Chelsea, 39 Steps, Snowy Trafalgar Square!

Thursday, January 24th 2013, 

Last Friday the 18th, I, joined by two girls on my trip, went to the National Army Museum located in Chelsea.  Maybe it was the snow falling down as we walked through the city of Chelsea, making me feel like I was walking through a scene from Harry Potter, but I fell in love with Chelsea.  Around every corner there are unique shops and alley ways.  Upon leaving the tube station on our trek to find the museum, we were supposed to go right and we definitely went left, but it ended up being my favorite part of the day. We found a cute square with park benches, statues and telephone booths all dusted with snow making the place seem like a fairytale.  We continued walking the wrong way and soon found ourselves staring at Mozarts old house. It is amazing how anywhere I walk in London, whether it's where I want to be going or not, will lead me to a piece of history. Once reaching Mozarts house we decided we were probably going the wrong way and decided to turn around and try again.  Now going the other direction we passed the Royal Hospital of Chelsea, which is where Kate was just treated days earlier for morning sickness.  We eventually found the museum and learned centuries of the United Kingdoms history.  I am going back again because we were there for hours and I still did not see it all! 

Chelsea--right by Mozarts house!

Later that night, the 18th, FIE, my school in London, paid for all of its students to go see 39 Steps. So my whole CSBSJU group boarded the Picadilly line to Picadilly Circus to go see the show.  39 Steps is a very famous comedy currently in London. It consists of many characters; however, only 4 actors play all of them. From this aspect alone it was extremely entertaining seeing some of the main characters changing characters within seconds right on stage.  It made my respect grow so much for actors and actresses, and was unlike any play I had ever seen. 

39 Steps with the whole CSBSJU group in Piccadilly Circus!

Last Sunday the 20th it was snowing in London, as it had been doing all week. Everyone was studying for their midterm for their Islam class, which I am not in. I did not want to waste the day sitting in the flat, so I decided it was the perfect day for my first solo excursion in London. I still had not been to Trafalgar Square, so I figured what better day than during the snow, and I was right.  I wish the pictures could do it justice because it was breathtaking.  The morning after I was reading the paper and it said this is the worst blizzard London has experienced in a decade. Coming from Minnesota it is hard not to laugh, but is very cool to be a part of this weather history! 

 Trafalgar Square in the snow!

Parliament Tour

January 16, 2013,

Parliament on the day of the tour (it was finally sunny for a change!)

Westminster Hall - this is where Obama spoke to both the house of the commons and the house of the lords last year.  It is not heated and was even colder than outside! Burr!

     Today we went on a tour of parliament.  It was absolutely incredible! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside, besides in Westminster Hall, but it was unbelievable.  The amount of money that went into the building is insane! To think that the royalty once lived in parliament as their home makes any hollywood stars home look like slumdog millionaire.  After burning nearly every calorie my body had shivering in the north pole, more formally known as Westminster Hall which wasn't heated, waiting for our tour guide who was late, we started our tour by rushing to the house of commons.  We needed to hurry because they were having a parliament meeting there later in the morning. (By the time we were back at our flat after the tour the meeting was on TV, talk about cool!) The house of commons appears large on TV, but it is actually very small. It's about the same size as a basketball court but a little shorter in length.  There are over 600 parliament members (PM's-people who participate in parliament meetings), but the room can only fit a little over 400.  There are never meetings where everyone can make it due to other obligations, usually with the government in their respective countries, so they never run into complications with lack of room.  The parliament members are from all the different countries of the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.  In order to participate in a meeting the PM's must swear an oath to the Queen of England (or do something in the name of the Queen) and the 5 PM's from Northern Ireland have never sworn the oath, so no PM from Northern Ireland has ever participated in a meeting.
     After leaving the house of commons we went through various hallways passing statues of famous prime ministers, such as Winston Churchill and Margret Thatcher.  Imagining that in years past people that had once made world changing decisions walked the same halls that I was walking on today is a slightly mind blowing thought. The next room we went to was the house of lords.  This is the room where the Queen gives her Queens speech every year.  We walked through the room where she gets ready before walking into the house of lords to give her speech.  There was a chair that was made for Queen Victoria in that room.  While in Minnesota it is a big deal to become legal to gamble at age 18, at age 18 Queen Victoria was named Queen.  Gambling $5 in a slot machines is just a little less responsibility than gambling the country of England, just a little.  Fitting her age, Queen Victoria was very short, so every chair that was created for her had a footstool so she could climb into it with a 'Queens grace.'  Any painting of Queen Victoria was in had the famous footstool as well.

Westminster Abbey!

January 16, 2013,

     Last Sunday night, the 13th, I went to a service at Westminster Abbey.  As beautiful as it is on the outside with lights beaming on the sides casting very eerie shadows that in some way help express how old the building truly is, the abbey on the inside is even more breathtaking.  Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pictures while inside, but the unbelievably high ceilings and the fact that everything is covered in gold made it hard to pay attention.  I was slightly taken back when a woman walked in to give the service, but, as I learned, Westminster Abbey is part of the Church of England which allows woman to give the service.  As much as I was trying to focus on the speaker, I often found my eyes wandering all the way between the high ceilings to the detailed woodwork in the choir rows where we were sitting.  The service was similar to a catholic mass, but we did not have communion and we spoke much more frequently.  I often found myself subconsciously speaking in an accent when we were asked to say something right after the speaker.  I felt like such a poser, but it was fun :) I hope to experience many different churches before the semester is over!

Stonehenge/Bath!

January 14, 2013,

This past weekend we went to stonehenge and the city of Bath!

     The trip to Stonehenge and Bath started way too early to ever get up on a Saturday in London, 8:00 AM! ( I know it isn't that early but still... ) As I walked outside Manson Place to start walking towards the bus I was greeted by a very cold and wet wind.  My group and I made it to our coach bus just in time, jumping over puddles and dodging raindrops along the way.  We were off and hoping that the weather would get better before we arrived at our first stop of the day, Stonehenge.  When I woke up from my nap to the voice of our tour guide, I was disappointed to see that it was still raining.  With high hopes that it would not be as windy, I grabbed my camera and umbrella and headed off the bus. My question of if it was less windy now was quickly answered when my umbrella flipped inside out within minutes of getting off the bus.  Regardless, with our hoods and umbrellas up and our heads down we trudged towards the huge rocks.  We were barely able to snap a few pictures before literally being blown away by the wind.  So, to try to save our lives we had a group consensus to head back to the bus.  Soaking wet, we all ran back to our heated bus and joked about how cold it was.  It was unfortunate that we weren't able to soak in (pun intended) the experience more while we were at Stonehenge.  I would have like to have reflected on how many people had been to the site we were standing at, and the effort it took to get the rocks where they stood now.  WIth high hopes and finally feeling back in our hands, we started our hour and a half drive to the city of Bath.

     When we were about 10 minutes outside of the city everyone jolted awake, once again, by the voice of our tour guide who had starting to explain the history of Bath.  She explained how all of the building in Bath are made out of the same stone, bath stone, so they all look the same. The stone is known for being very soft. As we cruised around the streets of Bath, I noticed that some of the street names were even engraved into the stone because it is that soft.
     During WWII, the UK bombed some cities in Germany and to get back at the UK Germany bombed the city of Bath because they knew how much England loved the city.  So, much of the city was actually destroyed during WWII and Bath had to rebuild those parts of the city with different stone because they didn't have enough money to build it with bath stone.  Once they have enough funding they are going to re-do those buildings for architectural beauty purposes.
     After driving around the city of Bath, we all got off the bus and started exploring the majestic city by foot.  First, we went to see the actual bath in Bath.  This is where the ancient romans used to bathe.  The water is from a natural hot spring and is about 118 degrees.  Since it was still very cold outside, I had to fight myself to not jump in and take a nice warm bath myself.  It was truly amazing to think of the millions of people that had walked on the very stones for centuries before me that I found myself walking on that day.
     After leaving the bath, I ate at a Thai restaurant with some people on my trip and it was delicious, and even better, for the first time since being in London I wasn't hungry at all!  When we were done eating it was pouring rain.  I opened my umbrella and stepped into what I swear is a worse cold than negative degree weather in the midwest.  We walked to the main road in Bath, passing the amazing Abbey, two-thirds of which was destroyed in the bombings. Once at the main road, if at all possible, it seemed to be raining even harder so we took refuge in the nearest shop we could find.  It turned out to be an art gallery with art work ranging from statues of women's bottoms to mug shots of famous Americans such as Snoop Dog and Prince.  Yes, I agree, that was very strange especially since they were selling for over half the value of my plane ticket to Europe.  We walked around to different shops, such as books shops and candy shops, until it was time to go back to the bus.
    The only way to describe the city of Bath is like walking around in a fairy tale.  The history around every corner is incredible and unlike any city I have ever been to.  It almost seemed to be a made up place at Disney World because it was so adorable.
   

Second Post - First Days in London

January, 6th, 2013,

Hello from London! Despite from being a little under the weather these first couple days I've really been enjoying my time in London! I'm living in Manson Place 13, in flat 14, room E with 3 other girls! In my whole flat there are 6 girls and 8 boys.  It is a tight squeeze but a lot of fun! In our whole group from my school we have 3 flats, but ours has turned into the flat that everyone congregates to, which I like because we constantly have people around and it is a lot of fun! We have a great view of very pretty flats across the street! We are living in South Kensington which is a really nice area of London and home of some famous people (William and Kate are moving here soon!) The first couple days we have toured our schools and walked around Kensington and Hyde Park.  We have also explored the tube (the underground transportation system here) and traveled to big ben, parliament, and the london eye! We have also gone to a couple of pubs and really love the atmosphere at them.  I am enjoying getting to know my group and am excited for the trip to continue! ( not so much the classes starting part though :( )

First Post - Leaving Minnesota

January 2nd, 2013,

This is my first post as I start my adventure in London! I am now done packing (finally), and very ready and excited to go! Ever since I was little I've wanted to study abroad in London and I can't believe after so many years it's finally my time to go! My flight is at 9:40 PM tonight, Jan. 2nd.  I will be landing at 12:05 PM (London time), which is 6:05 AM Minnesota time.  Hopefully I will be able to sleep a little on the plane otherwise it will be a very long day! Once I land, since there are so many people in my program on my flight FIE (the university I will be attending while in London) has arranged a shuttle to take us where we need to go. I am slightly nervous and sad to leave my friends and family back home, but am overall so unbelievably excited for the adventure of a lifetime to begin!