Hello Everyone! The snow is gone, (for now) and the rain has stopped for the time being. I have a feeling we will be getting more rain storms this weekend, but weather prediction is not one of London’s strengths. I am now half way through my FIFTH week… can you believe that I have been here for more then a month… I can’t believe it either… I know I haven’t been completely overtaken by the English culture because yesterday my mother asked me to “say something British”… and how I would go along doing that is beyond me, because I don’t really know what “speaking British” would entail exactly …. I guess I can give you one phrase I enjoy in particular, which is “it’s a bit cheeky” meaning “it’s a little weird”… I try to use it as much as possible during the day…
Classes are going really well…I am learning more then I would ever need to know about London and the powerhouse city it is… or was … and the more I learn about it, the more paranoid I become. There are so many rules, regulations, and not to mention the camera’s that take millions of pictures a minute to make sure every person, car and boat is in check. London is the most watched city in the ENTIRE WORLD. There are underground computer stations where hundreds of people watch and keep track of the flow of traffic, and perspective criminals. London’s systems are so advanced that the streetlights can predict a traffic jam and alternate the signal so it will help the flow of traffic. Pretty amazing. They say that since I have been here, my picture has been taken millions and millions of times. Talk about your invasion of privacy… I can’t even keep track of everything I do…
Again, the history and stories are truly amazing. Did you know that it is illegal to die in a royal palace without the monarchy’s consent? I have no idea what the punishment would be if you do in fact die in a Palace, but it is a Law. Angie, our tour guide, said it was set up so that people living in the palace would stop killing each other in order to steal the crown … This theory was almost tested, however, when one of the Prime Ministers was shot in the House of Parliament in the 1970’s. Everyone was so scared as to what would happen if he did die in Parliament, which Original Name is The Palace of Westminster (because it was original a Palace, that was given to parliament by King Henry VIII because it smelled so bad), that when the Prime Minister was shot, they picked him up and ran him outside. The interesting part, however is that the shot itself was not the cause of death, but rather the shock from being dragged out Parliament. Better to be safe then sorry I guess.
Along with learning about London, I have met a lot of fun new people. I live in a three person room (the biggest one out of the whole group) on the ground floor of the building. (In England the “1st floor” is called the ground floor and the “2nd floor” is called the 1st floor… it gets a little confusing when dealing with more then 5 levels or basements) Both of my roommates are really nice and funny. The only thing is, we are all sorority girls, meaning we are not use to having to cook our own meals, wash our own dishes and clean up after every mess. It seem kind of pathetic, but sorority houses are not the best places to live in order to become self sufficient. We are learning though. I am happy to report that last week, my roommate Becky did her first load of laundry with great success! It took her two hours, but that’s an outstanding accomplishment on her part! Also, my other roommate Melissa is improving her acoustic singing skills… This one needs a little more explanation. So, here’s the story. Melissa is one of the funniest and most outgoing people I have met. She loves to party and have a good time… maybe a little more then the average person, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Some nights when we come home after a night out, Melissa is not ready to go to bed. That’s fine, if she wants to stay up and continue to have a good time, that’s totally up to her. However, what Becky and I recently discovered is that Melissa, not only likes to stay up and continue to party, but she likes to “serenade” the entire apartment for the rest of the night. Yes, Melissa likes to sing with her i-pod, as loud as she can. I was dying when I first experienced this. Becky and I have video so I can show the proof later… But here’s the thing, Melissa not only likes to belt out these tunes, (well screech is a better word for what she does) but she likes to replay the same song about 15 times. Last nights performance was her rendition of Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance” for a good hour. Becky and I know all the lyrics by heart now… All in all, I love my roommates, they are wonderful girls that I have a great time with.
It is sad to think that I only have 2 and ½ months left of my Great Britain Adventure. I never want to leave this place. The magic of the city has yet to wear off. Even with the huge snow storm last week that put London at a halt, because the London transportation system doesn’t know how to deal with snow that doesn’t melt right away, I still think it is one of the best places to live. (Not that I have lived many places) But I have a feeling that for people that love the city lifestyle, London is a perfect location. (P.S. – Daddy, I think it would be extremely exciting/educational to return for the 2012 Olympics…….) TALK TO YOU ALL SOON!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Tower of London
Hello from London! Yes I know it has been some time since my last entry (2 weeks)… but it doesn’t mean that I have not been experiencing London, and some places just outside, to their full potential…. I had a long conversation with Daddy the other day about how I am not really exploring London enough and that I am just experiencing its nightlife. Although both of my previous entries have involved the participation of activities at local bars of pubs, it does not mean that I haven’t been taking in London’s many sights and monuments… to prove such point, I will now start posting a “monument tour reflection” a day to show you all what I have ACTUALLY been learning while on my trip…
Tower of London
The Tower of London in located in the City Of London, one of the two cities in London (The City of London and Westminster) London is similar to New York in that it is made up of 33 boroughs. The original London is located in The City which was in whole only 1 sq mile. William the Conqueror became king in 1066AD and built a fortress right off the river to protect his kingdom from his enemy’s who would attack him from the river…. Yes… the Tower of London is not actually a tower… but in fact a Castle… One of the first castles in London… When it was completed in 1097 it was the tallest building in London…. It really incredible to look at… it still amazes me that people back in day were able to build such elaborate building and castles without the use of modern tools…. The Tower was expanded by Edward I, who was said to be a little bit of a control freak. He built 2 walls to surround the Tower. Little of the original outside wall remains today, but there are diagrams of what it used to look like. There were look out towers that were evening spaced. Each entrance had a draw bridge and a guard gate, with series of traps that one would have to get through in order to get to the inside of the Tower.
The Tower today is still functioning. It is used to hold the crown jewels, because it is said to be the most secure place in London… That is probably due the fact that the Tower is protected 365 days a year by the Beefeaters: the guards of the Tower. The term Beefeaters came from what the original beefeaters use to do. They were the ones that use to eat the meat before the monarchy would to make sure that is wasn’t poisonous… This is another thing that I am learning in London. TRADITION! I thought USC was crazy with their traditions…. London has for sure blown us out of the water on that…. Every building had a story and a tradition behind it…. Tower of London Story: When King Edward ruled, he went on vacation or something… anyways… he left the castle… when he came back early he found that he could have easily gotten into the gates without a struggle because everything was unlocked….. Being the control freak he was, he demanded that the kingdom be locked-up entirely every night at 10 pm. SO Tower of London Tradition: To this day, the Tower has been looked at 10pm with a keys ceremony. Yep… Every night at 10 the procession of beefeaters and the keeper of the keys lock up the tower… EVERYNIGHT….. They have never missed a night locking up the Tower… they have only been about 8 minuets late one night due to a bomb during WWII…. But it was ok because they wrote a letter of apology to the king….. Crazy….
Anyways… back to the most important part of the Tower…. THE JEWEL ROOM! All of the crown jewels for the coronation and state events are kept in the Tower. I saw a 350k and a 500k diamond… it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! This is just another reason why I should be Royal…
Tower of London
The Tower of London in located in the City Of London, one of the two cities in London (The City of London and Westminster) London is similar to New York in that it is made up of 33 boroughs. The original London is located in The City which was in whole only 1 sq mile. William the Conqueror became king in 1066AD and built a fortress right off the river to protect his kingdom from his enemy’s who would attack him from the river…. Yes… the Tower of London is not actually a tower… but in fact a Castle… One of the first castles in London… When it was completed in 1097 it was the tallest building in London…. It really incredible to look at… it still amazes me that people back in day were able to build such elaborate building and castles without the use of modern tools…. The Tower was expanded by Edward I, who was said to be a little bit of a control freak. He built 2 walls to surround the Tower. Little of the original outside wall remains today, but there are diagrams of what it used to look like. There were look out towers that were evening spaced. Each entrance had a draw bridge and a guard gate, with series of traps that one would have to get through in order to get to the inside of the Tower.
The Tower today is still functioning. It is used to hold the crown jewels, because it is said to be the most secure place in London… That is probably due the fact that the Tower is protected 365 days a year by the Beefeaters: the guards of the Tower. The term Beefeaters came from what the original beefeaters use to do. They were the ones that use to eat the meat before the monarchy would to make sure that is wasn’t poisonous… This is another thing that I am learning in London. TRADITION! I thought USC was crazy with their traditions…. London has for sure blown us out of the water on that…. Every building had a story and a tradition behind it…. Tower of London Story: When King Edward ruled, he went on vacation or something… anyways… he left the castle… when he came back early he found that he could have easily gotten into the gates without a struggle because everything was unlocked….. Being the control freak he was, he demanded that the kingdom be locked-up entirely every night at 10 pm. SO Tower of London Tradition: To this day, the Tower has been looked at 10pm with a keys ceremony. Yep… Every night at 10 the procession of beefeaters and the keeper of the keys lock up the tower… EVERYNIGHT….. They have never missed a night locking up the Tower… they have only been about 8 minuets late one night due to a bomb during WWII…. But it was ok because they wrote a letter of apology to the king….. Crazy….
Anyways… back to the most important part of the Tower…. THE JEWEL ROOM! All of the crown jewels for the coronation and state events are kept in the Tower. I saw a 350k and a 500k diamond… it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! This is just another reason why I should be Royal…
Monday, January 12, 2009
The difference between a pub, bar and club...
First off let me just say how jealous we all are that it is 80 degrees in California... and the all time high in London at the moment is around the low 20's.... However, I would rather be freezing in London then hot in LA...
Anyways... now that have gone out every night and have talked with the locals, I feel I have the ability to share some of the information I have discovered thus far... I need to give the background on how I received this information first thou, because the story itself is good.
So this past Saturday, after I wrote my first entry, I decided that I needed to do something with my life after sleeping a good 12 hours. I took a shower and headed over to the boy's flat with a couple girls so we could plan out the evening. By this time it was around 11:30pm and looking highly unlikely that we would be doing anything. We were all still hopeful. After doing a little research online (a Google search of bars in our area that were open past 2am) one of the guys came across a bar called "the moose" which had pretty high reviews and was open until 3am on a Saturday. SOLD! Now, the question was, how do we get there. There is actually a web site that you can go on, kind of like mapquest, which you type in your starting and ending destinations and it tells you what buses to take. In order to get to this bar on Duke St. we had to walk to Great Russell Square (around the corner) get on the N(night)91, get off and get on the N87 then get off that and get on the N44. The boys were all about this little adventure. The girls, not so much. I think we made if half way through the N87 and decided it would be faster to take a cab. 10 minutes later we arrived at the bar, which consisted of a lounge area with tables and bar, and a downstairs that had a bathroom, coat check and a large room with another bar, dance floor, DJ and sitting area around the outside. The sitting area was the best part because it was a wrap-around couch with cow print. The music was old early 90's and the dance floor was packed with creepy guys who stair and dance by themselves. Lesson #1) In the UK, the really cute guys don't talk to you. They just stare at you from across the room. Apparently it is a British thing? Because the guys that actually do talk to you, are really persistent and creepy. So, in order to talk to the cute ones, when you find out they are staring at you, you have to approach them. After dancing a little with the girls, the boys finally showed up, around 2:15pm. Lesson #2) always have part of the group in the club/bar already if you know you are going to be late. An hour before closing, no one is aloud in if they are not already with someone. We then went to the bar for a couple of drinks. Lesson #3) ALWAYS ask for a double because the shots are smaller in the Europe AND they measure them. They don't understand the American concept of pouring heavy. 2 double gin and tonics later, we all went down for more dancing. Lesson #4) If you want to look less American on the dance floor, you have to dance with yourself and look like you are having a lot of fun. After a little while a friend and I were dance (beside) a couple of Scottish guys who had gone out for a friend’s birthday. I went to the bar with John (actually named Kevin, but goes by John because he likes it better, so I named him Kevin John) to get another drink and asked about the difference between a pub, a bar and a club. He explained it to me. Lesson #5) a pub is a place that you go to after work or class and met up with people. Sometimes you go for dinner as well. A bar is a place that you go to for the night to dance and hang out and drink. There usually no food served in a bar and the never really beer on tap. A club is a place to go to that you have to pay to get into, and usually for the purpose of dancing and picking up people. (Lesson #6) UK people don't "pre-game" their idea of drinking before they go out is going to a pub. Where they get all the money to do this is beyond me. 3am rolled around and we were kicked out of the bar. It was a good thing it wasn't any later because we all had a bus tour the next morning at 9am. I drank about 2 liters of water on the bus. Not my finest moment. Lesson #7) After a long night of drinking and having to get up the next morning for a 4 hour bus tour, it is TOTALLY worth it to buy a £9 hamburger. It may be expensive but the Brits know how to make a good hangover meal.
I hope this bit of information will help with your travels in the UK. LOVE and MISS you all!
xoxo
Saturday, January 10, 2009
First Weeknd
Hello All!
I thought I should start a blog since the time difference has prevented me from speaking to any of you... It seems that the only time that we all are on at the same time is around 3:30 am here and I wouldn't be able to form sentences because the pubs don't close till 3am.... (Don’t worry parents I am being responsible) I took a couple Tylenol PM last night to get adjusted to the time difference and didn't wake up until 2 pm today, so I think it is going to take a few more days to get use to the time difference. I guess I should let you all know what I have been up to this past weekend
Wed Jan 7th
I got dropped off at the airport around 4pm and said the last goodbye to the parents and brother. I was so excited to be starting my adventure. I found a few people I knew already sitting at the gate. Finally the whole group showed up and we all were buzzing with excitement. When it was my turn to board the plane I got called up to the counter. They had changed my seat. I was thinking, oh great now I’m stuck in the middle. But actually it turned out to be a way better seat then I had before. I was put on the outside of a two person row, and I woman I sat next to didn't get up that much. So what was the most exciting part of the flight? THE TOUCH-SCREEN TVS!!!! The TV's were like little computers and had several categories. I watch 2 out of the 10 choices of movies, so that kept me occupied me for most of the flight. I slept for the rest of the flight
Thur. Jan 8th
"Just touched down in London Town" When I arrived we had to go through the "non-UK" line and I gave the man my papers, got my bags. I was really surprised after that the customs line only took two minutes... well actually there wasn't really a customs line it was really more the dog sniffing the bags. We all met up and got on the bus to get to our flats. I live in flat 18 B which is right next to the front door. It took about 20 minutes to open the front door because the lock was stuck. How most of the flats are set up is there are two bedrooms, 1 kitchen/living room and 2 bathrooms. Ours however, is the front flat and our room is connected to the kitchen and bathroom unit. The other bedroom in 18 B is not connected to our unit, which is nice because it is like we have our own flat. AND everyone has decided that our room is the biggest! My bed is right under the front window and next to the heater which is nice. It is really warm because I have been able to sleep in shorts and still be hot under the blankets at night. My window looks right out onto Bedford Street, and is right across the street from the Duke of Bedford’s Huge Apartment. (Oh and by the way, Angie our tour guide says if your every met the Duke of Bedford, even if he is uglier then the side of a building, you should marry him because you can always get a divorce and a nice settlement after.) We then got ready around 4:15pm for our welcome dinner that the pub. It was really cute. We had the room upstairs which was set up with tables and snacks. I went down with my friend to buy our first British Beer (which actually ended up being a Heineken - I’ll have to get use to the darker beer so I can drink the local stuff) and when I ordered it I was carded! Yes I was carded in London; I guess Americans look really young because the drinking age is 18. Most of the group stayed for a couple hours and left. The group of 6 that I was hanging out with felt it was two early to go home because it was only 6:30, so we continued to drink. Two hours and 3 beers later, we went down stairs to hang for a little longer. Nick, one of the guys in our group says he has a photographic memory and he knew how to get back because he had lived in London when he was 11 and knew his way around. I think beer inhibited his ability a little because the 15 min walk there took 30 minutes to walk home, (minus the time it took for us to take a picture with lion statue outside the British museum). It was a good start to the trip.
Friday Jan 9th
I didn't really sleep a lot due to the confusion of the time difference. We had to get up for a 9:30am orientation meeting at our School, which is really the University of Florida's building. We got the information about the classes and what will be happening on the trip. We also got safety information from PC Foster who is a police officer in London. After, the whole group went to get cell phones for £5 which is really good. We met up for our walking tour around 2pm to get historical and practical information about the area we are living in. This was really interesting because each building has a story, and out tour guide Angie knew the stories. It would be like; this is the house that Charles Dickens used in his story The Tale of Two cities. And this I where they filmed My Fair Lady. I love it here. After we all got changed and met up for our group dinner at 'Spaccanapoli' Pizza. It was really good because actual Italians were making them. AND they were meter long pizzas. We all went back to hang out a little and get ready for the night. A group of about 10 of us decided we want to go to a pub and ended up at a nice place in So-ho. We danced and drank, and basically looked American because we were the only ones who were dancing.
Sat Jan 10th
I came home and took Tylenol PM in hopes that it will help with the time difference, but it just made me sleepy most of the day which is how I came to writing this blog.
Hope this is a better way of keeping you all informed about my stay in London. Love and miss you all!!
xoxo
I thought I should start a blog since the time difference has prevented me from speaking to any of you... It seems that the only time that we all are on at the same time is around 3:30 am here and I wouldn't be able to form sentences because the pubs don't close till 3am.... (Don’t worry parents I am being responsible) I took a couple Tylenol PM last night to get adjusted to the time difference and didn't wake up until 2 pm today, so I think it is going to take a few more days to get use to the time difference. I guess I should let you all know what I have been up to this past weekend
Wed Jan 7th
I got dropped off at the airport around 4pm and said the last goodbye to the parents and brother. I was so excited to be starting my adventure. I found a few people I knew already sitting at the gate. Finally the whole group showed up and we all were buzzing with excitement. When it was my turn to board the plane I got called up to the counter. They had changed my seat. I was thinking, oh great now I’m stuck in the middle. But actually it turned out to be a way better seat then I had before. I was put on the outside of a two person row, and I woman I sat next to didn't get up that much. So what was the most exciting part of the flight? THE TOUCH-SCREEN TVS!!!! The TV's were like little computers and had several categories. I watch 2 out of the 10 choices of movies, so that kept me occupied me for most of the flight. I slept for the rest of the flight
Thur. Jan 8th
"Just touched down in London Town" When I arrived we had to go through the "non-UK" line and I gave the man my papers, got my bags. I was really surprised after that the customs line only took two minutes... well actually there wasn't really a customs line it was really more the dog sniffing the bags. We all met up and got on the bus to get to our flats. I live in flat 18 B which is right next to the front door. It took about 20 minutes to open the front door because the lock was stuck. How most of the flats are set up is there are two bedrooms, 1 kitchen/living room and 2 bathrooms. Ours however, is the front flat and our room is connected to the kitchen and bathroom unit. The other bedroom in 18 B is not connected to our unit, which is nice because it is like we have our own flat. AND everyone has decided that our room is the biggest! My bed is right under the front window and next to the heater which is nice. It is really warm because I have been able to sleep in shorts and still be hot under the blankets at night. My window looks right out onto Bedford Street, and is right across the street from the Duke of Bedford’s Huge Apartment. (Oh and by the way, Angie our tour guide says if your every met the Duke of Bedford, even if he is uglier then the side of a building, you should marry him because you can always get a divorce and a nice settlement after.) We then got ready around 4:15pm for our welcome dinner that the pub. It was really cute. We had the room upstairs which was set up with tables and snacks. I went down with my friend to buy our first British Beer (which actually ended up being a Heineken - I’ll have to get use to the darker beer so I can drink the local stuff) and when I ordered it I was carded! Yes I was carded in London; I guess Americans look really young because the drinking age is 18. Most of the group stayed for a couple hours and left. The group of 6 that I was hanging out with felt it was two early to go home because it was only 6:30, so we continued to drink. Two hours and 3 beers later, we went down stairs to hang for a little longer. Nick, one of the guys in our group says he has a photographic memory and he knew how to get back because he had lived in London when he was 11 and knew his way around. I think beer inhibited his ability a little because the 15 min walk there took 30 minutes to walk home, (minus the time it took for us to take a picture with lion statue outside the British museum). It was a good start to the trip.
Friday Jan 9th
I didn't really sleep a lot due to the confusion of the time difference. We had to get up for a 9:30am orientation meeting at our School, which is really the University of Florida's building. We got the information about the classes and what will be happening on the trip. We also got safety information from PC Foster who is a police officer in London. After, the whole group went to get cell phones for £5 which is really good. We met up for our walking tour around 2pm to get historical and practical information about the area we are living in. This was really interesting because each building has a story, and out tour guide Angie knew the stories. It would be like; this is the house that Charles Dickens used in his story The Tale of Two cities. And this I where they filmed My Fair Lady. I love it here. After we all got changed and met up for our group dinner at 'Spaccanapoli' Pizza. It was really good because actual Italians were making them. AND they were meter long pizzas. We all went back to hang out a little and get ready for the night. A group of about 10 of us decided we want to go to a pub and ended up at a nice place in So-ho. We danced and drank, and basically looked American because we were the only ones who were dancing.
Sat Jan 10th
I came home and took Tylenol PM in hopes that it will help with the time difference, but it just made me sleepy most of the day which is how I came to writing this blog.
Hope this is a better way of keeping you all informed about my stay in London. Love and miss you all!!
xoxo
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