view from my window
Hello lovelies! I have been in London for 17 days. What adventures I’ve had! I thought I’d show you around my little, British world. Above is the view from my window. I live in a little room with an adjacent little bathroom. My roommate, Ellie (below), is super awesome and so far we’ve been getting along really well! We’re both pretty friendly, laid-back people so hopefully that will work in our favor. She also loves talking and so we chatter back in forth all day and into the night.
the lovely Ellie!
I live on a royal road (not saying the name of it because I don’t want to be kidnapped and killed). It’s a really pretty street in a super posh neighborhood. The FIE housing and the Foundation House (where we take our classes) are both located in Kensington. It’s a nice area and filled with lots of very cute families. Apparently it’s also an expensive neighborhood. I’m grateful to live here because it feels very safe. We took the bus home from Piccadilly Circus at three AM one night and had to walk about five blocks and I felt totally comfortable.
I find it so funny that people park in the middle of the road.
I do my grocery shopping at Sainsbury’s. It’s a 10-15 minute walk from my flat. I’m enjoying grocery shopping and cooking, for the first time in my life! I was so clueless that my roommate had to help me write out my first grocery list. The only things I could think to buy were cereal and yogurt. Since there is no dining hall here (and I’m a poor college student who can’t eat out every day) I have to cook to survive. I’ll do a post on my cooking experiences some time in the future.
Odd thing: they sell hard liquor in the grocery store. The aisle next to cereals and breakfast foods.
About three blocks away from my building is Hyde Park. I’ve been spending a lot of time there. The weather has been fantastic (mid to upper sixties and no rain). I love wandering the park because there is so much to see. I’ve also been to Holland Park (a few miles from Hyde Park). I love London parks because it’s possible to walk in them and forget you’re in the city. They are so much bigger and well-organized than the little “parks” in D.C. There are lots of unique monuments and sites hidden away in parks. Hyde Park has Kensington Palace, the Italian Fountains, a Princess Diana memorial, a Peter Pan statue (secretly erected by Barrie in the middle of the night), a pond, the Serpintine, and the Albert Memorial.
the Italian Gardens
Me & Albert
When I’m not spending afternoons lying in Hyde Park reading and doing homework, I love wandering my neighborhood. The streets in London are so interesting; not just because it’s all new to me. I love the old buildings and how it’s possible to turn a corner and stumble upon a church or house that’s existed for 100s of years. For example, I was walking up High Street and between the Zara, the Topshop, H&M, and other chain stores there was a lovely old church (below). I read some information on the placard outside and it turns out it’s been there over a century. It’s so great to be completely immersed in history. The residential areas, especially in Kensington, are so beautiful. I love the mews (or alleys) are so charming (and expensive).
One of the most surprising things I’ve learned while I was here is how bike friendly London is. Apparently there is a huge push for environmentally sustainable lifestyles in the city. One of the Lord Mayor’s major campaigns is to get more Londoners to ride bikes. Barclays, a British bank, has started a fleet of ‘Barclay bikes’. There are stations all over the city with 20 bikes locked up. There is an annual fee and then you can check a bike out for thirty minutes at a time. You ride the bike to your destination and return it to any Barclay bike station. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to rent the bikes without an annual contract. If it were I’d be biking everywhere rather than walking!
I’ve been visiting a few tourist sites. We were taken on a coach (bus) tour of London and saw a few key sites through the coach windows. We were only allowed to get off the bus at the London Bridge. It was nice to have someone professional to explain everything to us but I’m looking forward to exploring the city on my own at my own time.
london bridge
the london eye
the london eye across the thames
What’s great about living in the city is that there is always something going on. I’ve learned to pay attention to the advertisements on the side of the tube walls because there are a lot of events shown there. That’s where I learned about the Lord Mayor’s Thames River Festival. The Marymount girls and I went down for the afternoon and then went back for the night to see fireworks. There were thousands of people there and so many interesting crafts for sale and gigs going on. It was so fun.
thames river festival fireworks!
Living in such a crowded city (seven million + people) can be tough. I’m making lots of plans to travel out of London and out of the United Kingdom. Just today, I visited Stonehenge through the FIE program. It was a beautiful day and I took a ton of photos. I really love the other girls from Marymount who are studying here with me. Ellie is my roommate and then there is Kathleen and Carolina (who I played volleyball with for four years in high school. We haven’t seen each other since we’ve been at Marymount so it’s fantastic to catch up).
Such an amazing experience.
J'adore my Marymount ladies.
It’s been a fun first few weeks and I”m looking forward to even more adventure. Time is flying by and I’m determined to experience as much as possible in my short months here. Ta ta!
At the University 