My First Weekend in London Part 2

I realized that my previous post was getting too long so I thought I would split it up into two different posts. This one will be mostly pictures anyway.

Sunday:

This day was spent entirely at Hyde Park. It was a rare 70 degrees with clear blue skies in London and we took advantage of every minute of it. We headed to the park with the best of intentions to get some reading done, but that of course didn't happen. Instead we played frisbee, walked around the park, and generally enjoyed the sunshine and good spirits. 

My day at Hyde Park was honestly probably the best day of my trip thus far. Everyone was in a fantastic mood, and I'm not just referring to my lit london group. There were happy families, friends, couples, and even dogs everywhere in the park. The atmosphere in general seemed almost unreal it was so wonderful and positive.

Here's a shot of part of the park from where we were sitting. I couldn't believe how big the park was. we tried to walk around the lake-type thing in the distance but it was too long so we had to cross a foot bridge.

Me attempting to self-take a photo of myself and Allie.

People LOVE to roller blade in the park. This is a shot of people dancing to music on roller blades. It was quite impressive.

And of course the token phone booth picture.

Me at Hyde Park. Cheers! I love you all!

My First London Weekend

Lucky for us we have four day weekends in our class schedules. And I have to say it was quite a lovely weekend.

Friday:

We slept in after an exhausting week of adjusting time zones and going on crazy packed days of tours. It was fantastic. Then after lunch we decided to head over to the Tower of London since it's right across the bridge from us (for those just tuning in I live on Tower Bridge road as in the road that goes over the bridge and literally just a couple of blocks from the bridge. In some ways a very nice location and in others a bit far from things). Anyway, Tower of London was fascinating and we easily spent the entire afternoon there. We began with a tour with a Beefeater - somewhat of a guard for the tower - and then wandered throughout the towers on our own. It was fascinating to see the messages prisoners inscribed on the walls from hundreds of years ago. I didn't get to see Hitler's lou which was the cell we expected to hold Hitler in if he was captured, which of course didn't happen. Overall it was a great day, but I unfortunately forgot my camera.

Saturday:

Saturday was our day trip to Oxford (the real Oxford not Ohio Oxford) and it was gorgeous. A beautiful day and beautiful architecture meant me taken a lot of self-indulgent pictures that have no memory purpose except that they are pretty.

Oxford is known as the city of dreaming spires. I thought that was a lovely description. And it's true. There are spires everywhere. It's such a beautiful town. I wish I went to school in THAT Oxford. Although Ohio Oxford is pretty as well.... just not quite the same.

Oxford is the oldest university in England. So there is some incredibly interesting and historical things in Oxford. But I found myself just enjoying the beautiful scenery and the amazingly beautiful day, so unfortunately I don't have much in the way of historical anecdotes to put up here.

This is the stairwell where Professor McGona-something (I forget how to spell it) greets the students in the first Harry Potter film - "Welcome to Hogwarts" and all that jazz. It was fun to see, but some girl in our group literally shrieked when our tour guide mentioned this. It was a bit obnoxious.

We had lunch here. This is the pub where CS Lewis, JRR Tolkein, and several other slighlty less famous members of "Inklings" would meet up and share each other's writings.

And here's a random picture of people doing what is called "punting". Kinda like a gondola but a little less classy and a little more likely that someone will fall in. We unfortunately didn't have enough time to give it a go.

One of the only group shots I took all day. Some fellow Lit Londoners. From left to right Carrie, Alice, Kelsey, myself, Brittany, and Hannah. 

The Globe and The National Gallery

Thursday.

I know I haven't put up entries for the other days this week, bu

t I just don't have the energy right now. I'm hoping to sort through everything this weekend, so until then things will be a bit out of order.

Our first scheduled tour today was of the Globe Theatre. Or at least the replication of the Globe. It is amazing how much they've been able to put together based on the history they've uncovered. Always a fascinating tour. 

This shot shows the open roof.

They were setting up the set for Romeo and Juliet during our tour.

And this is the outside of the theatre.

After the play we had a two hour break to eat and do whatever so we just relaxed out in the sun on the Thames.

 

After our break we walked over to Trafalgar Square and had a Blue Badge tour of the National Gallery. After a couple of hours of that we went over to the National Portrait Gallery where my group in my Shakespeare class gave a presentation of a portrait of Henry VIII. Our group was the first to present - the other groups will be staggered throughout the trip - and it wasn't fantastic but I'm glad we have it out of the way.

Now begins the series of Trafalgar Square photos. Apparently there are these big lions that rest at the foot of the iconic statue of Trafalgar Square that people always climb all over. The boys attempted this....

The lions turned out to be a little more awkward than they expected to climb. This is Alex flinging himself up the lion's bum. They tried it several times, nearly all of the attempts ending with them slowly sliding back down the lion's butt. A twelve year old kid eventually had to show them how to get up there. It was the epitome of the word dignity let me tell you. 

They eventually made it. I thought Alex (on top of the lion's head) looked especially triumphant. Erin, Amanda and I were laughing hysterically the whole time. They were actually so ridiculous that a guy making a tourist film came up and asked them to be in their film. 

And here's a bonus pics for the parents. Here we are sitting on the lawn in front of the national gallery. The girl in the red is part of our group and taking a nap. So I just wanted you to know I'm doing well and having a great time!

Site currently under construction.

Or perhaps a makeover.

...Or none of the above. Basically I wanted to let my followers ::ahem, Kelsey:: know that this will soon become my travel blog. I'm debating if I should advertise it to those wanting to know about my travels or selfishly keep it to myself...... and kelsey. Because after this is all said and done I do kind of want to go back to using it as a sort of personal journal. 

Who am I kidding? I'll probably cave and sell out. What are travels for except to share them with the people I wish more than anything could be there with me? Plus, let's face it. I like the attention.

But yeah, future travel blog. End.

"Oh effulgent relativity!"

effulgent |iˈfoŏljənt; iˈfəl-|adjective poetic/literary shining brightly; radiant.• (of a person or their expression) emanating joy or goodness.

Just one of my new favorite words. I rock at blogging I must say.

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These are the quotes I had to choose from to write my take home portion of my final for post-modernism. The prompt was to write  about how one of these quotes either does or does not reflect literature after 1945.

1. ... the past runs like water through my hands

2. Does not everything depend on our interpretation of the silence around us?

3. I don't know if this is a happy ending but here we are let loose in open fields.

4. I would try to return home.

I thought they were all lovely. Although I have no idea what I would write about with the last one. I suppose it leaves a little more room for interpretation than the others but they're all wildly open so it doesn't really matter. All of these quotes are the very last sentence - or at least part of the very last sentence - of a book we have read in class. I find that interesting looking at question 3. Either way, they remind me of how much I loved the books I read this semester and just how beautiful they all are.