"There's no place like London"

Good morning one and all! Well, good morning to you, good afternoon to me. I am back in Maastricht now, bathed, shaved, and smelling all together rather nicely after my jaunt into the English land of hostels and fuzzy showers. (All right that is an exaggeration, but those of you who travel know that showering anywhere other than home is difficult and not much of a pleasurable experience.) Now that I'm well rested I'm ready to write about my week.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about how to tell you of London without writing a thesis on the week. I by no means want to bore you so I'll tell you of the highlights.

Living in London

Quite honestly our hostel on the first night was a flop. It was new, in a residential part of town, and while it was safe, the over crowding of sleeping 15 people in a room coupled with the wonderful European sense that clothing can be optional lead to extreme cases of culture shock. We moved the next day.

St. Christopher's is a wonderful hostel in London. They're motto is "Party hard, sleep easy," yea. Well the first part of that aside, the hostel is surrounded by little cafes and restaurants and only three doors down from the London Bridge Tube station (I now consider myself an expert on the London Tube as I have been on nearly every line and in every borrough of the city). It's also within walking distance of many tourist areas including the Globe and Tower of London.


Of course there are some things you need to know of England/ Europe in general. There seems to be some sort of strike against top sheets here. Every bed I've slept in since I've left America has a fitted sheet and a covered duvet. Also, if it is not advertised, there is no air conditioning. You, my friend will have to sleep with the window open like everyone else. Therefore you must not be concerned of bugs flying in while you are asleep as this worry makes you a germophobic (or instectaphobic?) American.

Eating in London

I love food. That is no secret, and the quickest way to get me to eat something odd it to tell me its a cultural thing. Our first night in London, we found a little restaurant that serves Fish and Chips under the gaze of the London eye. Of course, you've got to eat it like a true Brit, swear off ketchup, it's malt vinegar all the way. There was a chain restaurant just across the street from our hostel that we ate at a couple of times called "The Slug and Lettuce." It seemed to be the gathering place for many a business person or dating couple. Here I got to try Steak and Mushroom pie ( never could find the steak and kidney) with my friends and we sat for four hours just eating and talking. (This is around the time we noticed that no one sat around with their cell phones out but chose to communicate with other humans). On my last morning in town Erin and I walked to a little cafe to have a "Full English Breakfast," but I backed out when I realized that they served Bubble and Squeak on the menu. Bubble and Squeak is one of those things that you've spent your entire life hearing about- perhaps in that Dickens book you had to read as a freshman or in some random movie- but never knew what it was. Apparently it's some sort of a potato/cabbage/ anything else you have laying around the house thing (like hash I suppose). Anyway, I had that instead, but the Bubble and Squeak took a back seat to the fact that the dish came with, among other things, something very similar to baked beans- for breakfast.





Our most interesting finds, however came from the grocery story just down the street from the hostel where we bought lunch on most days. Tuna and Sweet corn seemed to be a recurring theme, was proved tasty as well. The crunchiness of the corn added a unique texture. Also, prawns (tiny shrimp like things) were everywhere as well. Including the potato chips. I found a bag of potato chips that was prawn cocktail flavored- it wasn't as bad as it sounds. Also I found a German Bratwurst flavor, but didn't get the chance to try it.

My very favorite thing, however is a piece of candy called "Flake." It's a thick ribbon of folded chocolate and I believe is made by the Cadbury company, so think Cadbury eggs, but more amazing then that. The popular thing is to stick it down into the side of soft serve ice cream. I first discovered this tasty little treat at a food stand just outside of Westminster. We'd just walked down from the Art Gallery for Evening Song (which we were too late for) and drowned our sorrows in an ice cream cone (complete with Flake) in the shade of the sanctuary.

Sightseeing in London

On to what this post should actually be about, I suppose.


I won't lie. I'd been to London once before and met the idea of going back with a little disappointment. I wanted to see something new... Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon, Canterbury, something. When I realized all we would have time for was London I was somewhat afraid that I would regret not going somewhere else. I had no idea how little I had seen in London the first time.

We spent the entire first day at the British Museum mingling with Ancient Egyptian kings, and staring at the original Rosetta Stone (no, it isn't just a computer program). At the tower of London we saw the Crown Jewels (except for the current crown because the Queen happened to be wearing it at the time. Also, they were running a new exhibit on the armor of the Kings and had the full metal armor of Henry VIII (big dude). We saw original Monet and Van Gogh (who is Dutch by the way) at the National Gallery. I was able to search out the Broad Street water pump (one of those "worlds' biggest ball of twine" moments, my mother would say) and the Evelyn Tables at the Hunterian museum in the Royal College of Surgeons.

We even searched out Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station (and found about ten other people [ read: college students] doing the same!)

I do have a confession however, I've never read Harry Potter. I've seen the movies when someone wants to go with me, but I've never been that big of a fan. I couldn't resist the picture though!




Out of everything we saw I had two favorites. One was a 19th century operating theater that had been attached to St. Thomas Hospital between 1820-1860. The theater was for female patients only and is the only operating theater left in England, perhaps Europe as the others have been converted or torn down. It was an amazing room, like the ones I've seen in pictures many times over. It was fascinating to stand on the floor and look up at the seats where medical students would have sat watching such and such procedure and to think of the surgeries that occured in the room, as the theater predates the use of Anesthesia.

My other favorite wasn't even a selection of mine, but Erin's. It was the Cabinet War rooms where Winston Churchill ran the British government during the bombing raids of London. They were deep underground, underneath White Hall and when peace was declared everyone working in the rooms straightened their papers but them in the desk drawers and cut out the lights (apparently it was the firs time the lights had been cut out in years!). They simply left and everything stayed as it was until a few years ago. The rooms themselves are in immaculate condition and the Churchill museum that is attached inside is the most state of the art museum that I've been in. Part of me would say it even surpassed the Lincoln Museum in Springfield. It's an excellent piece of Interprative History.

So that was my week in a nutshell. Of course there are many things I haven't mentioned here, perhaps they'll appear sometime in the future. In all it was a wonderful trip full of learning experiences, and beautiful scenery.

Cheers!

I've posted the rest of my pictures at this link. Feel free to look around!