Walking like a Londoner.

My Feet Falling Off

Alright...So It's been a couple of days since I last posted but I have a wonderful reason.
I was tired.
Since I last left off we had scavanger hunt to do that was meant to help us get use to using the public transportation. This idea was fabulous, but once it was announced that the winner would recieve cash as the prize it all went to hell in a hand basket. The whole lot of us were seperated into groups of threes and sent off to travel all over London in hopes of finding what was on the list. Some examples of what was asked of us were take a picture from aboard a double decker bys, buy something from Hamley's Toy Shop, buy some fruit from Strutton Ground, get a picture with a policeman (bonus if you get to wear their hat) and so on. Sounds pretty simple, right ? Wrong! The amount of points you could obtain was 15 out of the ten things that were asked. We only had three hours to get all of these things accomplished and for the record,London is huge! What did I learn on this exhausting escapade? Two things. Never rely on the transportation because it will let you down and you will have to walk for the next twenty minutes to get anywhere close to where you THINK you are going and learn how to walk...fast. Londoners do not stroll, mosey or go on joints of any kind. They speed walk like there is no tomorrow. You will be pushed to the side if you are not walking fast enough, elders are a nusiance when its rush hour and are completely ignored in efforts to get to their destination that whole two minutes early. It makes perfect sense that they are all fit and have no problem with obesity in these parts. With the movement of the city as well as the cash thrown into our competitive side, we took off. I ended up coming in second place... with four blisters.
So what do I do?
Join a couple of other girls to a pub for a drink to relax from the days activities, of course!
What happens after the other girls have a couple of ciders and finally feel resonable?
We decide to go dancing, what else?
There were there were seven of us in total that ended up going to Picadilly Institute. We had heard about it from another student studying abroad here and learned that there were six rooms with all different themes and music. As soon as we got off the tube we were approached by a man explaining how beautiful we were and that we only had to pay five pounds to get in instead of the twenty. I must admit, we were pressured but it turned out, it really was a deal. The club was packed with people, before we even got in we saw a cat fight at the door. Once the brisk air left our surroundings the pounding of music embrassed our bodies and we couldn't hear each other unless we were an inch away. We paid and looked around, first lost and then the music hit. Our first room was decent and we knew the first couple of songs until the DJ decided to go a euro route and we lost the groove. So...to the next room we went! This is when the fun began. This room was packed with people of all different backgrounds, ages and dress. You couldn't even begin to imagine that it was near cold outside with everyone in the room was sweating. The smell of sweat, vomit and strong alcohol took over your senses only for a moment until the music took control. We knew EVERY song in this room and we took advantage of that. You can never go wrong with dancing. Once that beat hits, there is no turning back. We found a place to sit and keep our stuff safe and dance at the same time but there was only one problem with our location. The guys. We were surrounded by mostly Indian older men, atleast in there thirties that could not get enough of us. You really learn who people are in a club...I turned into Mother hen and kept an eye on my chickadees with every guy they were dancing with. Everyone had fun but it seemed that some of the girls were a little crazier than I had anticapated. Lets just say...the quiet ones are always the loosest. The night started with a guy drunkingly gashing his head open with a wine glass on accident and ended with two guys choking each other before ending up on the ground in a fight. All in all, by twelve thirty we were ready to make our way back, happily. It was a blast.
The next day we had to wake up at nine because we had a walking tour around Shakespears part of London.Yes, even more walking. Please do remember that I still have four blisters. Despite that, I must say that I was rather disappointed when it came to the area. There were many places that were pointed out that use to be theatres or influential locations that are now office buildings and pricey flats. For instance, where there use to be bear baiting was now paved over and only fenced off because it was right next to a parking area. I was really excited to see The Globe, despite how wondeful the idea is that it has been redone, it just...didn't have the feeling as I hoped. It simply was too clean and put together. Perhaps it just seemed fake to me.

This is a picture of the new globe and do you know what is in the place of where the globe should be?

This map of what London was back then. Behind this is apartments that can not be torn down due to some city code. This breaks my heart a bit but I suppose everything can not be saved or we would never have progress. We also walked by St. Paul's cathederal that is, at the moment, surrounded by tents and protesters that have the same basis of our occupies.

St. Paul's is amazing. It is HUGE. One of the stories that our tour guide explained was that it was one of the most protected buildings during the World War II.

We ended up in a market that was busying with people, free samples and semi-cheap food. It was placed right next to the church that Shakespeare would have gone to. Well, atleast, historians can estimate.

The market that is directly in front of this church is called Borough Market. When I say market, I mean handmade foods of gourmet taste, hanging animals for sale and baked goods from all over Europe. In relation to the markets I have been to in my past I must say it was a cross between a Mexican market and a Californian one.
Today we went to the Museum of London which I found completely wonderful. Many of the other girls did not agree so much. The artifacts that were found were marvelous! I couldn't believe what was created so early in comparison to the south american area. Also, I am a sucker for the victorian era. I just know that I was born in the wrong time. I hope there are more museums to come but I can't wait to go to the art museums either. Although, I am ready to get out of the city and see some rolling hills. I need to see beautiful country side. What have I learned about myself? I don't feel the need to live in the heart of the city in my life time, I love nature way to much and I am not a fan of watching cement grow...
Toodles for now,
Hope

P.S.

Who doesn't love these?;)