January 9, 2010
My apartment
The last few days bought loads of new information. I learned so many things, and I have already forgotten half of it. Yesterday, we went on a walking tour of Kensington in the morning. We toured Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, and a few of the surrounding streets and buildings that will be important to us. From the front step of our flat you can see Kensington Palace, home of Princess Diana after she left Prince Charles (or Chuck, as they call him here). The home is very modest compared to the street behind it (more on that in a minute), but it sits right in the middle of Kensington Gardens. It is beautiful, even in all this snow and cold. Kensington Gardens is the beginning of a series of joined parks and gardens that lead all the way to downtown London (or “the City”) and Westminster. Amazing. The gardens are filled with monuments and memorials. We even found the very place where J.M. Barry found inspiration for his play “Peter Pan”! There is a statue of Peter Pan, but it doesn’t look anything like the Disney version. Also, in the garden there is a statue of Prince Albert that is made of 3 layers of solid gold and a beautiful monument for Queen Victoria that just got a new nose job. Our hilarious tour guide London said that, “she was very much at her best.”
Next, we hit up billionaires’ row. Some of the houses sell for over £250 million (about $400 million, I think) and the whole street is lit by gaslight at night. And it is right around the block. I don’t know how we ended up with such a great location. I’m constantly feeling out of place. Everything is so over-the-top, but I’m not complaining! We also walked by a few more churches (minsters, as Simon kept calling them), palaces, and streets lined with fun, little shops.
After the tour, we had orientation in the building that all of our classes will be held in. It is about a ten minutes walk from our apartment, but is located on a very lively, busy street. Groceries, the Tube stop, and loads of shops are right around the corner. It is great. I’m excited to window shop!
Grocery shopping is confusing and frustrating. It is fun finding brands that look familiar, but they are called something completely different here (Lay’s = Walker’s?) Bizarre. And every time I find something I want, I have to convert the price into dollars. I’m getting much better at that, but it still takes a bit. Everything in this area is a bit more expensive than most of London. People who live in million dollar houses don’t really worry about spending on groceries, so we have to get thrifty. There are a bunch of “charity shops” around here. They are similar to consignment stores or the Goodwill and they are awesome.
Today, we went on a huge, four-hour tour of all of central London. We saw Westminster, the Thames, Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street, and a lot of other amazing sights. Our tour guide, Brit, works for our program. She is always available to help us organize our own trips and tell us fun facts about London. She is hilarous and so helpful. I’ll be putting up pictures from the ride sometime in the next few days. I didn’t get many good shots because it was so cold today. They keep teasing us, saying we brought the terrible Wisconsin winter weather along with us. Everyone is freaking out here. Mary, our program director, said that the only thing Brits feel comfortable talking with strangers about is the weather. And boy, are they riled. Never have they had this many days of cold weather and snow. They grumble about it, but secretly I think they enjoy the change. I’ve seen a couple of smiles when the snow is falling!
After the tour, I felt a little less lost, but much more overwhelmed. There is so much to see and I don’t want to miss anything! I had my first, genuine pub experience tonight. A pub is not the same as a bar. The pub is more like a sports bar or family grill. Pubs are only open until 11, while bars are open later. The pub we found, Churchill Arms, could have been straight out of a movie. It was authentic and packed! The place was crazy! But we finally got out meals and Strongbow. We headed home afterward. Too cold.
Classes start on Monday! I have Contemporary Britain and Introduction of British Theater. We are also going to a play Monday night called Warhorse. It is suppose to be very good.
Here is some information for you guys.
Email: kaknutson2@gmail.com or kknutson2@wisc.edu
Address:
Kelly Knutson
Metrogate
3-7 Queen’s Gate Terrace
London SW75PE
United Kingdom
Phone number:
07909 124 533
Bye!
Kelly
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