January 17: Monday

Not a whole lot happened today. It was a Monday. I went to class and ate a sandwich for dinner. The end.

January 16: Harrods (And More Parrots!)

I was greeted this morning by sunshine! It's sometimes hard to believe, but every once in a while, the sun manages to peek through around here. Around 11, I made a quick lunch of noodles and headed out to explore with my friend Sarah. We wandered over through the park, taking pictures and playing tourist. We ran into a small flock of Indian Ringnecks chewing on a small tree that had just begun to bud. I tried to get some good pictures, but of course getting any parrot, let alone a wild, feral parrot, to hold still is just impossible. After we'd been watching the parrots for a few minutes, two pigeons came to join the party, a plain gray one, and a bright white one. Later, a gray pigeon with white speckles visited as well. It was kind of funny to see five or six parrots foraging just six feet above a bunch of cooing pigeons.  We walked through the park towards Harrods, since we both needed to get rain boots, and we wanted Hunters, which are British-made, so they're a lot cheaper here than in the States, and for some odd reason, Harrods seems to have the best prices on them.

Once we found the place, it was an absolute zoo. I had been hoping that it would be less crowded on a Sunday, but it was packed. I can't imagine what that place is like on a Saturday! We strolled through the incredible jewellry and expensive purses, and dresses that had been worn by celebrities, which were displayed in glass cases. On a balcony above the Egyptian Escalator, a singer in a red satin evening gown sang "O Mio Babbino Caro." We discovered that on the top floor (I think it was), Harrods has a "Pet Palace," with gem-studded collars, gourmet kitty treats, a full doggie spa and gerbils and hamsters for sale for £20 each. They also had several Boston Terrier puppies for £2500, and insanely expensive bunnies and guinnea pigs as well. We watched a little Pomeranian get a haircut, but left before he was put on the doggie tread mill to watch a Disney movie and get in some exercise.

We explored the food halls extensively. Every time we turned a corner, we discovered new and wonderful items of food! Best "quote of the day" came from Sarah: That is the prettiest sandwich display I've ever seen." Eventually, we descended on the bakery for our meal. I got two pastries: one with cheese and spices, that tasted like pizza in light, flakey bread form with rivers of cheese, and some kind of chocolate-hazelnut pastry with apple glaze and drizzled icing. My friend got a pastry with bacon and cheese twisted in, and something that looked like a chocolate muffin, but was taller and turned out to be pastry bread-like, with a creamy chocolate center. We were both pretty darn happy. After we selected our bakery and made plans for another visit (soon!), we headed up to where we had already scoped out the Hunter wellies. After much deliberation, I decided on the "Aubergine" classics, and she the "Olive Green" classics. I'm very glad we decided to get them last, since the boxes were heavy. The second greatest "quote of the day" came from a man with a heavy Italian accent who was trying on some Hunters as well. He grabbed a boot and folded it in half, remarking: "Woah! These are rubbery!" Um, yeah. They're rain boots.

We had hoped to eat our bakery treasures in the park, but it had started dripping a bit, so we walked home on Queen's Gate. When we opened the door and carried in our two huge "Harrods" bags, the four or five girls inside did a collective "Gasp! What did you get!" I really love my boots so far, and now that I'm properly, and stylishly, outfitted, I find myself hoping for rain. I feel very British after getting my Hunter wellies at Harrods. I also got a little something from Harrods for my sister (Shhhhh!!! That's a secret!). Tonight, I think I'd better start working on my homework, since I am here to study, after all. Shoot.

I LOVED this duck! He was flopping around the Serpentine on his back, trying to preen himself. Then a Cocker Spaniel came and chased him off.

Harrods, from the street. I forgot to take a better picture, so I'll have to do that some other time.

Cheesy pastry (And favorite lounge fleece pants)

Chocolate-Hazelnut pastry (YUM! Honestly, I think this was the best pastry I have ever eaten)

January 15: Saturday

I had planned on going to Portobello Market today, but unfortunately that plan fell through. I made it out the door and half way there, but then the girl who was with me decided she had changed her mind. I was rather frustrated, to say the least, but I made the best of it by doing errands and shopping on Kensington High Street. I got the art supplies I need for my Travel Journal class, socks from Marks and Spencer, and milk for breakfast. Not a terribly productive outing, but oh well. I did take a nice walk through the park. Some very early spring flowers are coming up, like snowdrops. I am constantly amazed at how many people have dogs here! I would guess that about 30-40% of the people I randomly walk past on the street have at least one dog on a "lead." (I would also guess that about 20% of the dogs I see are dachshunds, which is kind of funny.) Though today was windy, it mostly didn't rain, so everyone was out in the park. I didn't see any parrots today, just a whole lot of pigeons. When I got back home, I decided to play with my new art supplies. I sketched my favorite subject, birds (of course), till the sunlight faded, since our lighting in the flat is so poor. The picture above is of a European Robin, which I saw the other day. I really like the colored pencils I found, but the markers are horrendous. I made poached haddock and onions and noodles for supper, and I have some ice cream for later. Tomorrow, a friend and I hope to go explore Harrods...should be fun!!!

January 14: First Trip to the British Museum

First trip to the British Museum today! We had to meet at the museum at 11, so we took the tube-the Piccadilly line to Holborn, then walked to the museum. The program had arranged for us to meet up with a guide (the same one who had taken us on the walking tour and the bus tour), who took us to some of the "big" artifacts in the museum, and gave us detailed backstory about them. While it was nice to hear detail about such things as the Lindow Man and the Lewis Chessmen, I was pretty familiar with most of the things we saw with the guide: The Rosetta Stone, the Friezes from the Parthenon, the Sutton Hoo Treasure, the Assyrian Lion Hunt panels, and the Lamassu of Nimrud.

After the tour, I split off with a few friends for lunch (a toasted Brie and bacon and greens sandwich...yum!), and then explored a bit. We focused on the Medieval England and Europe galleries, but strayed into 17-18th century British galleries, ancient Roman-Britain galleries, and the ancient Iranian gallery. Wow. Looking at the pre-Roman British Isles artifacts was really interesting. We saw shields, weapons, tools, jewellry, cookware, and everything imaginable. My favorites were, of course, the Sutton Hoo treasure, elaborate Celt carvings in stone and metal, and all the beautiful jewellry. I tried to take pictures of some of what I thought were highlights:

"The Burghead Bull," Pictish carving, 7th Century AD, Scotland

Not sure what this one is; I just really liked this silver brooch

LOVED these earrings!

Rubies, diamonds and emeralds...oh my!

Miniature Figure

"The Great Torque," 100 BC

"Horned Helmet," 150-50 BC, found in the River Thames, possibly an offering to a river spirit

Queen from "The Lewis Chessmen," carved from a walrus tusk, probably 12th Century (One of the best-known pieces in the museum)

Bishop from the "Lewis Chessmen"

6-7th Century AD: famous ship burial and treasure, unearthed near Sutton Hoo, England, 1939

Helmet from Sutton Hoo

Famous Gold Belt Buckle from Sutton Hoo

Purse Ornament from Sutton Hoo (Garnet, Lapis and other inset stones)

Shoulder clasps, Sutton Hoo

I was also very intereested in the museum's collection of jewellry, decorative tile, and glassware from the 17-1800s. The tiles they had on display were absolutely amazing. My favorites were the ones painted with floral designs in rich shades of blue, green and purple. Someday, I'd really like to translate them into stained glass. I also really, really enjoyed the jewellry in this gallery, both the precious pieces and the more ornamental pieces with glass or crystal. One of my favorite pieces in the museum is a little bird brooch, set with bright purple sparkling Bohemian glass chips from the 1800s. I also liked a set of little gold birds with blue flowers in their beaks from the mid-1800s. The plaque said that they once carried messages in them, possibly proposals of marriage. Some of the glassworks in this gallery were incredible. Many were hand-blown with colorful streaked glass and beautiful textures and shapes. I will definitely be re-visiting this gallery in the future.

I just loved this little brooch

One of my favorite tile patterns

Another favorite

A very poor picture, but this piece was really beautiful, with fish swimming above and below brilliantly colored peacocks

Another bad picture, but this phoenix-looking bird was just gorgeous, incorporating more pink tones than most of the other pretty tiles

A picture of the beautiful roof of the Museum's courtyard

The Rosetta Stone!

Scenes from the frieze of "The Lion Hunt" of Ashurbanipal (668-631 BC) at Nineveh. I studied these images extensively in an Art History class at Madison. They're exquisite, but very, very disturbing.

These came from the Parthenon in Greece. Originally, they were the decorations on the front pediment, the triangular bit over the main entrance. They probably depicted Apollo driving his horses out of the sea at the far left, Heracles, Persephone and Demeter, and someone running to tell the news of Athena's miraculous birth. In the center there would have been statues of Athena and Zeus, and on the right hand side, there are more figures of other gods including Aphrodite, and this horse head is one of the team of the moon goddess, who drives her chariot into the far right.

And here's me with my friends Sarah and Allie, in the courtyard in front of a really neat-looking lion whose story I forgot to read.

January 13: Later

          Well, not much going on this evening. I had a History of London class this afternoon, and that seems like it will be a good course. We'll be going on several field trips, including to the Tower of London, so I'm very excited for that. After class a friend and I stopped at our favorite Waitrose grocery store for cheese and fruit...we felt so very European! I heated up my tacos for supper. Looks like I'll get at least 4 meals out of those, which is great. Since nothing else is really going on, I thought maybe I'd post some of the pictures I took this morning at the park. Besides the parrots, I saw lots of other birds, some early flowers (lots of hardy pink cyclamen), and some pretty stuatues and art works, and of course the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall. The Albert Memorial has 4 statues at the base dedicated to each of the 4 known continents at that time, Europe, Asia, Africa and America. My favorite is, of course, America, with its formidible-looking buffalo, and Africa is interesting, with Cleopatra-esque headresses and sphinxes. Enjoy!

I'm finally HERE!!!

A statue just a block down the street...I'm not sure who it depicts, though, because the traffic has always been too bad for me to get close!

Royal Albert Hall

Albert Memorial (And that's real gold up there!)

More of the Albert Memorial...locals jokingly call this part of town "Albertopolis" for the many tributes to Queen Victoria's husband Albert.

"Europe"

"Asia"

"Africa"

"America"

I just thought the pigeon made a nice addition to her headdress

This is a statue called "Physical Energy" located in the middle of Kensington Gardens by a very famous artist from the 1800s

These swans were posing so nicely!

But then a third swan came in and chased the other away, so I just missed that absolutely perfect heart-shaped swan picture. I think they're being territorial this time of year.

There are LOTS of swans in the Round Pond...these aren't even half of them!

I just love this pigeon's expression! It's like he was saying "It's raining and I'm wet, so sod off!" (Being a British pigeon, I of course imagined him having a British accent and vocabulary)

I'm so HAPPY to be exploring Kensington Gardens!!!

Pretty cyclamen are blooming everywhere! I'm SO jealous!