AixPatriots: Our Semester in Aix en Provence: The London Daze Oct 25-30

We arrived in London late Wednesday afternoon (we decided to stay in Oxford a bit longer to attend the Inklings tour). We took the longer train. It was very nice, a good opportunity for those much needed naps and also it offered beautiful views of the English countryside.

When we got to our hostel we quickly realized that London is tres cher! Our hostel didn't offer free wifi, towels, or breakfast (all required big bucks!) and there was an inattendu fee of 10 pounds (to become a member of the hostel chain). Needless to say I was more than a bit miffed. I pouted for a bit (boo, Maggie) and then cheered up when Laura and Nick arrived. Once we all settled into our room we decided to go find a pub for dinner. Another thing about London - all the pubs (everywhere) are packed packed packed full to the gills starting from about 5:30 PM. Clearly the Londoners know how to relax after work. We wandered around for nearly 2 hours before we found a place - it turned out to be a restaurant more so than a pub, but it was still super delightful. Though the walk was long, it wasn't too terrible - at first we weren't even hungry. Also it allowed us to see cool London bits - like the Thames! Our first London dinner was a blast! We talked for several hours. Nick and I bonded (again) over Arrested Development (the best show ever ever ever).

The next morning, we scampered over to the local Starbucks to get coffee and wifi (but mostly wifi) and we were astonished/chagrined/amused/bemused (cemused?) to see Occupy St. Pauls. Our hostel, despite having several hidden fees, had a great location - right by St. Paul's Cathedral (rumored to rival/resemble St. Peter's Basilica). However the whole courtyard out front was (and is being) occupied by protestors of the Occupy Wallstreet persuasion. Even though we walked by their encampment many times daily, we could never quite place their objectives. As far as I can at best the are making people reconsider certain things (capitalism, the wealth gap in the world...) and at worst they are disorganized and confused. It was strange to see them right outside of Starbucks every morning - as Starbucks is quite capitalist it made for a nice juxtaposition.

Thursday was a brilliant day! After coffee/occupy St. Paul's we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I had been there before and loved it! The highlights were the Islamic tiles (I LOVE Islamic tile art), the jewelry, the Medieval tapestries (when Henry VIII died in 1547 he had over 2700 tapestries!!) and stained glass through the ages (I prefer the older Medieval ones). After that we met our good friend Claire McIlvenny's parents for tea. We all go to Duke with Claire, she is our resident culture prime minister - she's British, so naturally she's cooler than all of us. Anyway her parents took us out to tea at The Orangery at Kensington palace. It was absolutely delightful - a proper high tea with finger sandwiches (the cucumber and cream cheese were divine), scones, and small desserts. I need to start having more high tea in my life. After a long and luxurious tea we dashed off to Westminster Abbey for Evensong. It was very wonderful. The choir was beautiful - and composed of little boys! Also I thoroughly enjoyed the whole Anglican atmosphere.

On Friday our two friends who are studying in Madrid, Katherine and Karen, met us. We went to the changing of the guard (been there, done that already - the second time is was just as crowded and boring) and Harrods (ditto). I was pretty tired all morning so I didn't really enjoy the massive crowds at either location very much. But we had lunch in Hyde Park which was very nice and relaxing. In Hyde Park we had an interesting interaction with a swam. Karen really wanted to touch him but I was terrified because he was huge and could probably break one of our arms with one swift wallop from his neck. He was also bigger than a normal sized toddler. Scary. Later we went to the National Gallery and saw some Van Goghs (Sun Flowers) and some Monets - I really enjoyed the bridge paintings. Later Karen, Laura, Emily and Katie went to see a play (which they thoroughly enjoyed) and Katherine Sara and I camped out in a pub (it wasn't an occupation though, don't worry). Nick ended up meeting us and we had a blast!

Saturday was super excellent. We went to Portobello Road Market. It was super crowded (just like the rest of London!). I bought some little trinkets for myself and a few Christmas presents. Sara found an old print type drawer (picture a pull out drawer with tons of little cells/boxes inside) which she had been looking for for ages. So it was a major score! We also met up with another Duke friend, Robert Francis, for a bit. After Portobello road we wandered about London. We went to the Sherlock Holmes museum (giftshop only - museum was too expensive) on Baker street. After that we stopped for a spot of tea. The we headed over to the Tower Bridge and found Nick. We walked around that area, popped in the Globe theater (gift shop only again) and then walked back to the hostel to regroup. We regrouped on the steps of St. Paul's and while there witnessed something that scarred Emily FOREVER. An old man fake Irish dancing. He was mostly just shuffling his feet around whilst wearing a kilt. Not at all legitimate. Emily was quite indignant. Then we headed to an area that someone recommended for dinner - calling it a place with "tons of restaurants and nightlife". False. It was the heart of the financial district. There were tons of places to eat but there were all closed - presumably they only open for lunch. So we repeated our multi-hour dinner quest (we seemed to end up doing that every night). We finally found a place and ordered fish and chips for dinner. I also had a cider. All in all, it was quite satisfying after our long hunt.

London was quite enjoyable. It was wonderful to be with so many friends (though a bit trying at times trying to coordinate everyone's needs). Also Portobello Road was definitely a highlight. We could have stayed there exploring and shopping for hours (due to the horrific exchange rate, it is was a good thing we didn't). I also loved meeting the McIlvennys for tea. It was so much fun getting to know them - even though I did miss Claire terribly this week.