Windsor Castle and a Sunday Roast

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     Yesterday, the international students got to take a free trip to Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world and one of the queen's official residences (it's her favorite weekend home). Thankfully, the weather was not nearly as bad as it was the day before.

"Weekend home." (photo: wikipedia)

    Right from the get-go, I was very excited for this trip. It would be my first trip into a castle and, of course, my first visit to a castle town. As we approached, I admit the nerd in me became very happy and got the Hyrule Castle Town song from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time stuck in my head. It's a catchy little tune, so I didn't mind so much.

"This town is a great place! Doggies having a race! Don't break that person's vase, or he will rip off your face!"-Lyrics according to youtube.

     In order to get into Windsor, guests must go through an airport-like security check. It's not quite as strict as airports (hats, shoes, and coats can be kept on) but they have the same types of machinery. There are certain items that are prohibited as well, and one kid in our group discovered that locking knives are illegal in Britain. Out of habit, he had taken his pocketknife with him to the castle (not a great decision) and it turns out that because it was a locking knife, it had to be confiscated and destroyed. Luckily the Swiss Army Knife that he also carries around (two knives are necessary?) was not taken away, which was good because apparently it was a keepsake that was 40 years old. Before security, guests get their first close look at Windsor Castle!

     After getting through security, guests have the option of picking up a free audio guide. Becca, Amy, and I chose not to, as we wanted to go at our own pace through the castle before trying to get to the statue of King George III before we had to leave. (The statue was not right near the castle, but more on that in a bit.) As we passed the audio guide stand, we moved on into the castle! Pictures were not allowed inside, which is too bad because it's magnificent. There were rooms decorated just with weapons (pistols, rifles, sabers), rooms filled with portraits, rooms lines with famous crests, rooms with armor, and more. One of the most interesting attractions at the castle was Queen Mary's Dollhouse. It was built by a famous architect for Queen Mary between 1921 and 1924. The house is enormous and intricately detailed. There are thousands of little objects made by leading designers and craftsmen, as well as a garden, a wine cellar, running water, electricity, working lifts, and a library stocked with original books written specifically for the dollhouse by famous writers. For a look at the dollhouse, go here (and try not to forget that it is a *dollhouse*): http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/queenmarysdollshouse/home.html

Blogger, I thought we were friends.

Guards patrolling the castle.

Even sideways, this lamp is more regal than I will ever be.

My personal favorite picture.

Entrance to the Queen Mary's Dollhouse area.

Saint George's Chapel

Me: "Are we allowed to get pictures with him?" Amy: "Well, he can't say no, right?"

     As our castle adventure came to an end, we decided to eat at a pub in the castle town. (Why not, right? That's certainly a Britain-only experience.) We ended up at The Three Tuns which, as it turns out, has a bit of history to it! (My fish and chips were delicious, by the way.)

     Now, onto the story about the King George III statue. Upon arrival at Windsor, the students were told that we could go see the statue if we felt like walking The Long Walk, which we were told was two miles from the castle to the statue (it's actually a little more than two and a half miles, so about 5 miles round-trip). Becca, Amy, and I wanted to do it, and it turns out we were the only international kids who went for it. The walks starts at the front gate of Windsor Castle...

...and ends over two and a half miles away at the statue of King George III.

"Is that the statue or a tree?" -Us

    The Long Walk lived up to its name, though it became an even longer walk when we encountered a mind-boggling distraction that nobody warned us about: a deer park. 

   

     Roughly halfway through the walk, walkers pass through a gate into a deer park. The road is still there to follow and all, but if travelers look to the right they might see this:

(I made the photos bigger than normal Blogger size so the deer are easier to see.) We were about as surprised and stunned as I imagine you are right now. I have never seen so many deer in one place! We stopped to admire them and take pictures for awhile before continuing the walk to King George III. When we finally made it, we stopped to admire the view and be amazed at what a long walk the Long Walk was. 

Blogger, you're putting a damper on my climactic moments.

Inscription on the statue. "Georgio Tertio Patri Optimo Georgius Rex."

The view of our walk back. I wished the road was ice and I had a sled.

Victorious!

     I wasn't planning on walking that far when we left, so I was wearing boots instead of sneakers. My feet were hurting a bit by the end and had acquired a few blisters, but it was completely worth it. (Somehow, many women we saw on the walk were in high heels. I don't know how they do it.)

     Fun fact about England that we noticed on the walk: there are lots of dogs. Usually they are small ones, which makes sense for people living in cities or small flats. The dogs we saw on the Long Walk were all extremely cute and superbly well behaved; almost none of them were on leashes, yet they stayed by their owners and didn't bolt after other dogs. It was impressive. 

    And so, our journey to Windsor ended. Despite being tired, we managed to walk all the way back to the coach buses and got there exactly on time. The rest of my day was simple: I went grocery shopping at Sainsbury's and went home.

     Today the only event going on was a traditional Sunday roast at a pub called the Bishop Out of Residence. I will definitely be returning to that pub during the semester, as it is right on the Thames, has free wi-fi, the decor is very nifty, and overall has a good atmosphere. I would love to go there do work on assignments and drink tea while overlooking the river. (See? Doesn't that sound nice?) Anyway, the roast: whoever says that England has bad food has never tried this traditional Sunday roast. I would have cleaned my plate if I'd had room! The beef, potatoes, vegetables, and Yorkshire pudding (which is not at all what Americans think of when we think "pudding") were delicious.

     Now you're all caught up. Classes start tomorrow (though I have Mondays and Fridays off, hooray!) so there won't be as much to write about now that I'm getting into the academic year. Posts will probably be once a week. I think I have something planned for almost every weekend that I'm here (including day trips on a few Fridays for my British Life and Culture class) so I should have something to write about once a week. We'll see. I am still planning what to do with my Spring Break (which is three weeks long here). If I can manage it, a trip to Ireland sounds good! That will certainly give me things to write about as well.

    Next post will likely be next Sunday. Until then...Cheers!

First Pub, First London Trip

Hello! You found the compass!


     When I last wrote, I barely knew anybody here. I am pleased to say that I now have a core group of friends who I get along with quite well. We got to know each other mostly thanks to a fun event that Kingston sponsored on Wednesday night: An outing to a pub called the King's Tun for the international students where the school pays for the first drink of each student! (I ended up getting two free drinks; they forgot to take my coupon the first time.) It was quite a good idea (who wouldn't pass that up?) and the area that Kingston had reserved was full of international students. I spent the night getting to know a girl from South Carolina (Lauren), a girl from North Carolina (Becca), a girl from Missouri (Amy), a boy from Egypt (Sufi?) and a group of Nigerians whose names I can't spell (one of them was Chisom, but that's all I know).

     Thursday was a day off, and largely uneventful. I did some exploring and shopping with Amy. I was in need of a good pillow and found an extraordinarily comfortable memory foam one for cheap. Oddly, I found it at a clothing store. At some point I'd like to go back to the store (Primark) as it has very fashionable clothing for reasonable prices. The other clothing store in the area similar to it is Topshop, which they have in America. Topshop is very expensive, but Amy and I went in to explore anyway. The only thing I could justify buying was a pair of gloves (which I needed anyway). I don't know what the original price was, but these were on sale because one of the gloves was missing two of the three decorative buttons on the side. Yes, that's right: Topshop is so pricey that I could only afford "broken" gloves. They're still good gloves though, and I think they look nifty. So there. (I will say one thing, though: Topshop is almost justifiably expensive because the sweaters and such things are not cheaply made. They are thick, warm, and look like they would last for a long time. $125 dollars for a pair of shoes, though...)

     On Friday, I attended a walking tour of London. Students were told to meet at Westminster Station, meaning we had to figure out our way into the city on our own. Amy and I met up at campus and I led the way to London (I spent Thursday night checking and double-checking train and tube maps). The lesson of the day: Always leave early, because things can and will go wrong. I guess it was an omen when I got to the bus stop and the sign for incoming bus times looked like this:

Mah bus dun broked.

     We got to Surbiton Station and went to buy tickets for the train to Waterloo; I was able to get my ticket without a problem, but something was going wrong with Amy's machine. At first it was refusing to take her credit card and it printed her a ticket that wasn't valid for travel (I haven't the slightest idea what the point of that ticket was). She used cash and it printed a proper one, but it still wouldn't let her buy an Oyster card (cards used for buses and tubes). We decided to get on the train and buy her a card at the next station. Before I go on with the stories of mishaps, I'd like to tell a brief story of a funny encounter on the train. Amy was wearing rain boots with a zebra pattern on them. We have clear American accents and were discussing how excited we were for London. The man across from us, a middle aged British man, pointed to her boots and said, "When did they start making zebras out of rubber?" As we were laughing, he seemed satisfied and explained, "The quirky English sense of humour and wit, it's all true. Especially for us middle-aged English. Everything you read about the English is true, except for the American War of Independence, the civil war, and the War of 1812. Those never happened." He had to leave the train shortly after, but he certainly gave us a funny and welcoming start to our journey to London.

     Now back to the series of mishaps: As we arrived at Waterloo, I used my oyster card to get into the station (I could have used my all day train ticket, but didn't realize it at the time). Amy asked if she could use my card, so I passed it back over to her. It wouldn't scan. She tried several times but the gate wouldn't open for her. She handed me back my card, found her ticket, and used that. Onward to the tube we went, first stopping at a station to buy Amy an oyster card. Once again, her credit card "could not be read" by the machine. (Note: This card worked in shops and grocery stores.) She gave up and tried using cash, but the machine only took coins. After digging through for enough pound coins, she began her payment. Halfway through, the machine spit out all her coins and ended the session, claiming that coins couldn't be used to pay for a card. At this point I used my credit card to pay for her, and she paid me back with paper money. Finally we were ready to continue. She scanned her card to get into the tube without a problem. I scanned mine and it was declined. After an "are you kidding me?" moment, I asked her to wait and went back to the machine to top off my card. The balance was negative sixty pence. So, I went to pay to top it off with my credit card and it said "credit limit exceeded" and ended my session. (Note: Amy's oyster card was the first thing I'd used my credit card on since arriving.) Luckily I had enough paper money to cover it (paper money is allowed for topping off a card, but not for buying a new one), and successfully proceeded through the station and onto the tube. We got to Westminster (finally) with time to spare. This is why you always leave early.

You never know what could happen.

    When we left the station, we were facing the London Eye. It was across the river from us and looked absolutely beautiful. Our tour guide told us later that each of the cars on the wheel represents a borough of London, and that on a clear day you can see for 25 miles from the top. We took some pictures before joining our tour group.

It's really, really, really big.

      

Statue of Queen Boudicca (or Boudica, or Boadicea) and the Eye. Queen Boudicca fought the Romans when they conquered Southern England.

Nobody knows where she's buried. She committed suicide rather than let the Romans kill her.

They had a pancake cart outside of the station!

     London was extremely cold that day. I plan on going back to the city when I feel I can appreciate it more, as do most other people who went on the tour. For the most part, we couldn't wait until it was over so we could get inside and eat warm food. I'll relay what I remember from the tour! Let's start with the pancake cart picture: if you walked up those steps and looked right, you would see this:

Couldn't fit it all in one picture...

Er, no, normally it isn't sideways. For some reason, Blogger won't let me save or publish this post with the picture right side up. Just save it to your computer and rotate it, or use your imagination.

     Bam. Some of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. As I learned on the tour, Big Ben is the name of the bell itself inside the tower. (Fun facts: the bell is cracked, and the same company that made that bell made the Liberty Bell.)  The official name for the tower is the Elizabeth Tower, or the Clock Tower of London. Of course, everyone just calls it Big Ben anyway. Moving along past Big Ben we see:

Really, Blogger? Why are you acting like this?

Again, they aren't really sideways. Just use your imagination or fix it yourself!

     There are more pictures of Parliament! Sideways pictures, because Blogger is being mean to me and pitching a fit if I make them normal, but pictures nonetheless. We learned a good bit of London history on the tour, as well as British history in general. I would relay more if I remembered it. The cold was rather distracting and the city was loud, which made the guide hard to hear at times. Around this part of the tour we were learning about a time period where the ruler changed frequently, and each ruler alternated between Catholicism and Protestantism. Hetalia fans may recognize this as the part when the character of England is at a bar, drunk and lamenting, "Am I Catholic, or am I Protestant? Oh, God, I just. don't. know."

It's okay, England. You'll figure it out eventually...

    

     There are a few statues in front of Parliament that you might recognize. One of them is of Richard I, or Richard the Lionheart. (Who, might I add, looks exactly like Graham Chapman's King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.)

Let us ride to...Camelot!

     The other one is Oliver Cromwell. If you're English, he is a hero who is responsible for ending the reign of Charles I. If you're Irish, he is a right bastard who "walks hand-in-hand with Satan" (words of a girl from my Irish History class) for his invasion of Ireland and campaign against the Catholics. 

Ugh, again? ...Actually, you know what? He can stay sideways. Take THAT! I sure showed him!

     The next stop was Westminster Abbey, which I definitely want to have a look around in next time I'm in London. The outside has beautiful Gothic architecture and the statues and carvings in it are unbelievable! 

Again...

Sorry about the blur. Took this while walking.

Various martyrs. 5th from the left is Martin Luther King.

     Next we went into Hyde Park and saw the biggest crows I've ever seen, as well as the most socialized squirrels I've ever seen. Yes, the squirrels will bite, but they will also hop into people's laps and eat food from their hands if offered. Very strange.

Monument outside of the palace.

The queen's home. She wasn't there at the time, otherwise her flag would be flying instead of the regular one.

     Final stop was Trafalgar Square. Sherlock fans will recognize the National Gallery from The Blind Banker!

I hope I figure out the problem for the next post...

     After the tour was done, most of us scrambled back into Kingston as fast as we could to get food and warmth. Even though we wanted to try a new pub, me, Amy, Sufi, and a Nigerian boy whose name I can't even pronounce, let alone spell, found the King's Tun first and decided to just go in there rather than wander around any more. We all decided to try a calorie-stuffed Brunch Burger.

I didn't finish.

    

    Once we were done eating, we parted ways. I headed back to my lodging and got rest. So ends my first day trip to London!

     I was going to talk about my trip to Windsor today in this post, but it is rather late over here (1:30AM) and I think this post has gone on long enough. I'll write about Windsor tomorrow night!

     More stories to come...