London Calling

Hello, hello!

The last time I blogged I was in Florida! Now, I am in England! What an amazing adventure. Today is my one week mark for being here. Time is flying by and I am exhausted.

To bring everyone up to date, I am attending Kingston University in Kingston Upon Thames in England. I live in a flat and have my own room with a (very very tiny) bathroom. I have four flat mates and we all get along well. The flat across the hall from mine is pretty cool too. Needless to say, I've made fast friends :)

Every day has been packed full. I'm pretty much taking tons of field trips for my classes (British Culture and Society, Museums and Galleries). I can already say that I am enjoying my Museums and Galleries class more than Culture and Society. It's an amazing feeling to see artwork, in person, that I've previously studied!

The food in Britain isn't the best in my opinion. It's hard for a vegetarian to find variety here. One thing I am loving is chips (french fries). yummm. Even though everything here is expensive, it's not too hard to find a cheap meal. At Pret A Manger, I can get a baguette sandwich, crisps, and a water for 3.80 pounds ($5.70). But I don't expect to be eating the infamous British Breakfast any time soon. They do however have wonderful scones and jam here!

This week I went to Hampton Court Palace where Henry VIII lived. That was interesting to see, but I wasn't over the top excited about it. Yesterday, I went to the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, and the Transportation Museum. I must say that I really loved the National Gallery the best. I got to see Jan Van Eyck's "The Betrothal of the Arnolfini."

That was absolutely amazing. I really wanted to see Velazquez's "Venus at the Mirror," but we didn't have time for that in the tour. I plan on going back there this weekend :). The great thing about the museums here is that the majority of them are free! They think that everyone should have the opportunity to learn about art. Such a a great philosophy!

Tomorrow I am going to the Tate Museum and Tate Modern. I'm very excited for that. This weekend will consist of a lot of independent trips (the majority of people are going to Scotland this weekend). I feel like there's still so much in London that I want to explore.

Next week I'll be going to Oxford University, Imperial War Museum, Bank of London Museum, Museum of London and Dockland's Museum.

Alright, that about sums up my first week in Kingston/ London.

Until next time...