Am I Surviving After One Week???

The answer is yes!  London has been nothing but amazing for the past week.  I have seen and learned so many things already and I just wanted to update you on a few things that happened this weekend.

I had a good meal!  I know it seems hard to believe but there are a few good places to eat in England.  I went to this Italian place called Da Mario which is just around the corner from my place.  This restaurant is famous because Princess Diana ate there all the time when she lived in Kensington Palace.  And with good reason.  The food was awesome, I had a pizza with mozzarella and italian salami and it was the first well seasoned thing I've eaten all week.  I was very happy.

I had my first night out in Picadilly.  For those of you who have never been to London, Picadilly Square is like the Time Square of London.  There are tons of buildings, shops, restaurants, clubs, pubs, and most of all people!  Picadilly on a Saturday night is just about the busiest place in the city.  The minute we stepped off the tube we were accosted by club promoters trying to get people off the street to come party at their places.  It was super overwhelming but also so exciting at the same time.  It was times like this that I am so happy the be from a big city and not from a small town because I probably would have passed out.  However, I had a mission and was not distracted by these extremely obnoxious club promoters.  We headed down Picadilly to an Irish pub called O'Niels.  Sadly we didn't make it in early enough to avoid cover charge but it was definitally worth it.  O'Neils has three levels with live music on the top and endless amounts of 90s classics on the first two floors.  It's not like the UK is 10 years behind us in music because they play the new stuff also, they just tend to celebrate the forgotten hits of yesteryear a little more frequently than we do in the States.  Every once in a while I was whisked back to those awkward days of peddle pushers and crop tops to the musically destructive times of middle school.  I ended up having a great night and even successfully navigated myself home on the night bus with some friends.  Yes Harry Potter fans, the late night busses are called the "Night Buses" but no, Stan Shunpike was no there and there are no beds on them.

On Sunday I decided to get out of my room and walk around Kensington.  My friend Kristen and I went and walked through Hyde Park after eating our sandwiches on a little bench.  It was all very quaint.  Hyde Park is kind of like Central Park.  It's the biggest park in London at 625 acres and I've decided to make it my mission to see it all while I'm here.  There are a bunch of ponds and lakes and pathways and such all over it.  Not to mention so many cute little british children running around and people walking their cute british dogs.   There are also tons of swans, geese, ducks, and other random birds that you can go and feed.  We got quite close to a few as you can see and they were all quite comfortable with people coming right up and taking pictures of them.  There are also TONS of statues all over the park, including one of Peter Pan which I have not found yet but will let you know when I do.


Then we went into the Natural History Museum.  Most of the museums in London are free to enter and I am lucky because I have 3 that are right down the street from where I am living.  The NHM is really quite large and I thought I would be disappointed after visiting the one in D.C.  But I was pleasantly surprised by how great this place was.  The exhibits were really interactive and visually really exciting.  In the earthquake exhibit, we walked into what looked like a Japanese supermarket.  We were both really confused until the entire room started shaking and swaying with all of the items on the shelves rattling around.  It was a simulation of a large Japanese earthquake (sorry I can't remember what year that was in).  I was actually quite shaken (pun intended) by the whole situation because it hit all too close to home coming from CA.  Kristen is from Mass and has never had to experience a large scale earthquake. I informed her that they were in fact not fun and that we should probably leave the earthquake section immediately.  Another highlight was the dinosaur exhibit, wish is actually a bit lack luster except for the large animatronic TRex that they have.  It moves and roars and was really pretty cool and worth the bit of a wait to see it.

In other news, I was jolted out of the fantasy world I had previously been living in back into reality when  I had my first classes today.  They both seemed very cool and exciting.  My History of London teacher is very eccentric but in the best way possible and I can already see his being my favorite class.  Travel writing is going to be a lot of work reading and writing about authors who specialize in descriptive travel writing.  However, my young british professor seems extremely passionate about the topic which usually serves to inspire me to do my best work.  More updates on that later in the semester.

At the end of this very long blog post I figured I would compile a list of things that I have learned from my first week abroad.  In case any of you feel like coming to visit me or visit London sometime in your life here are perhaps some things to be ready for and think about. Note: please don't think I'm a fatty because a lot of these have to do with food.  It just seems to be the most relevant cultural difference right now.

- There is no ice in the country.
For some reason they can find plenty to dilute your drink with but none when you actually need ice.  Water is generally room temp unless taken out of the fridge and if you sprain your ankle you are pretty much SOL.  (My ankle by the way is doing much better and healing well)

-American food is expensive.
Either learn to live without it or go bankrupt buying it.  You have to just adjust to the british brands because I kid you not, I saw a box of Fruit Loops that cost 8 pounds.  That's just over $12. YIKES!

-There are no trash cans in this city.
Bizarre I know.  Even in restaurants it is hard to find a place to throw your stuff away.  Helpful tip: they like to keep their parks clean so head there for some guaranteed bins.

-Bring salt.
They have not yet learned the wonderful art of seasoning food here in the UK.  Nowhere have I ever seen food that looks so good that just tastes like nothing.  Everything needs salt.

-Follow the signs in the tube.
That is unless it's the weekend, or if it's a holiday, or if they are doing construction, or for some reason that train is delayed, or if the driver is in a bad mood.  Basically the tube is unpredictable...good luck to you.

-Nightlife is all about closing times.
Everything closes at different times here so you have to plan your evenings very carefully or else you will be stuck on the street without anywhere to go.  The general rule of thumb is pubs close at 11, bars close at 1-2, and for those of you who are really hardcore: clubs close at 6am.  NOTE: on April 29th the pubs are allowed to stay open until 1 so that the country may properly celebrate the royal wedding.  What a happy day it will be.

That's enough for now.  I'm sure this semester will bring many more nuggets of information which I will no doubt share with you all.  For now I'm going to start my school reading or else in about 2 days I will already be weeks behind.  Oh and here are a few more random pictures.

Royal Albert Hall....remember? Spice World? Yeah I thought so.

Really cool entrance to the NHM.

Me and my boyfriend Charles Darwin.

No not a castle...the NHM.

Pretty trees in Hyde Park

Prince Albert Memorial...I finally show up in a picture!

Yes that is Bear Grylls....they love him here too!

Just because I want one.