As for today, there is a bit of a raised concern for terrorism, since Tony Blair is speaking at the Houses of Parliament about Iraq and all that jazz. We'll be staying in and around the Center...and off of the tube. Just in case.
Friday, January 29, 2010
A Day or Two in Pictures
As I stated in my previous post, Wednesday was our second day trip. We went to Brighton (the Royal Pavilion and the Pier/English Channel), Battle Abbey and the location of the Battle of Hastings, and Rye. The first two pictures are from outside of the Sloane Museum (Tuesday) and the last two are the London Eye, taken from the bus on our drive home.
As for today, there is a bit of a raised concern for terrorism, since Tony Blair is speaking at the Houses of Parliament about Iraq and all that jazz. We'll be staying in and around the Center...and off of the tube. Just in case.
As for today, there is a bit of a raised concern for terrorism, since Tony Blair is speaking at the Houses of Parliament about Iraq and all that jazz. We'll be staying in and around the Center...and off of the tube. Just in case.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
OPAAAA!!
So the thing that makes blogging difficult sometimes is the fact that I'm in London and everything could be a blogging topic/opportunity. Life is sooooo hard.
oh hold up, hold up.
Have you heard??
Blog-stalking is the new Facebook-stalking. Get with it, friends.
So to continue...
I've attempted to write a new post for about 3 days now and always get interrupted either by a trip to Gelatto Mio, or by the pressing need to do homework rather than blog. Hence, here I am...in the laundry room, hoping that I will be able to gather my thoughts and write something coherent for the few family members and friends who read my blog before the swooshing and wooshing of the washing machines stops and tells me to load the next batch of clothes. ok, BREATHE.
The past week has been full of all sorts of events, ranging in levels of interest, flavor, length of time, etc, etc, etc.
One of my favorites was last Friday night. We were all sitting around trying to think of something to do. Well, it was more a matter of DECIDING what to do. After all, we are in London, and there's a never-ending list of museums, musicals, and mayhem to engage in. After much discussion, we decided that this specific Friday night was "Roommate Night" and would be filled with a trip to H&M, Gelato Mio, and The Young Victoria (shopping, dessert, and a movie...we're girls, after all).
It was one of the funnest nights I've had here yet. We were literally laughing the entire night, except during Young Victoria, when we were sighing.
Saturday was a good day, too. I had mapped out a run that I wanted to go on - and so after sleeping in a little, Michelle and I put on our running shoes and headed down the stairs and out the door. Hyde Park is beautiful whatever the weather, but Saturday was a lovely day. Perhaps I got carried away in the scenery, because before I knew it we were on the busy streets of London, and I was completely turned around. Seriously?? I swear the grid system and mountainous landmarks in Utah have entirely spoiled my sense of direction. After maybe ten minutes I finally told Michelle that I didn't know where we were. Lucky for me, I'm best friends with someone who never seems to get turned around in London. We took the next turn or two, and found ourselves right back at Hyde Park.
Later that day, we went to Platform 9 3/4 and then watched Harry Potter 6, my favorite.
Monday night, I went to Les Miserables. Glorious. Once again, the experience was enhanced by beautiful English accents, incredible voices...oh, and chocolate.
Story time.
Well...history lesson first..
The City of London has been burned down twice.
A very short history lesson, but it has had quite the effect on London.
EVERYWHERE, there are fire extinguishers, fire escapes, etc. I mean, it makes sense.
Yes, well. At 2 AM Tuesday morning, the BYU London Center was awakened by a loud noise, commonly known as a fire alarm. We all crawled out of bed and walked down to the front entryway. Fun fact about me: I do not enjoy getting woken up during the night. I'm sure that I looked really angry, because I was, but I find it funny now. The source of the alarm? An old woman who lives on the other side of the center turned the oven on in her kitchen, closed the door, put a towel at the bottom of the door, and left it. After a few hours, the room had heated up enough to set the detector off. Does that make you a little uncomfortable? Me too.
Tuesday afternoon a few of us in the Civ 201 class went to the Sir John Soane house/museum. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Quite the household.
Yesterday was our second day trip. Destinations: Brighton, Battle Abbey/Hastings, and Rye. Perhaps that trip calls for another post.
Today. Today was a four-class day, and laundry day. Further plans include the Natural History Museum. (rumor has it that there is a photography exhibit...)
oh hold up, hold up.
Have you heard??
Blog-stalking is the new Facebook-stalking. Get with it, friends.
So to continue...
I've attempted to write a new post for about 3 days now and always get interrupted either by a trip to Gelatto Mio, or by the pressing need to do homework rather than blog. Hence, here I am...in the laundry room, hoping that I will be able to gather my thoughts and write something coherent for the few family members and friends who read my blog before the swooshing and wooshing of the washing machines stops and tells me to load the next batch of clothes. ok, BREATHE.
The past week has been full of all sorts of events, ranging in levels of interest, flavor, length of time, etc, etc, etc.
One of my favorites was last Friday night. We were all sitting around trying to think of something to do. Well, it was more a matter of DECIDING what to do. After all, we are in London, and there's a never-ending list of museums, musicals, and mayhem to engage in. After much discussion, we decided that this specific Friday night was "Roommate Night" and would be filled with a trip to H&M, Gelato Mio, and The Young Victoria (shopping, dessert, and a movie...we're girls, after all).
It was one of the funnest nights I've had here yet. We were literally laughing the entire night, except during Young Victoria, when we were sighing.
Saturday was a good day, too. I had mapped out a run that I wanted to go on - and so after sleeping in a little, Michelle and I put on our running shoes and headed down the stairs and out the door. Hyde Park is beautiful whatever the weather, but Saturday was a lovely day. Perhaps I got carried away in the scenery, because before I knew it we were on the busy streets of London, and I was completely turned around. Seriously?? I swear the grid system and mountainous landmarks in Utah have entirely spoiled my sense of direction. After maybe ten minutes I finally told Michelle that I didn't know where we were. Lucky for me, I'm best friends with someone who never seems to get turned around in London. We took the next turn or two, and found ourselves right back at Hyde Park.
Later that day, we went to Platform 9 3/4 and then watched Harry Potter 6, my favorite.
Monday night, I went to Les Miserables. Glorious. Once again, the experience was enhanced by beautiful English accents, incredible voices...oh, and chocolate.
Story time.
Well...history lesson first..
The City of London has been burned down twice.
A very short history lesson, but it has had quite the effect on London.
EVERYWHERE, there are fire extinguishers, fire escapes, etc. I mean, it makes sense.
Yes, well. At 2 AM Tuesday morning, the BYU London Center was awakened by a loud noise, commonly known as a fire alarm. We all crawled out of bed and walked down to the front entryway. Fun fact about me: I do not enjoy getting woken up during the night. I'm sure that I looked really angry, because I was, but I find it funny now. The source of the alarm? An old woman who lives on the other side of the center turned the oven on in her kitchen, closed the door, put a towel at the bottom of the door, and left it. After a few hours, the room had heated up enough to set the detector off. Does that make you a little uncomfortable? Me too.
Tuesday afternoon a few of us in the Civ 201 class went to the Sir John Soane house/museum. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Quite the household.
Yesterday was our second day trip. Destinations: Brighton, Battle Abbey/Hastings, and Rye. Perhaps that trip calls for another post.
Today. Today was a four-class day, and laundry day. Further plans include the Natural History Museum. (rumor has it that there is a photography exhibit...)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
.Loving London.
hi.
have you been to london?
you haven't?
well, you should come sometime soon, because it is pretty much fabulous.
thanks, bye.
So yeah, things are still cookin with gas here in the London Center.
Some of my favorite moments from the past week:
On Monday night, Michelle and I tried our luck at getting tickets to the sold-out John Mayer show. I have no clue how this concert slipped past us between all of the various concert searches that I have done over the past month or so. Oh well. We got there, and immediately hear "boy-oh-sewl tickehts!" from these big, burly men with crazy eyes and bad facial hair. Hmm. I'm surprised I wasn't more intimidated by them - but instead I walked right up to them one at a time and discovered that we'd have to wait a pretty long time for the prices to drop down to what we wanted to pay. (they started at 120 pounds each - about 200 US Dollars - and decreased to about 70 pounds before we decided we had seen enough of the outside of the theater) However, we DID get interviewed by some lady for some website...I'm not really sure what it was...
A good time was had by all. And I think by the end, the scalpers were even a little bit intimidated by me. Don't mess.
Tuesday was buuuuusssyyyy. Kitchen duty, 4 classes, British Museum (2+ hours of navigating London for 50 minutes of museum time), kitchen duty, crash. blaaahhhhh.
Wednesday was our first big day trip. Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathdral, and the city of Bath. Wonderful, wonderful day. I think all of those long car rides from Oregon to Utah and Canada have made me truly enjoy just driving and looking out the window. I almost got disappointed when we arrived at the various destinations and had to get off of the bus.
*BONUS*: I have this sort of random habit of always sitting on the left side of cars. I'd always call the left window in high school when driving places with friends (that is, if shotgun was taken). But NOW, the left side is like, the edge of the road, so I can see everything! It's wonderful. Lot's of beautiful countryside to look at. Loved it.
Another great thing from Wednesday was getting out from the city for a bit. As much as I love love love it here in the heart of London, I've noticed myself feeling a little bit cramped. It's something about not being able to see past the tall buildings only a few hundred yards away.
I think my favorite site from Wednesday was the Roman Baths. Hot, steamy, and awesome.
I've got a few pictures from the day below.
(if you want some more details from Wednesday, check out Michelle's blog..we do pretty much everything together)
These are my wonderful roommates (minus Leslie)
at the Roman Baths with the handy audio tour guide thing.
inside the assembly room in Bath.
Favorite moment from the beautiful today?
I think this video is pretty self-explanatory.
I've watched it about 10 times already and can't stop laughing.
have you been to london?
you haven't?
well, you should come sometime soon, because it is pretty much fabulous.
thanks, bye.
So yeah, things are still cookin with gas here in the London Center.
Some of my favorite moments from the past week:
On Monday night, Michelle and I tried our luck at getting tickets to the sold-out John Mayer show. I have no clue how this concert slipped past us between all of the various concert searches that I have done over the past month or so. Oh well. We got there, and immediately hear "boy-oh-sewl tickehts!" from these big, burly men with crazy eyes and bad facial hair. Hmm. I'm surprised I wasn't more intimidated by them - but instead I walked right up to them one at a time and discovered that we'd have to wait a pretty long time for the prices to drop down to what we wanted to pay. (they started at 120 pounds each - about 200 US Dollars - and decreased to about 70 pounds before we decided we had seen enough of the outside of the theater) However, we DID get interviewed by some lady for some website...I'm not really sure what it was...
A good time was had by all. And I think by the end, the scalpers were even a little bit intimidated by me. Don't mess.
Tuesday was buuuuusssyyyy. Kitchen duty, 4 classes, British Museum (2+ hours of navigating London for 50 minutes of museum time), kitchen duty, crash. blaaahhhhh.
Wednesday was our first big day trip. Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathdral, and the city of Bath. Wonderful, wonderful day. I think all of those long car rides from Oregon to Utah and Canada have made me truly enjoy just driving and looking out the window. I almost got disappointed when we arrived at the various destinations and had to get off of the bus.
*BONUS*: I have this sort of random habit of always sitting on the left side of cars. I'd always call the left window in high school when driving places with friends (that is, if shotgun was taken). But NOW, the left side is like, the edge of the road, so I can see everything! It's wonderful. Lot's of beautiful countryside to look at. Loved it.
Another great thing from Wednesday was getting out from the city for a bit. As much as I love love love it here in the heart of London, I've noticed myself feeling a little bit cramped. It's something about not being able to see past the tall buildings only a few hundred yards away.
I think my favorite site from Wednesday was the Roman Baths. Hot, steamy, and awesome.
I've got a few pictures from the day below.
(if you want some more details from Wednesday, check out Michelle's blog..we do pretty much everything together)
These are my wonderful roommates (minus Leslie)
at the Roman Baths with the handy audio tour guide thing.
inside the assembly room in Bath.
Favorite moment from the beautiful today?
I think this video is pretty self-explanatory.
I've watched it about 10 times already and can't stop laughing.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Happy Sunday
Two words: morning voice.
My morning voice has been horrendous over the past few days or so. I am convinced that I am not sick, but goodness gracious, I sound like a dying animal in the mornings. Until it fades away, I am trying to avoid speaking in the mornings...a difficult task when I live with 40+ other people.
But hey! Today was my first day at church in the Peckham Ward - where I'll be attending (along with Tori, Ali, and Shar) for the next few months. It's south of the Thames, about an hour of traveling each way (walking and the tube). Anyway. It was GREAT! Apparently I am now the resident pianist in the ward. I'll be playing in sacrament meeting and in primary. Oh my goodness, primary. The kids are so adorable. After primary was over, one of the girls came right up to me and said, "are you going to be here every week?" (all of this with an English accent) My heart melted. Her name is Onome. Pronounced kind of like Anna Mae. My new favorite person.
According to everyone else that I have talked to, church in the London area is fabulous all-around. The whole group is spread out into various wards in two different stakes.
In other news...
- I'm on kitchen crew this week. Not as bad as I thought it would be.
- Homework consists of reading, and lots of it. We're talking hundreds and hundreds of pages a week.
- I visited Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery on Wednesday, and saw a few of my all-time favorite paintings.
- I have eaten fish and chips a couple times - at a pub and at the center
- On Thursday, a group of us went to Piccadilly Circus (don't worry, we had tickets...joke) and wandered around for a bit and got ice cream. I made one of my first mental map connections when we wandered over to Leicester Square. I get pretty disoriented sometimes, coming up from the Tube in the middle of London.
- I attended a 2-hour faculty meeting (the joys of being the facilitator keep on rolling in)
- The group went to the Tower of London. Loved it.
- Borough Market food = yum (especially after walking around in the cold for several hours)
- Spent about 3 hours on Portabello Road yesterday, shopping and such in the pouring rain. It was just like home. I bought 3 pashminas for only 5 pounds. That's for you, Abby.
- Ordered Chicken Ladosh last night at Khan's.
- The snow is gone, and the rain is here. Thank goodness.
My morning voice has been horrendous over the past few days or so. I am convinced that I am not sick, but goodness gracious, I sound like a dying animal in the mornings. Until it fades away, I am trying to avoid speaking in the mornings...a difficult task when I live with 40+ other people.
But hey! Today was my first day at church in the Peckham Ward - where I'll be attending (along with Tori, Ali, and Shar) for the next few months. It's south of the Thames, about an hour of traveling each way (walking and the tube). Anyway. It was GREAT! Apparently I am now the resident pianist in the ward. I'll be playing in sacrament meeting and in primary. Oh my goodness, primary. The kids are so adorable. After primary was over, one of the girls came right up to me and said, "are you going to be here every week?" (all of this with an English accent) My heart melted. Her name is Onome. Pronounced kind of like Anna Mae. My new favorite person.
According to everyone else that I have talked to, church in the London area is fabulous all-around. The whole group is spread out into various wards in two different stakes.
In other news...
- I'm on kitchen crew this week. Not as bad as I thought it would be.
- Homework consists of reading, and lots of it. We're talking hundreds and hundreds of pages a week.
- I visited Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery on Wednesday, and saw a few of my all-time favorite paintings.
- I have eaten fish and chips a couple times - at a pub and at the center
- On Thursday, a group of us went to Piccadilly Circus (don't worry, we had tickets...joke) and wandered around for a bit and got ice cream. I made one of my first mental map connections when we wandered over to Leicester Square. I get pretty disoriented sometimes, coming up from the Tube in the middle of London.
- I attended a 2-hour faculty meeting (the joys of being the facilitator keep on rolling in)
- The group went to the Tower of London. Loved it.
- Borough Market food = yum (especially after walking around in the cold for several hours)
- Spent about 3 hours on Portabello Road yesterday, shopping and such in the pouring rain. It was just like home. I bought 3 pashminas for only 5 pounds. That's for you, Abby.
- Ordered Chicken Ladosh last night at Khan's.
- The snow is gone, and the rain is here. Thank goodness.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Diving Right In.
So yeah, today. Way good. It started off with the first day of classes. I have Classical Civilization, Religion, International Politics, and British Literature. Yes, my friends, that was four and a half straight hours of class. Was it long? A little. Was it worth enduring? Absolutely.
Immediately after class, a group of us went out to Ben’s Cookies in High Kensington, and then wandered into H&M. Oh…and I got a dark chocolate ginger cookie. It was…interesting…maybe a little too adventurous, but delicious just the same.
Now, here comes one of those moments where it hits me that I’m actually in London. After H&M, a few girls suggested that we go to Big Ben, and after about 20 minutes on the tube, we emerged from the station immediately in front of Big Ben and the Thames. Uh, yeah - pretty awesome.
Quite possibly the highlight of today was going to see Wicked. I had never seen it before, so I was quite excited. We ended up going out with 20 people to get standby tickets (that’s more than half of the entire group). As we predicted, not too many people go to shows on Tuesday nights in the middle of January, so the seats were great, and better yet, cheap. Thank goodness for being a student. I now understand the love that so many people have for that musical. As I said to Michelle as we were leaving the theater, “that was the best 3 hours of my life!” Okay, perhaps that is an exaggeration, but still – those girls got mega pipes. I loved the accents, too.
Yes, well. That was today.
Among the past few days, I have had a couple of the “oh my goodness, I’m actually in London” moments. My favorite probably happened Monday morning, when Michelle and I went for a run in Hyde Park. I had a great song playing on my iPod, and it hit me…I was on a morning run in Hyde Park, THE Hyde Park. Perhaps that seems anticlimactic – oh well.
On Monday, we also had our first group outing to the Museum of London, and St. Paul’s Cathedral. St. Paul’s was simply wonderful. I’m surprised that I didn’t sprain my neck or something staring up at the ceilings for so long. I don’t think that I will ever be able to comprehend how architecture like that was constructed 300 years ago. Plenty of patience, I guess. And lots and lots of skills. Mega skills, like mega pipes.
Note: the wireless is completely bipolar here…mostly just polar, and on the pole that doesn’t function. I will post this when it decides to be on the functioning pole.
Aaaaaand PICTURES. I believe that they are in reverse chronological order.
Leicester Square on Saturday night. We finally broke down and took a picture with the phone booth.
Immediately after class, a group of us went out to Ben’s Cookies in High Kensington, and then wandered into H&M. Oh…and I got a dark chocolate ginger cookie. It was…interesting…maybe a little too adventurous, but delicious just the same.
Now, here comes one of those moments where it hits me that I’m actually in London. After H&M, a few girls suggested that we go to Big Ben, and after about 20 minutes on the tube, we emerged from the station immediately in front of Big Ben and the Thames. Uh, yeah - pretty awesome.
Quite possibly the highlight of today was going to see Wicked. I had never seen it before, so I was quite excited. We ended up going out with 20 people to get standby tickets (that’s more than half of the entire group). As we predicted, not too many people go to shows on Tuesday nights in the middle of January, so the seats were great, and better yet, cheap. Thank goodness for being a student. I now understand the love that so many people have for that musical. As I said to Michelle as we were leaving the theater, “that was the best 3 hours of my life!” Okay, perhaps that is an exaggeration, but still – those girls got mega pipes. I loved the accents, too.
Yes, well. That was today.
Among the past few days, I have had a couple of the “oh my goodness, I’m actually in London” moments. My favorite probably happened Monday morning, when Michelle and I went for a run in Hyde Park. I had a great song playing on my iPod, and it hit me…I was on a morning run in Hyde Park, THE Hyde Park. Perhaps that seems anticlimactic – oh well.
On Monday, we also had our first group outing to the Museum of London, and St. Paul’s Cathedral. St. Paul’s was simply wonderful. I’m surprised that I didn’t sprain my neck or something staring up at the ceilings for so long. I don’t think that I will ever be able to comprehend how architecture like that was constructed 300 years ago. Plenty of patience, I guess. And lots and lots of skills. Mega skills, like mega pipes.
Note: the wireless is completely bipolar here…mostly just polar, and on the pole that doesn’t function. I will post this when it decides to be on the functioning pole.
Aaaaaand PICTURES. I believe that they are in reverse chronological order.
Leicester Square on Saturday night. We finally broke down and took a picture with the phone booth.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
London: Pilot Post
Ok, no pictures yet. In fact, this is my first post that doesn't have a picture. BUT. I'm in London, and it is great! I'm surprised at how well my body has handled the time change and jet lag. Well done, self, well done.
Aside from unpacking and sitting by a heater in the library yesterday, I took a walk with a couple other girls around the nearby area. It was pretty busy out, so we just kind of looked around and tried to blend in as much as possible. I guess it worked, because a couple of ladies stopped us and asked us for directions.
Today started out well. Michelle and I went out and got breakfast at Cafe Diana, a small little place just around the corner from the center. To sum it up - wonderful orange juice, good food, and I tried my first fried tomato. A trip to the tube station to get our oyster cards summed up our morning outing (oh, and we got stopped for directions again), and the rest of the day looks promising, despite the cold weather and snow.
Pictures to come, as long as the internet connection will allow it.
Aside from unpacking and sitting by a heater in the library yesterday, I took a walk with a couple other girls around the nearby area. It was pretty busy out, so we just kind of looked around and tried to blend in as much as possible. I guess it worked, because a couple of ladies stopped us and asked us for directions.
Today started out well. Michelle and I went out and got breakfast at Cafe Diana, a small little place just around the corner from the center. To sum it up - wonderful orange juice, good food, and I tried my first fried tomato. A trip to the tube station to get our oyster cards summed up our morning outing (oh, and we got stopped for directions again), and the rest of the day looks promising, despite the cold weather and snow.
Pictures to come, as long as the internet connection will allow it.
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