Public Transportation, Tate Modern museum, and Globe Theatre

Hello,

I apologize for the lateness of this blog post. It has been a hectic first couple of weeks trying to get my bearings and prepare for class. I have slowly been exploring the city more and more. Trying to get out of this posh neighborhood and determining the best way to use public transportation. The underground, a.k.a tube, is the easiest way to get across the city it is very efficient and fast. However, you don't get to see too much of the city when you travel underground and it can be very expensive if you travel between zones. The bus is a little more confusing than the the underground, but it is cheaper and you get to see all the sights. Almost all the buses are double deckers here and are kept very clean. The best way to describe it is vintage and traditional. The last form of public transportation that you can use besides taxis and walking; is the bike system. You can go to any of these bike stops, and rent a bike for a day. It is only cost one pound. There are over 300 of these bike stops across Zone 1 in London, which is where I live.

This last saturday I went to the Tate Modern museum. The Tate Modern is a museum that exhibits modern art. It was an old power plant that got turned into a museum (there is a picture below). It has seven floors and three floors are full of exhibits. Not going to lie some of the exhibits were "beyond me." I really don't get how art can be just a big canvas and line... Oh well, some of the other exhibits were amazing. There were Pablo Picasso paintings, which contained more of his surrealism and abstract paintings. My favorite exhibit was this one called A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters,  by Taryn Simon. You can read more about it Here. My other favorite part of the Tate Modern is the view from the balconies. Also, the day I went I got lucky because it was the Thames festival. So there was just a lot of people walking along the river and there was live music. London is a great city to people watch! Since, it is so multicultural. Last thing to add and the great thing about London is that all of the museums and art galleries are free, which is great when you are poor college student.

Millennium bridge. This bridge is in Harry Potter and gets destroyed in the sixth movie. 

Picture of the Bridge from the Balcony in Modern Tate.

This is apart of the Thames festival.

I don't get lines... Looks like a murder scene.

Favorite Picasso Painting that I saw, notice how the "blue" face looks like it kissing the "white" face.

Being a history a minor, I love just walking around. You can just feel and see the history in London. When walking outside of a pub you can find memorials and monuments attributed to subjects that I have just learned in class. It is amazing being able to experience it and now I can say "oh I have been there," just makes everything more relatable. Speaking of places that I can now say "I have been there," for class I went to the globe! I watched the play Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe. It was hilarious and the production at the globe is incredible. If you are willing to stand in the yard and be known as a "groundling" you can get a ticket for five pounds. It was painful to stand for three hours but it is totally worth it. Most study abroad students have "trip" classes, which means that there class goes on trips throughout london. I am just fortunate enough that mine goes to the globe and sees plays!

Classmates and me at the Globe! The poster for the play is behind us.

Cheers,

Brian Trubowitz

Just Touchdown in London

Well hello there,

I arrived in London on August 30th, and it has been almost non-stop since I have gotten here. The time difference is five hours from eastern time, and seven hours from mountain time. I essentially lost an entire day to traveling because my flight from Calgary was eight and half hours. Thus far it has been pretty surreal for multiple reasons. First, I live in a place called kensington which is the richest part in not just London but the entire UK. There are some of the most expensive flats here in the entire world. A couple of blocks down from me there is a flat worth a 110 million pounds. It doesn't even have a kitchen! This is the rich of the rich or how people say it here the "'posh' of the 'posh'". It is absurd. The cars on my blocks are cars that I can only dream of buying. There are Beamer, Benz, Bentley's, Rolls Royce, Porsche, Ferrari's, etc. I may just spend a day taking pictures of all these cars so people can understand this neighborhood. Essentially I will never live in a place like this again, unless somehow I am a billionaire. A picture of the 110 million pound price flat is below:

This is the block that I live on!

Everywhere I have been so far in London is gorgeous and clean. All the edifices on the building are beautiful s and each one is different. I will try and post several picture to show everything that I mean.  Everyone on the trip has been very outgoing and nice so far. It is definitely an adjustment get use to all of the british laws. The most obvious is driving. Streets are narrower and they drive going the opposite direction, which most people know so I won't elaborate. But what is different is that pedestrians don't have the right-a-way. So if your not careful you can easily get hit. The other day I almost got ran over by a bicyclist! Luckily, that didn't happen. On some streets they paint signs on which direction to look. This is clearly put here for tourist like me. 

Some other laws is that you can't carry a taser, pepper spray, or anything pointy. Taser and pepper sprays are considered to be firearms and if you have anything pointy then police can arrest you. They I.D. you here for cutler, yes that includes plastic knives. 

The tube (London's subway), is the cleanest subway system that I have ever seen. Even when it is packed in the tube people don't push here. It is very "proper." The dogs are some the tamest that I have ever been around. Everything is small here, really everything is just oversized in america. Going to pubs are amazing. We went to a more suburban part of london, called Richmond and we were able to drink outside along the thames river, which is pronounced timms. It runs through central London. It was one of the best views I have ever seen. I wish I could have taken a picture of it. I will have to go back. 

This is all I can think of for now. Here are some more pictures from the bus tour. Very touristy stuff. 

This is Tower Bridge.

Me outside of Big Ben. Big Ben is the bell in the tower not the clock.

Just thought this was an awesome picture.

Very Truly Yours,

Brian

New slang "Cheers=Thanks"

The song of the week is "American Boy," by Estelle ft. Kayne West.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic5vxw3eijY