JANUARY 14 - 16, 2011
WELL. This is going to be a quick update, sorry. I need to get to bed (10am class in the morning), but I also realize how far behind I'm falling. This was meant to be a 'post-per-day' deal; I was thinking I'd eventually be able to do a 'photo-of-the-day' and a quick update on what's going on, but so far I've just been recapping and doing mass-photo posts. Oh well, I've got four more months here. It'll happen eventually. It's not like I'm going to be doing any work anyway, right? (wrong, my courses, or modules, seem legit.)
Anyway, so I woke up Friday morning and found my way to the Maughn Library, the main library of my campus at KCL, for a tour. It turned out the 'tour' was nothing more than a tutorial on how to use the online systems and how to look up books. It was almost a wasted hour, but I guess figuring out the book catalogue was helpful. I snapped some photos of the outside of the library. It's massive; very cool building, although the inside is a maze (actually, most of the buildings on my campus are - they're so old, and at one point, they just combined a couple of them and added hallways in between. But it's a proper mess trying to find your way..)
The gated entrance to the library/courtyard. This is actually from the inside, with the main entrance to the library actually to my right.
On the inside, looking from the gates mentioned above. The entrance is a about half way down on the left.
Outside, the front facade. The gates to the courtyard and main entrance are that outcrop halfway down to the right
Oh, and did I mention there's a random giant Confucius statue right outside the front doors? Yeah. That happened.
Also, here's a couple pictures I took of cool things in the surrounding area:
The Royal Courts of Justice. No idea what that entails, but it's a sweet-looking building. I love good, old architecture, and London is full of it.
No idea, just another cool little structure.
A neat pub that I'd like to go to sometime. Almost the whole outside is somewhat covered in plants and flowers. It's on the outskirts of Covent Garden, along Drury Lane (nicknamed 'Theatreland' on the street signs), so it probably rakes in the after-show crowds. And in turn, it's probably expensive, but might be worth a peek.
Then, in the smack-dab center of London, right along the River Thames and the Strand, is my uni (short for University - they use this a lot here..) campus:
Down to the left is the main entrance to the Strand building (revolving doors!), which is attached to the King's building - all my module (class, to you Americans) lectures are in one or the other.
After leaving the library (there were some cool things going on inside, but I'll get pictures of that stuff another time) and walking around a bit, I had to meet with the Study Abroad Tutor for the Engineering Department. Just more necessary business.
Later that night, a group of us had aspirations of attending a (free!) comedy club up near Finsbury Park (which is a bit far really..), but when we got all the way there, they had posted a sign that the performance had been moved for the night! So instead, we took the tube back to Piccadilly:
(totally stole these off of facebook, cheers to whoever originally posted them! let me know if you don't want me posting them here!)
Pablo, Albert, me, Katrin, and Elana. Hanging out at Piccadilly Circus!
Abbie, Katrin, and I. Fun times!
Cheers!
We did make a stop at another pub afterwards called 'Henry's Pub', but they were closing and I didn't even get to buy a drink (plus, it was a bit pricey).
So that brings us to Saturday. I woke up (at 1, mind you..), hopped in the shower, checked my phone, and realized I had a missed call already. Paraphrase: 'Get ready, we're going to London Dungeons and leaving in like half an hour!'
So I did! Now, London Dungeons is like the combination of a MASSIVE haunted house and a museum. It's huge, and deals with all things spooky, gross, and interesting about London's bloody history - from the plagues, to the torture chambers, to the serial killers (real, like Jack the Ripper; and fake, like Sweeney Todd), to Bloody Mary, and so on. But it was literally like a two-hour romp through a haunted house, complete with a mirror-maze, live actors who played different roles and led you through the place, stopping here and there to perform some new act or explain the stories. Of course, when they started taking 'volunteers', I was the first to be picked, placed on and strapped to a wooden chair next to a dismembered 'body', and subsequently fake-dismembered myself. But it was all in good fun. And it was a good time - usually, I save the haunted houses for October, but it was a lot of fun! And they had a miniature 'tower of terror'-like ride at the end that simulated you being hanged. Wicked fun.
Outside the entrance, as we were leaving.
The place was right by London Bridge, so it wasn't too far from my place (about a half hour walk), but it was closer to the apartments on Great Dover Street, where some of our friends lived. So we stopped at a liquor store and grabbed some goods, then went to their place and watched the film '1408', starring John Cusack. Not that great a film, but the drinking game will get you - try taking a drink every time they say '1408'. Good thing we ran out about halfway through..
Afterwards, we discussed what to do next, as it was only around 10pm. We had seen a pub advertising karaoke on the way home, so we figured we'd head over there and see what it was about. It was a lot of fun! It started as a bunch of drunken, middle-aged English men yelling at the lyrics screen, but eventually became like a dance party where one person with the microphone leads the rest through a sing-along to your favorite (or not-so-favorite) 80s and 90s American hits. I personally sang 'Let It Be', 'Folsom Prison Blues' (accidentally - someone just handed me the mic), and 'I Touch Myself' in a group effort by the guys in the group. So we danced and sang the night away, taking shots here and there.. Eventually, we all got tired, so I made the walk home with the others who live at my apartment complex. And so ended another fun night! (pictures are forthcoming.. which is a scary thought considering all the dancing and singing I was doing..)
So then it was Sunday, and it felt great to sleep in until 1pm. I didn't really have much to do, but thought I'd just stay in, tackle the looming class registration debacle (more on that later), and deal with anything else that needed to be done. Turned out not much needed doing, so I sent out a bunch of necessary emails and did some odds and ends. Pretty boring day, really, but it was relaxing. 9am class Monday morning was sneaking up on me, but before I called it a day, I got a call from Jenny asking if I wanted to go out to the pub with a couple people and have one last drink before classes started.
So we went to an awesome pub called 'The Hole In The Wall'. It's reasonably priced, small and cozy, and randomly had live music that night!
Grrr I have a video of it, but am experiencing technical difficulties due to my apartment not having wireless internet - this in turn causes my iPhone to turn into a GameBoy.
Anyway, there was awesome live music by a bunch of random musicians playing Irish folk music! Guitars, fiddles, violins, banjos, even hand-drums! It was very cool, and definitely something I'd like to see more of around here.
So that was my weekend in a quick nutshell. It was pretty fun, but I didn't take a lot of pictures, sorry. Oh well, like I said - I have 4 more months to play catch-up.
Good music to recollect your weekend to:
Animal Collective - "My Girls", off their groovy album "Merriweather Post Pavilion"
I love Animal Collective, and while this album drifted away from the experimental/indie sound I was used to and towards a more rhythm-heavy/dance groove feel, it still turned out awesome.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More updates forthcoming. Also, prepare yourselves for another major picture update this coming weekend: Edinburgh, Scotland!
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment