VIVA LA VIDA!

My apologies for taking so long to post an update, but there has been a whole lot going on! This past weekend, we went to London to go see Coldplay and Jay-Z at Wembley Stadium.

It was the last show on Coldplay's tour and probably the last chance I'll have to see them for about 5 years. It was a sold out show of 90,000 people and, with my luck as usual, we ended up in the very front row!!!! We starting lining up at 8AM and waited all day until Coldplay came on at 9PM. Doors opened at 4PM. Here are some of the awesome pictures I got from the show:

And here is a picture of the literally MILLIONS of paper butterflies:

And a video:

The show was absolutely amazing- just like they always are. No videos or pictures can do it justice and that's a real shame for you! The weather in line all day was wonderful and sunny, but RIGHT before Coldplay went on, it started POURING rain like you wouldn't believe. We sang and danced right on through it, but I definitely took the "cold" from Coldplay because of it. I have the cough to prove it!

It rained at the show for about the first 4 or so songs, but Chris Martin came out into the rain and sang anyway. By the time he went back under the covering of the stage, he was sopping wet too.

We went back to our hostel after the show. I thought you all would like to see a picture of what the window looked out to see!

Interestingly enough, there is a Coldplay song called "Cemeteries of London!" How fitting... ;-)

On Sunday, we took a tour bus company tour to Stonehenge and Bath, England.

Stonehenge was a little bit disappointing, honestly. The stones weren't nearly as big as you would expect and you couldn't get right up to them. I suppose it was worth having our pictures made by it, anyway.

Here's a picture of me at the Roman Baths:

And, lastly, in true Trey Pippin luck... this is what we got to stare at all day when we were waiting in line for Coldplay:

What joy... ;-)

STONEHENGE UNCOVERED.

"Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici..."

I must admit that the whole time that I was in London, I couldn't help but think of my favorite movie:

V for Vendetta.

I thought I'd leave you with a little piece of the action from that film so you'd understand... ;-)

London.

This weekend, I found myself in London. Home of Big Ben, Jack the Ripper, Her Majesty the Queen, and the London Bridge (among MANY other things). It is a town of so much history and my trip was only a quick glimpse into those pieces of time.

We rolled out from Harlaxton bright and early on Friday morning. The bus ride to London is absolutely despicable and couldn't be more miserable! Coach busses ride rough and they have such tiny leg room, they aren't much fun.

We arrived in London after we had a pit stop at a place with a Burger King- FINALLY AMERICAN FAST FOOD!!! The excitement for the "home cookin'" was spoiled when the people working the counter were so rude... if they wanted to dish it out to me, I'd dish a little attitude right back at them! My friend Eric summed the whole incident into a prophetic quote: "In America, the Burger King serves YOU but in England, YOU have to serve the Burger King..." (Not my cup of tea!)

We stayed at the Royal National Hotel in London. Friday night, Eric Stamper and I went to see the Broadway show called "Wicked." It is the story of what happened BEFORE the Wizard of Oz and it was an absolutely amazing show...

The next day (Saturday) we decided to go on our sightseeing tour by foot/subway. We went to Buckingham Palace which is the home of the Queen. Here are a few pictures from there:

After Buckingham Palace, we headed on down towards Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. I snapped my favorite picture of the trip so far on our way:

(Enough immaturity for now... here are the rest of the pictures!)

Next, we headed over to the Tower of London and the London Bridge (The Tower Bridge). This picture below looks totally photoshopped but I promise it isn't!

Then I got my head cut off:

Today, we went to the "Hampton Court Palace" of Henry XIII and William and Mary. It was incredibly impressive and they also had an impersonator of the King there!

Oh yeah... and we also saw this: hahahaha

GREETINGS FROM LONDON!

The Surreal Life...

This whole place is so surreal... I can't believe that I'm really here.

I walk out of my first class this morning (The American Presidency and Congress) to walk down a huge wooden staircase with a view of the English countryside... amazing. Be it secret passage ways or the grandeur of the place itself, I'm awestruck.

I went to bed really really early last night after I couldn't make myself wake up from my "nap."

So, a good night's sleep ensued... from 6 PM-8AM. ;-)

Not sure what today will hold. I'm not sure we have anything big planned.

I'm about to head to Modern British Politics... should be fun! :-)

A little video