Monday(03/02/2009):
I was washing out my cereal bowl Monday morning when I noticed that the water in my bowl was a dark green, with particles floating around in it and a disgusting odor of urine and sulfur. Giovanni confirmed that the same water was coming out of the taps in the bathrooms, so I called the South Mall Court office when I got to UCC and they said they'd get it sorted out. Apparently it fixed itself later on in the day, and I'm not actually sure if anyone ever came out to look at it. I think they had been doing something with the water pipes in the street the night before and water had just gotten backed up.
Tuesday(03/03/2009):
For dinner Shawn and I ate our remaining 26 wings each. It was, of course, delicious!
Thursday(03/05/2009):
I went to class and turned in my homework for Friday, finished packing my backpack for the weekend and then got on the bus to Cork Airport. I got there and checked in, but I was rather early, so I ended up getting a pint of Paulaner at Red Bar (the main bar in Cork Airport) and read some for my Celtic Religion and Mythology course. I finally got through security, and boarded the Ryanair jet that I was going to be taking over to London, and proceeded to read for the better part of the hour or so flight. It was dark outside, so there really wasn't much to look at anyway. We landed on time and after exiting the terminal, where we just had to show our boarding pass, not our passports, I dashed down to the basement of the Stansted Airport to catch my Stansted Express to Tottenham Hale. There I caught The Tube to Russell Square, and after a few stops and a transfer I finally exited the London Underground, and walked down the street to the Royal National Hotel. I checked in, showered, and went to bed, as I was way to tired to go out and explore that night. My roommate got back around 4am, and after short introductions, passed out.
Friday(03/06/2009):
I woke up at 7:30 on Friday, and went down to grab some breakfast in the hotel. I didn't want to pay £4.50 to get eggs, bacon and sausage, so I just got the complementary toast, rolls, cereal and milk. The granola cereal I got was really quite terrible, so I just grabbed another roll and munched on that while waiting for people to congregate in the lobby at 9 to start the day. I saw Ann, Michael and Kristin in the lobby so I talked with them on the way over to the FSU office where Ryan went over the itinerary and gave us some safety and health information. From then we went for a bus tour of London, which was rather nice and very comprehensive. It took us past the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and a most of London, but I ended up falling asleep due to the drone of the tour guides voice and the motion of the bus.
Thankfully, Kristin had Michael poke me to wake me up before we went by Big Ben and Parliament. 
We also stopped the tour momentarily at St. Paul's Cathedral 
and got out to take pictures and walk out over the Thames River. Once we got off the bus we had some free time, so a few of us went into Chinatown and got some Chinese food for lunch. From there Ann, Katie and I went on to check out Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. We took some photos outside of Big Ben and Parliament, but couldn't actually go into the Houses of Parliament as they were in session and the guards with M16's outside were a good deterrent as well. It cost £8 to get into Westminster Abbey, but it was well worth it. The Abbey was incredibly beautiful, and huge. Luckily you were given a little handset that gave you a self guided voice tour when you keyed in the number of the location you were at. There was so much to see, and we spent a lot of time looking for the grave markers of a lot of people. We say William Shakespeare's, Isaac Newton's, and Charles Darwin's amongst others. We then casually made out way over to Ye Olde Cock Tavern where the whole group was meeting at 6 to have a Pub Quiz bowl. We were also joined by U of I alumni that currently were living in the London area, so it was really nice to talk to them. Ann, Katie, and my team didn't win, but Michael and Kristin's team did, so we were happy that they got a very nice prize of £10 each. I tried some English ale there too, but it seemed kinda weak and tasteless to me, so I just got a Guinness and was happy. From there we went on to have dinner at Las Iguanas, which is a very nice Brazilian themed restaurant on the Thames. The Thames looks incredibly beautiful at night. 
The atmosphere inside Las Iguanas was very fun, and they had Latin music playing. Ryan gave us each £15 to spend on dinner, and then then the rest was on us. I realized that it was Friday, and so I shouldn't have had that sweet and sour chicken for lunch (man, I'm 0 for 2 now), and so I got the Pescado Con Coco ("Fresh haddock, fat Chilean blue mussels in their shells, crayfish tails in a light, fragrant saffron & coconut broth with baby new potatoes, cannelloni beans & baby tomatoes") for dinner with a glass of Rioja Blanco,("Don Jacobo. Spain. Lemony fresh with no oak") and for desert Chocolate Banoffee Pie ("Gooey chocolate layered over banana drizzled with toffee sauce"). It was delicious. After dinner we were all pretty exhausted so we took the tube back to Russell Square, where Michael went on to his hostel, got back to the hotel and went to bed.
Thankfully, Kristin had Michael poke me to wake me up before we went by Big Ben and Parliament. 
We also stopped the tour momentarily at St. Paul's Cathedral 
and got out to take pictures and walk out over the Thames River. Once we got off the bus we had some free time, so a few of us went into Chinatown and got some Chinese food for lunch. From there Ann, Katie and I went on to check out Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. We took some photos outside of Big Ben and Parliament, but couldn't actually go into the Houses of Parliament as they were in session and the guards with M16's outside were a good deterrent as well. It cost £8 to get into Westminster Abbey, but it was well worth it. The Abbey was incredibly beautiful, and huge. Luckily you were given a little handset that gave you a self guided voice tour when you keyed in the number of the location you were at. There was so much to see, and we spent a lot of time looking for the grave markers of a lot of people. We say William Shakespeare's, Isaac Newton's, and Charles Darwin's amongst others. We then casually made out way over to Ye Olde Cock Tavern where the whole group was meeting at 6 to have a Pub Quiz bowl. We were also joined by U of I alumni that currently were living in the London area, so it was really nice to talk to them. Ann, Katie, and my team didn't win, but Michael and Kristin's team did, so we were happy that they got a very nice prize of £10 each. I tried some English ale there too, but it seemed kinda weak and tasteless to me, so I just got a Guinness and was happy. From there we went on to have dinner at Las Iguanas, which is a very nice Brazilian themed restaurant on the Thames. The Thames looks incredibly beautiful at night. 
The atmosphere inside Las Iguanas was very fun, and they had Latin music playing. Ryan gave us each £15 to spend on dinner, and then then the rest was on us. I realized that it was Friday, and so I shouldn't have had that sweet and sour chicken for lunch (man, I'm 0 for 2 now), and so I got the Pescado Con Coco ("Fresh haddock, fat Chilean blue mussels in their shells, crayfish tails in a light, fragrant saffron & coconut broth with baby new potatoes, cannelloni beans & baby tomatoes") for dinner with a glass of Rioja Blanco,("Don Jacobo. Spain. Lemony fresh with no oak") and for desert Chocolate Banoffee Pie ("Gooey chocolate layered over banana drizzled with toffee sauce"). It was delicious. After dinner we were all pretty exhausted so we took the tube back to Russell Square, where Michael went on to his hostel, got back to the hotel and went to bed.Saturday(03/07/2009):
The first thing we did as a group on Saturday was go on a walking tour of the historical sites along the Thames, with Ryan as our tour guide. We waked by a lot of places, including the reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe. After the tour, we were on our own for the rest of the afternoon, so Michael, Kristin and I went to Tate Modern (London's museum of modern art). Modern art really isn't my thing, as Seurat and M.C. Escher are my favorite artists, but some of the exhibits were still really cool. I mean, I always love looking at Picasso's stuff. After that we caught the Tube over to Camden Town to check out the Camden Market. 
Camden Market is really cool. I think Kristin summed it up perfectly as it being "punk rock". There were so many different stalls, people, food, and music surrounding you. It's so crazy and amazing. Michael and Kristin showed me this one store, Cyborg, that was really cool. It was a store that sold only rave clothes and gear, and they had techno music playing throughout the store. You kinda felt like you went into a mini rave. It was really fun. We ate lunch at his dinner, which had a pretty good burger, but their milkshakes were, once again, way to thin. I don't know what it is about the UK and Ireland, but they don't seem to be able to make thick milkshakes. Very tasty ones yes, but thick, no. We headed back to the hotel and regrouped and made our way over to Sofra's for dinner. Sofra's is a Turkish restaurant, and it was really pretty good. We ended up finding out that the bottled water on our tables was not free after we opened them up, but oh well. I ended up getting the "Healthy Meal" which is kinda of a taste of 11 of their different dishes, and a glass of rose wine. Everything was delicious! From there we walked to the Peacock Theatre to see the show Traces. Traces was kind of like circus acrobatics acts mixed with interpretive dance and theater. It was really pretty amazing. I'm not really a big one for watching interpretive dance, but it was still highly amazing to these 6 individuals do amazing feats of strength and acrobatics; doing backflips between 20 foot vertical poles, performing silk trapeze acts, becoming human passengers on 6 foot diameter hoops, and doing incredible dives, jumps and rolls through hoops. They all have to have been in insanely good shape, that most professional athletes would strive for, and their body fat had to be about 6%. After that we all departed, and went back to the hotel. Michael, Kristin and I went to a pub just at the corner of the hotel and talked for a while, and I ended up talking to my roommate for a while once we got back to the hotel, but besides that I just went to bed.
Camden Market is really cool. I think Kristin summed it up perfectly as it being "punk rock". There were so many different stalls, people, food, and music surrounding you. It's so crazy and amazing. Michael and Kristin showed me this one store, Cyborg, that was really cool. It was a store that sold only rave clothes and gear, and they had techno music playing throughout the store. You kinda felt like you went into a mini rave. It was really fun. We ate lunch at his dinner, which had a pretty good burger, but their milkshakes were, once again, way to thin. I don't know what it is about the UK and Ireland, but they don't seem to be able to make thick milkshakes. Very tasty ones yes, but thick, no. We headed back to the hotel and regrouped and made our way over to Sofra's for dinner. Sofra's is a Turkish restaurant, and it was really pretty good. We ended up finding out that the bottled water on our tables was not free after we opened them up, but oh well. I ended up getting the "Healthy Meal" which is kinda of a taste of 11 of their different dishes, and a glass of rose wine. Everything was delicious! From there we walked to the Peacock Theatre to see the show Traces. Traces was kind of like circus acrobatics acts mixed with interpretive dance and theater. It was really pretty amazing. I'm not really a big one for watching interpretive dance, but it was still highly amazing to these 6 individuals do amazing feats of strength and acrobatics; doing backflips between 20 foot vertical poles, performing silk trapeze acts, becoming human passengers on 6 foot diameter hoops, and doing incredible dives, jumps and rolls through hoops. They all have to have been in insanely good shape, that most professional athletes would strive for, and their body fat had to be about 6%. After that we all departed, and went back to the hotel. Michael, Kristin and I went to a pub just at the corner of the hotel and talked for a while, and I ended up talking to my roommate for a while once we got back to the hotel, but besides that I just went to bed. Sunday(03/08/2009):
I woke up Sunday morning, packed, ate some quick breakfast, said goodbye to Ann, checked out of the hotel, and then caught the Tube to the nearest working station to Westminster Abbey, as I had been told that Westminster Cathedral was near the Abbey, and I wanted to go to 10:30 Mass at the Cathedral. Well, Westminster Cathedral is NOT near the Abbey, and is actually about 3/4 of a mile to a mile away. So I ended up running through the streets on London with my pack on my back asking people for directions to the Cathedral (the English seem to be as inept as the Irish in giving adequate directions, i.e. street names). I finally got there and ended up taking my seat in the Cathedral just as Mass was about to start. Westminster Cathedral is huge! And the architecture and ambiance inside is very powerful. 
The Mass was also without a doubt, the most beautiful Mass I've ever been too. The had about 20 alter servers, full incense, and a full men and boys choir. Some of the Mass was in Latin, so I couldn't understand that, but I still knew what was going on obviously. The priest gave a really nice homily too, about how we could all appreciate Darwin's great contributions to science and how much he revolutionized his field, and that in doing so we in no way had to concede any of parts of the holy mysteries. Basically that we should embrace science for the incredible tool that it is how it helps us unravel the mysteries of the natural world, but that science in no way destroys, or diminishes the wonders of the spiritual mysteries that we encounter with God, and that one should be able, and willing, to accept and appreciate both. After Mass I took the Underground to Liverpool Street and then walked to Brick Lane to meet Michael and Kristin. Brick Lane was flooded with people, selling stuff, and looking at everything. We found a nice cafe ordered two pints of Blue Moon, and then just talked for a while until I had to leave to head back to Liverpool Street to catch the Stansted Express back to Stansted Airport. I checked myself in and got my boarding pass upon arriving at the airport and then set about finding lunch. I settled on this Irish restaurant, O'Neill's, where I ended up getting their Sunday special of "Steak and Guinness Pie and Guinness" for £9.90. Steak and Guinness Pie is basically like chicken pot pie, except that instead of chicken you have steak, and instead of whatever sauce you have in chicken pot pie you have gravy made by the Guinness company. If you add in the fact that you get potatoes, peas, and a pint of Guinness with that, it's an awesome meal! 
Upon finishing my meal at 3:35 pm, I noticed that my boarding pass said that the gate would be closing at 3:55 pm and I still had to go through security! So I grabbed my pack and sprinted through the airport to security, tried to get through there as quickly as possible, and then just ran as fast as I could through the airport (which might have been about 1200m, so it was a good run on a full stomach with a pack) and got to gat 41 at 3:54 pm, only to find a huge line. They hadn't even started boarding yet. I fell asleep on the flight back, but I still got to see the ocean between England and Ireland. It was really good to see the green fields of Ireland greeting me as I landed. I ended up having to wait at the airport for about an hour to catch a Bus Eireann bus back to Cork, and it felt really good to get back to the apartment, make some dinner, and go to bed! So all in all, I had an awesome time in London and I really have to go back! I still have to go through the Tower of London, see the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, and visit Michael and Kristin in Leeds.
The Mass was also without a doubt, the most beautiful Mass I've ever been too. The had about 20 alter servers, full incense, and a full men and boys choir. Some of the Mass was in Latin, so I couldn't understand that, but I still knew what was going on obviously. The priest gave a really nice homily too, about how we could all appreciate Darwin's great contributions to science and how much he revolutionized his field, and that in doing so we in no way had to concede any of parts of the holy mysteries. Basically that we should embrace science for the incredible tool that it is how it helps us unravel the mysteries of the natural world, but that science in no way destroys, or diminishes the wonders of the spiritual mysteries that we encounter with God, and that one should be able, and willing, to accept and appreciate both. After Mass I took the Underground to Liverpool Street and then walked to Brick Lane to meet Michael and Kristin. Brick Lane was flooded with people, selling stuff, and looking at everything. We found a nice cafe ordered two pints of Blue Moon, and then just talked for a while until I had to leave to head back to Liverpool Street to catch the Stansted Express back to Stansted Airport. I checked myself in and got my boarding pass upon arriving at the airport and then set about finding lunch. I settled on this Irish restaurant, O'Neill's, where I ended up getting their Sunday special of "Steak and Guinness Pie and Guinness" for £9.90. Steak and Guinness Pie is basically like chicken pot pie, except that instead of chicken you have steak, and instead of whatever sauce you have in chicken pot pie you have gravy made by the Guinness company. If you add in the fact that you get potatoes, peas, and a pint of Guinness with that, it's an awesome meal! 
Upon finishing my meal at 3:35 pm, I noticed that my boarding pass said that the gate would be closing at 3:55 pm and I still had to go through security! So I grabbed my pack and sprinted through the airport to security, tried to get through there as quickly as possible, and then just ran as fast as I could through the airport (which might have been about 1200m, so it was a good run on a full stomach with a pack) and got to gat 41 at 3:54 pm, only to find a huge line. They hadn't even started boarding yet. I fell asleep on the flight back, but I still got to see the ocean between England and Ireland. It was really good to see the green fields of Ireland greeting me as I landed. I ended up having to wait at the airport for about an hour to catch a Bus Eireann bus back to Cork, and it felt really good to get back to the apartment, make some dinner, and go to bed! So all in all, I had an awesome time in London and I really have to go back! I still have to go through the Tower of London, see the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, and visit Michael and Kristin in Leeds.
you take some really good pictures.
ReplyDeletealso, monday...*vomits*