My Semester in London at Univ. of Westminster: My first week out

I've done a good deal of sight seeing and making my way around town via the tube, which is very easy to figure out.

I pick it up at kings cross and ride it down to Oxford Circus where my classes are.

Its been a pretty lonely week, as its been kinda hard to meet people without much formal social situations, but I haven't minded the time alone to see whatever I want to see. My first monday out I wanted to have a pretty touristy morning so I went down to the waterloo station which is right across the river from Parliament. I got my first views of the city of London here.

My first view of the London Eye

Heres a view from the footbridge I walked to cross the Thames. The view is of the East side of the city.

In this picture: Big Ben, Double Decker, Red Phone booth, a Bobby, a sign for the underground, and a pub... a photo couldn't get any more British without putting the Queen in it.

My first fish and chips! ...so so

A peace protest across the street from Parliament. The red sign notes when they started (before 9/11), and they are protesting for a number of different causes. The tents line the street near Westminster Abbey.

A view from Westminster bridge.

After my orientation Monday I spent a little time in Regent Park, where I would spent a few days over the week. Its one of the royal parks specifically allocated by the royals. These are pictures of the avenue gardens at the south east corner of the park... a really great place for a nap.

The following friday I went to the north section of regent park called primrose hill to see a Druid equinox festival. I was a little late so i missed the ceremony but I arrived in time to see them on the top of the hill and process to the bottom.

Heres the amazing view from Primrose hill.

One day as i was killing time and I ended up on Baker street... and of course I had to check out the Sherlock Holmes museum;

the actual fictional location of 221 Baker Street!

while i was there i bought self guided walking tour booklet of the Jack the Ripper murders. The booklet strongly recommended to not do the tour at night...

well of course i had to do it at night after a challenge like that...

the booklet's directions were a bit hard to follow and i soon gave up after i missed a bunch of streets... but i did at least get to see some cool spots in the east end of london, and i made a few friends in a pub along the way...

This is Church of St. Boltoph. In the 1600's, the mummified body of a boy was found in the walls of this church (doesnt actually have anything to do with Jack... just a cool old church and right around the corner from one of the murder sites).

The Hoop & Grapes: one of the oldest pubs in England... most likely an old haunt of Jack the Ripper himself... its rumored to have underground tunnels connecting to the tower of London.

The London Hospital: The bones of John Merricks bones are kept here...

By next saturday however, Rachel Lesser arrived, one of the other 2 members of the London Global Learning Semesters group. I met up with her and her boyfriend (who coincidentally is also living in Nido) and we went out to watch some sunday football at an American sports bar. The next day we did some early sight seeing:

A beautiful pub in Islington where I took some time to read "A study in Scarlet"; the first of the Holmes novels.

"One man; Two Guvnors"; an adaptation of "the servant to two masters", a show i did my junior year!

One the right is the Greenwhich playhouse, a small (and i mean small) theater space in the attic of a pub where I saw a production of "Hamlet" by the Greenwhich players. It was a fringe show. It all the elements of a fringe play... playing space in the unused part of a local pub where passionate theater practitioners scrounge whatever they can to produce theater. "Acting is an addiction" said my proffessor on my first day of "modern British theater" class...

These are some views of the canal along the north end of Regent park

African painted dogs in the London Zoo (also in Regent park)... this ones for Kayla! :)

SLOTH!

Covent Gardens is home to some lovely tea houses, and some great theaters.

Below is The Church of St. Pancras just down the road from Kings Cross St. Pancras station. In the basement is the Crypt Museum, an incredible space that has been turned into an art gallery.

I attented an evensong service; an old tradition in the Church of England, few churches still feature a Sunday Evensong service.

A statue of Gandhi in a small but beautiful park just down the street from St. Pancras

THE CHANGING OF THE GAURD!!! doesn't get more touristy, but of course i had to see it!

This is Rachel and Zach, my new friends at Nido with whom I went sight seeing.

St. Pauls Cathedral. The most important church in London.

The absolutely unbelievable view!

My first view of the Globe theater... I underestimated how excited I would be to see it.

At the very top of the dome, there is a small window in the floor looking all the way down into the very center of the church... Its hard to see from this picture, but those are several rows of seats on the right of the circle... the hight is unbelievable.