Part I: Study Abroad in London - London, United Kingdom
London, United Kingdom
Where I stayed
FSU Study-Center
Travel Journal
FSU Study-Abroad Program
London, England
7/7/13
The last three days have been a whirlwind. I left Lake Chautauqua for Buffalo-Niagara International, flew to Philadelphia, and then to London-Heathrow. I arrived at Heathrow on Friday (7/5/13) with time to spare, but FSU was nowhere to be found. I ended up wandering the terminal until I decided to call the study center, which relayed that I was in the wrong terminal (despite their explicit written instructions). I met with our Program Assistant, Shauna, and chatted for a while until we found the rest of the 4 people that were meeting. At this point, we had to wait for the bus, which was late, due to a British law that says bus drivers must take a 45 minute break every 4.5 hours. After travelling almost 24 hours, I was ready to be on the bus. Unfortunately, it was an hour long ride to the study center.
Upon my arrival at the study center, I was given my keys and informed of a welcome orientation session that would be occurring in 10 minutes. I quickly dropped my things off at my flat and headed down to the basement of the study center which houses a small lecture hall. The orientation session was little more interesting than could be expected, despite the humor the program director employed; I was just too exhausted to care.
The flat I was assigned was in the building 102, adjacent to the study center, and connected via the basement. A dizzying array of stairs lead up to Flat 11 where I was staying. It must have been around the third story, but as the building is over 300 years old, and the stairs leant no distinguishable pattern, I could not tell. The flat is very nice. Two rooms, one bedroom with three beds, and a common area with a full kitchen, bathroom, couches, and a modern flat screen. The flat could even be called luxurious in most aspects aside the bathroom. I am very comfortable.
I have been communicating with Millie and my family back home using an app called Viber. It is a free VOIP application that uses wifi and is proving very handy. I was concerned about its function and the strength of wifi service in my flat, but so far, the call quality is fantastic, and the wifi is even good enough to have FaceTime calls on. It is good to hear from my family and to see Millie's face. Homesickness has not set in, but I would be damned to say that it isn't difficult being away from my loved ones.
My roommates did not arrive until around 1 am that night, as I was already sleeping. Apparently their flight from Jacksonville got delayed 12 hours due to mechanical issues (pleasant to hear prior to a 7 hour trans-Atlantic flight I'm sure). I awoke to light conversation between them and our PA, rose to greet them, and subsequently fell into another coma.
The next morning (7/6/13) I had my first chance to meet Fari and Michael. Both are very pleasant folks and I was happy to have some company in the flat. We awoke at 8 30 for our 9am orientation session, which didn't invoke much attention. A large group of 15 or so went out to lunch and I had my first British pub experience, where I ate a fish stick sandwich and "chips" (fries). I tried my first British beer, Doonbar, as well, although I was not fond of the taste, or the "cellar" temperature.
The group then reconvened at the lecture hall to have an alcohol awareness briefing. This went much faster than expected as was relatively un-painful. Fari, Michael, and I then walked around our neighborhood and took in our surroundings. We visited Green Park, Hyde Park, and Buckingham Palace. On the way to these locations, we stopped at the Picadilly Market, which houses some very unique artistic jewelry and paintings, among others. I hope to return to the market and explore more. My first Tube excursion took place after walking to these places, and I was excited to be on it. After exploring, I must say I find London to be a beautiful city, and the study center is located in a very up-and-up part of town called Bloomsbury. This area houses million pound flats apparently. I will enjoy staying here.
That afternoon we had a walking tour of the area to familiarize ourselves with where we would be shopping, buying groceries, converting currency, etc. The trip led us to an area of London called Soho that is interesting. It reminds me of Gaines Street in Tallahassee, complete with hipsters on fixed gear bicycles. Relaxing in the park, most Britons had a beer or more with them and appeared to be enjoying the beautiful weather, which up to this point, has been 75-80 degrees F and sunny. They are calling it "historic" weather even. The weather forecast continues to look impressive, with the next 10 days showing 0% chance of rain. Needless to say, my rain jacket is not seeing as much action as anticipated.
At night my roommates and I went around looking for a pub to drink at. Soho was very busy and we didn't really find anything that appealed to us. After stopping in a cocktail bar, and subsequently leaving due to the lack of beer, we stopped at the White Hart pub and had a couple beers. Here I tried Grolsch and Bitter and Twisted brews. Both were satisfying, but the latter was much lighter than the former and I enjoyed the former much more. Grolsch had a pretty similar taste to Budweiser. The two drinks cost me 9 pounds, and I still haven't figured out whether tipping is customary or not here, so I have been obliging.
On Sunday (7/7/13) I awoke at 8 for a bus tour around London, sponsored by FSU. I was excited to start getting my site-seeing in. I enjoyed a lot of what the tour guide was discussing regarding the history of the area, and had a good time on the tour. I will return to these areas in a smaller group with which I can explore in depth and will have already taken the necessary pictures for my future musings. On the tour we drove most of the time, through the shopping corridor of Picadilly Avenue, to the Financial district, around to the government sector which houses Parliament, Big Ben, etc, and then to St. Paul's Cathedral. This was my first sighting of the River Thames, the London Eye, the Towers of London, and the aforementioned areas above.
After the three hour bus tour ended, I rested, ate, and decided to go on a run. It was my first run in over a month, as I have been inundated with responsibilities prior to leaving Tallahassee, primarily being moving out of my apartment into Dave and Brendan's. I have no excuse for not exercising in New York, as I was either working on the property, on the boats, or taking a part of leisure activities and drinking the entire time (not a hard life at all!). I started the run at a fast pace, and found a map which lead me to the River Thames. After getting slightly turned around (this will be a common occurrence) I made it to a pedestrian bridge and crossed the river. It was at this point I realized my GPS was not working and became thoroughly disappointed, as I wanted to post my "track" on Matt's facebook wall so that he could live the experience as well. However, I pressed on, running down the riverside, which was far too crowded to be an acceptable running area. I crossed back over the pedestrian bridge and proceeded to get thoroughly lost in the heart of London, per my expectation of the event. I passed several note-worthy areas such as Big Ben, the Eye of London, the River Thames, Trafalgar Square, St. John's Park, St. John's Palace (?), and into Soho where I became even more thoroughly confused. At the end of my run, I determined with Google Earth I ran over 5 miles with a final time of over an hour. I am counting it as the second best run I have ever had, with Kenya's Maasai Mara run coming in first.
My roommates and I then rented bicycles from the station outside our flat. For 2 pounds you could rent a bike for a day, and then they charged you for every half hour. We rode to Hyde Park which we were not able to fully explore, and had several close calls with busses. Apparently all bicycle traffic must be in the road, and British drivers are crazy. Several times I or one of my colleagues got too close to a curb and had a bus side practically scraping our faces. It took some time to be more aggressive with the traffic so that we didn't get run off the road.
For dinner we walked to a local hamburger joint that housed some very fine burgers. The burgers themselves were cheap, and delicious, even by American standards, but the add-ons like fries and drinks were expensive, and the soda was non-refillable. The conversion rate over here is ******* the wallet. At this time, the pound-to-dollar ratio is 0.63 to $1, while everything in the city costs equally as much denominationally as in America. But, in the words of Trevor Stohr, "spend as much as you can, because you will make it up later, but never have this experience again." This is proving to be tough, yet much needed advice as I begin living in this city.
7/8/13
Today was the start of our classes here in London. I am taking International Entrepreneurship with Dr. Dever, who is also the lead professor for the Entrepreneurship major, and I'm taking Photography for Non-Majors. I had heard about how relaxed Dever's course was from my cohorts, and was pretty confident that there wouldn't be much work. I was unsure about the photography course, as these SLR's can get really technical. However, most study-abroad classes are easier than on the main campus, so I wasn't worried.
Dever's class started at 9:30 am, and we met out front of the building. We then proceeded to a coffee shop called Costa where Dr. Dever treated us all with a drink of choice. I ordered an Americano, medium. When it came out, I was astonished by its size! It looked like a small cereal bowl full of coffee. Dever immediately looked at me staring at my enormous coffee and said, "why didn't you order the small?" The class of 8 all sat around a table together as Dever discussed the semester, discussed how entrepreneurs think, among some other off topic things. All said, we spent over two hours of our 3.5 hour class at Costas. Needless to say, I finished my coffee, and was wired the rest of the morning...
I had an hour break in between classes, which I used to talk to Millie and eat the rest of the food in my pantry. After the break, I attended my photography class. The teacher is a first-timer in London which was slightly disappointing as she does not have any intimate knowledge of the local community, but she seems to be knowledgeable nonetheless. A short thirty minutes later and we were out of class, and I had my first project assigned, due Wednesday. I am certainly going to have to find time to fit this project in, as I will be visiting Dover tomorrow.
I spent my afternoon walking around London attempting to buy a prepaid sim card for my phone. Three stores, and over an hour later, I still had nothing to show for my attempt. Apparently ATT makes unlocking your iPhone about as difficult as possible (surprised?). Instead, I converted some dollars to pounds - a depressing event, as my $220 became 141.90 pounds - and went again to the grocery, this time picking up the orange juice that I have been so horridly missing.
After my excursion, the study abroad program went on a trip to see a play called Billy Elliot. I was worried about how interested I would be in the play, as it is a musical, which I usually loathe. We took the Tube to the theatre, and despite losing much of our group, arrived on time. The Victorian Theatre housed the play, and I was impressed by the building. It appeared to be older, definitely 19th century, with a stone construction. I searched for my seat which I was told was in the Grand Circle, located at the upper deck of the theatre. The seats were pretty good, but there was a railing blocking part of my view of the stage.
The play itself was actually pretty interesting. The choreography of the dance combined with the musical number - written by Elton John - and the plot made an interesting, yet slightly sad show. The play is about a young boy who has lost his mother, working to become a ballet dancer. I was impressed by the music particularly, and the theatre had an extremely respectable sound system and fantastic tuning from the sound technicians. The singing was mostly clear, and the bass was pronounced and deep; adding to the vigor of the show. Despite the waterworks in the crowd, I left the theatre with a newfound perspective on Theatre, and may even decide to see another play.
7/9/13
Today was the Dover trip day. We met in front of the building at 8:30 and departed. We took 3 motor coaches for our approximately 70 member trip. I elected to read a newspaper for most of the hour and a half drive. We went through a lot of the English countryside, which was very beautiful. The terrain was similar to that of Chautauqua County but much hillier.
As we approached Dover, our Program Director gave us some of the history of The White Cliffs of Dover, and told us that it is what many Britons regard as their national symbol, much like our Statue of Liberty. Apparently during WWII, many British soldiers were forced to retreat out of France. This sparked an emergency situation as the government was not prepared to exfil all the soldiers. They called upon any volunteer citizens who had boats to rescue the soldiers and transport them back to Britain. This operation was called Operation Dynamo. Dover was the closest town to the French border, and therefore the White Cliffs of Dover was the first thing that the returning soldiers, who were sure they would be captured and likely killed by the German military, saw. The Cliffs became a source of national identity.
Once we arrived at Dover, we drove around the seaside town to take in some of the sights. There is a mid-size port there, which liners use to transport containers, other commodities, and cars across the English Channel. The area was older, and the buildings were not as up kept as those found in the wealthier London. The area almost reminded me of Buffalo, New York.
The coach dropped us off in front of Dover Castle, where the first part of our day was to be held. The castle was a beautiful sight to behold. The castle itself bordered two distinct regions; on one side, the English countryside, and the other, the English Channel and a bustling port. Inside the castle, there were renovations and additions to the structure that ranged from 1000 AD, all the way up to the Cold War. Some of these changes were apparent, as in the modern tunnels, and others that were less noticeable such as the wear on the stones that can only come with weathering.
First I toured the medieval part of the castle. This part was the oldest part, and was complete with King's Chambers, a moat, drawbridge, and breaks in the castle walls for arrows to be shot through. I can't confirm this is true or not, but I suspect that I even saw openings several stories up that may have been used to pour boiling oil on intruding soldiers. Apparently this castle has never been taken in its 900+ year existence, although the British apparently were forced to retreat from the castle during a battle against the French (of all nations!).
The next part was more interesting to me; I surveyed the WWI, WWII, and Cold War uses of the castle. In WWI, the grounds were used to construct a Fire Command post which the military would spot approaching ships, planes, and friendlies from. Apparently, German artillery was able to fire over 30 miles and hit the coast. Dog fights frequently happened over the channel as well, and it was vital to pull surviving pilots from the water and put them back in a plane, as pilots were extremely limited.
The shallowest tunnel was dug during WWII to act as an underground hospital. The tunnel itself was at most 8 feet tall, and apparently there is over 5 kilometers of tunnel there. The next deepest was also for WWII and this acted as the command center for Operation Dynamo. I was not able to see this tunnel, but expect it to be similar to the hospital, but with meeting rooms instead of wards. The deepest tunnel, and most recent, was constructed during the Cold War. Codenamed Dumpy, it acted as a Regional Seat of Government, in the case that a nuclear disaster destroyed the government body.
After around 3 and a half hours at the castle, we met back at the bus and drove to Margate. Margate is a seaside town with a small beach adjacent. After losing the group almost immediately, I went off to explore on my own. First I walked down the beach, picking up a few interesting stones along the way, and then back to the town to eat. After finding a pub in the heart of town, away from the tourists, I ordered a beer (Foster's) and fish and chips. They actually had two kinds of fish, and I recall I ordered some sort of Cod. The meal was delicious, and another beer later, I was ready to leave. However, as soon as I paid my tab, a gentleman rolled in and started talking to me. There were a few other people at the bar, but none seemed interested in speaking to the quiet American, so this gentleman was a welcome addition to my afternoon. We spoke for around an hour and a half about politics, economics, and the 60's. Apparently this fellow was a "peace-loving hippie" and dropped a lot of acid in the 60's which explained a lot of his eccentricness, plus he had apparently already been drinking before coming to this pub. I enjoyed my conversation with him, and two beers (Stella and Courage) later, made my leave back to London.
7/10/13
Today is my birthday. I almost forgot about it, and probably would have, without Millie reminding me the night prior. The day was mostly uneventful. However, for Dever's class, we went to Fortnum & Mason's; essentially a department store for the wealthy. F&M had some of the most fantastic displays I have ever seen. All the items were in perfect order, and everything looked delicious. The store spanned five stories, with the bottom two selling groceries, and the top three selling home goods, goods for women, and goods for men. We were able to sample some of the ham there, which apparently came from a very rare white pig that was then air-dried cured for 12 months. It was by far the most delicious ham I have ever eaten. We also sampled some venison salami from Ireland that was equally delicious. I would have bought some if not for the price of 14 pounds per 100 grams! F&M also had departments that dealt exclusively in chocolate, tea, coffee, sweets, alcohol, wine, and more. After our tour, I ordered a King's Blend coffee, which is definitely the best coffee I have ever had the pleasure to drink. I will be sure to bring back a bag if it is legal to do so.
Tonight will be my first pub crawl!
7/11/13
My birthday went very well. We started the night by having a few beers in the flat and getting to know each other a little better. Then we met a group of people at Centre Point tower and went up to the 32nd floor where there is a rooftop restaurant called Paramount. The views were amazing! It was extremely cool to see how the skyline looked from that high up. We were able to locate our study center and a lot of the streets that we have been traveling recently. I had a nice Woodford Reserve whiskey on the rocks to celebrate my birthday.Next we went to a local pub called The Court. It had a good atmosphere and a lot of different beer on tap. Some of the group bought me drinks, and I ended up going home feeling well.
The following morning we went to Bill's Restaurant with Dr. Dever. The company has apparently added something like 13 restaurants in 18 months. We met up with a man named Scott Buckle who was the Operations Manager for a district of about 7 restaurants. He talked to us for around two hours about operating a business that was experiencing explosive growth. I learned a lot about how to treat customers and heard some interesting different perspectives regarding tip share and the tipping of employees. Scott essentially believes that tips lead to selfishness and that tip share enhances teamwork. The more senior members receive a larger portion of the tip share to entice them into working for more responsibility. Scott left us with a cookbook for each of us, and a lot learned.
In the evening, I started by doing laundry, which unfortunately took 2 hours! What was more frustrating was the fact that I had to stay back while my flatmates went out. I finally finished laundry and found them not far down the street at a bar across the British Museum. I had a Brian's Gold which was a very smooth Pale Ale. Unfortunately, the pubs here close no later than 12. The clubs typically stay open longer, but there aren't any in the area, and I haven't had the opportunity to visit one yet.
7/12/13
Today was my first day off in a couple days, which was much needed. I was able to sleep in until 11 and finally feel refreshed. I woke up, and went for a run at around 1130. I decided that I wanted to run to the Embankment, where I went last time, but stay on the East side since there wouldn't be as many tourists today. After the first couple of miles, I spotted The Shard, and decided that I had to run to it. The Shard is the tallest building in Western Europe. It was a pretty far run, and I ended up running my personal best of 7 miles. Unfortunately, I thought I had run closer to 12! My GPS tracking app on my phone freaked out towards the Thames and ended up telling me I ran 14.7 miles, which I confirmed later on Google Earth to really be around 7 miles.
After my run, I ate lunch and went to a street fair at Camden Town. The street fair ended up being pretty interesting. At first it was mostly gimmicky street vendors, but once we got to Camden Lock, there were a lot of unique vendors. Michael and Fadi played table pong versus a machine that spat ping pong balls out for 60 seconds, and the goal was to hit as many on table as possible. I ended up buying a wooden iphone case with a compass on the back. However, later I found that the case was not as unique as I thought, but still very cool. We walked around for a few hours and then headed back to the flat, where we relaxed and drank some more beer.
7/13/13
Our tour of Parliament took place today. Parliament is located in the Palace of Westminster, and is made of the House of Lord, and House of Commons.These two bodies, along with the monarchy, are responsible for making and approving all the laws of the United Kingdom. From what I understand, the Queen has very little to do with how the government is actually run. She does have some power however, as every bill must be penned with her signature. It is exceedingly rare that the monarchy would veto a bill, and it has not done so since 1707.
The tour started with the checking of our tickets (another program-included item, courtesy of FSU) and security. We were all surprised that we would have to pass through security, as it had not dawned on us yet that Westminster is an active military building. Security was fairly scrutinizing; everyone was hand-searched for weapons. Post-security, we convened inside the oldest part of the building, Westminster Hall. This part was apparently one of the few surviving areas of a fire that burned most of the Palace in the 1800's. The Hall dates all the way back to 1097.
Unfortunately, past the Hall, we were unable to take and pictures. We were taken first through the royal robing chambers, where the Queen fancies up once a year in preparation for her reading of the Queen's Speech. Next, we were shown the Royal Gallery and Prince's Chamber. The former used primarily as a meeting place for Lords, but contemporarily used to view the royal procession at the State Openings of Parliament. The latter features dozens of oil paintings adorning the Tudor Dynasty. We then moved onto the Lords Chamber, also located in the ornate section of the building along with the Royal areas. There were beautiful frescoes, painted in the middle 1800's, exquisite painted ceilings, and intricate detailing throughout the wing.
The House of Commons has a very different atmosphere about it. As the non-royalty section of Parliament, this wing does not benefit from the adorning of paintings and gold leaflet on the walls. Instead, the decoration is mostly painted wood however, this area still has an air of professionalism accompanying it. The member's lobby is flanked by four statues of former Prime Ministers, the two most notable being Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher.
The English Parliamentary system is fairly similar to our democratic system, but with the Monarchy being somewhat intertwined. This being said, there are huge differences in how they go about choosing their members, and voting on and amending bills. For example, the House of Lords is divided into two parts, the Lords Spiritual, and the Lords Temporal, the latter being appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Lords Spiritual are composed of the senior bishops of the Church of England. The House of Commons are all elected by the people. The monarch is advised by the outgoing Prime Minister as to whom she should offer the position next.
Some quirky things that we learned about include their voting practices. First, if an issue requires a vote, the speaker calls upon all those in favor who yell "content!" or "not content!" Then, if a distinguishable difference is not heard, each member goes into two separate rooms which indicate their vote. The members' bodies are then counted as they slowly leave the room. Another quirk is how the members of the House of Commons must get permission from the Speaker to address the Chamber. In order to do this, they must catch the eye of the Speaker, which they do by bouncing up and down, like a child that has to pee very badly. Finally, the members of the House of Commons are not allowed to directly say the word "you" in reference to a particular person, or use any specific person's name. They must also refrain from any slandering of colleagues and cannot call each other liars (some civility which would be nice to see adopted in our system!).
During the afternoon we relaxed. A friend by the name of Will told me a few days prior about an electronic artist by the name of Zedd that was coming to town. I've heard some of his music, and as a fan of the genre, was very interested in going. The events surrounded the entirety of the night were somewhat chaotic, as everything that could be made difficult was. First we had difficulty buying tickets. As I was attempting to pay for Will and my tickets online, the website told us that the tickets were no longer available for pre-sale, but could still be purchased at the door. This was disappointing to us, but we were still fairly sure that we could get in. We convinced my roommates and a couple of my neighbors to join us, as it was surely to be a fantastic experience. Londoner's do love them some House music, and the venue, the Ministry of Sound, is one of London's premiere venues.
We next bought beer and started preparing for the show. We met up with some girls one of the flats below us and got ready to head out. Unfortunately, it was a rather large group, and despite much coercion, we were not able to get the entire group out the door at the same time. We took the Tube to the show, but had some more issues along the way. The Northern Line was closed and we had to take a detour. Thankfully the signage for the Tube is good and we got to the correct station with only a minor hiccup.
We left the station and turned the corner to the Ministry of Sound. The line was wrapped around the building! We heard from a fellow patron that it was a 2 hour line. God be with us. We waited pretty close to 2 hours for entry to the venue, and upon our entrance, the bouncer redirected all of my group minus myself out of the line! Apparently there was a "smart" dress code that was supposed to be in place, and I guess my khakis and solid blue shirt were close enough, while my friend's clothes were not. I felt guilty being selected and going in by myself, but I knew I would regret not going if I stayed behind.
Almost immediately upon entering I became pleased with my decision. I got in for 20 pounds with my student discount card and headed to the first room. It was a small room, probably the size of a two or two and a half car garage, but had a fantastic DJ in the booth, and he was just one of the scrub artists! I went back to the main room which was bigger, but still not nearly the size I expected. I'd estimate it held in the range of 750 people. Four separate installations of speakers in each corner, each outfitted with three massive sub boxes (I couldn't tell how many actual subs) and three equally massive sound towers, powered the room. The sound was incredible and the bass was at a perfect level, unlike the last show I went to where the bass actually made my chest hurt (Excision).
Vicetone were the first artists I saw on the main stage. They are a duo from The Netherlands. Their hour-long set was fantastic. I could have left the show then and still been happy. Before I realized it though, Zedd was on. I don't even think that there was an intermission between the two artists. It was probably 3:30am at this point, but I didn't care anyway, I was in it for the long haul. Zedd played a two hour set and even had Flux Pavilion come on and play a short 20 minute set with him. Both are incredible artists and I was extremely happy to had the opportunity to experience London House.
I got out of the show at 5:30, at which point I attempted to determine exactly where I was. I knew that the Ministry of Sound was south of the Thames, but I couldn't get a read on if it was walking distance back or not. The sun was already out, but I still couldn't see any of my landmarks on the horizon. I proceeded to a bus station where I found the correct route, but took the bus about 15 to 20 minutes in the wrong direction. I had asked for confirmation about my direction to some patrons of the bus, but they must not have understood that I wanted to cross the Thames to the north, not go to Thamesmeade. It wasn't until I saw The Shard, far off in the horizon, that I realized my mistake. I exited the bus at the next stop. I was in East London, not the nicest part of town, and completely lost; exhausted, with a dead cell phone, a hangover creeping on, and a frustration already ensuing over my inability to correctly read the bus maps. It was one of those uncomfortable situations that you have to keep from losing your head, and I was trying hard not to. I finally figured out that I did indeed take the correct bus route and found out which station to be at, but still couldn't find it. Half an hour of walking in circles later, I finally came across Bus Station Q (I still have not forgotten the station or the route number) and took N1 back to Tottenham Court, and walked home, arriving back at the flat at 7:30am.
There were some major differences between what I experienced at Ministry of Sound and the Dubstep scene back in the US. Everyone in the venue, at least from my limited exposure, had a classier air about them. It wasn't a classy event, but I didn't see any neon shirts and no LED gloves, or novelty items. There weren't people struggling to stay conscious and clinging to a wall or being extremely aggressive and pushing hard in the crowd. That change is definitely one of the things that made my experience such a positive one. I have yet to go to a truly respectable US House club, so I can't say for certain that my experience in the states is indicative of the culture, but I suspect that to a certain degree it is. I hope that the US eventually starts to emulate London House venues, as the current culture is certainly not a welcome environment for anyone not wishing to be plastered drunk or hopped up on pills.
7/16/13
Monday I went back to class. In Dr. Dever's class we went to a Start-up Convention near Trafalgar Square. We talked to start-up entrepreneurs about their businesses and also mentors who were interested in helping out fledgling companies. I talked to a few people, one of which owned a bed and breakfast, one who owned a marketing company, an account representative, and a translation service. I enjoyed hearing their stories, but wish I had more to discuss regarding my future business plans.
That night we planned a trip to Berlin, Germany. We are flying on EasyJet, from Luton airport in London. The plane was more than I thought it would be; the roundtrip ticket was $300, but the trip will be worth it. We have already planned some interesting things to do like a tour around the city and a pub crawl. On my to do list is to see the Holocaust museum and the remainder of the Berlin wall. I would also like to tour a brewery and ride through the city on bike if we have time. We will be leaving Friday the 26th and returning Sunday the 28th.
Tuesday, one of our free days, was reserved for an optional trip to see Shakespeare's Globe. It is not the original Globe, as this burned down in the 1600's, but a very accurate recreation that was completed in 1997. I had learned a decent amount about The Globe in high school, and was interested in seeing the recreation in person. The Globe was surrounded by a modern building that housed the administrative functions and the ticket office. The actual theatre was from the Victorian era, and featured wood construction and a thatched roof; apparently the only thatched roof in London since the Great Fire.
We were offered tickets to a Shakespeare play called Midsummer Night's Dream. Many of the students in the program elected not to attend as The Globe is a circle with an open roof, and with the heat wave, was too hot to watch a three hour play in. I debated staying or going, but in the end I decided to stay in order to take in the experience. I ended up staying half an hour, at which point I was too hot and hungry to stay any longer, despite the good quality of the acting. Shakespeare has never really been that interesting to me.
I also had another first experience that night. Will, Jack, Fadi, Michael, Spencer, and myself all decided to go out to a local casino, the Hippodrome. The venue was a high-class kind of place, and I enjoyed the atmosphere. It was pretty much how I expected a casino to be, including the alcohol prices (5 pounds per brew). What I wasn't sure about however, was whether or not I would enjoy gambling. My dad told me that I would probably dislike it, since I can't stand losing money, but I wanted to try it anyway. Aside from Las Vegas, London isn't too bad of a place to gamble for the first time.
I originally wanted to play Texas Hold 'Em. I know that game well enough to at least play for a little while without losing all my money, but the tables there had a 150 pound minimum buy in. Plus if you're playing the minimum on the table anyway, you're already at a disadvantage. Will convinced me to play blackjack instead, which still had a 5 pound minimum to play. I cashed in 20 pounds and 5 minutes later, said goodbye to it. I lost two hands in a row, sat out for a few rounds, pushed one hand, and then lost the next two hands. Needless to say, I wasn't happy with the outcome, and cut my losses right there. Thank god I had the self control to stay away from gambling anymore, because I would have been pretty ****** if I lost anymore.
7/17/13
I must say I am very happy with how my classes are going to far. I haven't had a boring day in Dr. Dever's class yet, and it was certainly continued today. We took a trip to Harvey Nichols, another high-end retailer. We took a tour with a very nice woman whose job was basically anything that fell outside of the standard corporate departments. She has done fashion shows, personal shopping, as well as helped with designing parts of the store and similar things. We saw all of their departments including food, women's and men's clothing and accessories, a spa, a hair salon, a restaurant and bar. Everything was top notch as expected. I learned a lot about presentation of goods and how to deal with high-profile customers, however, the fashion industry is certainly not an industry I want to be in! All of their product turns over with a new season, and their customers can be very difficult to deal with. We also stopped by Harrod's which was equally cool, but I wasn't able to spend much time in there as I had class soon thereafter. I want to return to explore Harrod's more.
In photography we spent the day at Regents Park. Our assignment was to take pictures of nature, which was an easy accomplished goal here. Queen's Garden, a very large circular rose garden, was exceptionally beautiful and led straight to another area that was canopied by large willow trees and surrounded by water. There was also a very large parkway leading to a nice looking fountain, and many more types of flowers. I took a lot of pictures and learned more about how my camera works in different types of light. I especially enjoy closing the aperture to get a crisp focus up front and a blurry focus in the the background.
After a long day, my work continued. I worked on a photography project that was due the following day so that I could go on the London Eye. I finished the project in time to grab a to-go dinner from the local grocery, Sainsbury's, and we headed out. We left at 8 and arrived at 8:15 via the Tube. We waited in line half an hour, but it didn't feel that long because the line was almost continuously moving. The pods held 28 people max, but fortunately they didn't pack that many people in. The ride lasts half an hour, in which time we got a lot of good pictures.
7/18/13
In Dr. Dever's class today, we went to visit Borough Market. It is essentially a farmers market where vendors bring their food and vegetables in to sell. There are also many people cooking unique foods for sale. I tried some fudge, a few cheeses (one was aged for 24 months!), salt and air-cured ham that was cured for over a year, and a special brand of filtered coffee. The coffee was from Monmouth, which we will be visiting on Monday. It was a great brew, and I enjoyed drinking it while standing on the London Bridge. It really is the little things in life that make it worth living.
I then walked over to the Monument to the Great Fire of London. It was built in 1677 to "commemorate the Great Fire of London and to celebrate the rebuilding of the City." The column is 160 feet tall and houses 311 steps. The viewing platform at the top has a pretty good view of the city, despite the chicken wire that surrounded it.
There was a Fire Department rally going on at the time, but I postponed learning about that until I climbed up the Monument. Once I paid there was actually a firefighter in the monument and I overheard the conversation he was having with another about why they were rallying. Apparently budget cuts were passed when the firefighters when the firefighters actually requested more stations. The man said that it took up to 9 minutes for firefighters to get to some areas of the city, which I didn't think was too terrible, considering how long it can take in some places of America.