Week 11: London

February 27, 2018

Week 11: London

During my eleventh week of study abroad, my friend Ana and I decided to take a trip to London for the weekend. We flew into London Stansted on Thursday night and took a train into the city (apparently there are six airports that serve the city of London, some of which are not located in London, which we found out when we arrived). The next morning, after some trial and error, we took the Tube to the British Museum, one of the places we were most eager to see in London. The British Museum houses the Elgin Marbles that were taken from Athens by Lord Elgin in the 1800s. It was interesting to see how the British Museum justified Elgin's behavior, as there were several plaques stating that the marbles would have been corroded had Elgin not "saved" them. We spent about half a day in the British Museum because it was so enormous and filled with so many different artifacts.

Text of Rosetta Stone:

The only Greek inscription Anna and I could read (we were very proud of ourselves):

Copper ox-hide ingot from the Ulu-Burun Shipwreck:

Crushed head of a woman with jewelry:

These figures had my favorite description in the British Museum:

"These figures are made of unfired clay. Although very crude, two of them certainly represent males. The third is either female or has lost a small piece of clay."

After the British Museum, we walked along the Thames and eventually reached the London Eye. We decided to take a ride on the Eye, and we were able to see some gorgeous views of the city (though Big Ben was undergoing construction at the time).

After the Eye, we walked along the river some more, stopping to look at Westminster Palace. We then continued on to millennium bridge (my favorite bridge in London) and stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral.

After dinner, we stopped at Blackfriar's Pub (built in 1875).

The next day we took the Tube to Buckingham Palace and wandered around that area.

Then, we made our way back to St. Paul's Cathedral, as it was closed by the time we made it there the night before. We walked around the beautiful cathedral, and went up into the famous whispering gallery. Ana whispered to me from the other side of the dome: "you suck", which I could clearly hear from the other side.

When we stepped outside of the cathedral a huge parade was going on, and we had no idea what was happening. Apparently it was Poppy Day, a day of remembrance for those who lost their lives in the armed forces.