Trinity

Since the Tube doesn’t run past midnight, going out in central London (about a 35 minute drive) is pretty difficult unless you want to take the 90-minute night bus home or wait until the Tube reopens at 6 a.m.

So, we go to Harrow to party at Trinity every once in a while. It’s usually pretty fun and we can actually walk home which makes it worth it. 

Harrods

After a failed trip to some cultural landmark, I can’t remember what, Jocelyn and I decided to scrap it all and head to Knightsbridge. She wanted to see her old flat from when she lived here before and Grandma told me I needed to see Harrods, so it was a good excuse. 

One of the first things we saw there was MAC Cosmetics. I didn’t bring one tube of lip gloss  to England, so a chance to buy a new tube of lip glass was something I couldn’t pass up. Although, I was able to pass up the gorgeous room dedicated to equally gorgeous hand bags. I was like being a diabetic kid in a candy store. 

Since clothes shopping on a students budget is completely impractical, we stayed in the food halls (weren’t quite as impressive as I would have liked) and ventured toward the home appliances section (toward the Christmas room). The Christmas room was like my greatest dream realized. If you know anything about me, during December you know that I’m inexplicably obsessed over decorating for the Christmas holiday. If you are wondering, the next time I can decorate for Christmas the colors will be green and cream (I already purchased everything from stockings, to Christmas cards and ornaments last year during the half off after Christmas sales - so yeah, it’s serious). 

I cannot tell you how tempted I was to buy just a few boxes worth of things and have them shipped directly home (I think my parents would have shipped it back in lieu of it adding more clutter to the garage). There were bulbs and ornaments, Harrods teddy bear bulbs, nutcrackers, the most beautiful cards you’ve ever seen. And the Christmas carols were playing like it was the day after Thanksgiving.

We also fell in love with the puppies that were in the animal room next to the Christmas room. I’m pretty sure there was a vet or a grooming service there. Can you imagine paying to have your pooch get nails clipped at Harrods?

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Victoria and Albert

Since I only have class on Wednesdays (for three hours) and Friday (for five hours), Denae and I decided we’d go to a museum for a little culture. We chose the Victoria and Albert which was supposed to be great! It certainly lived up to its reputation. 

First we visited the fashion halls where they had everything from paper dresses that were sometimes used as marketing ploys to wedding dresses. There were designs from Karl Lagerfield, DKNY, Chloe and even a Juicy sweat suit on display. 

We went around to the glass art area, the iron gate art area, the circus area and the Great Bed of Ware, but after the fashion we mostly got distracted by the gift shop. I got a great ring there that looks like a crown and it only cost me £2! 

Tower of London

Jocelyn, Akin and I decided to go to the Tower of London. It cost us £12 to get in and we got there too late to get a tour, but it was still worth it. The Tower is home to years of killings in London. It used to be a fortress, but now it’s just a tourist attraction. There have been queen’s killed there (one because she couldn’t produce an heir) and the nephews of one of the kings. Clearly, although I’m enjoying being a tourist, I’m not retaining much information properly. So don’t rely on much of the facts that I’m presenting. In fact, I can’t tell you how many buildings I’ve incorrectly identified on this web site. I’m working on it though...

We saw where people were held in captivity. They etched their names and drawings into the walls. We also got to the see the crown jewels. There is a little conveyor belt that you stand on and it goes by the glass cases where they keep the crowns. We must have walked on it 4 or 5 times (it wasn’t busy when we were there). The crown that the queen wears when she opens Parliament is amazing. It has so many jewels it doesn’t make any sense.

We also went to Wagamama’s for dinner. Mom really wanted to go to Wagamama’s while she was here, so I was excited to be able to go. The saki machine didn’t work though, so I couldn’t have saki at all. We did have really good food.

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Houses of Parliament

Out of sheer boredom and the pursuit of becoming London’s best tourist, Meagan, Akin and I visited the Houses of Parliament just two days before it closed down for session. We received guided tours, but we really weren’t able to take photos inside. We got to see where the Queen opens Parliament and we got to see both the different houses. 

Afterward, Meagan and I went to Hampstead to an “American” grocery store to pick up some imported items. I finally got relish, but it’s sweet not dill, and she was able to get graham crackers. There was marshmallows, and chocolate chips and canned pumpkin and root beer. It was not actually a very big store and the front part was actually a French place or something, there was meat hanging to dry from the celiing.

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Party in the Flat

Well, so far, I think that it’s safe to say that i have one of the more social Masters flats in our building. I will make sure to post photos of the rooms here, but they are HUGE! None of us who came with a few measly suitcases can figure what we’re going to do with all this space. My parents stayed in my room, so it comfortably fits three single (twin) beds. There is also a full bath in my room. Now, don’t go getting excited about this seemingly wonderful “loo”. If airplanes had full bathrooms, they would model them after our bathrooms. For the life of us we can’t figure why the rooms are so big, but none of us have enough room to stand in the shower with the curtain closed. I’m trying to master it, but every time that I go to wash my feet, my butt accidentally hits the water fixture (which is WAY too bulky) and changes the water temp to scalding hot. I do have a wonderful picture window (with no screen, you should see the mosquitos they have here, in our rooms) and I fully plan to pretend I’m Carrie Bradshaw as I do my homework romantically in front of it. 

Our flat is actually pretty fun. We constantly have people from other floors coming to our floor for dinner. We walk to the local Sainsbury’s grocery nearly every day. My friend Jocelyn and I had one walk home with about 5 plastic bags before we Tubed it to Notting Hill to pick up one of those old lady “trolley” carts to wheel our groceries. Most nights are filled with loud talking and laughing, “cooking” if you want to call it that and wine, beer or alcohol of some sort. During the first week, we’ve had a lot of randoms on the floor as you’ll see from the prison lineup photos that I’ve posted. None of the girls are much impressed with the guys yet, but most everyone who lives in halls is either international or an undergrad, so we’ll have to wait until classes actually start.

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Tate Modern

We all decided to get out of the dorm and go to Tate Modern. Jocelyn and I wanted to see the Kandinsky exhibit that was going on, but we would have had to wait too long. While we were up in the cafe getting some food, we ran into Natalie Portman! She was very tiny and dressed pretty normally.

After the museum we went back to the Indian restaurant, Chula, where my parents and I ate the first night we came here. The two Indian girls we were with were very excited and said that the food was pretty good. 

Check out the photos!