Notting Hill Markets

After a full day of perusing shops and booths along Portobello Road, here are a few of my finds.


A Phalaenopsis Orchid I bought at a flower stand - it now sits regally on our faux-fireplace.


These were more practical purchases - and not very fun or vintage-y. But I must say they are two of my favorite buys since getting to London. (The scarf in the background wasn't very practical, but with it getting colder, you can never have too many scarves!)

Cycle Hire

There is a new initiative by the Mayor of London encouraging people in the city to ride bicycles. Even though the thought of riding with the traffic scares me, every time I come across one of these bike stations, I'm a little tempted to hop on and go for a ride.

And a week later...

I'm sorry for the lack of posting, but I've been pretty busy with traveling and such!

I didn't get back from Ireland until late Sunday night, and I had my first paper due Wednesday! It was a play review for my theatre class, and I really had no idea what I was supposed to write! I've decided that I like theatre for the sake of enjoyment, rather than analysis.

On a different note, I had a chance of jogging to Primrose Hill on Monday evening as the sun was setting. Here are some pictures I snapped with my phone.


At the top of Primrose Hill - quite a crowd had gathered around to watch the sun set over the city.


And headed back to the college...





Yesterday I got to tour St. Paul's Cathedral with my history of London class, and It was amazing.

This is a video I was able to sneak of someone play the massive organ inside St. Paul's. It's a bit disappointing however, because they quit playing right as I got my camera going. I think it was probably karma since I wasn't supposed to be using my camera... It's a great view of the inside of the cathedral though.

A fun fact: Both Haydn and Mendelssohn enjoyed playing the organ in their day. According to our guide, Haydn would "get himself locked" in the cathedral so that he could play for as long as he wished.

Here I am at the main entrance of St. Paul's...


And in the Golden Gallery!

tfl.gov.uk

Transport for London. This is actually a rather daunting topic - Luckily I seem to have picked up on the city transport rather quickly.

The Tube is the London Underground system, and it normally comes within a few hundred feet of desired destinations. It's rather straight forward with ten major lines that overlay the city in a basic North/South or East/West grid.


The buses are a little more complicated with many different lines - some overlapping and others running only during certain hours. Buses really just confuse me altogether! However, I've started to make more of an effort in learning how the bus routes run with the help of www.tfl.gov.uk.

Here I'm waiting for a bus on the 139 route from Kilburn Park back to Baker Street after a shopping excursion to Primark.

Walking Tours and Oil on Canvas

Students at Regent's College don't have classes on Friday, so I got to do some exploring during the day. This meant doing a scavenger hunt that went from Leicester Square to the South Bank of the Thames & then made its way back across the Thames and ended up in Covent Garden.

These are some questions my group had to answer...
Name two embassies on Trafalgar Square...

South Africa (pictured above) & Canada

What is an old fashioned nickname given to an English policeman...

Bobbie

In which number Downing Street does the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom live...
10

How many bells does the clock tower on Parliament have...

Five. Big Ben is actually the name of the bell that rings on the hour, not the tower itself, which is sometimes referred to as St. Stephens clock tower.

As you cross Waterloo Bridge heading north towards Covent Garden; which famous cathedral can you see on the right-hand side?
St. Paul's Cathedral

Who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605...

Guy Fawkes

After the Scavenger Hunt, Cassie and I headed back to the National Gallery off of Trafalgar Square, where we saw pieces by da Vinci, Monet, Van Gogh, and many many others.

I think my favorite was Claude. The pictures on the National Gallery website don't seem to do his pieces justice - they are all vibrant, meticulously detailed, and larger than life.

Why yes, my garden is a royal park.

First things first, I guess. A garden in Britain is the equivalent of a yard in the States. With that said, yes the title of this post is very true. In fact, the royal family is actually our landlord! However, this post is not about the entire Regent's Park but is focused more specifically on a small portion called Queen Mary's Gardens. The area is located directly across the street from the front building of Regent's College (see map below) - could the college's location possibly be more ideal?


Regent's College and Queen Mary's Gardens


Parts of the Gardens are very manicured with roses and various seasonal flowers - however, I think the area where this waterfall was located was my favorite. It's found along a path the weaves through trees, follows a small pond, and climbs little wooded hills. It's actually very quaint for being in Central London.


Regent's College can be seen to the right of the gates at the end of the path.


The roses are all still beautiful!


As are the many other flowers, also.


On Tuesday night, a group went to see Into the Woods, which is being done in the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. The entrance is actually via the paths in Queen Mary's Gardens.


Many people made the show their evening event - packing a basket and picnicking before the show began.


The musical was brilliant, with a very imaginative twist - & the venue was amazing! And yes, that is my picture! I was so happy that one of them turned out - even trying to sneak the picture without a flash. Perhaps the most interesting part of the show was that the orchestra played in a "treehouse" behind the stage, rather than a pit!

Odds and Ends

I've done so much since getting to London, I'm actually finding it hard to keep up with all the happenings. Here's a little taste of everything I've seen and done in the last 2 days!

Cassie, Nicole and I thought it would be fun to go to the Thames and see all the beautiful sights:

London Eye

Big Ben - Perhaps my favorite of all historic monuments. It's just so - regal.

I had to snap this quick picture as we waited in the Tube for the next train home.

On Sunday, I was able to spend time with the Barry Family. They took me to Sunday morning meeting and invited me to their home for lunch. They are a very sweet family - it will be nice meeting with them throughout the semester.

The youngest girl enjoys cooking & made us all cupcakes for dessert. We had our afternoon tea and cupcake before heading back to Central London for gospel meeting.

I found more cupcakes in the Brasserie today at Regent's College.

A delicious Chocolate/Heath Bar Cupcake went perfectly with my vanilla latte - & also helped make my first day of classes a sweet one!

London - a beautiful combination of Old and New

London has got to be one of the most beautiful, unique cities in the world.

I still have not taken photos of the lovely royal garden I am privileged to call my home (Yes, the queen is our landlady!). However, here are a few quick pictures from out and about-ish.


This is a picture of dear Springtown, MO. Although I love London, I really miss Springfield as well. Notice that Drury (Harrison Stadium, the O'Reilly Events Center, and the architecture building) is in the right hand corner!


This is my bed - along with my little window that I love! This was taking during the "unpacking" stage, so more pictures will come!


Me, Cassie & our new friends Nicole and Hillary in front of the Tower of London. They convinced me to go on the Jack the Ripper tour...luckily, I was able to sleep last night... Not my cup o' tea!


Our tour guide was pretty funny... The church, St Botolph-without-Aldgate, behind him was one of the many beautiful sights we got to see on our walk about East London.

The next two pictures were also taken on the tour. The first is a primary school - would you not love to attend elementary school in such a beautiful place? And the second is mainly taken for the cute skyline. We were in an old district known for selling cheap textiles -I just felt like this row of buildings embodied the character of Old London.




Saturday, which is now officially yesterday - was my first day without Orientation events. So, I spent several hours exploring the many shops on Oxford Street and walk around the London Eye and Parliament building. I will post later with pictures of my fun purchases and beautiful monuments in London! But for now, I must say goodnight.

The Beginning of a Grand Adventure

A lot has happened since my last post - I even made it to London!

I had a busy Sunday through Tuesday, full of packing and "not-really-goodbyes" - I was only allowed to check one 50 lb bag and carry on my backpack, so I had to go through several re-packings in order to get my suitcase down to the required weight!

My first day has already begun reminding me of all the wonderful reasons I love London. Cassie Walton, a fellow Drury-ite and I walked from Regent's Park to Oxford Street. Then we crossed over to Hyde Park and watched the ducks before braving the Tube and eating dinner in a cute pub closer to Regent's! Hopefully I'll look more like a local by the time December rolls around. We definitely had TOURIST stamped all over us today! We even asked a policeman where Platform 9 3/4 was located because it isn't between 9 and 10!

Unfortunately, I left my camera in Cassie's backpack tonight when we split on the Tube to go back to our separate hotels, so most pictures will have to wait until tomorrow...

My sister made a surprise visit to Springfield on Monday - the night before I flew out. She was sitting in the Mudhouse when I went to meet my parents for coffee - I love my family so much. This was the present she brought me:

She and Derek put their heads together & came up with their favorite places in London to create this map!



Do I not have the most amazing sister? She worked so hard putting this together - I can't wait to use it to go exploring...


And just a taste of today's outing - Cassie and I ate at Pret a Manger, her favorite new cafe (complete with free wifi!). This particular picture was taken on Oxford Street, just across from the Marble Arch.


More to come soon!