TFC: London life

two [Fri, 11-Dec]

Lauren, John and I began our day at the Geffrye Museum to learn about the history of the British middle class through their interiors.  It was a very interesting and approachable museum.  Displaying rooms as a guide to presenting lifestyle was a great approach, especially during their “Christmas Past” exhibition where all of the period rooms are decorated with traditional festivity.  Obviously I loved learning about the history of Christmas and its celebration!

From Old Street we headed south across the London Bridge to Southwark for a evening of pub/bar hopping.  We began at The Anchor, a riverside multi-room pub recommended by our teacher Giles.  Lauren and I had our first and last pint of London Gold while John savored a Guinness.  With that coating over our stomachs, we sought dinner and the easiest/quickest solution was Gourmet Burger Kitchen, a chain in London voted as having the best burgers in town.  We walked it off along the Thames Path to Waterloo Bridge and The Riverfront bar/restaurant at the BFI Southbank Centre.  I always love spending time Thames-side and looking out onto a twinkling London was precisely where I wanted to be on my final Friday night.  I’m so glad I got to catch a few final glimpses at the breathtakingly lit Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s, London Eye, Houses of Parliament, etc…

Before catching the Tube at Waterloo, we stopped for a final pint at Hole in the Wall, a pub located next to the station and under a train overpass; the sounds of passing trains could be heard and felt, a very cool feature.  We then embarked on my last late-night, just-before-it-closes Tube ride, and I savored every second of it.

Saturday: the madre has landed!

Here it is: the Madre’s Visit series!  Disclaimer: we took a ton of pictures, we ate a lot of food (I almost forgot how much I missed it), and we made a lot of magical memories.  Here’s my attempt at documenting it all; a lot of the posts will be works-in-progress as I update them with little details I forgot/didn’t take the time to initially include–I know we have an eager audience awaiting!  Enjoy   I know we did!

After a very Love Actually airport reunion, Madre and I hit the Londontown running!  First, we headed to the London Visitor’s Hotel in Kensington to drop off Madre’s luggage; the LVH is a quaint little bed & breakfast style hotel with an extremely welcoming staff, but the best part is its close location to my flat in South Kensington!  From there, we walked through our ‘hood to my flat, stopping for a pub lunch at The Gloucester Arms and several Kodak moments — we soon realized that we were capturing Madre’s visit to London, my semester in London (flying solo makes getting pictures with yourself in them quite tricky), and our time together (again, only two makes it tricky, but we definitely capitalized on the kindness of strangers and waiters).  Next on the agenda, taking a very wise arrival activity cue from Madre’s The Unofficial Guide to London (the same trusted series we get all of our Walt Disney World advice from), was to purchase two 48-hour tickets for The Big Bus Company’s hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus tour of London.  We caught one of the last buses and, thanks to the ridiculously early sunset at 4:30pm, Madre got to see all of the London sights for the first time in their twilight glory.  We hopped off at Marble Arch, the end of the route, and grabbed a spot o’ tea (like the real Brits) before embarking on Madre’s first ride through London on a red double-decker bus (“yes, those really are the public buses!”).  Then, the jet lag hit, so we made a quick change of route to South Kensington where we stopped for a delicious Italian meal at Il Falconiere (the first of many delicious, spot-hitting meals).  I grabbed sleepover supplies for the next two nights; we were met outside, after already being freezing, by rain and a black cab…magic moment!  We hopped in, headed ‘home’ to the LVH, and snuggled the night away–the one thing I missed about home most of all!

London Visitor’s Hotel

room 23

the view

FIE Foundation House

The Gloucester Arms

fish & chips

mail at Metrogate

Imperial College

Manson Place

“peeper’s house”

safari piglet

The Big Bus Company!

on board

<3

Trafalger Square

Big Ben & Big Head

London Eye & Big Head

Lion & Big Head

in awe

Tower Bridge

Marble Arch

Marble Arch

tea time!

first bus ride

first dinner: Il Falconiere

first black cab ride!

snuggle time!

London via Coach Bus

FIE arranged a coach bus tour of London for us on Saturday (5-Spet) afternoon.  Driven by Paul and narrated by Pamela, I was lucky enough to snag my choice seat in the front so I had front and side window view!  (Being in the front not only served well for soaking it all in, but also for listening to P & P bicker in British, and get my inquiries answered!)

It was a great way to see all of the sights…for a brief, fleeting, glass window/tree obstructed second.  I tried to take the best pictures possible, but a lot of the moments passed and many of the identifications and information went over my head.  Above all, it was overwhelming…but in a good way — I saw how much there is to see and explore, and there is a ton of it!

The route:

The tour’s absolute aim was to see as many of the quintessential landmarks as possible while hitting the least amount of traffic.  The Thames served as our guide as we zig-zagged across it and followed its banks, weaving through the West End and the City of London.

The photos below are being documented as my first glances at the city.  I can guarantee improved images and captions in the future when I return to the areas!

[the real] Rose & Crown!

Vauxhall Bridge

Westminster Bridge

Umbrella Sculpture

Buckingham Palace

Hello, Big Ben!

The London Eye

Bus in the Way!!!

Piccadilly Circus

Twinings – the tea mecca!

The London Dungeon

“The Glass Testicle”

On foot

The Tower Bridge

Over The Tower Bridge…

(wonder if this is the “glass testicle’s” counterpart…?)

Although the coach bus medium wasn’t ideal for taking pictures of the city, it was for mapping it.  I definitely feel like my conception of London has improved.  It was a prime pace and flow to see how the city is planned.  Many striking similarities emerged with New York, from infrastructure to attractions to tourists, and it definitely got my brain working in the Urban Studies grove.  A native New Yorker and isolated traveler, my only previous first-hand comparisons to draw were between the Big Apple and Walt Disney World; I am thrilled to be able to add London to my repertoire and look forward to exploring it more–for pleasure and for analyzing–throughout the semester.  This grand-scheme approach has been serving me well; I am finding that I like to survey areas at large before diving into their intricacies.