Final Observations from London

My final days in London, I know I will miss the city. It has been a great experience.

The two things I will miss the most are: WKD Blue and Twisted candy bars.
(Twisted candy bars are like our American Cadbury eggs, but they are available year-round. Could be dangerous!)

And speaking of food - the Brits have the most random assortment of "crisps." Hannah and I spent a significant amount of time at Tesco amazed at the different flavors. Trying them was an experience in itself.

Check out these potato chip flavors:
Worchestershire
Roast Chicken
Smokey Bacon
Paprika
Thai Sweet Chilli
Roast Ox
Ham and Mustard
English Breakfast (Builders breakfast)
Prawn Cocktail
Grilled Steak and Onions
Tomato Ketchup
Pickled Onion
Bloody Mary
Oriental Grill

And they really taste like what they claim to be. Roast chicken was one of my favorites - it was kind of tasty but weird at the same time because obviously the texture is all wrong.

One of our last nights in Greenwich, our resident ambassador from the university took us on a Pub Golf crawl around the town - complete with plastic golf clubs and balls. Surprisingly, the locals were not taken back by a group of 20+ college kids traipsing through the local pubs carrying golf clubs and wearing neon glow sticks. We did a "Captain Planet - our power combined" and an "O-H-I-O" shot.




One huge annoyance with the city - the faucets. I had to deal with this every morning trying to wash my face. The hot and cold water are so far apart that you are either scalding your hands or freezing them. Some designer needs to work on that.

I fully supported the designer who made the bathrooms at Heathrow airport though. My biggest pet peeve about airports is usually the tiny stalls - everyone is lugging huge bags and you usually can't even fit them into the stall with you! You could have fit an battalion's worth of luggage in the Heathrow bathrooms! (And yes, I was so amazed, I took a picture. True American tourist).


So as I leave the airport (and its huge stalls), farewell to London... I will return, but back to the U.S. for now for a choose-your-own-adventure.

On the wrong bus

Hannah and I - in our last week in London - got on the wrong bus trying to get to Lewisham for a quick trip to Primark.

Well actually, it was the correct bus, just going the wrong way, and we realized this about 15 minutes away from our initial starting point.

It wasn't that we were confused - the buses in Greenwich were running on diversion due to road construction, so the stop we ordinarily would have picked up the bus at was closed. We saw the #188 coming - stopping at a nearby street - and we ran for it before checking which way it was headed. Minor technicality, and it was easily fixed, just ironic that we "got lost" for the first time in our last week in London.

Apparently, however, we have been riding the wrong bus all along.

We most often rode the #188 or #199 when we should have been riding the #319 to sit beside Jack Black!

The story in The London Paper informed me that, "School of Rock star Black refuses to have drivers, preferring to travel round London on the city’s iconic red buses."

Still can't wait to see Gullivers Travels so I can see Jason Segal and Jack Black on the University of Greenwich campus. I'll probably be able to point out the window in King William's hall where I sat in class while they filmed outside! :)
A Bollywood movie was being filmed in our last week on campus.


I've determined, however, that London had it in for me that day. Later, I did a little adventuring to find the Saab dealership of London. A random destination, I will admit, but I was trying to pick up a few 2009 brochures for a great mentor - Dan Orzano - who collects them. So I looked it up - found Saab City on a road called "The Highway" and got street by street directions to it from the DLR stop - which would be useful if any of the roads once I got off the train had street names. (They did not). No one to ask for help, so I wandered. Luckily I was a little perceptive, remembering one street was a one-way (which I found) and remembering it wasn't far from a large church (which I also eventually found: St. George-in-the-East).


They didn't have a graveyard, per se, but rather a gravewall?

And an old nature study museum that before it was a mortuary (or so the sign claims).

So I'm finally on "The Highway" and see the dealership - but then I had to get across 4 lanes of traffic without stop lights for pedestrian crossing. There were designated areas where pedestrians could cross and presumably the traffic would stop for you. (They did not). Uncommon for Europeans - normally if you even think about putting a foot out onto the crosswalk they are squealing their brakes to let you pass.
So I played some frogger, dodging cars - and a couple of "lorries" (semi trucks) and snapped this photo in the middle of the road.

Mind you, the dealership's front wall is all glass. So everyone working there can see this spectacle of me crossing the road... then I'm poking around the front and side of the building trying to find a door INTO the dealership. All of the workers are still staring at me. Finally, when I look beyond the point of frustration, they point me around to the back where the door comes of a parking lot. (Ok, that makes sense... people buying cars probably drive up in cars... but they could take the Tube there to drive home in their new car). So if I hadn't caught quite everyone's attention before, literally every eye in the dealership was on me when I walked in. I can only imagine the conversations when I left about the crazy American tourist who couldn't cross the street, couldn't find the door, and then wanted to take some brochures back home to the states... but I found it!

Buy a King Henry VIII Teddy Bear?

A visit to Hampton Court for a day trip out of the city.
I've never seen such a love fest for Henry VIII, who - if my memory serves me right - I learned in history class was not a very nice man. They reenacted one of his weddings, had a friendly Henry VIII in costume roaming the property, even sold Henry VIII teddy bears!

The castle was pretty cool, a lot of tapestries and portraits - not unlike other castles. I think my favorite portrait was actually of Christina of Denmark because of its placard, entitled "The One That Got Away."
It reads, "After Henry VIII recovered sufficiently from the death of his third wife Jane Seymour, the search was on for a new bride. At 16, Christina of Denmark, a noted beauty, was suggested as a potential bride. Christina declined, apparently joking that if she had two heads, one of them would be at the King of England's disposal."


While I enjoyed the castle, my favorite part of Hampton Court was its 60 acres of surrounding gardens. (Above, the Great Fountain Garden and the Privy Garden. The Privy Garden has been restored to how it was for William II in 1702).

The gardens had patches upon patches of vibrant colored flowers!


Below - these were the pond gardens - sunken flower gardens that were originally ornamental ponds used for holding freshwater fish, such as carp and bream, used later to display William III and Mary II's exotic plant collections. Some people were enjoying a picnic in one.


Part of the Great Fountain Garden, there was an expansive water area to the Jubilee Fountain with some beautiful swans.

There was a fence between two sections of the water, and this swan seemed to believe the water was bluer on the other side. He tried repeatedly to fit through the bottom of the fence, but obviously his body would not fit through. I wanted to help him up the little ramp to the other side of the fence.


In addition to wandering among the plants, we found our way to the center of The Maze and saw the Guinness World Records largest grape vine, a circumference of 3.8 m (12 ft, 5 in) and average branches measuring up to 33 m (108 ft). The longest measured 75 m (246 ft) as of Jan. 2005.

It was a surprisingly beautiful, blue-skied day. Obviously, the weather had to be nice for the weekend - another paper due, so aside from my visit to Hampton Court, I'd be stuck indoors!

Before Buns of Steel videos...

Before Buns of Steel videos, people toned their legs by climbing the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral.
528 steps to be exact - from the Cathedral floor to the Golden Gallery.
And they had to be mighty thin and short for some of the passageways we went through!

It was my first time in St. Paul's this summer even though we've passed it many times in our journeys around the city. I saw it in my last trip to London, but that time I'd literally stepped off the plane an hour before and was pretty jet lagged.
We were awed by Christopher Wren's striking design and the breathtaking baroque High Alter/Quire area, explored the crypt to see Turner and Blake's graves. My #1 goal this time, however, was to climb to the higher levels of St. Paul's to visit the Whispering Gallery that has a great overhead view of the church internally and the Stone and Golden Gallery with views of the city.



It was 257 steps from the Cathedral floor to the Whispering Gallery. Hannah and I could tell secrets across the room. It truly does carry the sound around the outer sphere of the dome. It made me think of home - the whisper wall at the Wexner Center on campus.

Another 119 steps up to the Stone Gallery.
I pose for a photo with the Gurken in the background. Then, Hannah and I get our picture together.


I take some shots of London, also. The Tate Modern/Millenium Bridge below.

Plus some cool modern adobe type building. (Don't ask - I have no idea what it is. I just thought its architecture was interesting).


Finally, 152 steps up to the Golden Gallery - the highest level. Very narrow staircase - and no way of turning back once you started.



Great views. Who needs to spend £15 on the London Eye ticket?



A rather ironic sign at the top... "No way down."

Stuck at the top of St. Paul's indefinitely... until you find the down staircase.

Harrods kindly asks all visitors to: Not wear crash helmets in the store

Undesirable goods at unreasonable prices
Harrods and Selfridges... No journey to London is complete without doing some high end shopping.

Shopping is a strong word. A more accurate description of my trips would be wandering through department after department and staring at their prices.

Then, if you convert them to American dollars - phew! Look out!

Granted, they have some really nice things that are probably high quality and are worth the ungodly amount they want you to spend on them. However, they also have some of the ugliest things I've ever seen and they would have to pay me to take them home.

Example: The Loving Famooly painting - Harrod's
Painting is a strong word. Let's call it the child's craft project.

Other than the fact that this hot pink cow canvas is just obnoxious, if you could see the "detail work" you'd see what I mean about the child's art project.
Those little texturized pieces - little kid's plastic jewels - you know, the kind crusted on fake plastic tiaras or glued on to little girls' painted fingernails. Seriously.
I mean, granted, to each their own... if that's your style, I'll only scoff a little if I see this hanging on your wall. But... I think there is a better way to spend...

£4,250 = $7048
(and 62 1/2 cents)

I googled Caroline when I came home.

Bovinian Rhapsody, The Cow with the Pearl Earring, The Moo, The Moona Lisa
(Pictures courtesy of the Hawthorn Gallery... thank you!)



These spinoffs of the original images are interesting. I wouldn't personally spend that much on them, but I guess I could understand appreciating these pieces. But.. sequins and jewels are simply unacceptable:


Enough about art. Let's move on to the toys section.
We popped our head in to see what ridiculous amount they were asking for Boggle, but got too distracted by the child Corvette to actually pursue the board game.
On every spoiled child's Christmas list apparently:


A steal at £20,000 ($33,170). Reasonable, clearly. They also had a child size Hummer.

Now... to Selfridges. They had "American imports."
Would you pay unbelievable prices for the simplest of items?

Double Stuff Oreos - £6.49
JIF Peanut Butter - £4.75 (My Tesco Brand for £1.20 worked just fine)
Kraft Mac & Cheese - £3.99
Hershey's Chocolate Syrup - £3.79
Aunt Jemima Syrup - £6.79
A1 Steak Sauce - £6.95


Can you imagine spending $11.52 on a bottle of A1 sauce?

Other interesting goods...
Scorpion Vodka (Mmm.. Crunchy)


Monkey Picked Tea - literally (or so they claim) picked by monkeys


There was also Weasel Coffee - which is first eaten by weasels and then regurgitated before it is picked by the locals. ("It has a unique rich chocolatey flavor," the package reads.)

Civet Coffee (right beside it) however, is the "rarest and most extraordinary coffee in the world." The Palm Civet Cat prowls the Sumatran coffee plantations at night, eating the finest and ripest cherries, which are collected from its droppings. Yum!

Since I didn't need a £300 polo or any Civet Coffee, I bought delicious baked goods at both stores. A custard cream donut at Harrods and a delectable mini cupcake at Selfridges. (I also picked up some Black Currant Jam for my grandmother at Harrods). Its funny - the baked goods and chocolate were two areas of the store where I got free samples and the prices were reasonable - and there were lines of people waiting to purchase things in both departments. Can't say the "fine art" or child's car sections were clogged with purchasing customers.


Editor's Note: Conversions calculated based on £1 = $1.6585.

I am the scab of London's cityscape...

I know everyone is panting to read the tantalizing stories of my weekend, but I just turned in a 10 page, 2900 word critical analysis essay on the identity and sense of home of Asian immigrants in England's diasporic communities as expressed in literature. Please forgive me for the delay.

In the meantime, it is creative writing week, so I can share with you what I wrote for class this morning.

Background:
We were evaluating a poem's voice - and the fact that the voice of a poem can be an inanimate object (rock, cloud, or Statue of Liberty).

So, we wrote from the perspectives of inanimate objects this morning.
Our inspiration - a piece by Syliva Plath. See if you can guess what she is. (Don't cheat by googling her name or lines from this poem).

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful -
The eye of a little god, four cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candle or the moon
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

Now my poem.. Clue: we had to write from the perspective of a London landmark.

I'm the scab of London's cityscape.
They wanted something futuristic.
Why? To celebrate a new age.
But I'm industrial, almost,
Like they left the cranes,
Yellow and towering,
Even after the construction.
New architectural design
For people who fear the end of time is nigh.
Time blinked on.
The end did not come.
They sold my dome.
I'm a corporate advertisement now.
Friends say, "Meet you there,"
Come for food and entertainment
And leave thinking they need a new phone.

P.S. Forgive me - I am not trying to be a creative poet in my future career.

Answers posted soon! (Stories too!) Enjoy!

Editor's Note: Answer - the O2 Millenium Dome

I'm gonna be a big star!

Start looking for me in the background shots of movies filmed in London.
This is going to be my big break in the film acting career I'm not pursuing.

And while I will probably not appear as an extra in any of the movies I've seen being filmed, that does not mean I did not take the opportunity to do some star stalking.



On the University of Greenwich campus: Gullivers Travels.
Every morning and afternoon on my way to class, I'd keep my eyes peeled for Jack Black, Jason Segal, and Amanda Peet. Ok, so I was mostly hoping to casually run into How I Met Your Mother star, Jason Segal. *Note: He is not in the costume tent below. We checked.



Actually, we were informed by Soldier #243 - as I have so dubbed him. He may actually be Soldier #17 for all I know.

We were not-so-conspicuously moseying through campus on their last day of filming at Greenwich - potentially with wide opened eyes, strained necks, and dangling cameras - when a man crossing from the dining to costume tent stops us. He asks if we know what they are filming, and we tell him we do. Unfortunately, our big stars weren't on campus that day, but we learned a little more about the film. I haven't figured out if he was B.S.-ing me when he told me they dance to Beyonce in one of the scenes, but with Jack Black and Jason Segal, I'm expecting a fairly comedic tale. We talked a lot about his role in it, too (I'll be looking for him in the soldier scenes). He apparently does a lot of extra work in the UK. When we weren't on campus watching the film crews, we could also see them from across the Thames. (There's a little park across the river - we take a footpath under the Thames to get there).


The entrance to the foot tunnel:

The very pretty park that overlooks the campus:


We also saw a Bollywood film being made on the Millenium Bridge. I'm probably walking in the background. I have no idea what they were filming - and they wouldn't tell us, but pretty cool right? Seems like a poor advertising strategy though. If you tell me the name of the film, I, being a silly tourist giddy about seeing a film being made, am likely to watch it when it comes out. If you don't tell me what you're filming, it is difficult for me to watch your movie later.



Of course, we didn't go to the Millenium Bridge with the intention of stalking Bollywood filmmakers.

That day we had started out at the Monument (that commemorates the Great Fire of London). We climbed all 311 spiraling steps to get some great views of the city.


To summarize what I could see from the top of the Monument:
St. Paul's
Construction Cranes
Tower Bridge
Construction Cranes
The Gurken
Construction Cranes
Construction Cranes
Construction Cranes
The Londone Eye
Construction Cranes


After the Monument, we were crossing the Millennium Bridge to get to St. Paul's station to head over to Piccadilly where there was supposedly some photography museum.



We never actually found the musuem, but my guidebook did lead us to an awesome ice cream/gelato shop called Scoop over by Covent Garden/Seven Dials.


I took a picture of it so I could say I saw some photography that afternoon. I would say my ice cream that day was just as satisfying as an afternoon at the gallery would have been.