New Adventures in London!

It's my second week here in London, England and I am still having the time of my life! (but maybe a little home sick) If you know me at all, you know I am very close to my family so being away from them this long is tough! But this is a once in a life time experience and I am living it up!

MONDAY

This morning I woke up around 8 o'clock! It was very dark outside so I knew it was going to be a gloomy day! But that wasn't going to stop me from having fun! Today is our teacher, Mrs. Claire's, birthday!! The whole class threw her a "surprise" birthday breakfast this morning. And the reason I have quoations around the word surprise is because we had the whole morning planned and the fire alarms went off just minutes before the surprise was going to happen! We all rushed downstairs with the cupcakes and met Mrs. Claire in the lobby to finally have the surprise!! And yes if you're wondering, she was surprised! After we enjoyed some yummy cupcakes, we were headed off to The National Gallery! The National Gallery was built in 1824. It houses over 2,000 paintings from many famous artists including, Monet, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bellini, Van Dyck, and many, many more! All the paintings are from the mid-13th century to the 1900s. In the beginning, the gallery was meant to only hold 38 painting! Below are some pictures of my favorite artist and their paintings.

Peter Paul Rubens "A Roman Triumph" This painting was painted by Rubens in 1630. It showcases maidens leading the way with pipers and sacrificial animals. The figure in the red cosutme is a priest. He provided a central focus in the painting for all viewers.

Edgar Degas "Ballet Dancers" This is one of my favorite paintings just because of the color scheme Degas used. This painting is showing exhausted ballerinas coming off stage. The artist made studies of each individual ballerina and combined them in his work.

Anthony Van Dyck "The Balbi Childern" This painting was painted by Van Deck in 1625-1627. He painted this painting while in Genoa, watching three young sons of an Genoese family, living their life in a "normal" setting.

Claude Monet "Flood Waters" This painting showcases the view of The River Epte. Monet painted this in the autumn of 1896 when the river flooded after heavy rain fall.

Michelangelo "The Manchester Madonna" This painting was painted in 1494-97. One thing I liked about this painting is that it is unfinished. This shows the young Michelangelo looking into a book while the angels contemplate a scroll. The artist said maybe both are carrying a prophecy of Christ's death.

After the National Museum, we had a reservation at a restaurant called The Cafe in the Crypt. Which is located in the St. Martin-in-the-Fields church. It is a underground restaurant and the creepy thing is that it's built on top of a grave yard! I tried fish and chips for the first time and if you want my honest opinion, I hated it! But other than that it was a very cool restaurant. After lunch we walked to the Victoria and Albert Museum. This museum was built in the mid 1800s. It holds over 2.27 million objects and it is the worlds largest museum. You could spend a whole month in that museum and still not see everything! It was amazing to see the history on the furniture and some original pieces from the early 1900s. To finish the day off, we hopped in a taxi and rode to the London Eye. The view, of course, was breathtaking. You spend a complete 30 minutes in the eye and honestly I could spend a whole day and stare at the view. If you ever plan to take a trip to London, you must go on the London Eye. It was a great way to end the day and Mrs. Claire's birthday!

TUESDAY

Another rainy, cold, and drowsy day. I only packed for summer weather, so I'll just have to come back when it's warmer! ;) Today is Travel Tuesday. We took an hour and half train ride to a town called Bath, England. There we saw The Roman Baths. The baths have been well preserved and for that, people are allowed to tour the baths but not enter the water. The water is the original water from the Roman times. (no telling how many germs are in there) The baths were once used by romans for bathing. There are many parts of the site like the Roman bath house, the sacred spring, and the Roman temple. After the tour we spent the rest of the day shopping for warm clothes!! Surprisingly, we didn't find any. Maybe because we are in the middle of June and the weather is "suppose" to be warm. And I thought Mississippi had bipolar weather! The city landscapes in Bath were beautiful! So many historical buildings fill the streets. There are a ton of small shops, cafes, bakeries and much more! Ever since I got to London, I have been on the search for some Macaroons! And I finally found some at a local bakery! And boy were they delicious!

WEDNESDAY

Finally, a sunny and semi warm day! Today the class was headed out west of London to tour the Chiswick House and Ham House. We started the day off at the Chiswick House on Burlington Lane. This house was built in 1729 by William Kent, Lord of Burlington. This house is not your typical house. It doesn't have a kitchen nor a formal dining space. The owner intended this house to be more of an entertaining house. The top half of the house was where the important people stayed and had grand parties. The bottom half is for the house keepers and servants. The house now is owned by the city of London and has turned the land into a public park. So one of the great things about this tour was, we were able to see TONS of dogs!! I was in heaven! The estate had a cafe so we were able to eat there and enjoy the view of the dogs playing <3

After lunch, we were headed to Ham House. This house was built by Sir Thomas Vavasour in 1610. The house was built by Sir Thomas Vavasour in 1610. The architect wanted the design of the house to look like the figure H. This house is told to be the most complete survival from the 17th century. The gardens around the house are almost 200 meters from the River Thames. The story is that Vavasour used the river to move between the courts at Richmond, London and Windsor. This house has been owned by one family. The interior is so well kept, not much restoration was needed when the National Trust bought it. Sorry for the picture overload but I just love this house!!

THURSDAY

Another rainy day in London, England. What's new? We had the morning off so my friends and I decided to do some exploring around the city. We took a walk around Regent's Park to look for historic building for our scavenger hunt! We picked up a sandwich from an M&S shop around lunch time and then started the day! Our first stop was at the Dennis Severs' House. The Dennis House is an art installation of ten rooms from the Baroque and Victorian time period. The whole house is staged to look like a family is currently living in it. Each room is set up as if it was left from that time period. It's almost like you have traveled back in time. The smells, the sounds and the objects are all real. You have to be completely silent walking through or you would not get the full effect. I really enjoyed getting to see and feel how it was like 300 years ago.

After the tour, we had some free time so we walked to a near by market called Spitalfields. The market had a ton of clothes, jewelry, handmade items and antiques. The weather cleared up in the afternoon so we enjoyed walking the streets and checking out the shops! After doing a little shopping therapy, the class was able to have a tour of the architecture at The University of Westminster. The grad students and the soon to be graduates put on a show for the public to display their work.

Later on in the night, we had a reception dinner for Southern Mississippi's president, Dr. Bennett. He came to visit London for the week to check out the British Studies Program! And to end this great Thursday, Mrs. Claire cooked dinner for the whole class!! Grilled chicken, green beans, and fried potatoes! YUM YUM!

FRIDAY

It's finally Friday and the weather is surprisingly nice! I woke up this morning very excited for the day and a relaxing weekend ahead! To start the day off, we hopped on a tube and headed to Halborn, London. There we toured the Sir John Soane's Museum. The home itself was full of treasures, statues, paintings and much more that John Soane has collected and displayed himself. The interesting thing about this spactacular home is that it is "untouched". Everything in the house was exactly how it was left when John died. After he died, he left his home to the board of trustees of London. They turned the home into a museum to display his collection!

After the tour, we walked to a nearby cafe and ate THE BEST pizza! After lunch we walked to the British Museum. It was established in 1753 and first opened to the public in 1759. This museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture. We had to complete a scavenger hunt while touring the museum so I was able to see the original Portland vase, The Rosetta Stone, an Egyptian chair, an Egyptian folding stool with a goose head, and the Parthenon Statues.

The Rosetta Stone- The stone carries an inscription in different languages which helped decipher the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic script.

An Egyptian Chair- This particular chair was associated with royalty and nobility.

Portland Vase- This vase was created in 15 BC, and is one of the finest surviving pieces of Roman glass.

Egyptian Stool- With a goose head legs. This chair is able to be folded up and taken with you where needed.

The Parthenon Statues were a favorite of mine. I love the ancient greek style that is shown on the statues and so many more through out the museum.

I hope you enjoyed getting to read about all the wonderful things I am learning and seeing here in London. Stay tuned for week three!