After arriving in London yesterday morning (1/2/20), we spent the day getting to know our way around the area of London surrounding the hotel we are staying at. We looked at Christmas lights and decorations in/around Trafalgar Square, and then took a bus to the Tower Bridge.

Today, January 3rd, we departed the hotel after breakfast and a quick, informative lecture from Dr. B, headed for Parliament Square. Once there, we toured the recently-established Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Established in 2009, the Supreme Court takes civil cases of high seriousness. We were able to go into 2 of the 3 courtrooms within the building, including the largest one on the second floor.

After our tour of the Supreme Court, we travelled across the street in order to begin our tour of Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside, but I managed to get some nice ones of the exterior of the Abbey. Once we were granted admission, we were provided with an audio/video-guided tour so we could walk around at our own pace. Throughout the building, there were many tombs & burial sites of former royals, famous writers & scientists, and more. Overall, I really enjoyed the tour of Westminster Abbey, and am very glad we were able to have this opportunity.

So jetlag was pretty rough, but we still made it out! Unfortunately because of the recent holiday not many places were open, but we made the best of it and found a cute place close to the hotel. Some stayed at the hotel to catch up on some sleep, but those who went out had a great time. We got to know each other by playing “2 truths & a lie”. The best part of the night was when Rylee asked for Caesar dressing for her salad, but the waiter brought over a pair of scissors instead. Needless to say there was a little bit of miscommunication and the waiter was very confused when he walked over and we were laughing.

Today we made a stop at the bank before heading out to see The Supreme Court and Westminster Abbey. While at the ATM Dr. B shared a helpful tip on how to get the best exchange rate, a tip I plan to share. When taking money out of an ATM it will ask you if you would like to take the conversion rate of the bank ( which is usually higher). Dr. B’s tip was to hit the “No continue without conversion” button. What this does is the ATM will automatically take the lowest rate of the day. 1.31 according to Dr. B. This is the way to get the best exchange rate while abroad. It saved us 0.06 cents on the exchange rate.