Shopping, Rocks, Churches, Markets

During the flurry of registration, I somehow managed to secure both Thursdays and Fridays off from class. 4 day weekend every weekend! But unfortunately, none of my other room mates were so lucky, so Thursdays are now my adventure on my own days. After I woke up and ate cereal I was on my way, headed to Oxford Street. Approximately 45 minutes later I found myself only one block away from my apartment at the grocery store. I had literally walked in a giant circle. So, I leaned against a wall took out my pocket map, reassessed my location and started off in the right direction this time. Turns out, when you're walking in the right direction, it only takes 10 or so minutes to get to Oxford. I had walked a decent way down the street-- past some interesting stores selling spangly tops and really ugly platform shoes-- when I passed a mall-like building. Noticing they had a sign advertising public toilets (People always just say toilets here, never restroom, never bathroom- I still haven't gotten used to that yet). I pop in, and you have to pay to go to the bathroom. For some reason the coin operated turnstile just confused me too much so I left and continued down the street. I looked in a few stores, but my favorite, by far was Topshop. I went there with my family when we traveled to London a few years ago, but it was even bigger than I remembered. They even had a vintage Nashville Hard Rock shirt-turned dress for sale! What are the odds? I was too overwhelmed so I didn't buy anything and just got lunch at EAT before heading back to Bedford. Little did I know I would be navigating my way back just a few hours later.

I had seen advertisements for New York's Fashion's Night Out all summer, but hadn't considered that it would be going on in London as well. My roommate, Jada, is always in the know about all things fashion, so she suggested we check it out. It was back to Oxford Street for me! I feel like New York's was probably 8 million times cooler than the London version-- A couple of stores were giving discounts, and a few had refreshments (like these awesome Vogue cupcakes), but we didn't see anything too exciting.

The next morning I was up at 7:30 ready to see some rocks. I was headed to Stonehenge on a Syracuse trip. About a 2-hour bus ride later we arrived at the historical site. I wish I had something more exciting to say- I was glad I went to see it, and it's really cool how people managed to move these giant rocks around when they didn't even have wheels, but in the end, there's only so long you can look at rocks (especially since you aren't allowed to touch them or anything.) So we hopped back on the bus to Salisbury, home of the tallest steeple in all of Europe. We were given time to go get lunch and then it was on to the Cathedral. In the words of our fedora-wearing tour guide, Salisbury Cathedral is a "perfect example of Gothic architecture." Pointed archways, huge stained-glass windows and stone carvings filled the church. I wish we could have stayed there longer because there was so much to look at- all the architecture and famous burial tombs, not to mention the magna carta, but, alas, it was back on the bus for a 3 hour bus ride home. Needless to say we were all pretty worn out by the end of the day.

Saturday my friend Kristen who is studying this semester at Oxford decided to come visit London. We spent the day with our other friend Mackenzie exploring the famous Portabello Road Market, taking "artsy" pictures for my photo class, and way too much food. No purchases were made (other than crepes of course), but I'm sure I'll be back. Maybe I'll go on a weekday next time- I feel like there would be less of a crowd, and maybe it'd be easier to navigate the stalls. Today's been pretty lowkey so far- We had a picnic in the park near our apartments and I've pretty much just been doing homework since lunch. Next week is "Love London Week" where Syracuse has lots of events planned so hopefully I'll have lots to write about!