Ancient Art, Ancient Rocks, AncIent Cathedrals, Ancient Baths

This is about to be a long post, so bear with me!

Last Wednesday I went to the V&A museum, AKA the Victoria and Albert Museum. Victoria and Albert were huge supporters of education and the arts, which is why this museum was named after them. Inside are many forms of art: clothing, theatre costumes/sets, old silver decor, paintings, tapestries, even furniture styles throughout the years. I didn't take too many pictures inside, but here is the building:


On Friday some friends and I went to Platform 9 and 3/4 (because we're Harry Potter nerds), but it turns out King's Cross Station is under a lot of construction so they moved this tourist attraction outside. This is the very cheap version by which I posed, wearing an extremely disappointed look on my face.


However, we also made it to Harrod's, a gigantic (and famous) store where you can pretty much buy anything you can dream up. Seriously. It's like Santa's workshop in there. It's also extremely expensive. You have to pay a pound just to go to the bathroom.

After this we checked out China Town and had some DELICIOUS authentic Chinese food! That and the trip to Harrod's made up for the Harry Potter Disappointment.

Saturday morning we left to visit Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath. I will let the following pictures (and their captions) narrate that adventure!

Stonehenge was built around 3000BC, before the wheel was invented, and we suspect that they stopped using it around 1500BC. However, we still don't know WHY they built it. It must have been important though, because these rocks weigh around 3 tons and came from a mountain about 40 miles away. There are a few theories, ranging anywhere from funeral-like rituals, to a calendar, to extraterrestrial conspiracies.

After this we went to Salisbury, where we saw the Doom Painting in St. Thomas Beckett Cathedral, depicting the good going to Heaven and the bad going to Hell:

I'm not sure you can see this, but Jesus is up at the top in the middle, the angels are on the left, and the people going to Hell are on the right. It was painted around 1460, and likely because this church was mainly for commoners who probably were illiterate and couldn't read the Bible.

We then went to the Salisbury Cathedral, which has the second-highest spire (the tallest one is in Ulm, Germany) and houses an original copy of the Magna Carta (of which I was not allowed to take pictures).

The oldest working clock! Too bad I can't remember how old it is...

Baptism Pool

We then went to Bath, which was a great city that I really enjoyed! Here are some pictures of the Roman Baths, where men would go to relax and be healed by the spring water (which continues to surface hundreds of thousands of litres each day, at about 125 degrees Fahrenheit).


Here are a few more pictures of the scenery in Bath:


Bath Abbey
The Royal Crescent (appears in some films of Jane Austen's Work)

We also managed to check out the Jane Austen Centre and went on a tour of the exhibit there. I learned a lot more about her (although nothing was necessarily picture-worthy), like how she absolutely hated Bath. She didn't like that it was a big fashionable city to visit and was much more of a country girl, but it did become the basis of her social commentary in Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. However, we found out where her house was located when she was living in Bath (25 Gay Street) and took a picture by it! It is now a dentist's office.

Tales of Muffins

Imagine for a moment that you are at the grocery store, in line with your friend, and you're talking about how delicious the English muffins are in England. Suddenly a man turns around and tells you, in full British accent, "They're not called ENGLISH muffins. They're just. Muffins."

He was joking around with us, and we laughed and apologized. Just. Muffins. Got it! (I think if you were talking about muffins as Americans think of them, you would have to specify blueberry, or lemon poppy seed, and so on.)

In any case, I have practically been living off of [just!] muffins recently. They're too delicious and multi-purpose. Toasted, egg sandwich, mini-pizza... The list goes on.

The other night we went to a club called Verve (which usually costs 8 pounds to get in, but we got in for only 3). However, I made up for this when I ordered a double vodka cranberry and had to pay 10 pounds 20 (about $16). I was not happy about that and stuck to cheap beer the rest of the night. This was also the night a man asked to see my teeth so he could identify me as American. I understand it was mainly a joke but I didn't find that entirely socially acceptable. But, for the most part, people are really interested in talking to you when they find out you're American.

Last night in the groovy dance room at TigerTiger (complete with songs from Grease, Cyndi Lauper, and a light-up 70s dance floor) we met a girl and her guy friend, both Londoners, and I think they're going to show us around some hotspots in London soon. I'm excited to make some real Londoner friends!

I'll end with a touch of British slang for you...
Creps: sneakers. As in, "Those are some fresh creps!" (And yes, they do say "fresh" as well.)

Wimbledon

Sorry this post is a little delayed. (Although I've had more time to blog than I originally expected!) Here are some highlights from the past three days.

Thursday afternoon we took a tour of the Senate House Library here in London, which we can use as a resource for our studies. However, the coolest part is that we saw them filming the new Batman movie here. I didn't have my camera, so no pictures, but the front of the library is used as the town hall of Gotham City. I heard somebody from our program saw Anne Hathaway.

Friday we got up ungodly early to go to...drum roll please...WIMBLEDON! We got the very first train out of Chelsea at about 5:30 in the morning to go "queue" for tickets. What I found rather funny is that The Queue for Wimbledon is always capitalized, as if it is its own entity.

Some pictures, with captions following...

The Queue. We were about 3000th in line upon our arrival at 6am. By about 3pm, over 12,000 people were there.

A 29-page pamphlet about how to queue properly. (For the record, it also had other information about Wimbledon in it, but it still struck me as funny.)

Me, eating strawberries and cream, the official snack of Wimbledon. And yes, it was deliciously refreshing.

Centre Court!

As we were walking about, some nice military man, probably noticing our cameras and how completely awed we were by the grounds, asked if we would like to go into Centre Court and take pictures! My first thought was that we were probably not allowed to do that (because we only had ground tickets which let us into any courts except centre, 1, and 2), and my second thought was, "How much is this going to cost us?" But it didn't cost anything! He led us down to the front and we took pictures of Centre Court, which follow.

There are some of my friends from the program!
Back Row: Katie H, Greer, Me, Elyse, Jory, Katie W
Front Row: Ella, Jeanne, Nicole

We didn't get to see a really famous match up close, but watching this one between Bartoli and Dominguez on court 3 was fun!

We also got to watch a huge screen showing Sharapova and Robson's match while sitting on a huge hill full of Brits rooting for Robson! (She is British and only 17!) Robson ended up losing the match, but it was fun to be a part of the British comradery.

Saturday morning a few of us went to the Natural History museum, and I won't bore you with all the pictures of the exhibits (especially since the dinosaurs were "on holiday," aka being cleaned!) but I will show you a picture of the outside. I think it's my favorite building in London so far!

Off to make some dinner with the ladies. Cheers!

A Redaction

I'm afraid I have to post a redaction on London pub/club life.

After exploring pubs and clubs outside of Chelsea (such as the ones around Piccadilly, Leicester, and Trafalgar squares), I realized a couple of things.

1. British people DO dance the way we dance in America.
   
2. British people generally DO have a knowledge of most of our popular hip-hop.
3. Brits often DO approach you with the intention of flirting.
   

I think the reason these things were not happening in Chelsea is because it is a very nice, very rich neighborhood that isn't necessarily student-friendly. For example, some boutiques we passed that claimed to be having huge 50% sales still had clothes for 165 pounds (around 265 American dollars). Once we started going to clubs in SoHo that had student discount nights, my perceptions changed.

However, annoyingly enough, the British guys at the popular clubs in London have this perception that all American women are extremely promiscuous. If you ever visit, beware of that stereotype.

Quick UK Fact: Everyone here loves Friends. If you turn on the television at any time of day, chances are you can find it playing on at least one channel. If you tell someone you are from America, it is likely they will ask you if you watch Friends. (Leah, I thought that might excite you!)

I am also going to make a confession. There is a particular walking route I like to take back to the residence hall from the Tube that leads me down a road lined with beautiful white townhouses that I could never dream of being in my price range. I do this purposefully, as I like to people watch. You see, there are almost always several young nannies (perhaps au pairs) that are out taking the small children they care for on walks.

These young women are almost always fabulously dressed (so I can only imagine what the parents must look like) and are pushing Bug-a-Boo strollers (which, by the way, are upwards of about $700).

It sounds silly, but it makes me feel like I'm in a movie, witnessing such a lavish London lifestyle firsthand. However, I must look like I know what I'm doing on these walks, because I keep getting stopped by people asking for directions. I haven't actually been able to help anyone yet, but it's my goal to give someone else directions by the end of the program in July!

Speaking of lavish Londoners, Hugh Grant lives close by. And yes, I will track down the house and post pictures for you all.

Eton & Windsor

Before I post pictures of Eton and Windsor, I would just like to mention what an empowering and confidence-inspiring feat it has been for a directionally challenged person such as myself to feel that I can navigate a city as large as London, both at street-level and Tube-level, in about a week. Today I traveled to and from our center in Holborn without my usual gaggle of friends and felt positively comfortable and independent! Not to mention I quite love being a smart American. Seeing people who make fools of themselves by standing on the left on the escalator makes me laugh a little inside, like I'm becoming a true Londoner. (You stand on the right and pass on the left on the escalators. The opposite of how the roads work, actually.)

Anyway, on to the fun part: pictures!

The five images below are from Eton, a small town outside the Windsor Castle, where the school of Eton is located. It is a very well-to-do private boy's school of about 1300 students, aged 13 to 18, each paying about 30,000 pounds a year to attend. To get your son into this school, you put him on a waiting list almost as soon as he is born and he must have good test scores around age 11 in order to attend. Prince William and Prince Harry both graduated from Eton.

Captions to follow each picture.

Swan Farm on the Thames outside Eton

Just to give you and idea of what Eton looked like; so quaint!

The uniform worn by boys at Eton

We took a peek inside the courtyard at Eton...gorgeous!

The chapel at Eton

The rest of these pictures are from Windsor Castle, the Queen's primary residence. Windsor is also a town of about 2,000 people that surrounds the castle, which was built in about 1066 by William the Conqueror to prove his authority over England. Since then, each monarch has made their own additions to the castle. Captions to follow when necessary.

A street in Windsor

Statue of Queen Victoria, the longest reigning monarch. Queen Elizabeth II will become the longest reigning monarch if she reigns until September 8th, 2015.

Town Hall, where Prince Charles and Camilla got married. Also where Elton John was married. Praise the queen!

An adorable crooked house that wilts a little bit each time it rains and dries.

Public entrance to Windsor Castle grounds


The Chapel at Windsor Castle, basically built to be more impressive than the one at Eton.
Some of the foliage at the castle; you could smell the honeysuckle!
The Queen's apartments. One of these towers is the tower from which King Edward VIII made his broadcast speech abdicating the throne to his brother, King George VI (the plot line of The King's Speech). Edward did this to marry Willa Simpson who had three strikes against her: She was American and twice divorced, but worst of all--Catholic.

Couldn't get much closer to a guard...
Some of my good friends! Katie W, Jeanne, me and Katie H
Our last glimpse of Windsor Castle! Look closely, Matt's in there somewhere...
(Matt is a guy we couldn't find when were supposed to be headed back to Chelsea and we had to leave behind. Don't worry, he got a train back and has a good sense of humor about it.)

More on general London life tomorrow!

A Lesson in British English

Today we visited Eton and Windsor Castle, the Queen's primary residence. I have plenty of facts and pictures, but as the last post was so long, I think I'll give you a short one and post pictures of Windsor at a later date.

Here is a quick lesson in British English vocabulary, which I'm sure will sprinkle future posts.

gobsmacked--shocked, flabbergasted. Ex.: "I was rather gobsmacked when I found out Windsor Castle isn't insured!"
motorway--highway or freeway.
whacking great--really, really awesome. In some cases, really, really big. Ex.: "What a whacking great castle!"
to take away--to go. Ex.: "Could I have a vanilla latte to take away?"
car park--parking lot.
H.M.Q.--Her Majesty the Queen.

And my personal favorite...
going on the pull--going out with the intention of finding a romantic interest. In American English, picking up chicks/guys. Ex.: "Ella is really going on the pull tonight!" or "Jeanne likes pulling at Trafalgar, her favorite pub."

I'm going to bring that one back to the States for SURE.

Such Angry British Rain

I have a few days to cover, so bear with me on the length of this post!

First, let me say that I will never again complain about Midwest weather. English weather is about 10 times as bipolar and unpredictable. The temperature fluctuates between 10 and 20 degrees Celsius...about every 20 minutes. One minute it will be sunny and warm, and the next it's cold and absolutely POURING rain. (Quoth my friend Katie W: "I've never seen such angry British rain!") This goes on and on and back and forth all day long. The only way to survive is wear layers and scarves and remove and reapply them throughout the day. (I'll also be purchasing a trench coat shortly, I'm sure.)


THURSDAY
Thursday I had my first Shakespeare class. Our professor is HILARIOUS and extremely knowledgeable on all things Shakespeare. Which I would have expected, but it is so incredible to learn about one of my favorite authors from a Brit who really understands and is a part of the British culture. Which, I'm finding, differs more from American culture than I originally thought.

Thursday night we also went to a place called My Old Dutch, a pancake house. But let me be the first to tell you that these are no ordinary pancakes. These pancakes come in ginormous crepe form, filled with any combination of items you could possibly imagine. Here is a picture of my chili con carne "savoury" pancake, and of my friend Katie W's berry compote pancake. We also found out that Mondays is all you can eat pancakes for just 5 pounds. We have decided to formally rename Mondays as Pancake Coma Day. We even got punch cards.

FRIDAY
Friday we did some boring orientation-style meetings about traveling around the UK and Europe while abroad. However, we then did some surprise sightseeing, and I was caught off guard without a camera. So no pictures from this day. We
went to Little Venice and road in a long narrow boat that used to be used to carry literally tons of cargo through the canals...and before there were motors, the boat was pulled by only ONE HORSE tied to it with a rope. Crazy! Now there are narrow boats lined all up and down the canals where people and entire families LIVE. We also went by a floating Chinese restaurant. Bizarre!

This night we also went to a very nice pub called Founders Arms with everyone in the program. We had DELICIOUS bar snacks and a few drinks before heading to a club called Zoo Bar & Club. It was just like a club that you see on TV or in the movies: flashing lights, expensive-looking clothes, bumping music, dance poles, the works. As my friend Katie H said, it looked like we were on the show Jersey Shore. But we had tons of fun dancing! A little less fun spending an hour trying to figure out how to catch a bus home, since the Tube closes at 12:30am. (Which, by the way, is quickly becoming my favorite form of transportation and actually makes me much less nervous than riding the public transit in Chicago.)

SATURDAY (today)
We just went on a bus tour of London (finally!). I took some pictures on the bus, but the only pictures I have while off the bus is at St. Paul's Cathedral, because we did not get off anywhere else. I'll put some of the best pictures in now! A caption to come before the pictures.

The following 4 pictures were taken at St. Paul's Cathedral, which has the largest cathedral dome in Europe, right after the Vatican.





The following picture is of Tower Bridge from afar, and the next is of the bridge while we were driving on it!
The image below may look like a picture of nothing, but that piece of ancient wall is actually the biggest remnant of the Roman wall that was built around London when they had control over the city.
Below is the London Eye, with 32 carriages fitting 25 people each. We will be making a trip to the London Eye to see London from 450 feet in the air!
The following 4 pictures are of the Palace at Westminster, which is also home to Big Ben. (Note: Big Ben is not the clock, nor even the clock tower. It is the bell inside that is named thus. So technically you hear Big Ben, but you don't see him.)

A statue of Nelson Mandela, which I thought was awesome. They also have statues of Abe Lincoln and George Washington, ironically enough.

Below is a (somewhat poorly angled) photo of what is simply called Marble Arch. It used to be the gateway to Buckingham Palace, but the queen HAD IT MOVED to this corner because she said a horse-drawn carriage couldn't fit through it. Apparently this is "rubbish," because a carriage can fit through it. The true reason is because dogs really liked to use it as their very own "loo" and the queen didn't quite approve.

Other Things I've Learned
Charles Darwin is buried in Westminster Abbey. A church. IRONY.
There are unofficially about 10.5 million people living in London.
About 319 different languages and dialects are spoken in London, and all races, nationalities and religions are represented.
However, London is EXTREMELY secular in comparison to the United States. In fact, when a Brit finds out you're American, they assume you are Christian and ask why our politics are so riddled with religious rhetoric and sayings about God, even though we supposedly support separation of Church and State.
The diamond residing at the Tower of London with the crown jewels is 530 karats (about the size of a fist).
The story of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, and Mrs. Lovett's meat pies is TRUE. We drove by where the pie shop used to be. It is now a McDonald's. How fitting.
The Australian Embassy in London may also be known to you as: GRINGOTTS BANK! Mind. Blown.
Brits are extremely blunt. They tell you how it is and don't beat around the bush. Their sense of humor is very sarcastic and sometimes seems mean to unknowing Americans.
Americans, on the other hand, are viewed as being extremely friendly (we strike up conversations with people sitting next to us on the Tube, something which never happens in daily Londoner life) and considered almost overly polite. For example, if I am buying a latte, and as I'm leaving I say, "Have a nice day," they are somewhat confused. Or if I was making a purchase and I said, "Hi, how are you today?" They would probably ask if they were supposed to know me from somewhere.

Well, I think that's about all I can give you for now. Thanks for sticking through that with me. Cheerio!