Camden Markets and Tate Modern

These past two days in London have been awesome. Yesterday I went to Camden Markets with Eric and Allegra, and it was easily one of my favorite places I've visited in London so far. It reminded me a lot of South Street in Philadelphia, but multiplied by at least 1,000. You can find pretty much anything there, from clothes, to shoes, to bags, to jewelry, to souvenirs, to food; the list is endless. We walked around for awhile, looking at all of the different stalls, tents, and shops. Halfway through we took a break for lunch - I got a burrito from a Mexican food stand. I wasn't expecting much, but it was actually delicious! One interesting thing about Camden Markets is that you have to haggle/bargain for prices, which I actually ended up being pretty good at! I walked away with a pair of earmuffs (much needed in this London winter), and two sweaters. After walking around for awhile, we stopped at Caffe Nero, a small coffee chain that is listed numerous times in my London Top 10 book. Overall it was a great afternoon; I can't wait to go back, especially when it is a bit warmer!

Main streets of Camden Market

I was a bit disappointed to see the KFC on the edge there...

Surprisingly good Mexican burrito!

More shops

Little river running through the middle of Camden Market

Excellent Vanilla Chai Latte from Caffe Nero

Rockin' my new earmuffs

Me and Allegra!

Today, Allegra, Eric and I ventured to the Tate Modern, a famous museum of modern art. We took a double-decker bus to get there, and it was my first time riding a "coach" in London! We sat on the top level, of course, and it was really cool. And cheaper than the tube, so I'll definitely have to consider taking the bus more often. 

We spent a few hours in the Tate Modern, and it was during that time that I realized that I'm just not a modern art fan. At all. Some of the works were interesting, but that vast majority simply left me confused. Eric wrote a BLOG POST that I think sums it up perfectly (and is pretty hysterical), so you should check it out if you have the time! Here are some pictures from the visit:

Along the River Thames and St. Paul's Cathedral 

Tate Modern - the building used to be a power station!

One of the exhibits - you had to look into the pieces of wood to see the "art"

Outside terrace at the Tate Modern

Getting some fresh air

St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millenium Bridge

Animals dancing outside the Tate Modern. Don't ask me why. 

Piece in a gallery called "Lost Art"

Kind of interesting...

This honestly gave me the willy-wonkas.  

I'm thinking: jellyfish.

There is one stone out of place - might that be the point? I'm not sure.

Cool!

I think this might be famous, but I'm not 100% sure...

After visiting the Tate Modern, we walked to Piccadilly Circus for dinner. We ate at a delicious Italian restaurant called Bella Italia. I had a calzone and the best dessert I think I've ever had anywhere: Cookie Dough Lava Fudge Cake. 

St. Paul's Cathedral at night

Prince of Wales Theatre, where I'll be seeing The Book of Mormon with my family when they visit in March!
Can't wait!

There it is: Cookie Dough Lava Fudge Cake. Perhaps the highlight of my day.

Tomorrow I have some reading to do for my classes this week, and I might see Zero Dark Thirty with Eric. An interesting side-note: one thing I recently learned is that unlike at movie theaters in America, in London, you need to book tickets for movies ahead of time to make sure you can get a seat. You pick your exact seats, as if you're going to see a play or musical. At first I thought it was a bit strange, but now I'm starting to think it's a good idea! Cheers!

Afternoon Tea

I've really enjoyed the past few days here in London. On Sunday I went with Eric, Allegra, and Dave to Bodean's BBQ near Oxford Circus (a big shopping area) to watch the NFC Championship game. It was a great night; great friends, great food, and a great game. 

Me and Allegra!

Just enjoying some good, old-fashioned BBQ in London

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were pretty low key. I did laundry for the first time (thrilling), went grocery shopping, and finally got around to buying rain boots (London has not been kind to my shoes so far).

Today I went to my three morning classes, and then traveled (by myself, for the first time!) to the Ruben's Hotel London near Buckingham Palace for afternoon tea with a few other Boston College students. It was a neat experience; the hotel was absolutely stunning, and we were given our own private room where we sat at a big round table, drinking tea and eating the cutest little sandwiches  scones, and pastries I have ever seen. 

Ruben's Hotel London

Fancy-Shmancy!

Since I was already downtown, I decided to walk around for a bit to do some sightseeing. The hotel was a mere three blocks from Buckingham Palace, and I was able to walk right up to the gate and get a closer look. I then walked to Westminster to see Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. London is such a walkable city; you can pretty much walk a few blocks in any direction and see an iconic London site. 

Buckingham Palace

Queen Victoria Memorial

Guarding the palace

The London Eye from a distance

Westminster Abbey at dusk 

Abraham Lincoln statue! 

Big Ben at night - so stunning (notice the double-decker bus too!)

Later, Eric met me at Westminster and we walked to Trafalgar Square. We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant in Piccadilly Circus, which had pretty good food, but a very strange atmosphere. For example, 50 Cent (the rapper) music videos were on in the background. Not exactly what you think of when you imagine an Italian restaurant. On the way back to the tube, we stopped at Cafe Concerto for dessert; I had a mocha and a strawberry tart - delicious. 

Trafalgar Square

The National Gallery

Colored fountain

Just chilling

Enjoying a mocha for dessert at Cafe Concerto!

Tomorrow I'm going to head to Camden Market, which I've heard is a really cool place to find all sorts of neat, cheap stuff (perfect!). One last picture for the day - my parents were kind enough to send me some pictures so that I could brighten up my room a bit more! 

A little bit of London, a little bit of home!

It's certainly come a long way since I moved in almost 3 weeks ago. I'm looking forward to the weekeend; hopefully the weather will hold up! 

The British Museum

Unfortunately, the weather here has been pretty horrible lately. Cold, snowy, and rainy pretty much sums it up. Luckily, there is a lot to do in London that is indoors, so not all is lost. Today Eric and I walked to the British Museum, which is a mere 3 blocks from the SOAS Main Campus at Russell Square. It is completely free, which is awesome, and there is so much to see there that I'm sure I'll go back a couple more times. My favorite exhibits were definitely the Egyptian and Assyrian sections, because I have studied those histories in particular in some of my classes at BC. It is so cool to read about something in a textbook, and then see it in person a few months later and know a little something extra about it. Here are some pictures from my visit!:

Outside the British Musuem

Inside the "Great Room" 

Egyptian sculptures - notice my handy-dandy Rick Steves guide

I really wanted to buy this from the gift shop, but Eric wouldn't let me.

The Rosetta Stone!

Hieroglyphics 

Mummy!

Beautiful

Headdress from ancient Iran

Part of an exhibit about British currency - if only I had that in my wallet...

The Royal Gold Cup

African pottery

African dress

Snowy Russell Square!

As you can probably tell, the museum is absolutely huge with tons of different exhibits, so I was pretty worn out when we got back to Dinwiddy. I played it simple with a frozen pizza for dinner, and later I went to The Queen's Head and Big Chill House with Eric, Allegra, and Jungwon. We didn't stay out long, since we were all pretty tired from walking around in the cold all day. 

Before I go, I want to share some exciting news from today - I am officially headed to Florence and Venice for reading week, in less than 3 weeks! I can't wait!