When we arrived in London, we went straight from the Gatwick Airport to our friend Lauren's house in Putney, the one hosting the Thanksgiving dinner. When we arrived, we were greeted by our friends from Tel Aviv, Paris, London, and Florence, and sat down at the table just in time for the cheese course. It was a 'casual' dinner but was so delicious and over the top. Plus, we got ice cream with homemade chocolate sauce for dessert. Great first hour in London.
Later that night we tried to go to a bar called Public, where apparently Kate and Pippa Middleton go to get their VIP tables. When we walked up to the door the bouncer asked how old we all were. Proud to be of legal drinking age in Europe, we say "20" with a smile, only to be turned down and told that the bar is 21+. We negotiated with no luck, and dragged our feet home, once again annoyed to be under 21.
The next day Alex and I navigated our way on the Tube to the apartment where we'd be staying for the next few days. We were staying with Alex's friend from California who is studying in London and who lives in an adorable apartment on a quaint little side-street called Charlotte Place. After unloading our suitcases, we hit our first London destination spot: Top Shop. We spent a whole 3 hours in Top Shop (it's absolutely enormous) and when we left, we felt completely disoriented and exhausted. Shopping can do crazy things.
Alki, me, Riv, and Acker
Naturally, we had to relax, so we went to high tea at the Charlotte Street Hotel.
We ordered 2 teas and they came with this tower of finger foods. We also got some pita and hummus (random) and a club sandwich. Everything was amazing.
A real Englishman.
Later that night I met up with my British cousin Charlie. The last time I saw her was about four years ago, so it was really great to catch up. She is currently working at a law firm, lives in a flat just outside London, and spent 5 months in Africa last year which was a complete surprise to me! We went to a really good Asian place for dinner and had the best black cod and dumplings ever. I'm so happy it worked out, and can't wait for her to come to the US again.
Charlie and me
After dinner my friends and I went to a 'house party' with a bunch of mutual friends and a lot of kids studying abroad from Penn. It was pretty lame; Northwestern kids know how to have more fun.
Alex, me, Acker, and Alki on the couch during the 'party'
The next day we went to an Borough Market - an outdoor food market with more vendors than I've ever seen! For some reason, Alki and I were sucked into a wine tasting shop where we tasted a couple of English wines. The vendor explained to us that since it doesn't get too warm in the UK, the grapes aren't able to fully ripen, so you don't taste the full flavor that you do in Italian or Californian wines. I can definitely attest to that -- the wines we tasted were really light and some had barely any flavor. I think at the end of the tasting the guy wanted us to buy a bottle of wine, but we weren't falling for it. Instead we caught up with our friends and found some delicious food.
Alki at the wine tasting.
Me and the vino.
Fish and chips!!! Better than I could have ever imagined!!
Riv and I at the market.
After eating our weight in fish and chips, English tarts, cheese samplings, and brownie bites, we walked along the river (and crossed the London Bridge) on our way to the Tate Modern.
London Bridging
Riv, Acker, me, and Alki
St. Paul's Cathedral
Trees outside of the Tate Modern. We decided the trees themselves were modern art.
One of the many strange exhibits at the museum. When you enter the museum, you are consumed by the huge, concrete structure you are standing in and can't quite figure out if the museum itself is an exhibit or if you're just being crazy. On the far end of the entrance, there was a screen (pictured above) with alternating patterns that people just sat and watched. Reminded me a little of the faces on the tall structure at Millennium Park.
Really cool exhibit of sunflower seeds...
...which were actually hand-painted pieces of porcelain, individually placed to create the perfect mound of sunflower seeds.
Stairs on the ceiling made of sheer fabric.
Illusion of walking upstairs.
Modern art.
More modern art.
St. Paul's Cathedral at night.
That night was the long anticipated Thanksgiving feast!! Us ten Americans were among 20+ British students, friends of my friend Lauren and her brother, James. Her mom had cleared out the living room to put an enormous round table (big enough to seat everyone!) and had cooked all the food herself. It was your traditional Thanksgiving dinner - turkey, yams, stuffing, potato dishes, onion dishes, green beans. And for dessert, of course, there were more than enough pecan, pumpkin, and apples pies. Everything was delicious. What made it really special though was that everyone stood up and said what they were thankful for. Americans, Brits, everyone. Each person said something different and everyone made it personal and meaningful. As much as I may dread having to share what I'm thankful for every year, I was so glad we did this because it gave a real purpose and heartfelt touch to the night. Wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it.
Riv, Lizzie, me, Gabi, and Acker
Lizzie with her plate. And the table.
Each of us also had nametags at the table, and it was divided so we sat next to people we didn't know. Again, normally this is scary or annoying because you want to hang out with the people you know, but I had the best time making new friends! To my right was a boy from London and to my left was his girlfriend, who is actually from Madrid. We had a lot of fun talking about the Spanish way of life.
First helping of Thanksgiving din.
Elizabeth and James (Lauren's brother)
Alex, me, and Paloma, my new friend from Spain that sat next to me at dinner.
Although we didn't do a ton of sightseeing on this trip to London, I got more of a feel of what it would be like to live there, both as a real person living in a house and as a student in a small apartment. It was also so much fun to have a European reunion with my Northwestern friends and hear what everyone has been up to in their respective countries.
Next stop: Morocco...
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