Today Pam and I attended mass at a nearby Catholic church with a couple of friends of ours. It was the Latin mass, and so some of the prayers and all of the songs were in Latin, which was kind of challenging, but still really fun. Afterwards, Pam, Alex and Steph Coon and I traveled out to Greenwich (pronounced Gren-itch), which is in East London, on the other side of the Thames. It’s a really cool city with a number of great attractions. On a nice day, you could make a whole day out of it by traveling out there and enjoying lunch in Greenwich Park, shopping in the markets and visiting the Royal Maritime Museums and Royal Observatory. We got out there a little later, especially after a good 30-45 minute walk from the tube station since the connecting line was shut down, so we only hit up the Royal Observatory. It’s the place where they have the Prime Meridian marked, so you can stand with your feet literally in two hemispheres. Obviously, pictures of this momentous occasion were taken, but I’ll have to upload them later. My camera’s out of batteries. If I get a chance, I’d love to come back on a sunny day. The Observatory is settled on a tall hill with a spectacular view out on the city. You can’t see way west toward Westminster and the London Eye, but you can see a lot of the east part of the city.
Last evening, I accomplished one of my London goals by hitting up the famous old pub, Ye Olde Chesire Cheese, where Charles Dickens used to haunt, as well as several of London's old journalists, as its location on Fleet Street (yes, Sweeney Todd's area) used to be a major newspaper hub back in the day. This pub was REbuilt in 1667 after the great London fire, so it is extremely old and rich in history. I literally felt like I was walking a time portal as I entered into the building with it's dark, uneven floors and walls, it's little bar rooms and restaurants tucked into every corner and the smell of charcoal burning in the fireplace. It was seriously one of the coolest places I've been in London. Pam and I had dinner there and a couple of drinks and chatted for a few hours, which made for a really nice evening. I really wanted to try a meat pie at a pub, so I felt it appropriate to make this the night. So I ordered a steak and kidney pie. Ever tried kidneys? Not for me, I discovered. But the steak aspect was good as well as the bountiful chips (fries) that came along with it. All these good chips make dieting in London hard, which I was not expecting.
The Chesire Cheese has been around for 15 sovereigns. It's hard to comprehend that!
The ceilings were so low!
This weekend has been pretty laid-back. I stayed in most of yesterday, just getting some homework done for a group project we have due on Monday and investigated some traveling options for Pete's and my Easter break to Vienna and Bratislava in a couple of weeks.
Friday night I had a great time out with the girls. A group of 8 of us went to a very small and posh club out in Fulham, which is further south outside of the city. We talked the bouncers down about £10 to get in and danced the night away. In all honesty, I enjoy the pub atmosphere better than club atmosphere, but I really had a great time dancing with my friends and experiencing something entirely new and a little out of my element.
As far as other highlights throughout the week go, besides The Other Boleyn Girl premiere, I took a nice day-trip through class out to Dover castle and the city of Canterbury. Dover Castle was extremely fun and gorgeous. We had some serious fog on our way there that finally broke when we hit the castle. It's situated atop the famed white cliffs of Dover, right on the English Channel, and is a really unique structure in its history because it has been used for tactical war purposes from the 1200s through WWII. Even now, there is a military church there, run my priests in the militia. The grounds were beautiful and fun to explore for a short hour and a half, or so. I could have spent more time there enjoying the sunlight and the scenery, but we were jetted off to the city of Canterbury (Chaucer's Canterbury Tales ring a bell?) to explore the Canterbury Cathedral, where Christianity formally was brought to the UK. It also has some historical significance as Bishop Thomas Beckett, now known as St. Thomas of Canterbury, was murdered in the cathedral itself back in the 1200s. It was a cool church, but lately, after St. Paul's, Westminster and a couple of others, I feel like I've reached a saturation point with visiting churches. We managed to stop in one more in Canterbury, where St. Thomas's finger bone, one of his only remains, was placed in a box above an alter in memorial. Very weird, but interesting I guess? We walked around Canterbury after lunch for far too long, and were happy to be bussed home, as these all day trips can be really exhausting. Luckily, this week we do not have one and just are meeting with our internship coordinators to discuss our mid-term progress.
On that note, I am shocked that it's already mid-term. As of today, I've been abroad 47 days, which astounds me. Part of me feels like I've been here forever, yet it's hard for me to comprehend that I only have a few weekends left in London due to all the traveling I will be doing the remainder of the semester. I put all the things I want to see/do on a calendar so that way I could visually see what needs to be done when, and I'm shocked at how everything is starting to get squeezed in. Hopefully I get it all done.
Here's a couple of pictures from the trip Wednesday.
What I could see of the white cliffs of Dover.
The Dover Castle keep, which was set up on the interior to show what it would have been like when King Henry VIII and his court would have occupied the castle.
This old lighthouse was constructed by the Romans in 160 AD. It is actually called a pharos.
Just so sexy.
St. Thomas Cathedral at Canterbury
Inside the nave at the cathedral.
A couple more things. Check out this picture of me as the "Official Creeper to the Stars" behind Scarlett Johansson. This photo was on Perezhilton.com this week, which is easily the world's most popular celebrity blog that a ton of my friends back home read. My flatmate Alex is snapping the photo, and I am peeking out over her shoulder with a look of sheer joy for being within feet of Scarlett. Unfortunately, my face actually makes me look like "that girl" who was purposely trying to get in that shot. Not really what I was going for, but oh well. I'll take my fame where I can get it I guess. Just get a good laugh out of the photo. It's pretty funny.
By the way, I want to let you know that have not let my recent celeb exposure get into my head. I don't anticipate or necessarily want anything like this to happen again, but it was a really cool experience while it lasted.
Here are some pictures of St. Paul's from my adventure last Saturday. It is a gorgeous building with an even more gorgeous view of London. Enjoy!
Pigeons at St. Paul's
Walking toward St. Paul's. So pretty.
From atop the dome, looking over the front of St. Paul's, west onto the City.
A view of the London Eye, Waterloo Bridge and way in the distance, Westminster and Parliament.
I'm up in the spire now! I could slide down the dome if I wanted...Ok, maybe not.
1 comment:
I disapprove of using "Tarantino" as a verb, only because I think he's a jerk and doesn't deserve a verb. I approve of everything else, especially pubs with midget doorways. =)
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