Ya got some ID?

Today I went to have my tax returned, only to not have it returned as I could not provide a valid form of identification. Apparently my passport wasn't good enough nor was my driving licence.

Well hey there, Mr Depp!

This morning I was rudely awoken by the non-Anglophone students in the flat for nearly the fifth time in two months. I really hope they get sent to prison. Anyway, after that I ran and walked in a race for a fundraiser to raise money to send disabled children to a special camp in France.

Above is Bex about to start the race. Hopefully more photos will surface of the group.

After the race we went to breakfast at Pembroke Lodge and had a traditional English breakfast. This was followed by a walk around the park where we saw central London:

After a stroll in the Park we saw JOHNNY DEPP! Mr Depp was driving in a Cadillac with the windows down. I happened to spot him and I guess he heard me say, 'Is that Johnny Depp?!' He floored his Cadi, which obviously meant he didn't want any photos. Oh well. What a great way to end the day!

Twilight Tours at the Tower

Wanting to return to the Tower of London, I looked at the Historic Royal Palaces' website to see if any events were taking place. I found that on Wednesdays there are 'Twilight Tours' at the Tower, and so I booked a spot for the tour. Unlike the ghost tour at Hampton Court Palace, this was not scary by any means. It's quite an informative tour, but still worth the £25 nonetheless.

The tour is guided by a yeoman, who is kind enough to ask us what we want to know about the Tower and even throws in a dash of humour if we fancy it (though one woman didn't want any humour, but nobody listened to her). As we went into Beauchamp Tower we found that one of the Beefeaters actually forgot to take his groceries up to his living quarters. The Yeoman told us it was a ghost who had done his shopping and had left it there. 

The tour is shorter than the tour at Hampton Court Palace but well worth it. There are no queues to get into places and the place is empty, so the photos won't have heaps of tourists in them. After the tour I thought it would be nice to get a photo of Tower Bridge at night:

Venice of the North

This past weekend I went to Amsterdam with Roehampton's Student Union. The journey began at about 11:30 PM. We boarded the coaches and drove off to Dover where we would catch our ferry to Calais, France. By the time we arrived in Calais it was nearly 5AM and was as foggy as a typical day in Hamilton, New Zealand. I fell asleep and woke up nearly five hours later as to what I believed was Belgium. Belgian number plates, as well as several Dutch ones, filled the car park and I was convinced I was in Belgium, though the language on the signs was neither French nor German, but Dutch. Not knowing any Dutch, I wondered how I'd manage to order my breakfast. Lucky for me, my friend Ginny leant me her Dutch dictionary and I was good to go. The coach stopped at a rest stop of sorts, one like you'd find on the Ohio Turnpike, just about an hour or two outside of Amsterdam. To confirm my location I turned on my phone, which sent me a text welcoming me to the Netherlands. My phone always does this when I enter a different country, except for the United States. It doesn't seem to like America very much. Vodafone notified me that for £2 they will give me 5MB of data so I can continue to use my BlackBerry, but then they decided that 5MB wasn't enough so they would give me an additional 20MB for the same price. The £2 were deducted from my (prepaid) account, so no credit or debit card was required. I thought that was very thoughtful of them. Because of this, I was able to stay in touch with my friends back home. Considering what Verizon charges you for roaming ($1.29 per minute, $65 for data and then some roaming charges-just ask my mother), I felt that Vodafone was quite generous and would recommend their services to all.

After breakfast in the middle-of-nowhere Holland, I dozed off and woke up in Amsterdam. Our rooms weren't ready and so I put my belongings into the storage room. My friends and I set off into the city after we purchased our Iamsterdam Cards, which I highly recommend. The price depends upon how many days you'll be staying in the city. Since we had 48 hours, we opted for the 48 hour card. It was €49 for the card and with it came a travel card, vouchers, and a guide as to where the card can be used (plus great maps). With it, we got entrance into all museums (with the exception of Anne Frank's house) and a canal cruise. Some of the vouchers included were 25% various restaurants and shops across Amsterdam as well as free gifts from places like Heineken. If travelling to Amsterdam, I highly recommend this card.

Some sites that were visited include Anne Frank's house, Rijksmuseum, and the Van Gogh Museum. Anne Frank's house has quite a queue to get in, no matter the time of day or the weather. We were told the wait would be an hour and twenty minutes, but we were queuing for no more than 40, at most. The wait is well-worth it, trust me. The outside doesn't look like her house at all, but what is behind this modern structure is the secret annex where Anne Frank and her family hid for two years whilst the Netherlands were occupied by the Nazis. Below is an image of the outside of the Anne Frank house:

This is the diary of Anne Frank:

Photography was not permitted, so I had to be sneaky about this image. I pretended like I was texting with camera, because you know, that's how people communicate these days. If had really forgotten my camera like what I had thought when I first came to the UK, I would've purchased a fancy Canon one that would have been obvious (Sorry, mom, but that was what I was going to get until I found my camera). What I noticed about Anne Frank's house was that she had some proper steep stairs to climb. I do just fine with climbing stairs (especially those in cathedrals from the Renaissance and before) these were a bit chilling. I couldn't imagine people go up and down these stairs every single day and not getting hurt. Like I mentioned before, photography was forbidden and so I found an image on Google of the stairs:

The museum is quite emotional, so do be prepared for that.

One of the best meals I have ever had was in Amsterdam. It was at a restaurant on Spuistraat (not Spui) called Haesje Claes and was recommended by a shopkeeper. 

You can find traditional Dutch meals at reasonable prices. My meal was roughly €20 and consisted of a glass of white wine, beef with mashed potatoes and red cabbage, and 'Grandma's style semolina pudding with red berry sauce.' The atmosphere and staff were great and this is something that everyone needs to experience. 

Amsterdam is nicknamed 'Venice of the North' and I can see why with all of its canals. There is much more I would like to learn about Dutch culture, but with the short amount of time spent in the Netherlands, that will have to wait.  Though the trip to Amsterdam was brief, it was still very much worth it and hopefully I will have the opportunity to return there in the future. 

On our journey back we drove through Belgium and France where we took a ferry back to England. Here are some of the photos of the final leg in our journey:

The sun obviously disappeared when we arrived back in England.

The Enchanted Palace

Yesterday I visited Kensington Palace. Much of the palace is closed off because it's undergoing restoration of sorts. The experience was far different from any other visit to other palaces across Europe. You are given a booklet that explains that your mission is to find the seven princesses who have lived in the palace and to find out their stories. There's a map that is marked with crowns which indicate that a princess has lived in the room. The first room is known as the 'Room of Royal Sorrows' where Queen Mary of Modena died of smallpox. She's supposed to be the hardest to find, but I was able to figure it out rather quickly. What was interesting about how the palace was decorated is that it was not left the way its previous residents left it. Photography was forbidden, so I have to rely on Google Images for further explanation:

If I'm honest, I would've preferred it not to look the way the presented it, but it was a great way to learn the palace's history. Out of all the palaces I have visited, this has been by far the most 'family friendly' and 'hands-on' palace. In the 'Gallery of War and Play' you can make a 'Cabinet of Curiosities,' which I did, and you can play with toy soldiers, which I did not. The staff at the palace is very kind and appear to be dedicated to making your visit a memorable one. Furthermore, throughout the palace you find the seven princesses and their stories. At the end you enter the 'Gallery of Dancing Shadows' which blares Duran Duran's 'Hungry like the Wolf.' Why? I don't know, but it's quite a site and portraits of all the princesses hang on the walls. 

After the scavenger hunt at the Palace I went to the infamous Orangery on the palace grounds. Multiple travel guides have suggested that this is a 'must-see,' but I failed to see what was extravagant about it. Sure it's situated next door to a palace but really, the service is awful. I was seated immediately and my server took my order nearly 10 minutes later. I ordered a raspberry meringue, but was told that they were sold out, and so I opted for the Orangery Cake and a hot chocolate. Immediately after I ordered my server went to the table next to me: an American girl with her British boyfriend. The American girl ordered the raspberry meringue and they were magically no longer sold out. I was really irritated by this, but I ignored it. Aside from the service, the cake and hot chocolate were fantastic. After waiting nearly 20 minutes for my cake and hot chocolate, it was brought to me and I quickly forgot about my terrible server. Once I had finished my delicious snack I felt it was time to proceed to the next stop on my journey. After waiting another 20 minutes, I discovered that my server was nowhere to be seen and so I had to flag down another server. She treated me like a third class citizen when I asked for my bill and had the attitude of 16 year-old spoiled brat (she was in her mid-late twenties). Once I paid, I was out of there and on my way to the Museum of London Docklands. Below is a photo of the Orangery:

The City of Dreaming Spires

Today I went to Oxford and it was no different from Oxford, Ohio with the exception of Chipoltle, Coldstone, Miami University, and several more traffic signals.  Oxford had that same unwelcoming vibe that Oxford, Ohio gives off. Sorry, dad, but it's true: Oxford, Ohio is filled with chavs, or as you like to put it 'Buffy and Chads.' Oxford, England was just the same. Not a single soul there was pleasant. In fact, one museum employee followed me around because I 'seemed suspicious.' I left that museum and went to another. At the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology I fell in an even more unwelcoming position with the staff at the museum. I walked in and they greeted me with warm smiles. I began to walk around and they told me I had to remove my backpack because it seemed 'suspicious.' There were plenty of others who were left alone, admiring what the museum had to offer but, no- I was the unsavoury character looking at the museum's artefacts that was probably about to kill everyone. With what, though? Well, I suppose I could throw Nutella sandwiches and blind everyone and then strangle those who hadn't gone blind with my mobile's charger as well as knock everyone unconscious with my paperback edition of London Lore. Feeling more insulted by the second, I thought I may as well take advantage of the free toilets the museum had before I headed out. That, too, went wrong. There was no indication that they were single-stall toilets and naturally, the woman who was about to use the toilet thought I was about to violate her. Mind you, she had just closed the door and like me, she was a woman. I'm not sure how I would violate her, but never mind that one.

Oxford had disappointed me. I had visited the city in 2009 and did not have a single issue with anyone, except one of the university bookstore shopkeepers who despised Americans. She was still there and happily didn't recognise me. She was still talking to everyone about her degree and how amazing it is. Well, ma'am, you work at a university bookstore so cut the crap.

Don't let it get away

It's a beautiful day. I decided to take some photos across campus. Here are a few of them:

All of the photos above are from Froebel College here at Roehampton University. Out of the all the colleges that make up Roehampton, this one is my favourite because of its landscape. My college, Digby Stuart, is basically a car park with some grass, if I'm honest. It's not hideous or anything, but Froebel has the most foliage. After my walk it was becoming close to dinner time and so I thought I'd make some cornish pasty for dinner. Well, that didn't happen thanks to the kitchen having the entire nation of not the UK in it. See, we've been having some issues with a certain group of students from another country (No, not America) and well, there was no way I'd be able to make myself some dinner within the next two hours because of them. Enraged and quite hungry, I figured I could head out to Richmond and find something and I did: Pizza Express. 

Pizza Express is not some takeaway pizza joint that smells of tomato sauce and dough. Its name is a bit deceiving, but the atmosphere is semi-posh meets modern gone middling. The prices are very reasonable and the staff are very friendly. In fact, they remind me a bit of Jimmy John's back in America. Below is what I had for dinner:

Perhaps I should thank these students for their obnoxious behaviour, as it gave me the opportunity to have a delicious meal. 

Whale vomit protects you from the plague

Today I went to the Museum of London, but mainly because it was free. I wasn't really sure what to expect from it, but truthfully, I enjoyed it the most out of any other museum I have visited (unless you count the Royal Historical Palaces). I'm currently taking a class on eighteenth century London and I can honestly say that it is the most interesting course I have ever taken in my entire life. I was a bit bummed when I found out the Tudor dynasty module wasn't offered this term and that because I needed one more class to fulfil my visa requirements, I decided to suck it up and take the eighteenth century London module. It probably won't transfer back, but that's fine with me because I just love it so much! Anyway, enough about that- more on the Museum. The Museum of London had a very modern feel to it and everything was neatly organised.

My favourite bit about the Museum of London was the seventeenth and eighteenth century exhibits. The seventeenth century exhibit mostly focused on the plague and the eighteenth century exhibit had the Vauxhall Gardens. I found this to be interesting about the plague:

Below are images of what the Vauxhall Gardens looked like in the eighteenth century:

 Concerts would be performed in the Gardens by composers like Handel.

Above is the layout of the gardens and below is an image of what the Gardens looked like:

Since the Gardens are no longer around, the Museum recreated (well, not really) something that would be a bit like an evening at Vauxhall Gardens. A film was rolling and focused on several people who were spending their time at this pleasure garden. The Museum also had clothing on display of what would have been worn to the pleasure gardens.

Being seen at Vauxhall Gardens was a good thing, as polite society tended to visit these pleasure gardens for socialising and for entertainment.

After my visit to the Museum I walked over to St Paul's Cathedral:

I learned at the Museum that St Paul's burnt down in the Great Fire in 1666 and was finally rebuilt in 1710. After walking around the Cathedral I headed over to the Globe Theatre:

I wasn't able to go in because it was too late. Maybe next time. 

English isn't your first language.

Nope, English isn't my first language. I thought it was, but I guess not. I have this one professor (his first language isn't English) who always chooses me to read out loud to the class. It's a French class that is taught in English (I was disappointed by this) and there are some passages we read that do have French words in them. I've never had a problem pronouncing any of them (he corrects students who do) and maybe that gave it away that English isn't my first language. After all, how could an American possibly know another language? Well, it's part of Ohio's education curriculum for public schools to teach a foreign language in high school. Anyway, the professor always makes sure we know what words mean, and they're usually ones that you would learn in high school ('SAT vocabulary'), but if English isn't your first language, you may have not come across any of them until university. The word on which he paused was 'contingent.' He asked if I knew what it meant and I guessed correctly, but before he asked here's what was said:

'You, would you like to take a guess at the word?'

'Yes,' I replied.

'I cannot tell if English is your first language because of your accent, but have a go at it.'

'Random,' I replied as I thought to myself how he could not tell by my American accent if English was my first language or not. Maybe my English teacher in high school was American? He was, actually. Imagine that: an American teaching a high school English class in America. 

Aside from that, one of the students thought I was English this entire time; however, one knew right away that I was not English. What a lovely person she was, but aside from that, maybe I haven't got the 'American stereotype.' 

WARWICK, O WARWICK

Yesterday I went to Warwick Castle in the town of Warwick, Warwickshire. It's about an hour and a half from London, but you can get a direct train there from London Marylebone.

When I arrived there were only a handful of people there, which was nice compared to the time I was there in July 2003. I came during the week because I saw online that if you come to the castle during the week until about the 19th February you get into the dungeon for free. When I was waiting to buy my tickets the two men in front of me were fighting with the man at the till about how today couldn't possibly be sold out. For some reason it wasn't sold out when I bought mine! Since my tour of the dungeon was about to begin, I headed over to the dungeon and was greeted by a man with blood on his face. He was wandering around, checking tickets, sniffing people, and trying to scare them.

The tour of the dungeon was factual, but it was also funny. The guides made sure everyone in the tour participated, whether it be picking someone to make sure the doors were shut behind them to ensure the 'creatures' wouldn't get out, or being demonstrations for how people were tortured back then. My favourite was the guide who made a grandma sit in a cage. The woman was this sweet, innocent looking grandma who was all smiles as she sat in a cage next to instruments of torture and faux body parts drenched in 'blood' hanging on the wall next to her. After the tour of the dungeon I wandered around looking for the Nestle Toll House that was there all those years ago. Well, it was gone. But I did find flowers and peacocks!

I bet Ohio hasn't got flowers right now! And it's probably too cold for peacocks to roam around:

If I ever decide to have a pet, I want a peacock.

As I took a stroll on the castle grounds I had remembered one of the reasons why I came here: to learn how to joust. My dream was short lived when I discovered jousting is in the summer. I kept wandering and admiring the English countryside and thought about how fortunate I am to be in such a beautiful (and warm) place right now whilst friends and family are left in Ohio.

 You just don't get views like this in Ohio. Especially views of castles.

I headed to the castle apartments to see if the wax figure of Princess Diana was still there and it wasn't. She was replaced by William the Conqueror, Henry VIII and his six wives.  Below is the Great Hall followed by the Green Drawing Room where Henry VIII and his six wives are:

I really had a nice afternoon at Warwick Castle. I strongly encourage anyone who has the time to head out to Warwick. It's not like the Royal Historical Palaces where it's more education-based, but rather educational with interaction. There are plenty of things to do for children as well as adults at the castle.