Goodbye, England!

I suppose the reason I put off writing this last post was because I didn't want to admit to myself that my trip is over and I have to return to my daily life now. I loved London, and I really hope to go back there someday, whether just to vacation or a more extended stay. Anyway, I'm happy to be home and am managing to avoid jet lag, so hopefully it'll all work out.

Thanks to everyone who read my blog!

Boat Tour

So the boat tour was interesting. To be honest, my friends and I spent a lot of time looking at flats and houses on the shore line, wondering how much they cost and picking out which ones we wanted to live in. We also danced to Journey and Bon Jovi, which is always a good time (the boat had a "disco," which just means dance floor). Here are pictures from the tour:

Yes, yes, things we've all seen before from me, but still, it was cool to see them from the water. The Olympic Rings are on the Tower Bridge and lower like this periodically.

Anyway, I've been thinking about moving here for a little while at some point, probably a few years after I graduate. It would actually make sense, since teachers here make a lot more. Plus I really just love London, and I'd be so close to the rest of Europe. We'll see how it pans out. In any event, I have definitely caught the travel bug from this trip. Hopefully next summer I'll be able to do something equally as awesome!

For My Future Nostalgia

Today was my last day of class, so I had a little free time afterwards to take pictures of the places I walked past every day. I figured I'd like to be able to look back on those places and remember, since I probably won't see them for a while, if ever. Here are a few of the things I see every day of my stay in London:

The building my class was in (above) and "the pointy building" my

friends and I used to figure out which direction to travel in (below)

Regent Street, where we got off the Tube to get to

class (above) and my Tube stop, Lambeth North (below)

Kennington Street, the street I walked down to get to the Tube (above) and

the pub at the corner of my street, which we never actually went into (below)

My dorm building, International House (above)

The buses here have advertisements on them, and whenever we'd see this one (usually in the morning), we'd know it'd be a good day (above)

 So those are some of the things I'd see on a regular basis. Again, this post was more for my own future nostalgia than anything else.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Since yesterday was the Fourth of July, my friends and I went to an "American" diner and got a more familiar meal to celebrate:

The burger was okay (it was a burger), and the shake was good too, but I think the best part was stumbling upon a Cinnabon a couple streets over. I now have a Cinnabon for my breakfast tomorrow (I ate one today, as well).

Later tonight, we're going on a boat cruise on the Thames as a goodbye party for those of us who are leaving, so there should be some good pictures from that. In the meantime, I'm practicing my use of the word "cheers," which is something I really want to pick up from my time here. We'll see how it goes!

Abbey Road

As a Beatles fan, one of the things I really wanted to do when I came to England was mimic the iconic Beatles cover photo in front of Abbey Road Studio. So of course I did it, sans two people, but still.

Being at Abbey Road was really cool. There's a white wall in front of the Abbey Road Studio that fans scribble away on, writing messages and their names and dates and all of that. I, of course, did as well; "Strawberry Fields Forever, Kristy '12."

After that, my friends and I (without Ellen, who was working on a project for class) went on a Jack the Ripper Tour through our program. It was...interesting. Only one of the significant places in the story still exists, so it was a lot of walking to a place near an important place, and while the tour guide was very knowledgeable, some of the descriptions of things were pretty gross. I might pick up a book on the matter when I get home, though.

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, and since my friends and I are obviously American, we're planning to go to a restaurant that has "American" food. We'll see. Anyway, Happy July 4th, everyone! 



Thing I Have Learned About England

I did not do anything interesting today. I woke up, went to class, had lunch, came home, and worked on my final paper for my class. Zero interesting things in there. So instead of rambling on and on about how I have more work to do than all of my friends combined (which is true), I thought I'd make a list of thing I've learned since I've been here. Here we go!

• Bus rides are narcotic. Bring a neck pillow.
• England may be part of Europe, but people here describe their height in feet and inches and speed limit signs are in miles, not kilometers. Do not try to learn the metric system before arriving.
• Always carry an umbrella. Always.
• There is no such thing as plain sour cream.
• If you want to see the Changing of the Gaurd at Buckingham Palace, get there early. And not half an hour early, but maybe two hours early.
• No one eats real food between the hours of 2:00pm and 6:00pm. All of the restraunts close.
•  Very few people in London are actually from England.
• A really good way to not spend money is to mentally convert pounds to dollars. It's a very good deterant.
• It is a commonly believed notion that the little purse the Queen always carries around with her (even in her own home) is actually full of gin (but not crack).
• Avoid tourists like the plague, even if you are also a tourist.
• Do not bother bringing small appliances like hair dryers or flat irons. Even if you have a voltage and plug converter, they will not work.
• Always do your research and have a plan. Chances are, you won't magically stumble upon the place you're looking for (although it did happen to us once).
• Be At One is the best bar in the London area. They also really like cool Americans.
• The National Museum is interesting, but do not go in on a whim. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
• You will always be able to find a souviner shop, so don't panic. 

If I think of any more, I'll continue the list, but that's it for now.

Also, I have an update on The Globe Theatre incident. I emailed the director with a complaint about the way the staff treated my professor and she got back to me. She was very apologetic and was adement about taking action against a similiar incident ever happening again. So if you're interested in The Globe, rejoice in the fact that someone there cares about their guests.

Hopefully I'll be taking more pictures this week since it is my last one, but chances are that they'll be pictures of my dorm building, the street my classes are on, and things like that. We might be doing something cool tomorrow, but we'll see.

Stonehenge, Bath, and Hyde Park

Yesterday was our second program excursion, and we went to Stonehenge and Bath, the site of the Roman Baths. Stonehenge was pretty cool; it's interesting that we just have no idea why it was created or who created it. There were a lot of tourists there, though, so it wasn't exactly the ethereal experience I was hoping for.



 Bath actually surprised me. I thought it would be a quaint little town situated in the middle of the countryside, but it is not. It's actaully a good-sized city with a really great shopping district that also happens to house the Roman Baths. It was different to see such a historic site practically next door to a place that looks like Partridge Creek, but there you go.

Today, my friends and I went to mass at Westminster Abbey because they charge you to take a tour but Sunday service is free. We still got to marvel at the beautiful stained-glass windows and read the different memorial markers, so it was a decent time. Pictures aren't allowed inside, though, so not photos.

After that, my friends Tess, Ellen, and I went to Hyde Park to take a leisurely stroll. It was really pretty, even though it kept trying to rain on us. We saw some pretty cool statues, like this one of Peter Pan:

Tomorrow is the start of my last week here in England, and I'm already dreading leaving. I've fallen in love with the city and the way of life here, and I've definitely caught the travel bug! Hopefully I'll still be able to squeeze a few more touristy things into my trip before I return home.

Harry Potter Studio Tour

So I may have just had the best experience of my life here. I went to see the Harry Potter Studio Tour and oh my God, it was A-mazing. I went by myself because at first there were no tickets available until after I'm scheduled to leave, but I managed to snag one for today. Anyway, I'm not to bent up about it, because I got to explore and marvel at things alone, and that helped make the experience even better. Here are some of the pictures:

It's going to sound very cliched, but there was something so magical about this whole day. To be honest, when I saw the big model of Hogwarts (last picture), I cried. I walked into the room, saw the castle, and was swept away by emotion. I think it's because Harry Potter has been a part of my life for so long that it's sad to think it's over. The conclusion of the HP series means the end of an era and the end of my childhood. Seeing the castle was like seeing a long-lost friend, someone you love and will miss dearly. And, too, I think every HP fan wishes Hogwarts and magic was real, and this got me a little closer to that dream. I know it sounds stupid and dorky, but it really was a moving experience.

Obviously there are a ton of additional pictures on Facebook. To anyone considering travelling to England in the near future, I would definitely suggest this tour.





Billy Elliot and The Globe Theatre

Last night everyone in my program went to see Billy Elliot at West End, which is like London's Broadway. I had never heard of the musical before, but I was really impressed with the actors. The kid playing Billy could really dance!

Me with my friends Alexa, Alicia, Tess, Ellen, and Megg



 Today, instead of having class as usual, my professor had us all come out to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to see Henry V on stage. It was pretty cool to see Shakespeare's play on (a replica of) his original theater, but the trip wasn't without its drama. We were supposed to also go to the museum and have a tour before the play, but there was a mixup with the staff and policies, and my professor ended up having an argument with the manager. The entire staff that we dealt with were really rude, so if you plan to go to the Globe museum for the tour with more than 10 people, make sure to make a reservation. Otherwise, though, the whole fieldtrip was a pretty successful one.



Between seeing the museum and the play, a few girls and I went to the Tate Modern art museum. We kind of stumbled onto it, actually, and were really just looking to kill some time, but it ended up being pretty cool. Some of the art was a bit too, well, modern for my tastes, but there were some pretty good pieces too. For an easy way to spend the time, the museum turned out to be pretty interesting.

Tower of London and Tower Bridge

Since today marks the beginning of a new school week (and the end of 1/3 of my stay here), my friends and I decided to start doing some hard-core touristy things. Today we chose the Tower of London as our destination. It was pretty cool, but different than I expected. Considering its dark history, I anticipated the buildings to be dark and sinister, but they were bright and welcoming (the sunshine didn't hurt either). There were a lot of people there for a Monday afternoon, though. I ran into many people with American accents and people who didn't speak English at all. Anyway, I enjoyed it.



After the Tower, we walked over to the Tower Bridge. I'll admit, I always thought the Tower Bridge and the London Bridge were the same thing, but they are not. When Americans say "The London Bridge," they're usually referring to the Tower Bridge. Surprisingly, you can walk on the bridge, and we did. The view was pretty great, and it was a fun little outing.



Tomorrow we're going with our program to see Billy Elliot in the West End, which is like London's Broadway. I'm excited to get dressed up and see a new show!

Weekend in Wales

I'm back in my dorm after a wonderful weekend in Wales! I had never really given Wales much thought before this trip, but I'm now convinced it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. If you want to vacation in Europe and are looking for relaxation, beautiful scenery, and friendly people, I'd highly suggest Wales.

We left London bright and early on Saturday morning, and on the drive down we passed Windsor Palace where the queen lives. I couldn't get any pictures from the bus, but that's OK. I pretty much used up most of my camera's memory with the pictures I took in Wales.
The first thing we did was stop at the site of some ancient Roman ruins. It was a bit unreal to walk around the foundations of buildings soldiers and gladiators used to roam around.

Soldier's barracks (above) and the amphitheatre (below)

After the Roman ruins, we went to tour the ruins of Caerphilly Castle. Apparently Wales has more castles per square mile than any other European nation. I had no idea you can actually walk around the castle ruins, though. It was so beautiful!

View of the town from the tower (above) and main entrance (below).

After touring the castle, we went to the Museum of Welsh Life, but we ended up only having half an hour there because some guys on our tour forgot what time we were supposed to be back on the bus and played a game of soccer with some Welsh boys for 45 extra minutes. After that, we went to our hotel, which was fabulous! I have never appreciated how soft hotel beds are until I was able to compare them to our dorm beds!

This morning we went on a tour of an old mine shaft which was a lot cooler than I expected. Wales produced about 1/3 of the world's coal until the 1970s when a lot of the mines were shut down. The didn't let us take cameras into the mine, but I'm sure there will be a picture of me in mining gear circulating around at some point.

After the mine tour, we stopped for lunch at Monmouth, where we saw this 13th century bridge. I can't wrap my brain around the fact that people in town can look out their windows and be so close to history!

Funny story about Monmouth and Caerphilly Castle: I'm taking a Shakespeare class while I'm here, and so far we've studied Shakespeare's Henry V and Marlow's Edward II. In the play and in reality, Edward II had an affair with a man called Hugh Jr. who fled to Caerphilly Castle when Edward's enemies came after the two men. Hugh Jr. took the lavish gifts Edward bestowed upon him and decorated the great hall of Caerphilly Castle before he was found and executed. And the town of Monmouth, with the really old bridge is where Henry V was actually born. It's funny how I go on a weekend excursion and find my studies relating to my real life.

After Monmouth we went to see the ruins of Tintern Abbey, which was built by Savignac monks in the 12th century. Honestly, I think these were the prettiest of the ruins we saw. The sun even came out while we visited!

All in all, I really enjoyed Wales. It was such a beautiful place, and it would be great to come back sometime and spend more than 36 hours there.

Buckingham Palace

Last night, my friends and I went out and had a really great time. A word to the wise, though: when going out in the evening in London, wear a jacket. It's not a particularly warm place.

Today was our first day off, so my friends and I went to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. I use the term "see" loosely, though, because there were so many people there that we couldn't see anything at all. I got a few pictures, though, and just being there was cool. The palace was really beautiful!



The weather was rather gross today, so after the Changing of the Guard, we went to the National Gallery. We weren't allowed to take pictures there, but we did get to see some famous paintings by Van Gogh and Monet. It was really cool to get so close to art I've learned about in school!

Tomorrow we're getting up bright and early and taking a weekend trip to Wales with our program. I probably won't be able to post anything until Sunday night, but expect castles, sheep, and mine shafts! ...Yeah, I'm a little confused too.

Are You from the States?

My friends and I have been getting asked lately by British people where we're from. We often wonder, "Isn't it obvious?" We have rather pronounced American accents...

Anyway, today I basically just had class and went shopping with my friends Megg and Ellen. We stopped in a great little shop called Accessorize, which is a better version of Claire's, and H&M. The area where our campus is, Oxford Circus, literally has four H&M's within a mile of each other. It's a little ridiculous. However, the lack of additional sales tax in England makes shopping trips a lot easier to handle; I can add in my head how much I'm spending. Now if I could only figure out how to use British coins...

Tomorrow is our last day of the first week of classes. It's crazy; Ellen and I were talking to an American woman in H&M about how long we'd been in London, and when we said four days, we both decided that it felt like much longer. It's strange to think it's been less than a week since I've arrived here and I already feel like I belong here.

Unfortunately, the weather is planning to take a turn for the worse tomorrow. We'll probably have rain, which I suppose I shouldn't be too bent out of shape about because it is England and all. The last few days have been lovely by British standards, so I suppose the rain was inevitable. Hopefully it won't rain on Friday, though, because we have a big day planned. There should be plenty of pictures!

No Short Shorts without Tight Tights

It was so warm today! Earlier in the afternoon it was nice and sunny, so after class my friends and I got lunch and went shopping for tights (apparently if you wear short shorts without tight underneath, you get tutted at). We stumbled upon Top Shop, a really great clothing store that's kind of like a more upscale Forever21. Needless to say, more shopping there will follow.

Later in the day we went on a tour of the Olympic Park. We couldn't get very close to much of anything, but we did see the IKEA sculpture (funded by, you guessed it, IKEA), the Orbit sculpture, and part of the arena and aquatic center. It was pretty cool to see the places in person; I'm excited to watch the Olympics and be able to say, "I was there!"