So far I really love London. It is just such an interesting and beautiful place. There are so many intricate little side streets to get lost on and parks to relax in. The whole city is so easy to get around, and the weather is perfect. It’s exactly the kind of cool, semi-cloudy weather I love.
I slept quite well last night. It was a bit noisy since my room looks out on the main road, but I was so tired I could have slept through anything. Between 4:00-7:00 a.m. all was silent. It was so nice. I woke up around 5:00 a.m. to find the sun already completely up and I felt well rested. I didn’t need to get up until 10:00 so I went back to sleep for a few hours. I finally rolled out of bed around 9:00, went upstairs to shower, then I wandered down the street to find a café for breakfast and a coffee. My roomie and I ended up finding the Goodage tube station, which I think is the closest even though everyone else seems to like Euston.
After grabbing a grande chai latte I headed back to Byng to meet up with everyone for the scavenger hunt. Dr. Harf divided us into 10 groups. We basically had a list of really random things that we needed to go find and take pictures of. The whole concept was to get us out and about and exploring the city. There were 3 people in my group, myself included. We stopped at Euston so the girls could buy an oyster card, I topped mine off, and then we headed down to South Kensington. The oyster cards are great. It costs £3 to buy a card and then you just put how ever much money you want on it as you go. It is so easy to use and very easy to top off. The best part is, is the most they will charge you on it per day is £5.30 which is the cost of an all day pass. So even if you’re doing a lot of traveling around in one day, it will never cost you more than a full day ticket.
We ended up doing a lot more roaming around of our own rather than looking for things on the list for the scavenger hunt. I think we got to see more interesting places that way. We popped into the V&A and then passed the Natural History Museum, strolled through Kensington Garden where we looked at the Peter Pan statue. Then we walked past Royal Albert Hall and stopped at a small café for lunch. After that we got on the tube and headed to St. James’s Park. We walked through the park, went by Buckingham Palace, walked down the Mall, passed Parliament and Big Ben and then we got to Trafalgar Square.
Trafalgar Sqaure was PACKED! There were so many people. I guess today they were having a Jewish celebration of sorts which turned into a rather controversial scene. Everyone was yelling and waving flags. The whole thing turned into an anti-Israel pro-Palestine event. People were waving Palestinian flags and handing out fliers about how we are killing Palestine and Israel needs to perish. In short, it was a rather scary scene and we left as quickly as possible.
After all that, we headed back to Byng to freshen up before meeting with the rest of the group at a pub called Night and Day. It is a very nice place and they have excellent food. It was very clean and well kept and just down the road from the building we have classes in. I ordered a chicken, mozzarella, and pesto baguette for £4.50 with a glass of ice cold water which tasted amazing.
Between lugging all my bags here, walking for 5 hours today, and going up and down the 70+ stairs to get to and from my room I have definitely been getting a good workout.
Right now a small group of us walked back to Byng to shower and take a short nap. I think later this evening we will go to a pub to watch a game of football. I really like Kensington. Everything was so beautiful and interesting around there. I think I’ll really enjoy living there in the fall. Later in the trip after I’ve gotten a feel for how classes are going, I would like to go back to Kensington and poke around a bit more and find exactly where I’ll be.
I just got back from Blackfriar Pub. I absolutely LOVE it. It is my favourite place so far. It is exactly the kind of place I’ve been hoping to find. It is right at the top of the tube station and it is a really cool looking building. The atmosphere inside is so warm and cozy and I just got a sense of peace. It is the perfect place to curl up in the corner and read a book or write a paper. I REALLY love it.
Tomorrow morning a bunch of us are going to go to this place near the school for breakfast. One of the girls that is here came on the trip last year so she knows a lot of cool places to go. We have orientation from 9:30-7:00 tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day. We have two walkikng tours we have to go on and then a bunch of mandatory meetings. I just got the internet on my computer tonight, hence the late posts. We weren’t supposed to get the passcode until tomorrow but one of the girls that lives here told us what it was. So, that means I will definitely be able to post daily :)
29.6.08
Moving In
Well, here I am. I made it to Byng Place safely and with all my luggage! Both of my flights were delayed due to weather, but at least I didn’t miss my connecting flight. The first plane I was on was super tiny. I guess that made the big plane feel even more comfortable.
I got through the Chicago airport no problems, and I didn’t have a problem getting through Heathrow either. Immigration, on the other hand, was another story all together. The guy was nice he was just doing his job, and he was all confused as to why I had a visa in there for a trip I haven’t gone on yet. After a torrent of questions he finally let me through.
I found my way to baggage reclaim and the underground. It was really hot in the airport. Everyone was sweating buckets. I bought a day pass for the tube from the self-serve machine and I caught the first train to Cockfosters. The ride was very nice. A lot of it was above ground once we got away from the airport so I got to see a lot of little neighbourhoods between the airport and Bloomsbury. It was interesting to see the different people getting on in different places. At one of the stops it was all Middle Eastern people, at another it was all Hispanic and so on. The tricky part of my journey came when they announced that the Russell Square station would be closed for the duration of the weekend for maintenance. I had to leap off the subway at Holbourn and then walk to Byng, which is easier said than done.
All the directions I was given were from Russell Square, but luckily I had a small map that helped me wiggle my way through the side streets. I tried to look for big things I knew like the British Museum and Russell Square. Once I found those, I was pretty much set. My back and shoulders are soar though from lugging around my backpack and suitcase. I was wandering around, semi-lost, for about half an hour if not more. The weather here is beautiful, just not when you’re wearing a black turtleneck and lugging bags equivalent to half your total body weight.
The dorm is a rather typical dorm. I have pictures on my online photo album if you’d like to see them. I am in room 309, which is really the fourth floor since the first floor is the ground floor. I’ll definitely get my workout climbing up and down the stairs all day long.
The view is really nice from my room. It looks out over the main road, a small park is slightly to the left, a pretty brick building to the right, a beautiful cathedral, and a set of red phone booths and weathered wood benches.
I guess a lot of students were having trouble with their flights being delayed so not many people ended up going to Coven Garden. We’ll do that another weekend. I actually preferred it this way. I had time to get settled in and all organized. Then I took a short 40 minute power nap. I only got about 2 hours sleep on the plane, so I’m rather tired.
Around 7:30 we all met up in the common room downstairs to go to these two pubs. The first we went to was called College Arms. It was a nice little pub if you wanted to take in a soccer game. That pub didn’t serve food, at least not at night, so we headed over to the Museum Tavern. There people ordered food and more drinks. The tavern is located right across the street from the British Museum. It has a lot of dark wood and a very warm feeling but I think it usually attracts an older crowd than our group.
Then a group of us walked back and missed the turn to Byng so we found Euston station. We just overshot the dorm by a block. It was a nice walkl though. A group of us did a little exploring around the dorm and found a few computers and a small kitchenette on the first floor.
That’s about it for today. All in all it was a rather smooth journey, minus the long hot walk from Holburn to Byng. Even that I think was a good thing. It made me a bit more familiar with the roads around here.
Well, I think I’m going to get ready for bed. I’m tired from traveling and we have a long day of walking and adventures tomorrow. We are going on a scavenger hunt from 11-5 in randomly assigned groups. Hopefully I won’t get too lost with my group, and hopefully I’ll make some good new friends.
I got through the Chicago airport no problems, and I didn’t have a problem getting through Heathrow either. Immigration, on the other hand, was another story all together. The guy was nice he was just doing his job, and he was all confused as to why I had a visa in there for a trip I haven’t gone on yet. After a torrent of questions he finally let me through.
I found my way to baggage reclaim and the underground. It was really hot in the airport. Everyone was sweating buckets. I bought a day pass for the tube from the self-serve machine and I caught the first train to Cockfosters. The ride was very nice. A lot of it was above ground once we got away from the airport so I got to see a lot of little neighbourhoods between the airport and Bloomsbury. It was interesting to see the different people getting on in different places. At one of the stops it was all Middle Eastern people, at another it was all Hispanic and so on. The tricky part of my journey came when they announced that the Russell Square station would be closed for the duration of the weekend for maintenance. I had to leap off the subway at Holbourn and then walk to Byng, which is easier said than done.
All the directions I was given were from Russell Square, but luckily I had a small map that helped me wiggle my way through the side streets. I tried to look for big things I knew like the British Museum and Russell Square. Once I found those, I was pretty much set. My back and shoulders are soar though from lugging around my backpack and suitcase. I was wandering around, semi-lost, for about half an hour if not more. The weather here is beautiful, just not when you’re wearing a black turtleneck and lugging bags equivalent to half your total body weight.
The dorm is a rather typical dorm. I have pictures on my online photo album if you’d like to see them. I am in room 309, which is really the fourth floor since the first floor is the ground floor. I’ll definitely get my workout climbing up and down the stairs all day long.
The view is really nice from my room. It looks out over the main road, a small park is slightly to the left, a pretty brick building to the right, a beautiful cathedral, and a set of red phone booths and weathered wood benches.
I guess a lot of students were having trouble with their flights being delayed so not many people ended up going to Coven Garden. We’ll do that another weekend. I actually preferred it this way. I had time to get settled in and all organized. Then I took a short 40 minute power nap. I only got about 2 hours sleep on the plane, so I’m rather tired.
Around 7:30 we all met up in the common room downstairs to go to these two pubs. The first we went to was called College Arms. It was a nice little pub if you wanted to take in a soccer game. That pub didn’t serve food, at least not at night, so we headed over to the Museum Tavern. There people ordered food and more drinks. The tavern is located right across the street from the British Museum. It has a lot of dark wood and a very warm feeling but I think it usually attracts an older crowd than our group.
Then a group of us walked back and missed the turn to Byng so we found Euston station. We just overshot the dorm by a block. It was a nice walkl though. A group of us did a little exploring around the dorm and found a few computers and a small kitchenette on the first floor.
That’s about it for today. All in all it was a rather smooth journey, minus the long hot walk from Holburn to Byng. Even that I think was a good thing. It made me a bit more familiar with the roads around here.
Well, I think I’m going to get ready for bed. I’m tired from traveling and we have a long day of walking and adventures tomorrow. We are going on a scavenger hunt from 11-5 in randomly assigned groups. Hopefully I won’t get too lost with my group, and hopefully I’ll make some good new friends.
26.6.08
Here we go!
Hi everyone!
I cannot believe I'm going to England tomorrow! I should be getting into London around 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.
To keep in touch with everyone I have set up a blog site as well as an online photo album. I am hoping that I will be able to get to a computer with internet access on a daily basis to write about my experiences and share my photos with you all. Right now the sites are empty, obviously since I'm not there yet, but I have included the links below. If I cannot get to a computer daily, I will try posting on the site as often as I can to make sure you all get the latest and greatest.
It looks like I will be in class Monday-Thursday from 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The two classes I'm taking are Museums and Galleries and The History of London. These classes are "Into the Streets" courses which means instead of sitting in a classroom to learn, we will take walking tours and visit various museums, galleries, and historical sites. I will also be getting credit for my general experiences there. Aside from all the amazing places I will get to see in my classes my weekend itinerary is as follows.
27 June: Covent Garden and Mini-Pub Crawl
28 June: Photo Scavanger Hunt around London
4 July: Stratford, Oxford, and Fourth of July part
5 July: Stonehenge and Bath
6 July: Windsor Castle and Hampton Court
11 July: Edinburgh Castle
12 July: Scottish Highlands
13 July: York
25 July: Paris, Notre Dame Cathedral, and Latin Quarter
26 July: Paris, Eiffle Tower, Arc de Tromphe, Napoleon's tomb, Louvre, cruise the Seine
27 July: Last day of the Tour De France
Well, I think that's about it. Time to go repack a few things. I'd like to lighten my load a bit more.
Here is the link for my online photo album. Feel free to comment and check them daily.
Photo Album: http://amarquardt.myphotoalbum.com/
I cannot believe I'm going to England tomorrow! I should be getting into London around 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.
To keep in touch with everyone I have set up a blog site as well as an online photo album. I am hoping that I will be able to get to a computer with internet access on a daily basis to write about my experiences and share my photos with you all. Right now the sites are empty, obviously since I'm not there yet, but I have included the links below. If I cannot get to a computer daily, I will try posting on the site as often as I can to make sure you all get the latest and greatest.
It looks like I will be in class Monday-Thursday from 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The two classes I'm taking are Museums and Galleries and The History of London. These classes are "Into the Streets" courses which means instead of sitting in a classroom to learn, we will take walking tours and visit various museums, galleries, and historical sites. I will also be getting credit for my general experiences there. Aside from all the amazing places I will get to see in my classes my weekend itinerary is as follows.
27 June: Covent Garden and Mini-Pub Crawl
28 June: Photo Scavanger Hunt around London
4 July: Stratford, Oxford, and Fourth of July part
5 July: Stonehenge and Bath
6 July: Windsor Castle and Hampton Court
11 July: Edinburgh Castle
12 July: Scottish Highlands
13 July: York
25 July: Paris, Notre Dame Cathedral, and Latin Quarter
26 July: Paris, Eiffle Tower, Arc de Tromphe, Napoleon's tomb, Louvre, cruise the Seine
27 July: Last day of the Tour De France
Well, I think that's about it. Time to go repack a few things. I'd like to lighten my load a bit more.
Here is the link for my online photo album. Feel free to comment and check them daily.
Photo Album: http://amarquardt.myphotoalbum.com/
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