Camden Arts Center/Freud Museum/Russell Square

Photos: 1) cool bike thing with child inside looking at fountain, 2) me looking at the fountain, 3) squirrel eating a nut right by me, 4) Russell Sq. fountain, 5) Freud's house




Today we met our art appreciation teacher at the Camden Arts Center. This was in the Camden
borough and the Hampstead suburb. Hampstead is a very wealthy area north of central London.
The gallery was very small with only 2 exhibitions but it was free so yay! We saw works by Daan
van Golden and Andro Wekua. I still feel as though my art appreciation is growing by leaps and
bounds every time we have this class. However, there was a screen print of Mick Jagger taken
from a stock photo and probably not physically screen printed with the artist's own hand and I
just don't understand how that can be considered art and hung on a wall. Kathy (the teacher)
said art has become more of an idea that one puts on a wall - it's "finding" something and hanging it. Call me old-fashioned, but I like the art that actually takes talent - or (in the case of Pollock) at least a little effort and creative insight. However, apart from that, I liked the exhibitions. You can check out a few of the pieces at www.camdenartscentre.org if you wish.





From there we went to Pizza Express for lunch. It was so good too! Ashley and I split cheese pizza (margahrita pizza here) and garlic bread for 4.50 pounds per person including tip. The pizza was also quite large and plenty big enough to share. Our waiter was also authentically Italian and very attentive - for which (along with his rather rugged handsomeness) Ashley left him a hefty tip.


After that Travis and I went to the Freud Museum while everyone else went back. We thought it was free, but it turned out to be 3 pounds. The museum was in the house where he lived the last year of his life after he and his family fled Vienna from the Nazis. It had all the stuff from his Vienna home - books, psycho-analysis couch, antique figurines, etc. Pretty cool I suppose.


After I got back I put my stuff down and walked over to Russell Square garden and just walked
around observing the people and sights and sounds. I took some pictures of the fountain, the
people, the animals (ok, well, pigeons and squirrels). It was a lovely afternoon. While it was cold
all day, the sun was out, the skies were blue, and I was happy to be alive and outdoors.

Bargain Hunting

Pictures: Ashley and me at the Indian Restaurant, the coat I got at Rokit

While everyone was in class yesterday I found a great consignment shop called Rokit. From the outside it looks just like a boutique, but the prices were amazing. I ended up only buying a knee length wool coat for 16 pounds (about $22), but I'm so glad to know about the store since most clothes in London are so overpriced.

It was a gorgeous day again and I walked around the Covent Garden area enjoying the sunshine. I stopped in a few other stores like Urban Outfitters and H&M, but didn't buy anything. I had a pleasant walk home and then finished reading "As You Like It" which, by the end, made me tired so I took a nap. At 7 pm I rolled out of bed and everyone was going to get Indian food for dinner, so I decided to come. I was not looking my finest as I'm sure you'll notice from the picture Katie K. took of Ashley and me. I only got garlic nan (flat bread) at the restaurant because everything was pretty spicy, but the bread was quite good.

Today was just class. Nothing too exciting.

Buckingham Palace/Victoria Park and Billy Elliot

1) Me on the Monument in front of Buckingham Palace, 2) Me in front of the Billy Elliot theater, 3) Me in front of palace, 4) and 5) doing cartwheels and poses in Victoria Park




Today Ashley and I went to the Victoria Palace theater to see if I could get a cheap ticket to go see Billy Elliot. I am in the very top of the theater the very last row, but it was 17.50 pounds as opposed to 38, so that's what I'm going to do tonight. The girl said it wasn't really that far away, just high - so I guess I'll see! Everyone else except Ashley is going to see Phantom of the Opera tonight, but I want to see so many shows (Wicked, Dirty Dancing, Sound of Music, Lion King, Gone With the Wind) that I can't afford to see Phantom as well. I've seen the movie - that's good enough. lol

Anyway, after I bought that ticket, Ashley and walked to Buckingham Palace and took lots of pictures, then walked to Victoria Park next door and enjoyed the beautiful day. It really was lovely today - blue blue skies and sun.

I stopped by the Waitrose on the way home to get some groceries and that was about it. I'll update about the show later!

OK, it is now later and I am back from Billy Elliot. It was SOOOO amazing!!!! The seat was really not too bad - had a full view of the stage and the audio was perfect. The 2 people next to me were American and they were talking about how they thought they got a pretty good deal on the seats - well, I talked to them a bit later and it turns out they paid 35 pounds a piece for theirs! I was thinking "sweet - I got a deal!" Anyway, the kid in the play was a phenomenal dancer - he could tap at least as well as I can (probably better) and his ballet was out of this world. I am so glad I went even if I did go alone.

Harrods and St. Paul's Evensong

Yesterday I met Andy at Harrods. Two others were supposed to meet us as well, but bailed out for different reasons. Anyway, I don't know if it's a Greek thing or just an Andy thing, but he loves to shop so he showed me all around the five floors of that MONSTROUS store. It is literally a maze inside and god forbid there should be a fire, everyone would die. They have a pet store, furniture store, electronics, music, toys, china, crystal, restaurants, clothes, shoes, perfume, makeup, a food market, a huge room of just chocolate, candy store, fish market...I mean, it was completely overwhelming. Not to mention that it was the last day of a big sale so it was absolute insanity. However, it was interesting to see everything. I didn't shop at all - shopping like that gives me a headache - but I did buy some very overpriced gelato. lol

Everything except the DVDs was so expensive I don't know how anyone could afford to shop there! We saw this pool table that was commissioned for Queen Victoria in 1887 (or something like that) and it was hand carved all around and simply beautiful. It was 1,000,000 pounds. You could buy three good houses for that in the US. Andy said you could buy one good one here. lol Also, everyone here seems to dress so high fashion - I mean, it's bad when you feel like the men dress better than you do. lol However, I don't really mind - high fashion is way too uncomfortable to be my calling. You should've seen the shoe department - all the heels were at least three inches high!

After that I took the tube back to my flat and just read some Shakespeare and whatnot here. Some of the flatmates went to a pub, but I was too tired. I'm pretty sure I walked several miles inside Harrods alone.

Today Katie B., Bridgette, Lennon, Olivia and I went to St. Paul's Cathedral for the Evensong service at 3:15. It was so beautiful. The atmosphere alone of a place like that is so august that one can't help feeling like he/she is in a place of God. Also, because today is the 2,000th anniversary of the birthday of St. Paul, the Church of England invited a guest preacher today from a Methodist church (since St. Paul represents a non-Jew who came to punish the Jews and then converted - so he was essentially and outsider). Anyway, this minister was so cool! Most services like that are beautiful but the actual sermons are quite dull and hard to understand. This guy spoke about how the Church of England should be more accepting of women in positions of power within the church and how they need to stop worrying about same sex marriage and worry about loving others and overcoming adversity. I was rather shocked the church let him speak! lol Maybe they didn't know what he was going to say. Either way, I think I'm going to go to his home church next Sunday.

It is very cold out now but I'm out of groceries so I should probably go to the Waitrose before it closes. Everything closes early on Sundays.

Covent Garden and New Friends

Pictures: 1) the quintet in Covent Garden - they were amazing!!, 2) Greek perfume bottles from 400 or so BC (double click on the pictures to blow them up - look at the detail!), 3) This is a statue of Kate Moss made by sculptor Marc Quinn out of pure gold. It is called Siren and is presenting Moss as a modern-day Aphrodite - a goddess of our own time. It reminds us of how we have mythologized Moss; how her likeness has become as iconic as the goddesses of the ancient world.


Yesterday (Friday) I didn't wake up until about 12:30, and everyone had left for Borough Market already. That is an outdoor food market under London Bridge (not to be confused with Tower Bridge which is the pretty one). After reading some As You Like It for Shakespeare, I got ready and walked to Covent Garden Market. It was better than the last time I passed through since it was a Friday. There were some wonderful street performers including a quintet and a couple contortionists. The skies had become blue and lovely (after a gray morning), and it was all around a pleasant afternoon. I bought 3 pashminas (scarves) for only 6 pounds which was quite a bargain, but otherwise I just looked.

After that I went to the ULU for lunch and found out that there was salsa class that night so I could hopefully go and meet people in the club. From there I went to the British Museum on the way home and walked through all the Greek and Roman rooms. I saw all the pieces of the Parthenon that the British Museum has somehow gotten a hold of. It's a shame so many of the statues' heads have fallen off over the years.

Anyway, I went back to the ULU at 8:30 for the "intermediate salsa" lesson. I was a few minutes early so I changed my shoes and watched all the beginners and then the Asian guy who was teaching asked if I wanted to join in. I told him that I was just waiting for the upper level class since I actually taught salsa in the US, and he was like "Oh you teach?? Because the teacher didn't show up tonight and I've done this some so I'm just trying to teach them stuff." Well, I ended up teaching with him for the next hour. Everyone else was a brand new beginner, and everyone was British. It was really great to teach again!

I made friends with four of the students particularly: Jess, Carly, Andy, and Rob. They are all in the Vet School (part of the University of London) which is about a 30 minute walk from my area. They are all 19 except for Andy who is 21. Jess is from Blackpool, Carly and Andy (who is originally from Cyprus) are from up around Nottingham (about 1.5 hrs North of London), and Rob is from Ipswich to the West. Anyway, after the salsa lesson, Andy taught me some Greek dances and next week he'll bring some of his other friends who do it with him and music in case the salsa instructor doesn't show up again. Jess already knew some of the dances so she joined us and we were dancing around the room. It was so much fun! I think we may start a Greek dancing club!

Anyway, after we left the dance room the five of us went down to the Duck and Dive bar in the ULU and talked for a while. They were all such wonderful people and so happy to make friends with me. They all live in the same flat complex since they are all in the vet school and it is fairly small. Anyway, they are all very close and it is such a wonderful friendship they have and the way they just invited me into it made me so happy! We wanted to dance at the Duck and Dive, but no one else was dancing, so we all walked to this other pub that Jess thought would have a live DJ, but when we got there, there was no dancing and no DJ. They said it was probably because some guy got stabbed there a few weeks ago in a drunken brawl. But, we will probably go out tonight. Anyway, Andy and Rob walked me home because Carly wasn't feeling well so Jess took her home. It was very kind since I live quite out of the way. Once we got to Russell Square I was like "I can go from here, it's right around the corner," and they were like "No, we're going to walk you to the door, this is London." haha

I'm going to meet a few of them at Harrods in a few hours to do some shopping (or looking lol). I can't even express how happy I am that I have new friends who are so nice and so down to earth. I feel like I finally have a "group" as it were.

Anyway, sorry for this rant, but I am so happy that I just had to gush a bit.

Tate Modern

Pictures: 1) On the Millennium Bridge, 2) view from the 7th floor of the Tate Modern, 3) Matta's "Black Virtue"


Yesterday was rather uneventful which is why I don't have a post for it. Was woken up at 11 by housekeeping and then went to class at 3 until 8. Shakespeare was pretty good, and I got to read two of my favorite sonnets aloud (which I'm a total dork and love to do), but the actual content of the discussions about them made me miss my Shakespeare class last semester soooo much. Professor Gless was just so amazing and our teacher this semester is a lovely woman, and clearly very intelligent, but I just miss the way he taught Shakespeare. It is a subject so close to my heart now, I realize I am quite picky about who teaches it. However, WWII class was brilliant (I speak British now ;)), and while the professor tends to ramble a bit, everything he says is enthralling and I took notes furiously the entire time.

Today we met our art professor at the Tate Modern which is on the south bank of the Thames directly in front of the Millennium bridge and across the river from St. Paul's. It used to be a power station, but was converted into an art gallery in 2000. The Tate Modern (as opposed to the Tate Briton) is all modern and contemporary art (so early 1900s to today). The facility is simply enormous with the entry way about 7 stories high. It still looks/feels like an old warehouse in the main section with its concrete floors, rafters with chains hanging from above, and a ramp leading into the building (which was for the machines).

The view from the 7th floor to St. Paul's is really quite stunning, even on a gross rainy day like today. St. Paul's was rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666, but amazingly survived the Blitz during WWII when all the buildings around it were destroyed.

We focused on the surrealist movement (1924 and into the 1950s). This is a movement that is about going beyond dreams. In a dream, very odd things make perfect sense, but when you wake up, they don't seem to make sense at all. This type of art tries to explore that concept. Salvador Dali is a surrealist painter that most people have heard of, as well as Picasso obviously.


Usually I find modern art a bit unsophisticated, but today, my horizons broadened. I can't really explain it, but as I listened to Kathy (the professor) explain the pieces and I really looked at them, I could understand why they were appreciated as art. Aesthetically speaking, I prefer still lifes, but when you really look at something like Picasso's "The Three Dancers," you feel the unbelievable energy and excitement expressed in the dancers. Each one is expressing his/her joy in his/her own way, and as an expression of emotion, it is quite a stunning piece. There was another piece that also struck me quite forcefully called "Black Virtue" by Matta. Something about the abyss like quality of the piece and the unbelievable colors moved me beyond words. Somehow in the two hours we spent there, I felt my former judgements pass away and my mind expand. All of a sudden I thought "wow, this is what college is really all about." I didn't even seriously contemplate it until today, but I have grown so much over the past four years. My views used to be very narrow-minded, but now, even when I don't particularly like something, I can appreciate it for what it is. So in that sense, it was a very fruitful day.

However, all this enlightenment made the rest of the day seem rather boring and I felt quite bad sitting in my room watching Desperate Housewives and Brother's and Sisters. The word "quite" also gives me pause because we learned today that in Britain if you say "I quite like that" you mean "I think that's bloody awful." In America, clearly, it means "I like that very much." I probably need to be careful about that word since I do use it often.

Tonight all the flatmates had a Mexican party and we had tacos and tortilla chips together. I also watched "The Queen" with Ashley on DVD. It was about the royal family and Tony Blair's response to the death of Princess Diana. Very good and interesting - sort of a cross between a documentary and a movie.

Also, the exchange rates have been doing so well lately! Today it was 1.37 to 1. I hope it stays the same or better tomorrow so I can get some money from the ATM.

It's Good to be an American...

Pictures: 1) Bridgette, me, Lennon at The Shakespeare's Head, 2) Orlando Bloom, 3) the King and me, 4) me with the coolest two people ever

Especially on Inauguration day - why?? Because you get into Madame Tussuad's for free!! lol (Normally 25 pounds!). Everyone else had class today, and I'd heard a rumor about the free entrance for US citizens, so equipped with my passport I set out for the wax museum. It took me about 45 minutes to walk there because I got a bit lost, but it was a beautiful walk in the area of Regent's Park. A middle school girl helped me out (since google maps failed me!). The line for the museum was a bit long, but almost everyone in line was American and everyone was chatting. The guy next to me was a dual citizen who is thinking about moving to CA soon. lol Everyone was saying stuff like "We feel like secret agents whipping out our badges (passports) and getting in for free."

The wax figures were quite impressive. My favorites were Leonardo DiCaprio (yes, you can marry me), and Orlando Bloom (go away on a pirate ship with you? I'll think about it...). Actually, my very favorites were Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh - I had another American take a picture of me with them. I also saw Obama, the Beatles, Brad and Angelina, Indiana Jones ;), Lance Armstrong, the royal family, and many more. It was pretty cool, but certainly not worth 25 pounds! However I did have to pay six pounds for 4 double A batteries when my batteries died.

Last night a bunch of us went to "The Shakespeare's Head" pub. It wasn't too exciting - just a few middle aged people and no music :( But, we sat around and talked a bit which was nice.

Tonight we are going with our professor to an Obama inauguration party a couple tube stops away. We were invited by one of the professor's friends who is also a professor. Should be fun. Anyway, better go watch the speech - I think it should be on TV here in about 15 minutes.