Taco Thursdays, Pub Hoppin', Oxford Street, & Trafalgar Square

Thursday 1/28- First Thursday night without classes the next day…brilliant. It started off very well with TACO THURSDAYS! (couldn’t do Taco Tuesdays b/c of night classes) We prepared tacos/burritos with ground steak and the rest of the amazing ingredients. I was craving salsa and chips soooo bad, so we got those! The meal was delic! We decided that each Thursday we would try to cook together and make it a different countries theme!

That night was our first pub hop. Me, Steph, Bri, Rainey, Dave, Zach, and Andrew went to 3 different ones (after looking through windows to see which ones were hoppin' and full of younger people) all within three or four blocks of our home. Each one has its own atmosphere, theme, and culture. The first: Wargrave Arms. The second: Harcourt Arms. The third: The Victory (right across street of flat) We had a blast. Zach was trying to teach me the British accent and we were talking with the accent for like an hour…im getting a little better J. We ordered 2 pizzas and a bunch of other stuff after and got delivered to the Penthouse. ..then called it a night. (Side note: Pubs here get crowded at around 5 or 6pm for happy hour, and they close at 11 or 12. Then, people go clubbing which are open practically all night if they wish)

PS- my roommate moved out to another apartment for Regents students…still don’t really know why…. Hopefully no one else comes in, then ill have my own room. Which would be fab!

This sign was literally in the pub. The place was classic!

Friday 1/29- The night is not over yet, but I have some time to update. I woke up with typical London weather…cloudy, a little chilly. Steph and I walked to Oxford street to look for boots for her. Successful trip for her. We also went into this store called Primemark, and words cant explain it. The closest store I can think of comparing it to is Forever 21. Everything cheap and cute, but lower quality. They have ‘going out’ dresses to plain tees. I now know where to go if I need anything basic to a fancy outfit. We stopped at Pret for lunch (grab & go or sit down sandwich shop) and called the rest of the group to see where they were. We met them at Westminster, went inside St. Martins Church again and listened to a rehearsal of a 4 person orchestra…very peaceful and calm. Amazing architecture and ambiance in the church. Just gorgeous. We walked out, and the sun was blazing in our eyes! It was amazing! We left, and a lot of people went to a show, a comedy one with Keira Knightly that I chose not to go b/c I had no idea what the play was, but I wish I would have gone now.

Peace out.

View from National Gallery of Trafalgar Square

Just a Random Afternoon

Wednesday 1/27- After classes, Zach and I walked on a spontaneous and fun trip to Oxford Street, the major shopping district. We went in Selfridges & Co. for the first time, which is a HUGE and EXPENSIVE dpt. store with snooty workers at every corner. This adventure lead us to an attempt to go in an old gorgeous architecture church which lead us to nothing and into the Wallace collection Gallery (mins from Oxford street, houses treasures in a familiar, intimate, and opulent setting)

Some things I saw: (all in this gorgeous house which had the collections, 24 different galleries) Beautiful paintings from a kings gallery from 16^th century, armour from king louis XII, canon and carriage form Venice, Marie Antoniettes furniture. The grandeur of the house was amazing. This was a very neat gallery/exhibit/place away from hustle & bustle of Oxford street.

Some notes about London so far:

-Americans stand out in London because we are naturally louder. I have to watch myself at times, or will make a scene.

-London street crossing is annoying…to much waiting. I am used to just crossing at the busy streets in Chicago. Here, there are signs on the street in front of you to direct what way to look.

-Loud at night outside my window from hustle and bustle of pub-goers

-Shoppers are intense. They do not want you to get in their way, so much they might bump you.

-There are gorgeous cathedrals everywhere.

-The scent is different; can’t explain.

-At restaurants, they do not use napkins like Americans; they greatly limit them.

-At store registers, they greatly examine your credit/debit card signature to make sure it matches your receipt one

Outside Wallace Collection Gallery
One of the gorgeous pieces of furniture!

My new neighborhood & First two days

Its indescribable. Words cannot describe how wonderful the city of London is! I have been here a short (although sometimes felt long) five days. I will give a recap of everyday so far…

Thursday 1/21 – This was flying day. I felt excited, anxious to get there, and a little nervous about classes…kinda like a kid about to go on the biggest roller coaster of his life. My flight was scheduled to leave at 5:05 pm. Before the flight, I met Stephanie, who I had met previous from facebook (Lee, the study abroad director gave us the names of people also in our ASA group on our flight) in the terminal. So, on the plan we chit-chatted a little. The flight was brilliant; I had my own row of five seats, with a personal TV and a big flat screen TV in front of me. It was the first row of the last section, so I had a tons of foot space. We arrived in London at about 7:30 am. Me and Stephanie waited for our ride to regents college, which took about 45 minutes. At this point, it was about 3:30 am Chicago time. An allnighter was ahead for me! although, so worth it!

We got to the campus, which is breathtaking beautiful. It is literally in the middle of Regents park, a royal, famous park, in London. I cant wait to see it transform come springtime. After a brief time at campus to get ID’s and paperwork, we waited for cabs to take us to the Landward apartments. They are about a 5 minute drive, and 20 minute walk from campus. I will have to get used to commuting that way. After unpacking in my decent sized two person room, Lee took us on a short tour of stores and stuff around the apartments.

About the apartment:

My apartment is one block off a semi-busy road. So, I walk one way, and it’s a cute little neighborhood of London filled with adorable flats. I walk the other way, and it’s a busy street with EVERYTHING from stationary stores, grocery stores, restaurants (a million middle eastern food), coffee shops, internet cafes, anything you can think of. Its amazing to walk out, and be able to walk to get anything! I walk another way about 6 blocks, and it is one of the most popular and expensive places to shop in London, called Oxford street. The flat has 3 bedrooms. One single, one double, and one triple. Im in the double. The triple only has 2 girls in it for now. So, there are a total of 5 girls. There is a kitchen, and living room/dining room.

The rest of the day consisted of eating, exploring the neighborhood a little, dinner, and a short pub trip across the apartment lead by the RA. *First pub experience

Friday 1/22- The second full day in london started off with some hefty regents college orientation that mostly included trying to stay awake. We also had an orientation with our study abroad director. After that (about 4pm), a group of us 5 explored the area near our flat (apartment). We decided to eat dinner in the refractory for the first time for dinner. The food is a little different from what im used to at home and Olivet, and surprisingly somewhat good. We then did “Jack the Ripper” tour, went out for pizza at this little joint by our flats, then headed to bed for a big touristy day to follow.

Touristy days and Start of school

Tower Bridge from boat cruise

Saturday 1/23- First “touristy” day in London…The same group of 5 did the hop-on-hop-off bus tour. We first got off at Trafalgar’s square, explored, hopped back on to see Westminster Abby and Big Ben. It was surreal seeing them in person. Then, a boat cruise down the Thames River, which was awesome. We got off at the Tower of London, and ate at a “gourmet burger place,” a trendy chain restaurant here. We ended up at the downstairs of St. Michaels Abbey which had a cartoon exhibit and restaurant, where we sat & chilled a while, then headed back for home. When we got back to our neighborhood, we went grocery shopping for the weeks groceries. PS, I love grocery shopping in a different country! And, the choices and options here are so different in America. (more about this to come) After, we ate dinner out at a restaurant called Nando’s (really trendy, interesting place…you chose type of meat & sauce, and how many sides. I got mango & lime flavored chicken wrap with yummy corn on the cob) and then relaxed after a very fun day.

*Best Quote:

Me: “Can I touch you??” (to take pic)

Horse Guard: “Maybe”

Horse Guard: “Can I touch you?”

Me: “No!”

Sunday 1/24- The previous night I had went to sleep with nonstop sneezing and a runny nose (one of my dreadful 24 hour colds) so I could not go with Bri, Zach and Andrew to church at the gorgeous Westminster Abby! Steph and I met up with them to fulfill the 2^nd day of the bus tour for yet another touristy day. We headed to St. Paul’s Cathedral first, after grabbing sandwiches to-go from Pret-a-Manger (very popular grab-&-go sandwich shop). Zach and I stayed on the top of the bus to use our photography skills to capture the amazement of the city. When we got to St. Pauls, I was in awe; it was gorgeous. (I plan to go to worship service there on a Sunday coming up). We then decided we wanted a museum, so we went to Tate Modern art Museum, which was awesome. I LOVE contemporary art, so I enjoyed every piece.

Some interesting ones: smashed up silver pieces of “junk” hanging in circles from wire that the artist had crushed, ANDY WARHOL, a huge pile of clothes, and a mixed media collage. Its so neat to examine a piece of art and figure out the meaning…especially contemp. art.

Monday 1/25- Today was the first day of classes. Here is my schedule:

Monday/Wednesday: Biology 1-2

Tuesday/Thursday: History of Latin America 9-10:20, World Religions 11-12:20, Adolescent Dvltp. 2-3:20

NO CLASS FRIDAYS!!!

The first sentence from my biology teacher was great because I knew I would fall in love with his accent (I already did at this point). All my professors are British, except my Latin America one, she is Columbian. If I don’t feel like paying attention, I can just sit and be in awe of their amazing accent! Biology class wont be bad…hopefully easy.

Later that night as we were sitting in the boys penthouse (what we call their flat, it is on the top floor (14^th) and you can see the London Eye lit up at night!!!!!) and randomly decided to go to the pub at about 9pm.

*Best moment: Steph tripping after pajama pub run

Tuesday 1/26- Second day of classes. Hist of Latin America will be interesting; the teacher is kind of strict though. One of my flatmates has that class with me, which is nice. World religions will be pretty easy; the prof is nice. Adolescent dvltp. will be cool, too. Bri has that class with me. After classes and lunch, Steph, Bri, Zach, Andrew and I took a walk around Regents park for first time. It truly is magnificent…even in the dead of winter. For dinner Zach, Bri and I decided to cook together and hung out while Zach and Steph were in class. Then, emailed and relaxed the rest of the night.

Keep reading! More to come.

CHEERS!