Tower of London and the British Museum-but cooler

On Mondays I have two classes because each class is 3 hours long.  Today I was lucky enough to have a field trip in both classes!

For my Hamlet to Hitler class (mix between history and literature) we met at the British Museum to see the collection of Scandinavian artifacts discovered at the Sutton Hoo sight in England.  Sutton Hoo is a ship burial for which it is believed the epic (but boring) poem, Beowulf is based on.  It was pretty awesome to see all the jewelry, weapons and helmet from the site.  (Note from my professor: Viking helmets did not in fact have horns on them. If they did, enemies would probably grab onto those and slice the Viking's throat).  The best part of the field trip was gaining "back stage" access from one of the pre-history curators to a hoard found in England in 2007.  We got to go downstairs to the research areas where they have tubs and drawers full of artifacts in the pre-history department.  It was sort of like heaven on earth for me!  We got to see an ancient bowl that some treasure hunters found buried only about a foot and a half under ground filled with jewelery, coins, etc.  They have dated it back to the Viking era and some of the artifacts are from other parts of Europe and Asia, which demonstrates extensive trade.  It was so amazing to see it all up-close and behind the scenes.  Being a museum curator would be the coolest job ever!

Between the first and second field trips, a few of us went to lunch at a small Italian restaurant.  I ordered pesto pasta and it was amazing.  I think it might have been freshly made and I ate the entire plate!

Tower of London

For my History of London class we met at the Tower of London.  There is so much history I couldn't possibly write it all here (or remember it, oops)!  The last monarch to live in the Tower was Charles II in the 1600s.  During its glory days it was a palace, a zoo, a prison and more.  Henry VIII liked to hold coronation for his wives there as well as imprison and behead them!  A murder mystery also took place there involving the nephews of Richard III.

Execution Block Memorial

We visited the memorial to those killed at the Tower.  It's a glass piece with an inscription and the names of those murdered with a pillow on top.  I'm not sure I understand the pillow concept, I doubt they were all that comfortable (especially if they had a bad executor in which case it might take 2 or 3 hacks to finish the job!).  If you are ever bored, just Google some stories about the Tower because they are all crazy.  We saw where prisoners could be kept for a few weeks to years.  Those who were in for longer carved intricate pictures and scripts on the walls.  It was very eerie to see them, it was like you could feel the suffering.  The coolest part was the building where they keep the Crown Jewels.  They are unbelievable!!  There are diamonds the size of an egg or larger!  And all the other gems are amazing.  So many crowns just completely covered in jewels and pearls, you name it!  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures.

Sarah and I in front of Crown Jewels building

After the Tower, my friend and I walked over to Tower Bridge (literally right next to Tower of London) to take some pictures.  It is so incredibly massive!  It was also a gorgeous view at night, but also incredibly windy and a bit rainy (typical).  I should note that this morning when I left my flat around 10 it was warm and sunny, but when I got back around 5 it was cold, windy and rainy. 

Skyline

London weather is about as indecisive as Wisconsin.  Anyway, being on the bridge was amazing.  I remember seeing the bridge during the 2012 Summer Olympics and being in awe of it, but it was even more exciting to actually be on it!  We also got a great view of the London skyline with new buildings as well as old ones.  We've decided to go back on a nicer/warmer day to take more pictures.

Tower Bridge

Yikes, I've really been neglecting my blog!  Time to play a little catch up I guess!

On Tuesday, January 22 we had a "pound trip" (cool things that only cost 1 pound through our program) to the play 39 Steps at the Criterion Theater.  I wasn't very excited because I'm not a big fan of plays, but this play was so great!  It's a satire of an Alfred Hitchcock movie performed by only 4 people.  It was very funny and the theater itself was very cool.  Before the play six of us went to dinner at Analucia (Spanish Tapas).  They had a ten pound 3-course meal deal that we ordered.  For the appetizer I ordered a traditional Spanish omelet, which was pie shaped and had potatoes and cheese in it.  The main course was called Gambas a la Milanesa.  It was King Prawn (shrimp) with tomato sauce that was more like salsa and rice.  It was delicious, but I didn't really enjoy ripping off the heads, tails and legs of the prawn.











During the week, life in London isn't much different than in Madison.  I have class until 5 on Mondays and the other days when I don't have much time in class I am pretty lazy.  It's really bad of me, but it's hard to want to go out and do things when it's cold and cloudy all the time!  My classes are pretty cool so far.  On Wednesday I have Interpreting Popular Culture.  Last class we watched an amazing documentary by BBC about the influence of the Blues on rock (classic rock as we would know it).  The documentary featured Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Animals.  It was just so awesome.  For this class we are given an assignment to go see a band at a blues/jazz bar.  I wasn't really into that before I saw this documentary and realized blues and jazz are so relevant to the music I'm into and I had no idea!

On Thursday we had a welcome lunch at Maggie Jones restaurant, which is about a 10 minute walk from the flat.  It's a quaint little restaurant that seems very authentically British.  I had rocket salad, which was some green salad-y plant with Parmesan cheese and cooked mushrooms.  It was surprisingly delicious!  For the main course I had chicken with tarragon sauce and cooked veggies, of course it was good.  I ordered apple crumble with cream for dessert thinking it would be a safe choice, I was unpleasantly surprised at how terrible it actually was.  It was like bread and apples in coffee creamer, but it tasted just -ugh- awful!! Oh well, it was an experience.  The decor of the restaurant was really interesting.  It felt like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean, but cleaner.  I was also convinced that the place was going to start a massive fire because everything inside is wooden, wicker or dried plants all hanging above like 7 candles on each table!
In anticipation for a long day at Windsor, we stayed in on Thursday night and watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  We have watched a lot of Harry Potter since being here :)



We left for Windsor Castle bright and early Friday morning.  We went by coach with our favorite tour guide, Britt.  Its a lot of fun even just riding the bus places because we get to see so much of London that we can't just walk to.  The ride took around an hour.  Windsor is the first castle I've ever visited and honestly it was even more grand than I expected it to be.  Around the castle are little shops and cafes that are fun to look at.  Of course, I found one of my favorite British stores and just had to buy a maxi dress :)  The castle is so huge I can't even describe it all!  First, we had to go through security which was funny because we learned that you are allowed to have a knife, but only if it is under 3 inches long.  Like what is the point of that!  We were (un)lucky enough to be there for the changing of the guard, which I still can't figure out why it's so interesting.  There was a band and lots of yelling, I'm probably a horrid tourist for not being more impressed.  It was pretty cool though to see that they carry bayonets (with actual spears on the end!).  After we went into St. George's Chapel.  I wish I had pictures of the inside to post because it was absolutely spectacular, but you are not allowed to take pictures anywhere indoors at Windsor.  (You can however buy their book of pictures, how nice)  The ceiling is mind-blowing.  There are so many intricate details on it and the arches are so awesome!  Lots of dead royals are buried there, including Henry VIII and Prince Albert.  Britt says she thinks the current Queen will be buried there, but no one really knows.  We were able to tour most of the castle.  It was stunning.  I've forgotten most of the names of the rooms :( but anways... There is one room that is just massive and was constructed in celebration of defeating Napoleon.  Portraits of important leaders and military men who helped defeat him cover the walls, which was really neat to see because they honored men from all over Europe not just England.  Another room I really enjoyed was one that was very long and tall with the crests of all the Knights of the Guarder all over the walls and ceiling.  They had suits of armor displayed all over the walls.  I suggest Googling the inside of the castle because it really can't be put in to words and since I wasn't allowed to take pictures (still bitter about that!).  After touring the castle we went to a cafe where I had possibly the best chocolate cake on the planet.  It had a cream puff on top! I'm obsessed with the desserts over here.

Yesterday (Saturday) was Australia Day and I was invited to celebrate with my friend Kim and her cousin Danielle, who has been living in London for about 5 years, at a pub called Alice House.  We had a little trouble finding our stop on the Tube, but we made it!  Alice House was a quieter place to celebrate than others where they were packed starting at 9 am.  Some of Danielle's friends are Australian, but they couldn't really tell us the point of the day. I ordered a cider (alcoholic, they do not understand the concept of non-alcoholic cider here) but was feeling a little too dehydrated to actually drink it.  I also ordered an amazing bacon cheeseburger and chips.  We had a great time and learned some valuable pointers on living in London.

Today five of us went to the Camden Market, which was a blast!  On the main road there are lots of tents with pretty much all the same shirts and dresses, I bought a really great Abbey Road tank top for only 5 pounds!  While browsing a tent owner asked if I needed any help, I replied "oh no thanks, I'm just looking" and he said "Looking for a husband??", my friend and I quickly walked away laughing hysterically.  It was quite bizarre!! The best part was probably off the main road, a little cobblestone area full of food.  You could get donuts, kebobs, "gourmet" mac n cheese and deep fried oreos, paella (which I am getting next time!), and Polish sausage.  I got a falafel wrap that had some green and purple veggies (not sure what they were) and 2 kinds of sauce-one was white and the other was a red chili sauce.  It was sooo delicious! I bought some bracelets for a few friends at home from a small tent.  There were a couple vintage record stores that I spent some time browsing at as well!  It was a great little day trip and I definitely plan on going back!

Donuts at Camden Market

This week I will be very busy! Wednesday night some friends and I are leaving for Scotland for the weekend.  I am going to the Tower of London tomorrow, so hopefully I won't be lazy and will post after that/before Scotland.

Platform 9 3/4 and the British Museum

St Pancras

Thursday morning eleven of us took the Tube to Kings Cross Station to see Platform 9 3/4.  For those who aren't sure what that is, I suggest you spend the rest of your day watching Harry Potter movies 1-8 :)  It's the platform that exists between platforms 9 and 10 that is only accessible to magic folk.  This was definitely one of my favorite things so far.  The gift shop at the Platform was like heaven.  Every wand you could ever want, apparel from each house, props from every movie and horcruxes! So awesome!  After, we explored outside the station a bit.  We saw St Pancras Station (such amazing architecture) and went to a place called The Rocket for lunch where I had my first "authentic" British meal.

Chicken and Ham pie, mash, peas and gravy

Thursday night was also very exciting, but stressful.  6 girls from my program and I booked our flight to Rome for spring break (early March).  Since we only have class 3 days a week, we will fly to Rome on Thursday morning and spend 3 days touring.  From there we will take the train to Florence for 3 days, then to Pisa (and Cinque Terre) for 2 and end in Venice for 3.  I am very excited for this trip, I have always dreamed of going to Italy!  I also booked my flight to Germany in April to visit my friend Kate, who was an AFS student at Edgerton when I was a junior.  I'm excited to explore my German roots and spend time with her!

Friday was a very fun day but I am now suffering from "museum fatigue".  My program coordinated a group trip to the British Museum lead by our favorite tour guide, Britt.  The museum is unbelievably huge! We spend four hours there and I don't think we even saw more than half of it!  Everything is exhibited by time period and location.  We saw the remains of the Parthenon that was purchased from the Turks and then sold to the museum.  They were amazing! However, much of it was damaged and even destroyed by the Christians because they represented Pagan Gods. 

Sculptures of the Gods from the Parthenon

"Ginger" the mummy

We saw the chess board that inspired the pieces for Wizards Chess in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  The chess pieces are believed to have come from Norway.  We also saw the Rosetta Stone, which is pretty interesting.  The best exhibit we saw was the ancient Egyptian.  We saw a naturally mummified body that still had skin and hair in tact!!  "Ginger", as they call him, was found in the desert and believe he was stabbed in the back.  Ginger is easily top 5 one of the craziest things I have ever seen.  We saw many sarcophagi, which I really enjoyed. 

Asian Exhibit 

The museum had an African artifact and art gallery that was pretty neat.  There was also an extensive Asian collection.  The statues from Tibet, China, Hinduism and Buddhism were stunning.  Another exhibit is in a giant library that has a copy of every book published in Britain up until the 1980s (I think I got that right!).  The library is enormous!  It also has statues and artifacts from all time periods.  As I write this I feel bad because I can't do this museum justice in words.  If you ever get the chance to visit this museum its a must.
As a history major (and nerd) this museum is just breathtaking.  The building itself is unbelievable and all the history inside it is almost too much to handle!  I definitely have a much bigger appreciation for history after seeing everything today.

Library

In front of the British Museum

Today we have also accumulated a whopping 2.5 inches of snow, which means half of the Tube and other transport is shut down and most of the city has no idea what to do!  Its quite funny for our program of Wisconsin kids, who trudge to class in blizzards.  Some schools I've seen have canceled classes and exams!  We are taking this "blizzard" as a chance to stay in and watch Harry Potter all night. Not like we could find transportation anywhere anyways!

Wrapping up my first week in London

I seem to have neglected my blog this week, so I'll try to catch you all up!

On Tuesday I went with a few people on a self-guided walking tour of St Martin-in-the-Field and Ben Franklin's London house.  We also walked through a park/garden, very popular here since I have yet to see a backyard in the city.  Ben Franklin's house was not open for tour but it was neat to see the outside and comment on all the "relations" he had with European women. (haha!)  St Martin-in-the-Field (which I will shorten to St Martin for typing sake) is a very large, very old church right in Trafalgar Square.  The actual church part is very pretty but very quiet and sort of eerie.  We went there to see the crypt in the basement.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was slightly disappointed to see that is was a small hallway of old gravestones and stone pieces with designs.  But they were really cool.  We also stopped at the cafe in the basement and had a delicious Italian beer.

Tuesday night a bunch of people from my flat went to a "sports bar".  Like lots of places we've been to here, they played a lot of American music.  It was "college night" so there was beer pong set up, which was funny to see.  There were a lot of Americans there as well, most on study abroad trips.  We might quite a few people from Notre Dame and a girl from New Jersey who could be a Snooki look-alike.  But we also met a lot of Brits, some surprisingly friendly and others not so much.  I tried a Belgian beer and Olympic which is a cheap British beer.  Both were good and we all had a blast!  We will definitely be going back there.

I only had one class on Wednesday called Interpreting Popular Culture, which is taught by the same professor that teaches Contemporary Britain.  Justin is very into fashion and music, and has a great sense of humor.  He is by far my favorite professor!  I was very excited to learn that we will have a unit on the Beatles.

Wednesday night some of us went to Imperial College (the college we are affiliated with but don't actually attend classes at).  Wednesday is their "club night", but it really just seemed like an awkward high school dance.  One room was where a DJ was set up and another was the bar area.  I would prefer not to go back there.

First Day of Class

My day wasn't very exciting, but since it was the first day of classes I suppose I have some things to share.

On Mondays I have class at 9:30 am with our American professor, Julie Allen.  From Hamlet to Hitler is a history and literature class.  So far it seems like a good class and I really like Julie.  We discussed Beowulf today, which I read part of but couldn't understand.  It may be old but that doesn't make it good.  I'm also still very jet-lagged so I had a lot of trouble staying awake.  The best part about this class is there are no papers and field trips!

My second class on Monday is at 2:00 and is History of London.  This is the class I'm most looking forward to.  We are starting with the time when the Romans invaded Britain and going up to the 20th century.  We take field trips to the places we are learning about pretty much every other week, which will be awesome!  My professor is an older man named John who seems pretty laid back and likeable.

My roommates and I went to dinner at a small Thai restaurant a few blocks from our flat.  I had never had Thai before and I think once was enough.  I got red curry which was a sauce, chicken, peppers and some green vegetable with rice.  It was pretty good!  However, I'm beginning to notice that wait-staff at restaurants aren't very friendly.  They kind of stare you down while you decide what to order and don't really speak to you.  It's kind of annoying and I've decided to stop tipping.  The best part of the day was wandering into a small bakery/cafe that has the most amazing desserts.  I'm not sure exactly what I got but it was chocolate mousse with an almond flavored cake bottom.  It was so delicious!

Before I left my mom gave me a box of cards with 50 walking tours of London, so tonight I organized a group of a couple people who don't have class tomorrow afternoon and we are going to go on one that takes us to a couple pubs and Ben Franklin's old house! I'm very excited to be able to see new things and continue trying to navigate this huge city.

Bus Tour of London

On Saturday we spent the whole day on a bus touring London.  It was mostly so we could get a feel for different parts of the city.  It was very overwhelming as Edgerton has one stop light and I could probably give a tour of it in under 2 hours.  I wish I could remember the  names of all the cities within the city that we visited! 

We saw the American Embassy in Kensington.  Outside is a park with statues of Eisenhower, Reagen (a poor choice if you ask me) and some others.  There is also a little cottage-like building to commemorate the victims of 9/11.  We also saw the Canadian embassy and the Australian, which was the set of Gringots bank in Harry Potter!  We saw lots of statues of important royals and military men, as our guide Britt says "this city is full of dead men on horses!".

9/11 Memorial

One of the coolest places we saw was the Parliament building and Big Ben (whose name has been changed to Elizabeth Tower in honor of the Queen).  We got to go right passed it and also got a great view of it from across the river.  We also drove passed Westminster Abbey but didn't get to go in. I'm definitely going back to see it.  It's massive and so pretty. It was cool to see the entrance they used for the royal wedding!

London Eye

Parliament and Big Ben

We went to Buckingham Palace, which is in the City of Westminester, London.  We first saw the house that Charles (is he a king now?) and Camille live in and the guards that stand outside.  And then walked over to Buckingham.  It was insanely busy because it was a day for the changing of the guard.  In the months that aren't summer the changing occurs every other day.  Our guide says it's a very big tourist attraction but its really just housekeeping, and I agree.  It was pretty cool to see but I probably wouldn't choose to go watch it.  I plan to go back when its warmer so I can see them in their famous red and blue uniforms (and so it will be less busy). 

Buckingham Palace

We also got to see the Olympic Village.  Its currently being dismantled which seems like a lot of work and kind of a waste of time! The buildings are humungous and have very interesting architecture.  We also saw the apartments that were built to house the athletes.  Oddly, they do not have kitchens!  Near the village is a shopping mall that is probably 1.5 times bigger than the Mall of America.  It is just insanely huge.  My roommates and I ate lunch at a greek place in the mall, which was delicious.  And after we went to a place called Primark, which is like a target but better!  They had so many cute clothes, we plan on going back often (sorry mom!).  But once again I forgot to buy a towel, so I will have to continue using a tiny travel one.  It's really great to look at price tags here and you think "wow only 9 pounds!" but then you convert it and that joy is gone.

As we wrapped up the tour, we saw Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the Shard (Europe's tallest building) and about a million restaurants serving friend chicken and pizza.  The number of fried chicken and pizza places is probably equivalent to McDonalds, cheese chalets and waffle houses in the U.S. It's so weird.  As a huge Harry Potter fan I was excited to see the place where Diagon Alley scenes were filmed.  The girls in my flat plan on taking a Harry Potter scene walking tour!

Tower Bridge

Because I'm still a poor college student over here I had mashed potatoes and wine for dinner, but it was actually delicious!  Some of the girls in my flat decided to go out last night.  We got a recommendation from our RA, Mike (who we all swoon over) to go to a place in Soho (Chinatown and a very "happening" borough) called O Neill's.  After an encounter with a very rude cab driver who refused to take us if we did not know the address (even though he had a GPS-which I pointed out to him and he promptly drove away) we took the double decker bus!  It's very odd here though, you have to hail the bus if you're at its stop.  They do not stop automatically which we learned as it whizzed by us.  I decided to wear a pair of bootie platform heels, which I quickly regretted as I could hardly walk and half way through the night my feet were screaming!  But anyway, the pub was really great.  They played all American music, the good stuff like Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, Britney Spears and of course the Spice Girls!  We had a blast there and plan to go back many more times!

Horse Guards-Near Buckingham Palace

I start class tomorrow morning and I guess I'm looking forward to it.  It also probably means I should start reading Beowulf (ugh!) and find a notebook or two.

Kensington

11/01

It was a rough morning in the flat.  We had to be up early for a walking tour of our Kensington area and adjusting to the time change has been harder than expected.  The morning got much better as we started the tour.  Our guide, Simon, was a very nice Brit who seemed to really enjoy his job.  We started at the Imperial College, all we really did was walk through a court yard to see the only original structure to the College. For some reason they tore down all the old Victorian buildings in the 1950s and only one tower remains. 

(We learned a lot and I forgot a lot, so this might get fragmented!)

Memorial Fountain

From the Imperial we went to Hyde Park.  We walked through a ridiculously muddy field that has some significance that really didn't seem all that special.  But we did learn about a force of guards on horses that William and Harry belong to.  In the park is the memorial for Princess Diana.  It's a natural fountain that flows into a lake.  There are rough parts and smooth parts to represent the different stages of her life.  It's very nice and the way Simon spoke of her you could tell the people still mourn her loss.  Next to her memorial is a bronze statue of a swan, not sure what it's for.  That park lead us into Kensington Gardens, which is the one we live across from.  Simon said it was more "sophisticated", but in my opinion it didn't look very sophisticated.  The grass grew long and people had their dogs off the leash, but whatever!  Hyde Park has a statue of King Albert and another statue of a man on a horse...as I'm writing this and asking my roommates for help we're getting confused on which park is behind Kensington Palace, but the Palace is more interesting so moving on...

Kensington Palace is part museum, part royal residence.  There is a garden that is very neat looking and I'll have to go back once the flowers are in bloom because I bet it would be even better!  In the back there is a statue of a queen-not sure which one.  This palace is where Diana lived up until her death and where Kate, William and Harry live in/are moving into.  In the front, separate from the museum is their residence.  I was very tourist-y and got a couple pictures of the guards and what you can see of the front.  The following pictures are all from Kensington Palace:

Royal Entrance to Kensington Palace

Kensington Garden

We also walked all around Kensington to lots of random places.  After two of my roommates and I went to an Italian restaurant that was okay and the service was awful.  The lady must have known she sucked because she included the tip for us!  After we had more orientation at the Foundation House, which is where all of my classes will be.  It is about a 10 minute walk from my flat and very near central Kensington.  The most important thing I learned is basically if a Brit is being especially nice to you, they are probably trying to pick pocket you.  And that we should use sarcastic humor in order to get on the British populations good side.  For dinner we went to a restaurant called Garfunkel's and I devoured a cheeseburger and chips.  We have hardly eaten since getting here! But I bought some noodles, butter and salt and Rosé so I'm set!  Here are some pictures from the rest of the tour!

Arrival

10/1

I arrived in London on January 10 at London Heathrow airport.  Coincidentally, I ended up next to two fellow badgers on the plane (one who was studying in Dublin, the other in Milan, but both spending the weekend in London), so I was able to stick with them in the airport and on the Underground (aka the Tube).  Of course I was excited to finally have arrived, but I was mostly just exhausted!  The houses on the way to my stop at Gloucester Road (pronounced Glouster, so weird) looked very country and Privet Drive-esque (Harry Potter reference!).  Getting through customs and the tube were easy compared to the trek to my check-in spot.

I got off the tube with my heavy backpack and even heavier luggage.  When I arrived at two flights of steep stairs a very nice British man helped me carry the larger bag up the stairs! (A very good, but deceiving impression of British hospitality)  Once out of the station I asked a taxi driver to take me to the address- 3-7 Queens Gate Terrace-, but he told me I could simply walk there. "Two blocks up, take a right".  Well, to my unpleasant surprise, every single street in that area is 'Queens Gate' something or other and his directions were incorrect. I spent about 25 minutes wandering around a two block span.  Just as I was about to go into a full on panic attack a nice British woman helped me get there and it turns out I was only a block away!

After check-in I walked up one more block to my flat at 37 Hyde Park Gate.  I am in the Kensington neighborhood, the most wealthy neighborhood in London.  Some of the flats here (which is one floor of a 4 or 5-story building) cost 2,000 pounds a week or 300 million pounds to buy.  The exchange rate is double our money, sooooo double the pounds and that's how much they cost. It's insane!  The area we are in is also very safe because we are surrounded by embassies.  The Dutch embassy is one neighbor.  Near the Kensington Palace (home to Kate, William and Harry), the Israeli and Russian embassies are heavily secured.  I've also seen the Thai and Bangladesh embassies.

I am on the second floor and have 3 roommates, who I get along with pretty well.  Our flat faces Hyde Park, which I think we walked through today, honestly they all look the same!  There are 6 other rooms on our floor and I've made friends with some of the other girls too.  

After I got settled in I took a long nap, but even on day 2 in London I'm still exhausted.  We had an orientation cocktail hour type event where I sampled lots of food that I still can't even identify.  We also went to a couple convenience stores with lots of brands and food I've never heard of.  After a few girls from my floor had some wine then went to a pub down the street called Gloucester Arms.  I tried a beer that I did not understand the name of and it was pretty good.

So far it's been really awesome, however what you hear about British hospitality is true.  Not very pleasant!