Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays everyone! If you are fortunate enough to be staying or traveling through London during the Christmas or New Year season, there are numerous things to do and see to get into the holiday spirit.

There are a lot of things to do and see in London during the holiday seasons. The ones that I mention here may be considered the simplest yet perhaps the most fun things to do, especially for families.

Possibly considered the equivalent to New York’s Rockefeller Center, London’s Trafalgar Square is the home of the city’s Christmas tree. The tree, which is a Norwegian Spruce and is 65 feet in height, marks the 60th anniversary the people of Norway giving the people of London the tree. The tradition began in 1947 when Norway presented the tree as a sign of gratitude for Britain’s support for Norway during the Second World War.

The tree was lit back on December 6 and will remain there until January 4, 2008, the Twelfth Night of Christmas. When it is taken down, the tree will be recycled into the mulch, very eco friendly decision.

Along with the Christmas tree, there is also Carol-singing at Trafalgar. From December 10-23 there is will be dozen of groups will sing on the stage, many of which raise charitable donations.

The second fun thing to do during the winter season is to ice skate. There are many ice skating rinks around the city and its famous landmarks to enjoy. There are rinks at the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Somerset House, Alexandra Palace, the Natural History Museum, and Canary Wharf to name a few. You will have to purchase tickets in order to skate; however, the fee is fairly reasonable and range from £7.50 (children) to £12.50 (adults) depending on the location. For a “complete” listing of the ice rinks in London you can visit the View London.co.uk website for overviews of the rinks, which also have links to Ticketmaster to purchase tickets. However, I also highly recommend visiting the official website of the landmark locations, such as Somerset House or the Tower of London for information and how to purchase to tickets.

Also throughout London there are fantastic Christmas lights. Along with dozens of shows to see, the famous West End is covered in lights. Other well-known locations, which include Oxford Street and the store Harrod’s are lit for the holiday season.

Now, onto New Year celebration. There is one fantastical event to ring in the year 2008: the firework show on the South Bank at the London Eye. The city is expecting to have over 350,000 people to celebrate the New Year here. Big Ben will chime at midnight and the fireworks will fill the night sky for ten minutes. You can view the show anywhere you can see the London Eye, but prime choice spots would be between Blackfiars and Westminster Bridges on the banks of the Thames. For more information, such as safety, transportation, and FAQs please check out the city’s website.

Of course, if you would prefer to celebrate in a smaller crowd there are many pubs, bars, and clubs, to go to.

I hope that I have inspired some to take advantage of some of the events and things to do while in London. If you do, please exercise caution while in large crowds, especially if you are traveling with children.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Explore Haunted London

London is considered one of the most haunted cities in the world. If one of your goals is to visit as many haunted sites as possible while in London, I recommend reading and bring Richard Jones' book Walking Haunted London: 25 Original Walks Exploring London's Ghostly Past with you.

Walking Haunted London offers twenty-five walking tours that will take you around London's haunted areas. There is the classic Jack the Ripper tour, the Tower of London, a tour through the famous areas like Westminster to Piccadilly, Covent Garden, Kensington to Notting Hill, Greenwich, as well as places a little farther off: Windsor and Eton and Pluckley: England's most haunted village. There are detailed maps that will show where to go. There is also well written instructions for each and every tour that will tell you were to go (especially which Tube station to take) but also give a background story of why the place is haunted and what are the ghostly occurrences to people report hearing and seeing.

Richard Jones also has a website that provides more information about these specific tours as well as other London walking tours such as tours of Charles Dicken's London, which takes you around to the various places where Dicken's lived and the places that he included in his works. There is also a tour of the beautiful, yet haunted, Hampstead, a tour of Haunted Hotels of London, and much more.

I unfortunately left my copy of Walking Haunted London at home in the States when I went to London last year. However, I discovered Jones' website, which proved to be handy when I retraced the steps of the Jack the Ripper walking tour I took within the first month of my stay. The information really great and if I had more time I would have done more of his walking tours, especially one dedicated to Charles Dicken's.

If you would prefer to not to take a walking tour on your (or at lease till you learn your way around the city) there area literally hundreds of guided walking tours at reasonably prices. The one that is most popular and well-known is London Walks. I highly recommend them. My walking tours, the Jack the Ripper and the Harry Potter tour, were guided by great tour guides. I did not to my self-created walking tour of the houses of famous poets and authors or my retraced steps of Jack the Ripper until near the end of my six weeks stay when I new the city almost as well as the back of my hand.

Celebrating the Fourth in London

Happy Independence Day Y'all!

If you happen to be in London on the Fourth of July there is one place that you can go to celebrate. The Texas Embassy Cantina is a Tex-Mex restaurant that is at the corner of Pall Mall and Cockspur (walking distance from Trafalgar Square) This is the place where you can celebrate American holidays, including Thanksgiving!

This place has quite a history. First of all, the cantina represents the actual Texas embassy during the 19th century when Texas won their independence from Mexico and became the country The Republic of Texas (actual embassy was located on St. James Street and is now a wine shop). The embassy closed when Texas joined the United States. The second and perhaps most interesting fact is that, the actually building once was the White Star shipping line home office. When the Titanic sank, friends and relatives of the passengers flocked to this building to see if their love ones had survived.

Now, back to the present. I have eaten there once several years ago, but from what I remember the food is pretty good. Plus, for the Americans who miss their regular size drinks and free refills (and their Dr. Peppers!) – this is the place to come! The overall restaurant is very nice and quite large. The décor is very nice and is reminiscent of Texas - to a point. Also, the restaurant is kid friendly, a plus for families!

So, if you want to celebrate Independence Day while abroad or simply have good Tex-Mex food, visit the Texas Embassy Cantina.

Being Safe Abroad

Because of the recent attacks in the UK and Ireland I thought I would discuss the matter of safety for people who are traveling in London.

The first thing you should know before you leave or just arrive in London, or any other country for that matter, is where your country’s embassy can be found. The American Embassy in London in located in Grosvenor Square, which is just south of Oxford Street. The address is 55/56 Upper Brook Street, London W1A 2LQ. There are four Tube stations in this area; the closest being Marble Arch, but there is also Oxford Street, Hyde Park Corner, and Piccadilly Circus. For American Citizen Services you will have to join the line that forms on the Upper Grosvenor Street. Here is a map that will better illustrate the location.

Note: When you are searching for the location of an embassy, I suggest you use an updated map of the city or the actual embassy website. Just to feed my curiosity, I used Google Map to find a satellite photo of the location, and I was given a different location. The #1 way to find the embassy is to find the address and map on its official website!

Let me now concentrate on traveler safety by looking at the AIFS students. If you have any concerns about your safety, whether it is along the lines of what is currently happening in the UK and/or if it a personal security, you can talk to any of the Student Life staff. That is what they are there for. Also, if you are living in the Atlantic House, there is the 24-hour security watch, and if you are living in the Ambassador House, you will have to enter in a door code (which is suppose to change every so often) to enter the house. If there is a national emergency, the school officials should and will instruct you and fellow students you to take whatever necessary precautions.

I highly recommend that you keep at least one form of ID on your person. I personally wouldn’t carry around my passport cause of the off chance of it being lost or stolen (the AIFS rooms have personal safes that you can keep your important documents in), unless you’re going to the embassy or if you’re going to leave the country. If you are an AIFS student you will receive an ID card with your photo on it and necessary school phone numbers on the back. Keep this with you at all times. Another ID card that may prove to be handy, especially if you plan to travel around is the International Student Identity Card (ISIC). I personally did not get one, but that was because I did not plan on traveling outside of London on my own. I befriended several girls while in London that traveled about, and I believe only one of them had an ISIC card. However, whether you are planning to travel on your own or not, this card has some benefits. It is an ID for you and it does have benefits, such as discounts. Who doesn’t love discounts?

OK. My next suggestion for safety is to have a good map. In a previous post Mapping Your Way Around I talked about the different types of maps that I’ve used. I suggest that you have an up-to-date map of any sort that at least shows Tube stops and the Underground map. However, if you do have a map/guidebook that it older, that is alright. Just make sure that the important information, such as emergency phone numbers, is the same.

Here, are two more notes on safety, which AIFS students will no doubt hear when they first arrive. If you need help, you can always ask a policeman or policewoman for assistance. In the Kensington area, which is where the study-abroad school is located, the bobbies have patrols around the streets. Also, I try to be inconspicuous. Now, I know from personal experience that from the moment you open your mouth to talk you are labeled as a tourist and an American. Anyhow, I did not wear anything overly bright (no hot fuchsia or any neon color) and I didn’t wear any shirts that were blazoned with my hometown or university’s name (I did have some shirts that did mention these names; however they were small or faded enough for my to wear them.) If you wore clothing that screamed, “I’m an American,” pickpockets will spot you faster. However, I’m not saying that you should betray your personal style. I’m just suggesting of possibly toning it down in some areas.

My final advice is to simply be aware of your surroundings as you travel.

Well, hopefully this information is helpful to anyone that was concerned about safety while being in London. I know when I first started thinking about studying abroad I was really worried about that, especially cause it was only a few months earlier that the London bombings happened. With the AIFS and the school’s staff help and your common sense, traveling and studying abroad should be safe and fun.

Mapping Your Way Around

Let’s talk about maps. There are so many types of maps out there. There are the simple street maps. There are the travel guidebooks that have maps in them. Then there are the city maps that mark famous sites. As an AIFS student you will receive a city map with the famous sites on it. This does come in handy. I used mine until it started to tear at the seams. However, my primary map was the Knopf MapGuide: London. This map book is awesome!!! It’s wonderful traveling size (only 6” x 4”). It is organized by city areas (Westminster/ Whitehall and Covent Garden/ Soho/ Bloomsbury), and with in each section is a fold out map of the area and it also gives examples of restaurants, tearooms/pubs, shopping, theaters, Tube stations and must-see sights. The map is easily readable. Oh, and it also gives advise on matter such as tipping, clothes sizes, seasonal events, and so on. Plus, they only cost $9.95 on Amazon.com! It is absolutely fantabulous!

Another guidebook that I recommend is the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides. This book is heavier and bigger than the Knopf, however it holds much more information, such as the occasional background facts, that the handy-dandy Knopf sometimes doesn’t mention. They have all the info you need to travel around the city. I still have the copy I got when I was sixteen-years-old and I still read it. In fact I read it so much and so often when before I studied abroad, that I was familiar with most of the sights, though it was a different matter of actually getting to the places.

My suggestion would be to get a map guide like the Knopf that can easily be placed in a bag and cause from a distance it does not look like a touristy map However, you may also take a guidebook like the DK Eyewitnes Travel Guide and look through it when you want and simply leave it in the your room when you go out for the day. I believe the next time I go abroad, I’ll be doing this.

Status Report for The Wielded Pen - London

As you may notice, it has been a considerable amount of time since my last post The Blog Still Lives, which stated that despite returning from my studying abroad adventures I was still going to keep the blog running and add information about London and the the AIFS study abroad program. Well, has it turned out life and school took control.

However, with undergraduate school completed (I begin graduate school in the fall) and a burst of motivation, I have begun to compile information for numerous posts. I goal is to have at least some of the information posted by the end of July.

Please continue to check in on The Wielded Pen - London for updates. In the meantime, my other blog The Wielded Pen is alive and ready for visitors!