The next day I decided to do some exploring/ shopping. So I flipped on my city walking switch, and away I went. My first adventure: conquering the tube. I would consider myself a somewhat experienced subway rider. If I can navigate my way through the NYC subway system, the tube should be a piece of cake... and it was! I made way to Cannon St. which is somewhere between St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London. I went out there in the hopes that the mobile phone stores were open, so I could pick up a temporary phone. Sadly, it was Sunday and most of the stores were closed. I then decided to just make a day of it. So I walked over to the Tower of London. They have a really nice walkway between the Tower and the Thames. I walked that until it took me to the Tower Bridge (you know, the big blue one). People often confuse the Tower Bridge and the London Bridge. The London Bridge is actually the next bridge over, understated and brown. So I casually walked across the Tower Bridge ,which was pretty incredible despite the rain!
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| I promise, I actually took this photo! |
On the other side of the river, there was a green peace festival that was going on, so I wandered that for a little bit. I then discovered that it's only a 20 minute walk to my flat from the Tower Bridge. So I anticipate that I will be making that journey quite often! There are also a bunch of little shops along the way. The Borough Market seems to be the coolest by far. It's a food market that has every kind of food imaginable. I want to go back and try many more things!
The next day was filled with school related activities, boring I know! I confirmed my enrollment, got my student I.D and went to a couple study abroad sessions.I found out that I will be spending all of my time on the Strand Campus which is in the borough of Holborn. One of it's many attractions is Fleet Street, the alleged home to the demon barber, Sweeney Todd. On the other side of the strand building is the Somerset House, which is currently the home to London's fashion week. After all of my registration was over, I wandered over to the library on campus, which is incredible! It looks like a castle, and as I discovered they shot the scenes in Dumbledore's office for the Harry Potter films in this library! My inner nerd was freaking out! Also, if I just wander down the street I run into the Covent Gardens, the West End, and Trafalgar's Square. So, needless to say I love where I get to go school for the next three months!
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| The Maughn Library- Definitely looks like a castle! |
After a day of rest from the rain, I got out once again. I went to the glorious Victoria and Albert Museum of design. It was like I had died and gone to heaven! If you are an artist in any way, shape, or form, you need to come here! They have a beautiful collection of period clothing, which was naturally the first exhibit I went to. They had everything from Christian Dior to Madame Gres to Charles James to Victorian fashion- you name it! Each time I turned a corner, the smile on my face got more and more ridiculous, especially whenever I saw anything Madame Gres. After a long period of time went by, I left the fashion wing and made my way to the theatre exhibit (weird, huh?) That exhibit was also like amazing! They had it set up so if you walk through the exhibit a certain way, you go through the basic process of putting on a production. They had old casting books, old contracts, an old stage manager's prompt book, and so much more. There were also stunning costume pieces there. It ranged from pieces from the Royal Ballet to the Lion King, and anything in between. There was a great display of head wear and masks as well! There is so much in this museum that I have yet to see. I am very sure that I will be returning here several times. One really great thing about museums in London, is that they are mostly free! Right next door to the Victoria and Albert is the Natural History Museum. I remember going there when I was a kid, and that they had the coolest dinosaur exhibit, but sadly the dinosaur exhibit was not open. I made my way to the minerals room, because what girl doesn't like looking at big shiny rocks? In the back of this room, they have 'the vault', which is home to very beautiful and very large gemstones. At this point, I was pretty tired out, so I conquered the tube once again and made my way home.
I am loving my time here so far! I think one of the best things is actually being on my own. I was little worried at first that it would be too much to be in such a large city on my own, but it turns out that I love it! When you travel in groups, you have to do things and go places that pleases everyone. When you travel by yourself, you get to do what you want to do, which is so refreshing. It's not that I never want to travel with people again, I'm just very grateful to be doing what I want to do without hurt feelings. I hope that in these next few weeks I have just as many, if not, more adventures! Although classes start on Monday, so that should be an adventure all in itself! And with that, the second London installment has come to an end. Till next time!
Cheers,
Amanda
p.s. For those of you who got the reference in the title, you're awesome! I think it will be a theme from now on...
