The First Few Days
Trip Start
Jun 20, 2009
1
3
21
Trip End
Aug 01, 2009
London,
England,
United Kingdom
Thursday, June 25, 2009
One of my first adventures after arriving besides unpacking was the trip to the grocery store. I found a Tesco Express and was absolutely delighted with the wide variety of foreign foods in even that miniature grocery store. I spent maybe twenty minutes in there just looking at all the food before buying a box of "Frosties" and a few other things. It was clear, though, that as I had expected, living in London would be expensive. Still, it was exciting even using a different currency, and I have an odd fascination with the Pound and the various British coins.
A quick word on my flat: we got double ripped-off
???????
. The housing agency that booked us goofed, and arranged for one too few rooms. Therefore, the three of us and the T.A. are in a separate flat and a separate building from everyone else. The other building is just across the street, but the flats in it are way nicer than ours. Our TV doesn't even really work. None of the appliances are digital, and the markings on the dials are often cryptic. It usually takes us about five minutes apiece in the tiny shower every morning trying to figure out how to get hot water and the stove has picture dials; some of the pictures are inexplicably of nuclear waste signs. No, of course there aren't any manuals.Classes are Monday-Thursday, 9:00-12:00 on days where we didn't see a play the night before, and from 10:30-12:00 on days that we did. This is because we have to write reviews for 5 out of the 10 plays we're seeing, and the reviews must be written before class the next morning. So far, we've seen two plays; Much Ado About Nothing at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and As You Like It at the reconstructed Globe Theatre. The latter production was ten times better than the former, but they were both quite good. At the Globe we got to be "groundlings," meaning we had to stand up for the entire performance, albeit right next to the stage.
In the meantime, our group has also been traveling all around London
British Groceries
. Yesterday we took a walk down around Westminster, where we saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. A smaller group of us returned to Westminster Abbey for Evensong, a relatively brief service/performance that features a beautiful traditional choir.Unfortunately, I left my camera in the Abbey, which promptly sealed shut for the day after the service.Fortunately, I returned there today and managed to recover it with the best of luck. From the Abbey I joined a group at the Tate Modern Art Museum, where I saw one of Monet's "Water Lilies" , a couple Picasso's, several Pollock's, and various other disturbing and strange exhibits. I also crossed the Millennium bridge briefly walked by St. Paul's cathedral after tonight's play at the Globe,
Yesterday I had my first authentic British pub experience. It was a place called "The Crown" (apparently, there are 'hundreds' of similarly-named pubs, as the English are not very creative) off of New Oxford Street. It served Samuel Smith beer (which I recommend) and had a nice upstairs dining area with couches and soft chairs and everything. I had a very reasonably-priced fish & chips (I had to get that) and of course a beer and chatted with the Polish bartender. The English blending of food and alcohol is really exceptional. I can't wait to go to another pub. In fact, I actually just can't wait until tomorrow.
Happy Travels!
