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Today we had to be out in front of the flats by 7:45 for a sight seeing tour on a coach. It was nice because even though we didn't really get to get out to look at anything besides the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace it was a good way to be reminded of all the places that I want to see. We drove by the London Bridge, Big Ben (which is actually the name of the bell, not the clock tower. Apparently the man who put it up there was a bit robust so they nicknamed the bell Big Ben), the Tower, Tower Bridge, Westminster and a few other places that are hard to remember because it was all so fast.

Afterward the coach dropped us off in Piccadilly Circus which is basically just a lot of shops and a rather expensive area. Linden, Amanda and I walked around for a while and then stopped for lunch at an Italian restaurant. It was really good, I got Gnocchi with cheese and broccoli and it was fantastic. We waited around for about half an hour, maybe more, for them to bring us a check before the people next to us noticed our American accents and started talking to us and told us we had to ask for the check. After lunch we decided to head back to the flats, my roommates still being jet lagged. We tried to get our Oyster cards (basically just a monthly pass) for the Tube (the London underground system) but we failed because we couldn't remember our address. The program suggested that we write down our address and put it in our purses in case we ever get lost, I thought it silly but now I know why... So instead the nice man at the window wrote down which platforms to get on and which changes to take and gave us a single pass to get home. Amazingly we made it without problems. The tube was really quiet and quite easy to figure out but I think I'm going to need a map to know which route to take where.

Once back at the flat we took a few hours to relax and I took a shower since I was too lazy to get up earlier in the morning and fell asleep around 8 the night before. We went out for dinner around 7:30 or so and decided to go to O'Neils pub which is pretty close to have our first pub experience. Linden ordered a burger, but I felt like I had to order something different so I got an Irish Breakfast which was pretty good. It was just ham and sausage, eggs, beans and soda bread. I also had my first Guinness, we both got Guinness red, but Dad it was not warm it was "extra chilled". After we ate I think we must have sat there for about an hour slowly finishing our beers while waiting for the check, but we never got them so finally at 9:40 we got up and went to the bar to ask for it.

It's definitely hard to get used to different customs, the restaurant at lunch included tip and it said on the bill and you aren't supposed to tip at pubs. I think the one thing that I have learned so far is if you want to eat out in Europe, make sure you have a lot of time set aside and be assertive. It isn't like in America at all where they want people in and out as quick as possible for tips.