“Thanksgiving” Weekend

Pooja and Me byTower Bridge

This past weekend was Thanksgiving weekend. For those of you who don’t know, its an American Holiday; I’m in London; meaning no thanksgiving here. Life goes on as normally as possible; no one is rushing to the grocery stores freaking out about getting pies or stuffing or a last minute turkey to try and defrost in 5 hours because the one they made got burnt.

Anyways, during this U.S. holiday, my friend Pooja was coming to visit!! So early Thursday morning I headed to the airport to pick her up. After waiting no more than 30 minutes, I found her walking through the door, stepping into London. Right from the airport, we began her visit with High Tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace, the same place our whole group went a while back. We drank some great tea and had scones, then took a stroll around Hyde park, showing her the sights to see in this gigantic park. It was sunny but soon got pretty chilly, so we headed back to my place and got her stuff so we could check her into her hotel down the road. After checking her in, we headed to St. Paul’s Cathedral. It is absolutely immaculate there, and I wanted to take Pooja there so we could climb to the top and get a great view of London. We made it up all the steps and small doorways all the way to the top of the dome. It was very windy, but my fear of heights surprisingly didn’t bother me. It was a gorgeous sunset view of the city.

Pooja and I soon had to get back to my flat so we could be there in time for our pot luck dinner. All the Temple students that were around that night decided to have a pot luck Thanksgiving feast. I was in charge of the pies but I had no time to bake any, so I ran to Sainsburys and got Apple pies that I didnt know had to cook for 30 minutes, and found out too late, but luckily everyone too stuffed for dessert! We had such a wonderful array of food, and SO MUCH food! Everyone came together and brought food to create a wonderful dinner. It was so nice to have everyone together and to have Pooja there visiting! After taking Pooja back to her hotel that night, I Skyped with my family to say hi and then hung out with a few friends. It was such a great evening and definitely took care of any homesickness any of us may have felt being away from our family on this family-oriented holiday.

The next morning, Pooja and I had an early start considering how late our evening ended. We headed to Green Park to see Buckingham Palace, where the changing of the guard was occurring. It was great to see such a classic ritual. Afterwards we kept walking and went to the River Thames to show Pooja the sights t see in that area including Shakespeare’s Globe, The Tower of London, Millennium Bridge, and Tower Bridge. Unfortunately we didn’t go inside any of these places because they charge such a high amount to see, and also, from my experiences at these places, you need way more than just a quick visit inside (The Tower of London- I went twice, once on my own and once with class, total of about 6 hours and still didn’t see every little thing!). We then found a side shop selling little London knick-knacks, and it as nice to see postcards with many sights to see in London, and we had seen the majority of them. I was happy I was giving Pooja a successful guided tour. Our stomachs were aching after all the walking we had done, so our next stop was at a pub for Pooja’s first taste of traditional Fish & Chips. It was an enjoyable lunch/dinner, except the place we went didn’t give us the loads of chips that most fish & chip places do, it was somewhat upsetting, but still tasty.

That evening, we decided to experience the nightlife London has to offer. The big area for nightlife in London is Picadilly Circus. Once arriving, by double decker, we were swamped with guys trying to get us to go to their nigth clubs, which usually would be empty; hence the urge to try and convince people to head to their clubs. Instead, we all decided to go to a club called TigerTiger, a huge night club with multiple rooms and different types of music. It was Pooja, Ashley, Ailyn, Sheila, Kellianne, and myself that all went. It was a really fun time! However, when we were leaving, it began to rain: Pooja’s first taste of London rain. We eventually made it home and completely passed out from exhaustion.

The next day began a little late due to our late evening the previous night. It was Saturday and I wanted to take Pooja to Portabello Road Market. I haven’t even been yet and I kept hearing how interesting this famous market was. So we went to the market which was swamped with people and vendors; it was a bit overwhelming. After looking around for a while, I didn’t really find anything that I “fancied,” but Pooja found a really cool painting that she purchased. That evening was somewhat of a bummer. It began raining again, and we were both so exhausted from the past two days. We attempted to go out again, but the club we tried to go to wasn’t letting anyone in and it began to pour down rain, so we ended up spending the evening in my flat drenched in rain water and just sitting around. It was a bummer that that’s how we had to spend Pooja’s last night in London.

The next day, it was cold and a bit rainy at times; ironic since it was the day Pooja was heading home. We eventually went to the Westminster area to show her Big Ben and Westminster Abbey in the daylight. It was a mess trying to get thre though with all the tube closures due to weekend mechanical work (its been so tedious to deal with that weekend work during my whole time in London!). We got there eventually, took some pictures and kept walking around. Our time was short though since we had to get Pooja to the airport by 4pm-ish. So after gathering her things and heading to the airport, on a rainy Sunday evening, I said bye  to her and sent her through the terminal where she would soon be on the plane back to America. It was so surreal because although I was saying goodbye to her, she mentioned that I would see her in about 3 weeks for our friend Samir’s welcome home party from Antigua. It really made me realize that I have such a short time left here in London, and that I must enjoy the rest of the time I have here rather than dwell on the limited time I have left. This weekend went by so quickly, possibly quicker than any other weekend here in London: I guess the phrase ‘time flies when you are having fun’ is truer than I thought.

Buckingham Palace

Group shot at TigerTiger

Pooja on top of St. Pauls Cathedral

Pooja and Me on the bus arriving at Picadilly Circus

Busy Busy November- thus far.

Center of Bury, Cathedral

I know its been a while since I have made a new post, but i’ve been extremely busy with my “Busy Busy November” schedule. Just to break down the month, that is now almost over…

1st weekend of November-Trip to Oxford with Temple/Guy Fawkes-Bonfire Night celebrations

2nd weekend of November- Host UK weekend with the Andrews Family in Thaxted England

3rd weekend of November- Visit Kay (family friend) in Rochdale, right outside of Manchester, and also to visit Bury

So let me try to give a quick wrap-up of what my month has been like thus far. I’ve been doing a lot of physical writing in my journal which explains why I have been absent from jotting things down in this blog, mainly because i’ve been on the move and its much easier to bring along a small journal than a bulky computer with probably very minimal internet connection wherever I go.

On November 7th, we had a group trip to Oxford. This is where the first English-speaking university was established. It’s also where famous scholars went to study and some other came to give lectures or teach, and it’s where the classic tale of Alice in Wonderland was inspired. It was a brisk day with the sun shining when we met our tour guide who began walking us around the premises of the town of Oxford. To be honest, our guide was not that good, and would just take us to a place, tell us some random facts, then on to the next stop. She also talked really softly which made me wonder why she was an offical blue badge tour guide to begin with. But anyways, we saw all the amazing structures at Oxford which date back to around the 12th century! It’s amazing to see all these places that are FAR older than my own country! After eating some lunch at a local pub, we all went into Christ Church. This is one of the large colleges at Oxford and the dining hall was actually used to inspire the dining hall design for the Hogwarts dining hall in the Harry Potter movies. It was a gorgeous area and the courtyard was stunning, The cathedral and dining hall were also fantastic sights! After our walk through Oxford, we got back on the train to London.

That evening, my friend Chrissy and I went to a Bonfire night celebration about 5 tube stops away from where we live. Bonfire night is pretty much a celebration of failure. Guy Fawkes back in the 18th century tried to blow up Parliament but was unsuccessful (Remember remember the 5th of November) and now its celebrated as a holiday with bonfires and fireworks. Although we did go to a firework display on the actual holiday night, its mainly celebrated the weekend after, so we went to this huge celebration which included a massive bonfire, amusement rides, and fireworks!

The following weekend I went on a Host UK trip to Thaxted in Essex County. First about Host UK. Host UK is a charity organization that allows international students to stay with a family outside of the metropolis London to get a glimpse into suburban British life and culture. Here in London I stay in a house with all students that attend the same program as I do, and most of my other friends who have done study abroad programs stay with a host family and get an even more personal cultural experience. When I hear about Host UK, I signed up so I could get that type of experience.

When I was on the train to meet up with my Host, I was getting pretty nervous since I had only been contacting her through e-mail a few times. I also had no idea what she looked like or anything so I was hoping it would all work out okay. After stepping off the train and across to the car park, I saw a sweet lady named Rachelle standing there with a big smile to greet me. She took me to her home where I soon meet her husband Roy, her son Jon, and their jack russel terrier Millie. Jon soon left ironically enough for London to meet up with friends. That evening Roy Rachelle and I had a nice home cooked meal and talked about various things. Later that evening, their neighbor Tonya and her 3 children came over with their Host student (they were also hosting a student through Host UK-Tessa from Wallawalla Washington). We spent the night just chit chatting away and figuring out what we would do for the weekend.

The next day, after a delicious English breakfast, we went to a nearby village called Saffron Walden. This was a town that once harvested the spice saffron, hence the name. We walked around the cute village, looking at the tiny homes with thatched roofs (which are actually illegal in London due to the fire hazard), went to a museum about the history of the town, and had a bite to eat at a cute little cafe. After our visit to this small village, we went to Cambridge University which is only about 30 minutes from their area. This is the UK’s other prestigious University with tons of history. This year marks its 800th anniversary! (and I thought it was impressive that Temple was 125) Although it was a crazy weather day with high wind and random times of rain, we were able to take a good look at this historic University and see its remarkable structures. We went into King’s College, which looks similar to Christ Church at Oxford in the way the court yard is set, but completely different in its sturcture. We just went into the main cathedral and it’s just breath-taking to be there and to hear the organ being played. It was such a remarkable feeling and experience. We soon left Cambridge and headed back to Rachelle and Roy’s home where Rachelle made some things for dinner, then we went to Tonya’s home with Annabel, their daughter, and had a big home cooked delicious meal.

My final day With the Andrew’s family was spent touring around the village of Thaxted. The Guilded Hall, which marks the center of the village, dates back to the 13th century. First however, we went to see the windmill that Thaxted is known for. Up by the windmill is a fantasic view of the English countryside. We then made our way down to the main streets of Thaxted where we passed a fish and chip shop that Rachelle and Roy’s other son William works at, and then stopped in a small cafe for tea, which Annabel was working at in the kitchen, and was able to come out to say hi. After our tea time, we make it up to the church in the town. It was right after the Sunday Service so the smell of insence wa still resonating through the air. This church was so vintage-looking and amazing. A girl was practicing piano, everything from Mozart to Celine Dion, but it was lovely to sit and relax, listening to the piano being played and sitting in this huge church.

To end my weekend, the whole group of us sat down for a big Sunday roast. In England, it is very typical to have a big Sunday roast, which is pretty much the same thing as our Thanksgiving, but rather than a turkey, its a pork roast, or some other type of roast. The food was exceptional and really gave me a taste of British food, and was also a good replacement for what I will soon be missing, THANKSGIVING. After dinner, Rachelle took Tessa and to the train station and we headed back for London. It was such a great experience to spend the weekend with the Andrews family and I was very happy that I had that wonderful experience.

The following weekend, which was this past weekend, I went up North to visit our family friend Kay. Kay came to Woodbury in 2000 when our towns did a huge Millennium celebration. You see, Woodbury was founded by Henry Wood, a man from Bury England. (think about it, put the two together and what do you get?!) I knew at some point I had to make it up there to visit since I’ve always wanted to see Bury and it would be nice to visit Kay since I havent seen her in 7 years! This trip was a bit longer, from Thursday-Sunday, so Thursday morning I got a bus up to Manchester. Arriving in Manchester, I soon met up with Kay and we took a little stroll around the main area of the city. After getting some dinner, and my first meat pie (lamb and apricot) we headed to her house in Rochdale. There I met her Dad Alan, then soon after met her Mum Lynn. That night we spent the night just watching some tele and drinking tea.

The next day, Kay took me to Blackpool, a beach resort about an hour from Rochdale. It was pretty empty, but really nice to see and dip my fingers in the Irish Sea. We started by playing some arcade games, then walked down the road and played some mini golf with the theme of pirates and pirate ships. (I won! but only by 2 strokes!) Soon after, we decided to go into Louis Tussaud’s wax works, which included many wax sculptures of various celebrities; some I had no clue who they were since they were really only big in the UK. It was a lot of fun. Blackpool was a really pretty site to see, even though there was a lot of construction and many things closed down for the season, but I enjoyed going to see the area rather than it being booming with tourists and people all over. We soon returned to Rochdale where Kay, her parents, and myself went to dinner at a pub within walking distance from her house.

The next day was Bury! I was so excited to actually see this town that I have heard so much about! We began by going to the grammar school, where they were having a craft fair. This is where students from ages 10-16 go for schooling. This is also where all the students that came to Woodbury in 2000 attended school. Kay took me for a tour of the school, and I wrote things like “someone from Woodbury NJ USA was here!” on the white board all around the school. We then drove into town where I saw the Bury cathedral and the center of town, with a statue of the founder Robert Peel. Next we went to visit the town hall, but it was closed. The time in Bury was fantastic and I got a lot of great pictures to take home.  Soon we met up with Kay’s parents and took a steamtrain to a nearby town to have lunch. After returning to Bury, we went back to Rochdale where we rested and then went to a 60th birthday party for someone at their church. This wasn’t the type of birthday party my family throws. This was a party all about group barn dancing. We did lots of groups dances, similar to country dancing, and it was a lot of fun getting up there and no matter how well you did, you still had a great time. Maybe i’ll be able to call the dance leader up in August to get him to ccome to Jersey for my Dad’s 60th!

On Sunday, I packed up all my things and Kay took me to Manchester. We were able to take a walk around the city again, this time in the day, and we were also able to go into the Manchester cathedral, which was spectacular. After that, we had a very quick bite to eat until I had to get onto the bus back to London. It was a fantastic weekend and it was so nice to be able to meet up with Kay again after so long and to see Bury after so much has been said about the town and the connection is has with my own home town.

So that has been my month so far. This upcoming weekend, my friend Pooja from back home is coming to visit!! I’m so excited for her to come, so i’m trying to get all my work and everything done beforehand so we can have a great time! To everyone reading this, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! Eat extra turkey on my behalf please! 😛

me at Oxford!

 

Bonfire at Bonfire Night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windmill in Thaxted

 

Guilded Hall Thaxted

Me and Kay at Blackpool

Bury Town Hall!

 

Outside at Manchester

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-Term Break

Last week, October 22nd-November 1st, was my mid-semester break. Most of my classmates took trips all over the world including Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. and although I was hoping to be able to take a trip elsewhere, I ended up staying in London planning to explore more of London that I have yet to see.

The week began as a relaxing break from class and a chance to sleep in. One evening, I decided to take a long stroll throughout the streets that I having been living around the past weeks. Although I pretty much saw areas that I have seen before, I took some pictures this time and was able to enjoy a nice walk to clear my thought and really embace this wonderful city I am living in. While walking, I passed by an apartment building where T.S. Elliot lived and died, which I had walked by multiple times in the past, but this time I saw a woman leave a taxi and enter the building, and although I am not completely sure, she very much resembled Emma Bunton, better known as Baby Spice. Was it her? I will never know.

Everyone began to leave and it was soon only myself and my roommate Zac who was also staying in London for the week with his girlfriend who was visiting from Philadelphia. One day, Zac, his girlffriend Giavanna and I went to Camden town market. This is a market that used to be horse stables that has now been transformed in a huge shopping area. It was amazing to see all the vendors, similar to any other market, but the area incorporating so much history and amazing sculptures of horses and jockeys in such random places. After about an hour or so walking around the market, we decided to get chicken fajitas form a small food court called “Mexican Foods” (not to be confused with Mexican Food which was located a few stalls back)

The week then just dragged on. One night, I went out with a friend of mine from Imperial College down the road and we ended up at this club that was very elite and was rumoured to have Prince Harry and Prince William on occasion! (not that night though). Another night we went to the Sports Cafe. It was my first time. Many people from Temple had been there before since Tuesday nights are known or “American College” night. It was a fun time, better than I was expecting, but it was definitely a one time thing. Go to any sports bar or sports club in Philly, and that explains the Sports Cafe in London. Another night I went to see The Phantom of the Opera. Of course it was a great show, and to see it done in London was astonishing. (it just made me also think of how mad I was that I never made it to the opera house in Paris where it takes place)

I went to visit 2 museums during break: the Museum of Everything and the Victoria & Albert museum (V&A). The museum of everything was a random find. I saw it on a flyer we get every week about cheap things to do in London, so I decided to go with my roommate Zac. It was a hole-in-the-wall museum, but it was filled with the most random art pieces you would ever see. What was interesting was reading the descriptions of the art. One that stuck in my mind as about a guy who as a young child in Germany had a Nazi soldier tease him by making him think he was going to give his gun to the boy. This was believed to start this man’s fixation on guns and was the result of his multiple pieces of artwork focusing on guns and many different variety’s of drawings. It was a bizarre exhibition, but interesting nonetheless. I then one day went to the V&A. This museum has exhibits from all over the world and then classifies different British exhibits based on subject. I glanced at the exhibits from the Middle East and China, but then made my way to the fashion exhibit. The exhibition showed the many changes in fashion all the way up to modern fashion. They also had the Princess Diana famous white pearl embedded high collar dress on display. It had such a tiny waist, I couldn’t believe it! I then moved to the jewellery exhibit and then was lead to the tons of silver they had there. It was a 3 1/2-4 hour day of roaming around the museum just in awe of all the history and artefacts.

The week concluded with Halloween. Halloween isn’t celebrated too much here in the UK, but us Americans weren’t going to listen! Early in the day, I met with my friend Joe Paz whom I know through Lead for Diversity, we were both camp counsellors for this summers session 2! It was great to meet up with him. We roamed around Camden market looking for inspiration for Halloween and I found some high tube socks and a headband for my last-minute costume of being a fitness instructor. We then made our way home where we soon got ready for the festivities and headed out. As a big group we ended up at a nightclub called Heaven in London which featured a concert with Miss Frank, the latest girl group voted off of the X Factor. It was a fun night, but we kept losing people, but luckily everyone got to home safe and sound.

That was pretty much how I spent my fall break. People have many pictures and memories from trips outside of London, but I got to rest and enjoy some less-crowded nights. I do wish I would have gotten to more museums, or more sites, but no regrets, regrets hold a person back. Wishing I would have done things differently, sure, but no experience is perfect.

The courtyard at the V&A

Princess Diana's Dress!!

an artsy picture I took on my walk around my block...this is literally a block away!

 

 

Bienvenue a PARIS!

Posing shot in front of the Eiffel Tower

It’s 6 a.m. on Saturday October 10th. My alarm buzzes, and I get out of bed, shower, and get on my way to PARIS!!!

Although I didn’t get much sleep, I was filled with excitement to take my first out-of-London trip: Paris! Yrcanis, Frances, Adam and myself headed to the train station where we hopped on the eurostar: next stop, Paris France. The train was extremely fast and whizzed by the French countryside which I surprisingly stayed awake to see while everyone else was catching up on some sleep (which I should have done as well, but my excitement wouldn’t allow me to do so.)

About 2 hours and 15 minutes later, we were stepping off into Paris! The announcers on the train began their arrival speech in French this time, then in English. We got off the train and were welcomed with signs in French, people scurrying around the station, and right outside the station, we saw our first Gypsy. This gypsy was asking for money of course, and how they attract you is by coming up to tourists knowing only the phrase “do you speak English,” then if they get a response, they whip out a sheet with writing on it. I was somewhat oblivious to it due to my fatigued and overwhelming feelings about being somewhere that doesn’t speak English as its first language.

Anyways, we began by journeying to our hostel. The Village Hostel was a quaint hostel actually only about 10 minutes of a walk from the train station, but it took us more like 30 minutes to find it. We checked into our 4 person hostel, meaning we had our own room equip with 2 bunk beds, a small table, an okay bathroom, and a window with a view of the Sacre Cooer, the Sacred Heart chapel. We dropped out stuff off quickly and headed to the Louvre!

The Louvre is a typical tourist landmark to see in Paris. Not only does it house famous art pieces, its most famous being the Mona Lisa, but it also has such an iconic architectural structure to it. We got there a little later than expected, but stayed until closing time at 5:30. Some of the memorable art we saw were of course the Mona Lisa (which was just BOMBARDED with people taking pictures of it. I wanted to scream ‘HEY A POSTCARD WILL LOOK MUCH BETTER!’) and Venus de Milo. I wish I could tell more of what art we saw, but it was mostly in French and I couldn’t read it, but we saw a lot of amazing artwork that regardless of its fame, they were all just imaculate. And like my father advised me to look for, I did see a lot of amateur artists sitting around drawing their versions of the art. However, they were mostly located within the sculpture sections.

After the Louvre, we headed back to our hostel to dress nice for maybe a night out on the town. We conviently had an Ed grocery store across the street, so we went to get some wine and cheese (and i got some chips and salsa) to begin our evening. We took all of our food and wine out to the hostel’s patio and met some other people staying in the hostel. We decided to join their table and chit chat. There was a couple from Melbourn Australia, a man from Barcelona, a girl from Vancouver, and another girl from Santa Barbara California. While chit chatting, we were pleasantly surprised with fireworks at the Sacre Cooer. It was an amazing view and an amazing way to end our first night in Paris. Adam and I embarked on a journey up to the main area at the Sacre Cooer since there was a festival up there, and it was trashed with people and bottles and trash. We soon went to bed so we could have a fresh early start the next day.

Day 2 in Paris took us early to Versailles. We decided to get a bus trip to Versailles to see the palace that housed the royal family when there was a monarchy in France before the French Revolution. One of the more popular stories is that of Marie Antoinette and her adult behavior. The palace was filled with amazing architecture and sights to see. A fascinating place was the Hall of Mirrors, which is a hall of mirrors (DUH) and  windows on the other wall. There are 17 mirrors and 17 windows and a mural on the ceiling about the King’s 17 years’ rein, which was a result of royal propaganda.

After Versailles, we went to get a much needed meal! I’m sad to say my first real Paris meal was BBQ ribs and fries. We were starving and this small place sucked us in. We soon after went to the Eiffle Tower! This is what I was really looking forward to, since its such an iconic structure. From seeing it at a distance from the moment we got to Paris, it didn’t look too big, but once you are right next to it, it’s huge! We did the climb up the over 500 steps to the second level, but not to the very top since it cost more and had a long line.

After the climb, we had a mini photo shoot at a park nearby that had a good view of the tower. We also filmed a dance number that Adam is planning to create and edit when he gets back home. We pretty much just danced around the park with the tower behind us to no music while Adam was blasting the music in his headphones. It turned out to be an awesome shot, and people were even taking pictures and videos of us while we were doing it.

We soon left and got dinner at a crepe shop. This was were the authentic crepe experience happened. I had a crepe with vegetables and chicken after being tempted by one that Yrcanis and Frances ordered. It was yummy! Afterwards, we walked around a bit, just enjoying Paris, and then soon went back to the hostel. Everyone wanted to take a nap, but not me. I look back and i wish I would have gone to Notre Dame or the Arc while they were napping, but I instead enjoyed some wine and a baguette while looking out our window. I was just enjoying the fact that I was in PARIS!!

After they napped, it began to rain a little bit :(.  It was depressing enough to know it was my last night there, but luckily the rain cleared up. All we did my last night in Paris was roam around the area where the Moulin Rouge is an enjoyed ourselves. It was not so eventful, but fun nonetheless.

So we went back to the hostel where I went to bed and had to wake up at 5:00am to catch my early train back to London so I could make it in time for my theatre class. The walk was a little sketchy since the sun had yet to come up and the area was somewhat run-down. I got to the station pretty early, but it was better than if I were late! The train ride back consisted of me completely passing out with my hands assertively covering my pockets containing my passport and my wallet. I stepped off the train back into London, got to class right on time, and ended my journey.

Francis, Yrcanis and Adam in our awesome hostel!

Adam, Me, Yrcanis and Frances in fron of the Versailles Palace

Our view at night from our hostel window...The Sacre Cooer

Close up shot with the Tower

Me standing in front of The Louvre!

Tower of London

The Tower of London is a huge castle-looking area, which actually housed royalty back in the day when decapitation was a legal punishment. The stone structure of the area was an amazing site to see. As we were constantly told on the tour that we somewhat jumped into, there are 20 towers in the tower of London, creating a wide area of tower after tower. It seems that each onehas some type of display inside.

An interesting fact about the tower: William Penn was jailed there and soon after got exiled when he soon went to discover Pennsylvania.

So after my theatre class, I headed on the tube to meet up with Yrcanis, Adam and Frances and we headed to the tower. We quickly joined a free tour already in progress and heard some random facts about the tower. We also heard many stories about heads getting chopped off, an there is even a glass pillow looking monument to signify where a bunch of well known people were executed.

Tower of London is also where the Crown Jewels call home. Going into what they call the House of Jewels, videos are played explaining some of the jewels we were about to see, and also shows video of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. It is pretty amazing to see how she has been Queen for so long, and to watch some of the ceremonial things they do to coronate her.

We walked into the area where all the jewels  are displayed, and the room begins with a huge vault door (no getting through it when its locked). The exhibit began with the things that are used during the coronation, like the golden spoon used to pour oil on the wrists and head, the golden bird-shaped pitcher where the rare oil is poured from, and the swords and septors. Soon ahead is a moving sidewalk where you see the big crowns, including the Imperial Crown and the Coronation crown…they were spectacular!

We were there for a total of 4 hours, and that still wasn’t enough time to see everything. We went through a lot of the towers, including one all about torture where they made replicas of some of the torture machines. We also went through a Henery VIII body armour exhibit where they displayed the various armor used for him, and even his horses.

Tower of London also has many of the classic London guards that have become iconic with London. We, as the obnoxious Americans that we are, went up to one post and took many pictures by the stiff and focused guard trying to make him smirk or laugh, and I must say we were successful in getting a slight grin on one of them.

The Tower of London was an awesome place! We were there for a total of about 4 hours, and I must advise people that may go sometime in the future, dedicate a WHOLE day to the tower. There were definitely things that we missed, and a whole day spent there would be worth it.

In front of what used to be the Royal Palace

climbing up one of the towers...such a small and confined space.

The Globe Theatre

London is the birthplace of the classic playwright Shakespeare!

We all are always scared to read Shakespeare. I mean, I’m guilty of buying some “No Fear Shakespeare” books when I needed to read a play or two in school. But no matter what appriciation you have for theatre or Shakespeare himself, seeing a show in The Globe is  an amazing experience!

To give a little history of The Globe, the original is no longer standing. The actual site of the original has since been used to build upon, but the location of this replica was the closest they could get to the original location as they could find. American Sam Wanamaker was the main reason this replica was built. When coming to London for business, he wanted to see a show at The Globe and was highly disappointed when he had heard nothing at all was there. So Wanamaker set forth to build a replica of the theatre. They consulted with many historians, architects, and theatre experts to get the theatre to look as exact to the original as possible (except for the dirt ground, which is now pavement due to health and sanitary reasons). Unfortunately, Sam Wanamaker died shortly before its opening and never got to see a live performance there, but he is remembered with a blue plaque that usually is placed on houses where iconic British people lived, but the community of London decided it was necessary for he to have one to signify all of the effort and work he put into having this replica of The Globe which now is a wonderful addition to the city of London.

I must say, it was a complicated situation to see my first show there at The Globe. Originally we were supposed to see As You Like It for my theatre class, but our tickets were not there when we went to see the show. Something happened where they had to release the tickets (strike 1) I went back at a later time by myself for an afternoon performance, but it was all sold out. (strike 2) Then finally we got in after waiting for extra tickets outside (what I should have done during my second attempt).

As You Like It was absolutely stunning. The costumes were gorgeous and the story line was amusing. It is an intertwining complicated story, but in a nutshell, it is about the girl, Rosalind, who gets banished from the city and disguises herself as a boy and comes across her love, Orlando, and helps him with “wooing” Rosalind, with he not knowing it was actually her. It was a fabulous production!

The next night, we went to Love’s Labour’s Lost for our travel writing class. Again, this show was amazing as well, but our main goal was to observe the audience and write a paper about our experiences. While we were there, it started to drizzle a little bit, which is always the downfall of being in the pit at The Globe. However, when reading and learning about The Globe, you always hear how the shows were rain or shine, and it would have been fun to see the actors perform with it raining and to see how the audience would have responded.

What I found so interesting, which may be the reason why so many people like seeing these shows, is the natural way these actors can speak Shakespeare’s words. Reading the text can be confusing, but seeing it performed, in The Globe Theatre, you know it is the best of the best performing. The whole time, I really felt I was back in that era, and the atmosphere that the area creates is breathtaking.

Giving our legs a rest during the intermission...Sitting on the ground of The Globe

Standing outside of The Globe Theatre

The stage is set for Love's Labour's Lost

Abbey Road

Artsy picture of an Abbey Road sign

Growing up, I always knew of The Beatles. Thanks to my Horton family genes, I grew to appriciate their music. Well, being in their birthplace, it’s even better! And of course we all had to take a trip to the famous Abbey Road Studios.

This is where the Beatles recorded the classic album Abbey Road and its well known by its album cover of them crossing the street at Abbey Road. The area was filled with tourists when we went. A tour group was actually stopping there, so that made it more congested. It may have also been because we went on the 40th anniversary of the release of the Abbey Road album in the UK. (made it an even more exciting time to go!)

It was so amazing to be at the actual crosswalk of where the picture was taken. In all reality, its just a crosswalk near the studios, but everyone knows it, and it creates so much traffic with people trying to make a remake of the actual picture. It is a working crosswalk, so throughout our visit, we heard many honks for us to get out of the way. It was honestly just so fun to see people taking so many variations of the picture and hearing people just get mad and honking their horns. You would think if you know where you are, you would avoid that area to avoid all the tourists.

So we spent the whole day getting to the famous crosswalk, which was a long adventure since some of the tube trains were closed for the weekend. But all in all, going to Abbey Road was a pretty neat experience.

One of the many pictures on Abbey Road

Running back across the street for another picture!

selfphoto in front of the crosswalk!

Thames and Tea!

High Tea at the Orangery

Two big events I’m going to tie together were the Thames Festival and High Tea.

The Thames festival is a big weekend-long festival along the Thames river (not pronounced the way it is spelled). I have heard it started way back when to sell herbs and plants, and the festival became so huge people would hold their merchandise on their heads to sell. That’s why there are a ot fo displays of natural and plant life.

One evening, there was a huge display of fire! All over this area were flowerpots of lighter fluid that soon where lit and it created a hugely lit area with smoke all over and just looked so beautiful along the river. Somewhat ironic since London is a city where fire’s are illegal. The festival ended with a huge fireworks display, somewhat similar to our 4th of July celebrations.

Another day, we had a Temple Trip to High Tea at The Orangery at Kensington Palace. The place was absolutely exquisite! At my table were Alyssa, Ashlyn, Kristin and myself. It started, of course, with tea. Such good tea too!! (i ended up having about 4 cups!) We soon  had cucumber sandwiches, which was followed by a scone with jam and butter, and concluded with some lemon cake. It was such a cute and classy afternoon in the place that was right beyond Kensington gardens. 🙂

Thames Festival

Ball Of Fire at the Thames Festival

They even had lightbulbs on fire!

At Kensington Gardens

Me outside of the Orangery

Kristin, Alyssa, Ashlyn and I at our table at High Tea

WIMBLEDON!!

Centre Court Spectator

When you travel somewhere, you always have places you want to make sure you see on your trip. Obviously in my time hear there are a lot of things I want to see. The obvious touristy things like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the works, are on my list. But one dream I had when thinking about London was to visit the All-England club Tennis Courts, a.k.a. the WIMBLEDON TENNIS COURTS!

One afternoon, Jillian (fellow tennis fanatic) Natasha, Dylan, Ashlyn, and myself took the trip to the courts. The courts are actually outside of London, and finding the courts was somewhat difficult since we got off at a tube station that was about a mile from the actual courts. But once we got there, my heart started racing!!

I have watched the Wimbledon tournament probably ever since  got interested in Tennis in late middle school and eventually played all four years of high school. Even though my family are more football/baseball watchers, I have always been an avid tennis spectator. I still enjoy hitting the courts every now and then. Tennis is a very classy, upscale sport, and Wimbledon is the classiest of all! With the elgant grass courts and white outfits players must wear, its s very “posh” thing. (I wore my white polo which I had been planning to wear when I got to go to Wimbledon ever since I bought it!)

So we go in, and our tour was scheduled for 2:30, so we had about 40 minutes until the tour. There is a small Wimbledon museum that we went to before the tour. This is where the talk about the origins of tennis and the tournament, and it concludes with the display of the trophies!! 😀 The display area with screens showing various players at their winning points made me so giddy with excitement. Just seeing the trophies, the actual prize, was so spectacular.

We soon went to meet up with our tour guide, who told us everything about Wimbledon, and about the famous grass courts and how they maintain those courts. Its such a complicated intricate process.We were walking the grounds of the area, passing by many small courts. It was a quiet area, but I could only imagine how that area looks during the tourney.

The next stop was right outside of Court No. 1 where it has been dubbed Henman Hill, and most recently Murray Mountain in relation to the British players they hope at the time will come through and win the title for the UK. This is where the public can sit and watch on a large screen the match on Centre Court (since getting a ticket for those matches are nearly impossible). We got to go sit on the hill and take pictures. (and Jillian and I stole some grass from the hill!!)

Next stop: the press area. We went through the area where the press go and also the room where players do their post interviews. We even got to take a seat in the chairs where the players do their interviews! We also walked through the area where the players check in when they enter the tournament.

Finally, the best of all, a tour through the stadiums of Court No. 1 and Centre Court!! These are the places where the big matches occur and the finals are played. It was amazing to physically be there in a seat where the tournament that I now watch every year takes place.

It was such an amazing day! It was the one place I was probably most excited to see that wasn’t the obvious touristy things. I now can’t wait to watch the tournament next year to say I was there! I of course walked out with a wimbledon umbrella, a key chain, and a pack of Strawberry and Cream cookies that I plan to eat while watching the 2010 Wimbledon finals, in memory of my day I spent at Wimbledon!

Trophie Case!

Court No. 1

___ Hill/Mountain

Group shot at Centre Court

Press Room!

Buckingham Palace- GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

Before they close up at the end of September, I had to visit Buckingham Palace and the state rooms. The state rooms are only open for 2 months in the year and luckily we are here during those times!

Entering the palace was absolutely breath taking. It’s odd because on the outside, it doesn’t look like what I believe a palace would look like, but i’m not sure if i can tell you what that may look like either. Walking the halls and entering these rooms was remarkable, but in reality, the Queen and Royal Family probably rarely if ever go into those rooms.

One of the most fascinating things I saw in the palace was in one room, there was a secret door that was somewhat cracked open to show that there is this hidden door that leads straight the the Queen’s quarters. If only I could have jumped the rope and slid by the guards to ease my way into the palace…

Speaking of that, we were told a story of how a guy was somehow able to pass the highly guarded area and ended up in the Queens bedroom and he asked her, “do you have a light” and she responded “no i don’t smoke” and she ordered up a light for the man, and the man eventually was escorted out and taken to a mental hospital for a little bit for what he did. I may be inncorrect with some of this info, but the fact that a man got to the Queen’s room is true.

At the end of the tour, it was concluded at the Bow room, where a picture on the Queen was displayed. Since so many people have probably stood in that same place to bow to her highness, i faced the picture, and bowed myself. I had to 🙂

We then had to walk a long way through what I thought was a somewhat plain garden area to make it to the exit. The whole place from the outside wasn’t very impressive but the inside was absolutely gorgeous.

After the Buckingham Tour

Buckingham Palace through the trees