London Day 13

This week I wandered through the city a little bit more with Erin and some of my classmates.
This dragon statue lies at the Temple Bar monument. It marks the boundary between the city and Westminster.


This is Covent Garden. I had pictures of it in my last blog. We went back this week to do some shopping. It's a huge tourist area with stores like Diesel, American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, Bench, along with a lot of cute little boutiques.


Apple Market @ Covent Garden. Inside this building there are a bunch of street vendors.


This is the pillar that Audrey Hepburn sits on after she spills her flowers in the opening scene of My Fair Lady.


We went on a canal walk with the class. The British canals played a vital role in water transportation during the Industrial Revolution. The UK was the first country to acquire a nationwide canal network. We went on a 3.5 mile walk up the canal and it was really interesting to see how the house boats and the houses changed from really small and simple to huge and luxurious million dollar houses.

This picture was taken at the beginning of the walk, so this is the simplest of houseboats.


The houses start growing further down the canal. These ones are just being built. The finished parts are very modern.


The houses changed into something very post modern, like something out of star trek.


Here we are getting into more swanky house boats. There is a gate around them so you can't get in unless you live there.


And the million dollar houses on the canal.


Erin @ the canal.


The news stands usually have really entertaining headlines. This is the day of the G20 Summit.


This is another Victorian building. It's the St. Pancras train station.


I was walking around Piccadilly Circus and there is a REALLY swanky shop called Fortnum & Mason, and they hade HUGE displays of candy and elegantly placed chocolates and fruit. Irene these pics are for you. :)






We found this adorable cupcake place. This is a blueberry chocolate cheesecake cupcake.
Be jealous. Before and after of Erin. I ate some too.


We went to see a play called 3 Days of Rain with James McAvoy (he's the guy who was in Last King of Scotland and also in Wanted). More about that below.






Oh boy!


After the play we went to the stage door to be creepy stalkers. I was there to support Erin. So I most definitely do not have a future with the paparazzi, because my pictures turned out looking like crap. I was on the outer edge of a mass of people trying to hold my camera over them. James McAvoy is in the center and the other actor is on the right with a hat on. After people starting backing away I convinced one of our classmates to ask James what it was like kissing Angelina Jolie (in the movie Wanted). He said "Ohh I don't even want to go into that." Not sure what that means, but I translated it as: "It was amazing thanks for asking."


No where near paparazzi standards. I fail. Poor me.


Coming home. Our daily ritual, the tube. Takes us about 45 min to get home usually. Damn tube.






- OXFORD -

We spent a day in Oxford. We only visited 2 of the 25 schools but that was enough for me. I'm sure they are all quite similar.

This is Balliol College.





This is a bike in a river. I dunno. I had nothing else to shoot at the moment.


Not sure what building that is in the background.


Kay, Erin and Elizabeth, Oxford.


This is inside Trinity College. Really pretty. It is not illegal to walk on the grass in most parts anymore.






Chapel @ Balliol College.




Information on the Trinity College Chapel. Quite interesting.







Sanctuary @ Trinity College.


Ceiling of Chapel @ Trinity College.


Courtyard @ Balliol College.


Trinity College.


Balliol College.


Christ Church! The Meadow Building.


Christ Church.


Canal running through Oxford. Probably my favorite part of Oxford. It was so peaceful sitting by the water. The whole concept of Oxford sounds so nice, study and get smart, race your little narrow boat around the canal, and sleep on lots of grass. That's oxford-edy.








Cemetary near St. Giles St in Oxford.


Lewis Carrol, the genius behind Alice in Wonderland, got his idea for Alice during a picnic with his the Oxford headmaster and his daughters, one of which was named Alice. This is Alice's Shop in Oxford!




The Eagle and Child is a pub where we stopped for a pint before getting on the train back to London. The bar is owned by St. Johns College, Oxford, and was the meeting place of The Inklings. The Inklings were an Oxford writers club which included J.R.R Tolkein and C.S. Lewis. They used to sit and drink and talk in the back room which is known as the Rabbit Room.


The Rabbit Room @ The Eagle and Child is where I purchased and enjoyed a green beer. Yes green. I've been seeing green beer in every pub since I'd arrived so I had to try it. It was good.


Back in London. Rio & Krista took me to my first football game! I have to say I will be disappointed when I go back to the states and our crowds aren't singing and dancing and calling the players fuckin wankers, cunts, and bitches. You aren't allowed to bring anything (beers or food) into the stadium because the crowds end up throwing them on the pitch, the field. Despite their best efforts to contain us, we still managed to get a pamphlet onto the green after our disappointing 0-0 game. Fuckin wankers.


We went to a bar called the Queen Adeliade after the game.


Erin.


Rio & Krista! They are amazing people.


Soooo that's the end of Week 2. It's been exhilarating and busy. I'm continually lacking sleep, but I don't mind. This week coming up I see Fever Ray and Royksopp. That's going to be amazing. Tomorrow I see a play, Kafka's Monkey, I don't know how that will be. I am in the process of planning a trip to Edinburgh Scotland, as well as Cork Ireland. And yesterday I booked my trip to Stockholm Sweden and Copenhagen Denmark. So I have plenty of excitment coming my way. I'll keep you posted. And if there are any grammatical or spelling errors in this post I apologize-it's late. Goodnight!