London Walks has been something that I’ve been looking forward to as a foreign visitor to this amazing city. As somebody who has an insatiable lust for knowledge I am always intrigued with the possibility of learning very anecdotal facts about London. I’ve been recommended London Walks both by my brothers and through many different tour and guide books for London and I finally acted upon this impulse and went on the “Hidden Pubs of London” Tour a few days ago. There was a large group present outside of the tube station consisting of many different age groups from different places in the world. There was a group visiting from Australia, some Americans, Italians and even Londoners themselves looking to brush up on some of their city’s history. Once we met our tour guide Andy I paid the eight pounds and we were ready to go.
We met outside of the Temple tube station which is located on the North Bank of the Thames almost exactly on the boundary between Westminster and City of London. As its name suggests this station is near the Temple Church, a 12th century establishment used as the headquarters of the Knights Templar for their various escorting services to the Holy Land in Jerusalem among other money making ventures. The areas (known as Middle Temple and Inner Temple) are also the locations of the training grounds for Baristors and Solicitors in the city. The tradition of lawyers being members of one of the two Inns of Court (Middle or Inner) as a requirement to practice their trade is still held today as it has for hundreds of years.
Now, I’m sure you are currently thinking to yourself “Self, how on Earth does Erik know all of this non-relevant information in regards to pubs but still fascinating in itself?” Although I would like to take credit for being a wealth of knowledge in terms of this area of London, I have to give kudos to Andy the Tour Guide. The man is an unbelievable trove of knowledge and he gives one amazing history lesson throughout the tour. The tour itself only hits on three very old pubs in the immediate area but in order to truly appreciate the pub and the area it’s in you need to appreciate the history and people who have been drowning their sorrows, happiness, fears, and the like in them for over a hundred years. Andy is an actor who has been working for London Walks for almost 15 years. His experience on the stage helps him to engage a crowd easily and dispense his knowledge with a dash of wit and humour to round out the entire experience. As a history buff I clearly hung on to a lot of his anecdotes and will be dispensing them at will to friends and family as they come and visit (although I may or may not charge a nominal fee as a result.)
The first pub we visited is known as The Deveraux. This is a truly tucked away pub in the area of Middle Temple and if you didn’t already know it was there you would undoubtedly never find it (it’s like that island in Pirates of the Caribbean.) It’s a small pub and has been a go to watering hole for lawyers for many years. There’s nothing truly spectacular about the interior of the building but you can feel the history that the walls exude from the moment you walk in. The Deveraux is one of the many pubs who endorses the Campaign for Real Ale (CARA). This is a campaign set up around Britain to get the Brits back into pubs and recreate what was once a more vibrant atmosphere. Since ales (amongst other liquid vices) is much cheaper to buy at the local grocer and enjoy at home this campaign has been encouraging pubs to have a constantly changing guest ale available to keep selection always vibrant and new. I think it’s a smashing idea and it gives you more reason to come out and try different ales. You might find one you’d never heard of and really enjoy! Food at the Deveraux is just your basic pub fare (no complaints here) and prices were on par with many of the other pubs I’ve visited since my arrival in the UK. Overall, quite an enjoyable place and one I will definitely visit with friends as an off the beaten path place to relax with some pints and enjoy company.
After our visit at The Deveraux we continued our tour up onto The Strand (which is also Fleet Street) and headed east. Our next pub brought us past the Royal Courts of Justice, Dr. Samuel Johnson’s house, and even the alleged location of Sweeny Todd’s barber shop (if it ever actually existed.) After viewing Dr. Johnson’s house what better way to continue than to visit his drinking spot, and this led us to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Now this pub was OLD. It’s quite an aged building that feels like it stretches on and on both up and down and all around. There’s about three floors going up, and two going down plus the main floor. Each area is more unique than the next which makes this pub an experience in itself. The basement areas are literally a cellar (as the bar area is called) with some tables shoved underneath cement foundations and the main area comprised of large medieval style tables that different groups of people all congregate in to eat, drink, and laugh the night away. There’s a special room dedicated to Dr. Johnson, actually finer dining room space, and simple modern pub style drinking space. The Cheshire Cheese truly has it all and if you can’t find a comfortable area to enjoy your night in this pub you are definitely in the wrong place. Very reminiscent of The Leaky Cauldron from Harry Potter fame, this is one of the more popular pubs in the area but you wouldn’t even know it was there unless you were seriously looking for the beat up sign out on Fleet Street. Again, the interior leaves something to be desired but that’s acceptable when you consider how old the building is and how much history is in those walls. This pub is definitely one that will visit again to try not only their large selection of beers on tap (it’s owned by the Samuel Smith brewing company) which won’t cost you more than a couple quid for a pint but also for the many selections on their food menu.
At this point our tour was beginning to wind down and we made our way just a small distance down Fleet Street to our last destination, The Punch. Now Punch magazine is a satirical read from Britain that dates back about 25-30 years. It has quite a large cult following in the general public and the owners and writers eventually used their new found corporate fortune to buy part of an already existing pub and create their own. The Punch is a beautiful looking pub with many fine, more Victorian-esque décor. I didn’t get the opportunity to drink or really get much from this pub because our tour guide had finished at this point and there wasn’t as much history involved here. It was definitely the least “hidden” of the pubs on this tour and seemed to be an easily accessible hang out for any Londoner who is passing by.
In all, this tour was highly enjoyable. Lasting just over two hours my feet were hurting but my brain was bursting with a wealth of knowledge. I’m very happy that Andy made this tour just as much about the history of the region, and of England itself, as he did with the pubs we were visiting. He really made you feel that these pubs were veins, vital organisms, within the city itself that really make it come to life. I will definitely be revisiting these pubs in the future to further enjoy their niche as tucked away, quiet places to enjoy. I highly recommend this London Walk as a must for anyone who enjoys a bit of history to be washed down with a pint or two of ale. Cheers!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Review: Imperial War Museum
The Imperial War Museum located in Southwark has, so far, been one of the best cultural locations I have had the privilege to visit in London. As with most museums and galleries in London the building is majestic and old, however; it is located off the beaten path of the central city and has a calm and surreal gardens and park surrounding its setting. Out front of the building are two 15 ton naval guns, the largest built for a British war ship, that take the main focal point of your arrival at the museum. As you walk up to the entrance, cannons pointing straight at you, you can already feel the impact this museum is going to have on you.
As soon as you walk inside you are immediately hit visually with a vast array of military vehicles on the floor, field guns, cannons, and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. The museum possesses quite an impressive collection of well preserved artifacts. They range from the more common tanks and guns used throughout the First and Second World Wars and beyond, to the more rare including the actual tank Field Marshall Viscount Montgomery used to scout positions during the Nazi defeat at El Almeain during the Second World War. The museum also boasts a healthy range of British devices as well as those belonging to friends and foes. There are many Nazi tanks and guns (all evilness aside the Nazi war machine produced some of the most revolutionary military machinery the world had ever seen and it is an impressive sight to behold), American tanks and Jeeps, and even an Argentine anti-aircraft gun used during the Falklands War. In short, the museum actively works towards showing artifacts from all sides of conflicts and not just sticking to its own. Some noteworthy elements to the main floor for me included an actual V2 rocket from Nazi Germany which literally dominates the entire room and is quite imposing, as well as the remains of an exploded car from a car bomb in Baghdad in March, 2007.
Following the two major exhibits (the World Wars) the museum also has an impressive trip through conflicts afterwards. The Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, Yom Kippur War, and The Gulf War are many that we as Canadians are familiar with. However, they also hit very close to home with areas dedicated to the Falklands War (between Britain and Argentina) and the battles of independence in Ireland and the Troubles that came as a result. In all, the major exhibits in the museum are a spectacular sight to behold and a treasure trove of understanding for conflicts in our past that have had a continuing effect on our future.
Besides these major exhibits, there are also many other exhibits to be explored in the Imperial War Museum. I was personally heart-wrenched travelling through the Children in War exhibit. This area provided quite an eye-opening experience of the children in the Second World War in Britain. They had to undergo air raid drills, gas mask fittings, and eventually the majority of them were displaced to the country to get them out of the cities and out of harm’s way. There are letters, drawings, quotations, and more that give you their point of view as these events are raging around them. It was incredibly moving to really be a part of how life went on at the home front during this war. It also is a true testimony to how hard the British fought, right down to the last civilian, to not give in to the enemy.
The “Secret War” exhibit was a small and fun part of the museum as well. This exhibit focuses on espionage during not only the World Wars but all the way to the present. The first part of the exhibit you notice is dedicated to the glorification of espionage, mainly in the form of James Bond, and it explains that this is not necessarily a true to light statement of how these departments worked. You go through a description of MI5 and MI6 as well as other areas in the Ministry of Defence for Britain and what their objectives are. The halls themselves were quite different from the other areas of the museum. Very smooth wood floors and smart, modern signage and cabinets…they basically exude the very essence of what you would expect from a secret agent themselves. Although short, this was quite a neat addition to the main parts of the museum.
I didn’t have the opportunity to visit the Art Gallery or the Holocaust exhibits on the upper floors though I truly look forward to spending the time to truly appreciate what I can only expect are extremely well done exhibits. The museum also boasted many different temporary exhibits that cost a ticket price. Although the entrances provided a welcome amount of colour (particularly the “Ministry of Food” exhibit) to the rather monochromatic main foyers, I was not interested enough in the topics to spend money seeing them.
The museum also boasts quite the souvenir shop as well. The is an extremely comprehensive library of books on different conflicts, many different trinkets and toys, models, reprints of historical documents, and more. As a teacher some of these might come in handy and I will definitely return to go through them (especially the reprinted documents) more thoroughly later on.
As you descend into the bowels of the museum you begin an actual trip through time from the moment the First World War started and you stop for nothing (except perhaps a pee break). The museum provides cabinet after cabinet after cabinet of uniforms, flags, medals, documents, weapons, and so much more from every aspect of the wars. I have never seen anything like it in my life and this museum provides one of the most comprehensive representations of every major military conflict since the First World War. The spaces are organized in a way that you can easily glide from one to another and follow the events and main aspects of each conflict efficiently. In fact, the extreme organization of the entire exhibit seems almost macabre when juxtaposed with the chaos of the very conflicts they represent. Following the two major exhibits (the World Wars) the museum also has an impressive trip through conflicts afterwards. The Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, Yom Kippur War, and The Gulf War are many that we as Canadians are familiar with. However, they also hit very close to home with areas dedicated to the Falklands War (between Britain and Argentina) and the battles of independence in Ireland and the Troubles that came as a result. In all, the major exhibits in the museum are a spectacular sight to behold and a treasure trove of understanding for conflicts in our past that have had a continuing effect on our future.
Besides these major exhibits, there are also many other exhibits to be explored in the Imperial War Museum. I was personally heart-wrenched travelling through the Children in War exhibit. This area provided quite an eye-opening experience of the children in the Second World War in Britain. They had to undergo air raid drills, gas mask fittings, and eventually the majority of them were displaced to the country to get them out of the cities and out of harm’s way. There are letters, drawings, quotations, and more that give you their point of view as these events are raging around them. It was incredibly moving to really be a part of how life went on at the home front during this war. It also is a true testimony to how hard the British fought, right down to the last civilian, to not give in to the enemy.
The “Secret War” exhibit was a small and fun part of the museum as well. This exhibit focuses on espionage during not only the World Wars but all the way to the present. The first part of the exhibit you notice is dedicated to the glorification of espionage, mainly in the form of James Bond, and it explains that this is not necessarily a true to light statement of how these departments worked. You go through a description of MI5 and MI6 as well as other areas in the Ministry of Defence for Britain and what their objectives are. The halls themselves were quite different from the other areas of the museum. Very smooth wood floors and smart, modern signage and cabinets…they basically exude the very essence of what you would expect from a secret agent themselves. Although short, this was quite a neat addition to the main parts of the museum.
I didn’t have the opportunity to visit the Art Gallery or the Holocaust exhibits on the upper floors though I truly look forward to spending the time to truly appreciate what I can only expect are extremely well done exhibits. The museum also boasted many different temporary exhibits that cost a ticket price. Although the entrances provided a welcome amount of colour (particularly the “Ministry of Food” exhibit) to the rather monochromatic main foyers, I was not interested enough in the topics to spend money seeing them.
The museum also boasts quite the souvenir shop as well. The is an extremely comprehensive library of books on different conflicts, many different trinkets and toys, models, reprints of historical documents, and more. As a teacher some of these might come in handy and I will definitely return to go through them (especially the reprinted documents) more thoroughly later on.
In conclusion, if you didn’t already get it from my writing, I highly recommend visiting this museum. Although this provides an excellent knowledge base for any citizen, as a teacher I couldn’t be happier that such a place exists. I relish the opportunity to one day bring a class of students to this museum to teach them about the different wars and conflicts that have plagued our past. The ability to take history out of the pages of a textbook, or the screen of a computer and literally put it in the hands of a student is unprecedented and makes the learning experience that much more valuable for the student. The museum does an excellent job not to glorify the wars but to show them for what they were in factual form. The museum becomes a tool in itself to allow students to learn about where we have been and infer how we can use this information to help where we are going…the very essence of history itself.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
I think I'll take a walk...
What another exciting day in this all too exciting city! Today, I decided to venture forth and get a bit of museum in me because I haven’t done a lot of visiting these free areas, and the ones I have gone to so far have not satisfied my expectations too well. So, today I decided to visit the Imperial War Museum. If you know me, which if you’re reading this chances are you do, than you know that I am a giant war buff. I think there’s a lot that we can learn from looking back at our conflicts; about ourselves, about each other, and about how we can move forward to avoid such things happening again. There’s so many stories, both individual and wide spread, that can be told from war and the technology and weaponry developed as a result is very interesting. Not only that but the true face of humanity can really shine through when it comes to fighting each other and if we don’t look at events such as the Holocaust, for example, we can’t really come to grips with how far individuals can go to show their hatred and disdain. For some people my large interest in war may seem like a glorification, but I always approach it from an educational perspective and I hope to allow my understanding and interpretations of conflicts to be able come out effectively in my teaching.
I’m not going to talk too much about the museum in this post however. I could go on for a while about it and it’s already almost 11:30pm so I’m pretty tired from a long day. What I have decided to do however, is to actually post separate specific reviews from now on when it comes to places I’ve visited or things I’ve seen. This is so I don’t have to try to fit everything I want to say into the same post that describes my day. On top of that, I’m going to try to be a blogger for Protocol so I want to make a lot of posts specific to one topic because I’m sure most of the general population doesn’t care what I do on a day to day basis. SO, long story short look for my full review of the Imperial War Museum to be posted tomorrow….maybe before you even wake up! I’m going to be like the Santa of blog posts.
Moving on…I had a bunch of time to kill because I wanted to go on a London Walk in the evening so I headed up towards Trafalgar Square (it’s kind of like my home base now) and walked around desperately trying to find the awesome pub I described in my previous post…to no avail. I won’t give up just yet, but I did for today. I ended up just filing into the next closest pub I saw to have a pint of Doom Bar and read The Guardian. Champions League was on tonight too but I didn’t get a chance to see any of the matches…should probably check those scores…hold on a tick………………………………………………………………………………………………….alright we’re good.
Afterwards I made my way down to Temple Tube Station to meet up with the London Walks group to go on the “Hidden Pubs of London” tour. It was actually pretty cool and there’s a few places along the way I’d like to visit again along with all of the pubs ha ha ha. Again, full review in a separate post tomorrow…it’s like double Christmas!
Now I’m here….home that is. With a slight headache and a yearning for sleep. I think I’ll satisfy that need now so good night all and look for more on all of this tomorrow!
Cheers, Love, Rock The World!
Erik
I’m not going to talk too much about the museum in this post however. I could go on for a while about it and it’s already almost 11:30pm so I’m pretty tired from a long day. What I have decided to do however, is to actually post separate specific reviews from now on when it comes to places I’ve visited or things I’ve seen. This is so I don’t have to try to fit everything I want to say into the same post that describes my day. On top of that, I’m going to try to be a blogger for Protocol so I want to make a lot of posts specific to one topic because I’m sure most of the general population doesn’t care what I do on a day to day basis. SO, long story short look for my full review of the Imperial War Museum to be posted tomorrow….maybe before you even wake up! I’m going to be like the Santa of blog posts.
Moving on…I had a bunch of time to kill because I wanted to go on a London Walk in the evening so I headed up towards Trafalgar Square (it’s kind of like my home base now) and walked around desperately trying to find the awesome pub I described in my previous post…to no avail. I won’t give up just yet, but I did for today. I ended up just filing into the next closest pub I saw to have a pint of Doom Bar and read The Guardian. Champions League was on tonight too but I didn’t get a chance to see any of the matches…should probably check those scores…hold on a tick………………………………………………………………………………………………….alright we’re good.
Afterwards I made my way down to Temple Tube Station to meet up with the London Walks group to go on the “Hidden Pubs of London” tour. It was actually pretty cool and there’s a few places along the way I’d like to visit again along with all of the pubs ha ha ha. Again, full review in a separate post tomorrow…it’s like double Christmas!
Now I’m here….home that is. With a slight headache and a yearning for sleep. I think I’ll satisfy that need now so good night all and look for more on all of this tomorrow!
Cheers, Love, Rock The World!
Erik
Monday, September 27, 2010
The Last Few Days
So, it’s been a little while since I’ve made a post on this blog. The reason??????....literally nothing to write about! I haven’t been up to too much lately, and those things that I have been doing have not been taking up a lot of time through the day. So, I figure it’d be best to just wait for a few days’ worth of stuff to talk about and make one big post instead of multiple little ones.
Now that that’s been cleared up…what have I been up to? Well, I managed to give myself a day of rest last week (I know, I’ve earned it) so I spent one day just seriously vegging in the house. Managed to finish more of my unpacking and finding places for things to be. I’ve also discovered a new television series about lost films in the Second World War that’s on demand so I’ve been absorbing some of that too. I managed to also FINALLY go grocery shopping…which was interesting to say the least. Because it was the first grocery shop since I’ve been here I needed to get a lot of staples for the kitchen. Needless to say I had a lot of things to bring back home with me. It’s times that this that I will (and do) miss having a vehicle because I had to lug all of the groceries back home with me on foot. I made it no problem, but it was definitely a struggle. That night I also made my first meal here in London. Pasta (penne) with a homemade tomato sauce complete with pieces of chopped bacon, chives, mushrooms, salt, pepper, and oregano. It was delicious even if I do say so myself….which I do.
Other than that I’ve just been making a few runs into London to do some things. I managed to hit up the Natural History Museum near the end of the week. It was….alright. I figured I’d go just so I say I did but, to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of biology related displays. The whole museum just has to do with dinosaurs, animals, and humans and their evolutions. It was cool to walk through but a lot of the activity displays and whatnot were severely outdated and therefore not too interesting. The building was really nice however, so I suppose that’s something.
On Saturday I also managed to meet up with Mel Fed and a friend in the city. We met up in Trafalgar Square and went to a GREAT pub in the West End whose name absolutely eludes my memory. I think I could find it again if I tried and I have to. The portions we got with our food were massive for the cost so it was a really great deal. It’ll be a place to take people when they come and visit for sure. Afterwards we ended up walking around the West End (they were going to see a show at 4pm), stopped in for another drink at a different pub and then parted ways. It was a really nice catch-up and we got to talking a lot about back home, fauxcoming, and of course London itself!
Saturday night I also participated in some Pub Golf with my flatmates and some of their friends they’ve gotten to know since being here. We were all over Clapham that night and the game ended up breaking down considerably, but it was a lot of fun and hopefully I’ll be able to hang out with them again! It was quite the eclectic group out that night as well. We had Canadians, Aussies, Germans, South Africans, and one Irish guy ha ha ha ha. We were a really international excursion.
Well, not much more to say on that. I’m currently working on some laundry, probably going to fix myself up some lunch, and end up watching some t.v. and maybe reading a bit of GQ. It’s a nice quiet day in the house so I figure I’ll relax in it before everybody gets home ha ha ha. Tomorrow, I think I might hit up the Imperial War Museum in Southwark which I’ve been dying to see since getting here. Other than that I need to start prepping myself to begin work on Monday and I have a few things to finish up with Protocol to get me all set to go!
Until then,
Cheers, Love, Rock The World!
Erik
Now that that’s been cleared up…what have I been up to? Well, I managed to give myself a day of rest last week (I know, I’ve earned it) so I spent one day just seriously vegging in the house. Managed to finish more of my unpacking and finding places for things to be. I’ve also discovered a new television series about lost films in the Second World War that’s on demand so I’ve been absorbing some of that too. I managed to also FINALLY go grocery shopping…which was interesting to say the least. Because it was the first grocery shop since I’ve been here I needed to get a lot of staples for the kitchen. Needless to say I had a lot of things to bring back home with me. It’s times that this that I will (and do) miss having a vehicle because I had to lug all of the groceries back home with me on foot. I made it no problem, but it was definitely a struggle. That night I also made my first meal here in London. Pasta (penne) with a homemade tomato sauce complete with pieces of chopped bacon, chives, mushrooms, salt, pepper, and oregano. It was delicious even if I do say so myself….which I do.
Other than that I’ve just been making a few runs into London to do some things. I managed to hit up the Natural History Museum near the end of the week. It was….alright. I figured I’d go just so I say I did but, to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of biology related displays. The whole museum just has to do with dinosaurs, animals, and humans and their evolutions. It was cool to walk through but a lot of the activity displays and whatnot were severely outdated and therefore not too interesting. The building was really nice however, so I suppose that’s something.
On Saturday I also managed to meet up with Mel Fed and a friend in the city. We met up in Trafalgar Square and went to a GREAT pub in the West End whose name absolutely eludes my memory. I think I could find it again if I tried and I have to. The portions we got with our food were massive for the cost so it was a really great deal. It’ll be a place to take people when they come and visit for sure. Afterwards we ended up walking around the West End (they were going to see a show at 4pm), stopped in for another drink at a different pub and then parted ways. It was a really nice catch-up and we got to talking a lot about back home, fauxcoming, and of course London itself!
Saturday night I also participated in some Pub Golf with my flatmates and some of their friends they’ve gotten to know since being here. We were all over Clapham that night and the game ended up breaking down considerably, but it was a lot of fun and hopefully I’ll be able to hang out with them again! It was quite the eclectic group out that night as well. We had Canadians, Aussies, Germans, South Africans, and one Irish guy ha ha ha ha. We were a really international excursion.
Well, not much more to say on that. I’m currently working on some laundry, probably going to fix myself up some lunch, and end up watching some t.v. and maybe reading a bit of GQ. It’s a nice quiet day in the house so I figure I’ll relax in it before everybody gets home ha ha ha. Tomorrow, I think I might hit up the Imperial War Museum in Southwark which I’ve been dying to see since getting here. Other than that I need to start prepping myself to begin work on Monday and I have a few things to finish up with Protocol to get me all set to go!
Until then,
Cheers, Love, Rock The World!
Erik
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
I'm on a boat!
Well, not too much to report on today. I definitely wanted to take it a bit cooler since I had such a hectic last few days. I ended up sleeping in until about 10:30 or so this morning…which was really nice but not something I should be getting used to considering I won’t be able to do that sort of thing often once I start working. I made a bit of breakfast and then opted for a run. Now, I haven’t really figured out a running route just yet so I thought I might as well go into Wimbledon and see where I ended up. There’s a very large park in the area known as Wimbledon Common, so I made for that.
The park was beautiful! There’s a lot of heath-land that is being restored in it and it looks really wild and savage…very nice. There’s a golf course in it (right?), a stables, a cricket field, and a really nice café. At any point in time you might have people on horseback riding by you on a trail, which is really unique! I ended up running for a bit through the actual park but mainly walked and enjoyed the (still) beautiful weather and the sights and smells of nature. Once I finished I headed back down Parkside Road running to get back home. Wimbledon is a very vibrant little area with many cafes and restaurants dotting the landscape. It’s definitely an area I’d like to check out in the future to try some places and see what they have to offer.
Once I got home and showered I changed and headed to Sainsbury’s for lunch. They have great deals on fresh food items and I managed to get a Chicken and Chorizo sandwich with a bag of sliced apples and grapes and a Tropicana smoothie for £3. It was awesome! I also sneaked the new issue of GQ and read it until we were ready to head out to the Protocol Boat Cruise.
The cruise itself was alright. I went with Kim and Brittany so at least I knew a couple people. We ended up just having some drinks and hanging out looking out onto the shore. Dinner was satisfying but not anything to get excited over. Just burgers, some chicken, salad, and curried potatoes. We were REALLY far back in the queue so by the time we got to the front a lot of it was gone. There was also a David Blaine-esque magician on the boat that did some tricks for us and they were AWESOME! I can’t really describe them here but ask me any time and I’ll describe exactly what he did, it was brilliant!
After that we headed home very tired and here I am about to crash. I think I’ll do a bit of sleeping in and (finally) grocery shop tomorrow. I have nothing going on and will probably keep it that way for a couple of days. I’m doing a Pub Golf in Clapham on Saturday with Brittany and Nicole and I think I’m going to spend a lot of next week going to museums and galleries in London because it’s all free! Until next time….
Cheers, Love, Rock The World!
Erik
P.S. There will be pictures…I just really want to go to bed so I will load them tomorrow.
The park was beautiful! There’s a lot of heath-land that is being restored in it and it looks really wild and savage…very nice. There’s a golf course in it (right?), a stables, a cricket field, and a really nice café. At any point in time you might have people on horseback riding by you on a trail, which is really unique! I ended up running for a bit through the actual park but mainly walked and enjoyed the (still) beautiful weather and the sights and smells of nature. Once I finished I headed back down Parkside Road running to get back home. Wimbledon is a very vibrant little area with many cafes and restaurants dotting the landscape. It’s definitely an area I’d like to check out in the future to try some places and see what they have to offer.
Once I got home and showered I changed and headed to Sainsbury’s for lunch. They have great deals on fresh food items and I managed to get a Chicken and Chorizo sandwich with a bag of sliced apples and grapes and a Tropicana smoothie for £3. It was awesome! I also sneaked the new issue of GQ and read it until we were ready to head out to the Protocol Boat Cruise.
The cruise itself was alright. I went with Kim and Brittany so at least I knew a couple people. We ended up just having some drinks and hanging out looking out onto the shore. Dinner was satisfying but not anything to get excited over. Just burgers, some chicken, salad, and curried potatoes. We were REALLY far back in the queue so by the time we got to the front a lot of it was gone. There was also a David Blaine-esque magician on the boat that did some tricks for us and they were AWESOME! I can’t really describe them here but ask me any time and I’ll describe exactly what he did, it was brilliant!
After that we headed home very tired and here I am about to crash. I think I’ll do a bit of sleeping in and (finally) grocery shop tomorrow. I have nothing going on and will probably keep it that way for a couple of days. I’m doing a Pub Golf in Clapham on Saturday with Brittany and Nicole and I think I’m going to spend a lot of next week going to museums and galleries in London because it’s all free! Until next time….
Cheers, Love, Rock The World!
Erik
P.S. There will be pictures…I just really want to go to bed so I will load them tomorrow.
London Sightseeing Day 3
Hey….remember that time I said I was going to take it easy today and just go over to Wimbledon and chill out? Apparently I have serious London ADD….or maybe it’s just the “I’m new in this city” complex, but I get SUPER sidetracked SUPER easily. But…it’s entirely in a good way. With that in mind, this is what I did.
So, I woke up knowing that I had my Protocol orientation meeting this morning at 10am. So, I got up and showered and what not and got out the door with enough time to spare….or so I thought. It turns out I still kind of SUCK at estimating how much time it takes to get from my house to different spots in London through the tube system. I know it will come in time but I unfortunately failed hard and ended up about 20 minutes late for the meeting. It was fine though and Michael (my contact) didn’t mind at all. We sat down and I had to fill out a ton of paper work in order to get me set up with Key Portfolio (the company I get paid through), National Insurance, the General Teaching Council and so on. Basically, filling in the same information on multiple sheets of paper for a long time. It’s a good thing I knew my address already! Michael also gave me all of the sheets of information to get me set-up with a bank account at HSBC. Once that was completed I had a chat with a coordinator for the Southwest London area about my teaching experiences and who I see myself as a teacher. On a side note…for some reason every time I talk to a British person the conversation always seems to lead to football. The best part is, they are always amazed at how much I know about the sport and are really impressed!
Once my orientation was completed I went down to a Pret a Manger to pick up a toasted sandwich and a bottle of water for lunch. On the walk down towards Chancery Lane I noticed an area called “Lincoln’s Inn Fields” which is a lovely park and tennis area beside the London School of Economics. I decided to have lunch here and enjoy the beautiful day. This is the beginning of my getting sidetracked.
After lunch I ended up walking down to Covent Garden Market to take in the sights a bit earlier in the day than I did yesterday. The market has an extremely vibrant atmosphere and there are many pubs, cafes, and shops with people moving this way and that. It’s wonderful to just walk around in places like this just to take in the atmosphere. I popped into a tiny upstairs toy shop that actually sells 19th century style card theatres for kids to play with. It was quite bizarre, almost like walking back in time…but then again a lot of London does that to you. I bought a card model of Shakespeare’s Globe for £6 while I was there. It looks like it’ll be a good rainy day thing to tackle when I’m feeling a bit bored.
From this point I figured it would be a good idea to head up to Tottenham Court Road to the HSBC bank there to set up my account. It was a loooooooooooooooooong wait until I finally got in to see somebody, but I managed to read The Guardian (my newspaper of choice) while I was waiting, so something good came out of it . I set up a free bank account with HSBC, even though the guy tried to get me to agree to something else, so I have no fees of any kind unless I use my debit card outside of the UK. Which is fine because if I’m going to be travelling anywhere I’ll just take cash with me when I go as opposed to debiting. The only catch is I have to deposit at least £500 every month to maintain the account, which shouldn’t be a problem.
After my trip to the museum I was walking back down the road passed another park and it just struck me how beautiful it was because it was empty…there were barely any people or cars around at all (strange for London) so I had to take some pictures. With the sun starting to set it became quite nice, I got really artsy at this point and tried for some good shots that I’m pretty happy with.
I took some time….a lot of time….walking through Soho and the West End all of the way back down to the North Bank and working my way back to Covent Garden. I passed London Fashion Week during my walk….more on this in a later post.
I headed back to the market for dinner, just as beautiful in the evening as the middle of the day. I went to Punch and Judy pub and enjoyed some hand-pumped London Pride and a Steak and Ale pie for dinner. After that it was back home.
I have had a HECK of a three days and my body is super pissed at me for it. I’m specifically not going to be heading into London during the day tomorrow because Protocol is hosting a little boat cruise down the Thames at 6pm. More on that tomorrow!
Cheers, Love, Rock The World!
So, I woke up knowing that I had my Protocol orientation meeting this morning at 10am. So, I got up and showered and what not and got out the door with enough time to spare….or so I thought. It turns out I still kind of SUCK at estimating how much time it takes to get from my house to different spots in London through the tube system. I know it will come in time but I unfortunately failed hard and ended up about 20 minutes late for the meeting. It was fine though and Michael (my contact) didn’t mind at all. We sat down and I had to fill out a ton of paper work in order to get me set up with Key Portfolio (the company I get paid through), National Insurance, the General Teaching Council and so on. Basically, filling in the same information on multiple sheets of paper for a long time. It’s a good thing I knew my address already! Michael also gave me all of the sheets of information to get me set-up with a bank account at HSBC. Once that was completed I had a chat with a coordinator for the Southwest London area about my teaching experiences and who I see myself as a teacher. On a side note…for some reason every time I talk to a British person the conversation always seems to lead to football. The best part is, they are always amazed at how much I know about the sport and are really impressed!
Once my orientation was completed I went down to a Pret a Manger to pick up a toasted sandwich and a bottle of water for lunch. On the walk down towards Chancery Lane I noticed an area called “Lincoln’s Inn Fields” which is a lovely park and tennis area beside the London School of Economics. I decided to have lunch here and enjoy the beautiful day. This is the beginning of my getting sidetracked.
After lunch I ended up walking down to Covent Garden Market to take in the sights a bit earlier in the day than I did yesterday. The market has an extremely vibrant atmosphere and there are many pubs, cafes, and shops with people moving this way and that. It’s wonderful to just walk around in places like this just to take in the atmosphere. I popped into a tiny upstairs toy shop that actually sells 19th century style card theatres for kids to play with. It was quite bizarre, almost like walking back in time…but then again a lot of London does that to you. I bought a card model of Shakespeare’s Globe for £6 while I was there. It looks like it’ll be a good rainy day thing to tackle when I’m feeling a bit bored.
From this point I figured it would be a good idea to head up to Tottenham Court Road to the HSBC bank there to set up my account. It was a loooooooooooooooooong wait until I finally got in to see somebody, but I managed to read The Guardian (my newspaper of choice) while I was waiting, so something good came out of it . I set up a free bank account with HSBC, even though the guy tried to get me to agree to something else, so I have no fees of any kind unless I use my debit card outside of the UK. Which is fine because if I’m going to be travelling anywhere I’ll just take cash with me when I go as opposed to debiting. The only catch is I have to deposit at least £500 every month to maintain the account, which shouldn’t be a problem.
While I was waiting to get onto the Central Line to Tottenham Court Road I noticed a sign for the British Museum and a new exhibit they have there, “History of the World in 100 Items”. The sign also denoted that it was near Tottenham Court Road…so obviously I had to detour that way. I ended up taking the audio tour of their most popular and important items. This diverted me away from their entire collection but I got to see the highlights which was nice. Pictures of my entire museum trip (there are a lot) are available on my Facebook page.After my trip to the museum I was walking back down the road passed another park and it just struck me how beautiful it was because it was empty…there were barely any people or cars around at all (strange for London) so I had to take some pictures. With the sun starting to set it became quite nice, I got really artsy at this point and tried for some good shots that I’m pretty happy with.
From this point I just decided to go on a huge walk around. I needed to hit Topman again to get a pair of black shoes (mission succeeded) and ended up popping into Uniqlo to check it out and buying a tie for £6 and an umbrella (essential) for £10. I’m definitely going to be living on those two shops plus H&M while here. Though there are a bunch of others suggested by Dusty that I’ll be checking out for sure.I took some time….a lot of time….walking through Soho and the West End all of the way back down to the North Bank and working my way back to Covent Garden. I passed London Fashion Week during my walk….more on this in a later post.
I headed back to the market for dinner, just as beautiful in the evening as the middle of the day. I went to Punch and Judy pub and enjoyed some hand-pumped London Pride and a Steak and Ale pie for dinner. After that it was back home.
I have had a HECK of a three days and my body is super pissed at me for it. I’m specifically not going to be heading into London during the day tomorrow because Protocol is hosting a little boat cruise down the Thames at 6pm. More on that tomorrow!
Cheers, Love, Rock The World!
Erik
Monday, September 20, 2010
London Sightseeing Day 2
Wow…now today was a crazy day. My flatmates got back into their work weeks starting today so I knew that I would be spending the day by myself. I decided that today would be a good one to venture into the heart of the city and see some of the major sights and sounds. I got up at approx. 10:30am, showered, dressed, and hit the road (on foot) to the Collier’s Wood tube station to begin my journey.
I decided to only take the tube as far as Elephant and Castle in order to walk into the main city area as opposed to just being in it. I really enjoy walking and London definitely plays to this. I ended up walking over towards the London Eye (Millennium Wheel) and having look around there first. Along the way I stopped at “Ned’s Noodle Bar” and picked up a veggie stir fry in the most stereotypical Hollywood Chinese take-out container you could possibly imagine. I brought it with me and sat down directly underneath the Eye beside the Thames overlooking the Parliament Buildings and Big Ben…..no big deal. After I finished my delicious yet painfully greasy lunch I continued across the Queen’s Walk towards the Parliament Buildings.
It was at this point that I realized this is tourist central!! People in groups, tours, cameras everywhere, streets jumbled….it was crazy. I’m just one person which definitely made it easier because I could just dart through the crowds of people without much trouble. I managed to get some good photos of the buildings including Westminster Abbey along the way. I also saw a piper on the Queen’s Walk and gave him £1 for his performing.
Next stop on the trip was Buckingham Palace. I passed by some really nice architecture along the way and many different shops with themes alluding to the palace and royalty. When I first turned the corner at the palace is was quite surreal I must say. I’ve seen many of these sights in photos that Dusty and Melissa took, my parents took, Scott took, and in countless books….and to be standing there in front of them it almost felt like I was just looking at a photo. Only when I actually walked up and touched things and knew they were tangible and right in front of me did it sink in. I sat on the monument facing the front of the palace for quite some time just observing and taking in everything around me. I have been picking up the habit of carrying a notebook around with my to take points of what I’ve done through the day so I don’t forget as well as to make notes to myself. I felt a bit inspired to write up some poem ideas…just rough stuff. I’m no Bobby Frost but realizing just how amazing that moment was for me and how it probably wouldn’t faze a person who lives in the city to see these sights. It felt good.
At this point I continued towards St. James Park and walked from one end to the other. The sun was peeking out at this point and it made everything gorgeous! I played the aspiring photographer through the park and tried to get as many good looking shots as possible. All of which can be found on my Facebook page.
At this point I left Picadilly and headed towards Oxford Circus. This area is where all of the fashion and clothing stores are located….hello shopping! I managed to limit myself only to Topman however (my new attire of choice) and picked up a £100 suit. I definitely needed this for the beginning of my contract. I’ll add to my wardrobe eventually….but not until I have a regular pay cheque. I continued on down Oxford Street and popped into O2 to check out phones. It turns out that the SIM card that Protocol provided for me is a really poor pay-as-you go plan. I opted to just say “screw it” and went to a store to get the Blackberry unlocked that Scott gave me. I bought a Lyca SIM card and topped it up with £5 and there you go. Lyca is a great company that allows you to call internationally REALLY cheap. I can call Canada for only 4p a minute! Needless to say I just talked to my parents at home for over a half hour and it cost me just over £1. For those of you who are now screaming at their computer screen and thinking how dumb it was for me to not bring my iPhone with me since I did end up going this route….STOP! I was over analyzing it a bit too much (as I usually do) and opted not to deal with it…it would have been fine but for what I’m going to be using the phone for I don’t need an iPhone to do. Plus, it just made Scott so happy :P.
What did I do next?.....oh! I decided that I wanted to head to The Maple Leaf pub in Camden for dinner. This is a Canadian themed pub in London that serves Canadian beer and food along with the usual English pub fare (hello Ceasars and Poutine!). The rest of my family had all been there and made a fuss about it so I figured that’d be a good thing to do this early in the trip. I ended getting Fish and Chips…but beer-battered with Sleeman and a Moosehead for old time’s sake. Immediately followed by a Young’s Gold Ale….for new time’s sake.
I was getting pretty tired at this point and I decided it was time to call it quits. I headed down to Trafalgar Square for one more sightseeing opportunity before heading home. I hit there right at dusk and it was beautiful! That had definitely been my favourite moment of the trip thus far! Pictures below.
Cheers, Love, and Rock The World!!
I decided to only take the tube as far as Elephant and Castle in order to walk into the main city area as opposed to just being in it. I really enjoy walking and London definitely plays to this. I ended up walking over towards the London Eye (Millennium Wheel) and having look around there first. Along the way I stopped at “Ned’s Noodle Bar” and picked up a veggie stir fry in the most stereotypical Hollywood Chinese take-out container you could possibly imagine. I brought it with me and sat down directly underneath the Eye beside the Thames overlooking the Parliament Buildings and Big Ben…..no big deal. After I finished my delicious yet painfully greasy lunch I continued across the Queen’s Walk towards the Parliament Buildings.
It was at this point that I realized this is tourist central!! People in groups, tours, cameras everywhere, streets jumbled….it was crazy. I’m just one person which definitely made it easier because I could just dart through the crowds of people without much trouble. I managed to get some good photos of the buildings including Westminster Abbey along the way. I also saw a piper on the Queen’s Walk and gave him £1 for his performing.
At this point I continued towards St. James Park and walked from one end to the other. The sun was peeking out at this point and it made everything gorgeous! I played the aspiring photographer through the park and tried to get as many good looking shots as possible. All of which can be found on my Facebook page.
Once through the park I continued towards Picadilly Circus. A hustle and bustle centre for sure. People everywhere and cars too. I would be so frightened to navigate these areas in a vehicle but people do it every day! I stopped into Lillywhite’s because I was told this was an important place to go by Dusty and Scott ha ha ha. It’s a store dedicated to all apparel and equipment for sports. I headed up to the 3rd floor (the football floor) and browsed for a little while. I saw some things I’d really like to get…but alas, not yet. I did pick up a pair of Liverpool kit shorts though for running because they are super comfy.At this point I left Picadilly and headed towards Oxford Circus. This area is where all of the fashion and clothing stores are located….hello shopping! I managed to limit myself only to Topman however (my new attire of choice) and picked up a £100 suit. I definitely needed this for the beginning of my contract. I’ll add to my wardrobe eventually….but not until I have a regular pay cheque. I continued on down Oxford Street and popped into O2 to check out phones. It turns out that the SIM card that Protocol provided for me is a really poor pay-as-you go plan. I opted to just say “screw it” and went to a store to get the Blackberry unlocked that Scott gave me. I bought a Lyca SIM card and topped it up with £5 and there you go. Lyca is a great company that allows you to call internationally REALLY cheap. I can call Canada for only 4p a minute! Needless to say I just talked to my parents at home for over a half hour and it cost me just over £1. For those of you who are now screaming at their computer screen and thinking how dumb it was for me to not bring my iPhone with me since I did end up going this route….STOP! I was over analyzing it a bit too much (as I usually do) and opted not to deal with it…it would have been fine but for what I’m going to be using the phone for I don’t need an iPhone to do. Plus, it just made Scott so happy :P.
What did I do next?.....oh! I decided that I wanted to head to The Maple Leaf pub in Camden for dinner. This is a Canadian themed pub in London that serves Canadian beer and food along with the usual English pub fare (hello Ceasars and Poutine!). The rest of my family had all been there and made a fuss about it so I figured that’d be a good thing to do this early in the trip. I ended getting Fish and Chips…but beer-battered with Sleeman and a Moosehead for old time’s sake. Immediately followed by a Young’s Gold Ale….for new time’s sake.
I hopped on the tube back to Collier’s Wood and now here I sit….tired as hell. I have my orientation with Protocol tomorrow and then I need to pick up some black shoes. I think I’ll head over to Wimbledon Town Centre to check that are out to pick up the shoes and I need to do some serious grocery shopping as well. More on that tomorrow I suppose!Cheers, Love, and Rock The World!!
Erik
Sunday, September 19, 2010
London Sight-seeing Day 1
Today I managed to get myself into the actual City of London. Like I said before I recruited one of my housemates, Nicole, to come along because she hasn't been into the big city centre yet. Mind you....we didn't venture right into the heart of it all. We headed to the Northern Line, which is Colliers Wood Station, and loaded up our Oyster Cards. Okay....for those who don't know, Oyster cards are the THING for London transport. If you are travelling by Bus, Tube, or Train you load them up with money and swpie them to pay fare going in and out of the stations. It's fast, conveinient and just makes life go on easier. Anyways, my Oyster card had £2.50 on it already (thanks Mum and Dad) but I loaded £20 on it just so it's good for now. And so, we travelled up the Northern Line to London Bridge and got off. Side note: if you want to pull up a pic of the London Underground you can follow along! So, we got off at London Bridge and went walking west towards the Tower Bridge. Stopped for coffee (more accurately a Cafe Americano...what else) along the way and continued on.
The Tower Bridge provided many photo ops along the walk and the Tower of London is on the North bank and also provided many more.
After we crossed the Bridge we sort of muddled about the Tower of London area and I managed to pick up an England Flag and a patch for my backpack for London. We then continued North . At this point we were waaaaaay east of the usual London tourists points but we also didn't want to pay for tours and stuff just yet so we were really just getting a piece of the area down and making note of things we want to see in the future. So, we travelled all through the east side of the City of London and saw many sites (of which can be seen on Facebook here)
I randomly saw on Nicole's map that there was the Guildhall School for Music and Drama just north of the Musuem of London. Seeing as how I love Drama I figured we should go check it out. So, we made the walk up to the area and passed by some really nice buildings along the way. Once we got to the school we saw people coming in and out so we went inside to check it out. Oddly enough they were having an Open House at the time (mind you...it was part of a thing called "Open House London" which only went on this week-end and we didn't know about). They were calling people for the 2:30 tour while we were standing there so we just jumped in impromptu and had a guided tour of their Theatre facilities! There were no photos allowed (sorry) but it was very similar to what Queen's had. The only difference was they didn't keep or make a lot of their own costumes, set, or props. Also, they have a lot of really experienced students but they specifically don't train designers...just people who work for designers. But, by allowing professional designers to come into their school to design shows it gives their students professional connections upon graduation. Very cool.
Before we left we sat in at a Jazz Band rehearsal which was quite lovely and continued on our journey. At this point it was getting to bbe 3:00pm and we had been walking for so long that we called it a day in London and headed back home to 76 Marlboough.
I gave Geoff a shout once we got back and he popped over for a visit and we ended up going to the Colliers Tup for dinner and some pints.
REVIEW:
The Colliers Tup is AWESOME. It's less than 5 minutes from our place and Nicole and I love it and we're hoping to recruit our other flatmates to come there enough to be fairly regular. Not enough to be alcoholics....but as a regular place to go out impromptu and for dinner sometimes. It's a great atmosphere...not too busy...and they serve a great selection of Real Ales. Dad, my new favourite is Spark's Doom Bar...it's awesome. I'll show you sometime. So, the three of us went there, I had the Pork Roast for dinner. They have roast every Sunday and it's "the best in London" so they say. It was absolutely delicious. We chilled with some pints and actually participated in Pub Quiz as well. We ended up coming in 5th of 8.....which is pretty good but as teachers I know we can do better. The science category really screwed us so we're going to recruit flatmates for next Sunday's quiz.
All in all...an awesome day. I'm going to hit the sack now...it's 1am. I'm going to hit more Central London tomorrow...Picadilly and such. I'll make sure to post pics ASAP.
Cheers, Love, and Rock the World!
Erik
The Tower Bridge provided many photo ops along the walk and the Tower of London is on the North bank and also provided many more.
After we crossed the Bridge we sort of muddled about the Tower of London area and I managed to pick up an England Flag and a patch for my backpack for London. We then continued North . At this point we were waaaaaay east of the usual London tourists points but we also didn't want to pay for tours and stuff just yet so we were really just getting a piece of the area down and making note of things we want to see in the future. So, we travelled all through the east side of the City of London and saw many sites (of which can be seen on Facebook here)
I randomly saw on Nicole's map that there was the Guildhall School for Music and Drama just north of the Musuem of London. Seeing as how I love Drama I figured we should go check it out. So, we made the walk up to the area and passed by some really nice buildings along the way. Once we got to the school we saw people coming in and out so we went inside to check it out. Oddly enough they were having an Open House at the time (mind you...it was part of a thing called "Open House London" which only went on this week-end and we didn't know about). They were calling people for the 2:30 tour while we were standing there so we just jumped in impromptu and had a guided tour of their Theatre facilities! There were no photos allowed (sorry) but it was very similar to what Queen's had. The only difference was they didn't keep or make a lot of their own costumes, set, or props. Also, they have a lot of really experienced students but they specifically don't train designers...just people who work for designers. But, by allowing professional designers to come into their school to design shows it gives their students professional connections upon graduation. Very cool.
Before we left we sat in at a Jazz Band rehearsal which was quite lovely and continued on our journey. At this point it was getting to bbe 3:00pm and we had been walking for so long that we called it a day in London and headed back home to 76 Marlboough.
I gave Geoff a shout once we got back and he popped over for a visit and we ended up going to the Colliers Tup for dinner and some pints.
REVIEW:
The Colliers Tup is AWESOME. It's less than 5 minutes from our place and Nicole and I love it and we're hoping to recruit our other flatmates to come there enough to be fairly regular. Not enough to be alcoholics....but as a regular place to go out impromptu and for dinner sometimes. It's a great atmosphere...not too busy...and they serve a great selection of Real Ales. Dad, my new favourite is Spark's Doom Bar...it's awesome. I'll show you sometime. So, the three of us went there, I had the Pork Roast for dinner. They have roast every Sunday and it's "the best in London" so they say. It was absolutely delicious. We chilled with some pints and actually participated in Pub Quiz as well. We ended up coming in 5th of 8.....which is pretty good but as teachers I know we can do better. The science category really screwed us so we're going to recruit flatmates for next Sunday's quiz.
All in all...an awesome day. I'm going to hit the sack now...it's 1am. I'm going to hit more Central London tomorrow...Picadilly and such. I'll make sure to post pics ASAP.
Cheers, Love, and Rock the World!
Erik
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Hello, my name is Erik and I live in London.
Hello!!!!!
So, here I am in London...finally!!! The flight over was a bit long and tiring. I did manage to get a lot of sleep along the way and somehow managed to watch Iron Man 2 twice. The descent was really cool even without having a window seat, being able to see all of the different buildings and houses from my seat. Landing was no problem and we were actually early by about 25 min!! Our flight connected right to a gate so we didn't have to get on a bus on the tarmac either...just right into UK Border Agency to get quickly screened and then through to grab my luggage. I went into the "Nothing to declare" line...not that it mattered because there was absolutely nobody there to check anything anyways ha ha ha. After that I went out to the main terminal lobby and met Neale who was my driver. At this point things really started to real ha ha ha. We just jumped in the car and starting FLYING down the road/motorways. Of course I'm already disoriented because of the fact that I think I’m sitting in the driver’s seat and then on the other side of the road…really bizarre!!! We passed a lot of different boroughs and buildings along the way. Including some of the pics below!
Neale was a fabulous driver because he’s really personable and friendly and he knows a LOT. Since he’s constantly driving and picking up people as a business he knows a lot about certain areas of the city (plus he lives in South London). As we were driving he’s explaining different buildings and areas and stuff for me and he was also really impressed with my own knowledge of the different areas. We got into talking about football and he ended up throwing the game on the radio as we drove. When we got into Fulham-Hammersmith I asked him where Craven Cottage was (the stadium where Fulham FC play). They weren’t having a home match so it wasn’t busy in the area and he asked me if I wanted to see it. So we made a detour over to the stadium and he let me get out to grab a few pics of the grounds.
We also got to chatting about teams and such and he mentioned that he’s a member of Chelsea for buying tickets. Now….I’m definitely NOT one to be supporting Chelsea, but he asked me if I ever wanted tickets to a match to let him know. I’m definitely going to be capitalizing on that!
Once he dropped me off he said I could call him whenever if I had any questions and gave me his card. I was home!
The house is pretty cool. There’s just the main floor with a kitchen, living room/dining room and one bedroom. The next floor has 3 bedrooms (including mine) and a bathroom, and the third floor has a larger room for a couple. I have five housemates: 4 girls and a guy. Three female housemates: Britney, Kim, and Nicole and the other two are together in the room upstairs: Nathan and Meg. Meg is actually from Kingston which is also a good talking point! And Britney and Nicole are from London, Ontario! Crazy small world there!
Aaron (one of the two landlords) came over and gave me a copy of the keys, signed the month-to-month lease and showed me around the neighbourhood a little bit. I went out to the Mark’s and Spencer’s and Sainsbury’s stores just down the block to pick up a few things, basically quick groceries and beer!!! (see below). Back to the house to unpack and chill out for a while.
After talking to Geoff and deciding to meet up tomorrow….I figured I’m in London…I should go out walking! So I literally walked in a GIANT circle around Colliers Wood, Wimbledon, Wandsworth, et al and ate up quite a few hours. Just taking the air and trying to get some bearings of the area. It was really cool just walking around and knowing where I was.
It’s almost 9:30pm my time and I’m just chilling watching 40 Year Old Virgin with Britney and drinking a Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Ale. Tomorrow I’m heading into the big city for the first time with Nicole because she just got here on Tuesday and hasn’t seen much of the main city yet either. So we’ll head there and then I’m meeting up with Geoff for some authentic London pub experiences!!
Cheers, love, and rock the world!
Erik
Friday, September 17, 2010
Here we go, here we go, here we go......
Well…..it has come down to this. After what has seemed like ABSOLUTELY FOREVER, I am finally on my way to London!!! I am writing this while sitting in Pearson Airport at Gate C34 waiting for my boarding time of 22:55….it’s 21:00….I’ve got some time. I figured this is a great moment to reflect back on everything that has happened over the last week and a bit.
First off, I went to Kingston for the week-end….and that was interesting.
It was:
a) absolutely beautiful weather the entire time (minus the football game)
b) an amazing time with amazing people
c) a moment to reflect with friends on amazing times had, catch up, share some laughs and tears
d) all of the above
I feel like you know what the right answer is. I’m glad I’ve had this time to be able to catch-up with as many people as possible, share some laughs and tears, and generally celebrate the parts of our lives we’ve shared together and look forward to the memories we will create in the future. From BBQs, lunches at the Brew Pub, Karaoke at the Nog and rainy football games followed by epic Ports…I’m glad I had the chance to see my amazing friends. So….shout-out to all of you!!! It’s you all who have made this guy sitting at Gate C34, who now needs to go to Gate C27, who he is today. I have grown so much during my time at Queen’s and I know a lot of that attributes to the people I have had around me from the get go. I’m proud to call all of you my friends and I only wish the best for each and every one of you. I will miss you all and I hope we can all have a great time when I come back!
After the wonderful time with friends I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with family. Seeing my brother and Melissa (and Rodney) on Monday was fabulous….hooray for Whiskey Sundays!! I had the opportunity to visit my Aunt in Kitchener before I left and had a fabulous conversation with her about everything that’s been going on. My parents also took the week off leading up to my departure so we were able to spend the days together just going to our usual haunts in Sarnia and Port Huron. I also had the opportunity to see family friends and grandparents. All in all….a solid week full of great food and great family. I took pictures of the week in meal form because my Mom literally made all of my favourites before I left. Cabbage Rolls, Lasagna, Steak and Crab Legs, and we went to Bob Evans. Solid…solid week. I apologize for the somewhat lack of eloquence in this entry but I am feeling a bit tired (which is great considering the flight I have coming up) so I’m just sort of hitting keys. The fact that I’m writing words at all is pretty amazing.
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| Breakfast at Bob Evans before heading out!!! |
So, the trip to the airport was long….fraught with a considerable number of accidents on the 401 (to be expected) and dinner at Turtle Jacks in Mississauga before finally hitting Pearson Airport. After a lengthy check-in process (little downs for the couple in front of me) it was all tears and finally through security. Got my bags scanned, got my body scanned by a CRAZY TURNTABLE BODY SCANNING THINGAMADING….and to my gate. Where I currently sit. I think now’s probably a good time to sign off on this thing before it gets too unreadable.
So….I send love to you all no matter where you might be. You are all amazing and I treasure every moment I have shared with anybody. Stay safe, look after one another, and most importantly…
Rock The World
Erik
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Home Sweet Home.....soon
Well, it sure has been a while since I put some form of entry onto this blog. Hey….I warned you. I’m not in England just yet so I don’t have that much to talk about. I’ve literally been spending the previous weeks working as much as possible; meandering through the hours a slice of dry ice at a time. When not stuck beneath a hard hat and safety glasses I’m trying to spend as much time as I possibly can with my family. It’s going to be a while between me leaving and seeing them again at some point (except for Scott….but that’ll be left for another post). Dinner out on Fridays, drinks on the patio, golfing, and trips to the bridge to collect rocks have been on my schedule a lot and I’m glad I’m having the opportunity to spend these moments with my family.
As the title for this post might suggest, I’m using it to talk about my new humble abode currently awaiting my occupancy in England. I wanted to try to ensure some form of housing before my eminent arrival in the UK so that I had some stability upon arrival. Much like my guaranteed work contract I didn’t want to fly over with absolutely nothing set-up. I decided to talk to a company that Protocol (my teaching agency) recommended in London. The company is called “Arrive Homes” and was started by two foreign teachers who, upon their arrival in the UK for the first time, discovered just how much of a pain it is to secure housing in London as a foreign visitor. So, they decided to do something about it. They began securing properties all over the London and Greater London area that they could rent out to other foreign teachers (exclusively) as a house share. They eliminated a lot of the problems faced by foreigners searching for housing by including all utilities, cable costs, internet, council taxes, etc. into their rent prices…AWESOME! Not only that, but because you pay them this all-inclusive rent you can’t be contracted by utility companies that can lock you in for at least a year. You are free to live in their house share for as little as a month or as long as your stay in the UK. The freedom of this arrangement is what really attracted me as well as alleviating the hassles of setting up housing. Not only that, but the houses are fully furnished in the common spaces and each room comes with a bed, dresser, and wardrobe already.
To make a long story short, I contacted them and after what seemed like a million e-mails back and forth between myself and Aaron and Phil (the company founders) I secured housing! The address is as follows:
76 Marlborough Road
Colliers Wood
London, UK
SW19 2HG
So, I’m all set to move in to the house as soon as I get to Heathrow on September 18th, unpack and begin exploring. If you Google Map the address you can get a feel for the area. Street View is absolutely amazing, I feel like I’ve already been to the neighbourhood now and I’m sure it will feel very familiar when I get there. The house will apparently have a balance of males and females (total flatmate count = 4…so 5 including me.) It’s also really close to a tube stop (5 min walk) so easy and quick access up to Central London. I could go on and on about what I’ve already discovered about the area, but I’ll leave that until I have actual experience there and can speak more eloquently about it.
Also, I’m going to be in Kingston in a week and I’m super pumped, excited, crazy happy to see people and have some fun…but also super bummed, upset, sad to know that it’s the last time for a while. I’ll leave the latter emotions until the Sunday and live it up until then!
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