Spring in London

On Wednesday, I went to the Inns of Court and the Royal Courts of Justice for our weekly field trip. It was really neat particuarly since we got to sit it on an actual court case. The English legal system dates back to the medieval times. It's incredible to think that some of the established traditions and legal procedures still remain today. For instance, the barristers, specialized attorneys, wear traditional long black robes and powdered horsetail wigs while in the courtroom.

It was back to work at my internship on Thursday. That was good. Then since I'm a devoted Mizzou tiger fan, I watched the Suite Sixteen game against Memphis at 1:30a.m. We won!! So, it was definitely worth being a little tired at work on Friday.

Yesterday, I finally went to the Imperial War Museum. The museum details the history of Britain's war involvement since World War I. The exhibits, particuarly the interactive exhibits, were fascinating. Two must-see exhibits are the WWI trench experience and the WWII Blitz Experience. After spending some time in the museum, I went back to my favorite part of London- Covent Garden. I wandered around there for awhile. Afterwards, I watched the Elite 8 game on my laptop. Sadly, UConn beat Mizzou. But, Mizzou actually made it to the Elite 8, and that's a big accomplishment considering how bad they were just last year.

Today, I walked around Westminister and Embankment Pier. I walked across the Millenium and Westminister bridges. I also saw a bunch of neat street performers and accidentally found a big video arcade. It was right near the London Aquarium and the London Eye- so big surprise in an area with lots of kids' activities, that there would be a video arcade, right? But, that was cool. So now, I have to work on a paper for my journalism class. Cheers!

Another amazing weekend

So, last Saturday I took a 2 hour train ride down to Cardiff. It was super cool! First, I went to Cardiff Castle, the one must-see attraction in Cardiff. Then, I took advantage of the beautiful Spring weather and walked around a pretty park near the castle. Afterwards, I spent my day walking around Cardiff and exploring the bustling shopping scene. They have my two new favorite stores- Top Shop and H&M. So of course, I spent probably too much money shopping. I also went on an unusually crazy day since there was a big Rugby game at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Specifically, it was the Six Nations Championship game and Wales played Ireland. I actually saw the Ireland rugby team get off the bus at the stadium- which was amazing.

After my eventful day in Cardiff, I spent my Sunday exploring Regent Park. Regent Park was really pretty and spacious. It had all these quaint little cafes, pretty gardens, small rock waterfalls, duck ponds, football fields (a.k.a soccer fields) etc. Sunday was also Mother's day in the U.K, ironically enough. After Regent Park, I FINALLY went and saw Confessions of a Shopalcholic. It was amazing. More to come later. Cheers.

Pictures from Cardiff (in Wales)

Cardiff Central Station: The sign is in Welsh and English- pretty cool, right?

Millenium Stadium

A Street-Performer in Cardiff City Centre

-A river in Cardiff's Bute Park

Cardiff Castle

Spring is here!

Daffodils by the State Apartments in Kensington Palace

Kensington Gardens and Royal Albert Memorial

The Orangery

Kensington Palace

Spring has officially arrived in London. This week was unusually sunny and warm. I took advantage of the 50-60 degree weather whenever possible. On Wednesday, we went to Parliament for our weekly field trip. It was really neat since we got more of an insider's tour. It was particularly neat to actually walk inside the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Not to mention, it was interesting to learn more about British politics. After touring Parliament, I took advantage of the warm and sunny weather and went to Kensington Gardens. I saw the gigantic Kensington Palace, where Queen Victoria lived. Then, I explored the park. A few highlights included: the Peter Pan statue, Royal Albert Memorial, the Orangery, the Princess Diana memorial fountain, the round pond, and of course Kensington Palace and State Apartments.

Hopefully, the nice spring weather will last for the weekend. More to come on my weekend adventures later. Cheers!!

In and Around London Pictures

Chinatown during Chinese New Year Celebrations

Me at Buckingham Palace

The Rosetta Stone at The British Museum

Madame Tussad Wax Museum

Covent Garden

Oxford Pictures

Chelsea Football Stadium (Stamford Bridge) Pictures

Chelsea Football Stadium (Stamford Bridge)

London Calling

Today, I took advantage of the amazing and unusually sunny weather in London. I began my day by taking the tube to Canary Wharf. This lesser-know area is super modern with skyscrapers and a really amazing pier. After exploring the area and walking along the pier (overlooking the Thames River), I went to the Britain at War Museum. The museum details Britain's involvement in World War II, specifically focusing on Winston Churchill. Seeing all the WWII exhibits and antiques were really interesting. Afterwards, I explored the area and walked past City Hall, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Tower Pier etc.

Yesterday, I went to Westfield Mall, the brand-new, ultra modern shopping mall. My upcoming 21st birthday was a great excuse for me to go shopping. Let me just say, that Westfield Mall is HUGE and has just about anything you could ever want. It has two grocery stores, a drugstore, clothing stores (ranging from cheap clothes to high-end stores such as Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. and Dior to name a few). I'm basically going to say that this was like Aventura Mall on steroids.

Well, anyway tomorrow is my 21st birthday as well as back to work and classes. More to come later. Cheers!

Greetings from London!

Anne Hathaway Cottage

Shakespeare's Family Home

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Wow, this week has flown by. On Sunday evening as usual, I tuned in to my new favorite British television show- Dancing on Ice. Not going to lie, this show is AMAZING. It's basically Dancing with the Stars except on ice.

Anyway on Monday, I went to work as usual. After work, I went to The Guardian, one of the national newspapers here in the U.K. for my international journalism class field trip. It was really interesting to see how a large newspaper operates. The building was brand-new, swanky and very high-tech. (Although I personally think that the MSN building is way nicer- but that's just my opinion). It was neat minus the 30 minutes I spent walking around aimlessly looking for the building.

On Wednesday, I went to Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon and my favorite part of the day- a European football game. I was pleasantly surprised by Warwick Castle. I actually got to go inside the castle which made it a million times more interesting. The best part of the castle was walking the 500 plus stairs in the tower/rotunda. The view at the top, and for that matter along the way, was breathtaking. After Warwick Castle, I went to Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. While it was interesting to see the historic cottages, I preferred the old-fashioned sweet shop directly across from Shakespeare's home. I then indulged on way too much delicious fudge on the 2 and 1/2 hour bus ride back to London. For those interested, I got two medium packages of fudge- one was milk chocolate with nougat and the other was maple-walnut. The maple-walnut fudge was ten times better than the milk chocolate, which tasted very similar to a Snickers bar.

But, the football game was definitely the best part of the day. The game was at Craven Cottage Stadium, home of the Fulham Football Club, in West London (not too far away from Chelsea actually). On this Wednesday night, Fulham played Blackburn. Interesting tidbit, Fulham is owned by the guy who owns Harrods. Anyway, the stadium was fairly big as to be expected. Sadly, Fulham lost. The score was 2-1. More to come on my adventures soon. Cheers!

London: It never gets old!

There's always something to do in London! Halfway through my semester abroad, there's still so much I want to do just in London! Anyway, I took advantage of my day off from work to explore Camden- in northwest London. To be quite honest, I'd never heard of it until I came here. Then, I heard mixed reactions about it. This is mainly due to the large amount of Goth stores and night clubs, which are clustered in Camden. Camden consists of three large open-air markets selling everything from vintage clothing and jewelry to hats and a wide assortment of ethnic foods (Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Moroccan, Indian, Mexican, French Crepes, Traditional American to name a few). Yes, there were also quite a low of clothing and accessories that looked like the stuff they sell in Hot Topic. But, there's also a lot of non-Goth, cute clothing- new and vintage, jewelry, furniture and various other accessories. Also, the London Zoo is in Camden, which is one of the oldest zoos in Europe. I personally haven't been there- but I heard it's supposed to be neat.

After being to Portobello Road in Notting Hill three times, Camden was a refreshing chance. The three open-air markets in Camden tend to be very hip and trendy as opposed to Portobello market which is more geared towards antiques. Both markets are neat- just very different from one another.

Also, it's nearly impossible to get lost in Camden. This is coming from someone who has a lot of experience getting lost. For one, the Camden Town tube stop is right on Camden High Street, where all three of the open-air markets are located. This was much different than the first time I visited Portobello Market where we walked in circles for a good 45 minutes before finally finding Portobello Road.

More to come on my adventures in London soon. Cheers!

London Update

Sorry, I haven't blogged in awhile. This week there is not much new to report. I have just been working at my internship, going to class and exploring London. Oh yeah- and trying to decide what classes I want to take next semester. That's right, I have to register for classes for next semester online on Tuesday. Time flies when you're having fun in London!

Anyway yesterday, I finally went to Harrods. I can't believe it's taken me this long to get there. For one, Harrods is huge. While there are signs everywhere, I still managed to get LOST and walk around in circles. Harrods has just about everything- that is if you can afford it. Clothes, evening gowns, jewelry, a gourmet grocery store, bakery, restaurants, furniture, children's toys, exercise equipment, a fossil and mineral gallery, etc. I felt very POOR exploring Harrods. No joke, I saw a 10,000 pound (That's roughly $15,000) fur coat and 5,000 pound (roughly $7500) designer heels. I really enjoyed looking at the designer jewelry and purses. Let's face I will never be able to afford any of it. After that, I caved and indulged in a delicious 1.50 pound chocolate danish from Harrods bakery. Just make sure, that you buy your pastry on your way out. As I dove into my amazing pastry, one of the literally hundreds of Harrods security guards informed me that there was no eating anywhere in Harrods.

Besides this, I have been trying to find reliable places to get WiFi since the WiFi in my flat is still incredibly unreliable. Cheers!