Hello again!

So we arrived safely in London. The flight was fantastic! Thank you Virgin Atlantic for my first souvenirs (an eye mask for sleeping, pillow and blanket, a pair of Virgin Atlantic socks – with wings :)-, ear plugs, a pen). Thank you also for not only dinner, but breakfast too. I sat next to some wonderful people (Row 60, you know who you are) who I had so much fun chatting and laughing with. I slept not only once but twice with the help of my new eye mask. I arrived so rested and excited. After we left the airport we took a really beautiful bus to our flats, but couldn’t check in yet so we dropped off our luggage. A new friend and I headed over to the British Museum, which is so conveniently located a block away from our flats! Talk about prime location.

So literally there we were, fresh off the plane, not even 3 hours in London, viewing Cleopatra’s mummy, and completely immersed in a sea of priceless objects, knowledge, and wonder that is the British Museum. Awesome.

The rest of the day we bought phones, went to a Fuller’s pub for some delicious soup and warm atmosphere, and settled into our flats. There are 8 girls in our flat, 2 triples and 1 double. My roommates are wonderful people. Our flat consists of 2 art students and 6 theatre students, and everyone is so friendly.

And our flat is SPECTACULAR! It’s like a mansion! 2 floors, an outside patio all to ourselves, a stocked kitchen, a large dining room, a huge common room with pretty purple couches and tv, 3 bathrooms, hardwood floors, high ceilings… the works. Again, awesome.

Yesterday was quite a busy day… We went to the London Eye, walked over Westminster Bridge, passed Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, down to Tate Britain. We had tickets for Late Turner and the Turner Prize. The Late Turner exhibit was fantastic. However, the Turner Prize was a bit disappointing. I enjoyed a couple artists especially Ciara Philips ( a printmaker like me) who had a huge installation of large screen prints in bright, beautiful colors that were pasted on all of the walls in the room. It was really beautiful. What was disappointing about the Turner Prize was the overload of video and slide projector installations.

It literally put me to sleep. I had to leave the last exhibition because I was seriously asleep. Oops. I woke up in time and left before someone caught me napping. Not a good look for me.

Today we had a scavenger hunt in the British Museum. SO MUCH FUN! I paired up with my roommate and we rocked it. It was so exciting and it was a great way to see a little bit of everything while also getting your exercise in. We walked all over that museum and saw so many things such as:

The Rosetta Stone—whatt!? that’s right. It’s definitely there…. Parthenon frieze sculptors, Aztec turquoise mosaic ritual masks, Assyrian winged bulls and lionfights, an Easter Island statue, samurai armour, more mummies!!! Goya’s “Ya Tienen Asiento,” other famous prints, antique clocks and old inventions, money from all over the world and all decades, an incredible amount of jewelry, pots, tools… I could go on…..

This trip so far has been incredible, inspiring, educational, exciting, thrilling…. just so awesome.

Wow. I arrived in London two days ago and it is amazing. It’s big and bustling, but definitely not the same kind of bustling as NYC. No, this is not nearly as efficient or orderly. But has its own intricate ways of functioning and moving around the countless tourists. I started my journey by trying to find Regent’s Park: I wanted a quiet place to sit and write in my journal. Coincidentally, I found Baker Street, too! 221b Baker Street, home of the illustrious and intelligent Sherlock Holmes. It was a bit like a fantasy, walking down the street and imagining him in his adventures throughout London.

After that, I finally managed to have my relaxing morning in Regent’s Park, writing in my journal and enjoying the beautiful view. Afterwards, I just decided to make a sandwich for lunch and walk around the city. Familiarize myself with the landscape. Acclimate and enjoy the new country I had landed in.

I ended up discovering how close the British Museum was to me. And how big it was! So many interesting artifacts to find, so many stories that I didn’t know existed, so much time in such a small building (in retrospect), so many universes available to explore!

It was definitely an eye-opening experience that completely exhausted me. I was there from the time it opened until it closed. So after a quick jaunt back to my room, I promptly wrote in my journal about my adventures in the Museum and settled in for the night.

Already, from this small amount of space I have traversed in London, I am thrilled and excited to begin my adventure here. The accents are wide and varying. The people are warm and genuine. The languages and speech patterns are new and tantalizing.

What more can I find out there? How many kilometers can I traverse in my short two weeks? How many galaxies will I encounter?

Here are some pictures from my travels.

PS. I am the biggest lover of William Shakespeare (the greatest writer to ever live). As these blog posts come about, you may notice my love for him seep through the cracks. For example…