Central London Walking Tour

Hello All!

Today a few friends and I decided to take the "tube" as it's called into central London to walk around and see a bunch of the famous "tourist" sites.  It turned out to be really easy to get there and we got to see a lot more than I had expected.  When I had first arrived, I was very surprised  by how modern all the architecture was.  I had expected London to be more like Paris where almost all the architecture is true to the 1700-1800s style.  There is truly a huge range of architectural styles in London; however, especially on campus.  I haven't yet taken pictures of campus yet, but one of these days I will.  When I went into central London, however, I got to see a lot more of what I had expected - there were old-style buildings abound!

We took the tube to the embankment station where we could immediately see the London Eye and Big Ben.

 

As we were walking along the River Thames, we were walking along what's called the "Victoria Embankment" which is basically just all the stuff that has been built up over what used to be the marshy bank of the Thames.  We found this little gate which one person noted, "this was built before America was a country!"

Also along the embankment we saw "Cleopatra's Needle," a giant obelisk brought over from Egypt.  It was really cool but apparently the harsher British climate has really worn down all the hieroglyphs.

It was decorated by a two cool sphinxes.

Since there are a bunch of USC people, we had to do a "Fight On!" picture.

We walked along the Thames until we passed by Big Ben (and an anti-war protest going on outside Parliament).

                     

And, just around the corner, we saw Westminister Abbey!  The English major in our group was literally going crazy about all the history and literature associated with Wesminister Abbey and we really wanted to go in but it was £13 to get in and we didn't think it was worth it.  We went into one of the chapels outside of it though and it was pretty cool.

Also along the Thames, we encountered a lot of quintessentially British things.  For instance, there is no "trash" in England, there is only...

And of course we saw some of the famous double-decker buses.

Also along the street along the Thames, we saw a couple WW2 memorials.  Neither was particularly large but it was a nice reminder of the horrible consequences of such wars.

Next up, after quite a long walk, we finally made it to Buckingham Palace!  I really wanted to go on a palace tour, but I don't really think those are open to the public normally.  Also - the guards weren't wearing the traditional red uniforms.  Apparently they were all in their grey winter uniforms.  I didn't realize, however, that the style of the uniform was different depending on where you are from.

The palace itself was quite nice and all the shops around were Royal Wedding crazy.  There's all kinds of Royal Wedding memorabilia available.  What I couldn't believe is that the ENTIRE street out in front of Buckingham Palace was completely full.

What's deceptive about this image, however, is that there is a huge raised fountain surrounded by a round-about separating this area from the actually palace gates.  People would not only be unable to see because of distance, but also because there was a giant fountain in front of them.  Anyway, the palace looked lovely and the gates were very ornate.  There were also parks and gardens off to the sides of the palace which were quite nice.

 

We finished off our day by visiting the world-famous department store, Harrods, which shouldn't have been that long of a walk but we went to far and had to double back.  We ended up asking people on the street for directions three times before we finally found it.  We got to see some really nice shops and quaint houses along the way, though, so it was actually quite nice.

Harrods can't really be described as a department store because first of all, there's only one, and second of all, it is alone the size of a mall.  It has four levels and basically everything you could think of.  Everything from clothes to touristy items to a grocery store.  Furthermore, all the departments are separated into rooms so the layout makes you feel more like you're walking through a house as opposed to the open floor plans of most American department stores.  On the bottom floor, there was a large wine cellar.  I have yet to find a British wine anywhere (apparently the climate is terrible for growing grapes, so I suppose that's understandable) but I ended up consulting with the wine advisor and picking out a nice French red burgundy.  I have yet to taste it (because I want to pair it with some really good cheese and crackers) but I'm just so excited to start keeping track of all the wines I taste in the awesome wine journal my mom gave me for Christmas!

After Harrods, we finally called it quits and I headed back to my room to relax for a little while before going out again to a different pub.  So far it seems like going to the pub is really an almost daily experience, even for the local British students.  At the pub we met up with a couple fellow study abroad students and their British flatmates.  After the pub closed we went back to their flat to hang out in their kitchen and get some insider tips from the British students.  We also learned that there is a thing called "reading week," a week in February where there are no classes so students can catch up on their work.  All of us American students were like - "do you ever go to class?"  Not only do they have the entire month of April off, they also have a week in February off?  For real?  Sounds like there is so much time available to travel!  I can't wait to get started seeing the rest of Europe!

Anywho, today I slept in pretty late (not surprising considering how I've been up past three every night since I've gotten here...including tonight) and went grocery shopping with one of my flatmates.  I was really glad he went with me because the entrance is kind of hidden from view by the car entrance and I'm not sure I would have been able to find it very easily.  I have a bunch of stuff I need to get (namely food and toiletries) but I finally got a duvet and cover!  My first few nights have been pretty cold with just a blanket but my new duvet is quite warm.  I also got a fairly cute green cover that came with a pillow case and bed runner so my bed looks a lot more spiffy now.  I also found out that one of the previous tenants left a bunch of plates and cups and such so I don't feel quite so lost as far as cooking goes anymore.  Also, my flatmates are all super nice and offered to let me borrow a bunch of their stuff.

Tonight, we had our first "flat dinner."  One of my flatmates who loves to cook made a delicious Vietnamese soup.  Afterwards, we spontaneously decided to make a chocolate cake completely from scratch making our own whipped cream from actual cream and a delicious cocoa and golden syrup topping with a layer of nutella.  It was really really delicious.

Even though we started dinner at 7, we ended up not leaving the kitchen till after 1am because we were chatting and hanging out.  There's only one other study abroad student in our flat and he happens to be from USC (although I didn't know him before) so we spent a lot of time telling our flatmates about what it's like to go to school at USC.  They all seem fascinated by the greek system since they don't have anything like that in the UK.  Mostly they can't believe that the stuff they've seen in movies about it actually happens.  Well anyway, it's getting late so I'm going to wrap this post up but I've been having a really great time here in London!  I enroll tomorrow and hopefully I can sort out my timetable (ugh, all my classes clash!).  I have two weeks before I have to finalize my schedule and I want to go to a bunch of different lectures so I can see what I'm interested in before I make a final decision.  Anywho, I've really been enjoying it so far and it's only just beginning!  I can't wait to really get in the swing of things!

More to come soon :)

Stephanie

First Day

Hello All!

I finally feel a bit more settled in now that all my stuff is unpacked and generally in place.  So far everything has been going great!  I can't wait to get out and explore more.

Anyway, going back to the beginning, the flight over to London wasn't that bad.  I ended up bring WAY too much luggage, but oh well.  It was a struggle to get it all into the Prius, but it fit!

I was supposed to leave St. Louis around 5pm, although we ended up being delayed about an hour due to mechanical problems.  Thankfully, I had a pretty long lay-over in Atlanta before my flight to London so I didn't have any problems making my connection.  The flight only took about 8.5 hours so not too bad.  After arriving it took a little while to get through customs then I had to wait a few hours to get on the shuttle, but eventually I made it onto campus.  The staff were all ready to help us check in and were very friendly (as opposed to the stiff upper lip Brit stereotype).  The rooms are fairly nice and very private.  Everyone has their own room and bathroom with a shared kitchen at the end of the hall.  I was expecting my room to be small, but honestly, not THIS small.  The room itself is probably about your average dorm size but the bathroom is really really tiny.  I got used to living in my spacious L.A. size two person apartment with two sinks and a kitchen and living room.

Here's the room:

After a little bit of work, it's starting to look a bit like home:

Across from the bed is a desk that runs the length of the wall from the bathroom to the door.  The desk is actually pretty decently sized and since it's so long there's plenty of desk space.  Clearly they expect us to do a lot of studying!  Check it out:

But, oh, the bathroom.  Don't get me wrong, I'm super thankful I have a private one.  (Although splitting two sinks with Preksha was really never difficult...)  But, alas, it's difficult to shower when the only thing separating the "shower" from the toilet is a flimsy curtain on a track so small it's clinging to your body.  Take a look for yourself.

Notice how the floor is just a floor - no separation between "shower" and "not shower" flooring.  The curtain rides along a rail in the ceiling to protect clothes or towels from the water.  Nothing, however, protects them from the condensation which flows all along the tile walls.

It's truly smaller than the closet I had in my good 'ole L.A. apartment, but alas, it's private, and that is certainly very convenient.  I was also thankful I brought sheets with me since I got in after dark.  While I did bring a thermal blanket, I didn't bring a comforter because it would have taken up too much space.  So, that meant the only real blanket I had was the fleece blanket I brought with me on the plane.

This blanket happened to be mom's Christmas present from me a few years back.  She asked me for "a Donny Osmond Blanket."  Well, I searched the website, found this fleece one, and gave it to her.  Turns out she wanted some limited edition collector's blanket that was significantly more stylish than this little fleece one.  Well, Donny was the perfect size to fold up easily and put in my carry-on, so along to London he went.  Now, every time I see the blanket it reminds me of home.  The pillowcase is of course my adorable dog Agnesi and I didn't leave behind my stuffed animal Wispy either!  Anywho, by Thursday night, I was all settled in and definitely ready to go to bed.

Today, I spent most of the day in orientation; basically just sitting in a lecture hall listening to a bunch of information.  Once all the sessions finished, we began module (British for class) registration.  This would normally be done online, but us study abroad students do everything by paper.  This actually allows us to take classes in multiple departments which UK students can't do.  In the UK, "reading for your degree" is a three year process in which you intensively study your subject and your subject only.  Thus, the online registration system gives access to one department only.  Since we're special, we had class registration in a large conference room where representatives from each department set up booths and we "queued" in order to speak with them about which classes we wanted to take, prerequisites, and timetables to try to figure everything out.  It was a very time consuming process, especially to an American not accustomed to queuing.  In the end, I've found 7 classes that I'm interested in.  I've been signed off for 5 of them, and in the end I'm only going to take 4, and I know for a fact that some of them clash with each other, so Monday after enrollment I'll be sitting down with my timetable and trying to hammer it out, then travelling campus to visit each department to get the necessary signatures.

Here's the options:

1) Physics of Energy and the Environment

2) Aerospace Design

3) Low Speed Aerodynamics

4) Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics

5) Digital Circuit Design

6) The Road From 1945: Britain since the Second World War

7) Society and the State in Britain, 1450-1720

So, we'll see.  I've got this weekend to figure out potential schedules then two weeks before I have to finalize everything.

Already, I've experienced how pubs are central to the British social fabric.  Pubs here are more than just places to drink.  Last night, when I didn't have my internet password, a few friends and I went and hung out at a pub because they had free wifi and it was the only way we could contact home.  Tonight, a bunch of the same people and I went exploring a couple of the other pubs just to hang out for a little bit and get to know each other better.  We got a picture of all of us.

Anywho, I've had a really great time so far and I really can't wait to get to know more people.  Already, we're planning to go explore central London a bit tomorrow (as you can see in the Travel calendar to the right).  It's surprisingly difficult to plan events without cell phones though.  Mostly because we've become the generation that plans 10 minutes in advance.  We actually had to set up a meeting time before we all went back to our dorms otherwise we'd have no way of getting in touch in the morning.  The problem is that if someone is running late you don't have a way of contacting them.  I hope to get a phone either tomorrow or the day after at the shopping mall one tube stop away.  And, it's not just ANY shopping mall, it's Europe's largest urban shopping center built as part of the Olympic Park construction!  I can't wait to check it out!   Well, that's all for now.  I need to get some sleep before my day of exploring tomorrow!

Stephanie

LONDON!

I'M ALIVE!!  Okay - so I made it to London but I didn't have any way of telling anyone for hours!  I need an internet connection to be able to place calls through google voice and unfortunately I won't have internet in my dorm until Monday.  Anyway, as of Monday I should have more to post!  I'm on a really slow wifi connection right now so I'm not even going to try to upload pics but pics are soon to come!

Pre-Travel Updates

Hello All!

There have been numerous pre-travel updates to the site preparing for my semester abroad in London!  I really can't wait to get there and start exploring!  Anywho, let me know what you think of the new layout in the comments.  As soon as I have internet access abroad I'll start posting again!  Hopefully I won't be near as busy in London as I am in L.A. but we'll see.  I'm sure I'll keep busy going to all the sites in London!  EEK!  Too excited!

Among the updates is a travel calendar where I hope to post ideas of sites I'm going to visit in London and weekend trips I hope to take.  Additionally, I have added a google voice gadget that allows for people to call me for free!  Due to the time difference I can't guarantee I will answer (it's 6 hours later in London than in St. Louis and Baton Rouge) but leave me a voice mail and I'll try to call you back!