Hummus on a Hula Hoop

Day 6

Considering the fact that yesterday was the longest day known to man, I sleep in until about noon. Nick and I find out that the FA Cup final is at 2:30, so we grap some brunch (bagel with cream cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Why have I never thought of this before???) and head for Fulham. The first pub we try is so packed that I end up straddling the door jam and not being able to see the match at all. Nick says the guy beside him smells. So we move on. A little ways down the street is a quieter bar that clearly converts to a half swanky, half sketch dance club at night. Katie meets us there and we watch the rest of the match. To the extreme joy of all of the blue-clad Chelsea fans, they snag the title and the streets fill with cheering.

Even the police officers record the moment because such fandom must be documented.

I can only equate it to SEC football in fan intensity. Try riding the tube after a match. Then you’ll see.

Later that evening we meet up with Ryan and Bree to tour Tate Modern which is having some sort of anniversary celebration and is therefore open late. My favorite quote of the night is the moment Katie walks into the Andy Warhol Cow room

and says, “I suddenly remember why I hate modern art.” The place is pretty bizarre, but has some really cool stuff. Like a giant outlet plug.

Unfortunately my camera battery dies about a quarter of the way through, so pictures are minimal.

LONDON, WHAT?

In keeping with the modern art thing, we'll go with something postmodern looking.

Dear London. You tricked me. I thought this was a giant coffee mug. And then it wasn't. WHAT?

George, you've been sick for a week!

Day 5

Longest blog post yet. Be ready.

8:30am. Meet in front of the AIFS office and meet Russell, our new favorite man. He is our tour guide for our day trip to Leeds Castle and Canterbury. We couldn’t have found a better guide. Russell is super intense and knows everything about everything and is an all-around funny guy.

This is Russell.

So first he leads us through some of London that we didn’t see on our first trip around. There’s press huddled around parliament due to the hung parliament.

An ominous looking Big Ben clock tower.

And The National Portrait Gallery.

We ride to Leeds Castle first, a beautiful place where all of us ladies have decided to get married. Since we do not have many thousands of pounds each, we have decided to all get married on the same day and be each other’s bridesmaids. We also found a wedding dress shop nearby so all we lack is a groom. Well… 11 grooms. But no matter!

The castle is interesting because it feels like a time warp.

It is so old, but is still in use and was purchased by an American woman in the 1930s, so some of the rooms have memorabilia from the queens of the 1300s who lived there, while other rooms have Lady Bailey’s 1930s decor. My favorite room is the one in which the Camp David accords were signed.

The gardens at Leeds are almost more breathtaking than the castle itself, fully in bloom and vibrant with color.

There are also peacocks. We are not sure why. One of them attacked Nicole! It was quite terrifying (for Nicole) but humorous (for us). She should have read the signs.

Oh yes, vicious geese as well.

The gardens end up at a hedge maze, which is highly infuriating to me because I have absolutely no sense of direction. After getting thoroughly lost, the guy sitting at the center of the maze has pity on us and tells us how to get to the center. The maze then leads to a grotto with “atmospheric lighting” according to the sign, but I just feel like I’m on Legends of the Hidden Temple.

Which of these things does not belong? If you guessed LED lit cave, then you would be correct.

Off to Canterbury! Another hour on the road in our bus and we arrive in quaint little Canterbury.
We grab lunch and head into the Cathedral (where picture are allowed.)
Russell tells us all about Thomas Beckett and how he was brutally murdered
and where his memorial is. (or was...the candle represents where it used to stand.)
He even makes us walk up the stairs on our knees like pilgrims to Beckett’s memorial would have hundreds of years ago.

After the tour, we break to explore Canterbury a bit. I see a sign that I can’t pass up, because my roommate from back home told me she would disown me if I did. So Erin and I sit down to tea and scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. This is for you, Megan!
Can we say heavenly? Scones in the U.S. and scones in England= totally different.

After a long ride back, one would think that I would be ready to call it a day. False. Ashley and I decide it is time to hit up Oxford Street. Shopping capital of London, baby! This street goes on forever and everything is always crowded! But it is certainly an experience. I don’t buy anything…this time.

My feet are killing me by this time, so I head back to the flat, get something to eat and relax for a bit. ...Until it’s time to go to The Rocket! The Rocket is like home away from home, a piece of Athens across the Atlantic. It’s a crazy little bar with ridiculous American music and a young, rowdy crowd. (I’m technically blogging from somewhere around day 14, and let me just say, the security guard Paul knows all of us by name. He’s a really cool guy.) Since it is a Tuesday, there are not that many people there, so we are the only ones dancing. That attracts attention, and people start taking pictures of our mad dance skills. But mostly Jordan. That boy can move! He’s definitely the favorite there.

LONDON, WHAT?
Dear London. False advertising is wrong. Way to break a southern girl's heart. WHAT?

Sorry, sorry!

Day 4

10a.m. First day of class. George rambles on about the structure of plays and films. Gotta love script analysis. But we’re in London, so hey! So after class, I have a jacket potato (new British fav) with chili and cheese, soooo delicious, then meet at St. Paul’s Cathedral for a tour.

Unfortunately we aren’t allowed to take pictures inside the cathedral, but it is absolutely beautiful. I choose, after the tour, to brave the 500+ stairs to the top of the dome. Precarious? Yes. Dizzying? Yes. Totally worth it? Absolutely. (pictures coming soon! They weren’t taken on my camera.)

We decide to stay for the sung Eucharist. Incense, choir boys, and Latin chants make me realize that the Church of England is a little bit much for me. But now I can say that I have taken communion in the cathedral where Princess Diana was married. Once again, famous by proxy.

After a full day of religion and history, we are starving. We head to Pizza Express, which we believe to be a fast food joint but turns out to be a classy, classy place. Who knew that in London, pizza is fine dining?

LONDON, WHAT?

Dear London. Your ads confuse me to no end. WHAT?

Maturity in London...ha.

Day 3

I’m 20!!!!!!!!!! Today May 12^th, I leave my teenagehood behind and enter into adulthood. To try to prove my maturity to myself and others, I venture with Nick to the British Museum.

After getting lost (because Nick didn’t know the way) and walking in a large rectangle around the museum, we finally find it. I’m surprised it took us as long as it did.

I mean, it is a rather imposing building with a gazillion (5) floors and who knows how many rooms and exhibits. So we walk through

Egypt: The thing from Aladdin!!!

Greece: Look! Actors!

China: This man was not pleased with Nick’s museum behavior.

And this really cool African money exhibit: The inflation was so bad at one point that their one hundred trillion dollar bill couldn’t even buy a loaf of bread.

After getting thoroughly lost inside the building (we never found Japan…) we head back to the flat, get some dinner (I cooked! I’m feeling so domestic,) and head over to the National Theatre for our first West End show, London Assurance with Mark Addy and Fiona Shaw. Written by Dion Boucicault in the 1800s, I didn’t know if I would like it, but it was absolutely hilarious. Great pick, George.

We attempt to go out after the show, but then we discover something devastating about this lovely city: everyone goes to bed early. So early!!! The pubs close at midnight, grocery stores close at 10, and everything else closes at 5. This is a problem. So we decide to have a flat get together. Fun times.

LONDON, WHAT?

Dear, London. Scientology? I thought better of you. WHAT?

London Bridge is Falling Down

Day 2

8:45am. Walk over to the AIFS office for our orientation. I find out that my internship interview isn’t until next week because the producers of the company are at the Cannes Film Festival. I’m not complaining. We grab some lunch and get on a tour bus for a brief tour of London with brief stops at Buckingham Palace and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

On the Corner by St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey

Pretty excited about Buckingham Palace. The Queen was actually inside one of the over 600 rooms.

I had my picture taken at the phone booth they walk past in The Da Vinci Code. Clearly, now I am automatically famous.

Our tour guide’s name is Shaun. And he is pretty awesome and Scottish, and rather hilarious. After this, we travel across London Bridge and Tower Bridge and who knows what other bridge, and end up at the Tower of London.

Some really awesome looking catapult thing at the Tower.

I would like to point out that at this point it is very cold. And windy. But we got a pretty good tour of the grounds, saw where Anne Boelyn was beheaded, looked at the Crown Jewels…very fancy indeed, learned about the two princes who were murdered in the Bloody Tower, and saw Henry VIII’s armour with the giant…cup shall we call it? Henry was very insecure about his own manhood.

Little glass pillow memorial for all the nobility who were killed here. Henry's cup picture to come.

We end the evening with another pub and a delicious burger (I’m hoping for not Mad Cow…) and a first exciting trip on the tube, which is my new favorite mode of transportation.

Pretty kickin' picture I took at the Fulham Broadway Station.

There are signs every ten feet for easily confused people like me, and I just get it. Also, there are fascinating people to be found on the tube. On a side note, the calmness of the tube’s loudspeaker is rather unsettling. The other day, the lady on the loudspeaker kept saying “Due to there being a person UNDER THE TRAIN, the Central line is not running.” A person UNDER THE TRAIN. Then it happened again two days later. Apparently this is a normal occurrence in London. Nicole told me, “That person clearly did not mind the gap.” They always say that as well. Mind the Gap, so people don’t get stuck in the gap between the platform and the train. Erin wanted to know why they didn’t just fix the damn gap. Good question.

LONDON, WHAT?

Dear, London. Weeds are not a building material. WHAT?

I wanna be just like the Spice Girls

For the next few weeks, this blog will chronicle my many adventures in London, England. Get ready and get excited! Unfortunately, I haven’t sat down to do this until now and I’ve been here almost a week. Soooo. Here goes.

Oh! I’ve realized that London is a rather strange place with very interesting and confuddling sights. For this reason, I have chosen to include a daily segment for a series entitled “London, WHAT?” Enjoy.

Day 1

Arrive in London horribly jetlagged. It’s five hours ahead here and our flight left at 11pm Atlanta time. Oy. We ride a charter bus the hour or so to our flat, Endsleigh Court. It is in the Bloomsbury area of London. Very cute, right in the middle of everything. And then, we go searching for cell phones. And get terribly lost. George, our professor, abandons us frequently. But it is better this way because I am forced to learn the ways of the world. Nick is supposed to be my travel buddy, but he frequently loses me.

After finally purchasing 16 identical cell phones (Which is no small feat. The man working at the store about cried when he kindly asked "How many do you need?" and we answered "16."), we head to the aptly named London Pub for our first British meal. All but two ordered fish and chips. Classic. I would also like to point out that at this point I have no idea what day it is, what time it is, how long I have been awake, or when the last time I took a shower was.

LONDON, WHAT?

Dear, London. Your window displays look like they were designed by alien Disney loving cowboys. Again, WHAT?