London Tips for The Non-British, probably American, Traveller: A Most Definitely Indefinitive Guide

I know a lot of people who have gone to London but the only advice I was give was to eat all of the different foods. That isn't bad advice but I wish there were somethings that I was told before hand that I didn't find elsewhere. Here are some things that people should know before arriving in London.

1 - J-walking isn't illegal.

What this means is that you can cross the street whenever you like and the police won't give you a ticket or something. That being said, the vehicles on the street don't really care too much about you. In the United States, pedestrians are given the "Right-of-Way" at crosswalks. The pedestrian goes first then the car goes. In London, crosswalks are more like "designated suggestions". The car goes first then the person goes.

For example, if cars are stopped at the intersection and the light turns while you're crossing, prepare to experience Frogger in real life. It actually seems like the cars/buses/bikes will actually speed up when you try to cross. They have nothing against you but considering you can technically cross the road anytime you want, they don't really see any need to wait for you. Remember that you are in the way of them and not the other way around. Makes sense, right? I heard that if you've ever been to New York, you're mostly used to this kind of traffic.

There are a few crosswalks where traffic has to stop for you. They are shown in the picture below.

Those light-posts indicate this kind of crossing. If you walk up to one of these, oncoming traffic will stop for you. These are uncommon but they are very convenient and should be taken advantage of as a pedestrian.

The best tip I can give you is: Be Observant. Observe how traffic flows. Observe the way the locals move around traffic. Observe the way the light system works.

2 - Bathrooms

First, public bathrooms are simply called "Toilets". Straightforward right? Bathrooms are where you take a bath. Toilets are were you take a dump. You're not going to a public bathing space but a public toilet. Alright? Awesome.

For you American guys, you'll see one big difference at the urinals. Look at the picture below. Do you see anything missing?

That's right, those little walls separating you from the guy next to you are gone. This is a common feature missing in many public bathrooms in the UK. When they mean public, they mean public. To make it even more awkward, sometimes the urinal is just a big trough that everyone pees into. It really makes the word community take on a whole new meaning when you realize that another persons piss is flowing toward the same drain as yours.

3 - Currency

The United Kingdom uses pounds not euros. I think this is common knowledge but just FYI for those of you who didn't know. There have been a few places that I've seen that accept euros but those are few and far between.

The bills are called "notes". So instead of saying a "5 pound bill" it's a "5 pound note" which just sounds richer. The hardest part about this currency are the coins. There are 8 of them that you will see. It seems confusing at first but I'll explain it and hopefully you'll just how simple it is.

Here are the 8 coins you'll use in the UK. The lowest value coins are the 2 round copper coins on the far left. The smaller coin is 1 penny and the bigger coin is 2 pence. Moving right we have the 2 round silver coins. The small one is 5 pence and the bigger one is 10 pence. Next are the 7-sided silver coins with the smaller coin equaling 20 pence and the bigger equaling 50 pence. The last 2 coins have the greatest value. The smaller coin is 1 pound and the bigger is 2 pounds.

Do you see the progression? It's really quite simple and makes a lot more sense than the coin system we have in the States. Another thing that is really handy is that the size of the notes get bigger as the value of it increases. So a 5 pound note is smaller than 10 or 20 pound note.

4 - Water...

There are the three different kinds of water you'll need to be aware of: Still, Sparkling and Tap. Still is fairly straight forward. It's your normal everyday bottled water. However be careful when you buy bottled water and accidentally buy Sparkling/Mineral Water, which are also bottled. Tap water is what you order at restaurants if you want the pitcher. More about that in a little bit.

-- at Drinking Fountains --

An American coming to the UK will notice a severe lack of drinking fountains. You'd be lucky if you found more than one in a public building, if at all. When travelling in London, it's a good idea to have a large water bottle of some sort that you can fill at the beginning of the day and not worry about refilling too often. Some of my fellow students have gotten 2 liter bottles of water at the store (which is rather cheap I might add) and simply reuse the bottle as they desire. You might be able to find a restaurant that'd be happy to refill your bottle for you though I haven't had the need to do that.

-- at Restaurants

When you order at a restaurant in the United States, you are practically guaranteed free water with lots of ice in tall glasses. In the UK this isn't always the case. In most of the places I've been to, the water is free and you just need to ask for it or serve yourself. Other places will expect you to pay for water. A few of my fellow students went out to dinner one night and they were charged 3.20 each for water. To help avoid this when eating out, make sure you order "Tap Water" or simply ask the waiter if water is free or not. Note: It probably won't have a lot of ice, if any. Just FYI.

5 - Restaurants and Food

London is a melting pot of cultures at the moment and you can practically find food from every part of the world. I've seen restaurants and bakeries featuring foods from America, the UK, German, France, Turkey, Japan, Thailand, Egypt, Vietnam, Russia, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Poland and more. Almost everything you can imagine. It's a foodie paradise and, if you keep your eye open, you can find some great deals for lunch and dinner.

Across the street from our flats, for example, there is a crepe/pancake shop called My Old Dutch that does a 5 pound deal on most of their crepes on Mondays. There's an italian restaurant called Bella Italia that has a lunch deal where you can order a 2 courses meal for 10 pounds or a one course meal for 8. We also found an Indian restaurant that offers a 20% discount if you dine there between 12-5pm.

London is also a city very conscious of dietary needs. If you are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian or vegan, you will find that most places will have something you can eat. Some restaurants will have a "food bible" or something that list all of their food and if it's gluten-free,dairy-free,veggie or vegan. (BTW - "veggie" is short for vegetarian in London)

The Restaurant system is very much the same as it is the US. Each restaurant has it's little quirks though. Some will seat you and have a waiter for you as usual. Some will seat you and then you go to a register to order rather than having a waiter. Some will let you seat yourself and then a waiter will come get your order. And the possibilities go on and on. If you're unsure as to how they do things at that restaurant just ask a waiter/worker.

On the matter of tips. First they are called "Optional Service". As you can tell by the name, they are optional unless you have a large group then it might simply be added to the price of your meal. Most restaurant will calculate the "proper" percentage for you which is 12.5% rather than the 15%-25% that we have in the US. As a general rule 10% is the polite amount to tip in the UK.

Some recommendations:

• My Old Dutch = Man-hole sized crepes. 5 pound Mondays.
• Bella Italia = Italian Food. Great lunch deals.
• Nando's = Portuguese Chicken joint. Highly recommended.
• Love's Fresh Pasta and Pizza = Italian food. Great pasta.
• Oddono's/Scoop/Amorino = Gelato. Get the gelato.
• Pret A Manger = Coffee/Tea/Natural food. Imagine Starbucks and Wholefoods had a french baby. Good ready-made food for relatively cheap. 
• Byron's = British people making American food. A bit pricey but a good place if you are feeling homesick or looking for something familiar. This place is fun because each location is so different from the next.
• Five Guys Burgers = For when you're really feeling homesick and looking for something familiar.
• Street Food = Food at places like Portobello Road or Camden Market are amazing and incredibly diverse. They offer wonderful food and they can often be cheaper than restaurants. These places might only accept cash though so be aware of that.

There are so many places to eat that I couldn't possibly list them all. If you find someplace that sparks your interest, go for it. Also the cafes/restaurants at museums or galleries can be just as good as restaurants outside of them and are probably just as expensive.

6 - Living Spaces

The United States grew and expanded when transport technologies was booming. We live far apart from one another and we like our space. We have big cars, big apartments and homes. We have big streets and highways to accommodate our want for space. London, on the other hand, is a city built upon 2000 years of history. The buildings, streets, and infrastructure has evolved much in that time as you can imagine but it's ideas of comfort have needed to to fit into the space that has developed into what it is today. In other words, everything is going to be smaller than you're used to if you're from the US. Space is a luxury and you're going to have to pay for that luxury.

I'll give you the example of our living space. We lived in a dorm style of flat. They were okay. They have everything you need. A bed, lots of storage space, a good desk, a bathroom, a microwave, and a little fridge. On each floor there is a communal kitchen where you share dishes, mugs, ovens/stoves, large fridges, and more storage space. However there were some things that were a bit strange about our flats. Look at the position of the toilet in the picture below.

My Bathroom

You'll notice that the toilet in my flat is set at a diagonal in the corner of the bathroom, behind the shower. If this doesn't seem like a design flaw yet, try to imagine sitting on the toilet straight like you should. You can't. The shower stubbornly won't allow it. Your left leg does fit and you can't phase through walls so you have to sit facing the sink. It's not a big deal but it is a bit uncomfortable to sit on a toilet seat in a direction it was not meant to be sat upon.

That's it for now. I hope that was somewhat helpful to those of you you stumbled across this. Until the next post, which is super delayed, have a great day!

Camden Market, Film Music Gala, & Notorious Ham (May 14th -16th)

This post is a bit long but on the plus side there are a lot of pictures too.

--- Saturday May 14th ---

Camden Market. What can I say about you? I don't think I've been in a place that was so deliberately crowded all of the time. The Camden Lock Market is a mixture between a temporary farmers market and permanent market. Depending on which day you go, you can expect more or less vendors (and traffic). We went on the second busiest day of the week with Sunday being the busiest. There was no rest from the crowds. If you are prone to anxiety in crowds, germaphobic, don't like noise and/or people, this place may not be for you. (I didn't being my camera with me because the crowds make it easy to pickpocket and taking pictures would have made me an easier target. One of the ladies on our study abroad had here wallet pick-pocketed. Money, credit cards, room key, Id were all gone. Not fun. So I've been taking that seriously in these crowded areas.)

Camden Lock Market
(Not my photo)

Side story related to hating people: We had just barely gotten to the Market when I had lost track of my friends in the middle of a giant maze of clothes. So, doing what was logical, I stopped to look over the crowd to try find them. The Asian lady who owned the stall I had stopped by asked me if I was looking for anything in particular. I replied that I was looking for my friends. She said "Go away then. Shoo! We don't want you here." I'm not the kind of person who gets upset or angry easily but oh boy did I get pissed off with this lady. I never wanted to drop an F-bomb, flip someone off, and curse someone out in general, so much in my entire life. If she had said something like "Sorry, I/we don't allow loitering" or something in a polite way/tone, we would have had no problems. But the fact that she was just straight up rude, uncaring and condescending pushed all of the wrong buttons. I was trying to find my friends. Let me look for a couple of seconds to look and I'll be out of your hair for Pete's sake. And shooing me out? Really?...Oh, if I didn't have such a restraint on my mouth or emotions that could have ended really badly. I just nodded, tipped my hat and moved on. Great first impression on the place right? (I did find my friends btw.)

That being said it's a fun place. There are a lot of arts, crafts, and food there. You can buy shirts, jewelry, antique cameras, kitchenware, used books, and items that were definitely made with utter disregard to copyright laws. It's an interesting little place. The highlights for me was seeing all of the food which also happened to be the busiest part of the Market. There was a Polish sausage stand right next to a Spanish food stand. Indian food next to Colombian. Desserts, pastries, and sweets. Food in all of it's diversity in unity in one place.

Michelle, one of my friends on this study abroad, is a vegan. London has been the most vegan friendly place she has ever been to. At the market we found a vegan Ice-cream and Cookie shop called "Cookies and Scream". They make their ice cream with soy rather than milk. We also stopped at another bakery called "Cupcakes and Shhht" which did a little bit of everything. Gluten-free, dairy-free, or vegan. She was in heaven. If London is anything, it's very conscience of the dietary needs of people.

Cookies and Scream
(Not my Photo)

Cupcakes and Shhht
(Not my Photo)

That night we had the special treat of going to the Film Music Gala at the Royal Albert Hall. The music was played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. We heard music from films such as: Mission Impossible, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Incredibles, Star Wars, Rocky, Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator and more. It was so great! There are no words to describe just how awesome it was to hear the music live by a full orchestra.

--- Sunday May 15th ---

It was a Sunday. Went to church. Spoke some Portuguese which was nice. Was asked to help out with the primary children which I wasn't really excited about. Relaxed. Bed. End story.

--- Monday May 16th ---

We went to a place called Ham House today. And to get it out of the way, no it was not a place where they famously made or ate ham. It's actually called the House at Ham but has been simply called the Ham House. To understand why this place was so important, you need to understand what a "whipping boy" is.

Ham House - Front Gate

Back in the day, when royalty were growing up they were just like other kids and they sometimes needed to be disciplined. However it was against the law for royalty to be struck by a teacher or someone of lesser position so they came up with the position of whipping boy. This boy, the same age as the prince, would take the beating in place of the prince. This was a highly prized position. The poor would try to get their sons and daughters to be the whipping boy/girl of the prince and princesses because:

1. They would be taught right along the side of the royalty. The highest education one could receive and get paid...and beaten in place of the prince.
2. You now had a connection with the royal family assuming you got along with the prince/princess. The whipping boy was also considered to be a hired friend. If you got along well you could be well favored for the rest of your life.

So now that we have that out of the way, the house was originally built by William Murray in 1610. William had been Charles I whipping boy and they had remained friends as adults. William did not have the rights to the house but he did design and care for it for the royalty in case they ever wanted to stop by. In 1628, William was given the lease to the house and its estate as a gift by Charles I.

Ham House.
(It was much darker than this)

I don't really have a lot to say about this place. It was cool but it didn't really leave an impression on me personally. That being said there are some cool things. The basement kitchens and the room pictured above with its original tapestries and harpsichord. The gardens around were also interesting. We probably spent the most time there. Some played games. A number of the students made a music video. Other just sat/lay out in the sun.

Playing on the lawns

Part of the Gardens

Behind-The-Scenes of Music Video

Honestly the best part of our visit to Ham House for me was the walk to and from the estate. We walked along the river through the charming little town of Richmond and past fields and forest. A fisherman was panning water out of a little kayak with his dog. He would toss it high into the air and the dog would chase and jump after it, tail wagging. Painters painted the blissful scene of boats, flowers, and sunshine.

Richmond and the River Themes

That evening we watched "Rancho Notorious" at the BFI. The last western on our schedule. It was good movie and we had fun watching it. One interesting thing about it is that it used a song to lead you along in the movie in the same way old greek plays worked. At the beginning it tells you what the story is about, at the middle it tells you some more stuff, at the end it tells you the morale and whatnot. It reminded me of a certain Animaniacs cartoon called "Hearts of Twilight"...froinlaven...

There was one part that we all laughed at that has now become an inside joke for us. There's a random scene in the middle of a sequence that shows a couple of robbers are trying are riding along, wounded from their robbery gone wrong. One falls out of his saddle, dead. The other stops and says "Darn!". The randomness of the scene combined with the timing of the fall, the line, and our tired state just made it hilarious. It became our catchphrase for a couple of days and a meme.

Thanks for reading. I hope you're enjoying the reading as much as I'm enjoying the writing. More coming soon.

A View From the Bridge, Kew Gardens and Running Wild (May 12th -13th)

--- Thursday May 12th ---

We went and saw a play called A View From the Bridge (1956), written by Arthur Miller. The play was broadcast to the Ritzy Picturehouse, a movie theater, where we watched it. That was a first for me. Going to a movie theater to watch a live recording of a performance.

I really don't have a lot to say about the play as a story. As a play it was well executed. It was a very simple setup. The stage was small and square with seating going around it. There was a just a white wall with a step leading to an opening in the center and a long bench the closed the stage on the remaining 3 sides. Besides that, there was only a single chair. No setups of stages, walls, or decorations. Just a white wall, a bench, and a chair. The genius part of the play is that it changed location a number of times but you were never lost or left wondering where the characters were. It was quite amazing really. I really want to try doing that with a film. Just have it be in a single room and try to have it all shot in a single plain room that represents all of the locations in the film. That would be an interesting challenge.

--- Friday May 13th ---

This was a full day. We first went to the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (aka Kew Gardens). This is a beautiful place. If you go to London, this place needs to be on the itinerary. The way my professor Tom put it "This is a place where you can just be." It's not a place that you rush through or worried about getting to the next amusement. It's a place to walk through and experience. Around each corner you wonder what new beauty you'll see next. Here are some of the pictures I took of it an you'll get a little glimpse into what you can see.

Behold the tree from which the Whomping Willow was made! The design team for the movie took moulds of this tree to make the famous tree of Hogwarts.

A photo posted by Travis Clark (@travdc_edits) on May 21, 2016 at 3:32pm PDT

Japanese inspired tower in the middle of a Royal Botanical Garden in England. Not sure why it's there but it's cool all the same

A photo posted by Travis Clark (@travdc_edits) on May 21, 2016 at 3:59pm PDT

Japanese Gateway. It was made as part the Japan-English Exposition in 1910. This was probably my favorite part of the garden.

A photo posted by Travis Clark (@travdc_edits) on May 22, 2016 at 9:34am PDT

Such vibrant colors everywhere.

A photo posted by Travis Clark (@travdc_edits) on May 22, 2016 at 9:38am PDT

My camera died while I was here so I wasn't able to get pictures of everything that I wanted.

That evening we went to play at an open air theater called Running Wild!. It was so cold! The play was great. It was a play that was made for kids and it had a bit of an agenda. It wanted to let you know poachers and why wildlife is being endangered. The thing that made the play so great was the puppetry. I didn't take any pictures but I managed to find a couple of good one online.

Running Wild - Main Character and Elephant Puppet
(Photo by Alastair Muir)

Running Wild - Main Character and Puppets
(Photo by Alastair Muir)

This show really made me want to make my own puppets. Maybe I should take that puppetry class at BYU. That could be really fun.

(May 11th) "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil..."

...is for good men to do nothing.

Warning: This post is long and it goes into heavy stuff. This was place was a meaningful experience for me.

--- Wednesday May 11th ---

We went to the Imperial War Museum today. I feel like people might think that this is a place that glorifies war and the achievements of the British during the war. It actual doesn't. The Museum does have a lot of cool stuff but that doesn't mean that it was glorified.

There were 3 moments where I realized what this museum was really trying to do. The first was right in the main gallery when you walk in. You walk in and you immediately see all of these really cool relics such as a V-2 Rocket, a US Harrier Jet, a WWII Spitfire and a Russian Tank. I've always loved old WWII machinery so seeing the WWII stuff was just awesome.

Main Gallery of the Museum

You walk down the stairs to get to the floor and you see a old cannon that had the first really effective recoil system, revolutionizing artillery technology.

Cannon

And then you walk behind the cannon and then you see it. Surrounded by all of these massive machines that were made to protect, defend, attack, and destroy, there's a piece called "Baghdad, 5 March 2007"

"Baghdad, 5 March 2007"
The remains of a car destroyed by a terrorist bomb
(Photo by The Guardian)

9 years ago on March 5th 2007, someone used that car. That person was probably just worried about getting groceries or making it to work. They were wondering what they were going to do that evening. People are always involved in war. And in the middle of all of these massive feats of technology was a casualty of war. Dwarfed in size by everything else in the room but larger in importance than them all.

The machines of war that towered around looked like they could have been sentries swearing to never let this happen again. Some who had just looked so prideful to me before now looked ashamed. Here were some that looked like giants mourning over the loss of one so little. All stood as witnesses to what had been done and could not be undone. There was no glory here.

The second experience I had was during the WWI exhibit but before I go into that, a little bit of background about the exhibit itself. This was one of the well presentation on this war I have ever seen and I learned a lot. First it was a multimedia experience that allowed for a lot of interaction with the displays. It was organized in a more or less chronological fashion so that you could see how the war turned into the horrifying stalemate that it was. There were cannons, pictures, posters, medals to satisfy the curiosity of anyone with an interest in the war. It also had a lot of sections throughout that focused on what was happening on the Home-front of Britain. Here is where my second experience comes in.

There were displays that showed toys that kids played with. Propaganda recruitment signs that had a daughter sitting on her fathers lap asking "Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?"

There was a display showing uniforms of the different nations. Most were muted colors so they wouldn't show up be easy to spot. The only one that was different was a bright blue and red French uniform that was used at the outbreak of the war. Numerous attempts had been made to change the uniform to reduce visibility of the soldier but it was always turned down because the colors, particularly the bright red trousers, "showed courage, pride, and boldness on the battlefield". There were letters written by the soldiers to their loved ones in one of these sections. I managed to find one of the letters I saw on the internet, it said this:

Dearest Win,

I am writing just a line, Win, in case of accidents. Just to let you know how I have always loved you, Dear. You are the best little girl on God's earth, have I told you before? But I am writing this because I have a feeling that I shall not come back again...If I do come back, Dearest, you will never see this letter, but I have a strong feeling that I shall never see England again..."

How many wars could have been avoided if pride wasn't such a rampant beast? How many lives could have been left to thrive? How many hearts could have been kept from being broken?

WWI Uniforms

The third experience took place in the Holocaust exhibit. They asked for us to refrain from taking picture inside of this exhibit. I don't think I would have been able to even if I wanted to. This particular exhibit was different to other exhibits, films, or stories that one in the states usual sees. Most of the ones I've seen are usual in the attitude of "look and see how terrible it was". To me this one was "See how terrible it is and understand how to avoid it again."

After WWI, Germany was blamed for everything that happened. It short it was humiliated. People were afraid and prideful. They needed a scapegoat for their problems so they went to the traditional scapegoat of the time, the Jews. Anti-Semitism is what it's called. A hostility, or prejudice, against Jews. And it was renewed at the end of war.

As we know, Hitler came into power. He used the fear and pride of the people to his will and got them to do things that they probably wouldn't have done otherwise. One point that the museum made was that Hitler only wanted to the Jews deported from the country. He wanted them out of the country so that the German people could have all of the jobs and not be burdened by these people who were being down the German people. (side note: Sound familiar?) At first they were put into Ghettos. Seperated from the rest of society. However as fear and pride were increased so did discrimination and hate until they, and many others, were considered less than humans and the Ghettos weren't enough. Thus the business of mass murdering began. 

Half way through this grim exhibit I had to stop because I just broke down and cried. There was a display of thousands of shoes that belonged to these people. So many lives were lost? And for what? How could these intelligent, and previously decent, people bring themselves to commit these atrocities? As one of the Jewish Holocaust survivors stated in the museum "We never believed that this would happen in our country. We who had been the foster country to some of the worlds greatest poets and musicians such as Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. There was no way that such a thing would even cross our minds."

But alas it it did. And if we are not careful and we refuse to learn from history, we are bound to repeat it again.

At the end of the exhibit is a quote:

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Henry VIII and The Naked Spur (May 9th and 10th)

That title sounds like a name for a Shakespearean country music group...there's a terrifying thought...*shudders*...the horror...

--- Monday May 9th ---

We went to Hampton Court Palace today. If you haven't guessed it already, Hampton Court is most famously known the palace of Henry VIII. You know the Henry that had 6 wives. Yep. That Henry. Despite that bit of history, it was a majestic place with many wonderful pictures and gardens. I spent most of my time in the gardens because we had been spending so much time in museums that my head just couldn't appreciate any more info...also the gardens were just beautiful.

Hampton Court Main Entryway

There were a few really cool things in the photos. You'll notice in the photo above that the statues are all different animals. In the Base Court you'll see a decently large fountain. That fountain is a wine fountain and those wooden mannequins around it drunk. The Clock in the appropriately named Clock Court told not only the hour, but the day, month, expected moon phase, zodiac signs and more. It's quite the feat of engineering for a clock made in 1540...and note that it's still functioning (given that it has need restoration a few times in that time period).

Flowerbeds & Carriage

Base Court
(That's a wine fountain on the right btw...)

Another Flowerbed & Carriage

The Clock in the Clock Court

Closeup of Clock

More Flowers & Statue
(Can you tell that I really liked the flowers?)

Feast Hall

Garden

--- Tuesday May 10th ---

Since we were still so exhausted from running around everywhere the past couple of weeks. A few of us decided to take it easy. I ended up just reading The Hobbit for one of my classes. After reading that it really makes you take a hard look at the movie and sigh. It could have been something so much more.

Anyways, that evening we saw a movie at the BFI called The Naked Spur (1953). For those of you unfamiliar with this film I'll try to put it into perspective for you. Imagine a Western but instead of John Wayne as your somber western hero, imagine Jimmy Stewart...because that's exactly what it is. This is a Jimmy Stewart Western. And I must say that I almost did not believe my professors when they told us.

The Naked Spur (1953)
Starring James "Jimmy" Stewart and Janet Leigh

The movie was directed by Anthony Mann and apparently Jimmy Stewart made 5 westerns with Mr. Mann. The fact that made 1 western was something else but now I find out that we made at least 5!?

Anyways. The movie was interesting. It's what's called a "Psychological Western" as it less interested with action and more interested with getting inside the minds of the characters and showing conflict via relationships. None of the characters were really "good guys". Everyone of them was moral ambiguous to a degree. You could think of it sort of like Treasure of the Sierra Madre and you wouldn't be far off the mark.

Well that's it for this post. Stay tuned for another post...soon hopefully...

Portobello Road and a Song (May 7th - 8th)

--- Saturday May 7th ---

We went to Portobello Road today. This road is home to a large street market the specializes in antiques but is still home to many other spoils and goods. Some of the places will banter with you as it is a street market. For example, I wanted to get myself a new hat. There are a lot of places that sell hats along the market so you could potentially play one against another. The hat ended up getting was originally priced for 25 pounds but I managed to get the hat and a hat brush for 18 pounds.

The Road also has a number of food stalls featuring cuisine from around the world. I found a place that sold DÖnor Kebabs, or simply called 'Donors' or 'Kebabs'. Donor Kebabs originally come from Turkey but these ones were the German-Turkish kind. I don't know what they did to the bread and meat but it was amazing! It was one of the best things I've eaten here.

Donor Kebab
(Not my photo)

We also found a place called Sir Plus (I see what you did there). It's a higher end fashion store and they had a setup on Portobello Road. They were showing off their vest and so i decided to try one on. With the expert help of one of the salesmen, we found instantly found a vest that fit me. The vest was very nice. However that probably wasn't the reason they are 135 pounds (yep...135 pounds = 200 dollars at the moment). The reason was probably the fact that they make everything from "cabbage". Not actual cabbage but "cabbage" meaning the unused scraps of fabric. So when someone makes a dress, or something, the leftover fabric that they don't use is the "cabbage". These scraps are generally sold for cheap at fabric stores but if you're a good business man you can make that cheap excess into a wonderful vest and make a killing off of it.

That night we went to see a Indian movie called Charulata. i wish I could tell you want it was about and recommend it or not but I took a nap part way through and it was kind of hard to follow when I woke up.

--- May 8th Sunday ---

It was Stake Conference today. The Stake President, who had been serving for the past 15 years in a Stake Presidency calling, was released and called as an Area Seventy. Talk about having no breaks.

We had a bit of a laugh during the meeting. One of the speakers was telling a story about his teenage years. If he went out to hangout with friends, his parents would have a scripture family meeting with him. If his friends met at his place, they would have to wait for or participate in this meeting. Here is what the man said "One of the cherished memories was during one of these meetings was passing my scriptures to my non-member friend: Big John, the Jew." I and the 2 guys next to me did a double take and began cracking up. Big John the Jew. Isn't that just the greatest name ever? The 2 guys next to me are in a screenwriting class and both of them wanted to use that name for their assignment.

After Church we went to Westminster Abbey to not only marvel in its art, architecture, and history but to participate in one of their services known as Evensong. Here's what the program says about the service. "At Choral Evensong most of the service is sung by the choir on our behalf. We participate through our presence and our listening, that the words and the music might become a prayer within us and lift us to contemplate God's beauty and glory."

Many of us found the service to be very uplifting, inspiring, and in ways more spiritual than our own Church meeting that day. We had a wonderful discussion about it later that evening. In our church we talk about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It is the bringer of light and sanctifies all of those who have it. The thing we tend to forget about it is that it can sanctify us anywhere and bring light to us from all things that are trying to find light and truth. It's the reason why we can read, for example, books by C.S. Lewis and have a spiritual experience, be taught by the Spirit, and have more light and truth given to us.

"We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

The Weird, The Witty, and The Wonderful (May 5th - 6th)

Hello! Falling a little bit more behind again but thankfully I have a fairly good memory of things that have happened.

--- Thursday May 5th ---

So we spent a good amount of time at the British Film Institute learning about their Mediatheque, which is a free library of about 2,500 different texts such as feature films, TV shows, films made for TV, cartoons, avant garde stuff and more. One of the things I saw that stood out to me was a cartoon I found called "Billy the Fish" because it might just be the weirdest thing I have ever seen. Billy is half man half fish (He's pretty much a fish with a human face and a mullet) and wants to become a professional football goalie. He gets signed onto Manchester United. Quickly after being signed on to the Manchester he is kidnapped by the evil team manager of the rival team right before his first game. The rival team creates a decoy of Billy using a balloon and a sharpie which somehow fools everyone. This is only 2 minutes into the cartoon and it just gets worse and worse.

Billy The Fish (1990)
You can smell the weirdness wafting off this picture

That night watched a movie called His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) which was really good. It's a bit of a screwball comedy. It was witty, quick, and didn't have a dull moment. The only problem I, and many others, had with it was the ending. I wouldn't say what it is for those who might be interested in watching it but you'll see it when it comes. For the time, however, the film was extremely empowering for woman. Its a film that shows a strong female newspaper reporter who is smart, respected, and able to keep up with the best of them all. I highly recommend this film.

His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940)
Starring  Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant

Unfortunately the term "Girl Friday" is considered a bit sexist and condescending nowadays. Back before this film was made, the term "Friday" or "Man Friday" was used to denote a male assistant. The name 'Friday' comes from the so-named character from Robinson Crusoe, who became the faithful companion to Robinson. Around the time the film was released, the term 'Girl Friday' came into use for a female assistant or office worker.

--- Friday May 6th ---

We went out of the city today and became acquainted with the English countryside. If you were to go where we went, you would understand why so many writers and poets lived in the English countryside. It's so inspiring, beautiful, and peaceful out there.

We went to the little town of Elysford for the start of our 10 mile hike. We were guided by Bishop Chittock who is 80 years old and has served as Bishop 5 times throughout his life. The town of Eynsford is one of those picturesque small towns one fantasizes about. A lovely little community with cute little homes, fresh air, and a feeling of tranquility everywhere you go.

Eynsford

Bishop Chittock first led us to the remains of a castle where we had lunch.

The Castle Remains

We were then led across a ford, up peaceful rivers and creek, around beautiful hills, through a fields and farms, and to the next town to catch the train back to London. One of stops we made was to a farm that made lavender ice cream. It's not one of the things that I'd deliberately have again but it was n't bad and it was an interesting experience nonetheless. I enjoyed their Honeycomb ice cream much more.

The Ford (River Crossing)

Farm with Fluffy Cattle

River/Creek

Farm shop with the Ice Cream

Needless to say, we got a little sunburned but we were all smiling at the end.

The beginning of an emotional roller coaster (May 3rd - May 4th)

And now, another entry from...Clark's London Adventure!

**Theme song**

Last we saw our adventurer it was a Monday evening spent watching Florence Foster Jenkins. But what will Tuesday bring?

--- Tuesday May 3rd ---

So today we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum (aka the V&A). It's very much like the British Museum only this one focuses more on arts and craft rather than history. A fine distinction in some cases but it affects how you look at things. They have everything from paintings to stairways. One cool thing that they do there is that you can actually touch some of the stuff on display. Unfortunately we didn't have a whole lot of time at this museum but here are some pictures.

Glass Chandelier in Main Entry Hall

A Handmade Oak Stairway

A Chinese sculpture...*touch*

That evening we watched Citizen Kane at the BFI. The cool part was that the film was an actual film projection! You know with the film reel and everything! That was cool. I also managed to stay awake through all of it despite being incredibly tired...so that's an achievement...

--- Wednesday March 4th ---

We went to the Tower of London. This is technically the official Royal Palace to the Queen but it's more of a storehouse/fort/museum/tourist attraction from what I saw. They do have the house of the Queen there but it's used more for the ceremony placing a new yeoman in place. 

There is a lot of cool stuff here. It's home to the Crown Jewels...if you are into that sort of thing. They have a room with the various crown their monarchs have worn. You can also walk around the castle walls and there is a little bit of English history in each of the towers you walk through. If you are into medieval armor and weapons, this is one of the places to go. They have a hall called the Line of Kings. It's a display showing off armor that various kings of England wore or the style of armor they, and others, might have worn. Along side the armor are, of course, the various weapons used throughout the ages: swords, cannon, guns, the whole 9 yards. I found a german made medieval gun-mace, an 8 foot long sword, and 3 bejeweled pistols/revolvers, among many other interesting examples.

Armor Galore

More armor and guns

Bejeweled Revolver...for some reason

I also can't forget the Dragon sculpture. This was really cool...

That evening we saw a play called Les Blanc. If there was ever a play that explored the complex waters of racism, colonialism, the "White Savior" complex, and other serious issues in our time, this is the one to do it. It was such a compelling and deep narrative that explored these deep issues and in such a way that was fair. It didn't say who/what was right or wrong. It showed that no one was completely right or wrong. It's a play that one needs to process for a number of hours to grasp it all. You get thrown for an emotional roller coaster that only stops for the intermission. I highly recommend this play to all those with open minds and hearts.

That will have to do for today. Have a good night and I'll try to catch up on more as soon as I can.

To Be Continued...