London makes you lazy.

At least in terms of keeping up with blog posts, I have been pretty lazy, and for that I apologize.  On the same note, I've been walking more in the last few days than I have in a long time.  I'll go over a quick recap of the last couple days' events, and then post some tasty pictures.

Wednesday was a classless day for me -- that's not to say that it wasn't classy, however -- so I took advantage of my freedom and set off into the depths of London around 10:00 in the morning.  With no real goal or final destination in mind, I picked a cardinal direction (east, in this case) and started walking.  The weather was pleasant, with the midmorning sun casting its warmth through a cloudless sky.  My walk led me through a few residential sections of London, past hidden cafés and snack shops; shady parks and plazas barely populated by anything more than pigeons at this earlier hour.

The first thing that struck me as I walked was the sheer age of this place.  The first colony in America (Virginia) was founded in 1607, and with the naturally unstable qualities of the earliest settlements' construction, one is unlikely to come across any standing structure older than a couple hundred years.  However, as I navigated the streets of London I found myself constantly in, on, and generally surrounded by buildings and infrastructure dating from 1000 AD to the present day.  The experience was fascinating, and in some ways even humbling.

The second thing I noticed about London as I wove through narrow alleys and brick streets were the number of parks.  Our guide on Tuesday's bus tour mentioned that London is the greenest city in the world, in terms of amount of physical greenspace.  I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate, but it wouldn't surprise me at all.  No matter where I found myself in the city, an ample-sized park was never more than a couple blocks away.  The parks here also seem to be well-tended and beautifully landscaped.

After wandering for some time, I headed to the south until I came upon the River Thames.  There I found a public green called the Victoria Tower Gardens.  Its location on the bank of the Thames made for some truly lovely scenery.  Unfortunately my pictures don't do it justice, but this was my view from a park bench.

I spent some time relaxing here, and then headed towards Trafalgar Square, the largest public plaza in the city.  On my way I stopped at the Sherlock Holmes Pub for a beef sandwich and a pint of the house ale.  I normally don't advocate drinking before noon, but I cut myself a break for the day.  Once in Trafalgar, I headed straight to the focal point of the plaza: The National Gallery.  An art museum of truly epic proportions, I spent an hour and a half exploring within its many halls and galleries, and still only saw about half of the exhibits.  Below are some shots of my lunch at the pub, and Trafalgar Square.

After I was finished in the National Gallery, I headed to Covent Gardens to do some extreme window shopping.  It took everything in my power to not spend all my money on clothes and trinkets from the labyrinth of stalls and shops.  Instead, I managed to leave having purchased only a fine Cuban cigar, something not legally attainable within the States.  Later that evening I returned to Covent Gardens with a couple of friends, saw some impressive street performances, and ate some very tasty gorgonzola gnocchi at an Italian restaurant.  I ended the evening enjoying cigars and Strongbow cider with friends in front of our flats.

Thursday was a much less eventful day, though by no means less enjoyable.  It consisted primarily of classes, followed by a jaunt up to Camden Markets, an even larger shopping center than Convent Gardens, and aimed more towards the youth.  I sampled some English candy with a few friends, and talked briefly with some kind locals.  In the early evening, a handful of us brought a few bottles of wine to the nearby Russel Park, and sat on the lawn drinking, eating various cheeses, and playing cards.  The weather in London has continued to surpass our expectations, and even into dusk we were able to enjoy the outdoors at a comfortable temperature.

Today should be an interesting one for the group.  At 15:30 we're seeing an art exhibit about the Last Supper, and at 19:00 we'll be watching a stage performance of a Clockwork Orange.  Later tonight I'll try to post the (finally) edited bus tour photos, as well as any I can take today.

Take it easy, everyone.  

Today was a good day.

I woke up this morning refreshed (though still wanting to sleep longer) and ready to take on the city.  After attending a couple of classes, the group got together to take a tour of London.  We got a bite to eat at a Lebanese hole-in-the-wall -- it turned out to be delicious -- and then took a two-hour bus journey around the city, seeing more sights than I can convey with words.  Luckily, I took a TON of pictures.  A lot of them need a little cropping and minor editing to be nice and pretty, so I won't post them today.  However, I will have them up as soon as possible.

After the tour, two other guys and I headed to New Oxford street; one of London's major shopping centers.  By some miracle I was able to avoid spending money on anything save for groceries.  We got back home, where I made pasta for dinner, and then started sorting through my photos.  Since I feel so bad for not being able to put them up yet, I'll leave you all with some pictures of my flat and the pub we went to last night!

 The bedroom.  

 Our living room -- or at least a corner of it.  It's hard to get an idea of the size, but it's roughly as big as my living room on Coy.  

 Our adorable European kitchen.  The fridge is actually hidden in one of the cabinets!

 The front door of 1 Byng Place (where I live). 

The College Arms  pub, where I enjoyed whiskey and comedy.  

 A row of phonebooths in front of our flats.  

Our lovely group.

I don't know what day it is.

Travelling overseas is no joke.  The plane rides were pretty uneventful.  Columbus to Newark was obviously no big deal, just a short hop away.  For some reason there were pigeons running loose at the gate seating area in Newark.

Newark to London was something else altogether.  I'm not the kind of guy who sleeps in vehicles, much less next to strangers (I'm weird, I know), so to put it simply I've been awake since 8 AM Sunday, Ohio time.

Upon arriving in Heathrow, I spent an hour trying to find a few girls from my traveling group, but to no avail.  I then took the tube from Heathrow into London proper, and spent the next 2 hours wandering aimlessly over a small portion of the city, just trying to determine exactly where I was supposed to be heading.

Eventually I was able to find my way to the offices of our flats' landlord, and settled in to my new home nicely.  The rest of the day was spent getting to know the parts of London I'll be visiting most:  Our flats, our study center/classrooms, the grocery and drug stores, and of course, the pub.

Around 20:00, the entire group went with our three lovely professors to a pub called the College Arms.  At first it seemed rather cramped, but the skinny nature of London architecture was betrayed by a comfortably-sized basement.  As we ordered our drinks, several men moved about the bar,  loudly advertising a free comedy show in the basement.  Figuring we had nothing to lose, the group moved downstairs, and for the first time I really felt like I was experiencing some part of London culture.

With our entire group gathered at one side of the makeshift stage, the room was pretty evenly split into locals and, well, us.  The host of the evening's events was a charismatic, boisterous figure, who made sure to incorporate jabs at our nationality -- as well as his own -- in between introducing the nine comedians of the night.  Most of funnymen (and two women!) were good, several were truly great, and unfortunately a couple were awkward, sending a tangible discomfort throughout the crowd.

As one of our professors, Keith Newman, put it, "It was both surreal and great fun to see you all being harangued by a Brit comic in a pub - not bad for a  first night."  I couldn't put it better myself.

My first full day in London was a tiring one, but ultimately a rewarding and exciting experience.


P.S.  I was too tired to attempt to take many pictures today.  What I do have will be used in other posts in the future.  I can't wait to show you our flats!

At the Columbus airport

     

     This has been my view for the last hour or so.  Good thing boarding begins soon.  Nothing of note so far, save for an iPad-wielding Buddhist monk sitting to my right.  No joke, about ten minutes ago he unleashed a truly impressive belch.

     That has to be a good omen, right? 

The eve of my departure (Intro Post)

For all those reading this: Welcome!  This blog will serve as my semi-public travel log while I live in London, and travel across Europe.  I plan to post primarily from my personal journal, and hopefully I'll be able to get plenty of pictures up as well.

Tomorrow morning I'll set off to the Columbus airport.  At 13:18 I'll be on my way to Newark, and then at 18:25 my plane will take me across the Atlantic to London.  If all goes as planned -- generally, these things do not -- then I should be arriving in London at 06:25.  I know it's a little silly, but the idea of 7 hour flight taking 12 hours due to differing time zones still blows my mind.

Although I'm excited for this trip in ways that I find difficult to express, a part of me is also a little nervous. I guess it's understandable, really.  After all, I'm leaving behind just about everything familiar to me.  Still, no matter what happens, this trip promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I'm going to miss the states; I'm going to miss you all.

But I'm still going to have a hell of journey.