Arrival in LONDON! (the first few days...)

I’m officially in London! It has been a very busy-crazy-amazing-fun NEW experience. I flew to London January 7th and 8th (long flight.. no sleep) and spent Friday the 8th unpacking, completely jet-lagged. Actually I have very little memory of that day. I moved into the Centre and had so much fun lugging my suitcases up 6 flights (~67 steps) to my room in Dorm 4 (so glad I packed light). I share a room with 12 girls! I’m on a top bunk, Ali’s on the bottom bunk bed. I accidently drop things on her head pretty frequently… :) I got assigned to the first week of kitchen duty so I spent many hours of my first week doing dishes, setting the tables, working the Hobart machine, cutting up oranges, etc. Jolly good fun. Actually I despise kitchen duty. Internet access is pretty awful here. I have bad luck so it’s often a challenge to find internet somewhere. That’s one reason I took a week to start this blog!

My memory of Saturday is much clearer. Ali and I got to know the Tube very well! The Underground is my friend. Especially the robot woman who says “Mind the gap!” and “Next lift.” I’m learning a British accent by mimicking her. We went out exploring - parts of Notting Hill (practically my neighborhood! I’m on the lookout for Hugh Grant and other British hotties), King’s cross and Platform 9¾ (HARRY POTTER historical site!), Picadilly Circus, Chinatown, Leicester Square, Soho… at one point we got a little lost (aka an adventure!) and ended up at the River Thames, which is rather gray and apparently struggles to sustain life sometimes. I love it though! Especially at night. It also snowed a bit. Later on a group of us went out to buy various chocolates at the local Tesco’s (mini-supermarket).

    **I absolutely love chocolate, and Britain, and British chocolate. And there is a lot of British chocolate here… I am in paradise. I am also a Nutella addict now. In the last week there's only been one day that I did not have Nutella on something (we were out of Nutella at the Centre – mini catastrophe!). Sunday we went to Hyde Park ward (where I caught up with the Ashtons!). We walked through snowy Kensington Garden to get there… so pretty! London is absolutely GORGEOUS. Even in the dead of winter. I love all the old buildings and cobblestone streets and red telephone booths and double buses and British accents and formal dress and tube stations and everything! I could go on forever. I love living in London!!

Monday was our last day before classes started, and we all went on a field trip to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Museum of London. The Cathedral was spectacular… I’ve never seen anything so ...wow. It was huge and beautiful. If I was an architecture or art history major I could use the proper terms. Neo-classical? Not sure. It’s huge and you can see the domed roof from much of central London. There were lots of statues, memorials, and stained glass inside, and crypts in the basement. There was an amazing memorial for the Americans who lost their lives during World War II. We climbed the steps to the Whispering Gallery at the top… so cool! Thank you to Cameron for teaching me how to act French (by slapping Ali with a leather glove and saying “ne touchez pas!”). It was such a pretty view! I love that cathedral. I’ve never seen anything like it! So much beautiful history. I love Europe. :) The Museum of London wasn’t as cool as i expected… maybe because the parts about the last 500 centuries or so was under construction. It was mostly artifacts. I think I’d like art better.

Afterwards a group of us went to a pub, and Ali and I shared a plate of the traditional fish and chips. And mushy peas. :) My first authentic British cuisine experience! It was actually pretty good (but I don’t love fish). Some of us went exploring Monday afternoon, and we found the Millennium Bridge (HARRY POTTER historical site #2! It’s destroyed in the movie) and it’s built to look modern I guess but it’s kind of dull. Ooh and across the Thames we saw Shakespeare’s Globe theatre! And then we wandered awhile. It’s fun getting lost in London. And as long as you can find a Tube station you’re not actually lost (from someone who usually has no sense of direction!). Haha I’ve been memorizing my map of London and of the Underground system.

Monday night a group of us went to see the movie Sherlock Holmes in Notting Hill (Student discount Mondays!). We stopped at Tesco’s beforehand to buy a bunch of chocolate. My goal has been to try every main kind of British candy/chocolate while I’m here. I may accomplish this goal in only a couple weeks… gross I know. :) The theatre was amazing! It was an old theatre, with three levels and red curtains and everything. It was great seeing the movie because it takes place in London! And because I love Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. Funny note: we got confused during the movie because we kept hearing someone repeatedly shouting “Woof!” randomly… then he stopped slurring his words and we realized that he was repeating “F*** off!” Slightly awkward. We think he had Tourette’s syndrome. He kept moving to the back of the theatre and muffling himself. Poor guy. But it was the coolest theatre ever! London is spoiled by all the awesome things here! If I haven’t mentioned this before… I LOVE LONDON. :)

xox allyson