip no matter what zone you're in. London has the world's oldest and most expensive public transportation. But it works and it's almost always on time. Any who, we make it to our final stop (Marble Arch on the Central Line) in order to get to our hotel. This station has a lot of steps. My suitcase weighs 50 pounds and I have no upper body strength. Cue British man to the rescue. This awesome guy offers to help me carry my luggage. I then ramble about how I normally don't pack this much, but I'm here for 6 weeks. He just smiles and nods. We part ways and Aimee, Megan and myself arrive at the Thistle Marble Arch. A nice hotel EXCEPT they charge you a fortune for internet. Also, it costs to make local phone calls here, but you don't get charged for incoming calls or texts, so I suppose it balances out.

Our hotel is located one block off Oxford Street which is the major retail shopping area in Central London. It intersects with Reagent Street which is the major high end shopping area in Central London. It's crazy crowded all.the.time. The hotel is directly across the street from The Marble Arch, which is an entry way into Hyde Park. Once we regrouped we headed down Oxford Street to find some food. After much walking and deliberating we discover The Slug and Lettuce which is a terrible name, but was full of young businessy people, which is London is a phenomenal way of knowing if a pub or restaurant is worth your time. The food was great, the service was great and I was able to order a Strongbow and try a strawberry lime cider. Oh, also it was 50% off Monday. So you can't really beat that. It was all fabulous. Also, here in the U.K. you only tip your waiter 10%. It's so hard to get used to since I often tip double that in America. We then headed to the Apple Store (yes, love for Apple seems to be universal) to get an adapter for Aimee's computer. While checking out we were discussing rap music with the guy helping us (shocker, theme of the trip) when an Apple employee comes running at us yelling "Yay America!" Turns out she's originally from L.A. and heard our accents and wanted to come meet us. I love being a novelty.

We headed back to the hotel to get some rest, but Megan got me hooked on a TV show on the BBC Two called simply, The Tube and it's basically a documentary/reality show about The Tube. This weeks episode focused on Tottenham Court Road station and the major construction overhaul it's getting to allow 200,000 more passengers a day to pass through. The underground transports a total of 4 million people a day. That's insane. After watching this show I now have a brand new appreciation for the work it takes to keep a subway functioning. Also, they don't really have commercials here on the local stations. Apparently you pay an annual fee to have local television channels and this fee eliminates commercials with the exception a few between shows. They also aren't allowed to advertise prescription medications so overall tv viewing is much more pleasurable.

Tuesday:
All three of us have been to London before (Aimee with Alex for his work, Megan for study abroad and me for a few days) so this helped us direct what we wanted to do while we were here. Our first stop this morning was for Leicester Square (pronounced Lester) to visit the tkts booth to buy half price theater tickets. Megan and I decided to see "Dreamboats and Petticoats" and are given 8th row seats for 31 pounds, which after conversion to U.S. dollars is half of what we would pay for tickets for a show at the Fox in Atlanta. London's West End is known for having tons of theaters showing wonderful shows every night of the week. At some point in this day we eat lunch at Pret. Pret is amazing. Bascially Pret sells SUPER reasonably priced sandwiches made the day you purchase them. They are good like Panera, but SOOOO much cheaper. It's basically healthy fast food and it's something I'm really going to miss when we head home. They also carry the BEST salt and vinegar chips. We walk to Trafalgar Square (which was built to commemorate naval heroes) and look around. They've added a new statue since I was here in 2008. It's a little boy on a rocking horse. It seems weird until you read it's purpose. It's there to commemorate the heroes of the future. The children who have yet to be given the chance to prove themselves. I thought that was pretty cool. They also have the official Olympic countdown located here.

After walking around we take a trip to the British Museum  which is an amazing place because it is free. We were able to see so much, but we still weren't able to see anywhere near everything they have. London has so much history wrapped into it and while you're here you see that America has no clue what being old is all about. It's simply amazing the things the museums have acquired and preserved. I just can't get over it. Highlights included the Rosetta Stone, pieces of the Parthenon, Cleopatra's mummy (so thrilling as I had never seen a mummy before) and the 2012 Olympic medals. They even have a watch  and clock room and they've already saved and displayed a Swatch watch from the 80s. Crazy. Makes me feel old.

By the time we finished looking at everything our brain could take in it was time to head back to the hotel to change for our show. We decided to eat dinner at a pub called The Lord of the Moon and the Mall on Whitehall road, in sight of Tralfargar Square. Eating at pubs is so different from bars or restaurants in America. With pubs you typically walk to the bar order your food and drink and pay up front. They then bring you your food and you don't have to tip. We got the idea to go to this pub from the fabulous Rick Steve's London book. You can order a meal with an alcohol drink or soda for 5.95 pounds, which is pretty cheap for this city. After eating Aimee headed on her own way while Megan and I headed for the Playhouse Theatre to see our show. It is a small, intimate theatre so sitting in row eight made us feel like we were right up close. The show was great and the music was phenomenal. They sold ice cream during intermission so of course Megan and I had to partake. We also had a colorful group of people sitting around us. And I'm not saying that because they were wearing bright colors. We also didn't realize how close the theatre was to the Thames River and the Jubliee Bridge. So when the show got out we walked onto the bridge at were able to see the beautiful London Eye at night.

A perfect end to an awesome night! 

Wednesday:

I shall deem Wednesday the day we learned so much that my brain nearly exploded. This day was honestly like watching a full 24 hours of The History Channel in the amount of information we were presented with. We started the day buy taking the Tube down to Tower Hill for a visit to the Tower of London. All Megan and I had been here before, but it turns out we had basically gone in walked around and ran out. Or something. Because we basically missed all the amazing things here.  The sightseeing started off wonderfully as we received a student discount. It seems like every historical place here offers a student discount, which is really awesome and America should take note. Once entering the Tower we did what any self respecting person would do, headed for the Crown Jewels, as this is where they are stored. They are beautiful! Frustratingly, they have taken down a lot of the information about the jewels to replace them with multi language ones for the Olympics, so if we didn't have the Rick Steve's book we wouldn't know what we were looking at. After seeing the amazing crowns and such we went on a tour with a Beefeater (or their proper name Yeoman Warder). We got lucky and were able to tour with an awesome one. In fact he's the one who's picture is on all of the adverts (that's what they call advertisements around here). We were able to see the ravens who live here. It's crazy, they have their own caretaker and everything. They've also recently added this really creepy animal statues all over the place to show the kinds of animals who have lived in the Tower through out time. Apparently they we often given to kings as gifts from other nations. But the statues are just plain scary. Especially the monkeys. They have ones showing their teeth and occasionally you'll look up and just see one of those damn primates and it's just uncalled for. I should add they are made out of chicken wire. It's just weird. From there we climbed all over the Towers, getting a great view of the Tower Bridge, seeing words and symbols carved into the walls by prisoners in the 1600s and the unfortunate run in with historical reenactors. I am frightened of these people. I do not like that they have them posted up in towers where you don't know they are around until you stumble upon them and have no where to hide. I would appreciate if my entry fee had not included these guys. They also have an amazing museum here were we saw armor, weapons and so many other cool things.

After this we headed over to the Westminster Tube station (they have SO much security there as it sits right next to the Houses of Parliament). We were able to get a a wonderful view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament before heading over to a place I was very excited about, The Churchill War Rooms. These are basically the bunkers used during World War II for the Prime Minister and his staff for safety during the Blitz. In addition, they also have a museum dedicated to Winston Churchill. This is the most comprehensive museum I have ever seen. They have an interactive, digital table top where you can click on any day in Churchill's lifetime and see what was going on (from personal to war related topics) They have everything! We were able to see his Nobel Prize (cool because I had no clue what those looked like) and my favorite the ACTUAL National Geographic map used to divide up Europe after the war. It's so amazing. The bunkers were closed towards the end of the war with everything left as it was in case it needed to be used again. It's so amazing to see it, since it's exactly like it was. They still have the maps on the wall with pin marks showing where submarines had been sank and chalkboards with the count of ships attacked. This whole thing is a national treasure that does not get enough promotion. I would recommend this to anyone who has any love for history.

After this we could not longer think straight so we headed back to the hotel to meet Jill (as she had arrived in London earlier in the day). After resting our feet for about 5 seconds we headed to dinner at another pub, The Counting House. Many of the pubs in London are old banks and this one is no different. I did not particularly like the food, but I think it would be a great place to come grab a drink after work. It was big and open. In other words, it would be a great place to meet your next British boyfriend. Because we'd only walked about 10 miles this day we headed for the Jack the Ripper walking tour. It was pretty interesting, but not as scary as I had hoped. It's very hard to imagine how London would have looked during this time, since everything in the areas around the killings was a slum way back when and has now been demolished. In fact there is only one little remaining part of the old city wall. Interestingly, on this tour we met two other girls from Atlanta. Small world. It should be noted that we got a student discount at everything we did this day. You can't beat that!

Thursday:
We started today off with another trip to Leicester Square to buy theatre tickets, we choose We Will Rock You, which is a musical based on the music of Queen. Aimee and Jill decided to join Megan and me for this one. We split up after buying tickets and Megan and I headed for our Beatles walking tour. I was really excited about this one. We were able to see a lot of interesting sites and get a good view of areas of the city we would not have seen before. This was when we realized the royals have stores they endorse. The tour took us down Seville Road where all the expensive tailors are located. It was here that we saw the symbol of royal family posted on the window of one of the shops. Pretty cool to know that's the location that tailors all the clothes for the royal men (including Princes William and Harry). Interesting we were on this street because it's where the Beatles performed their last concert on the roof of Apple Studios. Our tour guide was probably the best tour guide I've ever had. He was so passionate about what he was doing and it turns out he owns the Beatles shop I bought my little Abbey Road signs from in 2008. He has all these pictures of himself with Paul McCartney (who still lives in the St. John's Wood area of London). He says they often see Sir McCartney while on these tours (but we didn't). George Lucas has even listened to one of his tours, so he's pretty good. I just loved how enthused he was for the Beatles!

After this walk Megan and I just kind of strolled around and ended up at the famous London hole in the wall, Pizza Hut. And I must add a Pizza Hut here is much nicer than one in America. It's almost fancy. After eating I discovered Primark. Oh.my.gosh. Primark is a huge clothing store that basically has everything (similar in layout to an H&M), but everything is insanely cheap. Because of this everyone and their brother is inside and being obnoxious. The cashier was telling me this wasn't even a busy day and that we should just avoid coming on a weekend. I was able to get a pair of turquoise flats and a purse for 12 pounds. Cray! After this Megan and I didn't want to see another crowd so we headed back to the hotel to wait for dinner. We had dinner at a little Italian restaurant and then headed to We Will Rock You. I love Queen songs and the actors singing them did such a great job. Bohemian Rhapsody is not included in the show and at the end the actors come back out and sing it and everyone sings along and it's just so enjoyable. Another fabulous London night!

Friday:
Our last final day we visited Harrod's Department Store, which is this huge overwhelming place that sells everything. When I say everything I mean a giant stuffed gorilla to bullet proof clothing. We also went to the Liberty department store which is famous for its Liberty print fabric. Both of these stores are full of pretty things that are far out of my price range. Kinda depressing. What I did for the rest of this day is a bit of a blur to me, but I do know we had dinner with Ashlyn at The Slug and the Lettuce. Except instead of it being the awesome place we went earlier in the week it was playing terribly loud and just plain terrible techno music. No mas. We ended up at the Glenn Miller bar at our hotel. They were not playing Glenn Miller. In fact they seemed to be playing the tv over the speakers. We spent well over an hour people watching and trying to guess what brought people to town and their relationships with the people they were with. It was a fitting end to our last night of London vacation.