Madame Tussaud's

On Sunday my friends and I took a break from the historical sights and made our way to a slightly different tourist trap: Madame Tussaud's wax museum. I'm not sure exactly why standing next to wax statues of celebrities and taking pictures as if you know them personally is so much fun, but it really is entertaining in the moment. And I guess it does have a tiny bit of history...during the French Revolution, a woman (Madame Tussuad - hence the name of the museum) was hired to make wax molds of the heads of royals and other prominent figures after they were beheaded at the guillotine. The museum even has a display with the actual guillotine blade with which Marie Antoinette was beheaded! Anyways, after the revolution Madame Tussaud took her wax display to England and I guess it just caught on because now Madame Tussaud's museums are everywhere. So this wasn't a particularly meaningful experience but it was definitely a lot of fun.

Captain Jack Sparrow!

Everyone's favorite ogre :)

Me and QUEEN ELIZABETH I!

King Henry VIII and Mary Queen of Scots

Lady Gaga

Alexandra and I with our four best friends

Amy Winehouse

Obama and I hanging out in the oval office

Megan with Winston Churchill

The actual blade which beheaded Marie Antoinette!!!!

Wax molds of the original molds made my Madame Tussaud. Marie Antoinette's head is a lot smaller than I thought it would be...

Yesterday was our first day of classes (FINALLY!) and I had my creative writing class which was really great! Unlike other creative writing classes I'ce taken, we actually have to read books here and not just write, and our first book is Anna Karenina which I have no idea how I'll ever finish. Today I had my Modern British History class which also seemed like it's going to be really interesting. The first class was already pretty engaging. Each week there's going to be a student presentation and my friend and I volunteered to present about Queen Victoria next week...I have no idea why I agreed to do the first presentation...don't really know what I was thinking. At least I get to get it out of the way!
xoxo,
Sarah