Extra Pictures!!

Here are some extra pictures I found from other people's photo albums on ...where else? Facebook.

In front of Albert Memorial (across from Royal Albert Hall)

Albert Memorial

In front of the Globe

There I am in Greenwich

This one was actually taken in a tunnel that runs under the Thames. I may have mentioned it in the Greenwich entry.

I will always remember Proms for its synchronized coughing. Nobody makes a sound during the performance, but as soon as a song is done, everyone coughs. Us Dickinsonians were not expecting this, and proceeded to draw angry glares from the surrounding audience as we laughed ourselves silly. The building was really amazing though. You can see how huge it is from the picture. And like the Globe Theatre, you can buy cheap tickets which allow you to stand at the ground level in front of the stage. 

Proms
 

 

Inside the Globe

The Globe's merry band - with TIGHT tights

Day 6 - British Museum & Bloomsbury Walk

Unfortunately, we only got to see a few rooms in the British Museum today - but don't worry, we will have many more trips over the course of the next few weeks. Whilst examining the assortment of artifacts in the museum's collection, we listened to BBC's A History of the World in 100 Objects. These are podcasts which describe the history of 100 objects throughout the museum. Anyone can subscribe to them at the BBC website, or you can do as I did and simply download them to your ipod (and I am so proud of myself for figuring out how to do that - with a nod to Dan who pointed me in the right direction). If you want to give any of them a listen, here's the site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/ahow/all I believe KQ said that they create new lists of objects every few months or something.

Sitting on the steps in the Great Court of the British Museum - tis FUGE Laura

After the British Museum, KQ took us on a Bloomsbury walk. Bloomsbury is actually the area where the Arran House (my hotel) is located. We are right in the heart of literary London. And the British Museum is only a few short blocks away.

We got see the areas of the Bloomsbury Group met and lived. They were a group of writers, philosophers...including Virginia Woolf, Keynes, E.M. Forster, Strachey and more. I also learned that London is filled with cute little squares with well maintained parks in their center.

Creepy cemetery turned park.

Senate House

The Senate House, located in Bloomsbury, was built in the 1930's and was the 2nd tallest building in London at the time. During WWII it was used as the Ministry of Information (inspired George Orwell's Ministry of Truth in 1984 , thought I'd stick that in there for you Laura since you're reading it this year). It is now a part of the University of London, which is right across the street from me.

We also saw these funny little taxi huts. Only the taxi drivers are allowed to stop and buy things there. Apparently this is one of the few that are left in the city.

Day 5 - Notting Hill Carnival

The Notting Hill Carnival was CRAZY. It takes place every year in August and is led by the British African-Caribbean community. 

There were lots of good things about the carnival. For instance, I tried Jamaican dumplings for the first time and discovered that they are delicious (the rice was not bad either). The  music and some of the costumes were also fun to experience. However, there was a lot to complain about. There was a grand total of 500,000 people in attendance. That's right, I was stuck for five and a half hours in a crows of half a million people. There was one moment when I was actually afraid that I would be trampled. Traffic had come to a halt and people were starting to get annoyed. Someone began shoving and one woman was actually knocked down. Thankfully, the pushing was quickly put to an end and I was able to reach a clearer area. 

Also, the British apparently do not understand the concept of throwing garbage into a trash can. (Seriously though, even under normal circumstances you can never find a "rubbish bin" on the streets. Holly and I are quite certain they only have one bin in the entire city.) The streets were filled with piles of garbage, meaning food, beer cans...it was pretty disgusting. 

Chris & Matt pose with one of the dancers

Day 4 - Roman London, London Museum & Proms

Our Roman London walk began very early. We started by visiting remnants of the London Wall which used to run about 2 miles. It is 20ft high and 8ft thick. KQ also said that the wall stood intact for about 1600 years before bits and pieces were destroyed to make way for new buildings and roads.

The London Wall featuring the backs of Andrew and Rachel's heads

Professor Qualls a.k.a. KQ

 

 

The London Stone

The London Stone is supposed to be where the Romans measured all distances from in London. KQ told us that this is also where all the deals used to go down. It was kind of like swearing on a Bible that you would hold up your end of the bargin.

Our next stop was the London Museum. Unfortunately flash photography is prohibited so my pictures didn't come out all that great. I have been finding that the London museums are much more interactive than the ones in New York. There are lots of videos, life size recreations...

This was part of the "Pleasure Garden Exhibit"

Our last adventure for the day was the Royal Albert Hall where we watched the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra perform. It was part of BBC Proms. If anyone is interested in listening to the performance, BBC posts them all on their website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2010/

Royal Albert Hall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3 - Market Day

Today was market day. We were split up into groups of 3 and assigned a particular market to visit. My group was assigned Borough Market. It's right next to London Bridge. It seemed to be mostly a food market, with items ranging from fruit, veggies, fish, CHEESE, bread, wine, beer, cider, pastries, ostrich.....yes, Laura I actually tried and ostrich burger - it tasted like meatloaf. It tasted pretty good surprisingly. It never would have occurred to me to eat ostrich, but hey? What do I know? So I think instead of writing about it I'm just going to show you the pictures.

The Cathedral next to the Market

one or two olives....

gross lookin' stuff.....but I'm sure it tastes good. If I can eat an ostrich, I can eat that

 

Inside the market

just cause I don't like tomatoes doesn't mean they can't be pretty

Day 2 - Greenwich & The Globe

Yesterday was VERY busy. We started out with a boat tour of the Thames. The water is a murky brownish color - not somewhere I would want to swim, although Prof. Qualls said that there are still some people who fish in it. The boat took us to Greenwich where we visited Flamsteed's house and stood on the Prime Meridian. We had to walk up hill that rivals Euclid to get there. I think Laura will appreciate that while I was standing on the Prime Meridian I kept thinking "I'm on one side - I'm on the other side. I'm on the East bank.....I'm on the West bank...."
                                                                                                                                                           

Kaitlin and I standing on the Prime Meridian

I just thought the dolphins were pretty. I don't actually know what the statue is for.

The Prime Meridian and Greenwich mean time (which I am told has an hour difference from London time).

A bunch of us Dickinsonians walking about the Royal Observatory.

After the Royal Observatory, we walked down to the now University of Greenwich, once the home to admiral of the navy, and before that it was the Palace of choice for the kings and queens.

The smaller white building in the background is the "Queen's House" commission by Queen Anne of Denmark (King James I wife). The chapel is on the left and the Painted Hall  is on the right.

The Chapel

Of course all this exploring made us very thirsty - what else could we do but stop at the nearest pub? We spent the remainder of the afternoon eating lunch and familiarizing ourselves with the area. To go back to Arran House we actually got to walk the tunnel that lies underneath the Thames. The tunnel was cold and damp, and in some places we saw water dripping from the ceiling. Around 5, we began to make our way to the Globe to see Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. Holly suggested we walk across the Millennium Bridge to get there.

Millennium Bridge facing St. Paul's Cathedral

You aren't actually allowed to take pictures while the performance is going (although BBC was filming that night) but I can show you what the outside looks like.

First Day in London

So today was my first day in London - and I am exhausted. I can barely keep my eyes open. We got off the airplane, battled our luggage to the bus, and then had to lug the stupid things up a never ending staircase. My room is all the way at the top. But you can't get to it the normal way, you have to go up to the second or third level, go across the hall and use that staircase to get to the top. And I thought living in a Victorian was bad - Laura you've got it made.
Our first assignment was to go buy "mobile phones." (And we stood on a horrendously long "que" to get them). After that we were sent Tube hopping. We were divided into pairs and given a Tube stop to visit and explore.
Elephant & Castle:

  This is the little statue outside the station. We learned that the name Elephant and Castle was taken from a coaching inn that used to be there.

Metropolitan Tabernacle - a Baptist Church. I don't know anything else about it