London: Day Two

At Hampton Court

We started our second day in London with a hearty English breakfast of beans, bacon, and eggs over easy at our bed and breakfast. Beans for breakfast was better than it sounds, though the bacon was more like ham than what we think of as bacon. We also had some toast and fresh-squeezed orange juice, so it was a strong start to the day. Michaela and I also stepped out to have a look at our hotel's garden, and it was very pretty! Afterwards we headed to Waterloo station and then took a half hour bus ride to Hampton Court. (And yes, I did end up with "Waterloo" by Abba stuck in my head all day).

This palace was lived in by several monarchs (including William III, Mary II, and Henry VIII, infamous because of his six wives), and so it has been added onto throughout history and features many different architecture styles from different time periods, though they are all quite regal. We started in the main court, called Base Court, and explored the Clock Court as well and then watched a little scenario in which several actors portrayed what was the start of Henry's campaign to separate from the Catholic church in order to divorce his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn. We then explored Henry's apartments and other areas of Hampton Court, seeing many opulent rooms, Henry VIII's extravagant crown, the royal chapel, and several very pretty courtyards. We then headed out to the gardens, which were very pretty, and went through the maze (which was very fun, even though it did start raining halfway through!). Below are some pictures from Hampton Court and its gardens. 

Unicorn and dragon guarding the entrance to Hampton Court

Fountain in the Base Court

Decorative pillars and ramparts in Base Court

King Henry VIII with Anne Boleyn's cousin

Stained glass in Henry VIII's apartments

Ceiling and tapestry reflected in mirror in Henry VIII's apartments

King Henry VIII's portrait

Painting of Apollo and Diana with a piece of modern art in the foreground

Fountain Court

This was my favorite architecture style at Hampton Court

Statue in the gardens

Very neat flowerbeds in the gardens of Hampton Court

A tulip at Hampton Court gardens

Michaela and I after finding our way to the center of the maze

Base Court

Clock in Base Court

Main entrance to Hampton Court Palace

The whole front view of Hampton Court Palace

Knights, a lion, and a unicorn guard the gate around Hampton Court

Glimpse of Hampton Court across the river

After thoroughly exploring Hampton Court Palace, we ate lunch at a pizza place and then headed back into London. We stopped by Leicester square to pick up tickets for Wicked, which we will be attending tomorrow night. Leicester square is where a lot of movie premieres and such happen in London, and we actually got to see a small part of the premiere for Arrested Development, one of my favorite shows (which went off the year a few years ago after three seasons, but is returning with a fourth season available exclusively through Netflix), and saw a Bluth's frozen banana stand set up for the occasion. Later, when we passed by again, something very big must have been going on, but the crowd was so big and noisy that we couldn't tell what. This is also the theatre district of London, so we saw a very popular cinema and buildings featuring many different shows, including Rock of Ages, Singing in the Rain, and The Book of Mormon.

Chinatown is also very close to Leicester square, so we wandered around that area, did a little Asian treats shopping and souvenir shopping. This was a very interesting area, and, after seeing the Chinatown in DC, I can say that this one felt much more authentic. Almost all of the shop owners were Chinese, and there were multiple restaurants, shops, massage parlors, etc., all of them selling Asian food or goods and staffed by Chinese people (this was definitely not the case when I visited one in DC). We also found plenty to take pictures of there. On our way back to the Tube, we stopped in a few other shops and did some souvenir shopping, and then decided to visit London's M&M World, which was also nearby (and we could have 15% off our merchandise there with our London passes). However, everything was terribly expensive and the place was basically a four-level gift shop, so I didn't buy anything. 

Then we headed back towards our part of London via the Underground. We decided to eat at a pub for supper, and I had an interesting sandwich--chicken breast, bacon, melted cheese, and barbecue sauce on ciabatta bread, plus fries (or, as the English call them, chips) and salad. Then we headed back to the hotel for a night of rest and relaxation before our big day tomorrow--Warwick Castle and a production of Wicked!

Things learned today:

- Instead of 'backyards' like we have, the English seem to have gardens. And most of them are very pretty.

- Unicorns are used much more in castle decor than you would expect.

- Pepperoni pizza is called "American pizza" and cheese pizza is called "Margherita pizza" here.

- British bacon is much more like ham than bacon...

- If you put the Union Jack on something, tourists will buy it.

View from the garden behind our bed and breakfast

Garden gnome

Flowers in the garden behind our hotel

Theatre where Singing in the Rain is put on

Theatre where you can see the musical Rock of Ages

Bluth's Frozen Banana stand at the premiere of Arrested Development

Restaurant in Chinatown

Lion statues in Chinatown

Pagoda in Chinatown

Interesting meats... in Chinatown

Traditional girls clothing for sale, Chinatown London

Souvenir shopping

Sign at the pub where we ate

My pub meal

xoxo, xenophile

London: Day One!

Classic London tourist picture in the phone booth

Well, after a very long layover at the Minneapolis airport and an uncomfortable flight almost as long, we made it to London! We got through customs, got our luggage, and got on the Underground towards our hotel. It didn't really start to feel like we were in a different city until the subway started going above ground and we could see all the classic English houses. When we got off the Tube and started lugging our suitcases through busy streets, lined with buildings of many different architectural styles and teeming with black taxi cabs and double-decker buses, it really started to sink in that we were in the UK! We are staying at a little bed and breakfast place on Gower Street, which so far has been great. :)

Once we got to the hotel, we freshened up, got some money from the ATM, had a snack, and got on a double-decker bus to Kings Cross station. Our instructor had to confirm our tickets to Edinburgh there, and while she did we checked out the station and Platfrom 9 and 3/4, of Harry Potter fame. Michaela also remarked that since we will be leaving that same station on a train headed to Scotland, it will be pretty much like the first Harry Potter movie. :)

We then proceeded to Trafalgar Square, an area with two large fountains, numerous statues and monuments, and a few street performers. The square also faces the National Gallery, so we stopped in to see Van Gogh's A Wheatfield, with Cypresses, before it closed, and managed to spot a few others on my must-see list while trying to find it, including some Cezannes and Renoir's Umbrellas. We also caught our first glimpse of Big Ben from Trafalgar Square, which was very exciting! At the end of our time at Trafalgar Square we stopped by a souvenir shop to pick up some postcards, and then we commenced on a very long walk. 

The walk passed by many beautiful buildings and a few significant places--like the place where they do the changing of the horse guard and the prime minister's house (estate? it was pretty large and heavily guarded!)--before we reached our actual target--Big Ben and the houses of Parliament. We could also see a glimpse of Westminster Abbey from where we were photographing Big Ben, as well as the London Eye. We then crossed the Thames on a very beautiful bridge to take more pictures of Big Ben and Parliament, as well as some beneath the London Eye. 

At this point we were all very tired and decided to head back to the hotel. We took the Tube back and got some food from a grocery store a few blocks away from where we were staying to eat at the hotel. There we ate, cleaned and rested up, and are now ready for a good night's sleep!

Up tomorrow: Hampton Court :)

Gower Street

Varied Architecture of London

Kings Cross Station

Trafalgar Square

London Icons

The London Eye

Big Ben and Parliament

xoxo, xenophile

Europe Trip!

Michaela and me

I am currently sitting at the Minneapolis airport with Michaela, waiting until 8:45, when we board our plane to London! We are taking a two-week study abroad photography tour to Europe, which officially started this morning with our drive to Sioux Falls and our flight to Minneapolis.

We've been looking forward to this trip for a long time, and now it's finally here! The trip mostly takes place in London, but we will also take three day trips to Edinburgh, Scotland and Paris, France. We're so excited for everything we'll get to see and do--from trying fish and chips and climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower to seeing the Rosetta Stone and photographing castles. As part of the class, we are supposed to keep a daily journal (with photos!) of our trip, so I decided to do so in blog form, so I could also use it as a way to update friends and family back home on our adventures. I hope you enjoy reading about our experiences in Europe!

xoxo, xenophile

Fort Collins, Colorado

Mountains outside of Fort Collins

I went to Fort Collins on an IEEE industry tour of HP, Wolf Robotics, Advanced Energy, and Agilent (in nearby Loveland). The city seems a lot bigger than it actually is, and, besides the Old Town, none of the buildings seemed older than 10 or 15 years old. There are a lot of technology companies centered there (you can add Intel and a few others to the ones we visited), Colorado State University, a plethora of different breweries...it really just seems like an overall up-and-coming city. One thing that did surprise me about Colorado, is that only about half of it is mountainous, and we were on the flat half. We could see some mountains from Fort Collins, but we unfortunately didn't actually get to go up into the mountains. I did love visiting the city though.

There seems to be a big push for 'green' in Fort Collins, everyone seemed to drive newer and fuel-efficient cars, there were things like all natural food stores and 'green' dry cleaning businesses, and definitely a lot of people riding bikes. Some of the people we met at the different companies we visited actually rode their bikes to work and/or on breaks to work, even with snow on the ground, cold temperatures, and when it took them a 50 minute bike ride to get to work!

The Old Town area was one of the 'fun' things we explored (not to say touring electronics and power companies aren't fun, but...) and I really enjoyed it. There was some really cool old architecture, mixed with modern art and shops selling fair trade goods or artisan crafts, yoga studios, so many restaurants and bars, and a unique group of people, like Green Peace volunteers and a bluegrass band playing on the corner. It's definitely an interesting area, and I'm told the night life is even better on the weekends.

A suite I got all to myself--I was the only girl on the trip

A nature preserve outside of Fort Collins

We had pizza with the IEEE chapter at Fort Collins

Bicyclists outside of Fort Collins

View of some mountains outside of Fort Collins

Public piano in Fort Collin's Old Town area

A Nepali import store in the Old Town

Fort Collins is very pro-bicycle and skateboard

Bluegrass band in the Old Town area, near some Green Peace workers

Sculpture in Old Town

Painted horse in the Old Town area, Fort Collins

xoxo, xenophile