London—Day 11: July 29

Burhley House--home of Lady Catherine in the new Pride and Prejudice.



There are over 400 deer like these wandering the grounds of Burghley House.



More Burghley House



Charming little window shot of Burghley



This is my raisin scone from the Orangery at Burghley, complete with clotted cream and raspberry jam. Yum!



The London Inn in Stamford--isn't it adorable?




Street shot of Stamford



I don't know why, but I absolutely LOVE this picture! I just loved how the telephone booth is tucked into that corner by the clock.

Daily Details: July 29

Once again, we headed deep into the English countryside this morning to visit Burghley House, which is heralded as, “the largest and grandest house of the Elizabethan Age”. They weren’t kidding. You’d think I could stop using the expression “blown away” when I’ve seen so many grand palaces, estates, etc…already, but I can’t stop using it. Each has its own unique flavor, and this one was absolutely exquisite. In fact, in the Kiera Knightly Pride and Prejudice, Burghley House serves as the home of Lady Katherine. We were fortunate enough to be let into the house before it is open to the rest of the public, so we virtually had it all to ourselves for most of the time there. Before being let in, we wandered the grounds in front of the home where over 400 deer live. They love people and you can just go up to them and pet them. They were all so beautiful!

Inside the home, we were given a fascinating tour by a lovely English lady. She had so much enthusiasm for the home and knew her stuff incredibly well. When I write about these homes, I feel I can never do them justice. I guess part of that is because photos are seldom allowed so it’s hard to remember all of the incredible things you see in there. Among two of the things I was able to see that particularly interested me were the carvings done by the renowned carver, Grinling Gibbons, and all of the furniture that had boulle work on them. Both things were spectacular, but the wood carvings in particular were absolutely breathtaking. I walked away from the home with some great design insights.

Before leaving at the estate, our professor told us we must try the scones with clotted cream at the Orangery, the little restaurant on the estate. I got a raisin scone (the scones here are much more like biscuits than scones) with clotted cream (something much like butter) and raspberry jam. It was divine, and so filling that I could not finish the whole thing. It was nice to sit and relax in that beautiful café as we looked out into the gardens.

After leaving Burghley House, we headed into Stamford, a quaint town we had passed through on our way to Burghley. This town was where the city shots for Pride and Prejudice were filmed and it is easy to see why. Everything was so delightful there! I guess one of the things that makes it so charming is how the streets just wind gently up and down little hills and churches dot the entire town, here and there. Having worked up quite the appetite, a few friends and I stopped into a little coffee house/café called Gooch’s. It was completely adorable and the prices there were some of the most affordable that I’ve yet seen in England. We all ordered the soup of the day—cauliflower cheese—and were amazed when a gigantic bowl of soup and a large baguette with butter came to each of us. We ate every bit of it and were completely satisfied. What could be more perfect than eating a delicious, homemade soup at a delightful little café on a rainy day in England? Honestly, I don’t know. The day ended shortly thereafter, once again with a train ride back to London and a night at our flat.

London—Day 10: July 28

These grand, wrought iron doors lead the way into the grounds of Blenheim Palace.






Me, in front of Blenheim.







This is the lawn I was talking about in my blog post--best grass EVER!



Me, in a tree in the Secret Garden

Daily Details: July 28

Today was a nice day—more laid back than any of our group days have been so far in England. Basically, we just went to Blenheim Palace, a grand country estate where the Dukes of England have lived for centuries. Blenheim was actually the birth place of Winston Churchill as well. The first thing we did upon arriving was tour the gardens. The gardens are extensive, as the estate sits on 22,000 acres of land. In addition to the manicured gardens, there was the most massive expanse of pure lawn that I have ever seen in my life. It was absolutely spectacular! We couldn’t resist taking off our shoes and walking on the lawn, and it was the best sensation I’ve experienced in quite some time. This is not grass like we have in the states—it’s short and fuzzy and feels like natural carpet under your feet. After resting on the lawn for a while, we headed towards the “Secret Garden”. It had the widest variety of plants all intermingled with each other—everything from a palm and bamboo trees to Japanese maples. Everything was splendidly kept, and I enjoyed hearing the little babbling brooks and seeing the small waterfalls, gazebos, and benches that were tucked away here and there. We then headed over to the rose gardens, another glorious site.

The inside of the house was absolutely divine—it’s one of my favorite estates we’ve been to, and probably second next to Vaux. It was definitely lavish, but understated and tasteful. More so than the other homes we’ve been to. Just like yesterday at Wilton House, pictures of the current family adorned some of the rooms, making it feel more like a home than a museum. One of my favorite things about this home were the clocks that were present in every room—they were some of the most beautiful clocks I have yet seen and believe me, I’ve seen MANY a clock on this trip! My favorite room was the dining room—it had the classic fairytale dining table that stretches across the room for tens of feet, and ceilings that were at least 30’ high. The chairs had a beautiful red upholstery, the ceilings and domed roof were painted with murals, and the floor was a beautiful black and white marble.

Being pretty exhausted, we didn’t actually go and see the campus of Oxford, but the town is what we strolled through on our way back to the train station to head back to London. It was a beautifully quaint town, and although we didn’t see a whole lot of it walking, our double-decker bus ride to and from Blenheim allowed us to see quite a bit of what Oxford had to offer. I love the days that we go to the country because people are SO friendly. A young man sitting in front of us on the bus ride back to the train station heard us discussing some places we might like to see and offered his opinion, giving us great ideas of places to go. Then he continued to chat with us, asking about how we were liking England, music, and all sorts of things.

Well, I guess that about sums up the day—like I said, it was quite laid back. I came home, made myself a sandwich, did my laundry and popped into the Tesco—little mini supermarkets all over the place here. Boy, am I going to miss those when I’m back in the states!

London—Day 9: July 27

A charming window at Wilton House.



Wilton House



Me, on a bridge in the gardens at Wilton House that was modeled after the Rialto Bridge in Venice.




View of the bridge



Inside Salisbury Cathedral--view as we made our descent to the top of the tower.



See that wood scaffolding thing? That's what we climbed, that tiny wood spiral staircase, to get to the top of the tower.



View of Sailsbury from the top of the tower--isn't it a lovely town?



This home is Mrs. Jennings' London Home in Pride and Prejudice.



Stonehenge!

Daily Details: July 27

Bright and early, we hopped onto the tube to head to the English countryside. Our first stop was Wilton house, where the Earls of Pembroke have lived since the 1400s. The current Earl of Pembroke is a young guy, no more than 30 years old. Our tour guide referred to him as “quite dishy”, and boy, she wasn’t lying! Then she told us, “sorry, ladies, he just announced his engagement!” His fiancée is only 23 years old and as I thought of that, I realized how strange it would be to realize you’re marrying into all of that wealth and that ancient estate. Anyway, enough about the “dishy” Earl. The estate is quite famous, as many movies have been filmed there, including two of my favorites, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I was amazed at how not crowded it was, and later found out that they had opened it early just for us. Hallelujah—it was wonderful to be in a place that wasn’t swarming with tourists. The home is famous for its single cube and double cube rooms. The single cube means that the room is perfectly square—it is 30x30 feet. In Pride and Prejudice, this is the room that Georgiana Darcy is playing the piano in when Elizabeth Bennett is touring the house and watching her. It was so cool to actually be inside there! Outside, the gardens were impeccably kept and there was an exquisite bridge, modeled after the Rialto Bridge in Venice, which we were able to walk on, even though it is typically closed to the public. At the end of our tour, we headed over to the little café that is situated on the grounds where they had freshly squeezed strawberry lemonade and pastries for us. I briefly stopped in the gift shop and saw a copy of one of my favorite children’s books that I no longer have because it got ruined somehow. I haven’t seen it in years. It’s called, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and deliriously happy at having found it, I snatched it up right away. What a delightful way to begin the day!

Next we were off to the Salisbury Cathedral which boasts the tallest spire in England. I remembered studying it in my History of Architecture and Furnishings class a year ago, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what it looked like. Upon reaching it, I was blown away by how beautiful it is. For that matter, I was blown away by the whole town of Salisbury is. The church stands tall and slender, ornate, but not ostentatious. After chilling on the lawn for a bit, waiting for our appointment time, it was time to go inside. Salisbury was quite different from other Gothic cathedrals we’ve seen because most of the glass is not stained glass. Although I absolutely ADORE stained glass, it was nice to see some windows that were just clear and beautifully mullioned. Our brief history of the cathedral contained some amazing facts. Among those were that the cathedral took a century to complete, and was completed in the 1300s. I couldn’t believe how OLD it was! It was now time to begin our ascent, where we would be walking across the top of the vaulting and up into the spire itself. Just as was expected, the journey meant a WHOLE lot of spiral stairs, except this experience required you walking up tiny wooden staircases that were so exposed that you could see everything beneath you. It was a bit unnerving, but mostly exhilarating. While we were up there, we were able to see the mechanisms that run the bells and heard the bells loud and clear when the clock chimed three. Well, I could go on forever about how amazing seeing the inside was, but I guess I’ll wrap it up. At the end of our tour, we had the opportunity to go out on the tower of the cathedral and take in the view from about 254’ up. I absolutely LOVED it and got some amazing pictures of this quaint little town.

The last stop of the day was the infamous Stonehenge. We took a cab from the cathedral and I sat up in front with our cab driver. The cab ride to and from Stonehenge was one of my favorite parts of the day because it meant being able to chat with this lovely, older British man. He was so fascinating, because during the course of the trip, he mentioned having been to college and that he and his family go about 2 or 3 times to European cities to take in the culture there. He knew quite a bit about design and architecture and reminisced about his childhood when his father used to take him and his brothers to Stonehenge to play on the stones on Sundays, before they were roped off. He said that back in those days, tourists really hadn’t discovered it yet and so they would have the whole place to themselves. How magical that must have been! Stonehenge itself was absolutely amazing, even despite the fact that it was quite a bit smaller than I had imagine. We had a fascinating audio tour and I learned much about the construction, the possible uses, and the legends surrounding Stonehenge. Equally as impressive as the stones themselves is the countryside surrounding Stonehenge. Fields spread out on all sides around you and you truly feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. It was very tranquil and the sun was beginning to set once we were done touring the site. On the way home, I once one again chatted with my new friend and he told me all about his experience with seeing The Last Supper by DaVinci in Milan. As I hopped out of the cab to get on the train, the cab driver told me how nice it was to meet me and I reciprocated. What a day—the English countryside and a new friend.

London—Day 8: July 26

Lyceum Theatre, where we saw The Lion King Broadway musical.



My dinner at our pub--Cajun chicken burger.

Daily Details: July 26

The day began with a trip to the Hyde Park LDS ward here in London. It was nice to be able to attend church and sing the hymns in English. I would say it was nice to understand everything, but sometimes I need a subtitle for these British people! The talks that were given were very lovely. My favorite was given by a foreign guy from some South American country. He had poor English, but what he did say was so profound. Our Sunday School teacher was this passionate British lady who spent most of the lesson yelling in the chapel because she was so excited. I was amused when she started talking about wanting to gun down a contractor who had jilted her out of 34,000 pounds, but rather shocked to hear that in church. I hear the darndest things in London!

After coming back and doing some blogging for a bit, it was time to head to our Lion King Broadway show. Unfortunately I had to attend it on a Sunday because the person who got our tickets didn’t counsel with us before deciding to get them on a Sunday when we couldn’t get them earlier in the weekend. When we got to the tube station, the line we needed to go on was closed and there was a sign saying it was due to a person under the track. We were all sick when we realized it meant someone had been run over by the tube.

After taking a detour, we made it to the Lyceum Theatre in Winchester and headed up to our seats in the balcony. The view was quite nice, and I was VERY excited to be seeing my first Broadway play. Although the dialogue and music was nearly IDENTICAL to the movie, the musical was worth seeing just for the costumes alone. Words cannot describe how amazing they were, as were the sets and the puppet-like things. It was a very enjoyable experience.

The last trip of the day was into a pub for some dinner. Pretty much every pub in London serves the traditional Sunday roast with potatoes and all the other standard trimmings. Unfortunately, when we got there they were out of the Sunday roast. Instead, I got a Cajun chicken burger. It was delicious! And so my day passed.

Daily Details: July 25

This is going to be the shortest blog post ever. Basically, this little chicky needed a day of rest. I’ve gained a testimony of why we rest on Sundays—you are dragging all week long if you don’t have a good day of rest. Unfortunately, that is just about impossible to do here, especially when transferring from country to country on the Sabbath. So, although it isn’t Sunday, I needed a day of rejuvenation and to catch up on some blogging. Napping, blogging, watching Frasier online…that has been my day today and I’ve loved every minute of it! I’ll be a little steam engine again tomorrow. :)

London—Day 6: July 24

Big Ben



A pretty chapel or something--I have no idea what it is, sorry!



I found this sign really humorous on the outside of the Hard Rock Cafe in London.



Richie Sambora's guitar from Bon Jovi--how AWESOME!!! I adore Bon Jovi!



Harrods--THE most awesome department store I have ever, and probably ever will be in.

Daily Details: July 24

Today was our first free day in London. After catching up on some much needed rest, we decided to head off to the National Gallery to see a few famous paintings there. Our visit was extremely enjoyable and we saw more paintings by the famous artists that I love. We were fortunate enough to be able to see a special exhibit there that features impressionistic paintings that were done by people such as Monet and Corot that were just study pieces, never meant to be put in galleries, but beautiful nonetheless. We also saw several Van Gogh paintings, most notably, his sunflowers. There were some fantastic Turner pieces as well. My second favorite piece in the museum was one that I studied very meticulously in AP Art History in high school. It’s called Arnolfini and His Bride, painted by Jan van Eyck. To see the painting in person was a real treat. My VERY favorite painting came as a bit of a surprise to me. We were just walking through one of the galleries, when I realized I was staring at a painting that I knew every square inch of. It was a painting done by Renoir, entitled “The Umbrellas”. My mom had this picture hanging in our home during all my growing up years so it was very moving to see the original staring at me, when for so much of my childhood, I was staring at it.

Being famished after our museum visit, we headed over to the London Hard Rock Café. I was surprised to learn that it was the first Hard Rock Café ever—I thought they were an American thing. I loved experiencing the vibe there, because it was a COMPLETELY different experience than the one in Paris. Naturally, it was full of memorabilia from the Beatles, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, all of which was awesome to see. I got to see one of Elton John’s outlandish pairs of glasses that he was so well known for. Although I cannot say this for certain, it is more likely than not that my Uncle John made those glasses for him, as he designed and made most of Elton John’s famous spectacles. When I see my Uncle John the next time, I’ll have to show him the picture and ask if he designed them. I ordered the same food I had in Paris—yes, it was that good, and once again enjoyed every bite of it. Filled to the brim, we were off to our next location—Harrods.

No visit to London would be complete without stepping inside what is perhaps London’s most exclusive and high-end department store. From the moment you enter, it is clear to see why it is so talked about. I have NEVER seen any department store that compares to it in even the slightest degree! I felt like I was stepping more inside a palace than a store. All of the architecture is exquisite, both on the inside and the out. The displays are masterfully created and the workers are all impeccably dressed in adorable and classy uniforms, each different depending on the department they are in. In addition to selling furnishings and clothing like most department stores, Harrods also has a whole floor dedicated to food. Although all of it was incredible, the most mind-blowing section was the candy area. I felt like I had stepped into a Willy Wonka factory. Every kind of candy you could think of was lining shelves all the way up the walls and was beautifully packaged. An ice cream counter was in the middle of the space and the creations that came from it looked positively heaven-sent. Words cannot adequately convey how much I wanted to just buy the whole entire store and spend my life in there.

After tearing myself away from the candy section, we headed upstairs to take a peek at what the clothing has to offer. Upstairs we were greeted by signs showing the different designers Harrods carries—Prada, Gucci, Versace, Valentino, etc…I was absolutely blown away by the price tags on everything, naturally, but I did see the sexiest pair of high heels I have ever seen in my life and will probably ever see. The furniture section was even more of a delight though, and we spent quite a bit of time there, absorbing all of the fantastic modern pieces and the timeless, traditional pieces as well. Although you might not initially think so, Harrods was an inspiring place for an interior designer to go, and I got some great ideas from having visited it.

London—Day 5: July 23

One of the oldest cathedral in Cambridge, although I don't know its name.



Stained glass from the above-mentioned cathedral.



Fan vaulting inside the King's Chapel at Trinity College.



King's Chapel at Trinity College, Cambridge.



The Eagle--the pub where I had my first authentic fish and chips. It was AMAZING!!! This pub was a hangout for American soldiers during WWII and features grafitti on the ceilings of the soldiers and their girlfriend's names.



Quaint view of Cambridge taken during our punting adventure.

Daily Details: July 23

Today was a trip to Cambridge. It was a FANTASTIC day and in my opinion, blows London clear out of the water. Cambridge, the town, is wonderfully quaint and there is charming architecture surrounding you on every side. The pace here is much slower, and I was very grateful to get away from the hectic London scene. We met our tour guides and headed over to an ancient church—sorry, the name escapes me. It was a very homey church, tucked into Cambridge, and I loved it very much. Each wall had three separate wallpapers on it, but somehow it worked. Each kind of wallpaper was beautiful. The windows were all stained glass. The chapel was quite simple compared to other churches we’ve seen, but I could see myself attending church there if I had lived in that time and was part of that religion—it was all very homey.
Our next stop was to visit the Cambridge campus itself. We saw many of the different colleges and then made our way to the King’s Chapel that is part of the Trinity College. It is built in the Gothic style, and was absolutely MAGNIFICENT! The exterior is very intricate, as is typical of the Gothic style, and stained glass filled the entire space. The ceiling has one of the best and most elaborate examples of fan vaulting. It is a miracle that the King’s Chapel has survived the way it has because most cathedrals were ruined by occupying forces during that time period. It is speculated that the only reason the stained glass is still intact is because the occupying forces camped out inside the chapel and it the glass helped keep the place a little more insulated than it would’ve been without it. Our tour guide pointed out some fascinating things that are present in the stained glass, much of which is not religiously centered, but political. Something that made me a bit furious was that whenever the devil was depicted, it was a woman. You see, Cambridge was VERY anti-female, and it wasn’t until the late 1940’s that women were allowed to attend school there. I was blown away by how that archaic school of thought lasted for so long!

We broke for lunch and headed to a famous pub in Cambridge called the Eagle. This was the happening place for U.S. soldiers in WWII. Graffiti is present on the ceilings inside the pub with soldier’s and their girlfriend’s names. I ordered authentic fish and chips and was amazed to see the huge portions come my way! The fish (cod) was INCREDIBLE, the chips were divine, and it was served with a piece of white bread and butter and mushy peas. What are mushy peas, you might ask, and why do they sound so terrible? I don’t know, to be honest. All I know is that I decided to give them a try, even despite the fact that I’m not a pea lover, and I was pleasantly surprised. They were buttery like mashed potatoes and even had a similar texture. Well fed, we had a little bit of time to peruse the flea market nearby before heading to the Fitzwilliam, another museum here in Cambridge.

I really enjoyed the short amount of time that we had at the Fitzwilliam. There, I saw more Rubens, Monets, Degas, and a beautiful ancient harpsichord. Our tour guide gave fascinating explanations of the paintings he showed us that really made them come to life. In fact, I learned how two of our common expressions started. The first one is the expression, “a red letter day”. Its origin comes from the ancient illuminated manuscripts, or illustrated pages of the Bible. Black ink could be obtained quite inexpensively, but red ink was very costly. Therefore, red ink was only used for the headings of chapters or especially important passages, so now we call especially important days red letter days. The second expression is when something is said to cost “an arm and a leg”. Our tour guide began showing us many different portraits of people and asked us if we could see anything they had in common. He then pointed out to us that more often than not, a man’s hand is tucked into his jacket, only one arm is showing on a lady, etc…He said this was because if you wanted an artist to paint your arms, or hands especially, the portrait would cost a great deal more since those required quite a bit more effort on the artist’s part to paint. I thoroughly enjoyed learning the origins of those expressions and finding out that they came from art.

Our tour ended, we thanked our guide, and took a rainy walk over to where we were going punting. Punting is much like a gondola ride, except it is given by students of Cambridge and you float along the Cam river in a much less luxurious boat. All the same, it was an extremely enjoyable time and we were able to comfortably take in the BEAUTIFUL scenery and architecture that is present on the Cambridge campus. We even saw a bridge and a building where parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed!

After doing a bit of shopping, it was time to bid Cambridge farewell. I was so sad to leave, having had a blast there, but all the same I enjoyed relaxing on the train ride home. I always enjoy the trains—it gives me time to reflect upon all sorts of things. I can’t wait for more train rides to come!

Daily Details: July 22

Brinton Carpets was in the schedule for today and it was a very enjoyable day. I was blown away by the hospitality that the workers at Brinton’s showed us. They paid for our transportation there and once we arrived they had coffee (which I think they were very surprised since few of us drank it), water from a nice cold water cooler, and cookies. Our first presentation was an overview of the company and how they operate. Then we moved over to the archive and saw vintage rug designs, some of which date back to the 1400s. They were hand painted on a grid, much like a cross-stitch pattern and were amazingly preserved. I loved seeing these fantastic Japanese stencils that they had, but my favorite thing was these old French fabric books that were from the turn of the 20th century. I was absolutely blown away at how modern many of the patterns looked—it was inconceivable to me that they could be so old.

We had another small presentation about dying the wool and then they fed us lunch. There were some very delicious sandwiches, but also some terrifying hunks of fatty sausage encased in puff pastry stuff. It was interesting to see those. Then we visited where the designers work and saw the computer program they use to design. It was an incredible program and amazing to see how much work is put into each design. Our last stop was going inside the factory itself and being inches away from the machines that actually produce the rugs. There are so many machines and so many workers that have to man them that I can now see why the carpets cost so much. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could invent the machines that do this incredibly complex process. But then I thought of my dad and realized it would be someone like him that could do it. I have a whole new respect for what goes into making carpet.

Daily Details: July 21

The day began with an absolutely delightful trip to the John Soan’s Museum. John Soan was a very influential architect in London that was responsible for much of the rebuilding of London after the great fire. His home was one of the neatest things I’ve seen—I could have spent much longer in there soaking up all of the delightful details. The home was about 4 stories high and full of eclectic design. Because Soan had architects working with him in his home, he collected pieces of Roman architecture and had them just hanging on the walls of his home so that his workers would have plenty of inspiration at their fingertips should they need it. His furniture designs were simple, innovative and SO tasteful, and his use of space was amazingly clever. The hallways were narrow, but he still managed to tuck in beautiful little secretary desks that looked out into wee little courtyards. Bookcases were tucked in every single little nook throughout the house, and I absolutely LOVED that about it. The second floor contained what I think was my favorite feature of the home. There were lots of bookcases by the windows, and little window seats. But in the next room over, the gigantic windows pulled upward to open, and were big enough for you to walk through out onto the balcony that overlooked the street. I absolutely LOVED that feature!

Next, we were off to the British Museum. It definitely wasn’t my favorite museum, but did have a room that I absolutely adored. It was a room with LOTS of clocks and many of them were open so you could see the inner workings. This room contained some of the neatest clocks I’ve ever seen and I spent quite a lot of time there just soaking up all of the details.

The day ended with a trip to St. Paul’s, the second tallest cathedral in Europe next to St. Peter’s in Rome. The interior was absolutely divine and much lighter than the other cathedrals I have seen. Once again, we climbed to the very top of the dome, except this time there was no elevator to take us part of the way up like there was in St. Peter’s. So, we climbed the 500-something steps up to the top, but it was well worth it. The views of London were spectacular! Random side note: the cathedral has a café in the basement that they named the Crypt Café. I thought it was a really clever name!

Well, that’s about it. We called it an early day so we could have some time to wind down and get to bed early before we wake up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to go to Brinton Carpets.

London—Day 2: July 20

Inside the V&A Museum is this SPECTACULAR piece by Dale Chihuly--isn't it breathtaking?



A whole section of the V&A is devoted to iron work. I absolutely loved this modern piece that was there!



This amazing sculpture is suspended in the air in one of the domes of the V&A. It is made out of flattened brass instruments. I learned about this years ago, and to see it in person was a real treat!



The London Town Hall--a great example of Norman Foster's modern architecture.



The Gerkin Building--another Foster building.



Oh dear--I'm not sure what this building is! Isn't it beautiful though?



The Globe Theatre--Shakespear's works are still performed here on a nightly basis.

Daily Details: July 20

The morning began with a sponge bath. Yes, you heard right—a sponge bath. I guess there’s a first time for everything! Apparently, James forgot to mention one of the quirks of Manson Place being the fact that there is no water pressure sometimes and what little drizzle comes from the faucet is ice cold. Maybe that’s due to the fact that was have Nigel as a guest, or that’s what we’ve named our flat ghost. He likes to turn the shower on and off about every 5 minutes throughout the night and day, all on his own. Hopefully Nigel will take a vacation tomorrow morning so I can get a real shower in!

After an interesting morning, to say the least, we were off to the V&A Museum, or Victoria and Albert Museum. We were put into groups and instructed that out of the next 3 museums we visited, we need to derive a pattern from each museum. Going through the museum while searching for inspiration for new patterns gave the visit a whole new perspective. The V&A was rich with inspiration and has been one of my very favorite museums we’ve visited. Instead of doing their displays chronologically or by certain geographical areas like most other museums do, the V&A is divided up into categories. I much preferred seeing a museum designed this way because you get to see the same things all in one area and how they have evolved over time. Two of my favorite exhibits there were the jewelry and fashion exhibits. In the fashion exhibit, I got to see Princess Diana’s famous dress/jacket combo that is ivory with all of the pearls sewn onto it. It was absolutely breathtaking! I also saw a dress entirely made from black, lace bras. That was quite a sight! The jewelry exhibit was even more exquisite though. My favorite part of it was this giant spiral that had been created out of rings with the most massive gemstones I have ever seen in my entire life! To see all of the jewels, dazzling away in my favorite shape (a spiral) was incredible! Good, eye-catching design like that was present all throughout the museum and promoted exploration. There were even some interactive things that would have kept children interested without being too cheesy. I loved this museum!

After strolling through London and making a brief stop at the London Town Hall to see the modern architecture up close, we were off to the Tate Modern Museum. On the way there, we passed the Globe Theatre where Shakespearean plays are still held today. Upon arriving at the Tate, I felt a bit intimidated—it looks like a formidable prison made out of brown brick that looms ahead of you, several stories high. I think they were going for a very minimalist effect and boy, did they achieve it! Some of the art inside was too bizarre for this little chicky, but I did see some things that I really enjoyed. Among my favorites were many Georges Braques paintings, Picassos, and Warhols. As far as three dimensional art goes, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon something that many of the other people I was with missed. It was a little room tucked out of the way that was entirely red. The walls were red, the furnishings were red, and every single object in there was completely red. There was everything from a red stove to red crayons, shoe laces, tea kettles, etc…all in the most brilliant shades of red! The room was packed to the gills, and I enjoyed letting my eye wander through and see all that was tucked inside. There were also some very cool sculptures, like this long chrome pole that has used pieces of soap stacked about 15 feet high, one on top of the other and in all sorts of shades, creating a very neat effect.

After touring the Tate, we crossed over the famous Millennium Bridge, designed by Norman Foster to take the tube over to Leicester Square. At Leicester Square, we grabbed a quick bite to eat before we headed over to see Harry Potter at the Empire Casino—the theatre where all of London’s premiers take place. The theatre was absolutely MASSIVE—it seated over 1,000 people! And, it was the most comfortable theatre I have ever sat in. The seats were absolutely divine! Our seats were near the very front of the theatre, but not too close that our necks got kinked. I was so comfortable and exhausted that I was falling asleep in the previews and doubted my ability to stay awake in the film. As soon as the Harry Potter music came on though, I was wide awake and completely riveted to the screen. I haven’t seen any of the movies since the second film because I wasn’t a huge fan of the first two. This 6th movie exceeded my expectations in every way possible though and I walked away floating on air, dying to watch the movie all over again. Note to everyone reading this: if you have not yet seen the 6th Harry Potter film, you MUST go see it ASAP. It will be WELL worth your time! Today was one great day!

London—Day 1: July 19

Behind this gate is Buckingham Palace. Isn't it a beautiful gate?



Big Ben--beautiful, but not as big as you might think



The London Eye



Awesome elephant/giraffe sculpture by Salvador Dali



Dusk view of Big Ben and the Parliment buildings

Daily Details: July 19

After hauling our luggage to the Metro from the train station, we arrived in South Kensington. It was easy to see by the shopping surrounding us that this is a high-end area of London. On the street nearest to our flat is a Lamborghini store, for crying out loud! We had to wait a bit on the curb in front of Manson Place for our flats to be prepared and then were given a little welcome meeting by the Residence Life manager. It was interesting to see someone else give these meetings since I’ve been doing it for so long. Even here in England the rules are so similar. Our RL, James, said that Manson Place, because it is so old, has a few quirks like creaky floors and doors that close loudly. After the meeting, it was exciting to finally get into our flats. They are beyond filthy—they don’t look like they’ve been cleaned one little bit because there’s crap all over the floor and the bathroom is maybe the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. But, I’ll be calling this home for the next 2.5 weeks, so I’m adjusting. Suffice it to say, I just don’t walk around barefoot!

Each room comes equipped with a wardrobe for us to put our belongings into. I was so excited at the prospect of not having to live out of a suitcase that I immediately started unpacking. I pulled out the bottom drawer, placed a relatively lightweight bag in it, and all the sudden I became aware of the fact that the whole wardrobe was tipping over onto me! I guess I didn’t register it that well because my roommates related the story this way: “We heard your voice go, ‘guys?’ and then looked over and saw the wardrobe falling over you and other people were screaming your name. All we saw was your little legs, motionless underneath the wardrobe. You looked like the wicked witch! All we could imagine was a giant gash in your head and we just ran over to haul the wardrobe off of you. It was terrifying! We couldn’t believe you weren’t screaming or anything!” Ha ha! I’m not sure why I wasn’t either, but I was fortunate that the wardrobe doors were open because as it fell on me, I just kind of fit inside the little space. I wasn’t hurt one bit and it makes for a good laugh every time I think about it! I’m guessing tipping wardrobes aren’t one of the quirks James was talking about, but they might want to address that.

After the wardrobe incident I was wide awake and ready to go grocery shopping with the rest of our apartment. We went to store called Sainsbury’s, and I quite enjoyed being able to shop for real food and plan meals with my roommates. Let me tell you though, there are some WEIRD foods in England!
The last event of the day was going on a walking tour of England with the whole group to give us an opportunity to get our bearings. I feel like I saw all of London in those few hours! We saw Leicester Square, the Times Square of London where all the movie premiers are held. We also saw a glimpse of Buckingham Palace (we’re going there for real our last day here), Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Town Hall, the Gherkin Building, Millennium Bridge, the London Eye, and a whole heap of other cool things. It will be neat to explore all of them in the next coming weeks!

Paris—Day 6: July 18

The Paris Opera House!!!



My favorite room in the Paris Opera House!



The most famous Hector Guimard Metro station in Paris. Isn't the Art Nouveau style absolutely exquisite?



The Steps of Montmartre--it was so awesome to see them in person finally!



Me, in front of Fontainebleau.



Me, with my FANTASTIC strawberry sorbet at Fontainebleau. Isn't the color gorgeous?



Vaux le Vicomte, my all-time favorite French chateau



A view of the gardens at Vaux.