Storming Parliament by Boat!

16 January 2007

As I left off, Doug happened to be in London for the week so I decided to spend my day off with his family. As one might have guessed the 16th of January is a Tuesday and that person is correct. However, I only have class three times a week so I might as well use the day to my benefit. We left rather early in the morning and got a full day of tourism in.

Our first stop was Big Ben (well actually it was literally outside of the tube station so it was like how can we not. So Doug and I walked around the area and snapped photos of the gigantic clock (because that’s what it really is, a gigantic clock) and of course Parliament, which I might add is rather huge. As we found ourselves coming back over the bridge we saw some protestors coming on their motor boats down the River Thames to protest the privatization of the canal…or something along those lines. I found it rather amusing that they had the protesting boats and the escort of police boats (I assume to solidify the safety and the peace, but I still found the protest on water rather funny). We continued walking towards the busy street and deciding since we were already there to go visit the Westminster Abby. A very grand and historic church, it was huge. I was only allowed to take pictures of the outside and once inside it seemed rather cluttered to be honest. One could tell it had become quite the tourist destination and the amount of tombs and such was just immense. We walked around for a bit toured the whole church and after an hour or so, I kind of got the whole, well it’s a church and its really historic and I appreciate it thing, but it was time to go (no more walking and stopping and walking and stopping… It was a little excessive). For those of you who have been to Italy for example, there is only a certain amount of churches that one can take and for an extended amount of time. Nevertheless, it was time to go and off to church number 2 we go.

St. Paul’s Cathedral was our last stop of the day (time flies when you are walking through a church). And might I add quite a magnificent site. In comparison to the Abby it was clearer and more church like. It also happened to be the place where Princess Diana was married and I could see why. Giant domed ceiling (with a whispering gallery, a la the U.S. Capital), great architecture and stained glass windows that had such history attached to them (literally). But that wasn’t the point of this trip…oh no. I believe it was the 500+ stairs that did it. I began to lead Doug and his family up the first 242 steps to the whispering gallery. After 20 minutes of listening to the threesome of old women across the dome for a while (they had a lovely conversation and I was glad to be apart of that) Doug and I began the hike up the narrow and spirally staircases that stood ahead of us. It was worth it let me tell you. Although it was a typical London afternoon with lots of cloudiness and no sun, the view was incredible. We could see for miles all of the central city of London. We could see Tower Bridge and then turn around and see Big Ben. It was great. If you haven’t seen Tower Bridge it is the one featured in Fergie’s music video for “London Bridge.” In fact London Bridge is smaller and glows red at night and its pretty blah.

Needless to say the days trips were tiring. I left my “London Family” at Green Park and I headed back to my cell of dorm to fix up some food and get some much needed R & R. Plus I had my first Writing In London class on Wednesday, so I didn’t want to hinder that.

Until I post again….

Just to show you how big Ben is...

The eye of London on a typical London day

Protesters storming Parliament by boat

Busy streets of London

The view from St. Paul's Cathedral

The view from my bedroom at sunset

My First British Schooling :)

15 January 2007

Today is the first day of classes and why not start the week off with a bang…BANG! 2pm class about Diplomacy and International Relations, hurray!!! Well it was a very informative class and I think I will really enjoy myself. The only “downside” is that the grade in the class is based on two assessments; that’s right two! Nevertheless, the lecturer knows his material and I think I will learn a tremendous amount from this 3-hour class. Anyway, it was my first time going to the Regent Street campus (seeing as how I am now going to a city university the different buildings are all over the map) and I had planned out my route before I left and I got there with no trouble whatsoever. Well… except for the giant wind tunnel that seems to form a block away from the building, but its ok, as long as I can stay on the ground and not become air borne I think I will be just fine. I swiped into the building (I can do that now that I have my id) and I proceeded to find the room (hard part number two). You see the first difficult task was to find the building; check. Now the second one was to find the room; check. I literally walked into the building and made a right and that’s the room. So I sat there for a while, 2 o’clock came and I continued to sit there more and more people filed in as 2 o'clock approached and I began to wonder where the teacher was. I took out my crossword puzzle book and I began to work on the giant 2-pager that I had started the night previous while watching an episode from Season 4 of 24 (the best show on tv and dvd). About 10 minutes go by and the teacher finally arrives and asks for some strapping young people to help him with his boxes upstairs. A couple of students went to help and I sat there and continued my crossword puzzle. 5 more minutes passed and I finally was able to finish it and the class finally began. Now granted the lecture is only an hour long so the time was limited. Anyway, the syllabi were passed out and the numerous amounts of handouts found their way to my desk (alright first reading assignments and homework). The time flew by as we discussed the syllabus and began the lecture. Luckily there was no seminar that afternoon so I had the rest of the day off.

I went to the hotel at 4:30/5 pm to meet Doug and his mom before they were going to take me out to see the longest running British musical, “Blood Brothers”. I took them to a small crêpe place I read about in Vindigo (thanks dad and mike) and it was really good. For those of you trying to make a comparison it was similar to ravenous in Saratoga. We ate in less than 30 minutes and found ourselves on the tube headed towards Piccadilly Circus (aka London Times Sq.). The theatres here are much smaller than those on Broadway, but the production was very well done. There was a lot of British humor I didn’t understand, but overall I really enjoyed the production. The first act was eh…but the second act was far superior and it was emotional and very well done. Afterwards we journeyed back to the hotel to figure out what the plan of action was going to be for Tuesday. I don’t have class on Tuesday, so I figured I would tag along with the Seldins and see what sights they were seeing.

I had a good time exploring the British theatre district with Doug and his mom as well as experiencing a very well known British musical. As I walk around the city more and more I am starting to really get a feel and appreciation for this place and my comfort level is starting to come around. I am excited to see what tomorrow will bring. Until tomorrow….

Hurray! Skidmore... Hurray!

14 January 2007

Doug’s here! I met with Doug last night and we ate Dim Sum at 11 o’clock and drank champagne cocktails. We then proceeded to drink Pedigree (a British Ale) at the Metropolitan Bar right across the street from my building with of course a bowl of chips. We talked and caught up and we left the bar until closing at midnight. It was good to see a familiar face considering that I had only been here a week and meeting so many people I just wanted to know someone.

On Sunday morning I met Doug at the hotel for breakfast (it was continental so it was very minimal, but coco krispies taste better here) and we headed off with his family to Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. Now for those of you that have no idea what speaker’s corner is, it is a corner of hide park (very famous) that is known for politicians, protesters, people that just want to rant about something, and a place where the general public can go to listen to what these people have to say, as they stand on soapboxes. It was quite the experience let me tell you. There were about 4 speakers to begin with and it is just a sight to see. Every Sunday morning they come down to their little corner and get out their soapbox or stepladder and start to just talk and whoever wants to listen can and if they don’t agree with something, they speak up and then it becomes a whole discussion with active audience participation. Wow! All I can say is wow!

After getting a thorough education from those speakers we headed across the park in search of the Princess Diana memorial. Let’s just say it was a whole lot of walking for getting lost. Nevertheless no time was wasted and we headed towards Knightsbridge to the famous Harrods Department Store. Ah yes…HARRODS…what a sight to see. I don’t think I have seen so many expensive things in one place since the last time I walked by Selfridges (a department store with Gucci, Channel, Dior, etc...). I just like to look around and touch all the expensive clothing and such because it makes me feel like I am wearing it for a second. We proceeded to tour around the facility and it was everything that I hoped it would be. The high ceilings, the ancient architecture, and even the gigantic food store were mind blowing. It all smelled great I just wanted to sit and take it all in, but unfortunately time was against us and we needed to get on our way. I will return to Harrods soon… I must.

Until tomorrow….

Uh.... Internet?

I'm Here!!!

Anyway... couple days down figured out the whole internet thing and back on track. Let me just give you a bit of a brief run down of the past few days...

Day 1 -

I get into Heathrow at 9:20am and I am immediately stunned at the sites I already see. I'm here by myself and I know that the task in front of me will not be an easy one (get my bags and lugging them to my residence). Just wanted to tell you all I was not looking forward to it and doing it hurt even more. While I tredged through the tube stations with my heavy-ass bags I came to the realization that I had no idea where to go. Turns out I passed the damn building twice and in the long hike I broke the strap off my L.L. Bean bag. I settled in and just relaxed; met some fellow skidmore students, and off we went exploring.

Day 2 -

Orientation .... 'nuff said. And a party at the international students house bar ('nuff said)


Day 3 -

Went shopping and began to start a small pantry for myself in the kitchen.... got aquantied with the neighbors and took to town alone. It was pretty cool. Cooked my first meal (chicken and pasta carbonara and carrots on the side). Yummy...

well i will update as soon as I can, but computer space is limited and time is limited... I am supposed to get internet in my room tomorrow and I will give a more lengthy update about the whole week coming soon... so keep watch!!

Until tomorrow....