Because I can't describe it myself

Here's a quote about London that I found particularly appealing, in a book I'm reading called "London: The Biography" by Peter Ackroyd. It's a behemoth at 779 pages, and I'm 76 pages in. 

 A 19th century American, James Russell Lowell once described London thusly:

"I confess that I never think of London, which I love, without thinking of that palace which David built for Bathsheba, sitting in hearing of one hundred streams-- streams of thought, of intelligence, of activity. One other thing about London impresses me beyond any other sound I have ever heard, and this is the low, unceasing roar one hears always in the air; it is not a mere accident, like a tempest or a cataract, but it is impressive, because it always indicates human will, and impulse, and conscious movement; and I confess that when I hear it I almost feel a if I were listening to the roaring loom of time."

That's definitely how I feel some times, especially about the sound. It is so loud constantly. I love the sound of traffic right out my window, which is surprising. It's a constant, reassuring sound, and I love listening to it at night. Funny, given how hard it used to be for me to sleep. I suppose that it's more lulling than bad guitar or loud talking. 

We all watched the Inauguration together, and had a rousing round of cheers at the time, as well as arguments over Rick Warren, the oath flub, Prayer and God in the state and what ever else we thought to argue over. It need not be mentioned that we all started imbibing various at around 4 pm. But it seemed fitting at the time. 

So what else have I been doing besides toasting our new president? I went to classes, which are good, for the most part. I'll blog about that later. We went to the London Transport Museum! as part of one of my class. That was pretty good, though I wish I would have had more time... we only had about an hour and a half. And we all know that I love transport more than that. 

We've been out to various clubs and pubs. I think I've been to about 5 different pubs, from the Goat Tavern, to the Gloucester Arms, the Imperial Pub, The Queen's Larder,  and many more... we also went to a fairly upscale cocktail bar last night, in the furthest reaches of Zone two, Islington (ish), Drinks were two for one, which  was nice. I got some awesome heels, but they killed my feet. We walked all over last night, which is not what they are designed for. 

And that's all for now, I think. We'll see. 

Protests, Victoria and Albert

On Friday, we had a meeting with the FIE people, which was a bit boring. We also probably did some other things, but I can't really remember. 

Over the weekend, we had a free day on Saturday, where we went downtown for a while in the freezing cold. It was seriously below freezing, and we all quickly came home. We saw Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and the Thames. Briefly, of course. That night, we enjoyed a few drinks down at the pub, the Gloucester Arms.

There were massive protests right outside our flat, over the Israeli bombing of Gaza. It was intense, and highly uncomfortable to be an America walking through the crowd. Many of them blamed America for supporting Israel, as well as Israel. Many kids weren't allowed through for several hours, though the group I was with had perfect timing, so we left soon after it started and got back right before they  brought in the cavalry (no joke, they did actually sweep the streets with cavalry). A couple police officers were injured, and one was knocked unconscious. 

Just to give you an idea of how close we actually were: we could see the unconscious police officer right out our window.  They also knocked out a few windows from the shops down the street, including a Starbucks, which of course, was the one to get international press. The Israeli embassy is right down our street, and is entirely blocked off with bobbies out in front all the time.

Sunday morning, we  had a walking tour of the area. Turns out we're technically across the street from Kensington Gardens, as Kensington Palace is less than a mile from our place. Hyde Park is right next door, and they sort of connect to each other. We walked through the Park, to the Diana Memorial (described by our guide as a 'glorified moat'). We also went around Kensington, and saw the place where the riots had been. 

In the afternoon, we had a guided bus tour of London, were we saw the sights and got out at Buckingham Palace and near Tower Bridge. It was pretty run-of-the-mill, though the guide was a really amusing 50-ish lady with purple hair. 

School started Monday, I'll post later.

I went to the Victoria and Albert today with two other kids on the trip. That place has so much packed into it, you cannot do it in one trip. We saw the medieval casts of effigies and doors and archways, jewelry, silver, painting, and tapestry. For some strange reason, the tapestry room smelled terrible! So we only spent a bit of time in there. 

We'll go back in the future for sculpture, iron work, Asian art, and tons more. 

Woo! Packed days!

First Post!

So I've been in London for three days now. I'm surprised that everyone thinks that I've done tons of things already. But I'll confess that these last three days have been pretty mellow. The first day, I stayed at my professor's flat but it was really cold, so we didn't really venture out, except for dinner. We ate at a tiny, hole in the wall falafel place, which was cheap and tasty. 

Yesterday, we moved in. After sleeping through my alarm, I got a bit of a late start to the day. We walked to my dorm, which is literally across the street from Hyde Park (hence the name of this blog). I will have proof tomorrow, as you can see the park from my window. I'm in a room with three other girls, which will be interesting. We are right next to the Dutch embassy, and can see into their offices. Our bathroom is tiny and we have the smallest one in the whole apartment. The girl with a single has a larger bathroom that we do.  We also have the most number of people in our room, so this is especially troubling. Thank goodness I don't have an extensive routine in the morning. 

Last night we went to The Goat's Tavern right down the road for dinner and a drink. Tasty. So that was a good way to start the night. Tonight I'm  just taking it easy, but every one has plans for Saturday night revelry. We plan on going to the Natural History Museum tomorrow, which is only a short distance away. Today I ate breakfast in Hyde Park, which was nice, but freezing. We seem to have a cold snap right now, and I'm decked out in my long underwear, several layers, scarves and gloves. Our house is really old, and the heat doesn't really work, so it's quite chilly right now. Hopefully it will warm up in the next few days. 

We also just received our stipend, which is over double what it was expected to be, which is a very nice surprise! It means more money for things like theater, or concerts as well as food and maybe travel. The Royal  Albert Hall us just down the road, which is convenient. 

So life is good right now, but I'm still a bit too tired to be communicative.