Sorry it's been so long since my last post, everyone! Classes have started to pick up and I'm busier than I ever thought I could be with only 5 hours of class time a week. I'm finally getting into the swing of things and nailing down a routine, which is really great. My usual day consists of waking up in the morning and eating breakfast with my friends and taking the double-decker bus into central London for class. After class, I usually study in the library and have lunch with friends at school. I really enjoy my bus ride to and from campus. It takes longer than the tube, but it's nice not to be in a rush. I pass Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, the Savoy Hotel, and countless other London monuments on my journey. It's a great time for me to collect my thoughts for the day and do some sight-seeing. Here's a few pictures I snapped on my bus ride this morning.
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| View from the bus. |
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| Pub by my school - I really like the sign and the name! Haha. |
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| Yeah, this is my school. Not too shabby! |
Let's see... I'm trying to remember what I've been up to since my last post, haha. Last Wednesday, my friend Gwen and I decided to do some tourist-y stuff together in the city. We began the day at Buckingham palace, where we happened to see the changing of the guards (without even planning it)! It was a fun thing to check off my bucket list, but I don't think I'll be standing outside for an hour like that until it warms up a bit here (my feet were like ice blocks!). After we stopped in a cafe for a quick lunch, we headed over to the Tower of London for a tour of the historic castle and surrounding buildings. We were lead through the settlement by a Beefeater, a royal guard, who told us of all of the famous executions that happened on the site. We also were able to see the crown jewels, which was absolutely amazing. My favorite was - and I am being completely serious here - the royal punch bowl, adorned with solid gold unicorns. Even among velvet crowns with diamonds the size of golf balls, that seems a little too sumptuous for me... haha. Still, so much history in one little spot!
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| Gates of Green Park walking to Buckingham Palace. |
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| Buckingham Palace with crowds. |
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| My camera has awesome zoom! I got a great shot of the guards within the gates here. |
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| I wish I brought my voice recorder with me at this point. There was a really sassy security guard who at one point shouted at people, of course in a British accent, "Don't stand in front of people who have ben waiting for a long time, THAT'S RUDE!" |
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| Some kind of weird British guards on horseback who knows. |
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| Tower of Lodon (on the only really sunny day since I've been here!). |
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| Gwen and me outside the Tower. |
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| St. Thomas More wuz here. |
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| Just a regular 'ol British village... except for the beheadings and torture part. |
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| View of Tower Bridge. |
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| The Beefeater giving the tour. |
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| Walked down this dimly lit, spiral staircase for 5 stories into the dungeon (now a gift shop). Talk about torture! Meheheh. |
That following weekend, I went to the Borough Markets with some friends. SOOO much great food and free samples! I drank mulled wine and visited the endless food stalls, tasting French cheeses, Italian breads, and countless other tasty treats. Would like to make this a weekly visit, but my bank account won't allow it (3.50 for a cup of mulled wine! Sheesh!). It was such a cool atmosphere though, I'll definitely be back there again!
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| Cheese on cheese on cheese! |
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| Some kind of sausage? |
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| I should be a cheese photographer. |
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| Nuff said. |
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| It's hard to see from this picture, but these big heater things were boiling the top of the cheese chunks. I wish I could share the smell with you too, it was amaaaaazing. |
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| Pretty cheese. |
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| Drunk cheeses? YES PLEASE(S)! |
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| Trying to be artsy with the cheese boxes. |
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| Meat pies. Reminded me of the song from Sweeny Todd. I wonder if Helena Bonham Carter made these? Haha. |
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| I still can't believe this was real. A mountain of macaroons. |
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| Cooking duck confit sandwiches. |
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| Yumyumyum. |
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| Assorted goodies. |
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| Turkish delights! |
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| Giant soft pretzels. |
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| Really wish I tried these strawberry and balsamic vinegar chocolates... |
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| Pretty French saucisson. |
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| Entrance to the markets under London Bridge. So magical! |
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| View of the markets. |
The following day, my friends from the dorm and I took a walk in the snow to a cafe called Apostrophe in our neighborhood for a study break. We went to a little plaza area behind Oxford Street called St. Christopher's Place. I know I've been using this word a lot but it was magical. They had hese cool lanterns everywhere and it was just the coolest. Sorry my descriptions aren't better right now, I'm sleepy haha. What I'm trying to say is, London is so beautiful in the winter!
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| A street in my beautiful neighborhood. |
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| One of the private residential gardens. |
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| St. Christopher's Place - this alley was filled with cute shops! |
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| The cafe apostrophe - totally worth the long walk int the cold. |
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| The BEST hot chocolate I have ever had! More like pudding than a beverage haha. |
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| St. Christopher's Place at night! |
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| Pretty detail on a fence. |
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| This happened a few days later but I figured I'd add it here. I know London is an international city, but I think the Starbucks barista overdid it a little with the spelling of my name haha. |
After a few normal days of class, I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum today (Thursday) with two of my friends from class. It was SOOOO huge and overwhelming (and sadly, the European art 1500-1900 section is closed until 2014), but it was still a really fun visit! We spent a few hours touring the galleries, and ended the visit at the cafe.
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| V&A courtyard. |
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| Hey! Cool mug! |
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| (Study for) Haywain. Still cool though! |
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| Chihuly sculpture in entranceway. |
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| Yes, Hilary and I did try on the costumes in the interactive children's theater section. Do you have a problem with that? Haha. |
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| Afternoon tea/chocolate break! |
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| Could not have picked a more beautiful setting to eat a lemon cake in. |
Phew that was a lot in one go. I'll try not to wait that long until the next post. It was pretty obvious how my stamina and attention to detail decreased as my posting went on haha. Hopefully this won't deter you from keeping up with my next post!
Til then, cheerio!
-Molls
