eh?

Arts Wisconsin uploaded this to their facebook page with the caption "share widely." I assume it is okay for me to re-post it. I thought it was clever.

british birthdays and chocolate assignments.

I didn't blog at all last week and I am currently attempting to play catch up. This post is going to be rather scatter brained, but I hope I get across some key points of things I have done over the past seven days.

We did a walking tour of British markets last week. Most of the markets were closed, which was rather disappointing, but I got a lot of really neat pictures. Again, this shows my interest in ironwork. Carolina blue iron work with the Tower Bridge in the background. Yeah, I love this picture.

Thursday was my 20th birthday! After watching all of my friends break away from being a teenager, I spent a fair amount of time wishing I was no longer 19. Then I slightly freaked out realizing I was 20, because that sounds like a real adult age. Considering everyone here has only known me for a few weeks, my birthday was awesome! Almost everyone on the program came out to dinner with me. We then came back to the flat and had cake and hung out for a little while. It was nice to get dressed up and have a good dinner out with everyone. Not going to lie, though, the first time I was asked my age and answered "20" was really strange. I liked it though. I finally sound like I am the age of a junior.

My homework for my food class this week was to go to a chocolate shop and observe the displays and presentations of the chocolates. I went to Paul A Young Fine Chocolates and it was absolutely amazing. They make the chocolates in the basement of the shop, so it smells completely incredible! The chocolates are made without preservatives, so they have to be eaten relatively immediately, but they experiment with flavors and ingredients more than I have seen in any chocolate shop before. I got two truffles: a salted caramel chocolate bite and a white chocolate truffle with a lavender, honey, rosemary filling. They were some of the best pieces of chocolate I have ever had.

 Tonight I went to another evensong, this time at Westminster abbey. It was so amazing to participate in worship there and to see the abbey without hundreds of tourists. It was so cool. One of the girls and I are planning to attend as many of these as possible. It's an easy way to see the churches without paying for them, and it lets us experience them in they way they were intended to be experienced: as a place of worship.

I can't believe this is the fourth week I have been here. It's flying by and not at the same time. Some days it feels like I have been here forever and some times I feel like I just arrived. I don't think the excitement and shock of being here will ever go away, and I am so thankful for that.

so many audioguides...

I spent last Saturday with the people of my program exploring Bath and Stonehenge. It was a really fun day, but it was quite long. Also, audio guides can get rather obnoxious. I stopped listening eventually. I just couldn't take it all in. But continuing...

 Bath was so pretty. It was neat to see the Roman baths and to learn more about their function and reason for existence. It made me really appreciate modern day technology and developments in sanitation, though. Community cleaning just doesn't appeal to me. But it was neat to see it and the city of Bath seemed really interesting. I wish we had more time to explore the city but we had to leave for Stonehenge. Overall, though, Bath was really pretty and it was a pleasant day to walk around and explore.

Having learned about Stonehenge in art history classes I was really looking forward to going. I had been told before that it was anti-climactic, so I knew not to hype it up too much. The audio guides were really funny, because they basically continuously said that no one was certain why stonehenge was created. There are interesting theories, but everything is relatively up for debate. In general, though, it is really impressive that anyone was able to construct such an interesting thing during that time. People have attempted to reconstruct similar pieces, and have ended up with their rocks sinking into water numerous times.

We had more time than was probably necessary there, and I have far too many pictures of these rocks, but it was fun to go and see it. After the long day everyone was ready to head back and sleep. Getting up early on Saturdays is difficult anywhere. It was nice to have a group trip with everyone on our program that I didn't have to plan. People are currently attempting to schedule day trips and fall break and, honestly, it was nice to have something figured out for me. Sometimes I really just don't want to look up any more train details.

the best lunch ever.

Today in my food class we did a tour of some of the markets of London. It ended near Borough Market and we all stopped for lunch in between classes and homework and such. - We had to, it was part of the total tour experience, right? - Some of us found a shop called The Rabot Estate, which is an exotic chocolate cafe and shop. I had the best lunch I've had so far in London.

It sounds weird, but trust me, it was amazing. It was salty ham and cheddar cheese on a warm chocolate crepe. It was one of the best things I've ever eaten. If you ever find yourself hungry and near borough market, I strongly recommend you go get one.

And one of the other girls got one too, so I'm not the only one who enjoyed such an unusual meal.

Here's the website in case you want to read more!
http://www.rabotestate.com/boroughmarket.html

Insert Beatles lyric here...

This Saturday a group of us decided to go to Liverpool. We spent as much time on the train as we did in the city, but overall it was a great day. The main goal of the trip was to see the Beatles museum, but seeing Liverpool as a whole was really cool.  It was rainy and windy, as usual in Liverpool, but it cleared up in the afternoon and was really rather pretty.  It was fun getting out of London briefly, and it was neat to see all the Beatles stuff since I am such a fan.  I listened to their music the entire train ride there.

This is Albert Dock, which is the dock that had most of the big museums in Liverpool.  It is an active dock, showing some of the maritime influence that Liverpool has.  We even saw a boat come into the area in the rain.  When it was sunny the water was super pretty and it was neat just to walk around and look at the water.

The first thing we did, after lunch that is, was go to the Beatles Story.  The Beatles Story is a museum on the dock that focuses entirely on the history and fame of the Beatles.  It walks you through artifacts and stories of their rise to popularity and their success.  It was interesting learning the story behind their fame, as well as the inspiration of much of their music.  I love their story.

One of the early clubs they played at was called The Cavern, and is still a functional club today.  Outside of it is this statue of John Lennon.  There aren't statues of any of the others, but this one was really neat.  Inside the club their are pictures of all of the famous people who have started at this bar.  They also had Beatles cover musicians playing the whole time, though one of them started his set with Sweet Caroline, which was really fun. 

Outside of the Beatles stuff we did, I spent about an hour or so in the Tate Liverpool.  The museum was having an exhibition of Rene Magritte's works that was totally amazing.  Freshman year I did a paper on his series of pipe paintings, focusing on The Treachery of Images, so it was really fascinating to see some of those pieces.  It was nice to walk through the gallery by myself and completely take in all of the interesting pieces of art.  He plays with ideas of representation, label and image, and asks philosophical questions of what the purpose of art even is.  Total Art History major moment, but it was probably the highlight of the day.

I am loving London still, though, and was kind of sad when I realized that I won't get many entire weekends in the city.  Time is so limited and it is difficult to decide how best to spend it all.  I know I won't get to do everything, but I hope to be able to take advantage of as many things as possible.

It is currently warm enough for chacos.

I expected to arrive in London and basically stay cold until next May. That is not the case. The weather here has been beautiful these past few days and I have wandered around the city in jeans and short sleeves a lot recently. The breezes add a little chill and the occasional rain is rather unpleasant but overall I could totally be comfortable in chacos.

 

My love for ironwork has returned. I don't know what it is but I find old iron fences and lights really beautiful. I have taken lots of pictures trying to get interesting compositions and background behind iron structures. This is in front of St. Paul's Cathedral. Most of the major churches and cathedrals do Evensong, which is a time during the late afternoon when they have music and a small service. These times are free to the public and are really fun to attend. A group of us went to the one at St. Paul's on Thursday before heading to the Globe theater. I still haven't been up in the dome of the cathedral but it is on my list of things to do. The music of the choir sounded amazing in such a big room and it was neat to see the cathedral in use, opposed to simply crowded with a massive number of tourists.

After the Evensong we went to the Globe Theater where we watched Much Ado About Nothing. We had groundling tickets, which meant we had to stand the whole time in front of the stage. I was worried about not being able to see, so a group of us got there incredibly early to make sure we were in the front. I ended up being fifth in line. I got to literally lean on the stage the entire performance, and the actors engaged people from our group multiple times. It was a great performance and I was really pleased to be so close to the stage. And if you are a Fresh Prince of Bel Air fan, the actor who played Geoffrey on the television series played Leonato in the play. We were all incredibly excited; one of the guys with us even squealed.

On Saturday we had a massive tour of Westminster. It was fascinating to learn about the history of the Abbey, but a three and a half hour tour is difficult to manage. By the end we were all ready for lunch and an opportunity to sit down. I'm hoping to attend and Evensong at the Abbey so that I can take in the overall grandeur of the building. I saw a lot of memorial plaques and stained glass, but I didn't get to take it all in as a collective whole.

After the tour a few of us walked back to our flat together and decided to stop and take typical touristy pictures at Trafalgar Square. Apparently the woman on the left of the picture really wanted to join in with us.

Saturday night there was a public festival along the Thames River. There were street vendors and music and a few of us walked around just enjoying the relaxing evening. Some of us got cupcakes with London icons on them, and they were quite yummy. It was fun doing something local, instead of just touring another major spot. I am enjoying all of the sight seeing, but it was nice to get a little break.

My schedule this week will be a little bit lighter and hopefully I will really get into the swing of things. The library here is still on it's summer schedule with limited hours, so I haven't quite figured out the best place to study. If only Davis Library were a five minute walk away...

life in london.

Friday afternoon I left the Greensboro airport with my luggage, another girl on the program, and my bear, and I set out for London. I arrived Saturday morning a little jet lagged but incredibly excited that I was in London. The next few days were spent unpacking and grocery shopping, preparing the flat and getting to know the other twelve students on the program. I live in a flat with five other girls, and the rest of the program students live right around us. We are very close to the British Museums, which makes my walk to class really fun. I keep wandering around and having to remind myself that I am living here for the next three months.

The group took a bus tour around London on Sunday, and saw various sights that we now hope to return to. The list of things I want to do before I leave is already unbelievably long, although I am still open to suggestions.

Classes started on Tuesday and I have four classes. They are: London as a Literary Crossroads, The Food and History of London, The Museums of London, and the London Art World. All of them will involve trips around the city, getting to know the rich culture and history of the area I am living in. Next week I will start my internship at the Print Room, an art gallery for print makers. I am excited about the gallery and about having an internship that gets me out and into London in a way the classes wont.

Living here is so different than visiting. I have done some touristy things but not anywhere close to the number I did in the four days I was here a few years ago. I am exploring the city as my current residence, trying to learn my way around so that I can do it again, not just to get me from place to place one time. I know the time will fly, but it is neat to think about London as my current home, and not just a vacation spot.

It is fun to walk around and observe the life around me. There are so many people here, and not just traditional Londoners. This is a very global city, full of tourists, students and residents that come from around the continent and world. I can sit on the tube and hear accents and languages that I have never heard before. I am definitely not in small town North Carolina anymore. Hopefully soon I will feel just as comfortable walking and traveling through the city as the locals do, but until then I am enjoying exploring and keeping my map close by.

I MADE IT.

After a long flight, I finally made it to London yesterday at around 11:30 local time. I spent yesterday afternoon getting situated and doing some shopping. This morning we went on a group tour of the city and then I did more shopping to get situated in our flat. We have more orientation tomorrow and then classes start on Tuesday. I have to constantly remind myself that I am LIVING here for the next few months. Somehow it just hasn't sunk in yet. As I get more comfortable and settled in I will post more. Just wanted to tell everyone that I arrived safely. :)