A Weekend in the City

Well, I spent my first official weekend in London. It was quite interesting and exciting.
On Friday I joined Alexa, Christine, and Sarah D. and went to a pub called the Hog in the Pound, which is just around the corner from the Bond Street Tube station. The girls, with their ordered beverages, and I with my water bottle sat at a sidewalk table and talked until closing. It might not be as exciting in comparison to a museum or a movie, but it was really nice to get to know one another. I had already shattered the ice earlier that evening when we were at the Gloucester Tube. We were walking down the spiral staricase to the platforms, and suddenly my foot slipped off the step. I landed on my bum, and because of the momentum and the fact that my bum was quite larger in comparison to the steps, I start bouncing my way down the stairs, one right after the other. If it wasn't for my friends I would've taken the faster and more dangerous way to the platform. Once at the pub we made several jokes about my incident. Back in my room at Atlantic House I discovered that I had a lovely dark purple bruise across my hip and bum. It was very lovely as bruises go. From now on, I'm going to avoid that staircase at all cost.

On Saturday, Alexa, Christine, and I woke early and took the tube to St. James Park to watch the Trooping of the Colours. Through the mass of people we were able to find a space available in the third row from the fence, standing room only of course. We watched the guards dressed in their red and black uniforms and their black bear fur hats spread down the Mall. Then, as the clock hands moved closer to 11 AM, guards playing instruments marched by. After that, in evenly spaced intervals, the rest of the soldiers marched by. As the time for the Queen's first appearance grew closer the spectacle grew grander. There were guards on horse back playing instruments and then the Household Calvery. Just behind them came the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in the carriage. Since it is always a conversation piece, Her Majesty was wearing a skirt and jacket out fit with a marvelous hat in a lovely shade of purple. To my surprise it didn't take long for the first part of the parade to pass us.

The crowd began to disperse, heading toward the little food stands in the park or to the long line for the toilets. The girls and I walked around as we ate fruit and then found a second row spot closer to Buckingham Palace. There we stood in the sun and watched the troops march the Queen and the Royal Family back to the palace.



Once the Queen was behind the Buckingham gates, the street turned into a sea of spectators. Alexa, Christine, and I were drawn immediately into the current. We swam our way through the crowd and found a spot on the right side of the palace. As we waited for the Queen and the Royal Family to fill the balcony, cannons were fired in Green Park. I started out counting each shot, however I soon lost track. Once the cannons became silent, it didn't take long to hear the cheer from the sea of people when the Queen and her family appeared on the balconythat looks over the Queen Victoria Memorial. As she waved to the people below, there was a series of airal salutes. At one point there were three airplanes that left red, white, and blue smoke. It was breathtaking.

Once we had taken enough photos that would satisfy the tourist side of us.(BTW, those above are from the Official Web Site of the British Monarchy), the three of us left via the Green Park Tube and travelled all the way to King's Cross St. Pancras station. We had decided to venture out to the Camden Market. After walking quite a while we found the market and ventured around the little booths. At first I honestly thought that the market was going to bigger, however upon reflection I believe that we barely touched the extent of the market. However, what we did see were antiques tha ranged from watches, pipes, war medals, tea cups, silverware, a pair of perscription opera glasses, and so much more. Leaving empty handed, we walked around until we found a little cafe for a late lunch. I decided to splurge and I bought a club sandwich for £6.75. I ate the entire thing. There was nothing left on the plate but a few straggly pieces of lettuce.

With a new burst of energy we popped into Harrod's on our way back to the Atlantic House. We explored the same things that Sarah S. and I did earlier that week. I popped into the pet shop once more to say "Hello" to the adorable Bengal kittens. Once we had seen almost everything, we finally made it back to the Atlantic House exhausted.

Sunday morning, for the first time since I arrived, I slept in. Normally I wake at 6:30 AM. Likely due to the time zone shift, my internal clock was set to wake me up at this ridiculous time in the morning. For once I ignored it. My roommate, Michelle, her group of friends, and I went down to a little cafe called Petite Delice, which is located on a little side street off Gloucester Road. For around £2.50 I got a Ham Tornio Panini, which was ham, fresh Mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and olive oil, and a cup of English Breakfast tea.

From there we took the Tube to the Liverpool Station and walked to Spitalfield Market. Out of the two markets that I've been to during the weekend, I liked this market the best. Instead of antiques at the Camden Market, there were stalls that were selling hand made skirts, shirts, ties, and handbags. There were photographers selling prints of their works. Further into the market there were food vendors selling organic rain forest food, different types of fudge, and so on. It was very cool. I've decided that I need to take a trip back to Spitalfield market to explore it even more.

For the rest of the day I stayed in my room and read for my class. Later that night I met up with Sarah S. She had just returned from her Paris weekend trip with the AIFS program. She showed me hundreds of pictures she took from the Eiffel Tower and even more pictures from the bus tour. Everything sounded so exciting. I couldn't wait till I take the trip myself next session!

Also Sunday night, Sarah and I had discovered what can only be described as "Deliciousness." At the Tesco Express, which is a little convience store across the street from the Gloucester Tube, we bought a chocolate sponge pudding cup. It is basically a chocolate cake/brownie with chocolate pudding at the bottom. It is the best tasting dessert we have had since we've been here! And the best part about it - it was only 72 pence!!

Along with the Deliciousness we also bought a banana. We didn't have spoons and so we decided to purloin some coffee stirrers from the Burger King next door. It was a challenge to eat such a wonderful dessert with a coffee stirrer. Every so often there would be an explosion of chocolate that would cover our laps. Despite all that, it was worth the effort. We enjoyed it and instantly deemed it as our official inexpensive treat.