I consider my apple curry a success! Sure, it was missing two key ingredients: chicken, and coconut milk. Sure, I made enough to feed 15-20 people. Sure I was using all four burners on the stove and the oven and I could have used two more burners. Sure, I used every pot and pan we had (except one which really didn't fit with what I was cooking at all) and had to improvise to manage things. Sure, I spent two hours cooking, and about four hours doing preparation work. Sure I made an absolute nightmare of a mess in the kitchen with all the cleaning that had to be done. Ahh, but it was pretty good. Many things were done very well, some things were done less well, but I have bravely navigated into a whole new level of spontaneous cooking combustion.
Ok, now to update on what we've been doing. We haven't been learning much in class, investments has mostly been a rehash of my previous two finance classes and the teacher doesn't really answer my questions. I think Dr. Gritta teaches more WWII history, particularly that which deals with planes, than anything else. My operations course is interesting, but we don't spend much time covering stuff. I'm finding that I do really understand the Tech Ops material extremely well though, which is good, so I'm able to help the students with questions a lot.
On Wednesday we made a trip out to Westminster Abbey and then over to Westminster Cathedral. Westminster Abbey was a whirlwind. I think I could spend weeks going into the Abbey looking over, learning, and studying everything. The vast number of monuments is astounding, each with an amazing level of detail. Monuments are everywhere, even covering other monuments. I think the tour we had was approximately two hours and even then we really didn't even see everything, much less talk about all the things we saw. We'd go to a little side chapel, there would be perhaps 30 things of interest, maybe more, and briefly talk about one or two, then move along. Going through the abbey was definitely an phenomenal experience, and very different from the impression I had of it when watching the royal wedding a few weeks back. Apparently at the wedding they fit a little over 1000 people into the Abbey. At the Queen's coronation they fit over 7000 people into the Abbey. While the building was impressive, I wouldn't say it was necessarily the most impressive building that I've seen here, more that it contained vast amounts more history than anywhere else we have been.
After walking through the Abbey we walked down the street to the Cathedral. This building was constructed in the late 1800's if I recall correctly, but the interior is far from being finished. The ceiling tiles and mosaics in this building were fairly close to incomparable. The vivid colors in all the tiles and scenes was amazing. I'm sure there are buildings more amazing out there, but this one was definitely worth seeing.
After class on Thursday we went to see "Much Ado About Nothing" at the Globe theater. Oh. My. Goodness. I have never seen a better show. I'm not referring to the plot or the play itself, but the entire experience of the show as a show. The quality of the actors, the music, the production, the performance, the use of stage materials, the response to the crowd, the dealing with the raging storm. Oh yeah, London went all Portland on us. It was hot out, had to take off my jacket because I was warm, then it was cold, so I had to put it on, then it was drizzling, then hot, the raining like a shower, then cold, then sunny and cold - all on like 15 minute intervals. People who paid for standing room viewing would scatter so fast when it started pouring down. Many didn't come with rain gear. Many didn't return after the intermission. One thing that really made this performance so much more enjoyable than the previous one was the fact that we had seats in the middle of the theater so you could see what was happening and hear the actors all the time without straining. That, combined with the fact that I had gotten a good nights sleep the night before giving me plenty of energy to sit down and enjoy the show made for a spectacular experience. I wish I could go back again! About 7 minutes after the play ended the storm let up, or really, there was a break in the clouds right where we were at, just big enough for us to make it to the nearest tube station without getting but a few drops on us. What an evening.
On Friday a number of the guys went out to play some football (soccer). There were five of us, so it was 3v2. Kevin and Kenny are in better than 'not in shape' and have played football 'recently' so Taylor, Chris, and me were on the same team. All said, it made for some good times and good exercise. None of us had cleats so traction was an enormous issue. Eventually I got tired of football because I was just getting careless (combination of being out of shape and not having any traction) so I pulled out my disc (frisbee) and tossed the disc around for a little while. The exercise was good, hopefully we'll have more chances to get out again. We also went out for dinner at an Indian restaurant that evening. I got a lamb tikki massala which was exquisite. Everyone really enjoyed their meal, it was nice.
Saturday we went to the British museum. Most of what is at the British museum was stolen or taken in conquest. Nevertheless, it made for a mind boggling experience. Even the building itself was immense and a statement on its own at times. I saw the rosetta stone among many other interesting things. I think one of the best parts of the British museum is that we were allowed to take pictures of almost everything. I couldn't take pictures of the Australian exhibit, but that was about it. Consequently, you can head over to my facebook pictures where I recently uploaded something like 200 pictures of my trip so far. I haven't gotten to giving them all captions yet, but I'll work my way through trying to describe and clean-up the album as I have time. The point here though, is that I took a bunch of pictures in the museum, so you can see bits and pieces of what I saw. One point about the museum though, is that there were different sections for different areas of the world. One random point of interest though is that the museum was broken into geographic regions of the world. In the Korean section I found almost exclusively Korean people speaking Korean. In the Chinese section I found almost exclusively Chinese people speaking Chinese. In the Japanese section I found almost exclusively Japanese people not speaking (they tend to be a quieter bunch).
Of course, on Saturday I also did a lot of cooking. I was a bit tired after all of that, so I stayed in and hung out while everyone else went out to a pub to watch a football game. I don't feel like I missed too much, it was nice to just have a slow evening and relax. Today has been low key as well, mostly involving online updates, doing homework, and helping people do homework. On Wednesday we are headed to Bath, I'm really excited! On Friday a number of us are leaving for Edinburgh (capital of Scotland) for the weekend. There should be plenty to report back on in the days to come.
-Samuel
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Friday, 27 May 2011
Stuffing
Yeah, we've be doing stuff. I should probably write about it at some point.
Anyway, it's my turn to make dinner for the flat so I bought food to make dinner for five guys. I spent 20 pounds sterling buying ingredients! Sure, some things were just for me since I was at the store, and there will probably be excess so I'll get to eat more later, but still... Right, well then, I'm making curry. Apple curry. I have no idea how it will work yet, I just bought things at (semi) random and will just throw them together as I feel in the mood. Based on other foods I've made, my flatmates are looking forward to dinner instead of being scared for their taste buds. This may be one of the most complicated dishes I will have ever made without a recipe though, so we'll see how it turns out. Run for your cutlery everyone, I'm about to curry some f(l)avor.
Anyway, it's my turn to make dinner for the flat so I bought food to make dinner for five guys. I spent 20 pounds sterling buying ingredients! Sure, some things were just for me since I was at the store, and there will probably be excess so I'll get to eat more later, but still... Right, well then, I'm making curry. Apple curry. I have no idea how it will work yet, I just bought things at (semi) random and will just throw them together as I feel in the mood. Based on other foods I've made, my flatmates are looking forward to dinner instead of being scared for their taste buds. This may be one of the most complicated dishes I will have ever made without a recipe though, so we'll see how it turns out. Run for your cutlery everyone, I'm about to curry some f(l)avor.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Dong Chim
There are few things in life like a well placed poke.
For those of you who may have understood a second or third meaning in what was just said, don't read into it too much.
Ahh... dancing. I went dancing again tonight - this would be my second time since arriving in London. I miss dancing, I'm so glad I went tonight. Yes, I recently hurt my foot, but I suspected it was walking muscles in my feet, not muscles used for dancing. Fortunately, my suspicion was proved correct as my feet were light as a cast iron pan, nimble as a bumbling oaf, and graceful as the raging sea. There's a good dance crowd here, although I should emphasize crowd part because there REALLY isn't enough space in this room for people to dance in. Regardless, it was amazing and I need to dance more. Overall, people seem to be reasonably content with my dancing, but there is one woman who has done a good job of humbling me and reminding me that in the scheme of dancing there is a realm of dance far above my (current) abilities.
The last few days I haven't done a whole lot as I've been trying to recover my foot. I missed out on Dover, which is a major bummer, and I hear it was awesome, which is an even bigger bummer, and apparently there was really good, really cheap food there, which is just entirely rubbish that I missed out on. I did make it out to the National Art Gallery though. There are a lot of paintings there, and admittedly I really didn't get a chance to look at many of the paintings in detail since I only spent a couple hours in the gallery and looked through all of the rooms. There were a number of amazingly gorgeous paintings, but I think my favorite was a bit of an odd one. It was the only one that really jumped out at me, at least in my cursory glance through the gallery: Old man holding a pilgrim bottle. Artist unknown.
I think I need to invest in some snack food of some sort. Something that doesn't spoil too quickly, that I won't be liable to eat in too large quantities, that isn't too expensive, that can be prepared quickly. I guess I should go shopping at one of the bigger stores again. I did manage a good find today though on some cheese. A buy one get one free on 250g of aged cheddar at 4.26 pounds. Cheese is expensive so I don't buy much, but this was actually a 'reasonable' price for some quite tasty cheese. Yum! Actually, I think I'll go have some now :-)
@AJ M. - Thank you.
@Big O N~B - Skype?
@Laima Bean - Trick moves need more space :-\
@JJT - Be confident in who you are :-)
@Elf Ears - I have pics from the RAF museum. I think you would've had a blast. I'll have to test you and see what planes you can identify.
@Agirlwithnoname - I fully intend to make good on this month's adventure when I get back home. Think of something you'd like to do!
@Manonthegreenloveseat - I never got a return text from the one I replied to of yours. I'm not sure what makes the international text work or not work. Regardless, I figure facebook is still the best way to get a hold of me as I do try to check that at least once a day.
For those of you who may have understood a second or third meaning in what was just said, don't read into it too much.
Ahh... dancing. I went dancing again tonight - this would be my second time since arriving in London. I miss dancing, I'm so glad I went tonight. Yes, I recently hurt my foot, but I suspected it was walking muscles in my feet, not muscles used for dancing. Fortunately, my suspicion was proved correct as my feet were light as a cast iron pan, nimble as a bumbling oaf, and graceful as the raging sea. There's a good dance crowd here, although I should emphasize crowd part because there REALLY isn't enough space in this room for people to dance in. Regardless, it was amazing and I need to dance more. Overall, people seem to be reasonably content with my dancing, but there is one woman who has done a good job of humbling me and reminding me that in the scheme of dancing there is a realm of dance far above my (current) abilities.
The last few days I haven't done a whole lot as I've been trying to recover my foot. I missed out on Dover, which is a major bummer, and I hear it was awesome, which is an even bigger bummer, and apparently there was really good, really cheap food there, which is just entirely rubbish that I missed out on. I did make it out to the National Art Gallery though. There are a lot of paintings there, and admittedly I really didn't get a chance to look at many of the paintings in detail since I only spent a couple hours in the gallery and looked through all of the rooms. There were a number of amazingly gorgeous paintings, but I think my favorite was a bit of an odd one. It was the only one that really jumped out at me, at least in my cursory glance through the gallery: Old man holding a pilgrim bottle. Artist unknown.
I think I need to invest in some snack food of some sort. Something that doesn't spoil too quickly, that I won't be liable to eat in too large quantities, that isn't too expensive, that can be prepared quickly. I guess I should go shopping at one of the bigger stores again. I did manage a good find today though on some cheese. A buy one get one free on 250g of aged cheddar at 4.26 pounds. Cheese is expensive so I don't buy much, but this was actually a 'reasonable' price for some quite tasty cheese. Yum! Actually, I think I'll go have some now :-)
@AJ M. - Thank you.
@Big O N~B - Skype?
@Laima Bean - Trick moves need more space :-\
@JJT - Be confident in who you are :-)
@Elf Ears - I have pics from the RAF museum. I think you would've had a blast. I'll have to test you and see what planes you can identify.
@Agirlwithnoname - I fully intend to make good on this month's adventure when I get back home. Think of something you'd like to do!
@Manonthegreenloveseat - I never got a return text from the one I replied to of yours. I'm not sure what makes the international text work or not work. Regardless, I figure facebook is still the best way to get a hold of me as I do try to check that at least once a day.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Quite Sincerely
Well, I missed Les Miserables. I took a nap, which turned into a sleep and then I woke up and the performance had started an hour and a half prior. Disappointing? Yes. The end of the world? No.
We went on a tour that detailed the life of Jack the Ripper (a serial killer in London at the end of the 19th century). The tour guide has written a book on the subject and been on international TV. He gave Johnny Depp the tour before he performed in the movie "From Hell" and we saw the pubs and such that were central to the killings. We also went by a wall originally built by the Romans and expanded upon in medieval times which was pretty cool (as far as walls go anyway). It's possible that the tour guide had a bit of a morbid fascination with things that are a bit morbid. You may have guessed that the tour was morbidly amusing as a result. Murder, prostitution, dark alleyways and long knives. Actually, doesn't sound so amusing now that I think about it. Morbidly fascinating perhaps.
Today we went to the RAF (Royal Air Force) museum which was pretty interesting. Being an air force museum there were naturally a lot of airplanes. I wish we could have sat in the cockpits and stuff and been able to interact with the planes more hands on, but it was still pretty cool nonetheless. My investments professor (Dr. Gritta) has been spending a LOT of time trying to educate us on English history, particularly WWII history, so looking at the planes was definitely more interesting because I had more of an idea what type of role several of them played in the war.
On the way back from the RAF museum Dr. Gritta and I were walking through Leicester square we ran into a crowd of people gathering around a speaker box. Standing in front of this speaker box was this tiny little kid, looked like he was 2 maybe, but he was dressed in casual college student clothes, wearing headphones, and dancing like you wouldn't believe. I wish I got a picture, it was absolutely hilarious. This kid had moves that were baller, I mean they were fancy, I don't think I could compare. Yeah, it was a puppet. An AWESOME puppet. It was pretty sweet. Dr. Gritta's only comment was, "that kids going to lose his hearing if he stands in front of the speaker like that." I was amused.
I went to pick up a phone today since I could get one for relatively cheap. While I was in there dealing with issues with my credit card another guy is up at the front counter and is obviously not happy about something. He's going on with the clerk and getting more and more aggravated. I'm just finishing up my transaction when this guy just collapses. Everyone in the store turns to see what is going on, someone runs up to him to see if he's okay, and he just starts freaking out. Don't get me wrong, he's not convulsing or anything, he didn't pass out - he was merely throwing a tantrum. It was pretty disturbing.
On that note, I really need to figure out what to do about money while I'm over here - having some issues and I don't quite know what to do about it. Hopefully thing will work out though.
We went on a tour that detailed the life of Jack the Ripper (a serial killer in London at the end of the 19th century). The tour guide has written a book on the subject and been on international TV. He gave Johnny Depp the tour before he performed in the movie "From Hell" and we saw the pubs and such that were central to the killings. We also went by a wall originally built by the Romans and expanded upon in medieval times which was pretty cool (as far as walls go anyway). It's possible that the tour guide had a bit of a morbid fascination with things that are a bit morbid. You may have guessed that the tour was morbidly amusing as a result. Murder, prostitution, dark alleyways and long knives. Actually, doesn't sound so amusing now that I think about it. Morbidly fascinating perhaps.
Today we went to the RAF (Royal Air Force) museum which was pretty interesting. Being an air force museum there were naturally a lot of airplanes. I wish we could have sat in the cockpits and stuff and been able to interact with the planes more hands on, but it was still pretty cool nonetheless. My investments professor (Dr. Gritta) has been spending a LOT of time trying to educate us on English history, particularly WWII history, so looking at the planes was definitely more interesting because I had more of an idea what type of role several of them played in the war.
On the way back from the RAF museum Dr. Gritta and I were walking through Leicester square we ran into a crowd of people gathering around a speaker box. Standing in front of this speaker box was this tiny little kid, looked like he was 2 maybe, but he was dressed in casual college student clothes, wearing headphones, and dancing like you wouldn't believe. I wish I got a picture, it was absolutely hilarious. This kid had moves that were baller, I mean they were fancy, I don't think I could compare. Yeah, it was a puppet. An AWESOME puppet. It was pretty sweet. Dr. Gritta's only comment was, "that kids going to lose his hearing if he stands in front of the speaker like that." I was amused.
I went to pick up a phone today since I could get one for relatively cheap. While I was in there dealing with issues with my credit card another guy is up at the front counter and is obviously not happy about something. He's going on with the clerk and getting more and more aggravated. I'm just finishing up my transaction when this guy just collapses. Everyone in the store turns to see what is going on, someone runs up to him to see if he's okay, and he just starts freaking out. Don't get me wrong, he's not convulsing or anything, he didn't pass out - he was merely throwing a tantrum. It was pretty disturbing.
On that note, I really need to figure out what to do about money while I'm over here - having some issues and I don't quite know what to do about it. Hopefully thing will work out though.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Showtime
These are the shows we are seeing while here in London:
As You Like It - Tuesday, 17th
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_You_Like_It
Les Mis - Thursday, 19th
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables_%28musical%29
Much Ado About Nothing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing
War Horses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Horse_%28play%29
---------------
After walking around Windsor Castle I went to go eat some lunch with Dr. Mitchell and his son. We ate at a place called Nando's, which I believe is a Portuguese chicken place. It was pretty tasty and I even ate reasonably healthy. The waiter really tried to push a bottomless soda on me which was unexpected. First, there don't seem to be many restaurants here that let you fill your own cups with soda. Second, this guy really wanted me to buy this soda for 2.25 pounds sterling - essentially four dollars. It was a good restaurant though, only thing is that it really wasn't very spicy. I ordered hot, but by the end of the meal I was pouring on the extra extra hot sauce.
We were then walking down the street and found a very nice little fudge shop with the most amazing little fudge you've never had (but I have). Dr. Mitchell got three slices and I picked up one, each of which was a few hundred grams. I figure it'll take me a few days to eat and I'll need to share with a couple people that think they may like some rum and raisin flavored fudge.
I've actually been eating reasonably well here. I think I may have mentioned that a number of the guys in my flat like to cook. I've been making rice fairly regularly because... it's cheap! Well, relatively speaking anyway. I've been making pretty nice rice though. Garlic, thyme, cumin, dried parsley, fresh ginger, fresh ground Mediterranean sea salt, and balsamic vinegar mixed in as the rice boils. The rice is 1 cup brown, 1/2 cup white, 1/2 cup dried veggies. Then I saute some onions, cut up some carrots, squeeze some lime or lemon, then add a dash of olive oil. After cooking up such a scrumptious, ricetacular creation I then attempt to trade portions of my rice for something someone else has cooked up just to get a bit more variety in. Lately I've been eating pita bread with banana and nutella for breakfast. I try to throw in a nice cup of jasmine infused green tea if I've got time in the morning as well.
Class is a good 10-15 minute walk from my flat and starts at 8:00 a.m.. Classes vary somewhat in that we may take a field trip for one class on one day, and then almost all of the four hours of class the next day are for the other class. Today is all operations because Dr. Mitchell is going to visit Paris over the weekend so Dr. Gritta is taking class on Friday. Towards the end of class today I'll have my first class with Dr. Mitchell for the advanced class that I'm in with him. I'm expected to sit in for the material I've already taken, but that's fine because it's an interesting class and I'm happy to really learn the material well.
As You Like It - Tuesday, 17th
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_You_Like_It
Les Mis - Thursday, 19th
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables_%28musical%29
Much Ado About Nothing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing
War Horses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Horse_%28play%29
---------------
After walking around Windsor Castle I went to go eat some lunch with Dr. Mitchell and his son. We ate at a place called Nando's, which I believe is a Portuguese chicken place. It was pretty tasty and I even ate reasonably healthy. The waiter really tried to push a bottomless soda on me which was unexpected. First, there don't seem to be many restaurants here that let you fill your own cups with soda. Second, this guy really wanted me to buy this soda for 2.25 pounds sterling - essentially four dollars. It was a good restaurant though, only thing is that it really wasn't very spicy. I ordered hot, but by the end of the meal I was pouring on the extra extra hot sauce.
We were then walking down the street and found a very nice little fudge shop with the most amazing little fudge you've never had (but I have). Dr. Mitchell got three slices and I picked up one, each of which was a few hundred grams. I figure it'll take me a few days to eat and I'll need to share with a couple people that think they may like some rum and raisin flavored fudge.
I've actually been eating reasonably well here. I think I may have mentioned that a number of the guys in my flat like to cook. I've been making rice fairly regularly because... it's cheap! Well, relatively speaking anyway. I've been making pretty nice rice though. Garlic, thyme, cumin, dried parsley, fresh ginger, fresh ground Mediterranean sea salt, and balsamic vinegar mixed in as the rice boils. The rice is 1 cup brown, 1/2 cup white, 1/2 cup dried veggies. Then I saute some onions, cut up some carrots, squeeze some lime or lemon, then add a dash of olive oil. After cooking up such a scrumptious, ricetacular creation I then attempt to trade portions of my rice for something someone else has cooked up just to get a bit more variety in. Lately I've been eating pita bread with banana and nutella for breakfast. I try to throw in a nice cup of jasmine infused green tea if I've got time in the morning as well.
Class is a good 10-15 minute walk from my flat and starts at 8:00 a.m.. Classes vary somewhat in that we may take a field trip for one class on one day, and then almost all of the four hours of class the next day are for the other class. Today is all operations because Dr. Mitchell is going to visit Paris over the weekend so Dr. Gritta is taking class on Friday. Towards the end of class today I'll have my first class with Dr. Mitchell for the advanced class that I'm in with him. I'm expected to sit in for the material I've already taken, but that's fine because it's an interesting class and I'm happy to really learn the material well.
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Fast Lane
Monday: Class, Tower of London
Tuesday: Payden Rydel, Shakespear at the Globe - "As you Like It"
Wednesday: Windsor Castle
Class has been good overall so far. We have just gotten past the initial introductions to the class, so I expect things will pick up. Dr. Gritta is teaching investments, but he is teaching a lot of English history at the same time. We go on field trips all the time. For instance, Payden and Rydel is an investment bank based out of LA, but we got to visit the London branch which is in the middle of the financial district in London. Lloyds of London, the Bank of England, and the London Metals exchange were all down the street. There was a cool little market there as well that serves the financial district. It was an odd mix of really expensive shops and street vendor stalls. Payden Rydel was really interesting and they had people from all aspects of the company speak with us. In addition they fed us an absolutely amazing lunch.
The Tower of London is also next to Tower bridge, which is the bridge that replaced London bridge (which is now in Arizona). The Tower of London used to be a residence of the royalty, but now it mostly holds a lot of history, some of the crown jewels, and a lot of history. We took a tour with a beef eater (retired soldiers that are now more or less the stewards of the Tower of London) which was absolutely fantastic. A trend is quickly developing, which is that the churches/cathedrals are absolutely amazing, and you can't take pictures of the inside of them. The crown jewels were utterly stunning and I could have spent several days looking at the jewels and the history stowed inside the white tower (the oldest tower in the tower of London). The white tower primarily holds the armor and weaponry of royalty through the ages.
Shakespear was totally wild. First, we were at the globe with standing room seats, birds in the rafters and all. We had seats, which was nice, though we were off to the side so it was hard to hear some lines and we couldn't always see everything. I was unbelievably tired from the long day at Payden and Rydel and not getting a lot of sleep the night before so I think I fell asleep in my seat a number of times. I'm glad we are going back, so I can be more attentive! The theater was excellent, with incredible acting, fantastic music, and obviously the allure of Shakespeare at the Globe.
Windsor castle was spectacular. Think castle, consider definition and input Windsor. In fact, portions of the castle were rebuilt so that they looked more like what people expected when they thought of "castle". The rooms were gorgeous, st. George's chapel was unbelievable, the doll house extraordinary, the grounds enormous. Windsor was incredible.
But I need to go! Homework and such to do. Thanks for reading, I'll try to keep posting regularly and with more details. I have pictures, hopefully I'll get those up at some time as well.
-Samuel
Tuesday: Payden Rydel, Shakespear at the Globe - "As you Like It"
Wednesday: Windsor Castle
Class has been good overall so far. We have just gotten past the initial introductions to the class, so I expect things will pick up. Dr. Gritta is teaching investments, but he is teaching a lot of English history at the same time. We go on field trips all the time. For instance, Payden and Rydel is an investment bank based out of LA, but we got to visit the London branch which is in the middle of the financial district in London. Lloyds of London, the Bank of England, and the London Metals exchange were all down the street. There was a cool little market there as well that serves the financial district. It was an odd mix of really expensive shops and street vendor stalls. Payden Rydel was really interesting and they had people from all aspects of the company speak with us. In addition they fed us an absolutely amazing lunch.
The Tower of London is also next to Tower bridge, which is the bridge that replaced London bridge (which is now in Arizona). The Tower of London used to be a residence of the royalty, but now it mostly holds a lot of history, some of the crown jewels, and a lot of history. We took a tour with a beef eater (retired soldiers that are now more or less the stewards of the Tower of London) which was absolutely fantastic. A trend is quickly developing, which is that the churches/cathedrals are absolutely amazing, and you can't take pictures of the inside of them. The crown jewels were utterly stunning and I could have spent several days looking at the jewels and the history stowed inside the white tower (the oldest tower in the tower of London). The white tower primarily holds the armor and weaponry of royalty through the ages.
Shakespear was totally wild. First, we were at the globe with standing room seats, birds in the rafters and all. We had seats, which was nice, though we were off to the side so it was hard to hear some lines and we couldn't always see everything. I was unbelievably tired from the long day at Payden and Rydel and not getting a lot of sleep the night before so I think I fell asleep in my seat a number of times. I'm glad we are going back, so I can be more attentive! The theater was excellent, with incredible acting, fantastic music, and obviously the allure of Shakespeare at the Globe.
Windsor castle was spectacular. Think castle, consider definition and input Windsor. In fact, portions of the castle were rebuilt so that they looked more like what people expected when they thought of "castle". The rooms were gorgeous, st. George's chapel was unbelievable, the doll house extraordinary, the grounds enormous. Windsor was incredible.
But I need to go! Homework and such to do. Thanks for reading, I'll try to keep posting regularly and with more details. I have pictures, hopefully I'll get those up at some time as well.
-Samuel
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Camden and Greenwich
Went on a boat ride up the Thames river starting at Westminster and ending at Greenwich yesterday. At Greenwich you can visit the prime meridian but as of two months ago it started costing 10 pounds to get in. All of us found that price to be too steep so we passed it up and walked around the observatory for a little while. There was an awesome navel chapel and mess hall though. Really, the best part about traveling to Greenwich was the boat ride. The architecture of buildings along the Thames was absolutely astounding. In addition, the gentleman on the mic pointing things out had a fantastic sense of humor making the ride all the more enjoyable.
This morning Dr. Gritta told us he was going to take us on a walk to a market. We walked for nearly four hours. The market was pretty cool. All the shops were in old horse stables so it made for a cool ambiance. We walked past Lord's Cricket, Abbey Road and the Beatles original recording house, Paul McCartney's house, and a peaceful little canal. All said it was a nice morning, but I wasn't really expecting the amount of walking that we did when we woke up.
Apparently we are going to a big store today which is good. I have a number of little things I need to pickup, like a razor, that I don't seem to be able to get at the local Tesco Express. Right, well I'm out for now.
Cheerio
This morning Dr. Gritta told us he was going to take us on a walk to a market. We walked for nearly four hours. The market was pretty cool. All the shops were in old horse stables so it made for a cool ambiance. We walked past Lord's Cricket, Abbey Road and the Beatles original recording house, Paul McCartney's house, and a peaceful little canal. All said it was a nice morning, but I wasn't really expecting the amount of walking that we did when we woke up.
Apparently we are going to a big store today which is good. I have a number of little things I need to pickup, like a razor, that I don't seem to be able to get at the local Tesco Express. Right, well I'm out for now.
Cheerio
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Five Guys and Fries
So, I'm rooming with five guys. There are three other flats: a group of four guys, a group of five girls, and a flat with both professors and Dr. Mitchell's son. All said, it's a good group.
Overall, my flat works pretty well together. All of us eat surprisingly healthy. All of us are trying to exercise regularly. All of us are reasonably clean, reasonably quiet, reasonably amusing, undeniably attractive, etc. While the last is a joke, the point is we seem to be a pretty good team, which is rather nice and somewhat unexpected.
Dr. Gritta really likes to play tour guide, so he takes us out a lot and points things out while giving us a brief history. Yesterday we went to the Sherlock Holmes pub where almost all of us proceeded to get a Sherlock Holmes Ale. We also walked past parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham palace. Apparently we will be touring Parliament and Westminster Abbey at some point, but Buckingham palace isn't open to tours except in the winter because the crowds get too large for them to be manageable during any other time.
We have Oyster cards with unlimited Tube rides for zones 1-3 while we are here which is really nice. My flat is five minutes from the Warwick tube stop, which is in zone 3. I'm pretty well right in the middle of London though so it's pretty easy to get most places. Consequently, I managed to go dancing Thursday night and it was only 5 or 6 tube stops away. Dancing was fantastic, although a little bit expensive. On the other hand, everything is really expensive here. I cringe when I think how much money I've already spent, but on the other hand my burn rate is decreasing as a number of my initial expenses won't immediately reoccur. For instance, with food I had to buy a number of things like olive oil, some herbs, ginger, etc - so the expense is heavier up front but the use of that expense is over an extended period of time. Nevertheless, everything is really expensive :-(
Anyway, I'm off for now. There's plenty to do before we head out at 10:00 to travel around Greenwich.
Overall, my flat works pretty well together. All of us eat surprisingly healthy. All of us are trying to exercise regularly. All of us are reasonably clean, reasonably quiet, reasonably amusing, undeniably attractive, etc. While the last is a joke, the point is we seem to be a pretty good team, which is rather nice and somewhat unexpected.
Dr. Gritta really likes to play tour guide, so he takes us out a lot and points things out while giving us a brief history. Yesterday we went to the Sherlock Holmes pub where almost all of us proceeded to get a Sherlock Holmes Ale. We also walked past parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham palace. Apparently we will be touring Parliament and Westminster Abbey at some point, but Buckingham palace isn't open to tours except in the winter because the crowds get too large for them to be manageable during any other time.
We have Oyster cards with unlimited Tube rides for zones 1-3 while we are here which is really nice. My flat is five minutes from the Warwick tube stop, which is in zone 3. I'm pretty well right in the middle of London though so it's pretty easy to get most places. Consequently, I managed to go dancing Thursday night and it was only 5 or 6 tube stops away. Dancing was fantastic, although a little bit expensive. On the other hand, everything is really expensive here. I cringe when I think how much money I've already spent, but on the other hand my burn rate is decreasing as a number of my initial expenses won't immediately reoccur. For instance, with food I had to buy a number of things like olive oil, some herbs, ginger, etc - so the expense is heavier up front but the use of that expense is over an extended period of time. Nevertheless, everything is really expensive :-(
Anyway, I'm off for now. There's plenty to do before we head out at 10:00 to travel around Greenwich.
Friday, 13 May 2011
Blogger Fail
Blogger recently had issues with its servers and the site was down for almost two days or something. In that period, blogger also lost my registration and my first post, as well as prevented me from updating further. If you've been wondering where I'm at, sorry to keep you in suspense. Blogger just totally failed is all.
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