London Eye

There was one more thing that I wanted to do before I left London for Winter Break- take a flight on the London Eye!! I had always wanted to go on it, but never had the chance. So, the night before my flight back to California, Matt and I decided to go. We ended up in a pod with only about 10 other people (and the pods are pretty big), so we weren't cramped! The views we had while rotating around the giant ferris wheel were spectacular!! We could see all of London and even as far as Wembley Stadium. We could even spot the ferris wheel in Hyde Park. The ride takes about 30 minutes to go around, which is slow enough that you don't feel like you're moving at all! I got some stunning pictures of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament lit up at night and some nice views of the River Thames cutting through London in the night. It was awesome and I am so glad I got to do it, especially the night before I left!! (Like a farewell to London for a few weeks!)

Christmastime in London

The Christmas spirit definitely came a bit earlier for me while in London! Because the English don't celebrate Thanksgiving, they start their Christmas festivities in early November. Everywhere I went, there were Christmas trees, lights, and other decorations. In Westfield shopping center (mall), there was a giant Santa's snow kingdom that had been created just for the season. There were the Oxford Street Christmas lights, which are different every year and a small band playing Christmas songs outside of Harrods. It was wonderful having the holiday spirit spread throughout the city!!


In the beginning of December, Matt and I went to see Agatha Christie's play "Mousetrap", which is one of the longest running plays in London! I saw why too- it was really good! It was a murder mystery that was so well done, we were totally surprised at who the murderer was in the end. It was really different than seeing a West End musical, but I enjoyed it just as much. Afterwards, we walked by the Leicester Square "Fun Fair". The fair took up the entire square, and had fake snow being blown around, quite a few rides, and game huts. It was pretty late, so we didn't stop to play any of the games that night. On our walk back to Victoria, we passed a gigantic tree in Trafalgar Square and another under Parliament and Big Ben.




I heard about Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland in November, and had really wanted to go sometime before my flight back home for the break. The weekend before I flew home, Matt, Holly and I went to the Carnival and had an awesome evening!! Winter Wonderland was full of authentic German Markets, an over-priced ice skating rink, rides, a ferris wheel, and lots of food! The entire area was lit up and the Christmas spirit was definitely in the air. I tried mulled wine, ate a chocolate covered banana and a lemon crêpe, and went on a few rides- one through the Fun House. After leaving Hyde Park, we walked to Leicester Square's Fun Fair and Matt tried to win me a stuffed animal by 'fishing'. I played too, but I couldn't even get one of the fish. Matt figured the game out, and won me a unicorn that I named Jewel. :)

Spending a few weeks of the holidays in London was wonderful and with all the festivities around the city, I couldn't wait to get home to see all the decorations up in my house!

Class Fieldtrips!

One of the best parts about studying in such a historically and culturally rich city as London, is that most of my courses involve fieldtrips at least once throughout the term!


My Theatre in Performance class visited the Globe Theater (both the new and the location of the original one). We took a detailed tour and learned about the area in which the Globe was located and the history of theatre in Shakespeare's time. The new Globe looks very much like the original, and there are still performances in it over the summer when it's warm (because it is an open air theatre).




For my Nineteenth century London class, we would go on fieldwalks throughout different areas of London. We would observe the architecture, statues, and religious houses to make conclusions about the area in the nineteenth century (as most of London's streets and buildings are the same as they were in the nineteenth century).

My Art and Society class went on fieldtrips each week. The first hour of class would be devoted to a lecture on campus and the last two hours, we would either go to a significant church, gallery, or museum. The first week of class, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which was designed by Christopher Wren. We hiked up 530 steps to the golden gallery, which is arguably one of the best views of London. On the way up, we passed the 'whispering gallery', in which one person can whisper against the wall and on the other side of the circle within the dome, another person can hear exactly what was said. What a fun first class! The next week we went to the Banqueting House, which was, and still is, a place of entertainment for Royalty. Charles I was executed at the Banqueting House and it is now a museum open to the public. Our class discussed the paintings on the ceiling of the Banqueting House, as they are considered very significant and unique pieces of work painted by Sir Peter Paul Rubens. In the weeks after, we visited the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square and many other museums and smaller galleries scattered throughout London.








The fieldtrips that I've taken in my classes so far have enhanced my experience in London, as I am getting to learn with the original pieces in front of me, whether it is a building, painting, or district in London. It is indescribable being able to go to the National Portrait Gallery to research and take notes on a painting that I need to write a paper on, and actually being able to sit there with the original 8x10 foot painting in front of me! (I did this for a paper on the painting 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' I had for my Art and Society class).