The British Museum

Wow! I don't know how to explain the great this place is, I could sit in there for a few days and still not be able to see everything that I would want to see. Even walking up to this palace of history is overwhelming, it is so large, but it is even larger in the inside. The great reading room and the glass dome are breath taking. Here are some of the highlights:

The Glass Dome

This glass dome was finished in 2000 and connects all of the museum together. It is so cool to look at.

Rosetta Stone

One of the most important discoveries of modern time is here and its pretty easy to find. It was great to see the real thing as opposed the replica in the Penn Museum.

Egyptian stuffHere is me giving my offering to the gods.

A big head.

Assyrian stuff

There were 2 of these, one on either side of the hall. They were about 25 feet tall and had so much detail.

This is just a detail of a 40 foot-long mural-esque wall. The seen depicites an Assyrian king hunting wild lions. They would be built to symbolize the protection provided by the king. [NOTE: information was obtained from overhearing a tour guide]

Mosaics

Going up one of the stairwells, there were these taken murals from the mediterrian sea countries (I forget if it was Greece, etc.). This one here is a dolphin. I thought it was pretty awesome and it puts to shame our modern ones (esspecially the ones done my senior year at Masterman).

Besides these highlights, there is still so much to see and left to photograph. I will upload them all to one album so check it out when there is a British Museum update!!!

Here are some old pictures that should have been posted a while ago:

Trafalgar SquareIt was so awesome. The statue (Nelson's Column) was so tall while the fountains on either side were equally amazing.

Piccadilly Circus

This intersection was packed. There were so many people. It must have been from the nearby theater district and West End pubs.

Hyde Park
The rest are from our picnic in the park and knife protest concert.

Camden Markets

The first market that a bunch of us decided to go to was Camden Markets, a collection of four separate markets about one and half miles north of our main campus in Bloomsbury. Obviously the markets were in the town of Camden Town, an area known for its unsafe neighborhoods at night. Luckily we were going on a quite Sunday mid-morning journey.

And oh what an experience it was. There huge numbers of stalls, mainly selling the same England tourist odds and ends (Football jerseys, I Heart London shirts, postcards, etc.), however, there mainly awesome vintage and art stores with a head shop thrown in here and there. It was a quite exciting place that was extremely crowded.

The most overwhelming feeling is when we entered the food court area. Here dozens and dozens of vendors would shout and yell trying to grab any ounce of attention to try and get us to purchase their food, which ranged from Chinese to Thai and Argentinian meat to Caribbean jerk chicken. This place was so international.

The best part about Camden however was the old turn of the century canal, which was still in use. It was awesome being near the water and just chilling out there from the bustling crowd of the market.

Unfortunately, the only purchase we made was on the way back at the 99 pence store.

Last Night and This Morning

Last night was truly awesome and this morning wasn't half bad. Being in London for a few days now a few of us from Penn decided to leave the immediate surroundings and go explore around our neighborhood to check out the local touristy things. Last night we went through Covent Gardens and SoHo and through Chinatown. We ended up seeing Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, two great open plazas which are simply breath taking.

And this morning, we ended up walking down Oxford Street looking in department stores and other retailers. Although I only ended up getting a pillow and a pillow case just the experience of walking down this quite crowded avenue is a moment to remember. Not to mention Hyde Park, the other major park (the other being Regent Park) at the end of main Street, where the group of us had a picnic while listening to music from the pre-knife-protest-concert-area. Although roomy like Regent, Hyde a slightly different unexplainable feel to it.

Look for these photos in the coming days.

Regent Park

About 20 minutes ago, I returned from my first visit to Regent Park and it was great! Its about 66 degrees F and sunny and what a day did I pick to go to one of the best and most famous parks in the world. With huge open spaces and quaint English gardens, Regent Park has so much to offer and its full of life. It is almost impossible to describe in words. Luckily, I took a bunch of pictures so hopefully they will do a much better job than me. These pictures will hopefully posted later tonight and are from only the most southern part of the park and the surrounding area.

I'm here!!

Currently, I am standing in a McDonalds at the West End using their Wi-Fi to write this post. So far this trip is awesome! I am having a lot of fun and meeting some great people. Most of my hall is international students from all over the world, which allows for some interesting experiences to say the least including someone who is not to be named playing and singing drunken Russian songs with his acoustic guitar.

My flight over was fine, n0thing too bad except for the fact that I only slept 2 hours on the plane. Making my way from Heathrow to the West End was a bit of a challende

I am also trying to eat well while not spending too much, luckily there are many places to eat cheaply, including my favorite Tesco (a Wa-wa type store but bigger and more grocieries). The area that I am living at is also great as it is in the business corridor of the West End but it is filled with tons of shops and restaurants. I just love the neighborhood. Especially since I just found out that we are very close the buzzing Covent Gardens which makes up for our more residential West End/Camden neighborhood.

This city is great and I can't wait to share more when I have the internet in my room. That way I have the leisure of posting pictures in my room, but until then, enjoy.

Last Days

So, I leave for London Monday. It is weird to say that because I never thought I would be doing this, you know going to a place I never been before all by myself while knowing nearly no one else there. The other day it just hit me that I was actually doing it; I really don't remember when I realized but now I am somewhat nervous and ready for an adventure. I have pretty much all the things I need for my trip, I just need to fit it all into my new luggage which will be sooooo much 'fun." Well, this will most likely be my last post before I head over "the pond" so wish me well!