A Letter to London

Dear London,

I will leave thee in less than 24 hours, and will miss you dearly. Let me count the ways.

1. Legit British Accents
2. Taking the tube everywhere and noticing the awesome names of stations (my favorites: Chancery Lane, Tottenham Court Road)
3. Fish and Chips
4. Scones (or "crumpets")
5. Trips to Hampton Court, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Paris, and Wales
6. National Portrait Gallery (my favorite museum I have been to)
7. My wonderful flatmates/travel buddies/friends Sam, Mara, and Kelly
8. Hanging out with Trever and Chanel (from the Core program), and getting to know Anna
9. Indian food with Kelly
10. Cute stores and amazing style

That said, I must say "so long, farewell," but hopefully we will meet again one day.

With love,

Laura

Winding Down

As I may have mentioned previously, this week has been very low-key in comparison to the previous four and a half weeks we have been here. I have mostly been relaxing and attempting to study for finals. I went to the National Portrait Gallery on Thursday, and it was amazing to see people I have studied about in several of my classes. Particularly, it was exciting to see authors I had studied in Brit Lit, such as Ben Jonson, Sir Walter Ralegh, Sir Philip Sidney, and Shakespeare. I also saw several of the kings and queens I had learned about in my Shakespeare class, such as Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I, and Queen Mary. This afternoon I went to the British Museum, where I saw the Rosetta stone, along with other artifacts from Egypt, ancient Greece/Rome, Asia, and the Pacific Islands

On Monday I have a double session of Moral Psych, and then I have finals Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Thursday is home sweet home for me. I have mixed feelings about returning home. I am looking forward to having my own room and not being busy with classes and excursions all the time. However, I love London and the places I have been. I have a special place for it in my heart, and will be sad to leave.

Thanks for reading!

Chartwell and Greenwich

Our final excursion took us to Chartwell and Greenwich. Chartwell is where Churchill lived, mainly during his years as prime minister. It was cool seeing the furniture and other artifacts that were there, and the garden and surrounding areas are lovely. After visiting Chartwell, we went to Greenwich for a bit. I went up with some people from the other study abroad program to the observatory, where I walked on the prime meridian and went into a mini exploratory.
Chartwell, Churchill's estate

Backyard

Pretty gardens

Proof I was on the Prime Meridian

I'm on the prime meridian! (0 degrees latitude and longitude)

Yesterday we saw our final play at the Globe, The Comedy of Errors, which was short, but well done. I have 8 more days left, and am going to the National Portrait Gallery tomorrow, and am hoping to get to the British Museum at some point before I leave. I only have three more days left of class, and two days of finals. Today marked the end of our "required" excursions. Aside from attending classes and an evening meeting on Sunday, we are free to do whatever we want. Hope you have a good rest of the week, and I will try to post one more entry before I leave!

Cardiff and Tea

On Saturday, my friend Trever and I went to Cardiff for the day. Cardiff was amazing--unlike any place I had been before. The city is both modern yet medieval at the same time. We went to Cardiff Castle (the oldest castle in Wales) where we listened to an audio tour. There was a tower over a moat that required us to climb 120 narrow steps to get to the top. For the stunning view, those 120 steps were worth it. We also saw a cathedral, which had some fancy rooms. After our visit to the castle, we had a traditional lunch of cottage pie, which was fish and veggies with a mashed potato top. The pie came with peas and chips on the side, and we both had Shandys (beer and Schweppes). We spend the rest of the day walking around, especially through the arcades. The term "arcade" refers to the arches between the rows of stores
.
Cardiff Castle

Bridge on the tower--over a real moat!

We had to climb 120 (many of those narrow) stairs to get to the top

Cottage Pie with peas and chips

Walking in the park

Yesterday afternoon I had afternoon tea with three other girls from my flat. We had a very fun experience, enjoying traditional British tea, scones with jam and clotted cream, sandwiches, and pastries. Compared to "high tea" places, the place we went to was reasonable, as I had tea and scones for 6 pounds.

"Would you like some crumpets with your tea?"

Tea, darling?

Compared to the past weeks I have been here, this week is not too busy. Tomorrow night we are seeing The Comedy of Errors, and are going to Chartwell (Churchill's home) and Greenwich on Wednesday. I have 10 more days left here, and am hoping to go to the British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, and have Indian food before I leave. We'll see what I can do!

Stratford Upon Avon

What an adventure I had yesterday! Let's just say being up for 19 hours is tiring--I got up at 6 AM and went to bed at 1 AM. For the amazingness of this cute town known as Stratford-Upon-Avon, the long day was absolutely worth it. For those of you who do not know, Stratford-Upon-Avon is Shakespeare's hometown. After a two and a half hour journey, we stopped at Mary Arden's house. Mary Arden was Shakespeare's mother, and we could still see the rooms of the house in addition to some cute farm animals. Then, we made our way to the town and had a walking tour (by our English professor, who is a real expert in Shakespeare). We saw the house he lived in with Anne Hathaway (his wife, no relation to the actress people think I look like), the grammar school he attended, John Hall's (son in law/personal physician) house, and the Holy Trinity Church (where he was buried). I enjoyed shopping and exploring the town with my friends, and at night, we saw A Winter's Tale at the Royal Shakespeare company. The performance was well done and had a lot of upbeat music and dancing.

Mary Arden's House

One of my new friends on the farm

Shakespeare himself, up close and personal

Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway's house

My favorite Shakespearean character, John Falstaff (Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2). I also saw statues of Lady Macbeth, Hamlet, and Prince Hal (also from Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2)

Shakespeare attended King Edward grammar school. Unfortunately, we could not go in as students still attend school today.

Shakespeare's grave at Holy Trinity Church

This afternoon we are going to the Holocaust Museum, as we read Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning in psych class. I am going to Wales with my friend Trever (from a different UP study abroad program), and the rest of the week will be spend relaxing. I can't believe I only have two more weeks left!

Paris, je t'adore!

This weekend my friend Kelly and I went to Paris. Although we only had a weekend, we covered A LOT of ground. We walked around the Effiel Tower and the Arc du Triomphe; went to Versailles; visited Notre Dame; and of course, ate yummy food and went shopping. Versailles is now one of my favorite places--from the huge palace to the gardens--everything was magnificent! Notre Dame also had the most amazing stained glass windows I have seen. It is definitely my favorite church that I have been to in Europe. I also had the pleasure of enjoying the traditional French fare of crepes, onion soup, croissants, pastries, as well as falafel and an amazing salad with cherry tomatoes, potatoes, and cheese. Fortunately, Paris is a "walking city" so I walked everything off! The only down side about the weekend was that it was incredibly hot and I have a hard time tolerating the heat.

Last, but certainly not least, I had a blast utilising my linguistic skills, both in conversation and as a translator. Kelly does not speak French, so she often asked me to translate signs, menus, or talk to one of the locals. I would say I spoke French about 90% of the time I was there, which was good, given that I had not taken French in two years. Since I took four years of French in high school, I am not required to take a language in college. Even though the Parisians talk fast, I still enjoyed speaking to them in their language. Now I want to spend next summer living with a French family as an English tutor--an opportunity for me to go beyond the four walls of a classroom and speak with native speakers.

La Tour Effiel
Louis XIV's bed. If only Fields' (my dorm) beds were this lavish. At least I have a suite!

Versailles: View of the palace

Garden in Versailles. This is where I want to get married. Unfortunately, it's too far for my guests, but I still plan to have an outdoor wedding. But hey, I can dream!

Notre Dame: Prettiest cathedral I have been in

Kitty in a cafe: She looks like Mew, my old cat, who we sadly had to put down when my family and I went to Paris five years ago :(

Typical petit dejuner (breakfast)

Arc du Triomphe

Au revior! Plus tard, et avez une bonne semaine! (Goodbye! More later, and have a good week!)

Globe Theater, Blenheim, and Oxford

Another busy week! I have now been here for a little over two weeks, and this weekend officially marked the halfway point. Seems like just yesterday I was in San Francisco waiting to board the plane for Denver. The weeks are just so busy that I hardly have any time to chill. Last week we saw Henry VIII and 1 Henry IV, both at the Globe Theater. Both plays were well done, despite being long. I think having read these plays for class helped me enjoy them because I knew what to expect in terms of the plot. On Wednesday we went to Blenheim Palace and Oxford. Blenheim Palace is where Churchill's family lived. Before heading to Oxford, a few of my friends and I had the most delicious scones ever--English style, of course (with jam and cream)! We took a tour of Oxford and did a little shopping, followed by some yummy Thai food before heading back to London.

Outside and the stage of the Globe Theater

Blenheim Palace with my girls (Kelly, me, Mara, and Sam)

Best scones ever!

Housing at Trinity College (Oxford is actually divided into 38 colleges)

One of the rooms where the Harry Potter movies were filmed. I'm not a huge HP fan, but it was still cool to see the sites used for the movies.

This weekend Kelly and I went to Paris, but that deserves its own post. This will be a busy week, but I'll try to have my Paris post/pictures soon!

Pictures from my Previous Blog

As promised, here are some pictures from my adventures last week.

Tower of London


Westminster Abbey


Albert Memorial

Five of my six flatmates (Mara, Kelly, Liz, Lauren, me, and Sam)

Buckingham Palace

By the way, I do have A LOT more pictures. Uploading them all would take too long, and I didn't want to bore ya'll. More later!

A Walking Tour, Westminster Abbey, and The Tower of London

Busy week! In addition to four hours of classes four days a week, we had excursions three straight days in a row. Regardless, I am still having fun exploring London (and keeping up with my classes). Here's what I have been up to these past few days.

Monday: Walking tour around various parks and attractions. We went to Green (Queen Elizabeth II's residence) and Hyde Parks, followed by Kensington Gardens. The gardens are simply wonderful, and we even saw Queen Victoria's palace. Other sights we saw were Buckingham Palace, the Albert Memorial, Royal College of Music, V&A Museum (somewhere I would love to go before I leave), and the Natural History Museum. After the tour, Kelly and I walked through Harrods and admired the fashionable clothes and shoes. My favorite section was the evening gowns. Too bad it's so expensive ):

Tuesday: Westminster Abbey. We peeked into St. Margaret's Cathedral, which is next door to the Abbey. Unfortunately, we could not take pictures in either places so the only pictures I have from this day are the exterior of the buildings. We saw where famous people--royalty, poets, authors, and even musicians--are buried. After the tour, Kelly and I went to Sainsbury's (local grocery store) to get stuff to make nachos for dinner and other food/household needs for our flat. Because we had a lot to buy, the walk back from the grocery store was intense. Next time we will send at least three people out for big grocery runs!

Wednesday: Tower of London. We started the day off at Tower Hill, the site of public executions. While we were at the Tower, we saw the Crown Jewels (the one place where we could not take pictures), Bloody Tower, armor that the kings wore, and instruments of torture. We also saw the execution site of Anne Boleyn (the second of Henry VIII's six wives), one of the few prisoners to be executed in private at the Tower. Very intense, but fascinating. Afterwards, a group of us got yummy fish and chips.

We did not have excursions today or yesterday, so these two days have been "catch up on homework days." They don't call it "study abroad" for nothing, but the six credits I will earn will allow me to finish my psych minor in the spring and not have to take English classes the second semester of my senior year (unless I really want to :D). Four of my flatmates went to Ireland for the weekend, so I will be doing homework and catching up on some much needed relaxation.

Next weekend Kelly and I are going to Paris. We are not quite sure what we are going to do, but we want to go to Versailles on Saturday. I am very excited to put my language skills to good use, and I am going to try to speak mostly in French with the locals. Kelly does not speak French, so I have been teaching her a few phrases this past week.

On a final note, I took A LOT of pictures this week. I will try to post some this weekend in a separate entry.

Update of the Last Few Days

Hey All! Busy but fun few days here. Tomorrow will be a full week since I left, and it seems like just yesterday I was leaving San Fransico to go to Denver. Anyways, I am absolutely LOVING it here! I live in a flat with six other girls (I share a room with my friends Sam and Kelly), and we take turns cooking and cleaning. Everyone is really nice and friendly, and we have bonded pretty quickly. I started classes on Thursday, and despite the heavier workload than we would like, they are going well. I am taking Shakespeare and Moral Psych, and both of my professors are awesome. We are examining sonnets and Henry IV (part 1) in my Shakespeare class, and the history is absolutely fascinating! Tomorrow in psych we have a debate on sex involving commitment and I (along with a classmate) will be leading a discussion on Samuel Johnson's novel Rasselas.

Now on to the fun stuff. We saw Les Mis Thursday night, and it was great. Despite some disturbing scenes in the second act, the music and acting was well done. Friday afternoon I spent the day with an old friend who I went to grade school with, but have not seen for six years. She has lived in London the past four years as she is attending school year. We walked around Covent Garden, had lunch, got coffee and went to a park. We spent seven hours together, which was pretty incredible, as I cannot remember the last time I spent so much time with someone.


Last night I went to a pub with some people (10 of us) to watch the soccer (or "football," as they say here). After the first inning, three of my friends and I left and explored the London Bridge. The views are amazing!

Double decker bus, and two views of the London Bridge

Boat Ride Along the Thames and Hampton Court

Today was our first full day in London, and I am tired, as I have been on the go all day. We left our apartment at 8:45 this morning for a boat tour along the Thames. On the boat, we had great views of Big Ben, the London Eye, the Parliament, and the back of the London Aquarium. After three hours of sitting on the boat, we got off and explored Hampton Court for about 2 hours. Hampton Court is the palace where Henry VIII lived with his six wives. It was really awesome being able to see the kitchen, dining rooms, bedrooms, common rooms, and all the other places where Henry and the royal family lived in the late 1500's. After exploring the inside of the palace, we (my friends and I) walked around the gardens, which were beautiful and unlike anything I have seen. Because the weather was hot today and we did A LOT of walking, we were all exhausted.

Compared to some of the other people I am staying with, I was not very jet lagged. Unfortunately, my internal clock decided to wake me up at 5:30 this morning (I went to bed at 10:15), which is unusual as I am not a morning person. I tried to fall back asleep, but after doing so unsuccessfully after an hour, I decided to get up. I am living in an apartment with six other girls, and am in a triple with my friends Sam and Kelly. Everyone is really nice, and I have been enjoying getting to know the other people in my program. Tomorrow we start classes, and are going to see Les Mis at night. Since most of the plays we are seeing are for our Shakespeare class, I am excited to see a musical for a change.

Anyways, here are some pictures from today. More later!



House of Parliament


London Eye


Big Ben and the Royal Court


Hampton Court

Pies in Henry VIII's kitchen

Henry's room: I wish I had a bed like that!


Fountain at Hampton Court Garden