Today's London Adventure

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I was feeling a bit homesick last night, so I bought all of the "Greek" episodes on iTunes to watch and it helped. But today I had a great adventure in London!

I don’t have class on Friday’s so I got an early start to my mini fieldtrip. I took the Tube (which I have now mastered) to Covent Garden. There are shops, restaurants, theaters, street performers and more. It’s like the Power & Light District, the Plaza, Westport and Brookside combined. There is also the Convent Garden Market which used to be an actual fruit and vegetable market but is now used for cafés, stores and art studios. I bought a small piece of art by an artist who is an architect, painter and photographer and combines all of those talents to create pictures of London. It’s pretty amazing.

I followed the street signs from Convent Garden to Trafalgar Square, which is located at the foot of the National Gallery. It was really neat to see the combination of kids running around the fountain, businessmen (and women) eating lunch out on the steps of the square and many tourists like myself taking pictures like crazy.

I decide to put the map down and explore a bit on my own. I found the Admiralty Arch, an office building that actually forms an archway providing a road that leads to Trafalgar Square. After a bit of Wikipedia research, I have found out that the building was commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother Queen Victoria and the Latin inscribed at the top of the Arch says “In the tenth year of King Edward VII, to Queen Victoria, from most grateful citizens, 1910.”
After admiring the Arch, I did a bit more explorin’. And here is my thought process for the next 10 minutes: “Oh, that’s a nice park across the street - St. James’s Park! I recognize that name from my map…after walking a bit through the park and turning a corner…Oh my God it’s the London Eye! - Oh my God I’m a ¼ of a mile away from Buckingham Palace! - I love Prince Harry!” I debated walking to my future home, but my friend Lauren is coming to visit in just a couple weeks and seeing the palace is something I have on our itinerary. London is such a big city but it’s also some compact I feel that you could spend all day walking and still manage to see every site. When I saw the Eye, it was actually across the Thames and behind the Horse Guards Parade Ground. That’s the British fancy name for a horse corral. So my fieldtrip today was really exciting! Oh, but one of the best things about today is that the exchange rate is getting much better ($1.70) so a whole group of Americans ran to nearest cash point (ATM) and withdrew somewhere around £200 each.
There are a lot of random pictures I’ve wanted to share with everyone so take a look when you can. Oh and I’m going to Portobello Market in Notting Hill tomorrow so cross your fingers that I see Dame Judi Dench or Claudia Schiffer because apparently that’s where they live!

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Photos

Trafalgar Square
A fountain in Trafalgar Square with the National Gallery in the back.

The Horse Guards Parade Ground and the London Eye
This is the shocking and beautiful view I got at St. James's Park.

Princess Di Memorial
There is a river-like memorial to Princess Di in Hyde Park. Water flows through this long and twisty circle that has different bumps and dips and pools throughout.

Dorm Room
My very dirty dorm room with the ugly comforter that was provided for me.

My Wardrobe
One of the doors of my wardrobe is obviously broken (and had been from day 1) - however it was fixed the other day.

Sink
I might have to share a shower but here's the little sink that's in the corner of my room.

The Globe Theatre
As part of my Historic London class, I got to have a tour of the Globe Theatre. It is a recontruction of Shakespeare's main playhouse.

The Rosetta Stone
Here's the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum.

Mosaic
This is the oldest known Mosiac portrait of Jesus Christ.

St. Bartholomew the Great
I got to go the St. Bart's Church during my Historic London class too. And FYI, they hold Catholic services.

Movies
Our tour guide told us that a lot of movies are filmed at St. Bart's because it is such a controlled environment. It is a beautiful church in the middle of the city, but the walls are so thick that you cannot hear outside traffic. Some of the movies filmed there are Four Weddings and a Funeral, Shakespeare in Love, Amazing Grace, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and The Other Boleyn Girl. If anyone hasn't see Amazing Grace, I highly recommend it. It is about the end of slavery in Britian.

Comments

[Erin]

I love that you bought Greek episodes! I would have done the same thing!! All your pics are amazing! Of course esp. the dorm room pics :)