London--days 1 and 2

I am in love with this city. For a first real trip out of Spain, I probably could have gone anywhere and loved it, but this long weekend surpassed all expectations. I had never really thought anything about London before deciding to visit Stephen, and if he weren't studying there I'm not sure I would've made the trip at all. But boy am I glad I did! Maybe it was the fact that everyone spoke English that made me feel so comfortable. Maybe it was all the delicious food markets, which I'm definitely a sucker for. Maybe it was the feel of the city- so old and yet somehow so modern and new, with castles on one side of the street and angular, all-glass skyscrapers opposite them- that enamored me. Who knows, maybe it was the British accents. Every day was so jam-packed because there was just so much to do, an endless number of neighborhoods to visit, sights to see, brilliant architecture and landmarks to stumble upon. Yet at the same time, it was so wonderful to not pay attention to the time at all. My phone didn't work and I didn't have internet so I couldn't really use any technology- fine by me. The only commitment we had was to be at a show one night by 7:45, but other than that we ate when we were hungry (which was at 1 and 7 instead of 3 and 9 hallelujah!), stayed as long as we wanted wherever we were, and never felt obligated to fit everything in because we had such a long weekend! It was all too perfect. 

Wednesday was our travel day. We ran in to Eric and Tim at the airport; they had the same flight as us to Santiago de Compostela. After a bus ride to the airport, a long wait-time at our gate, a struggle to fit our backpacks in the Ryanair luggage restrictions case, a flight to Santiago, another wait at our gate, another luggage-fitting struggle, a flight to London Stansted airport, a rush through customs to make the hour-long bus ride into the city of London, a long conversation with a man at the ticket sales booth at the Liverpool Underground station about the pros and cons of buying an Oyster Card for metro travel over the weekend, a few train changes underground, a walk across Russell Square park......and we had made it to our destination in London! As much as it was, it all went extremely smoothly, considering all the possibilities of things to go wrong. Our flights were on time, we didn't have to check bags, we didn't take any wrong trains to get to MC's friend's house, and we found her flat no problem. The only hitch was back in Sevilla when I got through security and wanted to bring something to our hosts, so I bought a bottle of Spanish wine (a bull on the front label, so you know its authentic). But when we got to Santiago, they had us go through security again! My purchase didn't exactly fit the less-than-3.5 oz-restriction for carry-on sooooo into the trash my gift went. Bummer, but at least I tried! So we went out to eat at a pub when we arrived. Everything on the menu looked delicious, but all I was craving was an old fashioned salad and some fries so that's what I got. Oh and we found the British version of COOKIE BUTTER at the grocery store...day MADE.

But my day wasn't quite over. Stephen got out of a show he had to see for a class around 10, and he came to meet me at Russell Square to hang out for a little! It was crazy seeing him for the first time in over a month in the middle of London. But it had been quite the day, so I hit the hay early, knowing the next day would be just as busy.

Thursday was my "museum and art day." Stephen had class all day so Mary Carr and I started walking around at 9 am, saw Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern, and the British Museum. It was probably the coldest of all the days I was there, and we walked a lot. We stopped for a late lunch at Pie Minister, a pie place I'd heard about and wanted to check out in Gabriel's Wharf. Not only did we have the whole pie shop to ourselves, and it was so toasty inside that we could've sat forever, it was such a delicious lunch. After warming up inside it was back out into the London weather to continue exploring. I think my favorite part of the day (besides the pie) was seeing original works that I've studied in such detail in the classroom- and there they were right in front of me. Works by van Eyck, Botticelli, Holbein, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Velazquez, Rembrandt, Monet, and Van Gogh were all in the National Gallery, a massive and beautiful building facing Trafalgar Square. Tate Modern had works by Joan Miró, Rene Magritte, Picasso, Jackson Pollock, and Bruce Nauman- all modern artists I've done projects on in the past. It was awesome (in a nerdy way) to see their work in museums and already know what some of the history behind them are.

Trafalgar Square; I'm in awe and so jealous that Stephen passes this on his walk to class every morning.

The Tate Modern was just that- very modern. As packed as London is, with so many nooks and crannies, apartments on top of each other, and tiny streets, I couldn't help but laugh at walking into this building and seeing nothing but emptiness for the entire ground floor. Hey, that's art.

A special Roy Lichtenstein exhibit; I didn't pay extra to see it up close but I actually really do like his comic book-like work and it was cool to check it out from afar.

Obviously I have (and will have for all my London journals) the most to say about the food. This pie was sweet potato, onion, spinach and cheese. I also got a sausage roll. It was the perfect meal on a cold day. The bread was dessert-like- and so flaky and warm. MC and I devoured it.

All the museums were very cool, including the 90-something rooms in the British Museum (which holds the Rosetta Stone, among many other awesome exhibits), but after so many artifacts and so sculptures, we kind of just made quick scans of the rooms and took a few funny pictures here and there. We were pretty museum-ed out by this point. 

I met Stephen after class and we went grocery shopping in order to cook dinner that night. It was unbelievably good, too. Simple: just pasta, sauteed bell peppers, spicy tomato sauce, and chicken. Don't worry, plenty of oregano was added as well. A classic and one of my favorite meals Stephen and I can cook together.