Hampton Court was really beautiful, a long Tube and train ride, but totally worth it. The Palace itself was built by Cardinal Woolsey but was given to King Henry VIII after Woolsey failed to get a divorce for him from the pope. Seems a little mean to deprive him of his house just for not doing him a favor. Our first stop was in the Tudor kitchen where we saw lots of fake food and a huge fireplace. The kitchen was the only place I have ever been that was significantly colder outside than inside. Then we saw the Elizabethan court which had a beautiful white fountain in the center. The tudor apartments were closed but fortunately the Stuart and Georgian apartments were open. The palace gardens were also very beautiful. I imagine it would be quite pleasant to "take a turn in the garden". The maze was actually kind of small. No one got totally lost.

The next day we went to the Imperial War Museum. The ground floor was a little kids paradise full of planes and tanks. The ground floor had a WWI and WWII exhibit which was just case after case of pins and memorabilia. They also had this cool exhibit where you could walk through a trench. Pretty neat, except they made it smell like gun powder. On the top floor was a James Bond/Ian Flemming exhibit. All in all, very disappointing. There was also a Holocaust exhibit. Which was very depressing.

The next day our class journeyed to the London Transport Museum which was by far the most interactive museum I have ever been to. It was full of wax sculptures and many carriages, buses and trains (some of which you could climb right into...even on the double decker top floors). The museum also had an interesting section on energy and future transportation.

Friday, my roommates and I journeyed to the Angel for some quick shopping and then went to the British Museum. I think it is one of those places that gets more amazing every time you visit. Unfortunately London has this horrible habit of shutting down early, so even though the museum was open till 8, most of the exhibits closed at 5. I still got another look at the marbles...amazing. I also didn't realize that the ionic caryatid statue from the Erechtheon. Amazing. I also took this silly picture with a scarab statue.

Yesterday my roommate Nicole and I took a trip to Warwick Castle and Stratford. The castle was very beautiful. I am a sucker for a nice looking castle. This castle was owned by the Duke of Warrick but now is owned by Madame Tussaud, the famous owner of the wax museum. She has inundated the castle with wax people from various periods demonstrating its uses. Normally I would think it was quite gimmicky, however, it was actually quite interesting. The first exhibit we saw there was about the famous Duke of Warwick, the Kingmaker. We saw a 16th century court complete with knights and wax horses, very interesting. Then we saw a Victorian exhibit where there was a wax statue of Winston Churchill who apparently stayed at the castle as a young man. Then we went to look at the gardens. There were peacock gardens where the peacocks would walk right up to you and a exhibit of birds of prey complete with eagle. We also saw the later mill and engine room. Later that day we headed over to Stratford where I got to see the birthplace of Shakespeare. I spent most of my time at the church where Shakespeare was buried. It was full of beautiful stained glass and great architecture. The town itself was very cute. It was full of street performers and markets. Not quite as touristy as I expected. I thought there would be men in tights reciting ballads.

Today my roommates and I journeyed to Bath to see the Roman Baths. The journey was long but the English countryside was beautiful. The sheep were lambing (apparently because of global warming) and the grass was green. The farm houses are right out of a picture book. Bath is a bustling city. We first took a bus tour of the area and saw the houses Jane Austin wrote about. We also saw Nicolas Cage's house (all the shutters were drawn of course). The huge mansions on top of the hill were amazing. No wonder the aristocrats loved bath...what a place for a party. We were then dropped off at the Roman Bath museum where we learned all about the Baths and the water. Apparently the water is 10,000 year old rain water. The whole place was amazingly old. Now I can't wait to go to Rome (my plan over spring break) to see more Roman Ruins. The water was totally green and although we were offered a drink at 50p we decided not to try the water. We also looked at Bath Abbey which is an amazing church. Unfortunately we couldn't go in because it was the middle of mass. Later we went in search of "Bath Buns" a type of Bath specific treat which turned out to be much harder to find than necessary. After bath we traveled to Avebury, the site of the ancient stone circle. It was a very interesting precursor to Stonehenge although it was quite cold out there in the countryside. This week I am off to more museums, Stonehenge, Chiswick and a theater performance.

Photos

St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

V&A

Alice and Nicole on the Tube

Alice at Windsor Castle

Enterance to the Castle

our Kitchen (2 stoves, 1 fridge, 1 freezer, 1 sink, 1 frying pan (a point of resentment) basic utensils, no cheese grater or caserole dishes (we are working on those))

Flat mates (me, sophie, markey, nicole, aurelia, tulsi and amy)

A dress from Kensington Palace

British Museum

Alice and Aurliea before the night boat tour at the Eye

Alight at the next stop...

On Friday my class went to the British museum. What an amazing place! First we looked at Egyptian statues and later the marbles. The Parthenon marbles are astonishingly beautiful and much larger than I thought they would be. It was really mind-blowing to see them in person. I shall have to go back again and again and again. We also saw all of the mummies. They were very creepy. They even had many out of their wrappings. The weirdest part was the bog man they had on display. I don't know if you remember this, but the bog man was pulled out of a peat bog a couple of years ago and was discovered to be about 3500 years old. I am now able to confirm that he indeed has some of his original hair left...yuck.
After class I headed over to Hyde park to see Kensington Palace. On the way there I ran into an absolutely enormous goose. It was the size of a man...at least it looked that huge from a couple hundred feet away. The park is gorgeous even though the weather was not the best I got some very nice pictures of the park and the palace. There is a huge pond in the center that is crawling with Geese and ducks and the most obese squirrels I have ever seen. I watched one eat bread out of a mans hand without the slightest hint of fear. Alright, on to the castle. The castle itself was very nice. I can't imagine living anywhere so huge and full of artwork. I got to see Princess Diana's apartments. They had an exhibit about debutantes which was full of clothes. I took some pictures for mom before I got frowned at for taking pictures. Apparently it is not done. I also got to walk through the King's and Queen's picture galleries. One of the last rooms was Queen Victoria's room. Apparently she was born at Kensington Palace and lived there until she moved to Buckingham palace for her corrination.
On Saturday I went to Windsor Castle. We had this really funny tour guide who told us lots of things about the personal lives of monarchs. I'm sure no one wants to know. Anyways, the castle itself is nestled in a little village (mostly a shopping mall, as I later found out) next to Eaton about 45 minutes from South Kensington in London. Apparently Windsor Castle is the oldest in England and was constructed in 1045. It is also the oldest lived in castle in Europe (apparently..I will look this up later). The Queen wasn't at home though, and good thing because the state apartments were closed for renovation. VERY disappointing. We did get to go in and see Queen Mary's Dollhouse. It was a 1:12 perfect model of a house including working lights, maids quarters, cars, silverware, and a working toilet. It was amazing. We also got to go see the Chapel. This chapel is the home of many royal weddings and is the resting place of the Queen Mum and King Henry the Eighth. It was a beautiful chapel. Later we shopped in the little area and I found an antique book shop. Just my cup of tea.
Yesterday I visited the London Art Fair. It was a huge art fair with over 100 art dealers located at the London Design Center. We were put in groups and sent to find the most expensive art piece in the gallery. It turned out to be a whopping 1.15 million pounds. Can you imagine? Anyways, some things were more moderately priced than that I can assure you. It was very interesting to see some of the more modern things being produced as well as some of the nostalgic art from the more high end galleries. I was very tempted by a 65,000 pound charcol drawing. Too bad I can't afford it. Later that day my friend Ellen and I went antiquing. There is a quiet antique neighborhood by the design center. There were some very cool fur coats. Mom really would have loved it.
Finally today I went to the National Gallery. I have never seen such an amazing collection of famous works before. Everywhere you turn is an essential addition to any modern art history textbook.
Tonight I am off to a play and tomorrow to Hampton Court for a double lecture session. Hopefully it wont rain as we are supposed to go into the maze.

Queue up!

Alright, time for my third post.
The last couple have days have been crazy. We had a series of orientations about the city of London, the politics of the United Kingdom and the customs of the British. All very interesting, but hard to not sleep through because of the jet lag (which I fear I am still suffering from).
On Wednesday my roommates and I visited the V&A, which was absolutely gorgeous and huge. We went to see the basement first, which was mostly crafts and vases and things. The museum is so huge that some of the rooms lack attention. Some of the exhibits are covered in dust and the display lights need new light bulbs. We also went to see the sculpture gallery, which has a nice Rodin collection and the fashion exhibit which was really comprehensive. All in all a great museum.
I had my first round of real classes today. My teacher is engaging and eloquent and amazing. The best part is, we are going on a different field trip every day. Monday through Thursday I am going to a museum EVERY DAY. I can't wait. Today we went to the Science museum (to talk about what constitutes a good exhibit). I learned that the building was made in the style of a cathedral with the revenue from the great exhibition in 1851. This venture also funded the V&A and the Natural History Museum. We went to see the dinosaurs, an amazing exhibit full of huge fossils. There is a walkway above the exhibit so you can see the fossils from every angle. It was amazing. Near the end you go around a curve and there is a mechanical model of a T-Rex, just like there used to be in at Marine World. It was amazing! I can't wait to go back with my roommates this weekend.
I also visited the V&A with my class today. We are studying the Arts and Crafts movement. My professor led us through the British Art Gallery from 1500-1900. The only thing I don't like about the V&A is the sheer volume of pieces in it. There are cases upon cases of paintings, vases, and other little nick-knacks. Anyways, it is almost stifling.
Tomorrow I am visiting the British Museum (Parthenon marbles here I come) and Kensington palace. It should be amazing. I can't wait.
I am still getting along splendidly with my roommates and flatmates. I am very excited for the weekend although a trip to Windsor castle and the London Art Fair (a special field trip with my art history class). Too bad I won't get to sleep. That seems to be a theme here.
Hope everyone at home is well!

Mind the gap

So, I am finally in London and settled into my triple apartment with my two roommates, Aurelia and Nicole. Some good things about the room: firstly we have our own bathroom, secondly our kitchen is beautiful, and finally my roommates are lovely. Some of the bad things about the room: it's TINY, there is limited furniture (three beds, two small tables (very small and of different heights) there are NO bookcases, there are no drawers, I have to sleep in a bunk bed), and the hallways are awkwardly narrow and its quite hard to get around the room.
The airplane trip was remarkably nice. It was very long, but they supplied a bunch of movies (Forest Gump, Shrek, Breakfast at Tiffany's). Anyways, we got in 15 minutes early and I flew through customs without the letter I was worried about (that little bit was for mom). Then I got to the hotel and had a very nice time. We went to a cute little Italian Restaurant called Da Mario which was sort of expensive but very cute. I got caught in the tourist trap of buying bottled water. I later went to Tesco Express where I found Krispy Kreme donuts. So weird. They are everywhere except the East Coast.
The first full day in London I spent unpacking. Then Aurelia, Somerton, Nicole, and I went to lunch at MedKitchen, a nice little restaurant in South Kensington (a little pricey though). We then went back to the Crofton to meet with our flatmates to get the lay of the land. Both my roommates were quite tired at this point. For dinner we decided to go to this great restaurant called Cha Cha Moon (Ganton St off Harnaby) which was adorable and very cheap. After that we walked down Old Bond Street via Conduit street which was full of amazing stores with diamonds and fashionable clothes. Of course, being London, everything was closed and all the diamonds were away but it still looked very impressive. We plan to go back in the daylight when the stores are open. Later that night, we went to Kings Cross station which was full of smoke and pigeons but actually had a platform 9 and 3/4 (I have pictures)! After that we ended the night in a cute little pub called the Gloucester Arms pub right near our place to have a half pint before turning in for the night.
Today was full of waiting around. We started the day at a club orientation for the local college where my roommates and I signed up for the Philippine martial arts club and the fencing club (I hope mom likes that one too). I also at my first fish and chips provided by the college which I actually thought was ok (it tasted more like grease than fish to be honest). We then went on a boat trip down the Thames river and I realized how beautiful London is. Now I cant wait to see more of the city! South Kensington is beautiful. Its full of cobble stones and old buildings. I'm excited to figure out more about it!
The next few days are full of academic lectures and the first days of classes. Hopefully I will get to see some more of London soon.

GOING TO LONDON

I'm just making a quick first post to let everyone know that they are in the right place to hear about Alice's adventures in London! I'm leaving in about 3 hours! Wish me luck!