January 20, 2010
Halfway through the week. And not much has happened!
Monday was filled with class, but the class subjects are so interesting the time just flies by. I think I am going to have a hard time readjusting to the course load at Madison after this semester. I only have about five hours of homework per week… in comparison to 20 or 30. Monday mornings I have Contemporary Britain. Throughout the course we will be covering a lot of social and political issues in London. Basically, we get together and chat about life in London. It is great. Over the weekend, our professor asked us to come up with a list of stereotypes about the UK. And in return, he would think of all his American stereotypes. No holding anything back. It was hilarious. We gave him the usuals. Brits have bad teeth. They are frumpy and crabby. But he threw us for a bit of a loop, putting a bit more thought into his list. First, he said Brits are astounded and a bit scared by our casual attitude toward guns. I never really thought about it. The police and constables here don’t carry guns. They carry these baton things and can run really fast. Instead, knives are a big problem here. He thought it was so bizarre that we might have a gun cabinet in our homes. Given, the only news Brits receive about gun activity in the US is school shootings. He also said that he views the US as a land of contradictions. We are so obsessed with health and fitness, but then we have so much obesity and fast food. We live to work, while Europeans work to live. Still trying to wrap my head around that one. It was all very interesting.
After class, we went for a bit of shopping outside our neighborhood. London is divided into zones. The most central past (where I’m living) is called Zone 1. Looking like a ripple, the zones increase as you travel farther and farther out of London. I think there are nine zones. Anyway, in order to find anything we can afford, we have to get out of zone 1. It is hard to find a bargain when your neighbor has a Ferrari parked outside and doesn’t have to worry about money. So, we headed out to Hammersmith (where Hugh Grant was born) and shopped for rain boots and a spring coat. I found one at this awesome store called Primark… Seriously, best store ever. But still no rain boots.
Tuesday is my art day. Viv, Hal, and I have an art history class and we are always traveling to museums as a class. All the museums and galleries here are free! We got on the Tube and headed over to the Tate Britain, a museum mostly dedicated to British artists. We saw a show by JMW Turner. It was interesting, a bunch of pretty landscapes, but not the most compelling thing I’ve ever seen. After class, we headed over to the contemporary and modern wings of the museum. Again, I was impressed with the collection. The museums are quick becoming my favorite part of this adventure. I just wish I would have paid a bit more attention in my art history classes last year…
After an afternoon at the Tate Britain, we hit the streets of London. We hiked it across Pimlico to an area by a busy Tube and bus station called Victoria. Right across the street sits the Westminster Cathedral. Not to be confused with Westminster Abbey in Westminster. This cathedral sits all by itself and it is magnificent. I finally picked up my camera cord from the place where we get our mail so I can finally load pictures onto facebook! They will be up sometime tonight, I promise. Anyway, we took pictures in front of the cathedral and went inside. They were doing some work on the interior, but it was still breath taking. So huge and decorated. And gold! Everything was gold. They were redoing the ceiling so it wasn’t lit and appeared to be pitch black. It actually resembled a night sky and was really beautiful.
Next, we walked across town, passing the New Scotland Yard, to Westminster again. That area is soooo cool. We tried to get there before it got dark, but failed. We got a bunch of awesome night shots. Again. But, it is still magnificent in the dark so I was fine. We also got to see all of the Parliament members leaving the office. They all look a bit crabby and distracted. Hal and I think we are going to try to go to church at Westminster Abbey on Sunday. We’ll see if they let us in. Our tour guide Brit said we should be able to go for free. She said, “They can’t make you pay to pray!” We took some pictures and headed down toward the Thames to find something to eat. We walked along the Embankment, which is similar to a boardwalk. Beautiful. It was even better at night because everything was lit up across the water. Along the river they have these permanently docked boats that serve as restaurants and bars. We didn’t eat there, but they look like a lot of fun.
We found a pub after a bit and I finally got fish and chips! Which is basically a whole battered and fried fish and French fries. So healthy... But soooo good. All of the pubs are named after a member of the royal family or some famous battle. We ate at the Princess of Wales. After eating, we headed to a play for my theater class. We saw “An Inspector Calls” and it was fabulous. I became a bit confused toward the end, but it had a pretty good message. I can’t wait to discuss it in class next Monday with our professor.
Today was dead boring. I caught up on all the homework I’ve been neglecting and took some pictures of the neighborhood. It was raining most of the day, so everyone just hung around the flat.
Tomorrow brings another trip to the British Museum. Hopefully I will make it past the Rosetta Stone and Elgin Marbles this time. That place is huge! Friday we are going to see an outdoor concert with our group from Madison and Saturday we are visiting Windsor Castle! So excited.
I’ll be back soon.
Love, Kelly
No comments:
Post a Comment