94 more views and this blog will hit the 2000 mark! Help me do it! Today is the day I LEAVE London, and so end my life-changing journey abroad. This will probably also be the last day I update this journal. SAD NEWS đŠ
London
Westminster Abbey
EnglandI slept in today and it was glorious. Then I went to Victoria to window shop and ended up in the dressing rooms… who was I kidding? THEN I paid to tour Westminster Abbey by myself, and it was one of the best experiences I’ve had here, I think. Having the freedom to listen to the whole tour, and sitting when I wanted to and looking for as long or as little as I liked and sneaking through the back gardens unnoticed and staying in the nave for like 20 minutes replaying the choir song a billion times (200 on the audio tour keypad! And 2 for the altar commentary by Jeremy Irons and the singing accompaniment).
Harrods & Yorkshire pudding
EnglandToday was mostly a blah day, because I slept until noon then ended up not doing my paper, which is due tomorrow night. Ugh. At 4pm I met Melissa at Harrods and we went shopping! It was a mad dash through the Children’s Toy and Pet Kingdom sections, where they are currently housing a litter of Siamese kittens and British Bulldog puppies. I wanted to take them home with me. Then we browsed the Christmas Workshop and down to the Food Section where there were more different kinds and brands and displays of chocolate and truffles than you could possibly imagine. There was a mad dash to purchase before their closing at 6, but I made it. Then we headed over to Bunches of Grapes for a delicious Roast Beef wrapped in Yorkshire pudding wrap dinner with peas, chips, gravy and horseradish. I WILL DEARLY MISS PUB FOOD WHEN I LEAVE đŠ At home, I FINALLY got to chat with my boy and show off my Harrods purchases †Then I sat around, drank green tea, and did nothing productive for the nighttime!
NOTE: Lots of pictures have been added for the December 3-5 dates!
British Library, abbey, & pub crawl
EnglandToday was a full day! In the morning Melissa and I went to the British Library, where we saw the original manuscripts by Austen, Brontë, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Eliot, and the Beatles. We also saw the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Magna Carta! Whoo! Thanks Dad for the recommendation.
Ice Skating!
EnglandToday, I do believe, was a fine day. The internship part wasn’t so great, because I’ve run out of plays to cover (Christmas season is bad for theatre). When I got home, I took my coupons to Subway and got a 6′ sub for free! Then I went ice skating with Ciara and Priam at the National History museum, and it was FANTASTIC. I’d forgotten how much I love skating, even though I’m still amateur. Most pictures are of us, because really, how many interesting angles are there of a rink?
Oliver!
London, TheaterSaw Oliver! by myself tonight. I do the whole being alone thing very well, except for the food part. I pig out to keep busy. Maybe I have an oral fixationâI should probably invest in some gum. Anyways, I do so love that musical. Sat in the cheap seats and didnât get upgraded, which was a bummer, but still worth what I paid.
Tate Britain
England
Camden
EnglandCamden Market was FANTASTIC today. Rachel, Melissa, and I were drawn to pretty much everything. Some of it was really touristy, but other stuff was chic, hip, vintage, grungy, and really cool!
And you KNEW it was cool, because they sold (replicas of) Banksy.
A pretty scene where, along the edge, they sold lots of ethnic food.
They had the coolest bench seats overlooking the river.
Above ground market.
Getting deeper.
And underground. The ceiling for a music section.
The WEIRDEST store of my life. Words cannot describe what’s inside. I’m going back, obviously, to buy something just to prove that stuff it holds really exists for sale. You have no idea.
I can imagine most, if not all, of my shopping sprees happening in Camden. I need to say that it is a MIRACLE that I managed to not buy a single thing… except when we went back to Covent Garden and I had to buy paella.. AND cookies from Ben’s Cookies to keep my tummy happy.
All in all, a day well spent. Tonight will involve more hanging out with the girls over a pint at Imperial. Tomorrow: Cambridge and Punting!
Study Abroad: Trafalgar Square
England
King’s Cross & Fabric
EnglandOh no! I didn’t get to write an entry for yesterday. Which was mad busy, by the way. Yesterday, I slept until 11–the longest I’ve slept in while being here. Then I went for a run in Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park, which was absolutely beautiful. I think I might study or read there soon before the weather gets too cold. After returning, showering, and snacking, Melissa Antoine and I took a little trip to King’s Cross to find Platform 9 3/4!
We are SUCH geeks, but it was so worth it!
So after that, Antoine went off my himself because us girls were going to go shoppingggg. And I got a cute little dress from H&M which I wore that night at Fabric. We walked around the Harrods area for a little bit, explored a bead and jewelry store called Wave, and tasted free samples of tea down the street–the tastes of which we fell in love with right away and decided to buy tins full of it đ
Then we took the Tube from South Kensington to Gloucester Road (the perks of using a monthly Oyster card: going one stop doesn’t mean a thing!) to get some alcohol for the night. Guess what they hadddd!!!
And rushed back to cook pasta and drink up. At 10pm our big group embarked on the journey to Fabric, this really famous (and now infamous) nightclub at Farringdon. SO not worth the time, and it took us about 2 hours to find our way back home, which ended up being around 4am. For Saturday: homework time.
Lindsey Olander 