Tower of London, Museum of London, and General Gallivanting around Town...

We got game. These are our ice-skating faces. Don't mess with us.
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Wow...now I realize why I have to keep up on this blog really regularly--if I don't, I completely forget what I did since the last entry; and if I make it as far as remembering, I can't recall in what order it all happened!  And thus my flat-mate, Courtney, and I have been attempting to piece together this past 5 days for you all to read about.  Lucky you, haha.

And so:  On the 14th of January (I know this only because I managed to dig out my admittance ticket!) we sojourned to the Tower of London.  This is an amazing place, so steeped in history.  Imagine:  it's been there since Norman times!  William the Conqueror himself had the White Tower, the oldest portion, built.  Then of course there's the gruesome, bloody history associated with it--which our Beefeater tourguide was eager to tell us.  He was an excellent source of information, and really made the buildings come to life.  There was the green where traitors were beheaded, including some of Henry VIII's wives, as well as the poor little Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Day Queen...also Margaret Plantagenet Pole--a 68-year old lady, taken prisoner in 1541 and sentenced to execution in her absent son's stead.   After proclaiming her innocence, she ran away from the executioners, and was subsequently chased down and hacked to death in the middle of the green.

Tower Bridge, and me. We go way back.
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Despite the gristly content, the tour was fun--we went into the cathedral there, where there was a small step down which our Beefeater tourguide was quick to warn the ladies of:  and he was quick to be at the door to catch us if we fell (I considered intentionally tripping, but thought better of it, haha)...It was the cathedral where Henry VIII was married to most of his wives.  I walked down that aisle, of course.  It's a strange sensation to know exactly who once stood where you stand now...if that makes any sense.  Same story for Sir Walter Raleigh's rooms--he had a really cushy setup there--it would be easy to forget he was imprisoned!  And the murder of the young princes in the Bloody Tower will always be a mystery, but I saw the staircase under which their bodies were allegedly placed...

I like to hang out with random Roman conquerors occasionally...
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I had a moment where I was a complete tourist and took a picture with a Beefeater.  Not the tourguide (the tourguide one was kind of cute, haha), but I chatted with him a bit...He said that next time, I should bring along the Big Bad Wolf (I was wearing my red coat--always a conversation piece, apparently!), and upon finding out where we went to school, informed us that he has a cousin who lives in Mountain View, Arkansas, and that if we liked country music and want to see the "undiscovered Branson", we should take a trip there.  I must admit, I never expected to get American travel advice for the southwestern region of Missouri from an English Beefeater.  Amazing!

The oldest part of the Tower of London: the White Tower.
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I can't tell you how many times it's been driven home to me that our world is so incredibly small...

After the tower, we headed back to the general direction of Earl's Court and stopped at a little Italian place called "Lorenzo's" for dinner.  It was Amber's last night with us, so we got all dressed up for it.  Good food and pretty cheap, so I liked it.  Later that night we headed back to the Tower for ice skating--haven't done that in years!  I must admit, the Tower of London makes an interesting backdrop for such an event--quite fun!

Little Red Riding Hood, Amber, and our travel-guide Beefeater friend.
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The next day was pretty much all classes--I'm finally getting down to the daily grind of school, unfortunately.  But the subject matter is all pretty interesting, especially my English Operetta and Musical Theatre class.   It's taught by a British professor, and we go to performances about once a week--so no complaints from me!

In between classes, we went shopping for a bit with Amber, and ended up in Chinatown again at a place called "Lee Ho Fook's"...

"Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein..."

A fountain now stands where the executioner's block once did...a pretty gorey spot.
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That was a clue.

Anyone?  Anyone?  If you guessed Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London", you win 28 bonus points.  If you didn't, you've really got to work on your musical repetoire, as you are a sad, sorry excuse for a person.  Kidding.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited to eat there.

That night, after class, Laura and I met up with our flatmates and some friends (while Amber was at home packing--shame on us!), and we went to the student union for a quick pint or two.  Now mind you, we'd been good girls since coming to London, as Amber was on a hiatus from the drink since our continual booze-loving state in Ireland...Laura and I felt a night of rebellion was in order, haha.  (I love you Amber!!!)

Ice skating at the Tower of London
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At any rate, we ended up back at the flat a bit later than expected, but in plenty of time for some memorable moments.  For my own sake, I'm writing down key phrases to aid my memory later:  Banana-Phone balcony singing (complete with jazz-hands); "Bitch, please!"; Laura and Courtney's devious plan to make Jen and I die a "Traitor's Death" because we were talking to people other than them; and of course, the wonderful "I'm sure they have the tar and the feathers in the same section at Tesco...they're probably even next to eachother!"...Ah yes.

Sir Walter Raleigh's sweet prison lodgings...with all the comforts of home.
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Okay, enough of that.  On Tuesday, Amber and I woke up reaallllly early to take the train to Heathrow, where she departed on a plane for the New World.  Sad to see you go, dear!

Wednesday was our first BLC field trip, to the Museum of London.  It was fascinating!  It was set up chronologically, and took you all the way from prehistory to WWI.  They had entire rooms set up in period styles, and they played period music to accompany it; they also had clothes from down the ages on display, and parts of ancient ruins and medieval artifacts...all sorts of things.

Suits of armor worn by good ol' Henry VIII.
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We also went to TopShop, a huge, trendy clothes store that is surprisingly reasonable.  It was overwhelming!  I've decided to throw out every article of clothing I own and start over.  No, kidding--it would be nice, but I'm eminently practical.  Alas, I bought only a pair of gloves.  They were fingerless, though, which was my sole concession to frivolity that day.  Us practical types must get our kicks somewhere. Ha.

And that's been about it, kids--today's been a class day, and who knows what's up tomorrow; I don't plan ahead that well.  Saturday brings the Borough Market at London Bridge, where I'm meeting up with Steve (my friend from Kent), so that's fun.  I'll keep you posted!

Preparing to chow down at Lee Ho Fook's...
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Love and hugs and all that good stuff!

Chris