With the release of Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" happening this week (which I have yet to see) and the recent discoveries I have made about London simply by wandering through the streets, I can't help feeling like I've just fallen through a rabbit hole into a whole new London I didn't even know was there.
On Sunday, Megan, Allie, Lauren, and I decided to go to the British Museum. We got there with only an hour left before it closed, so we hurried straight to see the Rosetta Stone. None of us had realized how big it is and how itty bitty the writing is, so the significance of this big ole hunk of rock was made clear to all of us. We then headed upstairs to the Egyptian halls where we saw mummified...everything. People, of course, but also cats, alligators, falcons, eels, etc. Creepy? Yes. Fascinating? Double yes.
We also got to see one of the Bog People. I had learned about these ancient Britons who had been found in bogs throughout the British Isles in my English class in the earlier part of the semester. Seamus Heaney describes them in a series of poems, and after learning about them I really wanted to see what he was talking about. They're different from other preserved bodies becuase the pressure of the bog and peat has flattened them out, and the peat has turned their skin a purpley color. Most of them still have hair too, and they really just look like they fell asleep. It's eerie, especially when paired with the fact that no one knows why they are there. This was generally a pretty creepy trip, as you can see.
After all that death and rotting, the only thing we could think about, of course, was food. It struck us suddenly: we've never had a traditional English tea? We decided to have a little tea party in the British Museum, which was very lovely.
On Tuesday, my boss told me to just skip work because there wasn't really much for me to do, so I decided skip across the Thames and just enjoy the perfect weather along the South Bank. While I felt more than a little lonely just wandering along the Riverwalk without my little London family, it was really really nice to just be inside my own head for a while and people watch. I got off at the Westminster tube stop and meandered across the river, stopping along the way to watch a bagpiper and to take some photos of the river views. When I got across the water, I walked past the London Aquarium and the London Eye. Being in this area reminded me of the last time I was in London. I was much younger, and my family and I stayed just behind the Aquarium. Being there, along the river, was what first made me fall in love with London, and I swore to myself I would be back there some day. It's surreal to think that I had no idea of the amazing experience I'd be having now, years down the road, that I would actually keep that promise to myself.
As I walked along the riverside, I saw the dozens of street performers who stand like statues or who dance and play music and sing. I kept going, watching the other people watch the performers, and eventually came upon the famous skate park. It's covered in graffiti, as if the light got caught in this small covered cave and bounced around like a prism. Despite London being filled with famous museums and artwork, this is one of my favorite displays of art in the city.
I walked all the way down the river as far as I could go, until just before the Globe. I turned back around and decided to get some food at the restaurant that's connected to the BFI, as I had planned to see a movie there later. Outside the restaurant, there was a book market being set up, so I decided to peruse. One of my worst habits is not being able to leave a book store without buying something, so of course I walked away with something to read on the tube ride home.
Then it was finally time for my movie. The BFI is a huge building where they play all kinds of movies at all times of the day. There are current titles and classics, art films and blockbusters, and they have special events all the time celebrating different actors and directors. I had decided to go see Bright Star which is about the love story of John Keats and Fanny Brawne. It was absolutely stunning and I left the theater sniffling and wiping my eyes, feeling extremely single. Go see it. It's incredible.
Our next excursion was to Camden. We touched a wallaby.
What? You want more? How is that not enough for you? WE TOUCHED A WALLABY! How is that not the coolest thing ever? Alright. Well since you must know, Camden was full of other cool stuff too. There are just thousands of stalls selling everything from clothing to jewelry to shoes and it's all really cheap. We are definitely heading back to do some real shopping, because it was a little too cold to be outside for too long. We were also all tempted to come away with an extra peircing, just to say we were punks and rebels like the majority of people there, but we decided we love our parents too much to torture them with that. But there's still time...
We dined on some delicious chocolate and banana crepes and of course made an exotic new friend (I'm talking about the wallaby), and then decided to head home. Overall it was a very pleasant week that brought me into some very surreal situations, but isn't that what being in a foreign country is all about? Feeling like you're living in Wonderland?
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