fun fun fun...oh and classes to

Favorite Things...
I've been in London for just over a month, and everything is fantastic! Maybe I'll make a list of my favourite (notice the UK spelling!) things....

1. how international the student body at the LSE is. In one of my seminars of 15 people, five continents are represented. You get so many new perspectives on the issues that you study.
   
2. finding new places in London that are really cool. Like staircases all over that lead down into the river. Not that you would ever want to wade in...
3. fish and chips
4. markets; there is one near where I live where they hang rabbits and chickens by the neck for sale. There is also a stall to buy goose liver fat, yum!
5. dinner with flatmates
6. walking around at night (in a safe area, no worries!) and seeing the things you see everyday, but with no one around
7. having a cuppa (tea that is!)
   
8. riding on the top deck of the bus (extra special if I get the front row seat)
   
9. getting to the point where I often see people I know on the LSE campus--not everyone is a stranger anymore!
10. that I'm getting used to being a student again--pasta for dinner 3x a week, updating my blog at 1:00 AM, willing my eyes to stay open in morning lectures, reading for classes whenever I get a free chance...

Everyone Likes Pictures...
You gotta love Westminster Bridge!

Love the big red buses!

Isn't this a lovely image of peace? What we're all working towards...

Big Ben is always a favorite


Another vantage point of the houses of Parliament

Autumn sort of crept up on me here, because I'm used to the extravagant Virginia leaves changing. This is a lovely park

Creepy looking stairs leading down to the river--these kinds of staircases are all over the city. On this particular one, we saw a very very sick bird who had come to this place to die.

Classes
The past month has been fantastic, as I've said. I've gotten into the swing of classes--they are definitely intense! You have to do a ton of reading, it's very independent-research based. I'm taking a class on globalization, a class on complex emergencies, and one on foreign and security policies of Russia and Eurasia. They are all incredibly fascinating, and it's great when I can make connections between them. Like how a lecture/seminar in global ethics is relate-able to discussions on perceptions of war. OK, not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it!

Day trip to Dover
Today Ty (a next-door flatmate) and I took a day trip to Dover, England. I really just wanted to go somewhere and get out of the city for a bit, and chose Dover rather randomly. It's a couple of hours southeast of London, and is where the chunnel begins, leading to France! We had a bit of trouble getting there (canceled train, connection, etc) and didn't end up arriving until almost 4:00. Oh, and of course it was a rather crap day in terms of weather. So it was rather late and dark, but Dover was great! There is a huge castle sitting on top of the cliffs, overlooking the water. The white cliffs are really famous and spectacular. I would love to go back again, when the weather is nice and there is actual daylight!
Ty takes her first train ride ever! We bought a giant box of cookies from Marks and Spencer (the best food store ever!) for the ride

playing around with the color accent settings on my camera

a great little church in Dover

So the Dover Castle is on top of a really big hill, and as it was getting dark (and OK so we're lazy) we didn't want to walk up, so we tried to hitchhike a ride. No one wanted us, though!

a cool looking little street

Dover is where the chunnel to France is!

Posing by the water--it is the Straight of Dover, and in the way way distance is France

Ty and I! It was quite windy

The white cliffs--gorgeous!!

the queen!!

Today is such a momentous day that I have to post twice. Today....I saw the Queen of England!! That's right, Queen Elizabeth II. I was walking back from school and there was a crowd of people and a ton of policemen around the HMS Belfast (a old war ship converted into a museum). So I asked what's up and someone said the queen was going onto the ship! Yes, I'm gloating because I saw the queen today....
There she is....the little old lady in the purple suit and pink hat! What fashion!

The Queen's cars

A copper guarding the queen!!

A Walk to School

OK so I thought I'd take you on the walk that I try and do everyday--the walk from my residence (near the Tower Bridge) to the LSE (near Aldwych). It usually takes about 45 minutes and is amazing. It's almost entirely along a path following the river west and passes landmarks like the Tower Bridge, the Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre, St. Paul's, etc. So enjoy!

A block or so away from my residence, you're walking down the street, and BAM! The Tower Bridge around the corner! This is a really cool area that used to be all warehouses and was taken over by artists in the 1960s I think, then gentrified in the 1980s.


This weird looking building is the City Hall. From across the river it looks like a sphere, but from this angle it just looks strange. The mayor of London, Ken Livingston, works here!

Southwark Cathedral (pronounced suth-erk, really fast!) A gorgeous place!

This is where the river path veers off, and you have to walk down some really cool narrow, cobblestone streets. This is the Clink Prison Museum.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre!

This is the Millennium Bridge that crosses over to the City (the financial district) and puts you right at St. Paul's Cathedral. I always thought it was an interesting juxtaposition--the millennium bridge leading to this really old and historic church...

The Tate Modern museum, with a giant metal spider thing out front.... the museum is a converter power plant!

OK now I've crossed over Blackfriars Bridge to get to the north side of the Thames. This is a view of I think it's called Queen Victoria walk--basically a river path that I think is really beautiful.

A view looking to the north, you can see the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament. The bridge is Waterloo Bridge, which I sometimes will cross because you get an amazing view of the city.

This is Aldwych, a really really busy intersection-like place. The building is the Australian Embassy. Almost to the school!

The Royal Courts of Justice are right next to the LSE!

And this is the LSE! The main entrance is Houghton Street. There aren't many people here yet because it's only 9:00 AM!

Oh yes, the Economists' Bookshop! A place for economics and politics nerds like me...