London Tower, Big Ben, and Hyde Park

OUR FIRST SATURDAY IN LONDON! 

We decided to do something touristy for our first stop in central London, so we thought we would go to the Tower of London, then make our way to Big Ben, and then finally go to Hyde Park for the Winter Wonderland Fair. Once we got off the tube at the Tower of London, we stopped at a cafe overlooking the tower. It was really nice to get a coffee (we hadn't had one in days) and a parfait as we gazed at the historic tower and bridge. 

Next, we went on a tour of the tower. We were super excited to get a student ticket which gave as a few pounds discount and were also lucky that we caught up with the last tour going out for the day. The tour guide, who is part of the royal guard for the tower was dressed in traditional guard apparel. He joked and said that even though he is called a beefeater, no one knows for sure how that term came to be! The guards also live on the tower grounds and have other various duties such as being an official fireman. Our tour guide was really funny, interesting, and informative. 

The London Tower is known for... well, killings. Anne Boleyn, Simon of Sadbury, and Lady Jane Gray were murdered for their infamous "transgressions" on Tower Hill. It is also the site of the presumed murders of the two boy princes, Henry V and his younger brother Richard. After they were claimed illegitimate by their uncle, they were sent to stay in the Tower of London. By declaring the children illegitimate, their uncle became King Richard III. After that day, the princes were never seen again. Hundreds of years later, when a building was being torn down in front of the White Tower, two skeletons were found that were identified to be boys of the ages 10 and 12. Both were the same ages of the missing princes. Oooo creepy! 

In addition to stories like these, the tour guide told us about different legends that affect the tower to this day. One of them is why the tower keeps ravens on the grounds. There was a myth at the time of the Tower's conception that if 6 ravens weren't kept on tower grounds that the walls would come crumbling down along with the monarchy. Since then, the tower always ordered that 6 ravens be kept on the grounds. Today they hold 8 just for safe keeping and clip their wings to ensure they don't fly off. 

Ravens on the grass

Another thing about the tower that I didn't know was that it was home to many exotic animals like bears, lions, elephants, crocodiles, monkeys, and ostriches! I loved the tour which can be attributed to my love of history, but our tour guide really made the place come alive. You are able to walk through the walls and towers of the castle and it is so cool to think you are walking on the same grounds that kings and queens lived on for so many years. 

In one of the towers they also hold the crowned jewels. They were beautiful! The collection houses some of the largest diamonds, mounds of gold and other precious metals, and thousands of gems. The most spectacular "bling" which is how our tour guide put it (something is so funny about American slang being said in a British accent) is the Cullinan diamonds. Cullinan diamond one is over 500 carats and Cullinan diamond two is over 300 carats. They are so impressive that they seem unreal. Finally, we took awhile to gaze at Tower Bridge. We pictured the Olympic rings hanging from the bridge like they were just this summer. Everything in London just becomes ten times more beautiful when it gets dark and everything lights up. The bridge was no exception. 

After our tour of the Tower of London, we headed to Westminster to see Big Ben and the London Eye. We got off at the tube station and walked to the street  excitedly scanning the skyline for Big Ben. The Eye was right in front of us but Big Ben was nowhere to be seen, surprisingly enough. However a second later, (and this was my favorite part of the day) I looked up and Big Ben was directly over my head! Although people may say that Big Ben is impressive from a distance and makes for a perfect view with the Houses of Parliament and the Thames, I was most in awe when it was right above me. The surprise when I discovered that the whole time it had been over my head made the moment even more exciting. Big Ben is such an iconic part of London and something that has always been on my "must-see" checklist but I couldn't believe I was actually staring at it. It still feels like I didn't actually see it. With it that close I could see all of the details put into it, especially in the clock face. Although Big Ben is beautiful in pictures, nothing could ever compare to seeing the real thing. 

Every time I see Big Ben, whether it be just the top of it from Trafalgar Square or at a distance as I walk along the Thames in the South Bank, I can't stop staring at it. I'm sure I look like such a tourist, but I could never get tired of looking at Big Ben whether it be raining, sunny, foggy, day, or night (which is my personal favorite since it's lit up). After FINALLY seeing Big Ben and spending quite a bit of time taking pictures with it in the background, we headed to Hyde Park for Winter Wonderland. The next day was its final day open which is why we had to make it there in time to see all the rides, the decorations, and try some food.  The park was really crowded with it being a Saturday night, but it made it more exciting. 

People were buying handmade items such as wooden Christmas ornaments, lanterns, and leather journals while kids were going on all of the rides. There were so many rides that the fair seemed to go on forever. Every corner we turned there was just more and more! 

We decided to eat there because the large choices of food (and the smell!) made it hard to resist. Tara and I ended up getting two different meals so that we could try each others. It turned out to be a really good idea! I knew stew was a popular food in England, so we got turkey stew that came with a bap, which is just a type of bread, and then we got a turkey dinner sandwich. Both were amazing but the sandwich was unlike anything I've had before. It had of course turkey, along with stuffing, bacon (and not the thin American kind), apple chutney, and cranberry sauce. I wish I could have another one now! So far with the food, we have really liked everything so I'm glad we're not finding it hard to find good food here. After filling all of those activities into only one day we were so tired but excited that we had seen so many things that we had always dreamed about.

Orientation & Covent Garden!

After two days filled with orientation, course inductions, and meetings, a lot of the study abroad students were getting antsy and wanting to explore London more. A group of us decided to go out to dinner and see whether or not the rumor that "British food isn't good" is actually true. We chose to go to Covent Garden because we knew it had a lot of choices and was a nice area to see. To get there all the way from Southeast London, we took the Tube for the first time. The Tube is essentially like a NYC subway with similarities like musicians playing music in the station, but there are also these huge, steep escalators. We were told several times during orientation that in England, when going on an escalator, you have to stand on the right so that people can pass by you on your left. If you don't, it really annoys everyone. It's kind of hard because you want to stand as a group and talk, but instead you have to stay in a single file line. I definitely notice more cultural differences as the days pass. 

After changing tube lines twice we arrived in Covent Garden after about 20 minutes. Navigating the tube wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be and I'm glad the group of us figured out how to use it early on. When we arrived at Covent Garden we were all excited to see a place that looked more like how we imagined London. There was a performer balancing on a tightrope in the street, people dining outside, and shops everywhere. Not to mention amazing Christmas decorations!

Outdoor seating

We ended up eating outdoors as well, with a fire lantern next to us to keep warm. The weather in London has been surprisingly nice though! Well, nice for London... :-) After looking at the menu, I decided I wanted the mushroom ravioli. I can't remember much of the description but it said it was in a chardonnay cream sauce and since I love mushrooms I had to get it. I'm so glad I did! It was probably the best ravioli I've ever had so who says London has bad food? It was only pasta though, so after I try more "typical" British foods I'll have to make another opinion. 

Mushroom ravioli

After, we went to a pub called "The Globe" that was a few minutes away and met a few University of Westminster students that our friend knew from her college at home. The pub was really nice and even better news is that they show sporting events! Well... only football (soccer). I've never been into soccer since I'm more of a football/baseball fan, but I definitely want to see a Chelsea game in real life and go to The Globe to watch a game on the tele there. Uh oh, British words are rubbing off on me! 

Thinking about British words, people here say "cheers" to mean thank you. When Cailin and I went to the laundry room and were holding the door for the guy behind us, he stopped, grabbed the door and said, "cheers." We didn't really catch what he said and we thought he might be holding the door for us so we said thank you to him. Only later did we realize that he was saying thank you to us for waiting for him to reach the door. Well, he might have been a little confused! We also had course inductions which told us when our classes would be held and a little about the department and classes we are taking. I am super excited to take the courses Creative London and Social Enterprise. We go on site visits to different new and upcoming art galleries, dance companies, social enterprises, among many other creative organizations. My lecturer (they don't call them professors or teachers) said we could even do theatrics, visual arts, or any other effective creative format to make our final group presentation. I can't wait to have a creative outlet after taking all my hard junior level business courses last semester! I also loved Covent Garden. It's so pretty and reminds us of Quincy Market, except larger and with easy walking access to Soho, Piccadilly Circus, China Town, and Trafalgar Square. The group of us were all excited to eat a good meal surrounded by the city. I got tomato roasted penne which was really good. 

The exchange rate is so bad though that we are going to have to be careful with commuting prices and eating out. I put 20 pounds which is almost $35 worth of money onto my "Oyster Card" (London's transportation card) before the weekend and have barely any left! However, all us study abroad students really needed that night away from campus; Covent Garden was the London we saw in photos and pictured inside our heads so it was nice to feel like we truly arrived in London!

London: Day 1

Hey everyone! It's Tara and Cailin writing from LONDON! We will be staying here for about 4 months and then traveling for a few weeks after our semester is over. We thought a blog would be a great way to keep family and friends updated! Anything written by Tara will be in red and anything written by Cailin will be in blue. (Union jack colors!)

Keep checking daily/weekly and we should have new posts to share what we're up to.

As for today...
After a 4 hour drive to the Newark Liberty Airport, a 7 hour flight to London, and a one hour drive from the airport to southeast London we are finally at our school! 

The Campus Green

The day was pretty hectic in general, from missing the highway exit to the airport, not having any time to eat before the flight, and ruining my favorite down-filled jacket. (There are feathers flying everywhere since my suitcase rolled over the sleeve :'(...) Despite all of this, nothing beats the moment when we were almost denied entry into the UK. I guess we needed round trip tickets and they don't like to let people with one-way tickets into the country because they may never leave. Oops... no one told us and we read every rulebook/guidebook/handbook we were emailed. After getting yelled at by the immigration officer and being completely terrified, he let us into the country, but gave our passport a special stamp that forces future immigration officers to not let us into the UK without a round-trip ticket. I guess that's just one of the mishaps of traveling. However, now we are all settled. Almost. Tara has met the majority of her suitemates and out of my 8 suitemates I've only quickly seen one. I don't know where they all are!? We also had our first London grocery shopping experience and I got my favorite cereal (Krave!) but it originated in the UK so it has more exciting flavors here. I bought chocolate hazelnut and can't wait to eat it tomorrow before our orientation filled day. My first impressions of London may surprise people because it seems similar to the US in so many ways... It looks a lot like NYC in Southeast London at least. Of course there are the classic double decker buses and telephone booths around but I definitely don't have culture shock... Yet.

Additionally, a huge lame shout out to United Airlines for saving Cailin and I from starvation by providing amazing plane food. It was better than any TV dinner we've ever had and I never knew I could devour plane food so quickly. Chicken in cheese sauce, vegetables, salad, roll, and a brownie for dessert; plus a crossiant and fruit for breakfast to put us in the European mood right before landing. Despite the few travel glitches, navigating both Newark and Heathrow airports wasn't bad at all, and before we knew it we were greeted by our program advisor with Union Jack gift bags and transferred to our school in a Mercedes town car with a full-on suit clad driver. Who knew they pulled all the stops for simple students!

Our Gift Bags

A cute keychain they gave us!

Driving through, we could see Big Ben and The Eye in the distance, a reminder that we were actually in London. It is still so surreal and like Cailin said, southeast London is very similar in appearance to a typical NYC street, so besides the red double decker buses and driving on the left side, I don't really feel out of place (oh the british accents too)! Currently, I'm trying to stop being jet-lagged and am looking forward to a trip to see all the sights in central London this weekend!

On another note, Cailin and I decided to do a tally of how many people ask us if we are twins here. Many of our good friends don't see how people could think we're twins, but strangers have been stopping and asking us that question since I can remember and it has never stopped. Day 1: 1 person