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Published: September 11th 2015
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Hola! It’s time to get this travel blog up to speed. Last time, I mentioned that my passport and Visa might not make it back in time for the planned departure date. Well, the final day came before I was supposed to leave, and still no passport. I had pretty much given up hope, but I had been praying like crazy and I had some friends that had been doing the same. About 5pm that night, I got a call from my Mom, who told me that she had just checked the mail and found my documents! We scrambled and found a way to get them shipped overnight to DFW, where I picked them up at the airport before I went to my flight. God works in mysterious ways, and I seriously doubt that the passport would have made it in time if not for His intervention.
I’m staying at a flat in South Kensington with many other students in the FIE program. The girls in the Baylor group have a flat in the same building, while my roommate Landry and I share a flat with some students from Loyola Marymount University in CA. We’ve spend most of our time
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No introduction necessary. so far exploring London.
Last week, we took a self-guided audio tour of Parliament. Since I love history so much, I ended up taking 40 minutes longer than the rest of the group. Parliament is an amazing building. Most of it was built in the 1800’s after a fire burned down most of the original building. However, the main hall survived, and it is about a thousand years old. The inside is full of statues, busts, paintings, and ornate design. My favorite room is the one that has a painting above each of the four doors representing each of the countries comprising the UK: England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. It has each of their patron saints and other famous figures from their history. I could not take pictures in that room, but I’ll try to find one online and post it here. The houses of Commons and Lords are not what I expected. Parliament was not in session while I was there, so I was able to go in the rooms. They are too small for the officials to all sit at the same time, so debates are cramped and many of them have to remain standing. There are
also unique customs that have developed over the hundreds of years of parliament’s existence. For example, even though the monarch no longer has any real power, Queen Elizabeth is not allowed the enter the House of Commons. This is due to a past British King who entered the room and tried to overthrow them. Instead, the monarch now sends a representative when the House of Commons is in session. Parliament is definitely a different experience than Congress.
We also saw a comedy play at West End called 39 Steps. I was in the middle of the first row, so close to the actors that one of them got spit on my shirt. The British humor was pretty good. I’ve been to three museums so far: the British Museum, the Science Museum, and the Imperial War Museum. The Brit is full of artifacts from all over the UK’s former empire. There are ancient Assyrian and Egyptian stone carvings, Chinese jade, and Roman jewels. To me, though, the IWM was more interesting. It has exhibits from many different eras, but the main focus is WWII. They have a map that Erwin Rommel, “The Desert Fox,” used in his campaign against the
British general Montgomery. I had to cut my visit short to go to class, but I will go back next week and see the rest of the exhibits.
It’s fun to just wander around London. The city is huge, and the Tube system makes it easy to get around. We have Oyster cards, which let us travel for free in zones 1 and 2 of the system. The Tube really is a feat of engineering, especially considering that it was founded around 1850. I’ve been trying to save money for travel by not eating out too much, so I’ve gotten a decent idea of how good the grocery store food is here. Overall, I have to say that I prefer the American system. The main difference is that they don’t use preservatives here, so all the food goes bad within a few days of purchase. Most would probably consider that a good thing, but it’s a bit inconvenient for a busy college student. However, I would also say that the British bad food stereotype is an exaggeration, especially in London. London is now the most international city in the world, which means people bring great food there from all
over the world. I’m planning to find a good shawarma place to bring back the memories of Israel.
I only have classes on Monday and Wednesday, leaving me plenty of time to travel. As I type this, I am on a 4.5 hour train ride to Edinburgh, Scotland. This is the first time since arrival that I have ventured outside of London, and I’m really excited to see how the rest of the country looks. Out the window, I see the famous English countryside that seems closer to the true identity of Britain than the London metropolis. Tomorrow, I’ll probably take a train to either the Isle of Skye or the Isle of Arran. I’ve been wanting to travel to the Scottish Islands ever since I saw a YouTube video called Danny McCaskill: The Ridge. You should look it up if you like the outdoors, stunning views, or dangerous stunts. I also have plans to visit Barcelona in a few weeks on the recommendation of my pal Urmit Patel, who studied in France over the summer. Air travel is amazingly cheap over here, making trips like that practical. Hopefully travel in the US will be like that someday.
I typed this while I was on the train, but now I'm at my hostel. Edinburgh is pretty cool. I'll try and post some pictures.
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D Raimey
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Go here for a walking tour of London's literary pubs
http://gu.com/p/39h39/sbl