Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Trouble Up Top
Okay, Sarah. I have to stop making fun of you now because Sunday night I found a .........Gray Hair!! No—make that white hair! It must have been growing for about 4 months so I blame it on the kids at the child care center I worked at this summer! ;)
Monday's Adventures
Monday, yesterday, we met at the Tower of London at 10:30 to walk around as a big group. I loved the architecture and style—I would totally live there! Well, apart from the hundreds of ghosts that probably hang around there! We saw the Bloody Tower where the two young heirs were murdered (most likely), and a bunch of others. We got to check out the dungeons where prisoners wrote and carved pictures into the walls—some pretty profound stuff and others just graffitied their names . We looked at the memorial to some important people who were executed there like Anne Boleyn.
The special exhibition was of Henry VIII’s armor. That was incredible! His suits of armor throughout his…ahem…gradual changes in figure, his horse’s armor, his weaponry and other weaponry of the time. There were displays of previous kings’ suits of armor and how armor and weaponry have changed through time, even all the way up to today’s soldiers. I felt bad for his horses. They had to hold a heavy Henry (and his ego), roughly Henry’s weight in armor, their own armor, Henry’s fancy seat, and maybe even run while carrying all that!!! He might have gone through horses like he did wives!!! I felt even worse for them when I got to lift up a piece of chainmail. Hea-vy!!
THEN we went to go see the crown jewels! WOW are those beautiful!! It was cool to see them up close as well as gold tableware and decorations from centuries ago. It was a lot of gold. Andrea said she didn’t think she’d like to be royalty because she didn’t really like yellow gold. I told her I was sure she’d adjust. I know I would!
We ate lunch near the Tower at an outside fish and chips vendor. I had a chicken sandwich with chips. The chips (big French fries) were good, but the chicken was THE worst I’ve ever tasted! Gag! And this guy would take food out of the trash and put it on the ground for the pigeons almost right in front of us which was really gross. They were everywhere anyway.
We split up after that. Kelsey, Steph, Molly, and I took the Tube to the Imperial War Museum. I went down through the Children’s War exhibit first. It showed what the children went through during mainly World War II—a lot about having to leave their homes and experiences in England and during bombings and air raids like the Blitzkrieg. They had lots of neat stuff—quotes and first-hand accounts, pictures, luggage, letters, toys. I remember one television screen that was showing a trailer for the Wizard of Oz. One quote nearby was from a boy remembering the first time he saw it that about half-way through the sirens went off and they all had to run out. He never saw the end. It was basically lots of depressing, eye-opening things.
That exhibit led right into the ones for WWI and WWII. The museum has SO SO SOOO much stuff!!! It’s absolutely incredible all the things they’ve acquired to tell the stories about everyone involved in these wars. I even got to walk through a WWI trench display. From reading All Quiet on the Western Front and watching Joyeaux Noel, I think it made the experience that much scarier. I know I would’ve cried every single day down there. I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been.
I think my favorite thing there was being able to read letters soldiers had written to their loved ones. They’re sad and poetic. And just tragic—not even knowing if they’ll get to write again yet trying to stay positive.
We stayed until the museum home and then dragged our exhausted bodies back to the Tube, which was oppressive!! It was 6 o’clock so everyone was trying to get home from work and there was barely standing room. It was rough! But we made it, had dinner, and then went off to get some more groceries. I’m excited to experience my new flavors of yogurt: rhubarb, gooseberry, and black currant berry!
The special exhibition was of Henry VIII’s armor. That was incredible! His suits of armor throughout his…ahem…gradual changes in figure, his horse’s armor, his weaponry and other weaponry of the time. There were displays of previous kings’ suits of armor and how armor and weaponry have changed through time, even all the way up to today’s soldiers. I felt bad for his horses. They had to hold a heavy Henry (and his ego), roughly Henry’s weight in armor, their own armor, Henry’s fancy seat, and maybe even run while carrying all that!!! He might have gone through horses like he did wives!!! I felt even worse for them when I got to lift up a piece of chainmail. Hea-vy!!
THEN we went to go see the crown jewels! WOW are those beautiful!! It was cool to see them up close as well as gold tableware and decorations from centuries ago. It was a lot of gold. Andrea said she didn’t think she’d like to be royalty because she didn’t really like yellow gold. I told her I was sure she’d adjust. I know I would!
We ate lunch near the Tower at an outside fish and chips vendor. I had a chicken sandwich with chips. The chips (big French fries) were good, but the chicken was THE worst I’ve ever tasted! Gag! And this guy would take food out of the trash and put it on the ground for the pigeons almost right in front of us which was really gross. They were everywhere anyway.
We split up after that. Kelsey, Steph, Molly, and I took the Tube to the Imperial War Museum. I went down through the Children’s War exhibit first. It showed what the children went through during mainly World War II—a lot about having to leave their homes and experiences in England and during bombings and air raids like the Blitzkrieg. They had lots of neat stuff—quotes and first-hand accounts, pictures, luggage, letters, toys. I remember one television screen that was showing a trailer for the Wizard of Oz. One quote nearby was from a boy remembering the first time he saw it that about half-way through the sirens went off and they all had to run out. He never saw the end. It was basically lots of depressing, eye-opening things.
That exhibit led right into the ones for WWI and WWII. The museum has SO SO SOOO much stuff!!! It’s absolutely incredible all the things they’ve acquired to tell the stories about everyone involved in these wars. I even got to walk through a WWI trench display. From reading All Quiet on the Western Front and watching Joyeaux Noel, I think it made the experience that much scarier. I know I would’ve cried every single day down there. I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been.
I think my favorite thing there was being able to read letters soldiers had written to their loved ones. They’re sad and poetic. And just tragic—not even knowing if they’ll get to write again yet trying to stay positive.
We stayed until the museum home and then dragged our exhausted bodies back to the Tube, which was oppressive!! It was 6 o’clock so everyone was trying to get home from work and there was barely standing room. It was rough! But we made it, had dinner, and then went off to get some more groceries. I’m excited to experience my new flavors of yogurt: rhubarb, gooseberry, and black currant berry!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Really Weird!
The computer I'm on has a saved Word document by a David Whitford. How CRAZY is that?!?!?!?!
Last Night and Day 3
Yesterday afternoon Liz, Megan, Abby, Chelsea, Kelsey, Stephanie, and I went down to Trafalgar Square. We walked around and took some fun pictures with a guy all painted in silver w/a funny outfit on that only spoke like a mouse--in squeeky peeps. Then Abby wanted to check out a cheap clothing store called Primark and we walked all the way up Regent Street and all the way, basically, to the Marble Arch where the store was on Oxford. It was worth it though to see Oxford St.--the major shopping area--at its finest on a Friday night. It was packed!! On the way we stopped in at this 5 floor toy store, I forget the name. It was pretty cool. Primark was insane so Liz, Megan, Kelsey, Steph, and I left for the Marble Arch and then home for dinner. That evening Steph, Kelsey, and I went to the Tesco a few blocks away. It was basically a Target with less flair.
Met one guy who lives on one of the upper floors of our flat named ...something from Brazil. Later a few of us went to our first pub/restaurant, so I guess those are called Gastropubs now. It was O'Neill's just down the block from our flat. Mom and Dad can be so proud that I had my first experience ordering a drink :) I know you must be proud!! It was nice and quite, a very local place. We had a lot of fun chatting and getting to be about at night.
Got up and ready to meet Gammon and the group at the London Bridge Tube station before he set us free in the Borough market. Our connecting train was shut down today, though so we switched to another line that ran pretty close. From our group, I wanted to get off at that one and walk across the London Bridge because the market is just beyond that. Kelsey and Steph came with me. The others put little faith into my amazing map reading skills and amazingly detailed pocket map that Erin and Mom gave me--everyone's totally jealous, by the way! That map knows EVERYTHING!!
Borough Market
So we walked across and this morning it was beautiful and sunny. The market was right there and we waited around the tube station for the others--we were all to meet at a shop around there, but which actually was in the station so we never met up. Instead I though we should just go in. The three of us wandered around a little bit. It is a HUGE market! Full of food, drink, candy, and flower stalls. Amazing fresh fruit and meat. We sampled some--I had a delicious white chocolate covered raspberry! I decided I want to try an ostrich burger another time I go--yum yum!
Don't worry, we met up with people of the other group and told them we were okay. Gammon figured we were. Otherwise he might have just said, "oh well!" :)
After some more wandering, Kelsey, Steph, and I walked up toward the Thames and headed east. We saw a replica of Francis Drake's ship, ruins of Winchester Palace, walked around Shakespeare's Globe, North on the Millennium bridge where we got to see lots of rowing teams in funny outfits pass underneath, and up around St. Paul's Cathedral. Then we pulled out the Walks of London book Erin got me (Thank's again!) and decided to do one, but start with lunch. It took some time to figure it out backwards, but we did it. In the meantime, a bird sort-of pooped on Stephanie's hand. Her reaction was pretty funny :D And I'm such a good friend that I took a picture to commemorate the event!
On Millennium Bridge with a view of St. Paul's
So we got all the way up to Smithfield and ate at the Rising Sun. A very small pub in a tiny neighborhood off the beaten path. It was really cute and everyone was really nice. It was fun to hear the old guys at the bar chat too. I ordered a traditional bangers (sausages) and mash (mashed potatoes) which was pretty good and cheap too. Then we started on our walk:
a place where an old burial ground for the Black Plague used to be (and technically still remains--just under the buildings/park), the old Smithfield Meat Market, St. Batholomew's Church--the first parish church in London c. 1123AD, the memorial to William Wallace (aka Braveheart) and some others who died around the area, the Fat Golden Boy on Pye Corner commemorating the end of the Great Fire, St. Sepulchre's Church and the house where it's watchman would watch for body snatchers, what used to be Newgate Prison, the Old Bailey (which held all the court proceedings from Newgate spanning hundreds of years), and St. Bride's church (it's spires give us the modern tiered wedding cake). The places we could've gone into were either ones we're going on in group trips, were closed, or charged something we didn't want to pay so we just checked out what we could.
We expanded our walk since we were already in a pretty good area to include an old building where Mary Queen of Scots lived a few years, the alley way behind No. 185 Fleet Street--Sweeney Todd's place, the Royal Courts of Justice (which were HUGE!), and St. Clement Danes Church. Then we went down toward the Thames where we tried to check out an old Roman bath by Somerset house in an alley, but a guy told us it was private property. I at least managed to get a picture of the plaque beforehand. Then we checked out Somerset house but decided to save the art exhibit--we might do that on an art class day anyway. Then we checked out the Cenotaph (Cleopatra's Needle) down by the river and got back on the tube for home. All in all we probably walked about 4 miles total. We were pretty tired!
Dead behind Sweeney's Barber Shop. It really was kindof creepy because that grate covers up a door one story beneath that goes to nothing...or Mrs. Lovett's bakery! Dun Dun Dun!!!
Cuddling with a Sphinx by the Cenotaph
*Long sigh* And now you're all up to speed!! Our whole weekend is free and I have no idea what I might do yet, but I don't think I'll be bored :D I'd like to try something on my own sometime even though I know the others will be needlessly worried about me. I find I'm a little more adventuresome than some others (don't worry mom and dad--not in a dangerous way!) It is again, thanks to the amazingly detailed and informative pocket map that Erin and Mom got me that I feel very confident in finding my way around. The others will catch on! ;)
P.S. Others have tagged me in their photos on Facebook so you can check them out on my page.
Met one guy who lives on one of the upper floors of our flat named ...something from Brazil. Later a few of us went to our first pub/restaurant, so I guess those are called Gastropubs now. It was O'Neill's just down the block from our flat. Mom and Dad can be so proud that I had my first experience ordering a drink :) I know you must be proud!! It was nice and quite, a very local place. We had a lot of fun chatting and getting to be about at night.
Got up and ready to meet Gammon and the group at the London Bridge Tube station before he set us free in the Borough market. Our connecting train was shut down today, though so we switched to another line that ran pretty close. From our group, I wanted to get off at that one and walk across the London Bridge because the market is just beyond that. Kelsey and Steph came with me. The others put little faith into my amazing map reading skills and amazingly detailed pocket map that Erin and Mom gave me--everyone's totally jealous, by the way! That map knows EVERYTHING!!
Borough Market
So we walked across and this morning it was beautiful and sunny. The market was right there and we waited around the tube station for the others--we were all to meet at a shop around there, but which actually was in the station so we never met up. Instead I though we should just go in. The three of us wandered around a little bit. It is a HUGE market! Full of food, drink, candy, and flower stalls. Amazing fresh fruit and meat. We sampled some--I had a delicious white chocolate covered raspberry! I decided I want to try an ostrich burger another time I go--yum yum!
Don't worry, we met up with people of the other group and told them we were okay. Gammon figured we were. Otherwise he might have just said, "oh well!" :)
After some more wandering, Kelsey, Steph, and I walked up toward the Thames and headed east. We saw a replica of Francis Drake's ship, ruins of Winchester Palace, walked around Shakespeare's Globe, North on the Millennium bridge where we got to see lots of rowing teams in funny outfits pass underneath, and up around St. Paul's Cathedral. Then we pulled out the Walks of London book Erin got me (Thank's again!) and decided to do one, but start with lunch. It took some time to figure it out backwards, but we did it. In the meantime, a bird sort-of pooped on Stephanie's hand. Her reaction was pretty funny :D And I'm such a good friend that I took a picture to commemorate the event!
On Millennium Bridge with a view of St. Paul's
So we got all the way up to Smithfield and ate at the Rising Sun. A very small pub in a tiny neighborhood off the beaten path. It was really cute and everyone was really nice. It was fun to hear the old guys at the bar chat too. I ordered a traditional bangers (sausages) and mash (mashed potatoes) which was pretty good and cheap too. Then we started on our walk:
a place where an old burial ground for the Black Plague used to be (and technically still remains--just under the buildings/park), the old Smithfield Meat Market, St. Batholomew's Church--the first parish church in London c. 1123AD, the memorial to William Wallace (aka Braveheart) and some others who died around the area, the Fat Golden Boy on Pye Corner commemorating the end of the Great Fire, St. Sepulchre's Church and the house where it's watchman would watch for body snatchers, what used to be Newgate Prison, the Old Bailey (which held all the court proceedings from Newgate spanning hundreds of years), and St. Bride's church (it's spires give us the modern tiered wedding cake). The places we could've gone into were either ones we're going on in group trips, were closed, or charged something we didn't want to pay so we just checked out what we could.
We expanded our walk since we were already in a pretty good area to include an old building where Mary Queen of Scots lived a few years, the alley way behind No. 185 Fleet Street--Sweeney Todd's place, the Royal Courts of Justice (which were HUGE!), and St. Clement Danes Church. Then we went down toward the Thames where we tried to check out an old Roman bath by Somerset house in an alley, but a guy told us it was private property. I at least managed to get a picture of the plaque beforehand. Then we checked out Somerset house but decided to save the art exhibit--we might do that on an art class day anyway. Then we checked out the Cenotaph (Cleopatra's Needle) down by the river and got back on the tube for home. All in all we probably walked about 4 miles total. We were pretty tired!
Dead behind Sweeney's Barber Shop. It really was kindof creepy because that grate covers up a door one story beneath that goes to nothing...or Mrs. Lovett's bakery! Dun Dun Dun!!!
Cuddling with a Sphinx by the Cenotaph
*Long sigh* And now you're all up to speed!! Our whole weekend is free and I have no idea what I might do yet, but I don't think I'll be bored :D I'd like to try something on my own sometime even though I know the others will be needlessly worried about me. I find I'm a little more adventuresome than some others (don't worry mom and dad--not in a dangerous way!) It is again, thanks to the amazingly detailed and informative pocket map that Erin and Mom got me that I feel very confident in finding my way around. The others will catch on! ;)
P.S. Others have tagged me in their photos on Facebook so you can check them out on my page.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Day 2
Today I got up about 9, got ready, ate, then went to our group meeting in the back yard. Just some info for the day and rest of the week.
We started the day off with a Hop On-Hop Off bus tour. Paul was our driver again and a tour guide named Sarah had lots of interesting info to share and was super nice. We basically saw all the big stuff around Westminster and London (2 different cities) and the Thames: Parliament, Westminster, V&A Museum, British Museum, lots of statues, all the famous shops and pubs, HMS Belfast, Tower of London, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly, and more I can't really remember without my camera--the battery ran out half way through and it's charging right now :)
Then it was back to Earl's Court. We made ourselves lunch, then I came here to update the blog. Now you're all up to speed!! In a few minutes I'll head back because a few of us are going to get on the Tube at 2:30 and see where it takes us!! Cheerio!
We started the day off with a Hop On-Hop Off bus tour. Paul was our driver again and a tour guide named Sarah had lots of interesting info to share and was super nice. We basically saw all the big stuff around Westminster and London (2 different cities) and the Thames: Parliament, Westminster, V&A Museum, British Museum, lots of statues, all the famous shops and pubs, HMS Belfast, Tower of London, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly, and more I can't really remember without my camera--the battery ran out half way through and it's charging right now :)
Then it was back to Earl's Court. We made ourselves lunch, then I came here to update the blog. Now you're all up to speed!! In a few minutes I'll head back because a few of us are going to get on the Tube at 2:30 and see where it takes us!! Cheerio!
I Made It!!!
First of all, forgive any weird punctuation errors--I'm at an Internet place down the street from our flat and I've found out the keys are a little different! Also, this place doesn't seem to have USB ports so can't share any awesome pictures yet. I'll have to find another place.
Our plane landed at 6am Thursday. I got a stuffy nose on the plane (which has stayed with me) so I couldn't fall asleep. Others didn't either so we were all exhausted and feeling miserable about starting a really long day.
The flights were really good--nothing to really speak of. We only lost track of one person at customs for a few minutes, but she's okay! Then we waited outside for our bus. Paul, our super funny Irish driver, was really nice and pointed things out to us along the way. He seemed a little bored with us though since we were all in a daze and weren't really talking. We dropped off Gammon's things at his flat and then went to ours on Earl's Court Rd. It is really lovely!! The halls are itty bitty, the bathrooms and toilet areas EVEN smaller, and the kitchen is pretty well equipped, but also serves as a hallway--which is also about how wide it is! But there's one on every floor at least so it's not too bad to use and store food in. My room with Kelsey and Stephanie is really cute. We're on the ground floor so we have really high ceilings and a big window and a glass door to see out into the back yard with the nice class room and beautiful flowers. It's very spacious too--WAY more than Simpson!
We had a little meeting with Fabio, the guy who runs the building so he could tell us the basics. Then he took us on a little walking tour around the neighborhood to point out some essentials: the best places to eat, the Tube, grocery stores, shops, and laundramats.
Then we headed back to our flat to do some unpacking and the rest of the day we had free time. Steph, Kelsey, Liz, Megan, and I wandered around a little, got our Oyster Cards (for discounted and Tube travel) at the Tube station and Yikes! are they expensive! We ate lunch a few blocks from our flat at the Baker's Oven where they serve pastries and take-away sandwiches which were yummy and pretty cheap. On the way there we saw a mom helping her young son pee on the street corner. Not it an alley or anything--on the street corner right by all the traffic! That was pretty crazy! At the restaurant a really nice woman took our picture for us and when she left, forgot a bag and Megan ran it out to her in the street. How nice are we?!
After lunch we went back to the flat to finish settling in and the five of us ended up taking naps! Most other people in the house did too. Then the five of us went off to Sainsbury's Local, a small grocery store a few blocks west. I think next time we're going to try the bigger one on Cromwell Rd. for more selection. I made off pretty cheap, though, only spending £6 ($10). We took those home, unpacked them, and made dinner. Then the girls and I decided it would be a good idea to try out our new Oyster cards!
We took the Tube over to St. James's. It was about 5 stops and only took about 5-10 minutes. We managed to find our way to nearby St. James's Park. It was absolutely beautiful with the late afternoon light! Lots of flowers and lovely benches and a big pond. Once, though, I was afraid I was going to get picked up and carried away by all the pigeons flying toward us! From the west end of the pond we could see, I think it was White Chapel. And just west of the park and pond is Buckingham Palace!!! It is beautiful and incredibly huge, as well as the big statue in front. It was dusk so my pictures aren't the best but we'll get back.
We hopped back on the tube and went home. I managed to stay up until 9pm--an incredibly LONG day! But that left about 11 hours to sleep :)
Our plane landed at 6am Thursday. I got a stuffy nose on the plane (which has stayed with me) so I couldn't fall asleep. Others didn't either so we were all exhausted and feeling miserable about starting a really long day.
The flights were really good--nothing to really speak of. We only lost track of one person at customs for a few minutes, but she's okay! Then we waited outside for our bus. Paul, our super funny Irish driver, was really nice and pointed things out to us along the way. He seemed a little bored with us though since we were all in a daze and weren't really talking. We dropped off Gammon's things at his flat and then went to ours on Earl's Court Rd. It is really lovely!! The halls are itty bitty, the bathrooms and toilet areas EVEN smaller, and the kitchen is pretty well equipped, but also serves as a hallway--which is also about how wide it is! But there's one on every floor at least so it's not too bad to use and store food in. My room with Kelsey and Stephanie is really cute. We're on the ground floor so we have really high ceilings and a big window and a glass door to see out into the back yard with the nice class room and beautiful flowers. It's very spacious too--WAY more than Simpson!
We had a little meeting with Fabio, the guy who runs the building so he could tell us the basics. Then he took us on a little walking tour around the neighborhood to point out some essentials: the best places to eat, the Tube, grocery stores, shops, and laundramats.
Then we headed back to our flat to do some unpacking and the rest of the day we had free time. Steph, Kelsey, Liz, Megan, and I wandered around a little, got our Oyster Cards (for discounted and Tube travel) at the Tube station and Yikes! are they expensive! We ate lunch a few blocks from our flat at the Baker's Oven where they serve pastries and take-away sandwiches which were yummy and pretty cheap. On the way there we saw a mom helping her young son pee on the street corner. Not it an alley or anything--on the street corner right by all the traffic! That was pretty crazy! At the restaurant a really nice woman took our picture for us and when she left, forgot a bag and Megan ran it out to her in the street. How nice are we?!
After lunch we went back to the flat to finish settling in and the five of us ended up taking naps! Most other people in the house did too. Then the five of us went off to Sainsbury's Local, a small grocery store a few blocks west. I think next time we're going to try the bigger one on Cromwell Rd. for more selection. I made off pretty cheap, though, only spending £6 ($10). We took those home, unpacked them, and made dinner. Then the girls and I decided it would be a good idea to try out our new Oyster cards!
We took the Tube over to St. James's. It was about 5 stops and only took about 5-10 minutes. We managed to find our way to nearby St. James's Park. It was absolutely beautiful with the late afternoon light! Lots of flowers and lovely benches and a big pond. Once, though, I was afraid I was going to get picked up and carried away by all the pigeons flying toward us! From the west end of the pond we could see, I think it was White Chapel. And just west of the park and pond is Buckingham Palace!!! It is beautiful and incredibly huge, as well as the big statue in front. It was dusk so my pictures aren't the best but we'll get back.
We hopped back on the tube and went home. I managed to stay up until 9pm--an incredibly LONG day! But that left about 11 hours to sleep :)
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
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