It's SNOWING in LONDON!

It's snowing in London today!!! Here are some pictures that I took on my blackberry this morning before breakfast. They are of the Reid Hall (my dorm) courtyard. The snow isn't really sticking to anything besides the grass, but it looks SOO PRETTY! :)

Thanksgiving in Britain!

For Thanksgiving this year I went to the St. Paul's Thanksgiving Mass for the American Community in London with Jill and Jason. We skipped one of our classes to go, but it was definitely worth it. The Ambassador for the United States and his wife were there and they read a very nice speech that Obama wrote for all Americans abroad. I really enjoyed the ceremony, especially as we all sang America the Beautiful together. It was very moving.

Then for dinner UNH sponsored a dinner for all of its students here at Regent's College. We all got dressed up and many of us brought desserts. Mom sent me a pumpkin pie (which was delicious!) so I brought that to the dinner. It was nothing compared to what Mom normally makes, but I still enjoyed eating with everyone as a group. I felt homesick for the first time while being here! I missed America! Here are a few pictures from the day!

The Turkey we had. The big piece is white turkey. The other 2 are dark meat with stuffing in the middle.

Jason, Jill and I

The ribbon and note from the pie Mom sent me!

L to R: Austin, me, Jill, Jason

Oxford

Today I went to Oxford with some other students from UNH. UNH sponsored the trip, and we took a 2 hour private tour throughout the city. It was FREEZING cold! (Like 20 degrees F and windy) but it was still enjoyable because of the beautiful architecture and history. I absolutely loved learning about all of the famous authors such as Lewis Carroll and JRR Tolkien who both attended Oxford and later taught there!

Our tour guide explained that Oxford is made up of 38 colleges which together make up the University of Oxford. Each college has a unique character, (seven of which are designed specifically for postgraduate students), and allow for a small-community feel instead of students being lost in the giant university. Oxford is mostly international as well -- another fact I did not know. Anyway, our tour guide brought us into Exeter College, which is a quad. The students live, eat and study at the college, but take classes in academic buildings which are located throughout the city. Oxford does not have a campus; instead, the buildings are located throughout the city.

Exeter College

Exeter college was particularly exciting to see for two reasons. First, the college dates back to1314, so parts were extremely old and impressive. Also, we were able to go inside the chapel (all colleges have chapels attached) and it was absolutely stunning. The chapel had just been cleaned, so it was extra bright and beautiful. A male vocal trio was rehearsing with piano while we entered the chapel... obviously I loved this addition. :)

Chapel in Exeter College

Exeter College Chapel

In addition to the 38 colleges, which all have their own libraries, there is a giant central library which houses the FIRST COPY of every single book EVER PUBLISHED in all of Britain! By law it has to be the first library to get a copy. The collection dates back to the 1300s! The library gets around 3,000 books a day, and in order to store all of these books, the collection stretches 5 stories underground! There are various entrances in the square, which must be silent at all times as there are reading rooms which overlook the square, which lead to the various subject departments within the library.

One of the entrances to the library

The library

The main entrance to the library

After visiting more of the colleges and seeing some of the gownies (gowns -- people wearing gowns -- aka: students) walk about because it was diploma day, we visited Blackwell Bookstore which is one of the oldest bookstores in Britain. It was 7 stories (including a basement) and the very top floor had squeaky wooden floors and sold second hand books! I found a poetry book there that I really liked and browsed, but I didn't get it. I did pick up 2 books for myself though which weren't very expensive because they were having a sale.

We also got Oxford sweatshirts (OF COURSE! So necessary.) and hot chocolate, which was also necessary because it was frigid outside. This week has been especially cold and I'm not sure why. There was not switch from low 50s to all of a sudden high 20s low 30s! Yuck!

Where the head of Exeter College lives

Part of Exeter College

Blackwell Bookstore

Part of Exeter College. The Golden Compass was filmed here

Oxford University is beautiful!

London Eye & Hyde Park at Night

Last night I went on the London eye with my roommate and her guests. I had been on the eye before during the day, but never at night. The views were very pretty. I really liked looking down on the city seeing it all lit up. I forgot to bring my camera with my, but luckily I had my blackberry, so I took a few pictures on my phone. I hope they came out alright enough for you to get an idea!

view from the tippity top of the eye!

view from the eye looking north up the Thames River

Parliament

After the eye we went to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. The Winter Wonderland is a carnaval. It is an outdoor Christmas festival which is full of fudge and mulled wine booths as well as lots of Christmas presents. The other half is a giant amusement park. I didn't go on any rides last night, but next weekend I am thinking of going on one of the rollercoasters! Here is a link to the Winter Wonderland's website if you would like to check it out: http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/

Kenwood House & Sheila's 20th Birthday

This week I visited Kenwood house with my English Country Houses and Palaces class. Although normally I find my professor quite dull, I enjoyed this field trip because I recently wrote a paper on Kenwood House for this class. The house is famous because the Scottish architect Robert Adams redesigned it, added many additions on, and used this new development he had created: plaster. Plaster was much cheaper than stone and thus Adam tried to promoite it. He, however, had a very primitive mixture which has not withstood the stand of time. As a result, it needs some fixing up and next year will not be on display as it will be closed for restoration.

Front of Kenwood House. Architect: Robert Adams
Back of Kenwood

Additionally, Kenwood House, especially the gardens, appear in Hugh Grant's movie Notting Hill. There is a scene where Julia Roberts is in the backyard filming a movie and Hugh Grant watches from a distance. I went onto the grounds and saw this area!

The grounds, aka, the backyard. The bridge is fake, it is just a flat wall and it is just placed there to be an eye-catcher.
A picture from the filming of Notting Hill
Entrance into the backyard

The house is now owned by the government and is kept for viewing only. It is popular with dog walkers. The grounds are extensive in all directions around the house and are not for sale, but reserved for an area of peace, recreation and enjoyment. While I was there I saw a bunch of dogs!

Robert Adam's extravagant library

This is the library. It isn't really a library as most of the owner's collections are in his other house. There are many French mirrors in the library which tells us that it was used as a party room! (The mirrors are French because the English hadn't mastered making mirrors by this point in time.)

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This week was also Sheila's 20th birthday. We went to a bar in Soho called B2. It had over 190 mixed drinks, and had some amazing 2 for 1 deals. My roommate Jackie and I split raspberry collins which were quite yummy!

Sheila the birthday girl, Jackie and I
Jackie and I... this is her picture, she edited it with high contrast in b&w.
A toast to Sheila

Where I've Been

J'adore Paris

Paris is where you go to fall in love,

write your novel,
or drench yourself in art

I went to Paris this weekend! We took the Eurostar from St. Pancreas King Cross, London to Gare du Nord in Paris! We stayed at St. Christopher's hostel in the North West part of the city, and used the metro to get around. I saw the Eiffel tower at both day and night, Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge (Paris's old red-light district), Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart church), walked down Champs Elysse, and saw many paintings including the Mona Lisa in the Louvre! It was a lovely weekend!

All of us in front of the LouvreMona and I. The Mona Lisa is only around 2 (length) x 3 (width)Does this even need a caption?

Aphrodite/Venus de Milo 120BC, unknown sculptor
Me in front of the Louvre around 6pm
Us "pondering" art in the Louvre. L to R: Sebastian, Eliza, Liz, Jenna, Me
Pondering part 2!

We also explored the famous street Champes Elysse in Paris. There was a winter market at one end which had lots of food and goodies! We sampled various breads and cheeses while French Christmas music was blasted over speakers. There was even fake snow at one tent!

Liz and I at the winter market

While walking through the winter market we discovered chocolate covered strawberries which were fresh and DELICIOUS! Of course we had to split some. Liz and I also got kabobs for lunch! Yummy! It was chicken in this huuuuge pot, and this white pickle-tasting sauce came with it. It is served on a baguette and you can get a bunch of fritos, or fries, on top. They just pile so much food on! And it's all for only 7 euros! It was sooo good, but sooo big too. Too big -- I couldn't finish mine!

The giant pans our kabobs were made in. Left: onions. Right: chicken
Doesn't look appetizing, but it smelled SO GOOD!

Liz and I with our foot long kabobs!
The final product! (They added fritos/fries on top!)

Sheila and I also got chocolate covered strawberries... oh I already miss them!

We visited Notre Dame on Friday. The building isn't as tall as I expected, but it is very beautiful inside and we were able to take pictures! It was really exiciting to actually see THE Notre Dame! It was built in the 1300s and still remains today! It has a Gothic Catholic style.

All of us in front of Notre Dame.
L to R: Jackie, Jenna, Me, Becky, Eliza, Jill, Sheila and Liz
Inside Notre Dame
Me in front of Notre Dame

We also visited Moulin Rouge, which used to be the center of the red light district in Paris. It was right next to a tube stop and easy to find. There are burlesque dancers there, and we could have seen a show for 80 euros. However, none of us wanted to spend that much money on dinner and a show, so instead we just posed and took our own pictures and created our own show outside the building!

Moulin Rouge
Us in front of Moulin Rouge... we did lots of poses.

We also climbed the eiffle tower. That is 670 steps! I was completely out of breath by the time we reached the top, but moving kept me warm. It was SO COLD at the top of the tower! The views were incredible but it was very windy. My eyes were watering because my contacts were so bothered by the wind. It was worth it though!

Eiffle Tower at night
Me on top of the tower, wishing I had a hat.
View from the top
On the second highest floor of the E. tower

On Saturday night we went out to dinner to a restaurant on Champs Elysse. It was called Chez Clement and the food was so good. I had sausage and mashed potatoes and a glass of red wine. Yum!

Chez Clement
My salad. There was apple in it!
My dinner
All of us enjoying dinner

We also visited Sacre Coeur, or Sacred Heart. It is also known as the "Onion Building" because of the shape of the roof. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures inside. However, I did take a picture of the beautiful views I saw after climbing the stairs!

Sacre Coeur
A MIME! On the stairs on the way up.

Me at the top