Last day in London. Can't believe we've already been gone a week!
Usually, Laura and I coordinate what time to set our alarms for and get up. Last night, we didn't. The result is that both of our alarms went off at 8, and both of us shut them off, and both of us didn't actually roll out of bed until 11! I'm just slightly ashamed of this, but honestly, it was an amazing night's sleep for both of us so I figured it was much needed.
Our first stop today was the British Library. Library? Library. So cool. You'll all be jealous by the end of this post. Here is a list of some of the things we saw:
The Beowolf manuscript (~1,000 years old)
A Jane Eyre manuscript
Jane Austen's writing desk
Virginia Woolf's notebook
Mozart's concerto and marriage contract
Beethoven's tuning fork and sonata
Mendelssohn's wedding march
The Beatles' lyrics for the following songs: Help!, Yesterday, Ticket to Ride, A hard Day's Night, Michelle, and I Want to Hold your Hand
The Magna Carta (the "Great charter" document that subjected the king, as well as his people, to the law and set limits on royal authorities)
The Macclesfield Alphabet Book (I don't expect you to know this one, it was just a really cool old book with interesting letters drawn out in it)
The Derling Roll (not expecting you to know this either, but it's the oldest surviving English roll of arms, which are like family crests I think)
Shakespeare's sonnets
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet draft and book
Leonardo DaVinci's manuscript notebook with drawings
and probably my personal favorite text out of all these old famous things,
Dodgson's (i.e. Lewis Carroll's) ORIGINAL ALICE IN WONDERLAND MANUSCRIPT!
Listening to the audio recordings of the Beatles while looking at the scrawled lyrics (written on scrap pieces of papers, envelopes, backs of birthday cards, etc) was one of the coolest things I've done. It was such an amazing feeling. That's the only time I've ever danced in a museum, that's for sure.
The Magna Carta, and all other sacred documents, had a thermometer in every glass case to maintain the careful preservation environment for the ancient works. The Magna Carta was impossible for me to actually read because it's written in 13th century Latin script with abbreviated words (because parchment was so expensive).
The Alice in Wonderland exhibit was too cool; seeing the very first hand written version of it along with an original sketch, and also seeing Dodgson's diaries and the many version of Alice that followed was so exciting. My favorite version was the Guinness version, written by Arthur Guinness. I believe that parody is where the slogan "Guinness is Good For You" comes from. Anyway, the two pages open under the glass were hysterical. They also had some pages from the costume designer of Tim Burton's Alice movie, but sadly no pictures of Johnny Depp :(
So, yes...not your typical library.
After the Library we went to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. We really are museumed out, but you can get high tea there so I really wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, the guidebook from 2008 that I read said high tea was 12 pounds, and in 2010 that number is actually 14.5 pounds. Apparently that makes a difference for me, so we did a "Poor Man's High Tea" in which I bought a cup of Earl Grey tea and a scone with clotted cream and jam for about 4 pounds. What a steal. Then, since we were in the National Gallery, which is of course, free, we sucked it up to look at some beautiful old paintings by famous people. We sped through in about an hour, hitting only the big familiar names. I really did enjoy the Van Gogh and Monet paintings a lot though.
It's really interesting to me how interactive and high tech museums have become. In every museum, there is an internet-cafe-esque set up where you can take virtual tours, etc. In this museum, you can pick paintings you want to see and it will route a path for you. You can also email yourself favorite pictures and learn about the artists. We learned about how crazy Van Gogh was, and man that guy was a huge screwball. Such a bummer that so many good artists are straight up crazy (he really did spend time in an asylum...he also shot himself, but didn't die, and then just laid in bed smoking his pipe until he did die...seriously, Van Gogh?!)
With the last of our daylight, we wandered around Rob's neighborhood by the Spitalfields Market. We also found "Banglatown" on a road called Brick Lane. Banglatown is a hilarious row of restaurants where middle eastern / Indian / Bangladeshi men stand outside their restaurants and try to entice you in with specials and free bottles of wine. Quite amusing.
We waited for Rob to get off work, and in the downtime I was surprisingly productive! I borrowed Rob's exercise ball and did a self-made circuit twice that worked on all different parts of my body. I think it took about half an hour and I checked my heart rate throughout and it was in the good zone (22-28 beats per 10 seconds) that I learned about in my kickboxing classes a while ago. I felt great after that! Then I read an entire British newspaper...well, skimmed the interesting looking articles. A tip I got on Semester at Sea was to try to find a newspaper in every country (in English, which here, obviously wasn't an issue) and read it so you know what's going on in the country you're visiting. Sage advice, really. I felt like a very good tourist reading that paper. It's cool because at rush hour in London, there are people everywhere at all the Tube stops handing out free copies of this evening newspaper. I think that's such a cool idea!
When Rob got back, he had to run out again briefly but recommended a Bangladeshi restaurant for us. We had a delicious meal there partially due to their kind and confusing upselling tricks! They did treat us very well though, pulling out our chairs and bringing us warm little wash cloths at the end of the meal. I've never had Bangladeshi food before (it's similar to Indian food though) so it was a cool culinary experience.
After that I was stuffed. But Rob met up with us and wanted to take us to a bar. I told Rob and Laura that I could probably only stomach a half pint because there was no room in my tummy, even for beer. But Rob is from America, so that would have looked wussy (which is why Laura and I decided America doesn't typically serve half pints in the first place). So I had a whole beer. And I felt like I was about to pop. And then Rob wanted another round, and we all know Laura's always down for round 2. I didn't want to be the only one, so pathetically I also signed myself up. WORST IDEA EVER. I'm really quite ashamed of this, it's not typical for me to cave like that. Also, I know my body and it's punished me enough for not listening to it in the past. Really, you'd think I'd learn...Anyway I felt absolutely terrible trying to finish that beer and in the end started to feel like my stomach really didn't have any other space and it would soon be filling my esophagus. Tragically, this wasn't far off, and as soon as we walked outside my mouth started to water that bad, terrible, incessant way it waters right before it's about to bring something up from down below. I ended up spitting/burping up pure beer foam in sad, disgusting little spurts on the walk home (Laura and Rob were in front, so I was only privately embarrassed about this). After that though I felt much better. I'm writing this down so that I will remember it, and along with the experience remember how important it is to listen to your body and how stupid peer pressure is! Ugh, I feel so silly.
Ok moving on to my happy wrap up... :)
Quotes:
"Beethoven messed up a lot." Laura, looking at his sonata
At the National Gallery:
Tourist Grandma to Tourist Grandson (Age ~6): "I wonder what you'd like to paint. Maybe ladies..."
Tourist Grandson: "Naked people."
"Are you Hillary Clinton?" - Grocery store clerk, looking at my passport (apparently that 'joke' is still funny...?)
Accomplishments:
We ticked off the last things on our London to-do list; pretty impressive!
I found Kiri cheese - haven't seen it since Egypt and so excited that I'm in Europe because it's here and I love it.
I successfully got ID'd AGAIN buying a bottle of wine for Rob. Lame. Really, I don't look over 18 yet!?
"Poor Man's High Tea" was a win.
Pretty proud of my work out.
Today I thought of:
Shawn Moore - I thought of you looking at the Guinness version of Alice in Wonderland because you have that Guinness is Good For You poster.
Katherine Zagone - I think you'd be so proud of my spontaneous work out!!
Erica Matson - I think you would have loved this library, naturally. But even funnier today, I read an article about the new Dr. Who getting stuck at Heathrow airport because of his new screwdriver tool that he's apparently really into. He had to explain to the security guards who he was and what the weird toy was using Dr. Who promo material he had with him...so funny.
Ms. Schmidt / Mrs. Boxleitner - Remember my Transfer of Knowledge Paper? Too bad I couldn't have used the British Library as a reference. They had so much old paper and stuff there!
Jenna Haerr - I saw this suuuuper cute boutique that you would have liked I think; it's called A-142, maybe you can Google them?
Jon La France - you would have loved the Beatles exhibit at the British Library! Also a button came off my shirt and I don't know how to sew it back on. Also there was a spider IN the bed and I had to get it off myself. It was tiny though so I survived.
Travel Tip:
1) Sleep is Not overrated - sleeping in until 11 just this once (after typically getting up between 8 and 9) was glorious.
2) Peer pressure is stupid; listen to your body and your travels will be happier.
So that's about it for London. I loved the music being played in the Tube stations, that makes me so happy!! I know that's not unique to London but I still love it. I really enjoyed all the markets that dot the city. I learned that people in London are gold medalists at the game "Chicken". That's the game where two people are moving towards each other, and whoever steps aside first is "Chicken". Londoners DO NOT move, they walk on a war path 24/7. A little intense. Their vocabulary is very fun, some favourites (pun) are: brilliant, fancy, quite like, mate, darling, love, pop in (to a store, for example), take away (instead of to-go or carry-out), and my #1: baddies (bad people; villains). London was also pretty crowded, and the dirtiest city I've been in since Beijing (black stuff comes out of my nose, yum!). Nearly everybody in the service industry here is pretty mean. Way less English is spoken here than I expected. At any rate, London was a great jumping off point: English was useful of course, tons of stuff was free, and our CouchSurfing hosts were great! And now, I'm ready for Brussels and excited to bust out my old French. See you on the other side of the channel.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Rob - CS #2 | Dreamboats
Today we met up with our second CouchSurfer host, Rob. He is from the States and lives in the "hippest" i.e. most Capitol Hill-esque part of London. It is very exciting to find other people with similar outlooks on traveling and CouchSurfing. Rob keeps super busy with his job as an investment banker, his passion for moving around and exploring the world, and I think the three bikes in his flat allude to another pass-time. Still, he manages letting two girls crash at his place. I thought we were going to actually stay on couches, which I was a little excited about (strangely), but then his roommate-to-be decided to move in next week so we are staying on another double bed. We met up with Rob on his lunch break, dropped our big bags off, and set out again with our day packs.
We headed to Westminster again to cover some more territory. We saw Westminster Abbey and walked along James's park to Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace was not as pretty as I thought it would be. Maybe it was just the gloomy day?
I feel like this time spent in Westminster was obligatory and if we hadn't seen these things, folks would go, "WHAT?! You didn't see Westminster Abbey?!" But the truth is, Laura and I aren't really into those huge tourist draws where you take a picture and move on. To be honest, I don't really care. I mean, everything is gorgeous, everything has history, and almost everything is famous for one reason or another. A lot of our trip I think will be focused on getting to know the people (CouchSurfers), customs, cultures, and food of the countries we visit; to me that will be a lot more exciting and memorable. I am more interested in the personal aspect, making connections and friendships and touch-points around the world than in having the same picture millions of other people have.
The better part of our afternoon was spent returning to the pub visited yesterday with Emmanuelle. It's called the Porterhouse and it's in Covent Garden. We saw some red ales we wanted to try yesterday so we spent the rainy afternoon sipping our half pints (so cute! so cheap!) and having a great conversation.
The best part of the day, though, was spent in the West End (London's Broadway) at a theatre show. We got 1/2 price tickets (just the way I like it) from our hostel a few days ago. So, we each paid 12.5 pounds to go see a new up-and-coming musical called Dreamboats and Petticoats. We passed by the theatre Saturday and it was packed with well-dressed theatre folks spilling into the streets past the fantastic review posters. I was really excited for this show which was described to us as being similar to Grease - about romance in the 60's with tons of fun tunes. As expected, Dreamboats and Petticoats was a total blast and was the most entertaining show I've been to in quite some time! We were in the second balcony but in the first row, so we had an unobstructed view of all the dancing and singing. The characters were positively endearing and I can't believe this isn't some kind of smash hit. It definitely felt like we were watching an undiscovered gem of a production. Every single character was on their game for the entire play, the singers had great voices, and oh yeah! ALL the music was played on stage! So not only were people simultaneously singing/dancing/acting, but they were also playing the guitar, piano, keyboards, saxophones, and drums. No conductor or anything, they were just pure awesome. And the best part might have been at the very end during the last song when old people all over the theatre stood up and started dancing in their aisles or in their seats. ADORABLE!
[At some point on the Tube today we were waiting for a lift (elevator) and these four guys in front of us were chatting. Then one of the mates (hah) started talking about CouchSurfing, about how his friend had done it all over South America and had a great experience with it. Then the typical responses ensued..."yeah...I don't know man, I would just have a tough time trusting strangers like that..." and after a little bit of this, Laura finally goes, "I can't help but eavesdrop; we're actually CouchSurfing right now." The two guys who were less skeptical of CS turned around and asked how it was going, etc. and we told them all was well so far. But the cool thing is that people are TALKING about it! Answering questions, spreading the word, and all of the first and second hand stories are positive :) It's going to keep growing and making the world a better place. Yay :)]
After the play we headed back to Rob's flat where we shared some wine and conversation. Rob had another early day of work and we were tired so that didn't last too long, and before long I was passed out on his ridiculously comfortable guest bed.
Quotes:
"If I'm ever at home three weekends in a row it's shocking. There's too much to see." - Rob
"I really can't think of any other of my friends that would be better to travel with." - Laura (awwww)
Accomplishments:
Reunited with my dear debit card and insurance card!
Picked up our bus tickets in London (not Liverpool).
Travel Tip:
Crappy weather is a perfect excuse to hop from cafe to bar to restaurant, of course only switching locations when the rain stops :)
Today I thought of:
Jesse Einstein - you would have gone nuts for this musical. Have you heard of it? If anyone has, it's you!
Sam Grone - you should have seen the saxes rocking out at this play!!!! Whenever I see saxes I think of you :) Also you'd like this neighborhood because it's the 'hippest place in London' ;)
One more day in this big city...
We headed to Westminster again to cover some more territory. We saw Westminster Abbey and walked along James's park to Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace was not as pretty as I thought it would be. Maybe it was just the gloomy day?
I feel like this time spent in Westminster was obligatory and if we hadn't seen these things, folks would go, "WHAT?! You didn't see Westminster Abbey?!" But the truth is, Laura and I aren't really into those huge tourist draws where you take a picture and move on. To be honest, I don't really care. I mean, everything is gorgeous, everything has history, and almost everything is famous for one reason or another. A lot of our trip I think will be focused on getting to know the people (CouchSurfers), customs, cultures, and food of the countries we visit; to me that will be a lot more exciting and memorable. I am more interested in the personal aspect, making connections and friendships and touch-points around the world than in having the same picture millions of other people have.
The better part of our afternoon was spent returning to the pub visited yesterday with Emmanuelle. It's called the Porterhouse and it's in Covent Garden. We saw some red ales we wanted to try yesterday so we spent the rainy afternoon sipping our half pints (so cute! so cheap!) and having a great conversation.
The best part of the day, though, was spent in the West End (London's Broadway) at a theatre show. We got 1/2 price tickets (just the way I like it) from our hostel a few days ago. So, we each paid 12.5 pounds to go see a new up-and-coming musical called Dreamboats and Petticoats. We passed by the theatre Saturday and it was packed with well-dressed theatre folks spilling into the streets past the fantastic review posters. I was really excited for this show which was described to us as being similar to Grease - about romance in the 60's with tons of fun tunes. As expected, Dreamboats and Petticoats was a total blast and was the most entertaining show I've been to in quite some time! We were in the second balcony but in the first row, so we had an unobstructed view of all the dancing and singing. The characters were positively endearing and I can't believe this isn't some kind of smash hit. It definitely felt like we were watching an undiscovered gem of a production. Every single character was on their game for the entire play, the singers had great voices, and oh yeah! ALL the music was played on stage! So not only were people simultaneously singing/dancing/acting, but they were also playing the guitar, piano, keyboards, saxophones, and drums. No conductor or anything, they were just pure awesome. And the best part might have been at the very end during the last song when old people all over the theatre stood up and started dancing in their aisles or in their seats. ADORABLE!
[At some point on the Tube today we were waiting for a lift (elevator) and these four guys in front of us were chatting. Then one of the mates (hah) started talking about CouchSurfing, about how his friend had done it all over South America and had a great experience with it. Then the typical responses ensued..."yeah...I don't know man, I would just have a tough time trusting strangers like that..." and after a little bit of this, Laura finally goes, "I can't help but eavesdrop; we're actually CouchSurfing right now." The two guys who were less skeptical of CS turned around and asked how it was going, etc. and we told them all was well so far. But the cool thing is that people are TALKING about it! Answering questions, spreading the word, and all of the first and second hand stories are positive :) It's going to keep growing and making the world a better place. Yay :)]
After the play we headed back to Rob's flat where we shared some wine and conversation. Rob had another early day of work and we were tired so that didn't last too long, and before long I was passed out on his ridiculously comfortable guest bed.
Quotes:
"If I'm ever at home three weekends in a row it's shocking. There's too much to see." - Rob
"I really can't think of any other of my friends that would be better to travel with." - Laura (awwww)
Accomplishments:
Reunited with my dear debit card and insurance card!
Picked up our bus tickets in London (not Liverpool).
Travel Tip:
Crappy weather is a perfect excuse to hop from cafe to bar to restaurant, of course only switching locations when the rain stops :)
Today I thought of:
Jesse Einstein - you would have gone nuts for this musical. Have you heard of it? If anyone has, it's you!
Sam Grone - you should have seen the saxes rocking out at this play!!!! Whenever I see saxes I think of you :) Also you'd like this neighborhood because it's the 'hippest place in London' ;)
One more day in this big city...
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friendship
[Wow, 7 followers! That's 7 more than I was expecting; Thanks guys!]
Today we went to Windsor and paid for our first attraction. It was worth every pound though to see the inside of that breathtaking castle. It was stunningly beautiful, even in the overcast and drizzly weather. Laura and I managed to lose track of each other in the first room, and didn't end up finding each other until about 3 hours later - so it was a quite morning. I really enjoyed reading everything in the rooms though. So much elegance, intricate designs, history, detailed armor, gold, extra large portrait paintings, etc. Relative to the tiny chairs and desks it almost felt like being in a life-size doll house. I don't have too much to say about Windsor because I know so little of British history and I get so confused with all the people named the same things with different roman numerals that I never know who is being talked about and how they fit into the greater picture. But I did do lots of interesting reading, and I did appreciate the beauty of Windsor Castle.
Later Laura and I went into downtown London to meet up with Emmanuelle, the French intern who lived with my family back in 2001 (just realized how long it had been today - boy do I feel dated). It was so wonderful to see a friendly face here. We went to Covent Garden and wandered around until Emmanuelle picked a pub where she treated us to dinner. Completely unnecessary and quite a nice unexpected occurrence! After that, she took us to an amazing pub called Porterhouse that had beers from all over the world. There was a strawberry beer on tap that she raved about so Laura and I both got one of those. Again, her treat. Too sweet. We tried to pay for her or buy her dessert and she absolutely refused! The beer was incredible!!! Makes up for all those terrible English beers...We parted ways around 9pm but there's a chance we'll meet up again before we leave on Thursday. Catching up was so much fun!
We then returned to Jit's flat to spend our last night with him. We walked around town looking for a place to buy him a beer but everything was closed. So now our plan is to make him breakfast in the morning :) We ended up sitting around sipping wine and watching another movie (after having an interesting conversation regarding arranged marriages in India).
Quotes:
Laura: Do you wanna get a Woo Woo?
Hilary: What's a Woo Woo?
Laura: A vodka (blah blah blah)...
Hilary: I don't like vodka.
Laura: But it's a WOO WOO!!
Hilary: Jit, tomorrow can we borrow your telephone?
Jit: Do you really need to ask?
Hilary: Yes. In America, it is polite to ask for things.
Jit: You are friends. So you can just take.
Hilary: Is that how it works in India?
Jit: Yes. You ask "can I borrow something?" and your friend will say "no". And then you just take it. That is friendship. No need to ask.
[He is too kind!]
Accomplishments:
Sending our London to Amsterdam bus tickets to Liverpool THE CITY instead of Liverpool THE TUBE STATION IN LONDON. Fantastic.
Travel Tip:
Have a meeting point and time whenever there's a possibility of parting ways. Laura and I spent a combined ~2 hours looking for each other in Windsor. Good thing that town is small and we had talked about eating lunch at this sandwich shop earlier...which is where I eventually found her.
Nice People Alert:
Emmanuelle Harscouet - for treating us to dinner and drinks in such a cute part of town! Such a nice surprise :)
Only two more days to play in London. It feels a bit reminiscent of Semester at Sea, where you spend just enough time somewhere to know you want to go back - but then it's time to embark on the next adventure. I'm sure we will make the best of it; there is so much left to do!
P.S. At the end of each country, you can look forward to two photo blog posts. One will just be of the authentic food I ate! The other will be the best of people and places that most represent our adventures in the country. Get excited.
Today we went to Windsor and paid for our first attraction. It was worth every pound though to see the inside of that breathtaking castle. It was stunningly beautiful, even in the overcast and drizzly weather. Laura and I managed to lose track of each other in the first room, and didn't end up finding each other until about 3 hours later - so it was a quite morning. I really enjoyed reading everything in the rooms though. So much elegance, intricate designs, history, detailed armor, gold, extra large portrait paintings, etc. Relative to the tiny chairs and desks it almost felt like being in a life-size doll house. I don't have too much to say about Windsor because I know so little of British history and I get so confused with all the people named the same things with different roman numerals that I never know who is being talked about and how they fit into the greater picture. But I did do lots of interesting reading, and I did appreciate the beauty of Windsor Castle.
Later Laura and I went into downtown London to meet up with Emmanuelle, the French intern who lived with my family back in 2001 (just realized how long it had been today - boy do I feel dated). It was so wonderful to see a friendly face here. We went to Covent Garden and wandered around until Emmanuelle picked a pub where she treated us to dinner. Completely unnecessary and quite a nice unexpected occurrence! After that, she took us to an amazing pub called Porterhouse that had beers from all over the world. There was a strawberry beer on tap that she raved about so Laura and I both got one of those. Again, her treat. Too sweet. We tried to pay for her or buy her dessert and she absolutely refused! The beer was incredible!!! Makes up for all those terrible English beers...We parted ways around 9pm but there's a chance we'll meet up again before we leave on Thursday. Catching up was so much fun!
We then returned to Jit's flat to spend our last night with him. We walked around town looking for a place to buy him a beer but everything was closed. So now our plan is to make him breakfast in the morning :) We ended up sitting around sipping wine and watching another movie (after having an interesting conversation regarding arranged marriages in India).
Quotes:
Laura: Do you wanna get a Woo Woo?
Hilary: What's a Woo Woo?
Laura: A vodka (blah blah blah)...
Hilary: I don't like vodka.
Laura: But it's a WOO WOO!!
Hilary: Jit, tomorrow can we borrow your telephone?
Jit: Do you really need to ask?
Hilary: Yes. In America, it is polite to ask for things.
Jit: You are friends. So you can just take.
Hilary: Is that how it works in India?
Jit: Yes. You ask "can I borrow something?" and your friend will say "no". And then you just take it. That is friendship. No need to ask.
[He is too kind!]
Accomplishments:
Sending our London to Amsterdam bus tickets to Liverpool THE CITY instead of Liverpool THE TUBE STATION IN LONDON. Fantastic.
Travel Tip:
Have a meeting point and time whenever there's a possibility of parting ways. Laura and I spent a combined ~2 hours looking for each other in Windsor. Good thing that town is small and we had talked about eating lunch at this sandwich shop earlier...which is where I eventually found her.
Nice People Alert:
Emmanuelle Harscouet - for treating us to dinner and drinks in such a cute part of town! Such a nice surprise :)
Only two more days to play in London. It feels a bit reminiscent of Semester at Sea, where you spend just enough time somewhere to know you want to go back - but then it's time to embark on the next adventure. I'm sure we will make the best of it; there is so much left to do!
P.S. At the end of each country, you can look forward to two photo blog posts. One will just be of the authentic food I ate! The other will be the best of people and places that most represent our adventures in the country. Get excited.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
0'00"0
You know what's worse that "springing forward" for Daylight Savings Time and losing an hour once? SPRINGING FORWARD TWICE. Today we got to experience London's Daylight Savings Time, which was brought to my attention by none other that Big Ben. He started his chiming and I looked up to read that it was noon, and not 11 AM, as I had thought. Funny.
I found us a cheap river cruise to take us down the Thames River to Greenwich. There, Jit, Laura and I immediately found a delicious bakery - pretty sure everybody working there was French. So it was delicious. I was really excited for the Royal Observatory and it did not disappoint.
The Royal Observatory, founded in 1675, was built upon the highest hill in Greenwich which lends a great view, especially since London treated us to another spectacularly sunny day! There are two parts to the observatory: the Astronomy Route and the Prime Meridian Route.
Astronomy Route: I thoroughly enjoyed this due to my secret fascination with space and astronomy. There were videos, meteorite pieces, interactive games, and many cool pictures. I learn so much everywhere I go. I attribute that to the fact that I only go where I want and I have the luxury of spending as much time there as I please. That's what I get for not traveling in a huge tour group! One cool thing in the Astronomy Route was that I got to touch the oldest thing on the earth. It's a chunk of the Gibeon Meteorite that hit earth 4.5 billion years ago. It's made of iron and nickel which formed intricate patterns. This tells scientists that the meteorite was cooling over thousands of years while traveling through space. How amazing is that?!
Prime Meridian Route: Also extremely cool. Many clocks, astrolabes, telescopes, etc. I learned a great deal about John Flamsteed, England's first Astronomer Royal, and also Edmund Halley (familiar sounding because of Halley's Comet), the second Astronomer Royal. It was pretty awesome to see the Greenwich clocks, set my watch and clock to exact Greenwich Mean Time (even though ironically that is an hour behind "British Summer Time" i.e. Daylight Savings Time), and to walk on the Prime Meridian....Longitude 0'00"0 degrees!
Following these lovely exhibits, we strolled through Greenwich Park in the sunlight and found an Herb Garden. I had much fun snipping tiny little pieces off of various plants, smelling them, and trying to figure out what they were. Then Laura found a map which labeled all the herbs and that was much quicker than guessing!
From here we went to Greenwich Market. Lots of unique crafty things I hadn't seen before...and then...the COOLEST food-stall-court I've ever seen. Literally there was a stall for every country. I saw food that I hadn't seen since I'd actually been in, say South Africa, for example. So amazing. It's a good thing I don't have my debit card and thus cash yet because...that would have been an expensive albeit tasty experience. It smelled incredible and was quite a sight to behold. Everything looked absolutely delicious.
Then we went to an English pub and finally found some English beers (strangely hard to find here). At this pub and at the tiny restaurant we ate at afterward we also were with two other CS friends of Jit: Errita and another guy who's name I've forgotten :/. The guy was from Hungary and the woman, Errita, was from Eritrea. Very cool talking with her over beers. The three of us shared stories and talked about the US, India, Africa, and a range of other topics. Quite a cool, multi-cultural conversation! Another Yay for CS :)
We made the hour-long trek back to Jit's place only to continue watching the next two trashy "American Pie" movies. But, we did it while sipping more of Jit's delicious Indian tea, so I think it was a good use of time :)
Quotes:
"This is AWESOME!" Cute little British boy with a cute little British accent (little people with accents are so precious), in regards to the (awesome) video about the earth and space and planets and stuff at the Royal Observatory.
"Behold a universe so immense that I am lost in it...our world is terrifying in its insignificance." Bernard de Fontenelle (1657-1757).
"My god, it's lovely!" Woman at the market who tasted a Polish dish she had been bad-mouthing for looking so disgusting immediately prior. Reminded me to keep an open mind for all things, but especially food in this case :)
"I like it!" Laura. All the time. That girl likes everything. I taught her how to say it in French to add a little diversity to her responses... ("Je l'aime".)
Accomplishments:
Finally learned how to pronounce "Thames" ("Tehms").
Found and devoured a most delicious fruit scone with clotted cream and heaps of jam.
Bought my England plate (a gorgeous compass design found at the Royal Observatory shop). I collect a plate from every country I go to (starting back with Semester at Sea).
Successfully had an illegal picture of me taken wearing this ridiculously fun headband at the market (the woman was very mean about people taking pictures of her things and not buying them, so we had to be crafty).
Travel Tip:
Think like a local. Today we took a commuter cruise down the river and used the local transit card, as opposed to paying for the leisure cruise (with a narrator) for cash. This meant we paid about half the leisure price, and we got a 10% discount using the transit card. Bonus!
Today I thought of:
TJ Hanify - for that awesome quote (above) that throws me back to my existentialist 1oth grade days.
Nice People Alert:
Greenwich Market Man Who Gave Me 2 Free Cashews - they were delicious! How could he tell that I love free food?
Another day down. Everybody has beat me to bed once again (by a long shot) so I hope you enjoyed this reading!
I found us a cheap river cruise to take us down the Thames River to Greenwich. There, Jit, Laura and I immediately found a delicious bakery - pretty sure everybody working there was French. So it was delicious. I was really excited for the Royal Observatory and it did not disappoint.
The Royal Observatory, founded in 1675, was built upon the highest hill in Greenwich which lends a great view, especially since London treated us to another spectacularly sunny day! There are two parts to the observatory: the Astronomy Route and the Prime Meridian Route.
Astronomy Route: I thoroughly enjoyed this due to my secret fascination with space and astronomy. There were videos, meteorite pieces, interactive games, and many cool pictures. I learn so much everywhere I go. I attribute that to the fact that I only go where I want and I have the luxury of spending as much time there as I please. That's what I get for not traveling in a huge tour group! One cool thing in the Astronomy Route was that I got to touch the oldest thing on the earth. It's a chunk of the Gibeon Meteorite that hit earth 4.5 billion years ago. It's made of iron and nickel which formed intricate patterns. This tells scientists that the meteorite was cooling over thousands of years while traveling through space. How amazing is that?!
Prime Meridian Route: Also extremely cool. Many clocks, astrolabes, telescopes, etc. I learned a great deal about John Flamsteed, England's first Astronomer Royal, and also Edmund Halley (familiar sounding because of Halley's Comet), the second Astronomer Royal. It was pretty awesome to see the Greenwich clocks, set my watch and clock to exact Greenwich Mean Time (even though ironically that is an hour behind "British Summer Time" i.e. Daylight Savings Time), and to walk on the Prime Meridian....Longitude 0'00"0 degrees!
Following these lovely exhibits, we strolled through Greenwich Park in the sunlight and found an Herb Garden. I had much fun snipping tiny little pieces off of various plants, smelling them, and trying to figure out what they were. Then Laura found a map which labeled all the herbs and that was much quicker than guessing!
From here we went to Greenwich Market. Lots of unique crafty things I hadn't seen before...and then...the COOLEST food-stall-court I've ever seen. Literally there was a stall for every country. I saw food that I hadn't seen since I'd actually been in, say South Africa, for example. So amazing. It's a good thing I don't have my debit card and thus cash yet because...that would have been an expensive albeit tasty experience. It smelled incredible and was quite a sight to behold. Everything looked absolutely delicious.
Then we went to an English pub and finally found some English beers (strangely hard to find here). At this pub and at the tiny restaurant we ate at afterward we also were with two other CS friends of Jit: Errita and another guy who's name I've forgotten :/. The guy was from Hungary and the woman, Errita, was from Eritrea. Very cool talking with her over beers. The three of us shared stories and talked about the US, India, Africa, and a range of other topics. Quite a cool, multi-cultural conversation! Another Yay for CS :)
We made the hour-long trek back to Jit's place only to continue watching the next two trashy "American Pie" movies. But, we did it while sipping more of Jit's delicious Indian tea, so I think it was a good use of time :)
Quotes:
"This is AWESOME!" Cute little British boy with a cute little British accent (little people with accents are so precious), in regards to the (awesome) video about the earth and space and planets and stuff at the Royal Observatory.
"Behold a universe so immense that I am lost in it...our world is terrifying in its insignificance." Bernard de Fontenelle (1657-1757).
"My god, it's lovely!" Woman at the market who tasted a Polish dish she had been bad-mouthing for looking so disgusting immediately prior. Reminded me to keep an open mind for all things, but especially food in this case :)
"I like it!" Laura. All the time. That girl likes everything. I taught her how to say it in French to add a little diversity to her responses... ("Je l'aime".)
Accomplishments:
Finally learned how to pronounce "Thames" ("Tehms").
Found and devoured a most delicious fruit scone with clotted cream and heaps of jam.
Bought my England plate (a gorgeous compass design found at the Royal Observatory shop). I collect a plate from every country I go to (starting back with Semester at Sea).
Successfully had an illegal picture of me taken wearing this ridiculously fun headband at the market (the woman was very mean about people taking pictures of her things and not buying them, so we had to be crafty).
Travel Tip:
Think like a local. Today we took a commuter cruise down the river and used the local transit card, as opposed to paying for the leisure cruise (with a narrator) for cash. This meant we paid about half the leisure price, and we got a 10% discount using the transit card. Bonus!
Today I thought of:
TJ Hanify - for that awesome quote (above) that throws me back to my existentialist 1oth grade days.
Nice People Alert:
Greenwich Market Man Who Gave Me 2 Free Cashews - they were delicious! How could he tell that I love free food?
Another day down. Everybody has beat me to bed once again (by a long shot) so I hope you enjoyed this reading!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Jit - CS #1
The day only becomes interesting when Jit finds us. Jit is our first CouchSurfer host! He is from India and lives half an hour outside of downtown London in an adorable little town characterized by boutique shops that make me salivate and a nice park. He lives in a gated community a ten minute walk away from the Tube. His employer pays (or at least helps pay) his jaw dropping monthly rent of 1,400 POUNDS! His condo is nothing short of fantastic; Laura and I have a room to ourselves sharing a bed; there is free wifi; and the toilet even has a bidet. It is wonderful. We got there around lunch time, and Jit happily offered to make us his mother's homemade chicken curry recipe! YES PLEASE. Hands down the best Indian food I have ever had, including the food I had in India (this required no Pepto). He also served me a delicious Indian tea which I am 99% sure is the same delicious tea I drank when I was in India. Amaaaazing.
I need to rave about CouchSurfing now, and this will be a little sappy. I LOVE IT! I wish everybody could be open-minded about it. Yes, you need to use common sense with who you request to stay with. But there are GOOD PEOPLE on it, travelers and adventurers who want to help other people travel, and more importantly, learn and share cultures and stories. CouchSurfing, I truly believe, has the power to bring the world closer together via individual points of contact. Well meaning people trusting strangers and letting experiences happen to them. It renews my faith in humanity and gives me hope that the world is slowly becoming a better place with every positive CS experience. It is about building connections, and not just visiting places but getting to know a local, their story, how they fit into the places we visit, a personalized glimpse of culture, an opportunity to learn countless things that aren't and never will be in guide books. It is so, so, so amazing. Phew. Now, on with our day.
Jit has been in London since August, so he is still learning the city too. This is fun for us because we get to explore the city with a new friend! He gets to learn his new town, and we get to all be tourists together. He ventured out with us after lunch and we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I loved the museum - not your typical stuff. They have a lot of sections that fall under the "Materials and Techniques" heading, where you can see sculptures, stained glass windows (and a video on how to make stained glass!), silver, fashion, photographs, etc. A few notes: 1) Sculptures: they had basically a whole room of Rodin, my favorite sculptor. This is great news because I adore the Paris Musee de Rodin, but if all these sculptures are here...they're obviously not in Paris. So now I've seen them, for free; 2) Museums in London are all free due primarily to a gambling tax - what a great use of money!; 3) Photographs: the V&A Museum was the first museum to ever exhibit photos. Their photo wing was awesome!! Some pictures I really liked for their artistic value as well as their stories (if you want to look them up...) are listed below:
a) Chris McCaw's "Sunburned, GSF #084"
b) Nicholas Hughes' "In Darkness Visible"
c) Tim Walker's "Lily Cole and Giant Camera"
d) Wang Qingsong's "Night Revelry of Lao Li"
From the Museum, we walked through the Kensington neighborhood through Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens, saw Kensington Palace, then took the Tube to Westminster. By this time it was dark, and we got amazing night-lit views of the London Eye, Big Ben, and the Parliament building. From Westminster we walked up through Trafalgar Square and eventually found a cheap British restaurant that I'd read about as having food for a good value (i.e. cheap and edible). I got bland pasta that was made up for by my British sounding dessert - a Steamed Chocolate Pudding. I ate the whole thing, but it's okay because we walk a million hours a day. Dessert was a great decision. Tired and full, we trekked back on the Tube to Jit's town, where he bought us each a beer which we sipped in his living room while watching the thoroughly trashy "American Pie" movie and making plans for tomorrow.
Accomplishments:
Found Jit!
Confirmed that there are, in fact, red double decker party buses in London, with full on dance parties happening on the top level that spill out of the windows.
Confirmed that pink limos do exist! How come the US isn't that classy?
Travel Tip:
Don't let guide books fool you if they say spring is a bad time to go to Europe. The cool weather makes it so that you a) don't get stinky; b) don't get too hot walking around; c) your backpack doesn't stick uncomfortably to your back; d) wearing your warm clothes = less to carry!
Today I thought of:
Christina Tran - give me some Art History lessons, woman!
Mary Waters - remember the tea in Erode? IT WAS LIKE THAT!
Nice People Alert:
Kebab Shop Man kindly let us use his random hidden internet cafe in the back of his restaurant for free as we desperately were trying to find Jit. Two thumbs up, Kebab Shop Man!
Exciting things are planned for the week ahead! Weather has been good and all are in good spirits.
I need to rave about CouchSurfing now, and this will be a little sappy. I LOVE IT! I wish everybody could be open-minded about it. Yes, you need to use common sense with who you request to stay with. But there are GOOD PEOPLE on it, travelers and adventurers who want to help other people travel, and more importantly, learn and share cultures and stories. CouchSurfing, I truly believe, has the power to bring the world closer together via individual points of contact. Well meaning people trusting strangers and letting experiences happen to them. It renews my faith in humanity and gives me hope that the world is slowly becoming a better place with every positive CS experience. It is about building connections, and not just visiting places but getting to know a local, their story, how they fit into the places we visit, a personalized glimpse of culture, an opportunity to learn countless things that aren't and never will be in guide books. It is so, so, so amazing. Phew. Now, on with our day.
Jit has been in London since August, so he is still learning the city too. This is fun for us because we get to explore the city with a new friend! He gets to learn his new town, and we get to all be tourists together. He ventured out with us after lunch and we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I loved the museum - not your typical stuff. They have a lot of sections that fall under the "Materials and Techniques" heading, where you can see sculptures, stained glass windows (and a video on how to make stained glass!), silver, fashion, photographs, etc. A few notes: 1) Sculptures: they had basically a whole room of Rodin, my favorite sculptor. This is great news because I adore the Paris Musee de Rodin, but if all these sculptures are here...they're obviously not in Paris. So now I've seen them, for free; 2) Museums in London are all free due primarily to a gambling tax - what a great use of money!; 3) Photographs: the V&A Museum was the first museum to ever exhibit photos. Their photo wing was awesome!! Some pictures I really liked for their artistic value as well as their stories (if you want to look them up...) are listed below:
a) Chris McCaw's "Sunburned, GSF #084"
b) Nicholas Hughes' "In Darkness Visible"
c) Tim Walker's "Lily Cole and Giant Camera"
d) Wang Qingsong's "Night Revelry of Lao Li"
From the Museum, we walked through the Kensington neighborhood through Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens, saw Kensington Palace, then took the Tube to Westminster. By this time it was dark, and we got amazing night-lit views of the London Eye, Big Ben, and the Parliament building. From Westminster we walked up through Trafalgar Square and eventually found a cheap British restaurant that I'd read about as having food for a good value (i.e. cheap and edible). I got bland pasta that was made up for by my British sounding dessert - a Steamed Chocolate Pudding. I ate the whole thing, but it's okay because we walk a million hours a day. Dessert was a great decision. Tired and full, we trekked back on the Tube to Jit's town, where he bought us each a beer which we sipped in his living room while watching the thoroughly trashy "American Pie" movie and making plans for tomorrow.
Accomplishments:
Found Jit!
Confirmed that there are, in fact, red double decker party buses in London, with full on dance parties happening on the top level that spill out of the windows.
Confirmed that pink limos do exist! How come the US isn't that classy?
Travel Tip:
Don't let guide books fool you if they say spring is a bad time to go to Europe. The cool weather makes it so that you a) don't get stinky; b) don't get too hot walking around; c) your backpack doesn't stick uncomfortably to your back; d) wearing your warm clothes = less to carry!
Today I thought of:
Christina Tran - give me some Art History lessons, woman!
Mary Waters - remember the tea in Erode? IT WAS LIKE THAT!
Nice People Alert:
Kebab Shop Man kindly let us use his random hidden internet cafe in the back of his restaurant for free as we desperately were trying to find Jit. Two thumbs up, Kebab Shop Man!
Exciting things are planned for the week ahead! Weather has been good and all are in good spirits.
Mind the Gap
For those of you that had little to no preface for this trip: I left home March 24th, I return June 22nd. I am traveling with Laura Jackson, a friend from Business School who I have been to South Africa and Panama with. We are going to: England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and France. We each have one back pack and one day pack, and we are planning on CouchSurfing our way through the next 13 weeks!! If you don't know what CS is, check it out at www.couchsurfing.org (it's amazing).
I love public transportation. Love, love, love it. It is like a key to a city's heart, and I take pride in figuring it out as quickly as possible.
Laura was feeling sick this morning so I ventured into London on my own for a few hours. It was quite peaceful. Luckily, London weather was kind to us today and it was sunny and the perfect temperature to comfortably walk around without getting too hot. This made for lots of gorgeous views and pictures throughout the day. It was wonderful to aimlessly wander solo for a bit; it was good "me" time which I feel is important when traveling (and also in "real life").
Aimlessly wandering is maybe misleading. There was a museum I really wanted to see called the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garden which goes over the history of old fashioned medicine and surgery pre-anesthesia. I was mostly interested in the herb garden, mostly due to my romance novels. Laura wasn't that interested so her staying in allowed me the perfect opportunity to check it out. I found the place rather easily, but OF COURSE they only took cash. So I couldn't get in. Then I wandered aimlessly.
I was in the Southbank neighborhood at this point. I stumbled into the Borough Market which was fantastic! I hope to find these kinds of markets everywhere we go, they are just so fun and so European. It had fresh, organic, homemade everything. Not just fruits and veggies, but meats, fish, juices, ciders, cheese, olives, olive oil, bread, salsas etc. At every turn there was something new, and it was huge, it just kept going and going and going. I sampled butter and bread, apple and strawberry juice, compte cheese (amazing!), wild boar saucisson, gluten free brownies, chips and chipotle salsa, bread and olive oil, and olives. Oh......the olives! (More on that later.) I also learned what a "bubble bap" is. "Bubble" means a mixture of potatoes and cabbage; "Bap" means a bun.
After the Borough Market I made my way to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge which are in the (Suit) City neighborhood (more on this later). The Tower of London seems like an expensive tourist trap, so I didn't go inside, but boy is it beautiful from the outside!! One of the coolest things I saw here was an original peice of the London Wall that protected the old city of London.
I walked along the Thames River toward the Monument (built to commemorate the Great Fire in London and the rebuilding of the city), but the Monument cost 2 pounds to walk up. Again, no cash. Bummer. Thank goodness walking across the London Bridge was free! Also - really unimpressed with London Bridge. It's cool because of it's history but especially within eyesight of the gorgeous Tower Bridge it looks like a peice of bridge garbage. Upon crossing the bridge, I found that I had done a GIANT circle and was at the street corner that I had started off at in the Southbank neighborhood first thing in the morning. FYI: Laura and I have decided that circles are our representative shape of our trip. We've walked in a lot of them so far, and it's day two.
By now it was about 1 PM so I went to go see if Laura was up and feeling better. She was still sound asleep so I thought I may as well take a 20 minute power nap too. Well...turned that alarm off and woke up two hours later. Woops. But, by that time Laura was feeling better and we headed back down to Southbank. I showed her Borough Market - which is where I spend 2.9 pounds on a bucket of DELICIOUS olives of all sorts. I carried it around as a luscious salty snack for the rest of the day. Miraculously, I didn't eat the whole bucket so I have some for tomorrow too!
Laura and I crossed London Bridge back to the City neighborhood - which is like London's Wall Street area. Just men. Men in suits. Everywhere. We stopped at an Irish bar that served Guinness battered fish and chips (which obviously is what I got for dinner) and as it was around 5 PM on a Friday, we were the only females in the bar. We were surrounded by quite a lot of men. Men in suits. Side note: I got carded. You can't drink unless you are OVER 18 IN LONDON. Awesome.
After dinner we meandered back to Southbank and spent the evening in the Tate Modern, a collection of post-1900 art. It's a free museum and one of London's "must sees". It was a very cool museum, although something about museums automatically make my feet start to hurt...I saw artists that everybody likes (Warhol, Matisse, Picasso, Lichtenstein, Rodin) and also found some new names that I very much enjoyed (Jackson, Boetti, Ruscha).
Tate Modern is right at the edge of the Millennium Bridge, a futuristic structure built at the turn of the millennium. We walked across that and had clear, gorgeous, city-lit night views of St. Paul's Cathedral (majestic), London Bridge, and Tower Bridge. Many photos were taken. After saying Hi to St. Paul's we tubed it back to our hostel and found all 6 of our German roommates milling around and getting ready for the night to begin (it was 11 PM).
Quotes:
Upon inquiring where they were going, our German friend Jan said, "The Ministry".
Me: Oh. What's the Ministry?
Jan + 5 other Germans: (stares at us)
Me: I mean, duh, who Doesn't know what the Ministry is?!
Jan: The Ministry is only this pub that has been around for decades. It's huge, and probably the most famous in London...or England...or Great Britain...or all of Europe maybe.
Ah. Well, now we know. At the expense of looking like uneducated-about-London-nightlife-American-tourists.
Accomplishments:
I understand those t-shirts that say "mind the gap" on them with an image of what I now recognize to be the London Underground Tube symbol. Go me!! Has everybody known about this forever? ("Please mind the gap between the train, and the platform.")
Traveling Tip:
Always, ALWAYS carry toilet paper with you! I was rewarded for doing this today.
Today I thought of:
Jon - saw a fixi.
Sam - saw so much wine!
Derrick Nation - saw an entire wall full of whiskey.
Mommy - saw a REAL orange juicer with entire oranges in it that you could see getting peeled and mashed as you put OJ into your glass.
Overall, London has been great so far. It is strange to me how many people actually do not speak English, there are so many other languages that I am surrounded by. I feel like there's a 50/50 chance I won't be understood when I speak to someone. It's nice being back in the land of small cars and cobble stone streets. It's fun seeing their cleverness (i.e. at crosswalks, they have "Look Left" and "Look Right" painted onto the streets-very useful for someone like me). It is bizarre to see old train stations and amazing cathedrals with Justin Bieber and Jason DeRulo posters across the street. The contrast is startling in terms of modernity, beauty, quality, deserved impact on society, and in every other way possible. But, yes, I very much like this city.
I love public transportation. Love, love, love it. It is like a key to a city's heart, and I take pride in figuring it out as quickly as possible.
Laura was feeling sick this morning so I ventured into London on my own for a few hours. It was quite peaceful. Luckily, London weather was kind to us today and it was sunny and the perfect temperature to comfortably walk around without getting too hot. This made for lots of gorgeous views and pictures throughout the day. It was wonderful to aimlessly wander solo for a bit; it was good "me" time which I feel is important when traveling (and also in "real life").
Aimlessly wandering is maybe misleading. There was a museum I really wanted to see called the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garden which goes over the history of old fashioned medicine and surgery pre-anesthesia. I was mostly interested in the herb garden, mostly due to my romance novels. Laura wasn't that interested so her staying in allowed me the perfect opportunity to check it out. I found the place rather easily, but OF COURSE they only took cash. So I couldn't get in. Then I wandered aimlessly.
I was in the Southbank neighborhood at this point. I stumbled into the Borough Market which was fantastic! I hope to find these kinds of markets everywhere we go, they are just so fun and so European. It had fresh, organic, homemade everything. Not just fruits and veggies, but meats, fish, juices, ciders, cheese, olives, olive oil, bread, salsas etc. At every turn there was something new, and it was huge, it just kept going and going and going. I sampled butter and bread, apple and strawberry juice, compte cheese (amazing!), wild boar saucisson, gluten free brownies, chips and chipotle salsa, bread and olive oil, and olives. Oh......the olives! (More on that later.) I also learned what a "bubble bap" is. "Bubble" means a mixture of potatoes and cabbage; "Bap" means a bun.
After the Borough Market I made my way to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge which are in the (Suit) City neighborhood (more on this later). The Tower of London seems like an expensive tourist trap, so I didn't go inside, but boy is it beautiful from the outside!! One of the coolest things I saw here was an original peice of the London Wall that protected the old city of London.
I walked along the Thames River toward the Monument (built to commemorate the Great Fire in London and the rebuilding of the city), but the Monument cost 2 pounds to walk up. Again, no cash. Bummer. Thank goodness walking across the London Bridge was free! Also - really unimpressed with London Bridge. It's cool because of it's history but especially within eyesight of the gorgeous Tower Bridge it looks like a peice of bridge garbage. Upon crossing the bridge, I found that I had done a GIANT circle and was at the street corner that I had started off at in the Southbank neighborhood first thing in the morning. FYI: Laura and I have decided that circles are our representative shape of our trip. We've walked in a lot of them so far, and it's day two.
By now it was about 1 PM so I went to go see if Laura was up and feeling better. She was still sound asleep so I thought I may as well take a 20 minute power nap too. Well...turned that alarm off and woke up two hours later. Woops. But, by that time Laura was feeling better and we headed back down to Southbank. I showed her Borough Market - which is where I spend 2.9 pounds on a bucket of DELICIOUS olives of all sorts. I carried it around as a luscious salty snack for the rest of the day. Miraculously, I didn't eat the whole bucket so I have some for tomorrow too!
Laura and I crossed London Bridge back to the City neighborhood - which is like London's Wall Street area. Just men. Men in suits. Everywhere. We stopped at an Irish bar that served Guinness battered fish and chips (which obviously is what I got for dinner) and as it was around 5 PM on a Friday, we were the only females in the bar. We were surrounded by quite a lot of men. Men in suits. Side note: I got carded. You can't drink unless you are OVER 18 IN LONDON. Awesome.
After dinner we meandered back to Southbank and spent the evening in the Tate Modern, a collection of post-1900 art. It's a free museum and one of London's "must sees". It was a very cool museum, although something about museums automatically make my feet start to hurt...I saw artists that everybody likes (Warhol, Matisse, Picasso, Lichtenstein, Rodin) and also found some new names that I very much enjoyed (Jackson, Boetti, Ruscha).
Tate Modern is right at the edge of the Millennium Bridge, a futuristic structure built at the turn of the millennium. We walked across that and had clear, gorgeous, city-lit night views of St. Paul's Cathedral (majestic), London Bridge, and Tower Bridge. Many photos were taken. After saying Hi to St. Paul's we tubed it back to our hostel and found all 6 of our German roommates milling around and getting ready for the night to begin (it was 11 PM).
Quotes:
Upon inquiring where they were going, our German friend Jan said, "The Ministry".
Me: Oh. What's the Ministry?
Jan + 5 other Germans: (stares at us)
Me: I mean, duh, who Doesn't know what the Ministry is?!
Jan: The Ministry is only this pub that has been around for decades. It's huge, and probably the most famous in London...or England...or Great Britain...or all of Europe maybe.
Ah. Well, now we know. At the expense of looking like uneducated-about-London-nightlife-American-tourists.
Accomplishments:
I understand those t-shirts that say "mind the gap" on them with an image of what I now recognize to be the London Underground Tube symbol. Go me!! Has everybody known about this forever? ("Please mind the gap between the train, and the platform.")
Traveling Tip:
Always, ALWAYS carry toilet paper with you! I was rewarded for doing this today.
Today I thought of:
Jon - saw a fixi.
Sam - saw so much wine!
Derrick Nation - saw an entire wall full of whiskey.
Mommy - saw a REAL orange juicer with entire oranges in it that you could see getting peeled and mashed as you put OJ into your glass.
Overall, London has been great so far. It is strange to me how many people actually do not speak English, there are so many other languages that I am surrounded by. I feel like there's a 50/50 chance I won't be understood when I speak to someone. It's nice being back in the land of small cars and cobble stone streets. It's fun seeing their cleverness (i.e. at crosswalks, they have "Look Left" and "Look Right" painted onto the streets-very useful for someone like me). It is bizarre to see old train stations and amazing cathedrals with Justin Bieber and Jason DeRulo posters across the street. The contrast is startling in terms of modernity, beauty, quality, deserved impact on society, and in every other way possible. But, yes, I very much like this city.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
London, England
We have arrived!
My pack weighs 26.2 pounds and it will last me 13 weeks. Very ambitious; I'm quite excited about it!
The flights were incredibly smooth and we safely landed in London, which was just as cloudy and drizzly as expected. Our hostel is great! We got two free nights with the purchase of our airline tickets. It's clean, has internet, laundry, free breakfast, free linens, a bar, and we don't even have to take the stairs to our room. What else could you ask for in a hostel? Oh, and it's right next to Kings Cross Station (which is the Harry Potter station - duh). First thing I saw in the daylight was a stereotypical double decker red bus. And soon after I was in a stereotypical red phone booth calling home to let my family know that of all things, I forgot my debit card!! Seriously?! So I'm surviving off of prepaid rooms, tickets, etc. and trusting my Visa to carry me through til my debit card (and insurance card...and international student ID card...) arrive in a couple of days.
No clue what we're doing tomorrow :)
My pack weighs 26.2 pounds and it will last me 13 weeks. Very ambitious; I'm quite excited about it!
The flights were incredibly smooth and we safely landed in London, which was just as cloudy and drizzly as expected. Our hostel is great! We got two free nights with the purchase of our airline tickets. It's clean, has internet, laundry, free breakfast, free linens, a bar, and we don't even have to take the stairs to our room. What else could you ask for in a hostel? Oh, and it's right next to Kings Cross Station (which is the Harry Potter station - duh). First thing I saw in the daylight was a stereotypical double decker red bus. And soon after I was in a stereotypical red phone booth calling home to let my family know that of all things, I forgot my debit card!! Seriously?! So I'm surviving off of prepaid rooms, tickets, etc. and trusting my Visa to carry me through til my debit card (and insurance card...and international student ID card...) arrive in a couple of days.
No clue what we're doing tomorrow :)
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