the wandering days

the greatest thing about summer is that you can do whatever you want to. the greatest thing about summer in london is there is a lot to do. the last couple of days, i have been running all over london and having the most brilliant time, as londoners would say. last wendnesday, our first real day to explore, we had a quick assignment to do over at the british museum. we spent about an hour and a half there, and i am pretty sure that i will spend at least another whole day there. we explored the couple of rooms that covered the history and findings of the people who inhabited the british isles, and although i am not really interested in that, i learned a ton of fascinating things about that time period.

after finishing our assignment, we grabbed lunch and headed off to piccadilly circus, and then on to trafalgar square. the sight of the red banners that adorned the colonnade of the national gallery lured me in. i spent about three hours looking at the fantastic collection there. paintings by reubens, who loves to sneak in any speck of red paint that he can, the iconic waterlillies of monet and sunflowers of van gogh. we saw so many fantastic works of art—it was slightly overwhelming. i absolutely loved it.

on thursday, we had class in the morning. i sort of forgot that this was a study abroad trip, because the first couple days of the program have felt more like the best vacation i have ever been on. but, thus is life. after class, we dashed over to the victoria and albert museum of design. i spent a whole hour going through a room filled with house wares from the middle east. colorful pottery, massive oriental rugs, delicate silver spoons, and ornate pieces of furniture. i was shocked at the amount of detail that was in these works of art that were hundreds of years old. the room of sculptures was amazing too. there were a few rodans, many pieces of greek sculpture, and that famous bust of albert einstein. we went back there on friday night and explored other areas of the museum. the jewelry collection, iron works and room of ornate locks and keys, to name a few. and i am pretty sure that we spent just as much time in the museum gift shop as we did exploring it.

on friday we visited the tower of london.

we went in to the crown jewels first. it was fascinating to learn the history behind all of the pieces. like that the imperial state crown is worn by the queen each year at the opening of parliament. it has on it the second star of africa (second largest diamond of africa), the black princess ruby that belonged to king edward in the 14^th century, and st. edward’s sapphire. and that there is a crown that is only ever worn at coronation and it weighs over five pounds! we also went in to the white tower. while we were in there, one of the girls asked an usher what was symbolic about the knight of the garter. this particular usher happened to be a history buff to the max and told us all about it, plus more. he said that the order of the knights of the garter is the highest honor that a person can get in the uk. the garter can be seen around the royal coats of arms and is alluded to in “sir gawain and the green knight”. he took us to the chapel in the white tower and told us about some things that happened in that room. it used to be where records were kept. it was where george washington came to obtain a copy of the magna carta, which is now kept beside the constitution in the national archive building. how cool is that? moral of the story: when you go to places rich with history, ask questions! you never know what kind of special treatment you will get because of it.

that night, i wandered around with a couple of girls. we went around big ben and westminster. the area around there is beautiful. i found a peter pan house with a window just like the one that wendy and the boys flew through on the top.

saturday morning we went to the market on portobello road. it was like nothing i have ever been to. on one end of the road, there were stands with fresh food, baked goods, and ethnic foods. on the other end, there were endless amounts of antique stands and stores. they had the most interesting things there—antique purses, camera, furniture, prints, teddy bears, tools, jewelry, hats, and so many other things. it was a great saturday morning activity and i am sure i will spend many more there.

we went to church out in mitcham, and it took us about two and a half hours to navigate our way there. these were the directions: go to the victoria station, take the train to mitcham junction, get on the tram and get off at the first stop, walk up the hill and the church looks like an old house. so we got to mitcham junction easily, and then to the tram. however, the tram runs in two directions like it should. when we finally got to the correct first stop (it took a little trial and error), there were, naturally, two slopes to get out of the tram station. after a little trial and error there too, we found the church building and walked in about forty five minutes late. i loved the ward. most of the members were black and many of the families were from south africa. i am really excited to get to know more people there and serve in the ward.

yesterday, we had the opportunity to see a paly in the globe theatre. like the actual one that shakespeare originally directed plays in...well not really but i like to pretend that it was. as you know, the original globe burned down, tragically, but this one looked exactly the same. we saw “as you like it.” it was amazing. the production was so good, for a play that is not as famous as others from shakespeare. i loved it. if you ever go though, spend the extra pound for the seat cushion. your behind will thank you later. trust me.

p.s. here is a picture of me inside the globe theatre, one of abby and me making the drama faces outside the theatre, and one of abby with her montague and capulet panties that she bought in the awesome gift shops (i swear, they have the best ones here).