Blogs from Chelsea, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

On Thursday the 20th Karalyn, Stephanie,and I went to Harrods! It's a very ritzy department store off of Brompton Rd. and just a 30 min walk from where I'm staying in Chelsea. It is said that you used to be able to buy anything at Harrods even exotic animals like elephants and giraffes! I had no idea what to expect when I went in there and thought it was just going to be like a mall with a ton of store fronts but instead it's a huge department store. Think of Macy's with 7 floors! Of course they have a lower floor which is the basement and this is where all of the menswear is located along with other random things that are of no interest to me like a gentleman's lounge with a cigar area ... read more

What a successful weekend. Saturday we had our first bus tour and I was overloaded with beautiful architecture, scenery, and information. One of the best things I've noticed while on these tours is not only do I get the touristy side of London but also the local information too! To name a few places that I passed by or stopped to visit was Parliament, West Minister Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, the new 2012 Olympic building site among many other things that I have forgotten the names of but will be pursuing in greater detail and visiting at another time. Although when passing parliament she said that the courthouses are open to the public and we could walk in, sit down and listen to a trial. They even wear those funny wigs still! There aren't ... read more

Today started off with a trip to find some delicious English breakfast before we started a mini tour of London and the main areas that we would be going to. We ended up in a french cafe and lemme tell you nothing is cheap here. I decided to go with porridge and mixed fruit in it because I've always heard about it but never had it while another friend got a large latte and wheat toast with jam. That porridge was interesting to say the least. It's bland just like most food here and the fruit was a bit bitter. Instead of having glucose sugar packets on the table like they do in the states they have fructose sugar packets, which was okay. They also had sugar cubes both brown and white sugar. I also added ... read more

So it's my first day here in London and boy oh boy is it fantastic! The plan ride was a bit long just about 7 hrs and I sat next to this couple that actually live next to my sister school Augustana in South Dakota. What a coincidence! Only about 2 hrs of sleep on the plane but after I went through customs in the Heathrow airport I found my luggage and off we were to find the cab that Karalyn's dad had set up for us. It was funny to see how they drove on the other side of the rode and that the driver seat and steering wheel are on the right side of the vehicle. Another thing that was surprising to me while we were driving to Chelsea was the motorcycles. They just ... read more

Went to the National Army Museum (NAM) yesterday but due to tube troubles ended up walking from Temple to Chelsea. It's quite a way but there's lots to see on the walk, loads of public gardens full of statues of people who deserve statues (eg Michael Faraday), people who really don't (General Gordon anyone?) and people who make you go 'Huh?' (the hostage Burghers of Ghent!). We also passed Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, a lot of war memorials and Westminster Abbey (and later Westminster Cathedral in its strangely orange brickwork. I always thought orange was a Protestant colour. Oh the irony!). We even saw a police escort of four bikes and a car with sirens wailing ensuring that the big van they were escorting did not stop at any lights. It was either a ... read more

This is my first entry in my blog. I think I will try to keep this so I remember this time when I am older. We'll see if I keep with it for the whole Semester. Things I noticed about London: The british are very economical with there space. Their sidewalks are designed to keep people in single filed queues (line in England) in either direction. there is not a lot of excess room. The same goes for the dorms, which are apparently bigger than English dorms in general. I have a bed, a cabinet, and a desk on my side and the same goes for my roommate there is maybe 2.5 feet between us and that is it. Crossing the street is like playing Frogger drunk. It is exciting, frustrating, and nerve wracking all at ... read more

Here are some photos... read more

We are struggling with getting pictures posted!... read more