december.

well december has come and gone. so let me give you a quick review of my month. school and my internship have been busy. (did i mention i got an internship about 2 months ago?) we had several days of snow. and let's just say when it comes to snow, london is worse than the south. not even kidding. all it takes is 3" for all the airports, trains, schools, so basically the entire city, to shut down. i think a lot of you across the pond heard about the chaos that ensued with the pre-christmas snow here in london.

D, my youngest brother, came over to celebrate christmas with me in london. he arrived in london just a mere hour before the crazy snow happened in london. soon after his arrival, we headed to the train station to catch our train to liverpool. we so relieved that our train left during the blizzard. the second our train left, we found out the 'football' game were going to liverpool to see that evening was canceled. strike one, uk christmas. it made for a long train ride. upon our arrival in liverpool, there was absolutely no snow. there was some ice on the sidewalks, but nothing to warrant canceling a game. our 3 days in liverpool turned out to be quite long. with the trip getting off to a bad start, we didn't really have much hope of picking up. we hoped the game being rescheduled while we were there, but alas we found out it takes weeks to reschedule games. oh and our tickets couldn't be refunded. strike two, uk christmas. the highlight of our liverpool visit was the beatles story museum. we also saw the cavern club, where the beatles began. otherwise, our visit consisted of walking in the cold, sipping lots of hot chocolate, and lingering in stores to warm up.

this was all we saw of anfield, well that and the gift shop. thanks winter weather.

mathew street, where the original cavern club was located.

replica of the stage at the cavern club in the beatles story museum.

so thrilled to be in liverpool.

we hoped for brighter prospects for the remainder of D's visit. tuesday morning we ventured out to do some christmas shopping and show D the sights of london. first, we ventured to abbey road studios and up to the camden market. next we headed down oxford street with all the crazy shoppers and then to the christmas market in hyde park. that evening we went to see lots of the london landmarks...trafalgar square, big ben, parliament, and westminster. wednesday we had to fully tackle the christmas shopping. it was off to see buckingham palace, oxford street part two, and chinatown.

thursday morning we headed up to kings cross to catch our train to scotland, where we were going to spend christmas snowboarding. due to the previous snow, and the usual christmas travel traffic, chaos ensued. we boarded our train, only to find that we did not have reserved seats and every single seat was filled. our options were to stand in-between two train cars, amongst everyone's luggage for 7 1/2 hours, or to ditch all of our plans and stay in london. we opted for the latter. strike three, uk christmas. and then we still got charged for our hotel. strike four, uk christmas. feeling disheartened after our christmas plans unfolded, it was time for one thing...mcdonalds, the ultimate cure for any upset american. that evening we found a good indian restaurant and had a delicious curry meal.

and then came christmas. no christmas eve is complete without baking. my day began with some homemade chocolate chip cookies with real nestle chocolate chips. the chocolate chips made all the difference. afterwards we went to borough market and walked along to the thames to see the remainder of london's landmarks...globe theater, tate modern, millenium bridge, st. paul's, the tower of london, and the tower bridge. we headed back home to watch it's a wonderful life, our christmas eve tradition. to celebrate christmas, D and i went to our first ever midnight mass at a church near my flat. after putting on our new pair of christmas pajamas, we awoke to our first christmas away from home. needless to say, christmas was slightly anticlimactic. we opened our few presents and began our all-day marathon of movies and how i met your mother. we had a nice christmas dinner thanks to my flatmates.

merry christmas tree in covent garden.

our meager christmas spread.

opening christmas pajamas!

the day after christmas, or boxing day to the uk, proved to be chaotic. D and i had not finished our christmas shopping so we decided to partake in the sales. boxing day also brought a tube strike. during a typical tube strike (which usually happen once a month) all of the lines usually run, but several of the stations are closed. for this particular tube strike, all the lines were closed. we took a bus into the center of the city on a very crowded and tourist filled bus. the next day we decided to venture out of london. we took a day long bus tour that visited bath, stonehenge, and salisbury. bath is famous for it's ancient roman baths, and is where jane austen lived for sometime. she actually wrote pride and prejudice while living in bath. our visit was very short, so we only had time to tour the roman baths. it was very interesting and the town was beautiful. i will definitely be making a trip back to see more of the city and do all the jane austen stuff. we did a quick, and very cold, visit to stonehenge. after, we went to the small town of salisbury to see the cathedral. bath was definitely the highlight of the day. stonehenge was pretty awesome, but there's only so much to do and see with some monolith stones in the middle of field in the cold english winter.

roman baths. that water is 1500 years old.

stonehenge.

salisbury.

the last few days of D's visit were spent finishing up seasons one and two of how i met your mother, briefly visiting the british museum, eating curry, and watching 'football'. it was good to have a familiar face in town. all in all, i learned the hard way that the holidays are best spent at home. it was especially disappointing when greenville had it's first white christmas in my lifetime and i missed it. i also learned never to plan to travel in uk over christmas. it's too depressing to total up how much money we lost due to our thwarted travel plans. i can only hope that 2011 holds better weather and more successful traveling for me and any visitors!

goodbye 2010, hello 2011!

uni.

last week was my first week of uni(versity). tuesdays, i have class at the design museum. the design museum is just up the tube line from where i live. it takes me about 20 minutes by tube to get there, plus about 20 minutes walking from the station. the design museum is located along the thames, close to the tower bridge. (in case you needed a visual.) along my walk i get to pass the infamous london bridge, city hall (design by norman foster), peer across the river at the tower of london, pass by the tower bridge, and then i reach the museum. it's a pleasant walk, but the wind gave me a small taste of what's to come when i gets cold. i got to meet our adjunct professor (or tutor as they seem to call it), who is the head of the curatorial team at the design museum. we also got to meet all the members of the curatorial team. they described their work and took us through two of the current exhibitions that they curated. both are very interesting. one exhibit is the brit insurance designs of the year and the other is the architect's john pawson's works.

wednesdays, i have class in kingston. i have to take a bus from where i live to the train station. the train takes about 25 minutes. the big if in getting to kingston is the bus. the bus should only take about 10-15 minutes to get to the station. that's only if i don't have to go during rush hour. however, the rain on top of rush hour makes for a long journey. ie on wednesday, i left around 8:10, and it was raining. so i didn't arrive to the station until after 9. good thing i left super early! wednesday we went to the kingston gallery and met the director there. we got an introduction to what the gallery does and how students are involved. then, we got a slight introduction to an upcoming exhibit the gallery is putting on. apparently there will be some student involvement...as to how much i'm not quite sure yet. we got a little vip tour to the stanley picker house in kingston as well. stanley picker was a wealthy american, living in london, who was an art enthusiast and collector. he has quite a range of art pieces all displayed in his house, yard, and a small detached gallery on the property. we got to tour it because a-he left the house as a trust for the university and left the money to build the gallery at kingston and b-the project we will be involved with is based off of the house. the upcoming project/exhibition will actually be put on by ab rogers--richard rogers' son. he is practicing in london and we have the opportunity to meet with him in a week or two. i'm excited!

hmm, on another note....i had my first official high tea. yes it was as british as it sounds, complete with delicious scones. i actually had a greenville native, K, who is a friend of friends, take me to tea. she just completed her masters in london and is currently looking for a job. so yay for new friends, and one from home! there's also been some patches of nice weather here and there. when it has been sunny, or pleasant, i've been taking advantage of my close proximity to clapham common. it takes me about 5-10 minutes to run there. and it's quite nice to be back on a workout routine, albeit a slightly half-assed one. believe it or not, friday was sunny for most of the day and was about 70. sunday was quite nice as well. i ventured out to hyde park and the serpentine gallery. the gallery was ok, but the park was very nice. due to the nice weather and the half-marathon finish line in hyde park (who knew?) there were tons of people out and about. but, there were some crisp fall leaves, lots of green, and sunny weather, so i spent the better part of my day reading in the grass. also, i have decided i have the worst bus timing ever. every time i walk to the bus station, i can see my bus approaching, but there is no possible way for me to make it in time. while this may not seem terrible, it literally happens to me every-single-time. and then i have to wait for about 10 minutes (usually a few more) for the next one. 10 minutes isn't that long, but i'm not looking forward to that when it is pouring down rain or in the middle of winter. otherwise, i've been missing pumpkin spice lattes, football games, and other fall luxuries those of you in the states are fortunate enough to have. i think that about sums up my daily happenings over the past week or so. until next time!

look right.

after 23 years of looking left before crossing the street, it completely goes against my natural instincts to look right. while this statement seems so elementary, you try remembering to looking right instead of left when you get to a cross walk. it's harder than you think. the first week i was here, i felt like my head was constantly spinning back and forth and right and left every time i approached a crosswalk. i am eternally indebted to the geniuses who wrote 'look right' or 'look left' on the crosswalks at large intersections. however, i took my life into my own hands every time i crossed smaller streets. simply because i couldn't read what to do before i crossed. i know this may sound funny, but i am finally comfortable crossing the street here. (i know this because i don't have to wait for the little green man anymore. i have also become quite the daredevil and don't always cross at the crosswalks.)

the cars are not the only thing that move opposite the rest of the world. this also goes for all escalators, trains, tubes, and sidewalk etiquette. the escalators, trains, and tubes don't bother me as much. however, i am still getting used to the 'keep left' of sidewalk etiquette. several times a day, i get caught up in the awkward sidewalk dance with a stranger. (you know, where you each try getting around each other, but always end up trying to go the same direction.)

on another note, i have managed to get sufficiently lost several times now...in my own 'neighborhood.' i use the term neighborhood loosely, in that yes, relatively speaking it is my corner of london, but in that finding my way back home takes at least 45 minutes walking. (and i walk fast!) i find this troubling for several reasons. first, i pride myself on my internal compass. it usually doesn't fail me. second, i usually don't have my comprehensive london map with me when these situations arise (which is a book, not map, therefore i hate lugging it around all the time). third, i like to think i map out my course before i leave, so i can avoid the getting lost. and fourth, i really hate using a map in my own neighborhood. with that being said, i've never really been terribly lost, just more in the wrong place at the wrong time. i also really hate the bus system. i have no problems navigating the tube. the bus is a whole different story. you would think it would be easier since you are above ground and can see where you are going, but for some reason the bus system and i don't really get along. a lot of my hatred towards the bus system arises because i always grossly misjudge how long it should take me to get from point a to point b. while the journey isn't terribly far, the traffic is always terrible. however uncomplicated it should seem, i have almost mastered one bus route in my area that i need to take to the train station. this did come at the price of two or three (eh, who's counting?) failed journeys to get where i needed to be in a timely manner. i will say the bus gets bonus points because it runs 24 hours, while the tube does not. but, bus routes change at night and be warned that they don't always go where you anticipate. (i did have one late night mishap, but i now know which bus not to take!) also, bus routes are not subject to transportation strikes. which the tube and tfl workers did today. thankfully, i wasn't really affected by this.

ok i think that's enough of my current thoughts and grievances on transportation do's and don't's in london. there will probably be more to come. until then, keep looking right.