I have not forgotten about this blog!
Posted: April 16, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: abroad, England, Harlaxton, Harlaxton College, Harlaxton Manor, studying abroad Leave a commentI was on a 5 week marathon of traveling. After I was done I was hit with all of my biggest assignments, tests and now I am taking finals. So I have been very busy and haven’t had the time to write for fun.
The weather has been great lately and the gardens are blooming. I will be heading off to Italy next week for 10 days. I will be seeing the cities of Rome, Florence, and Venice. It will be a lovely time for sure.
Great Galway
Posted: March 14, 2011 Filed under: Ireland, Travel | Tags: abroad, Atlantic Ocean, Cliffs of Moher, Clonmacnoise, Doolin, Galway, Harlaxton College, Ireland, photography, studying abroad, sun, sunset, tourism, travel, UK, whisky Leave a commentTraveling to Ireland was a one of the best trips I have ever had. I was able to see the gorgeous west coast of Ireland as well as the metropolitan center of Dublin. Ireland is very a special place to visit because of the landscapes, pubs, and music!
I traveled with the Harlaxton school group from February 9th to the 13th. The group left Harlaxton Manor by 8 p.m and we traveled by bus to Holyhead, Wales. We arrived in Holyhead around 1:00 a.m the next morning to board a ferry to Dublin. The ferry was much more comfortable than the bus and I took the opportunity to get some sleep. Unfortunately there were some young boys on the ferry that were running around and rough housing. I am not sure where their parents were or why they were on a Ferry at 3 a.m in the morning. I ended up not getting very much sleep. The ferry reached the dock in Dublin around 6 a.m. We boarded the bus again and went to a hotel to have breakfast. This was a short stop because our destination at the moment was not Dublin, but Galway on the west coast.
Halfway through the bus ride to Galway, we stopped at Clonmacnoise. Clonmacnoise is the cross roads of central Ireland and was founded in 548 A.D and developed into a major center for Christianity and trade. Arriving in Clonmacnoise there was a thick fog, but the sun was still shining strong. This gave Clonmacnoise a very surreal feel.
This is a cross leading to the entrance of what used to be a monastery. Clonmacnoise was attacked often by invaders and some of the buildings were destroyed.
More crosses by a tower which over looks the River Shannon.
A gravel walkway through Clonmacnoise. Clonmacnoise has the largest collection of early Christian grave stones in western Europe.
After visiting Clonmacnoise, we boarded the bus for the last time until we arrived in Galway. Once in Galway the school checked into the hostel that we were staying in. Immediately once getting into the room I crashed. After driving across the width of two islands and crossing one sea, a nap was much needed.
My nap refreshed my body enough to make it through the rest of the day. My roommates, a few others and I walked about the streets of Galway in the search of food. We eventually came across a Mexican restaurant where I had a chicken caesar burrito. It was a different take on what I normally think of a burrito, but it was good tasting and fairly cheap at 7.50 Euro.
One of the streets in Galway that was about a block or two from the main pedestrian center.
After eating it was time for more wondering around the streets of Galway. Galway is a great town to walk around in because there are good shops and plenty of pubs to stop into. Along the streets are performers or also called buskers. In Ireland it is possible for these buskers to land record deals and become stars. Some examples include Damien Rice and Glen Hansard of the Frames and Swell Season. If you have a moment take the time to listen to the buskers you may be surprised that some them have great talent and passion for music.
Once the sun settled and it became night, it was time to check out the pubs. We ended up in this one pub in the main town center that wasn’t too crowded. There was a group in the pub playing live Irish folk music. It was the perfect tune to drink a chilled pint of Guinness too. Guinness straight from the tap in Ireland is one the most wonderful drinks I have ever had. It is extremely smooth with its signature flavor. It made me take things a little bit slower and just enjoy the atmosphere. After my Guinness, I wanted to complete what I considered the Irish Trinity of beers: Guinness, Kilkenny Irish Creme Ale, and Smithwick’s Alre.
Just the three pints rounded out my night because I had to wake up early to go to the Cliff’s of Moher. The next morning we boarded the bus at 8 am to to take an over 2 hour ride to see the cliff’s. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy and foggy in the morning and it stayed that way at the cliffs. At the cliffs the wind was very strong coming off the Atlantic Ocean.
Looking onto the Cliff’s of Moher. A fake touristy tower is what is seen perched on top of the cliff that is there mostly for aesthetics.
The Cliff’s of Moher rise about 400 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. These cliffs are the largest cliff in western Europe. I am presuming that the fjords in Scandinavia are larger. The Cliffs of Moher are also 1 of the 28 finalist for the 7 new wonders of the world. The cliffs are very impressive and on scale that is hard to capture in a photograph.
This a shot of the cliffs looking south. The waves violently crash against the cliff sending up a spray of water droplets.
We stayed at the Cliffs of Moher for over an hour and then boarded the coach to drive to Doolin. Doolin is a small village about 15 minutes away from the cliffs. We ate lunch at a pub here were I had a beef stew that was cooked in Guinness. Sitting down in the pub and eating a warm lunch was very satisfying after being exposed to the strong winds at the cliffs. After we were done eating, we walked to pier where could get up close to the Atlantic Ocean.
This was on our walk to the ocean. The sky really started to clear up after lunch.
There was not a beach at Doolin because its shore was a bunch of smooth and slick rocks. The strong waves crashing on the shore left sea foam in between the rocks.
The stop in Doolin was brief because we still had to make a bus trip back to Galway. We arrived back in Galway in the late afternoon. After checking back in the hostel and getting reorganized, a small group of us walked to Galway Bay to see the sun set.
This is a shot from walking to the bay. Two old wooden boats were washed up against the ledge in the marina.
The sun gracefully set down in between some clouds in Galway bay. The colors coming off the hills, sky, and water were a treat to see.
In the center of Galway bay is small island with a causeway connecting it to the mainland. I was not able to figure out what was on the island because it was gated by security. It reminded me a lot of Alcatraz in San Francisco. I had a great time watching the sun set because I was with good company. The only thing that bummed me out was that I didn’t bring a jacket. The temperature felt great at the hostel, but on the causeway the wind was much stronger coming off the bay. My hands and ears began to get very chilled.
After watching the sun set behind the clouds, we walked back over to the main part of town where our hostel was. Along the way we stopped into an Irish pub to have the most appropriate drink to have when cold, an Irish coffee.
The Irish Coffee was amazing. It had Jameson mixed with the coffee and topped with fresh cream and cinnamon. Nothing feels better than a warm drink after being out in the cold.
It was refreshing hanging out in the pub sipping on Irish coffee and chatting with some locals. The people in Ireland are very welcoming. Soon enough it was time to have dinner. Our small group of people split up to find places to eat. Three people and I had a caving to find a place to get curry. We walked around for about 20 minutes and decided that it was time to call a quits. We eventually settled on going to eat fast food cheeseburgers. They tasted just fine and were cheap which was a good thing. Ireland is not the cheapest place to travel through even though they are on the Euro.
Once were done eating, we walked over to an ‘Off License’ convenient store where they sold a 20 pack of chilled bottled Carlsberg for 18 Euro. It was the best deal in town for cheap beer. All four of us put in 5 Euro a piece and in return we each had 5 beers. We took our case back to the hostel were we could drink them in the lounge. Most people in the hostel gave a surprised look that we rolled up with a full case of beer and had the intention of finishing it in. After about an hour of drinking and talking, we head back out the door to go out to the local clubs. It was a very fun night and we didn’t get back till late. Which was somewhat of a problem because we had to get up early to ride in the coach to Dublin.
Galway was a great city to visit. There is plenty of scenery to see and places to walk. The streets and pubs are both filled with great live music. Also, the locals were very nice and helpful made sure we enjoyed their city. All these things made touring Galway a pleasure.
A Wee Visit In Edinburgh
Posted: February 13, 2011 Filed under: Scotland, Travel | Tags: abroad, Edinburgh, England, greyfriars bobby, Hadrians wall, Harlaxton College, Scotland, studying abroad, tourism, travel, UK, whisky 4 Comments
Scotland, the land of sheep and whisky. A place with a strong identity of culture and tradition where it is not uncommon to see men wearing kilts during formal occasions. The Scot’s passion for a wee (or maybe not so wee) glass of whisky is comparable to their passion for football, ruby, and of course golf. As soon as I arrived Edinburgh I felt a connection to the city. At that moment I knew that this would be a memorable trip.
My trip with Harlaxton College was from January 28th to the 30th. It was an early wake up call because the coach was scheduled to leave at 8 a.m in the morning. However, the coach had a mechanical problem in the morning and another one had to be readied and sent to the manor. This delayed our departure for over an hour. The ride up the A-1 was very scenic and I had the chance to see a lot of the country side and the North Sea. I arrived in Edinburgh at about 4 p.m, which was disappointing because the sun was already going down, limiting what I could do on Friday.
This is a picture of sheep grazing on the hillside at the border of Scotland and England.
After I checked in the hotel the school was staying at on Princess Street, me and a few others began to walk the streets of Edinburgh. I had two things on mind food and whisky (a Scotsman state-of-mind). We walked around the blocks surrounding the hotel to see what there was to eat. Fortunately, Rose Street was right around the corner. Rose Street is where most of the pubs and night life happen in Edinburgh. Spending a few moments wondering around, we started to walk back to the hotel. I stopped in a Scottish heritage store where they sold all sorts of traditional Scottish products, including whisky. This store had a whole wall dedicated to Scotch Whisky and even offered tasting of a few choice brands by men wearing kilts. Being a college student, my eyes went straight to the bottom shelf where they were some bottles in my price range. I ended up with a 350mL of Lauder’s. It was by no means a luxury whisky, but offered classic Scotch Whisky flavor and style.
My roommate and I went headed back to the hotel to enjoy a few tastes of our newly purchased whisky and to rest a bit before heading out to dinner. The group of people I was hanging out with met in the lobby of the hotel and headed out to a pub for dinner. The problem wasn’t trying to find a pub, but finding a pub that wasn’t packed! It may have taken up to 45 minutes to find a pub that didn’t cost a small fortune and had seats available. The pub we ate had pretty good prices on food and pints. I ordered a steak pie with a pint of Foster’s. The food came out quickly, almost too quickly. It made me a little suspicious of how good the food was going to be. My steak pie was hot, but disappointing. It wasn’t even a true pie because only the top had a pastry. I was expecting a pie that had the pastry baked all the way around with the steak filling in the center. I suppose I got what I paid for.
After dinner, two other people and I just decided to walk around the streets aimlessly for awhile to see what the city had to offer. We walked through Grass Market, but at night everything there was closed down. Eventually we took a few random turns to try to get back on the main streets in town, but we accidently wandered off. Somehow we found Edinburgh University and right around the corner was a pub that had student discounts on drinks. Sold. Hanging out in the pub was fun and after a few drinks it was time to walk back to the hotel because we had to get up early to make breakfast.
Statue dedicated to the Scottish folk legend, Greyfriars Bobby the world most loyal dog. The dog’s master was a constable in Edinburgh and died at the age of 45. His Skye terrier would sit on top to his grave everyday for 14 years, never leaving his master’s side in life or death.
The hotel in Edinburgh actually offered a real breakfast, unlike the one in London. I had a full Scottish breakfast consisting of sausage, bacon, and eggs. A filling breakfast is just what I need for a long day around the city.
The first stop was to go see Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh is a very interesting city because its landscape is shaped by an estuary and volcanic crags. The castle is perched on one of these such volcanic rocks. Three fourths of castle is on the edge of the volcanic rock, making the east side the only accessible point.
Edinburgh Castle during the morning of my tour. Yes that is person in a bear suit. There was a commercial being shot there before the castle was open to the public.
A panorama from Edinburgh Castle. Being on top of a high volcanic rock gives a great view of “New Town” Edinburgh.To the far right is Calton Hill, the large dark spire is the Scotch Monument, and water way to the back is the Firth of Forth.
An iron casted cannon that overlooks Edinburgh from within the Castle. This cannon is actually from a naval vessel, but placed as the castle simply for show.
Edinburgh castle was my favorite stop on the trip. There are free tours of the castle and the guide was very informative. Most of all, the guide was proud to be Scottish and his enthusiasm made it all the more enjoyable. The castle also houses the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny. The Stone of Destiny is still used today to coronate every king or queen in Westminster Abbey.
The Great Hall in Edinburgh Castle is very unique because the roof is constructed what is essentially an upside down wooden boat hull built by Scottish ship builders. The roof is held together by wooden pins under pressure and no metal is used. In its 300 year history, all the original work is still in perfect condition.
Once I was done touring the castle, my friends and I headed over to see St. Giles Cathedral. It is just down the hill from the castle on the Royal Mile. St. Giles Cathedral is worth stopping into and seeing. It is not on the same scale as some other Cathedrals such as Lincoln, St. Paul’s, or Westminster. However, it costs 2 pounds to get a photo permit. I felt that was a little unreasonable because they ask for a donation and then want more money for you to be allowed to take pictures inside. Lincoln Cathedral, which I feel is much more impressive, doesn’t charge a photography fee.
After the cathedral is was time for lunch. I ended up going to a café named Chocolate Soup. There I had chicken curry soup with a BLT sandwich. Chocolate Soup also had a wide assortment of chocolaty treats from drinks to baked goods. I whish I had more time in Edinburgh to eat more of what they offered.
With soup and a sandwich, I also ordered this chocolate brownie. It was rich and moist with mint and chocolate on top. Possibly the best brownie I have ever had, which was a great note to end a lunch on.
Once lunch was over, my friends and I strolled down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyrood. We had no intentions of going in to see the palace but just wanted to see the outside. There wasn’t much to see because there is a large stone wall and iron gates. It was still worthwhile to take the walk because I also got see the Scottish Parliament building and the view of Arthur’s Seat was nice too.
Not too far off the Royal Mile is Calton Hill. My original intent was to hike up Arthur’s Seat, but by the time it was in the afternoon the weather took a turn. The morning was nice and sunny but it would not last. By the late afternoon low hanging clouds blew in and it started to mist. Hiking up in mud to just to see fog wouldn’t please everyone I was with. Instead we went up Calton Hill, a far less strenuous task.
View from Calton Hill. In the distance is Edinburgh Castle and the Scotch Monument sits to the right on Princess Street. In a Clear day, much more could be seen such as the surrounding mountains.
Calton Hill is also referred to as the “Athens” of the north because it raised above the city on volcanic rock. There is also this monument that resembles the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis, thus making a connection to Athens.
Calton Hill was very close to the hotel and I went there to put up my feet up for a few moments. After resting my friends and I walked over to the Scottish National Museum. The museum felt very eclectic. There was what seemed to be a random spread of exhibits spread over 5 floors. There was everything from Romans and Vikings to the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. I enjoyed seeing most of the exhibits, but there was no real continuity linking them together.
I stayed in the museum until it closed at 5 p.m. After leaving it was time for a bite to eat. Down the street was a pizza parlor that offered student discounts. Eating there was a no brainer. Splitting a pizza three ways only cost me 2 pounds. Compared to everywhere else I have eaten, that was a steal. Once I was done eating, I went back to the hotel exhausted. That night I decided not to go out but instead choose to stay in and study for immunology test with a glass of scotch in hand.
The next morning was another early wake up because it was time to make the trek back to the manor. On the way back, there was a stop at Hadrian’s wall. The coach made a twisty and bumpy ride out to the wall on the border of Scotland and England. Hadrian’s wall was built to secure the most northern border of the Roman Empire. It used to span the entire width of the island, but now is mainly ruins. The wall was intended to keep the Scottish highland “barbarians” out of Roman Britannia.
A close up on misted high grass by Hadrian’s wall. The wall can be seen behind the grass and extends all the way up onto the ridge in backdrop.
A 16×9 of sheep grazing by Hadrian’s wall. I wanted to go pet them but sheep are very “sheepish” by nature.
Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole was a truly pleasant experience. Scottish tradition and culture is still very much alive. There are bagpipers in the streets wearing kilts showing off their clan’s pattern. Scotland is also very welcoming to tourists and the people are more than happy to share history and traditions. If you enjoy cashmere, whisky, and breath taking landscapes, Scotland is the place to be.
Ferry Ride to the Emerald Isle
Posted: February 9, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ferry, Ireland, travel 1 CommentThis evening I am going on a trip to Ireland after completing my British Studies exam. It will be an extremely long day because the ferry doesn’t leave port until 2:40 am! I am banking on my enthusiasm of traveling will overcome my tiredness. My first stop will be Galway for a few days and then Dublin until Sunday. I am sure I will have plenty to share about this trip with plenty of photos.
Rainy Day In Lincoln
Posted: February 3, 2011 Filed under: Lincoln, Travel | Tags: abroad, Castle, Cathedral, England, Harlaxton, Harlaxton College, Lincoln, Lincoln Castle, Lincoln Cathedral, photography, rainy day, studying abroad, tourism, UK 1 CommentOn January 26, I went on a field trip to the town of Lincoln for my British Studies course at Harlaxton College. The whole school was required to attend the trip. Students were divided into three groups: A, B, C, and D.The four groups took turns rotating around scheduled tours in Lincoln.
I was assigned to group B and our first tour was to be ‘self-guided’. The school gave us the liberty to take the time to walk around Lincoln and see the town for ourselves with a few suggested stops. The weather was quite awful for walking around because it was about 34°F and raining. I proceeded to self-guide myself to a café where I could comfortably sit in the warmth of a building while sipping on a hot chocolate.
This is Steep Hill street leading to Castle Square. The name is very fitting because the street is in fact on a very steep hill. The café was just down the street from here and where other locals also took refuge from the uninviting English weather.
After an hour of just relaxing, it was time to get up and meet in Castle Square for my first guided tour, which was of Lincoln Castle. The site where Lincoln Castle now stands was originally a legionary fortress by the Roman Empire in the first century. It wasn’t until 1068 AD that the construction of the castle began by William the Conqueror two years after he was victorious at the Battle of Hastings.
View of Lincoln Castle’s 13th century east gate and observatory from Castle Square.
Lincoln Castle is placed on a strategic location because it sits atop the highest hill in Lincoln and controls the crossing over the Whitham River. The Norman’s built castles such as this, as way of enforcing their control of the population after conquering England.
This is from within the castle’s walls at the base of the observatory looking out onto Lincoln. If it wasn’t raining, the view of the town would be more impressive.
One of the main attractions of Lincoln Castle is an original copy of the Magna Carta, the very place where King John placed his seal on in 1212. It is one of the only four original copies still left today. Monks wrote up to what is believed between 60 to 70 copies of the Magna Carta in short hand Latin. Only one of the copies bears the seal of King John.
My guided tour of the castle was only for an hour, which was great because I was tired of being in the cold rain. I ate my packed lunch in the castle’s café where it was warm and dry.
My next tour was of the very impressive Lincoln Cathedral.
This picture was taken from one of the towers in Lincoln Castle. The cathedral dominates the landscape and towers over all the other buildings.
For a brief moment the rain stopped and sun began to shine and illuminated Lincoln Cathedral. Was this a sign of the things to come?
Lincoln Cathedral began construction in 1072 by the Normans. The original architecture of the cathedral was Romanesque, but in 1185 it was severely damaged by an earthquake. Lincoln Cathedral had to be mostly rebuilt, this time in the more contemporary Gothic style. Only the west front as seen from Castle Square is original.
The magnitude of Lincoln Cathedral is hard to grasp at first. The spires that penetrate the skyline are in fact taller than the Great Pyramids in Egypt. The scale of this building is phenomenal and is a perfect personification of how powerful the monarch, the church, and God were.
The Nave of Lincoln Cathedral is absolutely breathtaking. The columns and arches to the sides provide support to the magnificent ribbed vaulting.
The cathedral was built in the shape of a cross to represent the same cross in which Jesus died on. The cathedral is also decorated with elegant stained glass allowing as much sunlight in as possible, symbolizing the presence and power of God. 
Off the Nave is the Crossing with the North and South Transept coming off to either side. This is a frame of the South Transept, also known as the Bishop’s Eye. To give a sense of scale, the statue of St. Hugh is about 7 feet tall.
My tour of Lincoln Cathedral only lasted about an hour and then it was time to go on my last and final tour, ‘The Roman Walk’. Which meant being out of the dry cathedral and back into the cold and wet town. The Roman walk was a walk around the center of Lincoln looking at ancient Roman sites including a well, an aqueduct, the forum, and Newport Arch . There is not much of these to be seen anymore because most of it is now underground.
Newport Arch is one of the last Roman structures today still standing in Lincoln. To my surprise, people are still allowed to drive under it. The sun shined again for all of one minute and then the rain was back.
A strip of homes overlooking green space by Lincoln Cathedral that I came across on the Roman walk.
The Roman walk thankfully lasted a little less than an hour. I was very happy to get out of the cold rain and onto the coach back to the manor. Lincoln was a great town to see and it is rich with history. How many towns can say that they have ancient Roman sites, 13th century castle walls, and a cathedral that is on the same scale as the Great Pyramids? No other towns come to my mind.
A rainy day in Lincoln was miserable at times, but if given the opportunity I would do it all over again. With a slightly warmer jacket of course.
Format Update
Posted: February 2, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentThanks for bearing with me while I updated the format of the site. I choose a new theme with a wider width to display the pictures better. Also the text is updated with a larger font to make reading easier. Finally, I changed some the pictures on the site to my own original pictures. The two pictures of the manor in my What Is Harlaxton College? post are now of my own. The ones originally there were being borrowed from other websites. The new background image is of Hadrian’s Wall from a grassy hill. I took this picture while on my Scotland trip last weekend and I will have a post about that trip soon!
A Tour Of The Manor- The State Rooms (Part II)
Posted: January 27, 2011 Filed under: Harlaxton Manor | Tags: abroad, Coservatory, England, Gold Room, Grantham, Harlaxton, Harlaxton Manor, State Dinning, studying abroad, UK 1 CommentHere are the remaining state rooms of Harlaxton Manor. These rooms are the most richly decorated and make Harlaxton Manor a one-of-a-kind place.
Sitting across the hall from the Long Gallery is the State Dining Room.
This is the view entering the State Dining Room. Since Harlaxton Manor is now used as a college, this room is mainly used as a classroom. Notice how much styling is put into the ceiling. There is a symmetrical pattern to the molding which is painted white with a gold trim to make the lines more distinctive.
This is the State Dining Room facing towards the fireplace. The fireplace is designed much differently than the one found in the Great Hall. Instead of being entirely composed of stone, this fireplace has marble integrated into it. The floors and paneling are made of dark hardwood.
Above the paneling are family crests. Each family crest is hand painted and placed in its own designated framing. There are a total of 21 crests that hang around the dining room.
These are the names of the family which the crests represent. At the bottom left is a blank crest. That is because there still remains one space available for another crest. There are 22 spots, but currently only 21 are occupied.
This wall is to the right of the fireplace. There is a concealed lever in the paneling that opens the hidden doorway. This passageway leads to another hidden door in the Great Hall. Hidden passages were built into the manor so servants can move between rooms without disturbing guests.
This is the Gold Room. It’s name is very fitting because the room is smothered in gold leafing. This a picture of the fireplace and the center mirror. Around the center mirror is a curtain with cherubs are draped in it.
This is the painted ceiling of the Gold Room symbolizing the heavens. There is a light that hangs from the center with cherubs ‘holding’ it up. The crown molding is also gold-leafed.
These are the doors of the main entrance to the Gold Room. There are gilded emblems on each door. The emblem on the left is of a harp. Cherubs which are constructed out of plaster, line the entire border of the room in a symmetrical pattern.
This is the side doorway of the Gold Room which leads to the Conservatory. To the left and right of the door are two large mirrors with gold trim. These two mirrors line up perfectly with the two mirrors on either side of the fireplace, creating an ‘infinity’ mirror illusion.
The Conservatory has an all glass roof that allows sunlight to come through during the day. There is an assortment of plants and flowers growing, making the air refreshingly crisp. This is the view of the Conservatory when entering from the Long Gallery. The Gold Room’s doors are just to the left of the frame.
Straight back from the entrance is this statue and the reflecting pond. In the center of the reflecting pond is a fountain that water smoothly runs down into the pool, making a soft trickling sound. A handful of goldfish can be seen swimming leisurely around the pond.
This is a photo of a flower growing in the Conservatory. Although it is January, the Conservatory is warm enough to still have flowering plants. This is a place where I like to come in between my classes. It’s quite, peaceful and a good place to catch up on my reading.
This concludes my picture tour of the Manor’s main rooms. Each room has its own unique styling and charm that makes Harlaxton such a special place to go to school.
Wondering Around London
Posted: January 19, 2011 Filed under: London | Tags: abroad, England, London, studying abroad, UK 1 CommentFrom January 13 to 16th, I took a long weekend trip with Harlaxton College. The large school group left from Harlaxton on Thursday evening and arrived in London later that night.
We stayed in a hotel outside of Russell Square. This is the Underground station around the corner from where we were staying.
The first night, I went out with my roommate and some other people on the trip to a bar called Day and Night. Hungry from traveling, I promptly ordered a cheeseburger with a pint of Carlsberg. Carlsberg is a relatively inexpensive beer and doesn’t taste half bad either. We hung out in the bar till about 11:30pm and walked back to the hotel.
I woke up early the next day to eat a rather disappointing breakfast at the hotel. They served both a continental and ‘English’ breakfast. To my surprise, the continental breakfast was 4.50 pounds. The free English breakfast consisted of cold cereal and toast. Where’s the eggs, bacon, or waffles? That is what the premium continental breakfast served. I ended up eating a few pieces of toast with a bowl on cornflakes knowing that I could hold off until lunch.
The first thing on the agenda was to take the Underground to Green Park and walk to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. We made sure to be there at least 30 minutes to get a good view. We arrived at 10:30, right on schedule. No one was around the palace waiting to see the change. We got to the gate and read a sign saying that the change would actually happen at 11:30. That turned out to be perfect because within 15 minutes the place was packed and we were all still standing in the front row.
A shot of Buckingham Palace from Green Park. The Flag is raised to full mast indicating that he Queen is currently there.
Royal Guard ready to be leaved of service. The guards were wearing gray coats instead of the iconic red coats.
After the ceremony, we walked back to the Green Park station and headed over to Leicester Square for lunch. The group split up and went separate ways for lunch. Two other people and I ran into this small Greek deli where I had a chicken tikka pita. I had no idea what I was ordering (or what was even in it), but I was pleasantly surprised how tasty it was. The group met up after lunch and got back on the Underground to go to Russell Square where the British Museum was.
The British Museum is the most impressive single museum I have ever seen. The Smithsonian Museums in D.C. are great, but they do not have the same breadth and depth of artifacts from around the world as does the British Museum. The British Museum has exhibits from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome.
The Great Court of The British Museum that encloses the quadrangle of buildings.
The British Museum houses some of the most important artifacts in ancient human history. My favorites are the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles.
This is the Rosetta Stone. It is much larger in person than I ever expected. The hieroglyphs are at the top of the stone and the translations below are in two different scripts, Egyptian and ancient Greek.
These are a sample of the Elgin Marbles found on one side of the exhibit. The other half is on the other side, which is how they would be arranged if they were still at the Parthenon atop the Acropolis in Athens.
Even after spending about three hours in the museum, I still was not able to see all the exhibits. Not seeing everything only gives me more reason to go back and see it again. After the museum, the group walked around Russell Square back to the hotel to get some rest before dinner.
For dinner that night, I ate at another pub. I ordered a cornish pasty with chips. A cornish pasty is a pastry that is stuffed with steak and vegetables. It was also served with a side of gravy for dipping. It’s a very cultural dish in England and a good one at that. With my pasty, I had another Carlsberg. All together it was a very satisfying meal after a long day of walking.
After everyone had a few drinks we hit the Underground and went to the Embankment stop. We walked past Trafalgar Square and took a glance, but did not stay long because we were going to check out the Thames river at night. I led the group to this pedestrian only bridge that looks up the river showing the London Eye and House of Parliament.
The London to left and the House of Parliament and Big Ben to the right. One of my favorite views of the city.
After walking by parliament we headed back over to Leicester Square for another drink.
Our tab at the restaurant. Three beers and a few cheesecakes added up to be a lot. In typical college fashion, cash and lose change was used to pay the tab. The waitress didn’t seem to be happy about it. After hanging out for a while it was time to call it a night and head back to the hotel.
I woke up at 9:00 the next morning to eat my bland English breakfast and got ready to meet up with some people at 11am in the hotel lobby. The goal in the morning was to see the Imperial War Museum. We all walked over to the Underground station around the corner.
Making to it the Imperial War Museum became quite an adventure because the Underground station nearest to the museum was closed for the day. It forced us to change lines and we ended up at the Kennington station. This station took us to a more residential area of London and did have many signs to indicated how to get the museum. Luckily I had grabbed a map of London from the Underground station back in Russell Square because the map the school provided us did not have this section of town on it. After about 20 minutes walking through neighborhoods we finally found it.
A German V2 rocket that was recovered from striking London in WWII. The V2 wasn’t the most efficient tool of destruction but definitely struck fear into the French and English.
The Imperial War Museum is another great free museum in London. Its most popular exhibit is of the holocaust. It was one of the larger ones there and gives historical accounts of holocaust survivors and historical insight of the how it arose within the Nazi party. Although it was a good exhibit, I still think that the Holocaust Museum in D.C is better.
My personal favorite exhibit was the secrete service agencies of MI5 and MI6. There was good explanation of how these agencies were formed and function within the government. It also showed off some of the gadgets that were recovered from Russian spies during the Cold War. Strangely they did not show much their own technology. One thing that struck me as interesting was the pro-intelligence message at the end of the exhibit. London and England in general is the most surveillant society in the world. I suppose it is some sort of political message to support the reasoning for all the cameras around the country.
After about 2 1/2 hours there, it was time to find a place to eat. We wondered around the place to try and find a cheap place to eat. Searching the surrounding streets, we came across a restaurant called the China Bowl. This place looked like a hole in the wall and the building next to it was even boarded up. Luckily it had some relatively cheap food. I had fried noodles with roasted duck. It certainly tasted good, but the portion wasn’t as big as I thought it would be. I cleared my whole plate and still was a little hungry but it would do till dinner.
Our group split up after eating lunch. Some people wanted to see Churchill’s War Rooms while I and one other person wanted to see Westminster Abby and London Tower.
A shot of Westminster Abby. It is amazing to think that these large churches could be so elegantly crafted without the use of modern machinery. Westminster is a joy to look at, unfortunately the inside was closed this late in the afternoon.
The next thing on the list was to go see the Tower of London. So my friend and I jump onto the Underground and took the train all the way over to opposite side of town. By the time we got there it was already dark. The tower was closed for the day, so we walked around it and went to Tower Bridge across the road.
A picture of me standing on Tower Bridge at night. There are so many lights around the are that the sky doesn’t even get too dark.
Seeing all those sites again in one day had left me exhausted, but the day still wasn’t over. My friend and I got back onto the train to meet up with people at the hotel for dinner. We went to this Italian restaurant where the people working talked with a heavy accent. I knew it would have to be good. I looked over the menu and ordered a lasagna. This was the best meal I had all week! The lasagna was cooked with a red wine sauce that was absolutely delicious. Again, I ate my whole meal.
Everyone went back to the hotel to rest for awhile before we would head out to the bars at 9 p.m. That night we went to bars in Leicester Square and Camden Town. Camden was by far the most fun place to be at night. It is mainly Londoners there and very few tourist. I think we were the only group at the bar we were at! We stayed there till about 12:10 and then we realized that the Underground stops service at 12:30 a.m. We had only 20 minutes to make it home. It was a race against the clock but we managed to get onto the last train heading back to Russell Square. Whew, that was a close one.
On Sunday morning, I had to wake up a bit earlier because I had to check out of the hotel and make it onto the bus before 10 a.m. The school was going to Hampton Court outside of London which served as a royal palace.
This is a picture from the back of Hampton Court. The palace is surrounded by gardens. Unfortunately in January not much else grows besides grass and trees.
The school group only stayed for a few hours. I took an audio tour which guided me along the apartments of the palace and gave a lot of interesting facts. Coming from America, it is very interesting to learn about how Kings lived and ruled their country because it is never really covered in history classes. After I finished the audio tour, I took a quick stroll the gardens. Then I walked back into town to grab lunch before I got back on the bus. I slept most of the way back to the manor because I was exhausted from running around London the past few days.
The long weekend in London was a blast! It was the second time I have visited the city and still really enjoyed it. London is a great to see as a tourist because there is something for everyone. Whether it is museums, food, shopping, or an active night life. London will not disappoint.
Richie Abroad 