Time is Winding Down

The last few days have gone by really quickly. Sunday I caught up on sleep, read a book and wrote a paper. Monday I had class and then we went to the British Film Institute to watch the movie Bloody Sunday. It was horribly depressing; however, very informative. After a quick dinner break, we walked to the Young Vic to see the musical The Scottsboro Boys. The musical focused on the case of the Scottsboro Boys. Some people did not like it as they thought it was inappropriate to sing and dance about rape and racism; however, I thought that it actually showed how ridiculous the racism was and was done appropriately. The dancing was phenomenal and we had seats in the second row so we could see the sweat on them (gross!). Today we ordered pizza and watched a Christmas movie, ate Christmas puddings, and hung out. Tomorrow I am going to start packing and so some final shopping.

It is crazy to think that I will be home in four days and it will be really sad to leave London but I am now ready to be home. It is going to be a crazy emotional four days but it will be exciting and we will all see each other back in Grinnell.

The Best Day Ever- This Week

On Saturday, Kimmie, Kate and I set out with a long agenda for the day. We began by walking down to borough market and stopped at the Thames on the way. Kate's internship is on the river and she saw her boss so we went down to the river for a few minutes before continuing. At Borough market, we walked around for a while but it was pretty busy so we only stayed for about an hour. From there, we took the tube to Abbey Road.

Abbey Road

From there, we took the tube and then went to 221B (where Sherlock lives). 

Then, we walked to Hyde Park to the Winter Carnival. It was super packed and there was an enormous line to get in so we decided to skip it and played in the leaves instead. 

Kate and Kimmie wanted to go ice skating so we took a bus to Trafalgar Square and then walked to Somerset House. Unfortunately, they were sold out for the day so we couldn't skate. 

Awesome bus we rode.

Since we were across the river from the Southbank Market, we decided to head over to get chimney cakes. They are like a donut, made on a rolling pin and cooked on the rolling pin so it has a crispy outside and soft inside. Kate and Kimmie wanted to ride a carousel so I took pictures while they did that and then we went home.

Kimmie kept saying that this was the best day ever...this week, thus the title for today's blog post.

Changing of the Guard

On Friday morning, Eleanor and I took a bus to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. By the time we arrived (11:05), it was already packed with people. People are lined up on the fences of the palace, across the road, and on the Victoria memorial. Eleanor and I made our way to the fence and found a decent spot to watch from. It was the most ridiculous ceremony to watch but I enjoyed it. Two processions of guards (each with their own band) come down the street and then enter the palace. Then, for 30 minutes, two guys with flags walk around, two guys with swords walk around, the guards sometimes shuffle right or left, one guys shouts a few things, and the guards eventually change. I was laughing for a majority of the ceremony because it was so silly. Afterwards, Eleanor and I took the bus home and then did lots of homework so we do not have to do anything this upcoming week.

Guards coming down the street (also, you can see a bit of the crowd here)

Tree Lighting

Yesterday, I did a lot of reading during the day. In the afternoon, Sara and I went to the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery. Sara had been to the Portrait Gallery before so she gave me a guided tour. There were lots of Victorian and Tudor portraits along with modern realistic paintings and a head made of blood. Afterwards, Sara and I went down to Trafalgar Square to see the lighting of the Christmas Tree. The tree was not there the previous day when I was in Trafalgar Square so I was quite impressed with how quickly they put the tree up. Trafalgar Square was packed with people, carolers, and street performers. There was a ceremony that preceded the lighting so we learned all about the tree and the relationship between Norway and GB. The tree was picked several years ago and they tended to the tree making sure it had enough light, nutrients and space. Then, a little over a fortnight ago, the Lord Mayor of Westminster and her family went to Oslo where they cut down the Christmas Tree. Then, the tree was loaded onto a truck and taken to the sea. It then sailed over to London and was put up in Trafalgar Square. Norway has been sending one tree a year as a gift since 1947 as a way to say thanks. The Lord Mayor of Oslo also said a few words and after some carols, the tree was lit. Afterwards, Sara and I got hot chocolate at Pret before walking home in the cold!

V&A, Comedy, and Church

On Monday, after class Eleanor and I met Kate at the V&A. The V&A has a lot of artifacts and it is more like the British Museum than the National Gallery. We saw some Raphaels, a fashion exhibit, and some Asian artifacts. Tuesday, after class, I went to Sir John Soane's museum. It is essentially his house with lots of artifacts in it including a sarcophagus! The most unique room was full of art and the walls could move and then reveal other art. They had lots of art by William Hogarth and they were the colored paintings of A Rake's Project and The Election. We had studied A Rake's Project in class so it was cool to see them in person (although they were a mirror image of the prints we had studied so they looked strange to me at first. In the evening, Kate and I went to Storm nightclub and saw a comedy show. I got the tickets for free through a website called SeeFilmsFirst so it was a good excuse to go. It consisted of three comedians and so they each did a 30 minute show. It was really fun although a few of the jokes were lost on me since I am not British.  

Today, we went to tea in the crypt and ended up staying there for almost two hours! Then, we went to Westminster Abbey. It is a pretty church but more significantly, there are graves of lots of famous people including Kings and Queens, Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, and Oliver Cromwell was buried here for two years. We also saw the coronation chair which I heard about while in Scotland. .

Tea and Apple Crumble

Horse Guard

Westminster at night

Market Day

Saturday I had a relaxing-ish day and I did a lot of homework. In the evening, all of the Grinnellians hung out. Sunday, I went to the Brick Lane Market and Old Spitalfields Market with Collin, Danielle, Austin, and Daniells's friend from home. I had never been to Brick Lane before. It is a weird mix of people selling used electronics and super cheap prepackaged food on one side, and then people selling nice food on the other side. It was a huge sprawling market that went through many streets! I got a delicious lunch (pictured below).

Then we went to walk around Old Spitalfields Market which is a lot fancier and more expensive but it was fun to walk around. On the walk home, I got a delicious fruit smoothie and we ran into other Grinnellians. Afterwards, I did lots of homework (read Molloy by Samuel Beckett).

A British Black Friday

This morning we lounged around, ate Thanksgiving leftovers and watched Love Actually. It was relaxing and fun to just chill for a bit. Then, in the spirit of black Friday, Kimmie and I went to the Southbank Christmas Market. Located about two miles from our flat, on the southbank (shocking, I know) of the Thames, the Southbank Christmas Market is home to about 80 stalls with food, crafts and gifts. Unfortunately, I forgot to put the memory card into my camera so no pictures exist, but I assure you it was adorable. Because it is such a touristy area (this is by the London Eye, the National Theatre, the Aquarium, and the London Dungeon), there are also lots of street performers ranging from guards to bears, breakdancers to statues, and plenty in between.

From there, we decided to walk past Big Ben and then up to Trafalgar Square. Since we had not seen the horse guards up close, we decided to walk by them. Then, we saw a park and decided to walk through, and then we decided to walk to Buckingham Palace. Our goal was to go to Oxford Street, Reagent Street, or Piccadilly to see the Christmas lights but since it was only 3:30 we had some time to kill. Then, after watching the guards switch (not the official Changing of the Guard), we continued walking. We walked past Hyde Park and saw all of the lights from the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland so we decided to head over and check it out.

I had read about in online and knew it was big but it was ginourmous! It had all of the traditional things, crafts and ornaments, clothes, hats, mulled wine, crepes, sausages, etc., but it also had 3 roller coasters and tons of rides. It was really fun to walk around and hear Christmas music, Thriller (at a haunted house), yodeling music (at a maze thing), and lots of happy chatter and laughter as people milled about. There was also a skating rink, ferris wheel, kidway, midway, and a ice castle. Kimmie and I enjoyed walking around and want to come back again so hopefully we can squeeze in time for another visit.

Afterwards, we took the tube home (we were over 3 miles from home) and then crashed. I enjoyed more leftovers for dinner and have been watching movies and tv since. Tomorrow, I am planning on going to South Kensington to go to the Science Museum and the V&A and then maybe walk around and look at Christmas lights at night.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was lots of fun but incredibly exhausting! In the morning, we moved the two couches out of our living room and moved the TV and small tables. We then went to other flats to get three more tables and 15 more chairs. This resulted in us carrying 9 chairs across a four lane road so it was a bit ridiculous. Kate cooked two chickens and I made my 11 pounds of mashed potatoes. Due to our small pan, I had to boil them in three batches and then mixed in sour cream, cream cheese, butter, etc. It took a while but I got it done faster than I expected. After showering and getting ready, we all just hung out and did the last preparations, putting appetizers on the table (chips and salsa, veggies and humus, sausage rolls, crackers and cheese) and lighting the candles.

A bit after 6:30 people started arriving and since the buzzer up to our flat does not work, each time more people arrived, I had to go down the stairs to open the doors. A lot of people arrived within two minutes, so I left a quiet flat and came back to lots of laughter and an overwhelming amount of food. People quickly took seats and once everyone had arrived and food was warm, we were able to eat. Everyone was actually quite civilized and we had plenty of food! We had a wonderful assortment of food including two stuffings, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberries, rolls, salads, chicken, gravy, roasted potatoes, and several dishes that I am forgetting at the moment. We had lots of food so people could have seconds and thirds and lots of wine to accompany the meal.

At one point, someone was taking a group picture, and as everyone was smiling at the camera, Peter yelled "Fire", standing up and pouring water onto the table. It seems that one of the styrofoam plates had gotten too close to the candle and caught on fire. Thankfully, the water took care of the fire and we were all laughing for several minutes.

Afterwards, we had pie (there were 10) and some people had coffee. As I was talking with people, I noticed a plate catch on fire, but did not want to pour wine (in my hand at the moment) on it so I blew it out and that actually worked. Who knew? Then I poured my water onto the plate for good measure. We decided that it would be a good time to extinguish all of the candles and there were no more fires after that.

Finally, I was able to briefly Skype home. It was really confusing as several people would talk at once and I could here background talking as well, but I was able to see almost everyone at home so it was very nice.

All in all, Thankgiving was a huge success. I think that we were all impressed that we had such a successful dinner and were very proud of ourselves.

Art and Tea

Wednesday, after class Eleanor and I went to the National Gallery after class. We were able to see about half of the museum before becoming exhausted. Then, we went to St. Martens in the Fields to have tea in the crypt. We really like having tea here because it is cheap and is a cool atmosphere. Afterwards, I went shopping and bought a dress for Thanksgiving and bought a few last minute groceries. In the evening we did a bit of prep to get ready for Thanksgiving and went to a pub for a bit.

99 Days

My last post about Ireland was super brief so I hope to add more to them later; however, I have been busy the past two days. If you want a well-written and detailed account of our travels in Ireland, you can read my flatmate, Sara's blog. She does and awesome job so check her blog out, it has over 1000 views!  On Monday morning we took a taxi to the airport, flew to London, and then took the tube home. Our flight was shorter than the tube ride home which is kinda crazy (55min v. 70min)! We got home and by that point I was exhausted and went to grab a burrito before taking a nap. I had no groceries so Sara and I went to Real Man Pizza to grab a pizza for 3 pounds. I finished reading Good Behaviour and went to bed. Today we had class in the morning and then I went grocery shopping. I bought 5kg of potatoes which was not very fun to carry a mile home, along with all of my other groceries. I was less productive than I intended to be but traveling is exhausting and a rest day or two is sometimes needed.

It is crazy to realize that I have been abroad for 99 days (and gone from home for 100). As my facebook feed is plastered with statues about going home, seeing family, and sitting at airports, it has hit me that I will not be home for Thanksgiving. Luckily I have a wonderful group of Grinnellians to spend it with and I am sure we will be very busy so I won't think about it much, but it is sad to be away from home for the holidays. That said, I only have 17 full days left in London. I feel like I need to cram all of the last things in really quickly.

Wicklow Mountains

Sunday was my favorite day in Ireland. We went on a coach tour, through the Wicklow mountains. It was a beautiful day out and not too chilly. I might come back and name all of the places but it is not that important. So instead, I am going to put up a lot of pictures.

Where James Joyce set the fist chapter of Ulysses.

Practicing my hurling skills

Flat minus Kate

Guinness Lake

Rubgy Match

We went on some tiny little path that we thought was the path to the waterfall. It wasn't but we had a lot of fun.