17/1/09 Stonehenge and Bath

So today I found out that the number I've been telling everyone was my mobile number is definitely not right. The real number is 07912593321, I think you Yankees need to hit 44 first, I don't really know if you need the 0 or not, you can mess around with it.

Anyways, today was the big Stonehenge and Bath trip. It was rough enough waking up at 7, but on top of that my shower didn't have hot water. Pretty miserable.

The bus was late naturally, so everyone crowded into a tiny Starbucks around the corner from me (Strawberry and Creme for me) and I met some people that I ended up spending most of the day with. I sat next to Tim on the way there and back, he's a photography major so I told him about how I'm a professional photographer, and Heidi, who is a PR major, making her a journalist's best friend/worst enemy. I hung out with their group the entire time, and I even met a girl that writes for the Focus section of the DePaulia (whose name I don't remember. I never know if I'm just meeting a person for a second and then never seeing them again or if I'm going to be with them all day. I was with her all day. Whoops.)

But after about 40ish minutes in the bus (we had a terrific guide that told us things to look at outside the window, including where Paul McCartney married Linda right around the corner from where I live, and neat little facts like how the Brits would all turn their lights off in their homes during the blitz, but the Germans could still see the Thames and would be able to bomb because of that, so the Brits called the Thames the 'Traitor Thames.' We drove through some areas devastated by the blitz and been rebuilt, sort of makes the war more real.)

Stonehenge is very much a tourist area now. There is a street not more than 100 feet or so from it and a visitors center. Sort of took away from it. After hearing about and seeing pictures of Stonehenge for my entire life, I was pretty excited to see it in person. It was even the last level in "Cruisin' World" and there were aliens above it. So this was a big deal.

I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed and impressed at the same time. Stonehenge is literally rocks out in the middle of nowhere. But then again, the pyramids are just blocks piles on each other, and Yankee Stadium is just bricks. So I mean I should have expected that. I thought they would be bigger, and I really wished I could have walked around between then and get a real idea of how massive they were, but they had it roped off from about 50 feet away all around, and the tourists gathered around to take their pictures and leave. There were a few burial mounds around the area but that was about it. There's only so long that you can look at rocks from a distance. But I guess you could say that to the Grand Canyon as well.

However, the fact that there was absolutely nothing around there made it rather impressive. It's not like there was a Giant Rock Store right next to it 3,000 years ago. It's all very flat land - farm land in fact (I saw pigs and sheep) - so to get these rocks from somewhere (weighing 80 tons, I think Dennis would describe that as 40 elephants) so it truly is an impressive sight to see, especially if you take a minute to get away from the crowd and imagine people actually making them.

We didn't have a long time to look at them, probably about 40 minutes (again, looking at rocks) so we were soon on the way to Bath. I didn't know much about Bath, it's one of those places you hear about in passing but without any idea of what it's all about. Bath was founded by the Romans because of their natural springs, which they created a temple around and would bathe in. Time went by, the Romans left, and in the 12th century the Normans found the springs which were coming up through the ground and Roman ruins. Come the 18th century, Bath was completely rebuilt (and probably about 90% of the buildings are form the 18th century) and it became a popular place for rich people to visit (Jane Austin lived there for six years with her family.)

The funny thing was they didn't know there were Roman ruins under the bath until about 110 years ago or so, about 20 feet below where they had the floor level. The ruins are relatively complete, about five feet up from around the bath level, and then the new structure is built on top of it. It was also much bigger, with many rooms also excavated. The springs are still there, the Roman pipes still work, and the water around 100 degrees. People would still bathe in them as late as 1979 until the waters became infected with meningitis and a girl swallowed some water and died five days later. There are newer baths that have opened, but not Roman.

I took a free tour of it with three other people, which was pretty good. Tours are always worthwhile compared to the headsets. I threw a penny into the Roman water where they used to throw paper with curses on them. Then I went up to the Pump Room, a restaurant in the bath complex, and tried some of the (meningitis-free) water. It was very mineraly, not particularly tasty.

From there I wandered about the town of Bath. It was sort of like walking back in time, there has hardly been any development. The town is incredibly gorgeous, almost like a Disney park with the consistency of the materials and the ornateness. It's what you think of when you think of old Victorian towns.

I stopped and had some homemade ice cream (white chocolate with chocolate malt balls) at a place opened since 1850. It was right up there with Ray's and the Winger's waffle cone.


Down in the park, I saw a father and son throwing around a baseball, the fist sign I've seen of anyone over here having any idea about the sport. I assume they were transplanted Americans. Bath is a much more family-orientated town than London, where it's a lot of young business people and not many families. I really enjoyed bath, but I can't imagine there being too much more to see than I did in the few hours I was there.

We rode back, and most everyone slept on the bus. From there me and my new gang went to the Golden Eagle pub, an old-feeling place with wood paneling on the walls. We just sat around and talked for a couple hours about music, journalism, and the Tower of London, which I'm the most excited to be going to by far tomorrow.

16/1/09

Let's start with another update in my quest to become an internationally published writer.

Hi Scott,
Thanks for your message. I am hoping we will publish your article next week. I just need to get it approved by my editor first.
Many thanks,
Mark

I have to say, this is looking pretty good. I imagine they don't have too many people that have actually seen Obama, let alone the number of times I have, so it would sort of make sense for this to happen. I figured all along I had a pretty good chance. But I never expected all this to come together so quickly.

Today was another productive day. I figured out where my classes are. They're about a 20-25 minute walk down on Regent Street, a block or two away from Oxford Street, so there are just tons of places to eat and visit between classes. I went all the way down to Piccadilly Circus today (not many animals, more Time's Squarey.)

From there I went to Theaterland and Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square where I was the other night. Most notably now, is that I know how to get nearly anywhere in the West End, a big step that will lead to me using my GPS far less. Trafalgar Square and Parliament aren't that much further from Leicester Square, so I can get to nearly everything in London by foot now.

I stopped in Starbucks down by Piccadilly Square to kill some time. I got a Chocolate Cream this time. I think I'm sticking with Strawberry Cream.

From there I wandered about Chinatown (or maybe it was just a random area where they decided to hang a lot of Chinese Lanterns), which was bigger than I was expecting. It's not particularly great, but there are a lot of shops and restaurants there, and it's right next to a number of other landmarks.


I then went and sat in Leicester Square (it's a big hangout by the theaters, Will Smith was here two days ago for a movie premiere) and finished my drink.

There was a statue of Charlie Chaplin next to me, I forgot he was British. Probably because he never talks.

From there I had a little bit more time so I went to the National Portrait Gallery, which was pretty incredible. They have things dating from Henry VII to the present (including a cool Paul McCartney portrait.) I didn't get to spend that much time there, but I'm sure I'll be back.

From there I headed back to 309 Regent Street where my classes are for orientation.

The building (on the right) has to date from the 1850s, it's incredibly ornate inside, like walking into a fancy New York hotel. The auditorium I was in was the first place where moving pictures were shown in England, kinda cool.


Orientation was worthless except that I found out I didn't need to register with a GP (general practitioner) so that just saves me some time. I also didn't win the project quiz thing, but I didn't expect to.

From there I walked back to my place and on Marylebone Street, I saw a plaque that said Charles Dickens lived on a site about two blocks from me. Out of all the cool history things I've seen so far, this was probably the coolest, I'd because because it hit so close to home, literally. It's pretty exciting to think that I'm walking the same streets Dickens did.


I left for the boat, which was at the Monument stop on the Circle Line. It took about 40 minutes to get there. I ran into a girl from my floor (oh man, I think her name is Brittany? I should probably know that) and we both headed down there.

There were a bunch of people waiting by the Monument (to commemorate the 1666 Fire) and soon the leaders came and we left for the boat (people in charge don't seem to be too prompt.)

Unfortunately, the boat was docked. It was right next to (lame) London Bridge, and most people stayed in the lower deck and sat around. Brittany? and I went to the top deck and hung out. She spent the last four months in Spain studying (she's from Missouri but got an awesome study abroad scholarship) so we talked about Spain quite a bit, since I plan on visiting there. She said to go to Barcelona for sure, not so big on Madrid, but I probably will anyways.

A couple other people came over and hung out with us on the top, and everyone here has been very nice. They were talking about The London Paper and I told them that it looks like I was going to be in it and they were pretty impressed.

After about two hours we went inside and stayed around listening to more American music (it's everywhere) and then decided to leave. I took the tube to the Westminster stop and walked from Parliament to Trafalgar Square to Leicester Square to Piccadilly Square to Regent Street to Oxford Street to Baker Street and back home. It is basically the same route I took earlier, but now I can get all the way to Parliament for sure. It's also a lot prettier at night.




I looked around for a cafe to get some desert in, and I found one on Regent Street but I decided I wanted to get closer to my room first, so I chanced it and lost. All the cafes were closed when I got back. Oh well, guess maybe tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm going to Stonehenge and Bath, which I'm pretty excited about. Stonehenge is just one of those sites you hear about your entire life and think it'd be cool to see. Bath sounds interesting as well. We leave at 8, and I'm not excited about that. I struggled to get up before 11 still.

But on a good note, my student Oyster card came, which was incredibly fast. I'm pumped, now it's 30% off fares, and they seem to stretch pretty far as it is.

15/1/09

First off, I sent in the Obama column last night and The London Paper got back to me. They said this:

Hi Scott,
Thanks for sending in your column. We are considering it for publication. Can I ask your age and occupation? We like to state that for each author.
Many thanks,
Mark

I would imagine that means they are going to use it, which would be very excited, especially if I had something published before I even started a class here. Anyways, I'll let everyone know the link and you know I'll grab copies if it does actually run.

Today I turned in my group's 'getting to know London' project (which I did the whole thing, mostly out of my own curiosity, we didn't have to do it) and then I went to Salas to get tickets to see Peter Bjorn and John on March 5.

They are probably my favorite band (the whistley guys) and the venue is on my street, just a mile or two down. It was only 12.50 pounds, so another plus. The Streets play here on the 29th, but that's sold out for now, I don't know if they do StubHub or anything else like that here.

From there I went to King's Crossing train station.

It is right by Salas (I think that was the station in Harry Potter? Someone will tell me if it's wrong) and went down to the Tate Britain (not Tate Modern as I thought.) I got there rather early, so I picked up a Metro (another free paper, more newsy than the others) and read it by the Thames for a while.

We were supposed to meet our group leader Koichi by the Underground stop, but he was 20 minutes late, so I ended up sitting outside for about an hour, and today was rather damp and cold.

The Tate Britain has art from only British artists. It turns out I'm not too keen on British art. Most of the stuff was the 18th century portraits of people sitting around in fancy clothes not looking real. I find paint thrown on canvasses more interesting.

They did have some cool things, like a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I that I swear I've seen before. It is sort of amazing to think that they commissioned paintings so that people would know what they actually looked like. It was about 400 years old.

They also had a Henry Moore sculpture that I think I've seen before as well. Maybe there is a replica at the DIA?


I came back and made some food and was invited to eat with the rest of the hall. They're really cool people. We talked about difference in America and England, how they don't do peanut butter and bagels that much, things like that. Turns out Phil was very impressed that I interviewed Dizzee Rascal (but not impressed I interviewed Paul Oakenfold. I figured it'd be the other way around.)

I went with the hall down to the club/bar thing in our basement of our campus and hung out. As I walked in, they played Dizzee Rascal. And they played him later too. Pretty funny stuff. But nearly everything they played was American. Snoop Dogg, DMX, Jay-Z, even Soulja Boy.

I ended up chatting with Phil from next door and he was very jealous that I saw the Arctic Monkeys live. They're apparently the best thing ever. I asked if the Beatles were still cool over here, and he said yeah. His parents had seen them six times or so, even in Liverpool, which is incredibly cool. After hanging around for a while there, I decided to head back up, I was tired and wanted to get a couple things caught up.

I purchased my plane tickets and reserved a hostel in Athens. I'm pretty excited, I never thought I'd ever go there. It's a pretty awesome first trip. I hope. I need to figure out what else there is besides the Acropolis there, I remember learning a lot about it in art history, I'm sure I won't have much trouble filling time. I'm there from February 1-3 and staying at the Athens Backpackers Hostel. I'm excited.

Tomorrow I have another orientation meeting and then all the study abroad people are going on a boat tour on the Thames for five or six hours. Could be cool. I'm thinking I might want to go to Picadilly Circus tomorrow too, I also need to figure out where the plastic dinosaurs by Crystal Palace are.

My foot is still bothering me but I think it's getting a little better. Ir's probably only slightly torn.

14/1/09

Today was rather productive.

In the morning I went to my study abroad adviser and switched some classes. My schedule looks like this now.

Wednesday:
10-1 Creative Writing about London
2-5 Devising London

Thursday:
9-12 Art and Society
2-5 London Theater in Performance

As you can see, this is sort of an awesome schedule. I can travel on Tuesdays now, which is usually a great travel day.

Art and Society is where we go out in London and look at art, architecture and historical sites. Basically the class was made for me. The first week it sounds like we're going to St. Paul's Cathedral. I'm glad I didn't go yesterday.

Devising London is slightly less defined. It sounds like we will be doing things at London sites and then at the end of the year we have some sort of performance about our time in London. Not sure how that all ties together. Sounds like a Mrs. Barney kind of class, so it could be fun. Either way, I don't expect it to be academically challenging.

I went to a store in the school and I picked up an A4 notebook (it's longer than American paper) and a bottled water so I can have something to carry water in. From there I walked down to Oxford Street, which is kind of like State Street and Michigan Avenue put together. It's pretty awesome. Lots of different shops, a much greater variety than in the states. I went into a Boots (think CVS) and bought some liquid hand soap for 1.70 pounds on a two-for-one sale. The next store I went to was Argos. It is a catalog store where you go to a catalog and look through a book, find the number of the item you want, and write it on a card. You take it up to the tilly (cashier) and pay, then you walk over to another desk and they fetch the item from the backroom. I was going to get a 40-piece silverware and 12-piece plate set for 7 pounds, but they were out of the plates. So I ordered a Spiderman kids set.

I went into about three different H&Ms and looked around. They have a lot of the same things as in the state, but they also have a good deal more. The prices are a little high, but not much. I didn't get anything.

I came back and had two bowls of Frosties. Then I decided to walk to Buckingham Palace. My foot is still hurting, so I switched shoes to my Pumas but it still hurt (although at the end of the walk it seemed to be doing better.) It's about two miles to Buckingham Palace, and a pretty nice walk. It's been incredibly pleasant outside. It was foggy in the morning, but clear at night, and in the upper 40's. There were a bunch of people out running and walking.

When I finally got to Buckingham Palace, I wasn't that impressed. It's not incredibly well-lit, so it wasn't that interesting.

I walked around the block, and you can really only see the front view, the rest is blocked by a wall. There isn't much security around the place. I felt like I could throw a baseball into the front of the Palace. I did see a couple Bobbies, and one with a machine gun, but you could get pretty close.

I was also surprised by how much activity was going on all around it. It sort was like Wrigley Field with buildings and people out and about.

In the back of the block, away from the front, the security was a little more serious. But I could go up to the front of the Palace and stick my camera through the gate.

I walked up Queen Victoria's Statue and took another picture. Still not that impressive in the dark.

On the walk back I went by the original Hard Rock Cafe and then stopped in Primark's again because I had to pass it. I almost bought about half the store but ended up just getting a mat for the bathroom for 1.96 pounds so the floors aren't always wet.

Since I had things to eat with, I decided to get some more food at Tesco. I got bread, Nutella (they had peanut butter, but it was about three times more expensive for the same amount) raspberry preserves, more milk (they come in liters, so they're smaller) Cheerios, crackers (like a case of fancy man crackers you get a events, it was super cheap, like 2 pounds), 'mature cheddar' (it has a little stronger tatse, but still good) and bananas (for mom.) I also joined the Tesco Card Club. I then ate the most since I've been here. I had a Nutella and jelly sandwich, crackers and cheese, milk, my last yogurt, and a banana.

I read The London Paper and/or London Lite everyday. They're free papers and also like RedEye, youth and entertainment based. In The London Paper they have a spot where readers write a column everyday, so I wrote one today for the Obama inauguration. If it doesn't get published, I'll post it here.

Tomorrow I'm touring the Tate Modern I think, we'll see.

LDN

So I think this will be my new place to post the happening about London that I happen upon, so check back regularly, I'm going to try to post daily.

Yesterday was rather uneventful. I went to meetings for a good part of the day and then bought food and pillows (along with jeans, a hand towel, and sweatpants for 16 pounds) at Primark’s. I did get to meet a number of people on my floor. Phil lives next door and is a pretty cool guy. I probably met about 6 people or so, all were very nice. My room is starting to feel like home a little bit. I put some maps up on my walls so it’s just not so stark-white. My internet is up and working and I found out about my classes (and how I can’t wait to drop postmodernism.) The rest of the classes seem pretty good though, a lot of going out in the city.

At the meetings they had pastries and I had four, and some water and tea, so that took care of one meal. The room was on the second floor, but they don’t start counting floors until they get to the usual second floor. Very confusing. I would be on the 11^th floor in America. For dinner I had one of the Chicago-style pizzas I made in the microwave. It was kind of gross. I still don’t have any utensils, so I need to take care of that soon.

I got to Skype people and I applied for my student Oyster card. The internet is a great thing.

Today I ended up doing quite a bit. First off, my right foot really hurts, in the back right side, in front of the heel. Not really sure what that is all about, probably because of all the walking I’ve been doing. Bu

t today I did more walking then I’ve ever done.

I took the tube down to Tower Hill and as soon as you leave, you see a Roman Wall that was used for defense when the city was founded over 1,000 years ago.

Then I saw the Tower of London. I’ve always wanted to go there, I remember learning about it in 6^th grade and how cool I thought it was. It is impressive in person.

I’ll be going there on Sunday (with the group so it’s free) and that’s what I’ve been most looking forward to.

Right across from the Tower is the Tower Bridge (naturally.) It’s the really famous bridge that people think is the London Bridge.

I paid 4.50 pounds to go up into the top of the towers along the elevated walkways. It was kind of cool, I felt like I had to do it.

I went to the engine rooms and then finished walking across the bridge until I came to the lame London Bridge. It’s just a boring bridge.

From there I walked past St. Paul’s but I didn’t go in because I wanted to get a guided tour of Westminster Abbey, and the last of the day was at 2:30. So I hustled over there.

The Abbey is incredible. It’s just filled with tombs of legendary people. Kings, Queens, Newton, Dickens, Darwin, Chauncer, nearly every space has some tomb or another. Unfortunately I couldn’t take pictures in there. Edward the Confessors tomb in the middle was very interesting, as well as the Coronation Chair. But maybe what I liked the most was going into the old Roman rooms that predated the church. I thought about sticking around for a choir performance, but I wanted to get to dinner with the group (free food) at Brown’s.

As I was leaving the area, I walked past Parliament again and I asked about tours and getting inside. Well they said I could for free attend a House of Commons session. Which was going on right now. So I jumped at it.

After going through airport security, I entered Westminster Hall, dating from the 11^th century I believe. It’s one of the most historical places in the city and the only remaining part of the old Parliament building. After about 15 minutes, I was in watching the House of Commons upstairs behind glass. There were maybe 10 members of Parliament, and one guy talked the entire time about who knows what. At one point he made a jab at the other party and people laughed. There was a guy in the center wearing one of those old white wigs. I stayed for about 20 minutes but I decided I had enough, and Westminster Hall was much more interesting anyways.

I hung around there for a little before heading back to my room. I looked up the directions and headed over to Brown’s. Unfortunately, I got off a stop late and got on the wrong line (these tubes are basically idiot-proof) and then when I actually got to my stop, I couldn’t find the place. By the time I did, everyone was gone.

Frustrated and thirsty (it was about 50 degrees today) I stopped in Starbucks and got a Strawberry and Crème frappacino because they don’t have Green Tea. It was priced about the same as in the states. I liked it, but I think I’ll try another one next time just for fun.

I walked around Leicester Square for a little (where they have all their theaters) and then came back and did some research on going to Athens. I think I’m going to do it. I have everything all mapped out, I just don’t know what else I’d do there besides the acropolis. We’ll see.

I made another pizza in the microwave because I can’t get the oven to work, drank two yogurts, and some milk from the container. That’ll probably be my goal for tomorrow.

Day 1

At the airport, it took me about 10 minutes to get to my gate. I would have been there quicker if the guy in front of me wasn’t an airport rookie.

After the plane finally took off about two hours late, I spent most of my time watching movies. First I saw Vicky Christina Barcelona, a Woody Allen movie that wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t exactly funny, but it was alright. It made me want to go to Spain and Barcelona a lot and made me get excited to go traveling on the weekends.

I had a pretty good pasta with some sort of cream sauce and then I watched an episode of “Flight of the Concords” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” both good. I spent some time writing and just like last time when I thought I was pretty close to getting to sleep they turned the lights on for breakfast.

I had to wait in a pretty huge line for customs, but it wasn’t much of a hassle. My bags came up right away as well an I headed to the Undergroud. I bought a ticket and the guy let me through the handicapped gate because I was carrying so much stuff. I didn’t swipe my card. Arriving at Baker Street, the same thing happened.

The area around my place is pretty nice, lot of old brick houses, cafes, and shops.

It seems like there is more going on there than I thought. My room is 10C, it’s pretty tiny, maybe half the size of Paul’s room, but it had a bathroom, which is just a shower with a curtain, a toilet, and a sink all within about a four-foot space, but it’s way better than going down the hall.

I don’t think my window closes all the way, which makes it pretty cold in here, so I might have to get that taken care of. I was also curious if I should have just brought a power strip and one adapter for it. I guess we could still do that maybe.

I left early for my meeting and got to see the area a bit. I walked up to Regent’s Park and there were many people out running and familes out for walks. It felt very New Yorky. The meeting was more or less a waste of time, but we got to go on an awesome walking tour of Westminster, looking at Big Ben, Parliament, Westmister Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and a couple spots where people were beheaded.

I answered two of the guides questions right, being who was the last person to lie in state in Westminster Abbey (the Queen Mother) and who is the prime minister (Gordon Brown.) It was sort of surreal seeing Big Ben in person, the building is even more ornate than it seems in “Peter Pan.”

Then I walked down the Thames River (and saw Cleopatra’s Needle dad) because the weather was so nice. I took the tube back to Baker Street (it is so easy to use, letting people know what is going on is a great idea) and then walked around looking for a place to eat. I found a Barclay’s and Starbucks around the corner on Baker Street, right by the Beatles London Store (I think their Apple store was right around there, I have to figure out where). Walking around the city is incredibly difficult, at least as far as crossing traffic goes. Many streets are one ways but split in the middle where you can’t just walk right across. Nearly every crosswalk is labeled ‘look left’ or ‘look right.’

I went down the Oxford Street and found two more H&Ms, although I didn’t go in any. It was pretty busy on Oxford, especially for a Sunday night. I figured it had to have more people on it than Michigan Avenue. I went down by Oxford Circus and decided to head back.

I went to Pizza Express because the only other place open was Pizza Hut. Pizza Express is a sit-down place, but a quick one. I got raspberry tea with my margehrita pizza and got ice cream topped with brownie and hot fudge for desert. I was falling asleep during the meal, so I asked for the check (they just don’t give it to you there) and it actually worked, so that was good.


I’m fallins asleep righting about it rea

^that was the last thing I wrote before I actually fell asleep, thought it was kind of funny.

I just got the internet to work and my class schedule up, so two big things taken care of. I just have a really short Ethernet cord, so I could use a longer one/the router. Now I need to still find pillows. I’m going to try Harrod’s, the big department store.