Bloomsbury Walk With the Frenchmen

I led this walk with Bri, Alison R., and Taylor.  We left the tube station and walk down Montague Place (which I thought was such a fun street name – I love Romeo and Juliet). We were all hungry, so we stopped at Pret A Manger and got sandwiches. We decided to eat in a mini park along the way.  Then as we were leaving, two guys approached us and asked us if we knew of park where they could eat.  They were two French guys doing property managing internships in London for a few months and really seemed harmless.  We were going to walk by another park according to the map, so we told them where to go but they just started following us. They were very talkative and friendly, but something seemed off.  We finished the walk, took a picture with them, and when they asked us to keep in touch and go out for a drink, we told them we aren’t allowed to give out any of that information, we don’t have phones, and we don’t drink (to which they replied “neither do we”… haha) While we were walking, we came across places that inspired Oliver Twist, saw an old royal hospital, and a really nice hotel, but overall, it wasn’t my favorite part of London…

A Brief Stay in the English Countryside

Well, it's been quite the week.  We took off Tuesday morning on a coach bus to Bristol.  I had my first hostel experience (it was a good one, overall), tried and loved South African food, took over 500 pictures, hiked over 12 miles, and survived with no wifi for four days.

After about an hour and a half of driving, we came over this hill, and BAM! There was Stonehenge. The sun was beaming through the clouds onto the luscious green grass.  It was quite a magnificent sight.  There isn't so much to see -- you just walk around the stones in a 50 foot perimeter.  They are big, but not huge.  Fascinating and impressive.  And a good photo op. :) I took many...

Avebury was our next stop, about 30 minutes from Stonehenge.  It's a similar attraction: really old rocks. Big rocks. Older rocks. More rocks. You get the idea.  But we had a great tour guide named Pam whose favorite word was "fab".  I loved her.  She made us say Avebury is infinitely better than Stonehenge. And in some respects, it was.  We could touch the stones...

After Avebury we stopped in Caen to look at the locks along the canal there.  I'm not going to lie, I wasn't excited about it.  But once we got walking along the canal, I fell in love with it all: I loved the canal, the walk, the countryside, the wildflowers, the opportunity to think in peace... By the end of the walk (which ended up being several miles) I had thoroughly enjoyed myself and picked a lovely bouquet of wildflowers that I left on someone's doorstep.

We arrived at the youth hostel in Bristol in time to find dinner on our own, so we looked around the college town for a while and settled on Nando's, a South African grill. It was yummy.  And...I stumbled upon my favorite piece of graffiti yet.  The hostel rooms had two bunk beds, a toilet, sink, and a shower; that's better accommodations than we have at the center. Except my feet hung off the edge of the bed, and I woke up sore from the extremely firm mattress...But other than that, no complaints at all.

Wednesday morning we headed to Bath to explore the ancient Roman baths and the rest of the little city. I really loved Bath.  The buildings are almost all identical in shape, color, size, and design, and there's nothing too remarkable about any of them (except the cathedral, of course), but how they are arranged is stunning.  Structures like the Royal Circus and the Royal Crescent  are so elegant.     We had some down time, and after we ventured through an overgrown cemetery and the quaint residential districts, I climbed up on a ledge overlooking a nice little park and the river to read Pride and Prejudice.  It was lovely.

Thursday we drove to Wales and visited Tintern Abbey.  When we first rounded the corner, I literally could not breathe, the sight was so beautiful.  I have never seen such green grass, beautiful stone, and blue skies with perfect, fluffy white clouds.  It was unbelievable; no wonder it has inspired so many writers and artists.  The best part was climbing it.  It was quite a sight to see 40 young adults climbing all over an abandoned, disintegrated, historical 12th century abbey like it was a playground with monkey bars and a slide! Little did we know we weren't supposed to be climbing on it, and some mean lady told us to get down, but not before we got pictures!

After Tintern Abbey, of which I was sad to leave, we returned to England to visit the cutest little town of Chipping and Campden.  This is the most adorable, picture-perfect, from-a-movie town I've ever seen.  I also happened to forget my camera on the bus during this outing...but believe me, it was cute.  Then we went on another beautiful hike through the Cotswold hills/mountains. The English countryside is the best!


The Friday: Wells Cathedral and Durdle Door.  Wells Cathedral was cool, but after some of the cathedrals we've seen, nothing too distinct except for the owl shaped in the double arch above the altar... But Wells was a cute little town too.  Durdle Door, however, was incredibly fantastic.  We were driving (and you've got to understand driving on a huge bus on little, windy roads... is quite an experience), and suddenly I gasp and yell "I see the ocean!". Sadly, it's been a while since I've been to the coast, and I was so excited to be near the ocean again.  After I hiked up the small mountain along the coast and descended to the beach at  the Durdle Door arch (a natural arch formed in the rocks by erosion) I marveled at the sight, sound, smell, and feel of the beach and ocean.  As you can see, I continued with my new-found love of hiking, listening to music, and picking wildflower bouquets while taking a bajillion pictures. :)

Well, what I lucky girl I am! I had a wonderful week.  The UK is really spoiling me... And I'm loving it!

Making Lemonade

So I have one more post about a walk that I have to do, but this is a non-academic post.  Last night was a crazy night, with two papers due (one was on Utopia, which I was only half-way done reading) and three blog posts and pictures to upload (which is quite a feat because the internet is ridiculously slow here) AND people to Skype. The problem was, everyone was on the internet, and half of them were Skyping their significant others and their mothers, so the connection was terrible.  I was slightly stressed and sleep deprived last night.  But the procrastination was mostly my fault, as I went to Wicked on Friday night, Keira Knightley's play The Children's Hour and Phantom of the Opera on Saturday afternoon and evening.  So I was busy having fun -- sophisticated, culturally enhancing fun -- but fun nonetheless.  The thing about having a spring term in London is all the coursework is geared towards getting out and experiencing history and art through the museums.  When I think about it, it really is incredible all that I'm able to do in a day.  I get to walk on streets that have been around for hundreds of years, and some of the street designs are from when the Romans were here.  I get to  see art painted by the hands of Da Vinci. I get to hear world renowned musicians, see famous actors and actresses perform live.  I get to eat food from all over the world.  And I get to hear all sorts of languages and accents all day.  I get to see where famous authors received their inspirations. I see beautiful parks where movies are filmed.  And I get to grow as a person from all these lemons and melons life in London is sending my way.

Fleet Street and St. Paul's Walk

This walk we did backwards so we could end at St. Paul’s Cathedral, our destination.  Emily S. led the walk (we like to call her Columbus, as in the 1492 explorer because she gets us where we need to go ASAP, but she points out the highlights and stops occasionally for pictures) and Lauren and PG were the entertainment for the rest of us (Amy, Kristen, and Anna).  We saw the Millennial Bridge (the one that collapses in Harry Potter 6, no big deal), lots of little “olde” churches, a wall of flowers, the College of Arms, and of course St. Paul’s Cathedral (where Mary Poppins feeds the birds…). The thing that really stuck out to me was how the old mixed with the new.  Here in downtown London, close to the Thames, ancient and modern structures are found side by side without a thought.  The contrast is startling and odd, but it’s quirky and I like it! We ended with St. Paul’s and it was incredible.  The crypts were really cool, but the best thing was the five hundred and eighty-something step climb to the top of the dome.  The view was stunning as the sun set over the Thames. I loved that view; I could have spent hours up there. Definitely a melons experience. :)

A Walk Through London's Central Parks on a Peaceful Sunday Morning

So on our way to church (in the Spanish Branch…), Laura, Jason, Catherine and I did the Central Parks walk through Hyde Park, Kensington gardens, and St. James Park on the way to Westminster.  I have already been through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens multiple times, so St. James was really the only new sight; although because it was Sunday, the parks were less crowded, and the people who were there were with their families, lounging around and rollerblading.  It was a fun to see it so calm and lazy.  But St. James was really nice.  The stroll down the straightaway to St. James was beautiful. Once we got passed the craziness of Buckingham Palace, the rest of the park was lovely.  The government buildings down by Westminster were quite impressive too.  It was a beautiful walk on a Sunday morning on our way to church! 

Regents Park Walk

This is my first official "walk" through London: Regents Park.  The group left the Centre and walked to Paddington and then up Regents Canal past little Italy and the London Zoo.  It was absolutely beautiful.  The walk began at the TOP of Primrose Hill, which has a magnificent view of the city.  I just laid in the luscious, wild grass and watched the clouds go by before I descended Primrose Hill and headed to a tasty lunch at Camden markets. I loved the cultural diversity there: Spanish food, Chinese, Mexican, Thai, African, Turkish, Portuguese, Peruvian, and Indian...So many to choose from!  I settled on a delicious Turkish grilled chicken wrap. Yum!  After lunch I followed Bri as she led the walk around Regents Park with Lauren, Taylor, Kristen, Emily S., Amy S. Andrea, Lindsay, and Jessica .  I absolutely loved the canals and the upscale, calmer city life of Regents Park.  It was so much quieter and more peaceful than the city center, and I enjoyed the break from the hustle and bustle of city life.  We took it slow because of the amount of walking we had already done, and the pace was really nice.  The houses in Regents were so cute and colorful – they reminded me of a box or brightly colored crayons. If I were to live in London, judging by the places I’ve seen thus far, I would live by Regents Park.  I also think this is the park where Finding Neverland with Johnny Depp was filmed – and that’s another reason to love Regents Park.  Fun fact: London has more drinking fountains for pets than for humans... and we took a picture in front of one in Regents Park.  It was beautiful, but the guy we asked to take our picture thought we were crazy and weird for wanting a picture with the dog's water hole. I can't decide if that's a lemon or a melon... :)

 

Lemons and Melons

I had a friend that said "If life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic." And I thought that was hilarious for some reason.  Life in London is certainly interesting, full of all sorts of experiences.  This blog is partly an assignment and partly a way for me to record my time here and partly a way for my family to keep an eye on me... :) Lemons in London are things like having only one shower that works for 12 girls, the smelly tube stations, and not-so-good British food.  Melons in London are things like crazy good street performers, anciently beautiful buildings, ethnic markets, fun people, the Royal Wedding, Broadway musicals, and awesome photo opportunities. So here's to the whole experience, to all the lemons and melons London has to offer.