I spent the past week doing all sorts of random things. I visited many museums - The Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and British Museum. The museums here are amazing and my favorite so far is the British. It is mostly ancient art and has sculptures from the Parthenon and other Greek and Roman temples. It also has a huge Egyptian exhibit and houses the Rosetta Stone. I'm going to try to make it back soon to see the exhibits I missed. I have studied most of the pieces in my art history class I took last spring at Madison. I am so glad I took that class and am looking into taking another one.
One of my friends visited this week on a spring break trip hosted by the naval academy. I hung out with him a lot and also with the rest of his program. They were all a lot of fun. We mostly went out to dinner and to pubs every night. Tuesday, he took me along to see Wicked. It was great, but a little strange to hear the characters speaking in British accents. Friday, I gave them a tour of Parliament and then went with them to Cambridge to see some of the schools. We didn't do a whole lot, but it was beautiful.
At work, I got to sit in on a House of Commons debate that my MP was speaking in. It was held in Westminster Hall, which is a room similar to the House of Commons chamber. My MP was speaking about audio description, which describes what is happening in tv shows and movies so visually impaired people can enjoy the same thing. While it was pretty boring, it was cool to sit in the room while this was happening.
Today, I spent most of the day relaxing on our balcony doing homework and enjoying the beautiful spring weather we have here in London right now. Tomorrow I hope to walk around London and go to some more museums or something. That is all that is new in London.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Beautiful Day
It is beautiful out in London today. The sun is shining and it really feels like Spring. I am about to go get dressed so I can go and enjoy it instead of staying inside working on homework...
Friday, March 13, 2009
Paris
I spent the first weekend of March in Paris! A few of my friends on the program came with and we had a great time overall. We took the train out of London Friday morning and got to Paris around noon. We got a bus tour of the city which was a great way to get familiar with the city. We stayed in a hotel just outside the main city and it was reasonably nice. I had the strangest roommate (she was one of the weirdos that I had to deal with on the Jane Austen book club weekend too). That night, two of my friends in my building, Liz and Vanessa, and I went walking down Champs Elysees up to the Arc de triomphe. We then made our way over to the Eiffel Tower and watched it light up. Seeing the Eiffel Tower was what made me feel as though I was really in France.
The next day, the three of us climbed the Tower. It was harder than I imagined. It was fun going all the way to the top, but it really wasn't anything special. However, I am glad I did it. I would have regretted being in Paris and not climbing the Tower.
We then walked along the Seine to the Louvre. We ate lunch at a cafe in the garden across the street where we got delicious sandwiches. I didn't think the bread would really be that good there like everyone says, but it was. We lived on sandwiches and crepes all weekend and everyone of them was delicious. I would get croque monsieurs which are basically toasted ham and cheese with about a pound of cheese melted on top. Needless to say, I was in heaven. Crepe stands were seriously every 2 feet along the streets so we had a lot of those as well. The only draw back was that the food was ridiculously expensive no matter where we went.
We didn't spend too much time in the Louvre and just went to see a few things that we wanted - The Mona Lisa (of course), Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo. For the most part, I was impressed with the Louvre. I had heard a lot of negative opinions on the museum, but I had a great time. There was just too much to see and not enough time to see it. They said that if you spent 40 seconds at each item in the museum, it would take you 4 months to see everything. I am not sure if that is completely true, but after seeing a few exhibits, I don't doubt it.
We then walked over to Notre Dame. That was my favorite site in Paris! Ever since, we have been looking for the Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame dvd here to watch. Walking inside was beautiful! We climbed up to the bell tower the next day. After visiting, I plan on reading Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame.
A block from Notre Dame is Saint Chapelle, a beautiful cathedral with all the walls being stained glass windows. It was really impressive to see.
We also hiked up Montmarte, a hill with Sacre Coeur Basilica on the top. I sound redundant when I say that that basilica was impressive as well, but it was! There was a service going on when we were walking through with the nun's singing. It was very beautiful.
Sunday, we climbed up the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame. It rained so we were cold and wet (and exhausted from our weekend of climbing stairs - Eiffel Tower, Arc, Notre Dame, Montmarte - I got a great workout) We then spent the afternoon in Musee d'Orsay and looked at Monet, Van Gogh, and Degas paintings. That museum was my favorite.
We had to go see the Moulin Rouge. It was in the scummiest of areas. The entire street it was on was filled with sex shops and strip clubs. It was pretty disgusting.
For the most part, I enjoyed the weekend in Paris. However, the city was very dirty and smelly. The big tourist attractions were clean, but everywhere else (especially the metro) smelled like eggs to me. The people lived up to their French reputation as well - very rude. The workers at tourist attractions were pleasant, but again, everyone else was they stereotypical French citizen. One man walked up to us and yelled at us for speaking English. I wanted to yell back something about how they would probably be speaking German right now if it wasn't for our country, but I bit my tongue.
I am happy that I went to Paris. Overall, I had a great time, however, I would never spend more than a weekend there. I saw everything I wanted to see and more and have no desire to go back.
Invalides - Where Napoleon is buried
Royal Opera House - The opera house that the Phantom of the Opera is based on
The next day, the three of us climbed the Tower. It was harder than I imagined. It was fun going all the way to the top, but it really wasn't anything special. However, I am glad I did it. I would have regretted being in Paris and not climbing the Tower.
We then walked along the Seine to the Louvre. We ate lunch at a cafe in the garden across the street where we got delicious sandwiches. I didn't think the bread would really be that good there like everyone says, but it was. We lived on sandwiches and crepes all weekend and everyone of them was delicious. I would get croque monsieurs which are basically toasted ham and cheese with about a pound of cheese melted on top. Needless to say, I was in heaven. Crepe stands were seriously every 2 feet along the streets so we had a lot of those as well. The only draw back was that the food was ridiculously expensive no matter where we went.We didn't spend too much time in the Louvre and just went to see a few things that we wanted - The Mona Lisa (of course), Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo. For the most part, I was impressed with the Louvre. I had heard a lot of negative opinions on the museum, but I had a great time. There was just too much to see and not enough time to see it. They said that if you spent 40 seconds at each item in the museum, it would take you 4 months to see everything. I am not sure if that is completely true, but after seeing a few exhibits, I don't doubt it.
We then walked over to Notre Dame. That was my favorite site in Paris! Ever since, we have been looking for the Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame dvd here to watch. Walking inside was beautiful! We climbed up to the bell tower the next day. After visiting, I plan on reading Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame.
A block from Notre Dame is Saint Chapelle, a beautiful cathedral with all the walls being stained glass windows. It was really impressive to see.We also hiked up Montmarte, a hill with Sacre Coeur Basilica on the top. I sound redundant when I say that that basilica was impressive as well, but it was! There was a service going on when we were walking through with the nun's singing. It was very beautiful.Sunday, we climbed up the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame. It rained so we were cold and wet (and exhausted from our weekend of climbing stairs - Eiffel Tower, Arc, Notre Dame, Montmarte - I got a great workout) We then spent the afternoon in Musee d'Orsay and looked at Monet, Van Gogh, and Degas paintings. That museum was my favorite.We had to go see the Moulin Rouge. It was in the scummiest of areas. The entire street it was on was filled with sex shops and strip clubs. It was pretty disgusting.For the most part, I enjoyed the weekend in Paris. However, the city was very dirty and smelly. The big tourist attractions were clean, but everywhere else (especially the metro) smelled like eggs to me. The people lived up to their French reputation as well - very rude. The workers at tourist attractions were pleasant, but again, everyone else was they stereotypical French citizen. One man walked up to us and yelled at us for speaking English. I wanted to yell back something about how they would probably be speaking German right now if it wasn't for our country, but I bit my tongue.I am happy that I went to Paris. Overall, I had a great time, however, I would never spend more than a weekend there. I saw everything I wanted to see and more and have no desire to go back.
Invalides - Where Napoleon is buried
Royal Opera House - The opera house that the Phantom of the Opera is based on
Monday, March 2, 2009
Jane Austen Weekend
Saturday to Sunday, my program was sponsoring an overnight trip for a Jane Austen book club they had. Earlier that week, I got an email saying that there were a few extra spots open for non-club members and since I had nothing planned this weekend, I decided to take it.
We left Saturday morning on a Coach and traveled to Wincester. There we had free time to explore the town and then got a tour of Wincester Cathedral, where Jane Austen is buried. The cathedral was beautiful and is one of the largest medieval cathedrals in Europe. Wincester used to be a very important city in England when the Norms came over around the 11th century. There are (or were) 4 castles from those kings in the town as well as some kings were crowned in the cathedral.
After that, we took a 15 minute coach ride to Chawton, just outside of Hampshire, and toured Jane Austen's house. It was very small and very plain. The highlight was seeing her original writing table that they had on display.
Then, we drove to Bath. On the way, we passed Stonehenge. It is not what I expected at all. I might take a trip down to see it in person one of these days, but if I don't make it, I at least drove by it.
We got to Bath right as all the shops and attractions were closing so I just walked around the city for a while that night, before going to sleep at the YMCA. (YMCA's are nothing like the ones at home. This was a great hostel)
Bath is an ancient Roman city and is where the Roman baths were located (hence the name). There is a mineral spring there that the Roman's believed was sacred. There are ruins of the ancient bath houses below the city which I got to go see.
Sunday morning, we went on a walking tour of Bath. Since it was a Jane Austen weekend, the tour was of course Jane Austen related. Jane lived for a while in the city as well as two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, take place in Bath. It was a good tour and I saw a lot. Afterwards, I visited the Baths.
More flowers!The weekend was fun, but I can't say the same for the people who went on it.
Spring is almost here!
The weather on Friday was absolutely beautiful. It was warm with clear skies so we got to say hello to the sun. A few of us walked around Westminster and then spent some time touring the Churchill War Rooms, where Churchill and his cabinet spent WWII. Afterwards, we walked through Green Park to Buckingham Palace. We didn't want to stay inside on such a nice day. Spring is on its way to London! Flowers are already blooming.
That night, I went with Sharday, a flatmate, to a roller disco. It was basically a roller rink/club. I had a great time even though the rink was tiny.
Wine and Cheese Night
Thursday night, Brenden (our GR, or our RA who lives in our building) hosted a wine and cheese tasting night in his flat. He bought a few different kinds of English wine along with English cheese for us all to try. If Wisconsin cheese were to battle English cheese, I think we know who would win. They have a cheese called red leicester which is similar to cheddar which isn't half bad. All in all, the night was very fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
