Today is the day we escape the pollution of London for a taste of something authentically English. I’ve been told that no one from London is actually from London. Today we went out into the English countryside for something a little more authentic.

Our blue badge guide was a woman named Victoria. She met us in front of our flat and we boarded the bus bound for west of London. If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that cities are all fundamentally the same. Finally, a chance to see something that I won’t find anywhere else!

So we boarded the bus for our 1.5 hour bus ride. On our way out we saw a gigantic “rugby football” arena. Victoria told us that it seated something like 100,000. Huge! We drove over a bridge and saw a hill of luxury houses in the distance, among them, Mick Jagger’s home. We drove past the Fuller’s Brewery (must get back for a tour!) The brewery was flanked by two pubs that get its beer pumped in directly from the brewery. Victoria shared with us a story about the brewery using river water in the days when fresh water was less available. I’m not certain of the truth of this story, but apparently the brewery would send messengers out to the villages upstream telling them not to dump their sewage into the river. Now breweries use pumped in fresh water and some beer still tastes like piss water; go figure.

So Fuller’s, Mick Jagger’s House, the stadium, all around us the landscape became progressively less urban. I was surprised by how long it took us to escape the boundaries of the city of London. This is quite an expansive city for sure. Did I say expansive? I meant expensive… Well, it’s definitely both.

After a bit of driving we arrived at the monument. Our professor and the giude went ahead to pay the entrance fee. (You have to pay to enter otherwise you’re forced to take distant pictures through a chain link fence.)  We passed a cheesy little souvenir shop selling everything from miniature models of the stones to glossy photos that were as good as any I could have taken myself. There was also a cafe that served overpriced sodas and snacks, as well as something shamelessly named “rock cakes”. I tasted one that someone in my party purchased. It was just as its name suggested.

Finally I ascended the ramp and came face to face with one of the most mysterious things I have ever seen. There were 30 or 40 off blue grey stones that hinted at their original configuration. Most were fallen or missing, but the ones that remained had held their places for well before Jesus’ birth. I cannot even begin to imagine this longevity. These lichen covered stones predate everything that is familiar to me. The greatest part of this world famous monument is that no one really knows how it got there. These rocks are the barest, whitest thing for acres and are made of a type of stone that doesn’t occur geologically for at least 20 miles. It is known that druids (celtic clerics) used this site for God knows what, but as our guide informed us, they were not responsible for its construction. It stood long before the druids even got there.

A very cool phenomenon surrounding the site are the barrows. I thought back to my Tolkien and remembered that these were mass graves, large burial mounds. All around the green, sheep dotted fields I could see these “pimples” on the horizon. Stonehenge was mysterious and majestic. I took pictures from every possible angle like a true tourist and all teh while couldn’t keep scenes from Spinal Tap out of my head. Alas, there were no dancing dwarves.

To be continued…

Actually it’s good afternoon as I’ve slept late today. I was planning on a “pilgrimmage” out to Canterbury today but I started my laundry last night at 10:30pm and it took a lot longer than I expected. No worries though, I’ll have another weekend to go. All is not lost.

I’ve done so much in the past few days and I’ve forgotten to write about it, so let me recall everything I’ve done and give you the abbreviated account of my activities.

I’ll rewind to the weekend of the 15th and 16th of July. On Saturday I took the tube north to Notting Hill Gate. I walked a bit, the famous market doesn’t begin for several blocks. Once you see pastel painted houses and antique shops, though, you know you’re in the right place. The market stretches the length of Portabello Road on Saturdays and Sundays with vendors selling sorts of strange items from their tables and stalls. One man was selling a collection of wartime and military paraphenalia. He had offciers’ caps and jackets from all sorts of countries- mostly Soviet. He also had a selection of medals. I could have purchased a purple heart for £25 if I’d felt so inclined. I resisted the urge. If I’d bought it I’d probably have had to go all the way and run for president or something.

I picked up some souvenirs for friends and family. I will write about these later as some of them are surprise gifts. I paced up and down the 50 or so blocks of the market until Chris and Frankie showed up to meet me for dinner. I must have walked miles that day. They finally found me in the Castle sipping a pint, but Chris is frugal and Frankie is picky so they opted for the Subway restaurant next door. I sat in the pub enjoying my fish and chips and they had subs next door. I had two beers with my meal, a tall handsome Erdinger and a Fruli, a strawberry lambic that i really enjoyed.

The next day I decided to go to mass. My grandest option was Westminster Cathedral. I was a little down on it when I finally got there. It was enormous, a huge interior space that belied its exterior dimensions, but right off I decided that it was a horrible place to have mass. I’d visited Westminster Abbey first, but imediately decided that I’d seen them in the wrong order. Like I said, this was a terrible place for mass. One of the main problems with all cavernous churches is poor acoustics. This is a common problem that I’ve witnessed everywhere. Rows of pews stretch for miles and by the time the sound from the priest’s mouth reaches the back, it’s a muddled mess. On top of that there, pipe organ music seemed to come from two different locations. The choir would sing from behind and above the altar, but by the time the notes traveled the football field length of the cathedral to the organist in the back, he was already half a beat off. The whole thing was really dreadful and offputting.

I looked up, expecting to see gorgeously adorned ceilings but saw nothing. It was all just dirty bricks. The dome itself was impressive and magnificent in its size, but there was no decoration. One mosaic was arranged on the floor waiting to be epoxied to the ceiling of a side chapel, but that was the only sign I saw of any decoration. I recall many masses and weddings I’ve attended in Saint Bernard’s Church in Mount Lebanon in Pittsburgh, an enourmous church plagued with the same acoustical problems. I remembered that Saint Bernard’s was more lavishly decorated than this, an important Catholic church in London. The church has gold tiled ceilings and a colorful dome that puts many others to shame.

As I sat in this ugly cathedral in England I thought back to churches at home. I guess I didn’t realize that some of the best things can be just inside your own backyard. I might be starting to miss home, just a little.

Regards,

Zack   

 Dear reader, 

I woke up early today! I covered a lot of ground on foot today just wandering alone. I can’t explain it, but I’ve been here only 2 weeks but navigating this city is no great challenge to me. I carry a map guide in my back pocket, but I rarely have to refer to it. London reminds me of Philly in a lot of ways. Green parks interrupting busy streets, a respect for old structures and monuments.

I began my journey this morning , waking up even before the most diligent girls in the group. I got myself together and scrambled over to join the crowds at Buckingham Palace. I heard a lot of American voices amaong the tourists there. A middle class American dad videotaped the scsne as his kids grew restless, forced to stand waiting for something to happen at the palace gates. They looked bored as hell. I bet they’ll really watch that video often when they get back home.

Mounted police kept order as people looked around toward the palace gates waiting for some sign of activity. Finally, from behind me I hear the sound of a brass band and snare drums. getting louder and louder. Then the red coats come into view. Topped with their distinctive black helmets the soldiers kept perfect formation as they passed through the open gate.

Another regiment joined them and both sides of the palace yard glowed red. A company of horse guards trotted by and disappread from sight. Their horsehair tassles wagged as the rode by, and their hemets and silver breastplates gleamed brightly from the reflected sun. Each carried a polished sabre and wore thigh-high black boots.

Once they were gone, the redcoat band stopped front and center between the palace and the gate. I couldn’t hear the songs right away, too many people were making noise, but I soon realized that they were playing a selection of Billy Joel songs! I heard Anthony’s Song, Only the Good Die Young, and Just the Way You Are. I couldn’t believe it! I can’t wait to call home and tell dad about it.

Remember to change your own guard every now and again,

Zack

Pubs visited:

• Anglesea Arms
• Gloucester Arms
• Churchill Arms
• Black Sheep
• The Roundhouse
• Lamb & Flag
• Prince Albert
• The Castle
• The Queen’s Arms

Beers tasted:

• Fruli
• Bellevue Kriek
• Hoegaarden
• Erdinger
• Fuller’s London Pride
• Old Peculiar
• Guinness
• Young’s Bitter
• Loenbrau
• Carlsberg
• Kronenberg
• Fuller’s ESB
• Leffe

  

Today I went to a 3:00pm service at Westminster Abbey. I totally bypassed being turned away as a tourist. It was quite clever. The Abbey Marshall was explaining to some Spanish tourists that there were no yours on Sundays because of services. While he was arguing with the group I snuck in beside them, affected my best slurred Briton and asked, “does Evensong begin at 3:00?” The man moved aside and pointed me toward the entrance.

Score! I made it past, trying really hard not to look like an American. Once inside I didn’t really know where to go, but I followed the sound of the choir. I couldn’t see them yet, but their flawless harmonies floated above me to dance around the gothic arches. A man with coat tails ushered me to a seat and handed me a program. By this point I was sweating like a spy in enemy territory. Well, it was a Protestant service…

The service, while not the complete Catholic service I was used to, was lovely. We stood and sat between readings from the Old and New Testaments and long beautiful melodious choir pieces. The Reverend’s sermon focused on the London subway bombings which occured a year ago today. I tried not to stare, but the gothic architecture far overhead looked so impressive, the intricate stained glass shone brilliant blue and red with the sun behind it.

I immediately noticed graves and stone tablets indicating tombs of famous people, a memorial bust of William Blake to my right. It was hard to stop myself from staring around. Stone, stone, all stone, hundreds of of years and still standing. The ceiling was so high, must have been a couple hundred feet high, and the choir’s lyrical prayers rose to fill it. When the organist his the lowest notes i could feel the waves vibrating in my ribcage.

At one point the congregation said the creed, which I recognized. I noticed the use of the phrase, “…we believe in the holy catholic church…” I wondered why an obviously Protestant church would use the word “catholic” in its creed. Later I asked Professor Stains about this and he gave me the answer. He explained that “catholic” in this context was not the same as “Catholic”. So using the lower case c in this case meant “the universal church”, catholic being a word that could be interchanged with “Christian”.

Until next time,

Zack

Slept late! I woke up at 1:15. Heidi knocked on our door to see if we’d be up in time for the walking tour. Our guide for the bus tour was our walking guide. Most of the walk was through beautiful Hyde Park. I can’t believe such serenity exists within such an urban sprawl. It’s gorgeous! Fairmount Park x 10.

The Serpentine is a long, snakelike man-made lake with a handsome arch bridge across it. Paddleboats cruise the lake. We saw the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, the Prince Albert Memorial (3 layers of 24k gold adorn Albert’s statue), The Royal Albert Hall. We walked through Kensington Gardens and saw people playing soccer (football) on the greens, cricket games, picnickers.

We also passed Kensington Palace and visited a sunken garden near a place called the Orangery, where we are scheduled to go to tea.

The tour guide gave us a rccomendation for a pub that is partly a Thai restaurant. After to walk we found it, it was called the Churchill Arms. The service was really slow, and we were starving by the time we got there, but the place was really cool! We sat in the back which was the restaurant. To order drinks one had to walk to the front of the place which was strictly a pub. It was like the two were stitched together in the middle. Strange! The walls were heavily decorated with knick-knacks and pictures of various things, while vine plants hung from the ceiling. This created the need to duck for anyone over 5 feet tall. The place was really pretty inside. Venuri, Chris and I ordered Thai dishes, and I sipped some Fuller’s. I reccomend Thai chicken over rice #3– delicious! Outside, I wanted to take an exterior photo of the pub, and a bus driver stopped to allow me to do so. How kind!

So Venuri phoned her cousin, invited us to join them that evening- good decision! Our party was Venuri, her cousin, her fiance (Malik?) his older brother and his younger brother (Navin?) and a fellow American student. We cruised the streets at Picadilly Circus, stopping briefly in “Nike town”, but only briefly as the prices were outrageous. 

I didn’t really like Picadilly Circus very much. It’s essentially Times Square. Too many people, too much going on, loud, busy, crowded… not much fun. Venuri’s family/friends were very cool. We talked with them in a chain coffee shop for a while. The middle brother seemed very knowledgeable about just about everything. We talked about how to get to Europe, politics, things to do in London, everything.

Had a subpar chai latte…

We left Picadilly and took the tube to where we could walk to what was apparently the Middle Eastern section of the city. I had Lebanese food for the first time. I ate a sandwhich that was lamb wrapped in Lebanese bread. So good! There was plenty of falafel there as well. The food was great and talking to locals was even better. We learned a lot about how to get around and what to look for in terms of food and drink in London.
We got on the bus, singing Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” for fun. We ended up at the Black Sheep, a friendly neighborhood pub. Pretty good beer, Hoegaarden, Guiness, etc. A DJ was playing songs that drunk neighborly types could platonically dance to. I didn’t like the Lefe I had. I think I traded up with another member of out party. The Guinness was much better.

It got late and we split with the group. It took a while to flag a cab in the rain, but I got one eventually. I tipped him about 50%, not because I was drunk, but because he went pretty far out of his way for us.

Oh! I almost forgot, on the tube earlier I recognized a Wharton School shirt. I asked its wearer if he was from Philly, and sure enough, he had just graduated. He was in London on vacation. I talked to him about London and Avenue Q, and other shows playing around town. I also showed him the Guinness glass I managed to swipe from the Black Sheep. He laughed and congratulated me, saying that it was so easy here! He told me he’d gotten like 9… I guess I have some catching up to do, hahah.

 Thanks for reading this hurriedly written account of the drunken debauchery of a B student and a petty thief!

Love,

Zack

Pubs visited:

• Anglesea Arms
• Gloucester Arms
• Churchill Arms
• Black Sheep
• The Roundhouse
• Lamb & Flag
• Prince Albert
• The Castle

Beers tasted (in approximate order of preference):

• Fruli
• Erdinger
• Fuller’s London Pride
• Old Peculiar
• Guinness
• Young’s Bitter
• Loenbrau
• Carlsberg
• Kronenberg
• Fuller’s ESB
• Leffe

 10am orientation at FIE Foundation House. Larry is one of the coolest most lax professors I’ve ever had.

-Left FOundation House, walked off in search of food. Chris Maltby and I wander and find a small local deli. Cheap turkey sandwich. Not much meat & cheese and bread is slightly stale, but it didn’t cost very much.

-Get pay as you go phone set up at “Carphone Warehouse”. Chris goes off to get plums and bananas. Getting close to the time we need to meet the group for bus tour. I don’t see Chris, and am forced to leave him behind.

-2:00pm meet for coach tour. We drive past all major landmarks and famous buildings. Big Ben, Tower of London, MI6, Ministry of Defense, Westminste Abbey, etc. Want to go back and see these places on foot! Near Tower Bridge I see Fuller’s Ale and Pie House. *note to self, return to find it! Parliament, London Eye…

Nap for a bit, the meet whole group at Foundation House for a walkto the…

-Anglesea Arms, a pub. Had dinner with the program coordinators, Larry, Maria Hawks, Student Life Coordinator, Emma, Elizabeth? I had steak and potatoes au gratin. The steak was very tasty! I tasted a Guiness since everyone says its better over here. It was pretty good, very smooth, drinkable. Whilst conversing with Maria Hawks, Larry Stains and fellow students I tried my first London Pride-very good. Ordered a second. Someone made a comment about my unfinished beer sitting on the table, so I sucked down the remaining third with a large gulp. I think Maria was surprised, haha.

Had a little dessert. Leigh ordered and I had most of her apple cumble. It was served with custard, very delicious!

-Party moved to outside and I spent the next several hours (on into the night) talking outside withe the group.

-Met a troup of “Morris Dancers”, men who do traditional English fertility dance in costume. They were really cool, and let me wear their fancy hats, hahah. We spoke to them for a good bit and snapped some pictures. One of the Morris Dancers did a jig at the request of the girls in our group.

-Stood outside Anglesea Arms until the moon rose. Talked to Professor and the crew about everything from sports, politics, language. What to do and how to get around London, even about the origins of the Union Jack.

-I got congratulations from staff for not panicking about my lost luggage. I didn’t panic, I made several attempts to contact Air Canada, but they just delivered it. When the dinner group split up, I left Anglesea Arms and and headed toward Metrogate to claim my luggage. Changing my mind I turned around and went after the group. Rest of group went to Kavenaughs. I went to the bouncers and asked, “Did you see a shoddy looking group of Americans come through here?” The bouncer said yes, but asked me for ID. I got carded in a country where the drinking age is 18! I didn’t have anything with me, so I gave up and went back to Metrogate to claim my luggage.  I came to enjoy myself anyway, not to drink myself stupid.

The beer’s good here, though!

Zack

We finally got underway. I made it to Toronto and I sit writing this in a cafe at the airport. The attendant at the Air Canada ticket counter was friendly and helpful, not at all like the impatient inattentive asses working at Philadelphia airport ticketing. The woman rebooked me hassle free, chatted amicably as she solved my problem. She printed my boarding pass and even walked me to the correct terminal as her shift was ending. My only other experience in Canada was the 8th grade trip to Niagara falls. Both have been great experiences, under the circumstances, and I’ve found the Canadian airport personnel to be very friendly and helpful.

I’m anxious to get to London, but its a shame my layover delay wasn’t longer. I would have liked to have stayed to see more of Toronto.

Sitting, sitting, waiting. I would have been one of the first to get to FIE, now I’ll be one of the last. So much for getting the good bed or establishing my dorm territory.

Canada has a large population of Indians. If I was to guess, I would say they are  this nations largest minority. This airport is really poorly designed. I had to hike back and forth and up and down a hallway the size of a football field. I had to trek up escalators, down stairs, around corners, To the delayed disoriented traveler, this place is a maze.

I’m calm, knowing that after all this craziness is over, I’ll be in London!

Remember: keep all personal belongings with you at all times, 

Zack