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!
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