I should be a London tour guide already

After spending about four weeks in this city, I officially know more about this place than my friends who live here. Scary, but true. Although the weather has been pretty dreadful, the sun has sporadically shown its rays, and I treasure those moments. Nothing like walking around London with the sun gazing and crispness in the air.

This last week has been wonderful. I've met some fantastic girls my age and we attended several large dinner parties and events. For some reason everyone was drawn to me when they heard my American accent. I guess this is a universal occurrence as we react similarly in the states upon meeting a foreigner. But the attention was kind of cool nonetheless! I've also gone on some really fun dates and have some planned throughout the rest of my journey. Very much looking forward to that...!!

I did forget to mention that I saw Book of Mormon two weeks ago. The hype is all true people. It ROCKED and my cheeks actually hurt afterwards from the constant smiling and continuous laughter that ensued. I cannot recommend it enough...run to see it!

After reading about the National Gallery's current exhibit - "Facing the Modern: The Portrait in Vienna in 1900" - I had to visit, especially upon learning about the exhibition's centerpiece, an unfinished portrait by Gustav Klimt of Amalie Zuckerkandl. He was working on it when he died in 1918. This piece is loot stolen by the Nazis, and Amalie herself is a Nazi victim. Read about it - very interesting:




http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/nazi-loot-is-in-major-national-gallery-show-8891813.html

Thursday was a highlight for sure. The couple who own the flat I'm renting thought I'd enjoy meeting their friend Julian for a drink at the private House of Parliament bar. Um yes please! Julian is an architect for the House of Commons and has special access to the Parliament grounds. Before I met him outside for the security search, I snapped some photos of my friend Ben and his sister Abbey at dusk.

Since the MPs (members of Parliament) depart on Thursday nights for the weekend, Julian was able to give me a private tour. No photos are allowed inside, so I'm including some images from the web. We first entered Westminster Hall, the oldest building in Parliament, commencing in 1097 and completed in the late 1300s. The awe-inspiring hammer-beam roof was installed in 1393 and the timbers alone weigh 660 tons. The Queen, Pope and most heads of state have stood on these steps to address both houses of Parliament.



Next, we stepped in the Central Lobby, which is the core of Parliament and was designed as a meeting place for both houses and for constituents to lobby their MPs. The Victorian architecture is exquisite and ornate. The chandelier is just unreal in person.



Finally, we visited both the House of Commons and House of Lords' chambers. The House of Commons MPs are elected and House of Lords are appointed (it used to be hereditary so most House of Lords MPs have spent several decades in Parliament). House of Lords don't have much power these days but they can slow down the House of Commons agenda. Hmm...sound familiar?



House of Commons chamber isn't that large or fancy. The two parties sit opposite each other to debate and cannot cross the red lines (2.5 meters apart, intended to be just over two sword-lengths). The chambers can only accommodate 427 of the 650 MPs, so late arrivals must stand. Early bird catches the worm really applies here ;)

And then we entered the House of Lords. Man, what a difference.


The State Opening of Parliament occurs here twice per year, including the Queen's speech from the gold throne. Although the Queen reads the speech, it's written by the government. The Queen arrives and proceeds to the robing room to change into her Imperial State Crown and Robe of State.





I just found the whole thing really cool. We then had a drink in Strangers bar with some other Parliament employees and members of the press. Here's the view sitting along the Thames:

Julian asked if I'd like to grab some Indian food after our drink, and in any other instance, I would have politely declined. I had been walking around the city since 9am and was beyond exhausted. But my motto on this trip is: "Say Yes!" So I had to say yes. Well, I've never been more thankful for saying yes. We didn't just "grab some Indian food." He had made a reservation at Cinnamon Club. Oh my God. Most upscale Indian restaurant in London. Best meal ever. Tandoori wild Spencer Gulf king prawns with coconut coriander sauce, pandan leaf rice. To this day, I've yet to savor a dish like that.
If you visit London you must eat here:

http://www.cinnamonclub.com/

Yesterday I played tour guide as my friends here have yet to visit Greenwich. We went to Greenwich Market for lunch and walked to Greenwich Park for some foliage and deer time. Heaven.

My adopted family and I sat by the fire at a great pub last night and the girls braided my hair as I drank a Guinness. Pretty great ending to a fantastic week.

I'm bidding London adieu on Wednesday to spend a few days in the country again. Then it's off to Paris! The next time we meet I'll have a croissant in my hands, along with a baguette, some saucisson sec, fromage and vin. Gotta get those sneakers ready...xx jack

Finding My Ryhthm

I'm past the halfway mark of my time in London, and I'm really starting to find my groove here. Some observations and realizations:

--You really don't need a gym here as the stairs and escalators go on for miles within each tube station. Since I wear my trainers (English term for sneakers of course) most days, I walk or run the escalators and my bum really feels it the next day. Scone-eating problem solved.

--I cannot find a rubbish bin anywhere! I look in every tube station for a trash can and am in total shock each time - they do not exist!! Just baffles me.

--English people aren't so inclusive. They are all set with their social circles and really aren't looking to make new friends. This is confirmed constantly by each person I meet who isn't English. Luckily for me, London is a huge melting pot and most people I meet are European or Australian.

--If you thought your city was filled with chains, come to London. Each corner has a Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Cafe Nero or Pret A Manger. That was the beauty of East London (Brick Lane and Shoreditch area) -- the originality still exists and no chain restaurants were allowed. Until now. Subway just opened and the local residents are just deflated. Speaking of East London, I went on a street art walking tour this week led by a Scottish bloke. East Londoners take pride in the originality of their hood and street art is a major reflection of their creativity. If you're a who's who in graffiti world, you come to East London to create. This stick figure artwork was done by a former homeless guy named Stik. He only paints stick figures and now each original print sells for over $2,000.

 

My fave:

We also passed Boxpark, a pop-up mall constructed of stripped and refitted street containers - check it out:   http://www.boxpark.co.uk/about/

And this company got creative when it was time to expand by using old Jubilee tube cars as additional office space:

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I had to visit some royalty. Horses that is. The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace is home to the royal collection of historic coaches and carriages (90 in total) and is also a working stable.  The horses train for four years at Windsor, and those which can maintain composure throughout mock distractions (camera flashes, screaming crowds, heavy car traffic and standing still for hours) get "promoted" to the Mews. The Queen names all the horses herself and visits the Mews several times per year to inspect them and feed them apples. Ha! Only the gray horses pull the Queen's carriage. Oh, and the horses get a six-week holiday each year, just like the English workforce! They get to play in the fields at Hampton Court. Loved that fact.

Each of the state coaches' details were so intricate. They're all painted the royal claret color and have 23 coats of varnish. The Queen Alexandria coach (built 1851) carries the crown jewels and is the only coach allowed to ride in front of the Queen's coach at any time. The Queen rides in the Irish state coach if her jewels are in transit. Below is the Australian state coach, which is the newest addition. As most of the coaches were built in the 1700/1800s, this one (built 1988) is very popular since there's a generator under the footman's seat and the coach includes A/C and heating. It also weighs two tons and is built like a car.  Can you imagine the royalty fighting over which coach to take? It's like my sister and I fighting for who sits in the middle seat in the car. But not really... William and Kate rode in the coach immediately following their wedding ceremony.

This is one of the five state cars housed at the Mews. They're simply known as Bentley One and Two, and Rolls Royce One, Two and Three. This car below is Prince Charles's favorite and has traveled throughout all of Europe (150k miles on it).

Lastly, this is the Gold state coach, built for King George III in the 1760s. It weighs four tons and needs eight horses to pull it as they also act as the break. It's the most uncomfortable coach as it's very wobbly - I'm sure they all take a Dramamine prior to leaving. The Queen rode in this coach for her Golden Jubilee celebration in 2002. By the way, when they take this coach out of this huge display room, they take the entire wall apart. Only way to extract it!

I then made a quick visit to Buckingham Palace:

My favorite culinary experience, by far, is Borough Market: http://boroughmarket.org.uk/ 

Besides the overwhelming number of food stalls, the outer perimeter is full of cafes, patisseries and wine bars. They're famous for the huge vats of seafood paella. I sampled it after I had already committed to a sweet potato curry dish, so I'll get this for lunch next week.

This is the view as you enter the market (Southwark Cathedral):

Monmouth coffee, next to the market, consistently has a queue around the corner, as they're known for the best locally grown coffee in town.

Yesterday, I walked along the south bank of the Thames (one of my fave walks) and made a quick visit to the Tate Modern. Hate to admit it but I wasn't a huge fan of the artwork. The building is impressive and the top floor cafe's views of the river and St. Paul's Cathedral are some of the best in the city, but I guess I'm more of a classical art gal. Walking over the Waterloo bridge I had to snap this pic:

Can't get enough of Big Ben. That's the Eye and Westminster Abbey as well.

Before I sign off, I have to mention my two new little friends, Greta and Matilda. They're the girls living in the flat I'm renting. I've grown to adore them and their British accents. We have dance parties. They beg me to blast Lady Gaga and their moves far surpass my dance moves at that age. They crack me up constantly and I've really enjoyed my time with them - adds some innocence to my day ;)

Jam-packed week

What a great week it's been! As I write this, I'm currently in defrost mode. Today was the first cooler day -- low 50s and tons of wind. It's been almost three years since I've walked for hours in this cooler weather, and since my body is still used to 100-degree heat, it was a shock to the system (but a good shock!).

Let's start with last week -- I spent some time in my local park, Greenwich Park, one of the eight royal parks in London. The Royal Observatory is here which is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian of the world. I took this picture with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one foot in the western. Pretty cool!

Greenwich Park also is home to the Royal Naval College and the Queen's House (built in 1616), which was the first classical building in England.

The royal family used to escape London for their Greenwich abode, as it was easy to travel here since it sits on the Thames. Greenwich Park and this house were popular hangouts for the Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

For my fellow dog lovers, you'll get a kick out of this:

A rubbish can just for dog poop. Loved that. And forget how happy the dogs are here - they run through the parks without leashes and are so well-behaved. Makes me miss my yittle manny ;)

I've been really excited to see the foliage change colors and this was the perfect day to capture it!

I couldn't stop snapping pics. The park's circumference is about 2.5 miles and I took pics throughout the entire loop. Then my iPhone died. Right before I found the Deer Wilderness area...it was incredible! There were roughly 20 deer - some with antlers and the others must've been Bambi's cousins. I got one pic before the phone died:

I'll go back soon as this is my outdoor gym, so I'll share more Bambi pics soon. A highlight for sure.

On Monday I visited Kensington Gardens, the home of Kensington Palace. Loved the swans. Such a serene atmosphere.

Kensington Palace is where Princess Diana lived from the 1980s until her death in 1997, and Prince William and Princess Kate are moving in here soon. I didn't realize it's open for touring, so I'll revisit soon.

Adjacent to Kensington Palace is Palace Green, known as Embassy Row. I walked right by the Israeli Embassy:

I then had to visit London's flagship Whole Foods (how could I resist?) - it was massive! Three floors and a food court:

They don't refrigerate eggs here (forgot to mention I bought some eggs from the local farm whilst in the country -- they just leave the eggs out and you leave coins in the bucket. It was the brightest yolk I'd ever seen and scrumptious as well).

By the way, I'm obsessed with this word. Just more fun to say and I get a kick out of seeing it near every "rubbish" can:

As I continued my Kensington stroll, I passed by this cafe and had to snap their dessert counter:

These gigantic meringues are all over the place here. It's the meringue invasion. I then arrived at the Natural History Museum. What a stunning building! 

By the way, I must emit a certain photographer energy, as many people of various ethnicities have asked me to snap their pic at the tourist sights. They don't speak much english so they just hold out their camera, smile and point to the button. Just a funny exchange each time. I then ask them to return the favor, which is brilliant ;) 

I spent a few hours here and really loved the mammal exhibit. They had a life-size replica of almost every mammal in existence, including a blue whale. The dinosaur exhibit was intriguing as well. Below is the kangaroo, in honor of my sissy ;)

On Tuesday I visited the Tower of London, which I was really excited to see. I heard that the queues get really long and the wait to see the Crown Jewels can be two hours. So...I have to give a shout out to my mom. When we visited Disneyland each year, my mom was a bit maniacal about arriving to the gate before it opened at 8am. She wanted to be first in line so we could run to the best rides first. Her father always said "the early bird catches the worm." So, in traditional Adler and Glueck fashion, I got up super early and rode the tube during rush hour. I highly don't recommend it. I speed walked to the entrance and was number seven in line. As soon the the Tower opened, I made a beeline for the Crown Jewels and was the first one there! It was fantastic touring the exhibit with barely anyone around so I could take my time and appreciate the details. The last window included the royal baptism basin and lily font, which will be used at the new prince's baptism.

I then joined a guided tour with a Yeoman Warder (known as a beefeater) and he shared some great stories. I, of course, stood in the front so I could pay attention, and then was suddenly pulled up in front of the 60-person crowd by the beefeater to reenact a story about Anne Boleyn. Yeah, that happened.

The infamous White Tower, which housed the prison and mint. The exhibit inside included the armor and artillary from those days:

 Armor of a giant and a boy:

This is Tower Green, where three queens were assassinated. Next to this site is the St. Peter ad Vincula chapel, where thirty bodies are buried, including Queen Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey.

It was such a fascinating experience, especially touching the walls of the white tower which was built in the late 11th century. I love how it's in the center of London, surrounded by modern architecture. Here's me and my fave bridge ;)

I have more to share but this post was long enough! I just wanted to mention my exciting news -- I booked a Contiki tour to Central Europe! It starts in Berlin on Nov. 9th and includes Prague, Vienna and Budapest. So pumped! The tour is for 18-35 year-olds so I'm sure it'll be a trip. More to come soon! xoxo