And welcome to the ye olde blog of awesomeness! Yes, yes, I know. Please keep applause to a minimum.
Anywho, I'm currently in London studying British media and communication, and will continue to do so through the 10th of December. I should have started this blog as soon as I arrived two weeks ago, but we all know how that goes. After this first post though, I am going to try my best to be more regular and up to date with blogging. And also, since it has been two weeks full of London activities, I am just going to try and summarize in this first post some of the things we've done around the city along with some of my own thoughts. Prepare yourselves.
London is amazing, and one of the things I love most about it is the history, and how the past is so visibly connected with the present. Westminster Abbey was built in the 1040's under the Saxon Edward the Confessor around the same time as the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and the area which they were built on was called Thorney Island. Although the original buildings were destroyed, the buildings we know today are on the original sites. Edward the Confessor's tomb resides in Westminster Abbey. (Yes, I brought a book on the history of the kings of England.)
Speaking of Westminster Abbey, which we visited as a group 16th September, is one of the most beautiful buildings I have (or will probably) ever seen in my life. No photography was allowed inside, but I do not think photography would be able to even capture 1/234234 of Westminster's grandeur. What truly fascinated me - and this is 100% nerd - was the fact that I could stand beside and touch the stones of the tombs of kings, knights and monks who ruled, lived, fought with bravery and died centuries before America was even birthed. I touched the tomb of Geoffry Chaucer! Is that weird? Haha, anyway, the best way for me to try and describe the beauty of Westminster further is to tell you to go there and see it for yourself!!
The same can pretty much be said about the Tower of London, though the oldest parts still intact do actually date back to the 11th century. It's here where the crown jewels are also kept. On one side of the cool scale, you can enter one of the prison towers and see graffiti carved into the walls by prisoners held in the cells over the centuries, and on the other side...the Tower still keeps ravens and a Ravenmaster. The legend of the ravens is that if and when the last raven flies away, the monarchy will fall.
Other places I have visited are the British Library, Hillsong church (which is amazing), toured the Houses of Parliament, visited the Painted Hall and chapel in Greenwich, attended the musical Betty Blue Eyes (about a pig) and saw a screening at the BFI of the film Kes (1969, Ken Loach), which is considered one of Britain's greatest films. My favourite pub so far has been Waxy O'Connors.
Bits of other info I've learned is London Bridge is not the bridge everyone thinks is London Bridge. London Bridge is really a very boring, unattractive bridge, but the site of the Thames it crosses is where the first bridge across the Thames was ever placed. The bridge people usually refer to as London Bridge is called Tower Bridge, and it is supposed to match the architecture of the Tower of London.
Peace.
