Kings, Queens, and Florence Nightingale!

So for those of you who were wondering, yes I have been in class learning while in London! My class, Nursing in London, has been a great combination of in class lecture as well as educational field trips around the city of London.  My teacher is an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to British history and of course Florence Nightingale.  This is because she is 1 of 5 Nightingale scholars in the world!  She has also published several books on Nightingale as well.  Needless to say I have learned a lot about the amazing person and nurse Florence was in her time.  The history of how she turned the art of nursing from something done in the home into an actual profession is amazing.  We got to tour St. Thomas hospital over by Parliament this week.  Florence Nightingale established her first school for nursing at St. Thomas.  St. Thomas has been a hospital since 1250 and was a royal hospital after Henry VIII established it so.  Unlike most people, I love hospitals!  It was so cool to tour this hospital and know that Florence had such a huge impact on how it is run today.  We have also gone through the British history starting from 1000 AD.  We learned the progression of many kings and queens all the way up to current Queen Elizabeth II, who is very close to breaking Queen Victoria's record for longest time on the throne here in Britain.  We got to go on a guided tour of Parliament last week which I found so interesting!  I loved seeing the place where the House of Commons and House of Lords conducted their business.  As most things in London, Parliament had tremendous history behind it.  We have also toured the village of Eyam which is where the Plague of 1665 occurred.  This town decided to quarantine themselves in the 1600s, thus stopping the spread of the Plague any further.  As you can gather we have been very busy with learning and field trips here.  Next week I will be seeing the Imperial War Museum, Churchill's War Rooms, Florence Nightingale's grave, and Stonehedge!  So much more to do in so little time.  I am off to explore the city some more.  Good bye for now!