The V&A: A Museum of Ecentricity

Today was finally a "free" day, with no class readings or projects. My friends and I decided to head over to the V&A or the Victoria and Albert Museum, one of our many required areas we have to visit. The first room we entered featured sculptures of naked or scantily clad sculptures, and that should have been a sign to the strangeness of the museum! As we walked along, we found the fashion section, the part I had been most looking forward to and what the V&A is known for.

As most of you know, I love studying fashion throughout the centuries and this exhibit showed a sampling of all different time periods, even futuristic! Of course, I spent most of my time drooling over silk brocade gowns from the 1700s. After spending much time in there, we figured out our next point of destination: the jewelry section. If you haven't noticed already, my friends and I were having a very "girly" day at the museum, we just couldn't help it!

The jewelry section by far has been the most extensive collection of all sorts of jewelry I have ever seen. From funerary rings to headdresses to a ring watch from the early 1800s, everything was so amazing! Today I was coveting many things and I felt like that was alright for once, a girl can dream can't she?

Then there were various other sections, from the iron exhibit that included many different types of iron railings, fencing, etc to silverware and a large collection of snuffboxes! One of the best exhibits besides the jewelry and the fashion was the Theatre collection. They had anything from huge, elaborate costumes to miniature set designs.

At the end of our time there all of us agreed that it was by far the best museum we had been to, even after the British Museum and the National Gallery. It showed such an extensive collection of all sorts of everyday objects and I found them easier to relate to, rather than just looking at jewelry from Kings and Queens or ancient Egyptian artifacts. This museum is definitely worth your while!

In the "Bath"

Today was one of the days I was most looking forward to on the trip since we were going to Stonehenge and Bath. I had a few cases of Deja Vu because I had been to both of these locations 3 years before (and also took pictures of some of the same objects too!). It was a beautiful day for Stonehenge and only took us about a half hour to walk around the whole thing. Then we were onto Bath, one of my favorite places in England.



When you come upon Bath it is a most wonderful sight, for all of the buildings are this beautiful soft yellow/orange sandstone color. The town is set up in Georgian style and was made popular during the 18th century as a vacation spot and for medicinal uses because of the springs and water found there. Even today you can still get a glass of this esteem water that cured some king's leprosy. For lunch, my friends and I went to a tea shop and enjoyed some confections and cheese. Then we met the entire group to go into the Roman Baths. This museum is one of my favorites, it is so beautiful and really interesting because there are still springs with hot water that even boils in some areas. I must say I was tempted to dip my hands in the water but I know I would catch some ancient disease.



After the Roman Baths, we then had some free time for a few hours to explore. My group made the trek up to the Jane Austin house. Of course, being girls, we made some side tracks to do some much needed shopping and window shopping. We arrived at the Jane Austin house in time for a nice tour. Jane Austin only occupied the house for only 4 years and she absolutely hated Bath. She even based two of her books in Bath, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. I loved the museum they had because they had it set up like you were walking through Regency Bath with lots of costumes set up on manequins (and they were pretty period-correct!). Then we walked back, with some detours, and sat through another 2 1/2 hour bus ride home.


One thing I learned from today was how much I hate the "Audio Tours" museums offer. My friend Sarah and I were complaining about that, and since we both worked on exhibits this summer, we both agree that they are detrimental to museums. People are all agape and standing in the way of others because they are trying to listen to their audio or are fumbling around with it. All I hear is everyone's audios playing in the background while I try to concentrate and enjoy such scenic sites as Stonehenge and the Roman Baths.

Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Southwark (pronounced So-th-ark), free afternoon (which I will be working on my group project) and then get to stand through a 3-hour play in the Globe Theatre of Troilus and Cressidus. The internet has been very spotty these past few days at the hotel so it has been hard to do my blog for my class and update this one, so I will try when I can. I wrote a blog for yesterday below if you would care to check it out!

Tower of Terror!

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, I know I have been slacking off with blogs, but I swear to you I have been busy! I will make it up to you by doing not one, but TWO posts tonight, aren't you just lucky? Yesterday, as you all probably know, was my 21st birthday! Of course, it couldn't be awful because at the end of the day I am spending my birthday in London, UK!



I woke up early yesterday morning and met our professor at Trafalgar Square in order to take the walk to Westminster Abbey. The church is, of course, an impressive sight and so we had to hire a tour guide to take us around the huge space it encloses. I wish I could have pictures to show you of the inside, but we were not allowed to take any. I saw many tombs, the most memorable being Queen Elizabeth I and "Bloody" Mary. Many other Kings and Queens are buried there as well, along with dozens upon dozens of memorials and huge shrines to famous and infamous characters. One of my favorite stories of the day was of this man, who wasn't of any importance in particular, except that one day he refused to bow to the king and made up some story that an ancestor had done his ancestor a favor and the king then granted him and all his decedents the right not to bow. Of course, that story was a bunch of you know what and so in the end, he has a huge shrine to himself over his grave at Westminster. Hmm...

After the Abbey, we had the day free to ourselves. Of course, we are all learning that "Free Days" never really end up being a "free" day. A group of us then popped over to the Tower of London because many of us, myself included, have been looking forward to that since day one. The Tower of London is kind of a misnomer because it is actually made up of at least 5 or 6 different kinds of towers, the most famous of course being "THE" Tower of London. Much of the tour is spent walking the expanse of these towers. One had an exhibit on how royal crowns were put together, how medieval armies worked, etc. Then we got to the Royal Jewels part of the Tower of London. We walked through about 3 rooms worth of queues, we got to the one room where the crowns are stored. There were about 5 crowns and that was it. A few objects made of gold and then the exhibit was over! It was still neat to see but a bit disappointing.

Ready for the Tower of Terror!

Then we went in the Tower of London (or what we thought was it, we still aren't sure). There was just a room showing torture devices and then that was all. Very strange and a bit disappointed, but was still interesting to see. Then the same group came back and we all made a pasta dinner together and bought a cake for my birthday. It was very nice and made my birthday complete!
And of course, I had to end with this!

O Londinium! Walking Around Roman London

Yesterday morning our professor left it up to us to find the way to the start of our Roman London walk. Luckily, Qualls had confided in a few of us that were up earlier that the one Tube station was closed on Sundays. Actually, lots of things are closed Sundays, pubs, Tubes, stores, etc. After going in the wrong direction for a few minutes, we finally found the Tube station. We arrived at Tower Hill (where Sarah and I were the day before that walking) and began the tour.

When you exit the Tube station, there is an impressive looking ruin of an old wall to your left. This was one of many existing pieces of the old Roman wall that used to protect the entire city. in 43 A.D. the Roman settled what they called 'Londinium'. The wall was built around 200 A.D. to protect the city. It was 2 miles long, 6 metres tall and 8 metres thick. After the decline of the Roman Empire, then the Anglo-Saxons came and then the Danes.

Throughout the day, we wandered to random parts of the city where pieces of the old Roman wall still stand, one being in the back of a fancy hotel's parking lot. It was a very interesting tour and I find that often many people forget the Roman past of London and how truly ancient of a city it is!

A neat little marketplace in the city.

Then to continue our Roman education, we went to the Museum of London. The exhibits there consited of Roman and Medieval findings. Most of it focused on 1666, the year of the Great London Fire. The other parts were displays of Roman ruins and you could even walk through a part of Roman London, and see their workplaces. That was the neatest part of the exhibit for me, but other than that, the museum, I felt, was rather scattered with its set-up.

Our group split up and some of us were going to another museum and the other half was going on a walking tour of the area around our hotel, Bloomsbury. Upon arriving back, a friend and I stopped for lunch at a pasty shop (pronounced pah-sty). We both got spicy chicken pasties and they were delicious. Then, as if I hadn't walked enough in the past 2 days, I did a 3 hour walking tour of Bloomsbury.

Apparently, many famous writers, people lived around Bloomsbury, such as Virginia Woolf and T. S. Elliot. "The Bloomsbury Group" was a group of writers, artists, etc that lived unconventional lifestyles and often believed in free love. We went to about 5 different parks, one being on top of old cemetaries. We saw the hotel where King George III stayed when he was getting medical treatment in Bloomsbury and the hotel where Karl Marx wrote his communist manifesto. I can't believe this is all "in my backyard"!

Virginia Woolf and I.

I finished up the night by going out to the pub with a few of my friends and talking over pints and traditional British food. We all traipsed back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night reading for today's class discussion.

Gone to the Market!

Today was an exciting day with having the opportunity to explore one of the many markets in London. I was assigned to Camden Market out in Camden Town. I was expecting the market to be like a farmer's market, produce and crafty goods alike. When we stepped off the Tubes and into the town however, that was not the case. Instead we entered the punk-rock scene in London. A majority of the vendors catered to the punk crowd and sold many gothic clothes and accessories. When I got further into the market, there was a part of it called Camden Lock, where there is a beautiful canal running through the town. I explored up and down some parts of it and saw boats traveling along it as well. Then the group finally stumbled upon the better parts of the market, the parts we were anticipating all morning. We entered a scene of many food vendors selling every kind of ethnic food imaginable. There were Indian, Italian, BBQ, Indonesian, Japanese and Mexican food vendors all right next to each other, selling their wares. There were many vintage, punk-rock and Indian vendors throughout the majority of the marketplace. The group of us enjoyed a nice meal of the culture of our choice (mine being Chinese today) for only 4 pounds. After completing our task for the day, we headed back to the hotel.

Once back to the hotel, I met up with my friend Sarah and we both decided to go out and explore since we had free time. We took the Tubes to Tower Hill, where the Tower of London stands. Our main goal was to see the tower, but we realized we would only have about 2 hours to spend before it closed, so we decided to explore. We went from Tower Hill up to The Monument (and named just that!). The Monument is this monument tower created by Sir Christopher Wren in the 1700s to commemorate the start of the 1666 London Fire. It was built about 212 or so feet high, the same distance away from the Monument that the fire had first started. The fire started on Pudding Street in a baker's shop. Unfortunately, Sarah and I did not know this at first and originally went down Pudding Street because of the cute name, little did we know that one of the most catasrophic events to hit London started down that street! Sarah and I decided to walk up the Monument, all 311 steps of it. It had an amazing view of London and we could see the entire city!

311 steps later, Sarah and I decided to walk around more of the city. We went through Southwark and walked into the Southwark Church and listened to part of a service. We left the church (after paying for the Loo) and walked through a local marketplace that was closing. We walked back under a bridge and then managed to finally reach our goal: Walking across the Tower Bridge aka the "London Bridge". The bridge is just spectacular and impressive. There was an exhibit going on in towers on the bridge, but neither one of us felt like walking up more steps!

After a long day of walking, we got our supper at the Organic Foods Market right around the corner and ate in the garden. Then, after reviewing our plans for tomorrow, both of us realized that the group would be walking along a similar path tomorrow. So coming up tomorrow: walking along the Roman parts of London and the hotel neighborhood!

Sending lots of warm wishes from London!

Humped Pelican crossing! Lots of funny signs in England. I could make a whole photo album out of them!
My very tiny room in London (view of my bed).
My friend Sarah and I on the Greenwich Meridan line and we both are in two different time zones!
My boat ride on the Thames River! (Big Ben is in the background).
A view of a street in downtown Marylebone

A Not-So-Foggy Day in London Town

Today was my first full day in London, and I feel like I have been here for a week already! My
flight went well, with slight turbulence on the way over, and I managed to get an hour or so of sleep. As soon as we touched down we went right to work! We all took a bus back to our hotel/dorm called the Arran House Hotel. They had a nice luncheon provided for us in the garden with lots of new foods to try. I tried some ginger beer that tasted like eating pure ginger root, it was delicious!

While eating, we got our assignments for the day. Paired with another Dickinson student, we had to learn how to navigate the Tubes. Our professor gave us a location and we had to find it using two modes of transportation, one for the way up and one for the way back. I had no trouble finding the location, and even helped out a fellow American from Utah who wouldn't leave us alone. We walked around Marylebone (Name for Queen Mary and the word "bourne" which means side of a stream, how they got Marylebone out of "Marybourne" I have no clue). I took a few pictures and completed other aspects of our assigment. My partner and I tried to navigate the bus system and failed, so we ended up just taking the Tubes back another way. The kicker to the story is we ended up getting lost about 2 blocks from the hotel. Although, I can say now that I know the correct way to get back after that experience!

After having a good and much needed night's sleep, I started our real full day of London. I ate a full English breakfast of toast with Nutella, some cheesy eggs, sausage, and a croissant. Of course, I was dehydrated from yesterday and the cups for water were about the size of shotglasses, so I drank about 15 of them! We started our morning off with a lovely ride on the Thames River, seeing all the sights of London, many of which I was ashamed to say I did not know! I am determined by the end of this trip to be able to figure out most of buildings I saw. After that, we docked at Greenwich, which is where the Greenwich Meridian (Longitude of 0 degrees) is. You can stand on a line and be in two different times at once. Went to a few museums about time there and went to a show at the planetarium and almost fell asleep. We then ate a pub just down the road and I got to order my first pint (along with everyone else in the group).

Our group adventures were done for the day and we were then free to explore Greenwich. I spent the time with a few of my friends exploring Greenwich Marketplace, where there were many vendors of different cultures selling amazing things, as well as very flea-market and vintage-style vendors too. I got an Indian style Henna tattoo on my hand, along with the other girls in the group and talked to the Indian woman about the history of Henna. Apparently Henna has medicinal and practical values, along with providing beautiful artwork. Henna has the power to calm, sooth and can even dye hair! Learned something new today. On the way back to the D. L. R. (Dockland's Light Railway or the tram cars) we found this pathway to a little public farm and explored. We saw some goats, horses and one big fat pig (which I did not pet for fear of the swine flu!). Then we took a pathway that went under the Thames to the DLR station and got back home.

Overall, it has been such an exciting and educational day. I don't want you all to think that I just go sightseeing all day, because I have to do work too! We have group discussions and nightly readings, as well as blog posts for our class. At the end of our time in London we have to write a research paper and presentation with a few other classmates. I believe I will do mine on the park system in London and how Queen Victoria created them as a place for the lower classes to mingle and go. So we'll see! I am still a bit homesick and miss all of my friends and family, but there is no turning back now! I am beginning to feel comfortable with navigating the town and getting to know Bloomsbury, the part of London I am staying in.
Ta ta for now!

Are we there yet?

One more day in the US of A and it has still not hit me. Yesterday I must have had at least 5 people call me to talk. Each good-bye is getting tougher and tougher because they keep getting more and more serious. I am finally about 80% packed...and how strange it is to look at your life packed away in three bags.

I am really looking forward to eating Indian food when we get to England. One of my goals is to learn how to cook my favorite Indian dish, Chicken Tikka Marsala. It's really not "Indian" but Indian-English (much like how our "Chinese" food is here). I just cannot wait to be submerged in another culture and I am really interested in the Indian aspect of England. I took a Hinduism class two semesters ago and really enjoyed learning about their culture and religion.

I am definitely going to miss my family, friends and boy friend though, as I'm sure is the same with everybody. I said good-bye to my boyfriend for the last time before I see him in a few months and that was incredibly hard. I can't imagine what I will be like when I say good-bye to the family. Probably much "weeping and gnashing of teeth".

Also, why does the currency exchange rate have to be so high? We beat the British in the Revolutionary War and now they are beating us with their currency rates. Bah. So for the $250 I cashed in to get my British pounds, I got 137 pounds. After experiencing that today, I went back to my suitcases and tried to shove more things in.

I started looking at the itinary and I finally got excited. So far I've just been stressed, anxious, and intimidated by all the tasks to complete and all the good-byes to say. But now that I'm basically packed, got my money in the bank, got my cell phone taken care of, etc. now I can finally breathe and think about this amazing experience. Everyone has been so supportive and helpful, I would not be able to go on this trip without everyone who is in my life.

T-minus 15 Days Until Take Off!

I cannot believe that this time has come! About two weeks left until I depart until England. Of course, like the start of any school year, I never feel 100% ready. This time, I definitely don't feel ready! I still have to figure out my phone (or mobile as they say in the UK), pack, read a ton of books (whoops!) and switch over my credit cards so I can have money to spend. Whew! Oh yes, and in all that time I have to find time to see family and friends. Yikes! So today I am hoping to go to the handy dandy AAA store and buy some converters for electronics. I also hope to finish London: A History today for my London class. My goal is take at least a day to read a book (I still have 5 more to go!). Among them are Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, Great Expectations by the great Dickens, Brick Lane by Monica Ali and a few Shakespeare plays. After finally being able to focus my energies on England, I am getting excited! Ok, back to work!