More London explorations and even some countryside

On Wednesday I went to a Wire concert with my friend Eric (Wire is a post-punk British band that formed in the 70’s). We went to a pub before the concert, where I ordered my usual cider (because I generally think beer tastes like rusty water). While pouring my drink from the tap, the bartender asked us where we were from (our accents probably gave it away). After telling him we were from the states, he nodded with approval and proceeded to ask me if I would like ice in my cider. I initially thought this was a stab at the “unsophisticated American” stereotype, and responded “hah…no thanks.” But he was serious and assured me that “ice is nice.” I took his word for it, mostly because I liked the way he used rhyme to sway my opinion, and asked for precisely two cubes to avoid a potentially watery cider. And indeed, the ice was nice. As we sat in the pub, I suggested that we initiate a game of “count the number of bald people” upon noticing an unusual abundance of bald men around us (I already had a head start with 6). This task soon became overwhelming however, when we entered the venue for the Wire concert. While there was a portion of people who were our age, the grand majority appeared to be Wire’s fan-base from 'back in the day' but were clearly pushing their mid-50’s in present day - and therefore, balding. Even half of the band was bald. So, we never reached a final count.

I visited Greenwich with a few friends on Friday. There, we walked around the royal naval academy.

....which looks remarkably similar to Skidmore’s campus.

Royal Naval Academy

Skidmore

We then walked around the town and market area, before getting lunch at a small seafood place in town. The restaurant was keen on playing R&B slow-jams for the entire duration of our stay, which made for a strange ambiance while I was gnawing on my fish and chips. Later that evening, we took a ride on the London Eye (a very large ferris wheel), which has an amazing view overlooking London. 

 The London Eye

One of the views from the London Eye - there's Big Ben.

I also FINALLY saw Big Ben (It’s really absurd and embarrassing that I have been here for a month without seeing this landmark). Afterwards, we checked out a comedy club in Leicester square. The “comedy club” was really just the basement of a hotel. There were a couple of good comedians, but most of the comedy was the type that receives pity-laughs from the audience in between long periods of silence. But actually, I found humor in how bad some of the jokes were - so it was a good time.
Oh and we also happened to run into a group of Teletubbies at one point in the night.

On Saturday, I went on a hike with the UCL hiking club in Arundel, a small town south of London. I’m glad I went, though I spent 15 minutes lying in bed that morning debating whether the trip would be worth getting up at 8 AM on a Saturday. The hike was a mere 11 miles (no big deal…) but my once-grey sneakers were in no way suitable for the rain, consequent mud, and liquefied horse poop that they encountered throughout the day. I also forgot to pack a rain jacket, so that was a pleasant experience (I am rarely coherent at 8 AM in the morning, so I didn't pack or dress appropriately). But I really did have a good time. We walked through the village and the wide-open fields, where chickens frolicked and herds of sheep roamed. We also saw a lot of swans in the fields, which was a little unexpected.

It was the very essence of what I imagined the English countryside to be like. 

There was a solitary phone booth along the barren road. I was inclined to take a picture of it.

Along the hike, we found a small church, where we stopped for a while to get warm, and a castle atop a hill. 

It was also nice to hang out with more non-American students (my mission since day 1). We all went out for tea and lunch at a cozy little restaurant in the town. We were all cold and drenched, so the hot tea was perfect. I also got butternut squash soup (it was the last one!) and it was delicious. I didn't want it to end.

On Sunday, I went to the Chinese New Year parade/celebration. It was so crowded that I could barely move (I just googled the estimated number of people who attended - 250,000). We all went for dim sum afterwards (sooo good...and it was my second dim sum that week).

The roads were lined with colorful lanterns.