Thursday was an interesting day. It started out with my History of London class going to the Imperial War museum. We went and saw this trench experience, where they had recreated the trenches and you could walk through them. There was a soundtrack of war sounds going on, and it was dark and a full lifesize model. It was interesting, to say the least. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to have to live in those trenches for so long. Unfortunately there were tons of school kids in there yelling and shouting, and one of them almost knocked me over trying to push past me so I stuck my arm out and stopped him and told him to be respectful of the museum and back off. I probably scared the crap out of him, but he deserved it. There were tons of school kids there being all kinds of disrespectful. When we take our kids in day camp to places like that we have long talks before we go about proper behavior, and apparently British teachers just don’t care about that. It made it so ridiculous we couldn’t even stay down on the bottom floor and see the WWI and WWII exhibits at all. But we did go see the blitz experience. They had small groups sit in first a bomb shelter, and there was a soundtrack going telling the story of some people who lived through it. It was interesting. Then we moved to see what the streets looked like, all torn up and broken down as they were. It was worth it. After that we headed upstairs to see the Holocaust exhibit, which was interesting, but pretty much the same as every other Holocaust exhibit I’ve seen. There was a model of part of Auschwitz that was huge. I hadn’t realized Auschwitz was as big as it was. I’d have to say, though, that the Holocaust museum in DC is still the best I’ve seen. After that we headed back home, and about half an hour after I got home I had to go to my other class.
We met at Apsley House, the house that the Duke of Wellington lived in, and they still do currently. It was really cool. There were lots of paintings that the Duke collected, both from the Spanish royalty and quite a few that Napoleon’s brother had stolen from the Spanish royalty and the Duke confiscated. The rooms were all beautifully decorated, very lavish. I wish I could’ve seen the upstairs, but those are the areas that are currently lived in. After Apsley House we caught a bus and went to Benjamin Franklin’s house and did a tour there. They had this play worked out that introduced you to the whole house and Benjamin’s work while he was there. It’s the first unofficial American Embassy, as he was there working on obtaining fair taxation for the colonies. It was an interesting story, and it was cool to learn about some American history. I stood in a room that Benjamin Franklin stood in, and lived in. How cool is that?! Unfortunately the house was pretty much empty. There weren’t any belongings or furnishings or anything, but it was still interesting to see a town house instead of another stately home.
I didn’t do much after class. I just came home and worked on studying for my final, and then I watched a movie and went to bed somewhat early. I’m ready to come home, that’s for sure. Everyone is trying to do tons of things these last few days and I feel like that’s how I started my trip, so I don’t necessarily want to end it that way.
Love you guys!
Jaime
We met at Apsley House, the house that the Duke of Wellington lived in, and they still do currently. It was really cool. There were lots of paintings that the Duke collected, both from the Spanish royalty and quite a few that Napoleon’s brother had stolen from the Spanish royalty and the Duke confiscated. The rooms were all beautifully decorated, very lavish. I wish I could’ve seen the upstairs, but those are the areas that are currently lived in. After Apsley House we caught a bus and went to Benjamin Franklin’s house and did a tour there. They had this play worked out that introduced you to the whole house and Benjamin’s work while he was there. It’s the first unofficial American Embassy, as he was there working on obtaining fair taxation for the colonies. It was an interesting story, and it was cool to learn about some American history. I stood in a room that Benjamin Franklin stood in, and lived in. How cool is that?! Unfortunately the house was pretty much empty. There weren’t any belongings or furnishings or anything, but it was still interesting to see a town house instead of another stately home.
I didn’t do much after class. I just came home and worked on studying for my final, and then I watched a movie and went to bed somewhat early. I’m ready to come home, that’s for sure. Everyone is trying to do tons of things these last few days and I feel like that’s how I started my trip, so I don’t necessarily want to end it that way. 
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