Saturday Excursion to Windsor Castle

Today I had my excursion trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath. We had to meet at 8:30 outside of ISH, so needless to say, it was a dreadful morning. Kidding.
Our tour guide/driver was Tony, who was originally Irish but had lived in Connecticut and San Diego for most of his childhood. He was great, because he both had experience and knowledge of the US, but still was much more of an insider than we were. He also mentioned that he had his Masters in History, and he clearly knew his stuff.

Our first stop was at Windsor Castle, arriving precisely when it opened to the public at 9:45am (random time, right?). The Queen was residence, which could be seen by the Royal Standard being flown. Windsor Castle is her "weekend" home, and she stays in her private quarters while tourists wander throughout the more public exhibits. Any attempt to describe this place would fall short, but I'll try anyway.
I had been to Windsor when I was much younger, so I recognized the layout of the keep and where the guardhouse was. However, the most impressive part were the State Apartments. Aka, the extravagant places that the King and Queen would host banquets, dinners, and other fancy soirees. There were rooms decorated in homage to the "art of war", with busts of famous generals (the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill and his predecessor John Churchill, etc.) and were covered in weapons taken from rulers the British Empire had conquered.

There were rooms for the Queen to grant audiences to people who would petition for her help, and the rooms were completely gilded in gold and paintings. The dining room had paintings on the ceiling and a frieze depicting Greek Gods surrounded by food. Every piece of furniture was either commissioned by master artisans of the time period, or were historical in another context. Every single room had a different theme and purpose, and it was incredible to realize that almost any object you saw was among the most valuable things in the world.

After walking through the State Apartments, we luckily caught the Changing of the Guard. The guards marched in while playing drums and flutes, and was very serious business. Although I have to add, the guard playing the bugle wasn't very good. Alas.
Right before we left to catch the bus away from Windsor, we popped into St. George's Chapel. It was also heavily ornate with high arched ceilings. The seats were roped off in most sections, which indicated how prestigious the people who were allowed to sit there must have been. Around the chapel were tombs to previous Kings and Queens. I also noticed that there were some markers on the walls and floor that were to commemorate people who were "benevolent and dutiful" to the monarchy in some way or another. As we entered the more private-looking sanctum in the front of the church, I remarked that I wondered where King Henry VII was buried. Without moving my feet, I looked down and realized that I was standing over him. The marker was part of the floor, like other "lesser" nobles had been. His grave/tomb/burial site also contained the remains of his wife Jane Seymour and Charles I.  How interested that someone as famous and notoriously egotistical wound up being buried in a (relatively, of course, it was still in a chapel inside of a castle) such non-descriptive way, and not even with his most recent wife.  There's definitely some good back story that I haven't heard yet that may explain this.

More on the rest of my trip later!

Walking around the Tower of London - History Class

For my History of London class, we went walking around the City of London. We met up at the Tower Hill Underground Station and walked from there to other monuments and buildings in the area. We stopped by the monument to the Merchant Marines who died in WWI and WWII. It was right next to the Tower of London, which has an interesting historical context. The tower was built in 1066 by William the Conquerer, and the areas around it were known for both public executions and being a "free" area of the city. People who would run to certain areas of the city to avoid being arrested or to avoid debts. Near the water was known for ruffians and other scandalous sorts of people. Interesting enough.

The memorial to the Merchant Marines was impressive, as there were wreaths of poppies (a tribute from the Battle of the Somme and later Armistice Day) everywhere. At the Vietnam Memorial, I haven't noticed such a prevalent presence of people paying tribute, merely tourists.

We then went to the Church of St. Olave - a Norwegian church that had an integral position in organizing the Norwegian rebel underground during WWII. It was amazing to walk in, realize that all of the statues to ships in the church was because Norwegian shippers were part of the rebel underground. During the Great Fire of London in 1666, there were so many people who died that the cemetery was overpacked with people. There were steps from the church up to accomodate for the number of bodies buried there.

It's incredible to me so walk around the City and realize that almost every building has its' history. Anything that was built before, and is still standing 1666 (Fire) was related to something that shaped London's future. We also went to the first synagogue in London, and the Guildhall. The synagogue provided refuge for immigrants during the 20th century. The guildhall allowed for different craftsmen to unite and provide support for each other. Later, the different guilds gained enough power to challenge the monarchy.

Unlike my personal history of the churches in America, the churches in England all have their unique and influential history. They can be tied to different pieces of European history. While the churches in US can be styled off of traditional Victorian or Tudor architecture, the English churches are the original.

There are ruins of Roman walls that surround the original City. I love Roman ruins and history, and seeing actual evidence of them juxtaposed with the modern buildings like the Gherkin and Lloyds was incredible. Overall, the depth of history in London is mind-blowing and I can't wait to explore more.

First Encounters at London Met

On Monday, I went to my first class at London Met. My campus is City, which means that it's based in the official "City" of London, not Greater London where my flat is. Moorgate is surrounded by business offices, and it's a really interesting dynamic. Instead of the more casual people I've seen walking around Regent's Park, everyone is in suits and look quite official.
Only 4 other people showed up to the seminar for my class (Industrial Economics), out of an expected 16. My professor was a little miffed about that, but carried on with the discussion at 12:00 promptly. I can't place her accent. She ran over the syllabus, and I'm really excited for the semester. We have a big coursework project where we have to analyze the market concentration of Hollywood, and the competitiveness of the market. (Yes, it's nerdy. It's also awesome.) My grade is determined by only two grades, the coursework and a final. I'm leaving early, so I'm going to have to take an alternative assessment for the final. I'll talk to her about that next week.

The hour between the seminar and the lecture, I walked around the City. I was amazed to look at the people going to lunch. Compared with my personal experience of the "Business World", it was so low-key. I noticed that a lot of people were walking in pairs and absolutely no one was on their phones. It seemed that when they take a break for lunch, they aren't still tied to the office. They can actually take a break. It's amazing. I wish that I could have done that last summer, even as an intern.

Lecture was filled with people who knew each other (three years in an Economics program would do that to you), so I didn't have many people to talk to except for one guy from my seminar. My prof went over the syllabus again, and added that the coursework was an optional group project. This seems to be an amazing opportunity - I can meet with other people in my class, and also get a better feel for how work is done here. I am a little worried about how to write papers here, as the standards definitely seem to be different than in America.

She also added "You are all adults, you can decide how you want to approach the coursework, and who to work with." This was also amazing to me. In America, I feel like all of my projects were either individual or group - no exceptions. Having the ability to choose how you wanted to is awesome. Related is the reading list. They give you a list of books to browse, not specific chapters to read. It places the responsibility of working and how to study on the student, not the teachers' instructions. I love the responsibility that's been placed on me.

The rest of the lecture was pretty consistent with what I was familiar with, but I'm still so psyched about the chance to work in a class that I'm fully excited for. Also, I have the chance to meet British students in my class. How great could is this!?

Queen Anne Street

I love how there is a separation in architecture at the end of the road, from the older traditional style to a more utilitarian apartment building. Emphasis on the traditional buildings because, well, they're more attractive. Just to the right is Welbeck Street, which is pretty awesome as well, it has a more obvious difference at the end of the street, with modern-looking office buildings. I just couldn't get a good shot of it without getting run over by a car. I'll try again later.
Today was 10° C, or 50° F. Pretty fantastic, especially for January.

First Days Alone in London

Yesterday, I checked in to my hostel (while bringing my bag over to here via the Tube, I suddenly had a feverish heatwave and was pale and sweating. When I showed up, I was completely drenched. I looked like the silly American stereotype, lugging too much baggage.) I finished The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood in the lobby, watched some snooker and then decided to go explore a bit when I was feeling better. It was drizzling slightly, but I persevered to endeavor south. I walked through Covent Garden and down Oxford Street, stopping into a coffee/bookstore to pick up another book since I had just finished my last. However, I failed to notice that the quaint little nook I thought that would be perfect was Russian. As in, every single sign and label and word in the place was Russian. So much for finding a book to read. (I did consider getting the Hobbit in Russian for a funny memento). Continuing down Oxford, I found a Waterstones and popped in. I thought it interesting to see people holding To Kill a Mockingbird and saying "Mum, I have to read this for my class" (In accent, of course). I guess great books are great everywhere. I picked up the first book of the Mistborn series by Brian Sanderson.

I returned to the hostel and did not move off the couch for the rest of the night reading. I finished it around 11pm (Hard to tell without a watch, but I like it that way) and headed to bed. My room had the other 5 beds full at the time, and none of the guys spoke any English nor seemed interested in charades. So no bonding stories, sorry. I woke up at what I thought was around 12 noon, but it turned out to be 8:30. I slowly got up and ready, returning to the couch to read amidst the hubbub of people checking in and out in the morning. I jumped on my computer and made sure that I don't have any emergency emails. Also, my charger isn't going to work here, the plug socket for the converter is wrong. Then I went back south to Oxford Street. I caught my reflection in the windows of some stores, in my jacket I look really English. It's awesome. 

I walked into a big department store like a Nordstroms on Oxford Street. It was quite upscale, but my jacket helped me blend in. I strolled by a computer department, so I picked up a new charger for my laptop. It was silly, when I was talking to the salesguy, my words came out in an English accent. It kind of tripped me up for a second, and then I realized it didn't sound strange to him, so I continued on with it. I figured it would weird him out if I switched accent mid-sentence. After all of that, I walked over to Hyde Park and enjoyed the scenery before turning back to the hostel. I grabbed a chicken avocado sandwich from Pret a Manger which I'm about to eat. And here I am!

I believe that has summarized the fun I've been having in London so far. Also, notice I only mentioned the sandwich at Pret? It's because I forgot to eat yesterday/this morning, too excited. Silly Mark.