Alright everyone, here we go: London Day 2.
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| WE RODE THE TUBE! |
Dear lovely readers,
There is so much that’s going to be happening, I hardly know where to begin! I simply can’t type fast enough! Today we had our orientation session at the CAPA International Center here in London, which was exciting simply because we had a preview of the many fun things we’ll be doing this semester. For example, in a couple of weekends we will be going to Stonehenge and Bath. This is extremely exciting to me because 1) I feel like I know close to nothing about Stonehenge, and I am so excited to learn all about it, not to mention see it. 2) Bath is a very Jane Austen-y place, and we all know I’m a Jane Austen fan. Need I say more? I’m thrilled.
After the orientation, we had a lovely little reception at the Hoop & Toy pub in South Kensington, where CAPA had a buffet of traditional cold and hot foods served in pubs. It was delicious! Totally irrelevant, but might I add while we were there, a seriously old, obscure Shania Twain song, “Ka-Ching,” (remixed, mind you) started playing… Shania. Twain. What on earth is going on here?! I was shocked to say the least. I mean sure, I know she’s from Canada, but I just see her in a Texas, country-music light. I bothered the kind people at my table about it for about 10 minutes (I apologize Lauryn, Will, and James!) saying things about how people in the UK might like the song because it criticizes materialism, and aren’t Americans just so stereotypically materialistic, etc. They assured me that I was reading too much into it. As I was not willing to drop it (typical), I found out that when the song “Ka-Ching” was released in 2003, it hit the top 10 in the UK, as well as in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, and Romania. So weird. Follow my link above to read more about it; I’ll move on to more interesting things!
Lauryn and I ended up having a nice long talk with the publican there (the bartender, that is, however this man was not just some random employee – he seemed like the main man who runs the pub). He told us all about the different types of beer available in London, who drinks what kinds of beer (beer preferred by men vs. women and why), and which pubs we should visit by North End Road and when (don’t visit the cheaper ones late at night, don’t visit during a “football kickoff weekend” because the pubs at North End lie on the border between Chelsea and Fulham, so there will be very passionate fans from both sides just waiting to get into a fight!). He was also nice enough to offer us samples of different types of ales/bitters, among which were London Pride, IPA, and Hobgoblin, and he gave us the low down on pricier pubs, what Brits think of American beer, and how expensive buying bottled beer can get (At one really ritzy place, a single bottle of Budweiser can go for £10! Let me put that into perspective for you… That’s almost $16 for ONE bottle of Bud. Sheesh.) Anyway, for me, this experience and the conversation were absolutely delightful and definitely a highlight of my day.
After we left the pub, Lauryn and I decided to walk a couple of blocks for a preliminary visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum. We’re scheduled to visit again with our program and our professor is planning a class trip, too, so we will be well-versed in the V&A by the time we leave.
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| The traditional, touristy phone booth picture. We found this on our way to the museum. |
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| The Victoria & Albert Museum in Kensington |
We only explored a couple of the galleries on the first floor while we were there, especially taking our time with a section of the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries called Faiths & Empires 300-1250; you can check out the beautiful things we saw too, if you just follow my link!
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| I loved this oil painting from the late 12th century called The Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and St. John; it was absolutely beautiful in person. |
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| This was the placard for the crucifix. |
We also saw the outside portion of the Ballgowns exhibition, the part that did not require a ticket. I definitely want to go back to see the actual exhibition because what girl doesn’t want to admire tons of gorgeous gowns?
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| Some great Regency period clothing at the entrance of the Ballgowns exhibition. |
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| There was a really cool, giant slide show that was being projected on the ceiling showing different fashions in ethereal black and white. |
Before we left, we stepped outside to see the central garden, complete with a pool of water shallow enough to walk in if you’re wearing your rain boots!
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| The garden at the V&A |
There were a couple of little girls having a blast playing in the water, and I found the sign located in front of the pool particularly funny, mostly because I don’t think I understand the rules exactly:
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| Don’t swim! But you can paddle if you keep your clothes on? Hmm… |
And check out these awesome chairs that were in the central lobby and also out in the garden:
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| They’re like great, big tops! Lauryn was dying to try one. |
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| These chairs happen to be quite terrifying; you feel like you’re falling backwards if you spin all the way around. |
Last but not least, when we got back to our flat later, we entered to win tickets to the iTunes Festival that will be taking place all during September right here in London! This is a free concert series, but the only way you can get tickets is if you enter a contest where the lucky people (who have to be living in London) are randomly chosen. If you win, you receive two free tickets to one of the concerts that you selected. I love a ton of these artists, so being able to see at least one of these shows would be awesome.
I’m off to enjoy my long, long weekend filled with more London adventures! Feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have, I love to share!
Bye for now,
Les
leslieannramey.com 
We are glad you are having a good time, your Blog is really interesting, it's becoming a really neat Travel Guide.(Daddy says) You are beginning to sound like Daddy when he asks all these questions, but I love it because that is why he learns so much about cultures and how people live or have lived. Thanks for the pictures they make you stories very exciting.God Bless you, continue to have fun and learn as much as possible, we love you, we are excited for you.
Thanks Momma! I'm so happy you and Daddy are enjoying it! That's exactly what I want! Love you both, xoxo 🙂