Eye on Bath

First week of classes are done! I’ve just started my second week, so I definitely am adjusting to the new way of teaching and enjoying some of them already. This semester I am taking; History of London, Museums and Galleries, Video Production, and Pixel Playground. History of London and Museums and Galleries really drew my attention when I registered for these classes because they are one part lecture and one part trips out into London as well, which is great for me because I want to explore as much of the city as possible. Last Wednesday we took a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

In Pixel Playground we will learn how to create art using Photoshop and Illustrator, which will be nice because I’ve never used Illustrator, and I can keep up with my Photoshop skills. Video Production is probably going to be one of my favorites. We will explore the entire process of creating videos from planning, filming, to editing. We had some great equipment to use while in this class and I am excited to sharpen my editing skills by learning Final Cut Pro.

I’ve noticed too that even though it was weird to be so spread out on campus, I realized it probably takes me no more than 5-10 minutes to get to and from the buildings. So that was a fast adjustment.

Well enough, school stuff and on to the adventures!

On Thursday, my roommate and I decided to explore Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. I don’t have class on Thursdays and she has a night class so we took the afternoon to walk around. It was such a nice day to walk, it was brisk and sunny. I will take a super cold sunny day over a cold rainy day. As we were walking around, we soon realized that Hyde Park is massive. We kept walking, and walking, and walking. There are some great areas of the park, with tons of water features and statues dotted around the land. You couldn’t even tell you were in London anymore, it was like you were in the park in a suburbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then Friday rolled around, and we were off to Harrods! Knightsbridge is just the next borough east from Kensington, so it was just a short walk from campus. Harrod’s is lavish to say the least. It is an incredible store filled with every designer you could think of from jewelry to handbags, perfume, clothing, and even cars. Yes, cars. They have a great display of the James Bond cars. So we hung out with James Bond for a while, it was casual, or his cars were.

We took the time to walk around most of the store. From the bakery down to the Harrods section itself. It was great because the store was practically empty compared to the last time I was there, it was jammed packed, you could barely move. We finished at the bakery, and of course had to partake in the massive selection of pastries, that were delicious! We decided to take a chill night to get ready for our day on Saturday.

Saturday was the London Eye day! We took an awesome flight on the eye, and weather was perfect! It rained in the morning, but stopped by the time we got in line for the Eye. It was still cloudy but the sun set below the cloud deck creating the perfect back drop for the views. Big Ben had a golden halo around it.

Then we headed over to the Borough Street Market. This kind of reminded me of pikes place market with all of the fresh food vendors. There were tons of options for food that was prepared right there in front of us. I tried what was probably the best venison burger I’ve ever tasted and some great paella with fresh prawns and sweet potato. The air was a sweet combination of the the mulled drinks, fresh flowers, and the savory of the cheese and different entrees. I grabbed a mulled apple cider to keep me warm then it was off to King’s Cross station!

But first a chance to pet the cutest Springer Spaniel police dog named Ollie (although second to Grizz of course).

The station itself is massive, and the architecture itself is incredible. My family lives on Kings Cross back home so I definitely wanted to check out the station itself! (Of course our street looks nothing like the station). There is a platform 9 and 3/4 so you could become a wizard for a little, and get a photo op. We stopped for a bit to marvel at the Harry Potter store, but unfortunately the queue to get a picture was way too long so we didn’t get our picture taken on the platform itself.
We next headed back to Kensington for a cheeky Nandos, which is always an awesome choice. Then it was time to tuck in early for our next adventure!

After an early start, we arrived in Bath around lunchtime. We took a walking tour and definitely took in the incredible sights that Bath had to offer. We grabbed a cornish pasty  in a local restaurant and continued to walk through the shops in Bath. Itwas a quick stroll because we had an appointment with the Roman Baths. The tour was very interesting. A lot of the original Roman bath house is still standing but it tiny compared to the size of the facility it once was. There is still one pool standing and you can walk through some of the ruins. It was very interesting to learn about the Roman Bathing culture and how it was such a big part it played. Bath is about 2hrs from London, so it definitely was a hike to and from but it was worth the trip.
So that’s all for now! I’m headed off to start my second week of classes and headed to Paris next weekend! Aravoir!