London: Artsy... but not Fartsy! (I'm sorry, I'll try to be more creative next time).

WELLLLLL.... I really need to keep up with this blogging business more.... I've been absolutely going going going for the past few days and I'll try to give a slice of what I've been up to.

This week has largely been filled with going to class, doing homework, and getting into a pseudo-routine that tends to involve spending inordinate amounts of money because we have free time for the 22 hours that we're not in class each day... and the other 2 (or 3, or 4) hours spent doing homework... we have time on our hands. We found out that we will not find out our internship placements until next Thursday instead of next Tuesday (groannnnns from all of us).... so I'm still waiting on pins and needles for that, and really can't wait to start working in this incredible city.

After class in the morning and a nice lunch yesterday of a brie and salad (read lettuce, cucumber and tomato) sandwich from Cafe Deco over by Imperial College I took as take-away, I took a massive nap. It was quite possibly the best nap I've taken in recent years. Many of my flatmates did the same, and when we awoke, some, like me, 3 hours later, we decided to get off our arses and go see a show on London's West end, which is like the Broadway of London. We bought tickets at the half-price ticket booth, and settled on Monty Python's "Spamalot," a hysterical musical. The show was the perfect balance of incorporation of all the best cracks from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and modern touches that brought the show into today's world. Alan Dale, or as our generation knows him, "Cal from the O.C." or "The old dude from Ugly Betty," played King Arthur, and the woman who played the Lady of the Lake was fantastic. Music great, theatre great, great great. Catchy songs throughout and I'd recommend it to anyone! After the show we made our way back to good ole' Earl's Court via the Tube and got a quick late night ice cream at a place within view of our flat. Yummo!

Today we awoke and had plans to see the "Tates." The "Tates" are Tate Britain (housing art from 1500-1900) and Tate Modern (art from 1900-Present). Both were the types of museums you expect to find in London; massive, beautiful, and housing incredible collections.  I found an exhibit of Hogarth at Tate Britain (yes, the man our street is named after!) and discovered that he was the "first great native-born painter" of Britain (see his mug below). I feel lucky to live on a street named after such a master! Maybe he could come back and paint our white walls? I hope so.

Hogarth - The man in my life.

The next step after T-Brit was a fantastic, yet windy, ride on the ferry called the "Tate to Tate" down the Thames to Tate Modern. The boat ride was awesome for pictures (see facebook for full album please :) ), and was a really neat way to see the city. Once arriving at the other side of the Thames, we passed by the reconstructed Globe Theatre set up there and on to Tate Modern where we were greeted by this:

The Welcome Wagon

How hospitable! I couldn't wait to go inside, and that wasn't the only reason. We had come because we heard there would be salad. A large salad. 

A huge salad including many types of greens, some cucumbers and raddishes was literally tossed (off of a bridge within the museum... please see video/pictures on facebook) for 300+ people.... and called art, well, perfomance art. It was cool, but highly ridiculous at the same time. After completing the salad the artist (a senior citizen American woman) exclaimed "we have enough to feed the whole world!"..... doubtful. But, as you can see (in my facebook album) they had enough to shovel it onto plates for us and more than a few of our closest friends in the audience. I'll never forget it :)

After the salad fiasco and some listening to Yoko Ono's "work" before that, we split up and took on the rest of Tate Modern by ourselves.... I was blown away to say the least. In one room, for example, was a Picasso, and on the opposite wall, a Matisse. In nearby spaces were Kandinsky's, Pollack's, and many more Picassos, among countless others. There was also a fascinating gallery of minimalist pieces and modern artists using sound and color and light to convey their creativity, and huge pieces of sculpture using industrial materials such as metal and plastic. I loved it all. The place was huge and I know I'll be back, or at least to peruse the gift shop for some cool stuff.

The Bank Holliday left the area over the Millenium bridge deserted, along with the resturants, so we headed back to Earl's Court for some dinner at Wagamama, an asian noodle house.... good food, service was severely lacking, we'll probably be back. I had some coconut ice cream and ginger chicken noodles that were the bomb, and that's enough for me.

I'm pretty much spent here, and my fingers are tired, so.... it's off to a castle (Hever) early tomorrow morning... hope we don't get lost out on the rural walk in the English countryside...... should be interesting.... maybe I'll see some sheep. I hope so.

That's all for now! I'll keep you posted :) And keep those emails and messages coming! Happy Memorial / Bank Holiday :)

God Save the Queen! Or at least the "Tate to Tate" ferry boat captain... he's swell. Cheers :)

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Strawberry Beer and Other Lovely Discoveries of England

Strawberry Beer is fantastic. Not sure if this is the right brand I sampled (in the picture; I took it off of google), but this is pretty much the best knowledge I gained while on our "unofficial" pub crawl last night. The pub that serves it is just around the corner (or alley really) from our flat on Hogarth, and it's also has a really cozy atmosphere that many of us seemed to enjoy. I see us spending quite a bit of time there in the future. Unfortunately, this is all the detail I'll share about the crawl here. If you want to know more, shoot me an email or talk to me online if we happen to line up on the 6 hour time difference :)

The people are great too, and by that I mean both the Brits I've met and the people I've come here with. My roommates (from here on out referred to as my flatmates) are five great girls and we're all interning this summer. The flat itself is quite cute and in a really nice neighborhood seconds away from restaurants, pubs, retail stores, and the Earl's Court tube station. I'll post some pictures on here of our flat and the neighborhood  when I get a chance to go through and empty my memory card on my camera... which I forgot to do before leaving the U.S.

We got up pretty early this morning for a guided bus tour with a Blue Badge guide named Trudy. She was fantastic, funny, and very very knowledgeable about everything and anything London; as she should be. Blue Badge guides are unique in that they are required to study for two years in intensive courses and take exams in order to get their jobs, so they really are the absolute experts on London, and it was a pleasure to hear the quirky things and important facts she shared with us. At the first stop-off point, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. Because it's Sunday the cathedral is not open to tourism, but only for services, so we only got to see the outside. However, a flatmate and I plan on returning for a service, even though we aren't catholic, just for the experience. The sounds of the organ coming from inside and the bells outside were incredible. I'll post pictures when I return there and see it for real.

We then went around central London some more and saw two guard ceremonies. First, we went and saw the Malaysian guards in front of St. George's Castle. The government of Malaysia is "lending" a regiment of their soldiers to the U.K. so that the U.K. soldiers can go fight in Iraq.  Trudy told us that this was the first day for the Malaysian regiment to be on duty. Highly interesting and so telling of the times. 

The Malaysian Guard subbing in for the Brits

The second ceremony was the traditional "changing of the guard" that happens each day at Buckingham Palace. This is the traditional one you think of with the soldiers with the huge bearskin hats and such. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get very close or stay for very long, but the short glimpse was neat. I hope to come back to see it again sometime up close. We did, however, get to see the house where William and Harry live with Prince Charles. The two boys have the top floor, according to Trudy, and Harry's window was open. So, for a moment, I felt a little obsessed with the royals... I'll blame it on Trudy's crazy shrieking enthusiasm... or my fondness for gorgeous Princes... hmmm.

The changing of the guard processional outside Buckingham Palace

The tube is also amazing. Super clean, and opens up all of the HUGE and spread-out city of London to us. After our guided tour of the city this morning, we ate lunch at a sandwich/coffee place in Picadilly Circus and found our way back to Earl's Court via the tube. We then hit up Sainsbury's (the local chain grocery store, like a Jewel, or for you Missourians, a Schnucks) for some much needed groceries. 

After a short walk back to our flat, we took the tube from Earls Court down a few stops (because we were tired and it was a 30 minute walk) to the Natural History Museum.... which I will also post pictures of here. The museums here are all FREE and GORGEOUS and QUALITY, and this one was no exception. Great exhibits, and looked like a beautiful ornate church. Lovely. 

(So I tried to post a picture of the museum here... it wouldn't let me... if you care to see more, please see my Facebook album).

By the end of the museum today, we were all pretty beat so we headed back to the flat to chill before going out to dinner somewhere nearby tonight.  We're all pretty tired and we have orientation at Imperial College tomorrow so I'm guessing it's going to be a pretty chillaxed evening. I miss you all immensely, but I'm having an amazing time... wish you could share it with me!  Hopefully the pictures I posted will help bring you closer :)

God save the queen! Or at least the brewers of Strawberry Beer. Cheers :)

Takeoff in less than 24.... whaaat?

(Air India Ad - 1960 )

So, welcome to my highly-requested blog all about my summer in London. I hope it lives up to your expectations of fantasticness.... yes fantasticness.... it's a word. I made it up. I'm a journalism student, but if you're looking for perfect grammar and sentence structure here, that's a big issue. You'll need to get your fix somewhere else. If not, continue!

I am doing the first dumb thing any world traveller can do; staying up late creating a blog instead of sleeping the night before she flies. My mind basically won't go to sleep, though my body is tired. I guess it's just the anticipation eating away at me during these last moments in the only part of the world I've known for my two-decades and some-odd days here on the big blueberry.

 I've been pushing and striving and interviewing and doing paperwork to get here for almost an entire school year, yet I have an insane feeling of unpreparedness. Sure I've shopped, and made lists, and researched and been completely dorky about trying to keep up with what's going on over there, but I'm still not, well, there. 

Did I mention I'm basically oozing with excitement along with this impending feeling of doom? Yeah. I'm psyched beyond belief. 

My plane leaves O'Hare at 8:40 pm tomorrow (erm, today). According to the ad (above), Air India is "the airline that treats you like a maharajah." I'm looking forward to this, and seeing if their 48 year-old claim is legit. I hope so. That would be fantastic. I mean, just SAY the word maharajah... it's beautiful... sumptuous even. Maharrrraaaaaaajjjaaaahhhhh..... nice.

I better get some beauty sleep. I hear that Union Jack is a real fox... furling and unfurling like he does... 

God Save the Queen.  Or at least all flights with Air India tomorrow. Cheers :)