(The Original) Greenwich

Beautiful London sunshine woke us up this morning, but instead of making our way to more academic lectures, we had the ultimate field trip!  The entire BU program made their way onto a jam packed tube (helping us realize that the tube during the Olympics is not going to be a pretty site) and over to Westminster to take a river cruise on the Thames!  We got to see everything from Parliament to the Tower Bridge to the quirky skyscraper the Brits affectionately call the "Gherkin" (it looks like a pickle just in case you were wondering).
After about an hour they let us off at Greenwich, a little area on the outskirts of the city. In contrast to the Greenwich we've grown up with, this town oozes old charm with cobblestone streets and 18th century pubs.  By the time we were let off the boat we were starving, so we stopped at pretty much the first place we saw.  It turned out to be "gbk," or gourmet burger kitchen, a delicious British chain that had made our must-eat list after we walked by it yesterday in Kensington!  Next door was THE cutest sweet shoppe (look at the spelling, who's British now?!) where we picked up some yummy toffee logs; although the toffee wasn't what we were used to, for 15p it was good enough to satisfy our pretty much (and pretty pathetic) constant chocolate craving.
We continued to explore the streets, stumbling upon Greenwich market which was filled with jewelry, furniture, food and clothing vendors from all over the world.  From there we walked past some of the historic buildings that line the shore of the Thames, including the Old Royal Naval College.  On the opposite side of the street was the Queen's house, which literally looked like some straight out of Pride and Prejudice (aka my dream).  Directly behind the house is Greenwich Park, a sprawling, hilly paradise.  Since the weather today was absolutely perfect, it was dotted with sunbathers and picnickers and adorable toddlers running everywhere.  At the top of the hill was the the Royal Observatory and the official Prime Meridien, the line separating the East and West hemispheres.  After an extremely steep walk (word to the wise: don't make this trek if you have blisters) we finally reached the summit, which gave us the most beautiful panoramic view of the entire city.  We were total tourists and waited in a very long line to have our pictures taken with one foot in the West and the other in the East; kind of kitschy but when else are you going to do these things?!

View from the Royal Observatory

After our exploring we were on our own to make our way back to Courtfield Gardens.  After a bit of confusion, we took our first ride on a double decker transit bus.  A little stuffy, but fun nevertheless.  We got off at North Kensington (right next to the O2 which is absolutely amazing--did you know 18,000 double decker buses could fit inside it?  these are the things I remember...) and took the tube back to Westminster than hopped onto the district line to our station, Gloucester Road.  We're slowly getting the hang of this tube thing!
After returning to our room and apologizing to our aching feet, I set off to buy school supplies.  Our other roommate, who has studied in London before, gave me a great recommendation for a stationary store called Ryman's.  Not exactly Staples, but for five weeks of class I'll take what I can get.  Confident in my directional skills, I thought I could return to Courtfield via some kind of shortcut...boy was I wrong.  I got lost for probably half an hour and I honestly couldn't tell you where I went.  But despite being lost, it was so fun to just turn onto different streets.  At some points, I was walking down streets that were so quiet you could only hear my footsteps.  It is amazing how just a few shorts blocks from a bustling city street you can find these oases; definitely different from the constant noise of New York!
For dinner, we kept it healthy and went to get frozen yogurt.  We had read about SNOG froyo over the summer and couldn't wait to try it when we arrived.  Based on our love of Pinkberry, it was very important we had some place that was close to us, and this is only a ten minute walk from our room!  I got my usual, plain with strawberries and chocolate chips (except this time they were shaped like hearts-couldn't really taste them but added to the cute factor).  Lauren got plain with coconut oreos and raspberries BUT she was special and got a limited edition SNOG spoon.  Needless to say she was very excited; she's going to use it for her morning yogurt.
We were so happy to get outside the "Kensington bubble" today and explore more of the city!  We can't wait to find even more.  Unfortunately, our exploration will have to wait as the first day of classes is tomorrow.  Wish us luck!!
             ~Carolyn