24 hours later and another blog post! I’ve been busy!
Although technically I did most of this stuff before my last post so it could have been included, but that would have taken hours to get through by then.
Tate Modern
I’ll start with the Tate Lates – this is an event that the Tate Modern puts on for the last Friday of every month where they keep the museum and bar open extra late, bring in live music, and host other special events. Cool, right? I had never been to the Tate Modern before, and it’s actually only a 10-15 minute walk from our apartment so we headed over to check it out. Our first stop was the terrace bar, located on the 10th (and top) floor of the gallery, and posh cocktails in hand we stood out on the terrace that wraps all the way around the building and enjoyed this stunning view out over the Thames.
As for the galleries themselves, there was some pretty neat/weird stuff (one room was just these black ropes hanging from the ceiling with metal bars in them, which I later found out was human hair and car bumpers??) which was fun to poke through, but I think I definitely like looking at older paintings and museums better than modern art! The late night setting was still a really fun atmosphere and very well attended, so I think I’m going to look into more late evenings at museums and galleries like that!
Tower of London
Yesterday, Saturday, my host program, Arcadia, was providing all of its students tickets to go and see the Tower of London. Can’t say no to free attractions! Having been there before, it was cool to be there again and try to re-associate my memories with the place. It’s funny, but I remember the outside looking much different than it actually does! I will always enjoy doing things like this tour; being in these places of great historical importance! I didn’t realize that the Tower of London used to have so many jobs – in addition to being a prison and holding the crown jewels, it also served as a mint, a menagerie, a center for record keeping, and much more. I also took a Yeoman Warder tour (free to do), which is led by the Yeoman Warders or Beefeaters that actually live inside the Tower of London. Our guide was hilarious, and the tour added that extra layer of fun information to the visit. All around, the Tower of London is just such a cool place to be, putting yourself in the heart of medieval England thinking about how many kings have walked where you’ve walked, and prisoners been held in the rooms you go through.
Oh yeah, and here’s my pictures
Buckingham Palace
I saved the best for last! Also because it just happened today. I got to tour Buckingham Palace!
This was cool for multiple reasons. 1. When I came to London the first time, we didn’t get to go inside the palace, we just watched the changing of the guard. That is because, 2. Buckingham Palace is only open 2 months out of the entire year for visitors because it is still a palace that is in use not only as a home but also as a place to receive guests and host events. 3. Today was the last day for tours this year! Shoutout to Arcadia for scoring my very reasonably priced student ticket for entry because, 4. I am pretty much obsessed with the Royal Family. And castles, estates, palaces, etc. So I was pretty excited.
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| That tall building behind us is The Shard, the tallest building in London – I’m a 10 minute walk away! |
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| St. Pauls Cathedral |
Tower of London
Yesterday, Saturday, my host program, Arcadia, was providing all of its students tickets to go and see the Tower of London. Can’t say no to free attractions! Having been there before, it was cool to be there again and try to re-associate my memories with the place. It’s funny, but I remember the outside looking much different than it actually does! I will always enjoy doing things like this tour; being in these places of great historical importance! I didn’t realize that the Tower of London used to have so many jobs – in addition to being a prison and holding the crown jewels, it also served as a mint, a menagerie, a center for record keeping, and much more. I also took a Yeoman Warder tour (free to do), which is led by the Yeoman Warders or Beefeaters that actually live inside the Tower of London. Our guide was hilarious, and the tour added that extra layer of fun information to the visit. All around, the Tower of London is just such a cool place to be, putting yourself in the heart of medieval England thinking about how many kings have walked where you’ve walked, and prisoners been held in the rooms you go through.
Oh yeah, and here’s my pictures
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| Recreation of what Edward I’s bedroom looked like from the 1200’s! |
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| Steve, the Yeoman Warder |
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| Nothing special about these helmets…. except for the fact that they were here 9 years ago for my brother and I to take a picture in when we last visited! Ah memories |
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| The building on the left with the clock holds the Crown Jewels and the building on the right is the White Tower, one of the oldest structures within the Tower of London |
Buckingham Palace
I saved the best for last! Also because it just happened today. I got to tour Buckingham Palace!
This was cool for multiple reasons. 1. When I came to London the first time, we didn’t get to go inside the palace, we just watched the changing of the guard. That is because, 2. Buckingham Palace is only open 2 months out of the entire year for visitors because it is still a palace that is in use not only as a home but also as a place to receive guests and host events. 3. Today was the last day for tours this year! Shoutout to Arcadia for scoring my very reasonably priced student ticket for entry because, 4. I am pretty much obsessed with the Royal Family. And castles, estates, palaces, etc. So I was pretty excited.
We were supposed to pick up our tickets from some of the Arcadia staff at Green Park, which is right next to the palace, and then walk back and see the changing of the guard before going on our tour.
So changing of the guard was a little (way more than a little haha) anticlimactic for me in that I didn’t actually see any of it. Because me and another Arcadia student were trying to figure out where to position ourselves and accidentally got stuck by the gate near the palace entrance. Where half of London was too apparently. And because I am world’s shortest human and was in this huge sea of people, I couldn’t see a thing. I feel like such a Londoner in the sense that I’m starting to get all grumbly at tourists (even though technically today I was one too ;)) and it’s just funny to watch what people do in crowded environments like that, and especially what they’ll do for a picture or video. The amount of selfie sticks stuck up in the air so that people could video the ENTIRE thing was almost laughable (I actually ended up watching a lot of what was going on through other peoples’ phones in the air haha). A girl was standing on her backpack. There was actually a policewoman on a horse (jokingly) threatening to come through because people kept infringing on the “walkway.” I was just jamming out to the music – my favorite was the theme song from “Mission Impossible.” All in all, I was just happy that I had gotten the opportunity to see the procession before, and, as a local now, I can come and watch whenever I want.
After that craziness was over, we headed to the side of the building for the group entrance into Buckingham Palace! Our tour included the 19 state rooms of the palace which are mainly in the back – you can’t tell from the front, but the palace is actually in a rectangle shape. The back side used to be the original palace, and then wings were added on the side, and finally the facade in the front which you see in all the pictures. I’m assuming this is where a lot of the residences are because we didn’t go into that part at all. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures at any time during the tour which was expected, but W O W it was amazing. Each room is such a work of art and is so impeccably put together; it’s so crazy to think that people just walk around in there or sit in the drawing rooms there – we even saw the throne room! They also provide you with a free audio tour to tell you about the function of each room as you go through which was really nice. Just to give you a sense of what I saw, here are some pictures of the state rooms from the website, just because you really need to see these rooms.
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| This was on my walk to Green Park (it’s actually St James Park)… it’s starting to look like fall in London!!! |
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| Here is 1 of like 2 pictures I got (just to prove that I was there)… I actually gave my phone to the Arcadia student I was with because he was tall and could actually snap this! |
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| Ballroom |
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| Grand Staircase |
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| Music Room |
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| Throne Room |
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| White Drawing Room (there’s also a Blue and a Green) |
Like, what…
I’m still in awe. Future home goals.
You’re just slowly walking through imagining yourself as queen and having these spaces to yourself. What can I say, I’m a sucker for castles and royalty!
So when you finally approach the end and you’re so sad because you can’t stay and live in the palace forever, it spits you out into the gardens where the queen holds all of her garden parties! I will not rest until I secure an invite to one
So it was a pretty good day. And to end, here’s a picture of me in front of my future home.
So long for now, I have to be up early in the morning because tomorrow is my first shadowing placement at a GP clinic here for my Health and Society course! Ready to see the NHS in action!!
Hope you had a great first day of October and have a wonderful week!!
-Katie
I’m still in awe. Future home goals.
You’re just slowly walking through imagining yourself as queen and having these spaces to yourself. What can I say, I’m a sucker for castles and royalty!
So when you finally approach the end and you’re so sad because you can’t stay and live in the palace forever, it spits you out into the gardens where the queen holds all of her garden parties! I will not rest until I secure an invite to one
So it was a pretty good day. And to end, here’s a picture of me in front of my future home.
So long for now, I have to be up early in the morning because tomorrow is my first shadowing placement at a GP clinic here for my Health and Society course! Ready to see the NHS in action!!
Hope you had a great first day of October and have a wonderful week!!
-Katie
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Katie, a senior Biology major, is spending the Fall 2017 semester studying Health & Society at King's College in London through Arcadia University.
Read more from Katie at https://katientheuk.wordpress.com/
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
Katie, a senior Biology major, is spending the Fall 2017 semester studying Health & Society at King's College in London through Arcadia University.
Read more from Katie at https://katientheuk.wordpress.com/
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
