Last Week

I haven't posted recently due to being busy with class-related stuff, but I'll fill you all in on what's been going on the past week!

Last Tuesday:
Nothing special went on last Tuesday other than classes, going to Primark (basically the Forever 21 of the UK), and what not. At night we went to see a show for my Aging class, known as This May Hurt a Bit. It was basically about the NHS (National Health Service) in the UK and public care that is offered here. It was actually pretty interesting to hear about! Sorry that I do not have much else to talk about--classes have been taking up a lot of our time here!

Wednesday:
Wednesday we had an excursion, but it was in the afternoon, so we kicked off the day by going to Kensington Palace! Unfortunately, the weather was not as warm as it had been the first week we were here, but at least it wasn't raining! It was still a bright, sunny day! We only took pictures in front of the gates, went into the gift shop (which had some very cute things--including a gold passport book!), and walked around the park there. Unfortunately there was no sighting of Kate, William, or little George!

Me in front of Kensington Palace

Right after visiting Kensington Palace, we visited TKMaxx, which is the same thing as TJMaxx, just with a K. I still haven't really figured out the significance of the K as opposed to the J. There were a lot of nice branded things that were on sale, but it was still fairly expensive! I'm pretty sure a lot of the items on sale in general throughout London are the same price as they would be in the U.S., just with a pound sign in front instead of a dollar sign!

Later in the day, we had an excursion to an organization known as Rich Mix, which is a place that essentially promotes the arts in East London by allowing local performers to put on shows there, and there are also some very pretty movie theaters! We have been talking about potentially going to support Rich Mix some rainy night we are here. We'd even be able to get a discount!

We also saw another play Wednesday night, which was called My Name Is... It was for my Multiculturalism course, and it was about an interracial/between religions marriage and the tensions and struggles that arose along those differences. It was very interesting, although it was extremely hot and uncomfortable in the tiny theatre. Personally, the theatre was too small and intimate for me. I didn't like occasionally making eye contact with the actors haha

Thursday
We didn't really due anything Thursday because we were trying to catch up on classwork--we have really been getting a lot of work to do lately, with all these papers :(
Nothing too exciting!

Friday
We again had another excursion, except it was for our Aging class (we had excursions for Aging every Friday and excursions for the other class every Wednesday). For this excursion we went to an organization called Elders Voice, which is basically a community center that provides social care for the elderly.

Afterwards, we actually did have time to have some fun! We went to HARROD'S! To be honest I had never heard of Harrod's until I arrived here, but it was definitely worth visiting. It was such an extravagant store--one section's walls were modeled after Egyptian style. It was seriously a beautiful department store. And of course everything was obnoxiously expensive. The only thing I would've been able to afford was probably a postcard. Even the ice cream scoops were like 14 pounds each!
Actually, the best part of Harrod's was the Toy Kingdom--I probably would have died if I had gone in there over 10 years ago. We also found some cute things in the toy section, including a book called Katie in London (sounds similar to my blog URL haha)!

Katie's in London :)

Princess Diana Memorial in Harrod's

At night a big group of us went to a nearby pub which turns into a club on Friday nights! It was fun, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what the nightlife scene is in central London :)

Sharing a drink with my friend Matt

Me with my friends :)

Saturday

We had an excursion to Brighton! We got a bit of a rough start, since it was POURING when we first arrived! Literally, as soon as we got there we complained of wanting to leave, but we stayed inside the indoor mall shopping for a couple hours until it cleared up. After that, it was actually a really nice day! 

After the mall, we went to the Brighton Museum to see an exhibition. The exhibition was really interesting! There were all of these books on bookshelves that had colorful bookcovers with an individual's name on it. The individuals in that exhibition were people who were seen as having an impact on England who either weren't from England themselves or their parents weren't. Alan Rickman (Severus Snape in Harry Potter) was even in there! Apparently his father was from Ireland.

Here is a picture of the gorgeous bookcases:

Afterwards, we walked out onto the Brighton Pier, and the shoreline looked beautiful! At the end of the pier there was a small fair--similar to the ones that come through small towns during the summers. I went on a ride with two of my friends--the Crazy Mouse. It was crazy! At sharp turns it almost felt like we were going to topple over into the English Channel (thank goodness we didn't).

On the Crazy Mouse!

After visiting the pier, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner in the town, where I got shrimp and sausage risotto! It was delicious, and it was especially nice because we were given a 10 pound voucher for food that day :)

Finally, to finish off the day, we went to see a play called Tomorrow, which was associated with our Aging class. To be honest, it was kind of a depressing play because it was about a dementia patient, but it was interesting to say the least. It was a good way to end a busy day before making the long train ride back!

Sunday:

Sunday was pretty much a catchup day because we had 3 papers due that day! 

This Monday:

We went to Stratford on Monday! It was actually a lot more fun than I was expecting. For those of you who don't know, Stratford is the birthplace of William Shakespeare. We started our morning off once getting there by getting a Full English Breakfast! It was absolutely delicious, and I definitely like the tea here more than the tea that is typically served back home.

A spot of tea!

My first Full English Breakfast

Afterwards, we went to get a 2-hour walking tour around Stratford and learned all sorts of things about the town! We learned a lot of facts about Shakespeare and his family's lives and the buildings that are associated with him. Through the tour we even got vouchers that gave us discounts at multiple restaurants and the Shakespeare houses! We even went into the church where Shakespeare and many of his family are also buried. Afterwards, we used one of our vouchers to get tickets to visit the houses that are associated with Shakespeare, including his birthplace, Nash's House and New Place, and Hall Croft!

Some people dressed as statues!

Me in front of William's birth home!

The Church with Shakespeare's grave

Shakespeare and his family's graves

Selfie with Shakespeare

To finish off the day, we went to dinner in a pub where Shakespeare was rumored to have had drinks at! Also delicious :)

Tuesday:

On Tuesday I met up with my friend Jessica (I went to high school with her)! We had a lot of fun shopping even though it was raining for most of the day! I also saw her flat that she's staying in and it's so much nicer than the place I am staying I am jealous (on top of that, it's actually in central London!). It was a funny coincidence though because as soon as I walked into her building, I noticed a Notre Dame mat was in front of the door, and that's when I realized it was the building that was owned by Notre Dame! My friend Madden from Notre Dame also happened to be staying in the same apartment! Looks like I can visit two friends in one day whenever I go there :)

After I went shopping with Jessica, we decided to get dinner together at a pub near where she lives called Wellingtons. I got glazed chicken and the best cider that I have had here! It actually tasted like candy--it was apple cider that had strawberry lime in it also.

Glazed Chicken!

Wednesday:

We went to Brixton for another excursion where we had a walking tour and learned a lot about the history there--particularly the riots that occurred in the district and how Brixton has remained stigmatized due to these riots in the past. However, apparently the area is increasingly attracting tourists, however! Especially since there is a big theatre there where even big artists go--including Rihanna. 

After the tour, my friends and I went to Nando's for lunch, which apparently is a pretty popular restaurant here! It kind of reminded me of Buffalo Wild Wings because you could choose a sauce anywhere from mild to hot for your chicken wings, wraps, burgers, etc. to be cooked in. It was also good! To be honest, I don't know where this idea that English food was bad came from--everything I've eaten here has been really good! The only thing that I don't really like as much is the milk, but I've gotten over that!

David Bowie mural in Brixton

Thursday:

We had a quiz today in Aging, so that was pretty stressful. My professor for that class however has ALREADY graded them and I did really well! She's really speedy at grading, it's really impressive!

After class today, the other two Katie's and I decided to walk through Trafalgar Square because it turned out to be a much nicer day than the forecast predicted! We also went near Buckingham Palace and the view was spectacular!

WOO!

That was a lot to write! Lesson learned: Don't put off writing a blog post for over a week!

Stephanie is coming to London for the weekend tomorrow morning, so I am super excited to hang out with her and Jessica this weekend!

First Full Weekend Here!

Of course, we did a lot of stuff this past weekend--the most important things were going to Oxford and the Harry Potter Studio Tour!

Saturday:

After waking up at 6 AM, taking the Tube to our bus stop, and taking an approximately one-hour-long bus ride, we finally arrived in Oxford! It was an absolutely beautiful campus, which we were able to better see through our 2-hour tour. We saw things like one of their libraries, their medical discoveries museum, and the view of the city from the top of a church tower. 

We even ate at a pub where many famous people like Bill Clinton have been. There was actually a pretty humorous story about how Bill Clinton had gone to that pub with a group of individuals who supposedly had been smoking pot, which he apparently "did not inhale." I tried a sampling board of some typical British foods, including a pork pie, sweet potato "crisps," pork scratchings, and simple bread and olives. All were delicious except the pork scratchings, which were nearly impossible to eat so I gave up on those pretty quickly. I had wanted to order the Scotch egg but they ran out :(

There was also a really nice shopping center in Oxford that we did not spend a whole lot of time in, but I did get the chance to purchase a really nice puffy sweater from Zara! I can still choose to return it, but I'm waiting for it to cool down here before I try it on with a full outfit that I would actually wear with it. It's been in the 70's and sunny for the past few days (NO RAIN), which apparently is pretty abnormal here!

We spent a total of about 6 hours at Oxford, and it was definitely worth it--especially since it was such a beautiful day!

Sunday: 

Sunday was more of a resting day for us, but we went inside St. Paul's Cathedral in the morning, which was very pretty/modern looking. Afterwards we tried a Pret a Manger for the first time, which is a little chain deli that is EVERYWHERE--I got a smoked salmon sandwich and a smoothie, both of which were pretty delicious and relatively inexpensive! Finally, we went to the British Museum to do homework, but we couldn't stay there very long because there was nowhere to plug in our computers, and there wasn't a whole lot of room in there--but it was still pretty cool to see the inside of it!

No pictures though :(

Monday:

WE WENT TO THE HARRY POTTER STUDIO TOUR! It was so cool, and we saw all the set pieces, including buildings that were constructed to film in, such as the Great Hall, the Dursley Home and Privet Drive, etc. It was pretty nostalgic to think of all the years that were spent in this studio, and how these movies began so long ago (in 2000 I think?). We also drank Butterbeer on Privet Drive, which apparently there are only two places in the world that sell butterbeer including Universal Studios in Florida. It was simply incredible and definitely worth it. The only thing that would've made it better would have been if Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint were there!

McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Snape

The Chamber of Secrets!

The Death Eaters

The Dursleys'!

Butterbeer on Privet Drive

Hogwarts Bridge

A model of Hogwarts

The Hogwarts Castle!

I'm in Gryffindor!

The Chess Pieces from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone

End of the First Week!

I can't believe I've been here for almost a week! We have seen so much, but we still have so many more things to see!

Wednesday:
We had an excursion for one of our classes, where we went to Brick Lane to have a tour of that side of London. It was pretty cool because we learned about a lot of the history, mostly about what happened to the area during/after World War 2, but the only pictures I got of it were pretty much just buildings. We got bagels (spelled beigel here for some reason?) afterwards and it was the most delicious thing ever--with smoked salmon and cream cheese! I might have to go back just for the bagel :) It was pretty interesting for a first excursion! We didn't do much on Wednesday because we also had to finish up a video for one of our classes, but it still feels like we did so much!

A warehouse where bells are made (including the Liberty Bell!)

Thursday:

Yesterday the weather was absolutely beautiful--it was actually warm enough to wear shorts! And it never rained! So, after class, my friends and I decided to walk through Camden market and see the little shops that were there. I didn't buy anything, but it was nice to see what was available (after all, I do need to get some souvenirs...). A lot of the little shops sold things like dresses, paintings, jackets, purses, and just typical London souvenirs like keychains and postcards. There was also a nice inside area of the market where they were selling a lot of vintage items. We spent a veeery long time in the market, and that was pretty much the main thing that we did all day. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the market but I am sure that I will at some point this trip!

And today was my friend's birthday, so last night a big group of us went out to celebrate her birthday at midnight! It was kind of weird though because apparently going out on Thursday nights isn't as big here as it is back home... There were a lot of older people out at the places we went haha

Friday (Today):

To start, we went on an excursion to Age UK (a charity) for one of our classes, where we learned about what they do and other various aspects of the aging population in Great Britain. Afterwards, we went to get fish and chips--an obvious classic for going to England. To be fair, I probably will not eat it again this trip because I felt kind of gross afterward, but I definitely had to at some point while I was here! Despite this, it was actually delicious! Apparently the place we went had very high ratings on their fish and chips :P

We also went to see the London (Tower) Bridge! We went in a large group, and although it sometimes was difficult to navigate with so many people, we had a lot of fun! We went up in the bridge and got some great photos looking over the river. There were also a lot of random informative posters up there about various aspects of London and different things that originated there like bands, fashion styles, etc. After, we walked past the London Tower but didn't actually go up in it, but we did go to the Monument and walk to the top. Walking to the top was awful! My friend Katie and I had to keep stopping to take breaks because we were out of breath (for the record, it was 311 very steep steps in a spiral staircase). But once we got up there, it was very similar to looking out at the top of the Eiffel Tower, though it wasn't as tall, obviously. There was also not a whole lot of space up there so we didn't stay there for too long. Walking back down those stairs was a lot freakier because the stairs also were a little slippery and sometimes you'd have to pass other people who were coming up. I think it was one of those things that I did once but will probably not do again hahaha

Finally, we walked over to St. Paul's Cathedral (which is in Mary Poppins), but by the time we got over there, they were no longer allowing visitors inside. So, we decided that we will also need to go there for Church one Sunday in addition to Westminster Abbey! The outside of the church was absolutely beautiful though.

Welcome to the London Bridge!

 From the top of the bridge

 The Monument

 The Monument (plus the 5 pictures below)

 The freaky spiral staircase!

 St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral