Second Week in London! June 1-6

June 2: We began traveling back to London from Rome at around 3:30 AM, and after experiencing a very dysfunctional Rome airport and several modes of transportation, we finally made it back to class.

After class, we explored the Millennium Bridge that is used in the Harry Potter movies, and tried some Greek food for the first time at a restaurant on the Thames.

 Kelly, me, Roslyn, Martha, Colin

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
(we were supposed to see a show there but the program booked a performance entirely in sign language by mistake...)

June 3: Went to the Tate Britain and Tate Modern museums for class today, and took a boat on the Thames as a means of transportation in between the two. The Tate Britain was interesting, but I found the Tate Modern much more engrossing and relatable. Even so, there are always those pieces that make you wonder how they really made it there. For instance, the painting that was simply a black canvas. You look closer, seeing if there is some special purpose, and see something like “The artist made this piece by lighting canvas on fire and waiting until it was completely charred."

This piece is an example of such:




However, like I said, I thought some stuff was really really cool. Below is an explanation of my favorite piece, although I wish to go back someday and see more.



After class we took a wonderful bike ride in Hyde Park, which isn’t too far from where we live and right next to the Kensington Palace, the home of the Middletons. Hyde Park is only a bit smaller than Central Park, and certainly just as fascinating and beautiful.

Kensington Palace

    Hyde Park

In the evening we went to a rather American restaurant (a bit shameful, I know…I guess we just could not handle the culture shock of saying “chips” instead of “french fries” any longer) and then took part in a Trivia Night at a nearby college. Unfortunately most of the questions were about European cities and special European drinks, so we were rather lost…but the man in charge promised that next week would be American and celebrity-themed, just for us.

June 4: Went on a Harry Potter Walking Tour after class today, after getting rather lost (typical). The tour was interesting although a lot of it was a stretch. The tour guide would say something like, “This bank right here could possibly have inspired J.K Rowling to write about Gringotts.”
And it was sort of like, “hm…” But it was still good; we did see a few locations that were used in the films, like the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley, and it was interesting to learn a bit about J.K Rowling’s life.

The Leaky Cauldron

The cloudy sky made Tower Bridge look extra epic.




June 5: We went on a field trip to the Satchi Gallery, which had a lot of humorous pieces, and the cafe where the Sex Pistols first began playing together. After googling my professor I found out he actually helped bring the Sex Pistols together (and also several celebrities have restraining orders against him). I knew he was a cool and mysterious old Londoner but this brought him to an entirely new level.

In the Satchi Gallery:

Worlds End Cafe (now a boutique)

This was another beautiful afternoon so I returned to Hyde Park after class and watched all of the pups run around. I don’t know how these Londoners train their dogs, but almost none of them are on leashes and they just play with each other in a civilized manner. I’m sure Peyton and Sammie could do that with no problem…

June 6: On Friday we went on a field trip to Portobello Road, a place similar to Camden Market 
but a lot more quirky. There were vintage cameras, books, delicious food, street performers, and friendly people, so I was convinced very quickly to stay there all day. I tried some North African street food, walked up and down several times, and took photographs of and talked with some of the vendors.

Spotted this gem:

Heading home after a long day at Portobello:
(I tried very hard to figure out his favorite color, but it was just too tough.)

That concludes Week 2. Soon I will catch up with photos of Oxford, Stonehenge, Salisbury, Bath, Scotland, and more of London.

I arrived in Prague yesterday--it is a wonderful and beautiful city, and tomorrow we will have an 8 hour Czech speaking course!