[December 10] London: Southbank Christmas Market

Some of my friends and I decided to go to the Southbank to ride the London Eye and check out the Christmas Market. I decided not to ride the Eye, because I was already feeling a bit queasy and I was nervous that it would make me feel worse even though I know it doesn't spin around fast or anything! I browsed the Christmas Market while they rode the Eye. 

Here's some pictures from around the Parliament Square/Westminster Bridge/London Eye area:

I took this picture of the Christmas Market area on another day where I got a better view:

On the bus heading to a pub!

Mulled wine... mmm! I really love that stuff, so warm and delicious-smelling...

[November 26] London: 'Shopping' on Sloane Street

I was SO spoiled in London. My bus ride to and from the IES Centre where classes were held went through Sloane Street, a street that is a lovely and confusing line of designer stores. I say confusing, because sometimes the things I saw in the displays were just UGLY. But that's 'high fashion' for you. 

One day, I went walking around Sloane Street with a couple of friends and *GASP* actually went inside some of the stores. I was a bit nervous because the shop girls and boys probably could 'tell' that we weren't actually even considering buying anything—and rightly so, despite some really gorgeous dresses and jewelry and shoes and purses that I saw. *drool*? There is always a 'guard' standing by the door and he (or she, but almost always he) would open the door for you... and all of the shop employees were ALL really nice and friendly. 

These were my favorite stores, as in, I found the most things I liked in them:

[November 6] London: Harrod's, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, Burma Rally, & Guy Fawkes Night @ Battersea Park

Today was a very memorable day in London! I started off by heading to Harrod's, because after my first time visiting it I decided that I hadn't seen enough of that fantastic place. Harrod's takes up 5-acres and is one million square feet! On peak shopping days up to 300,000 people visit the store! Well that's what wikipedia says at least, ha ha. The outside of the store alone is impressive:

I love looking at the designer clothing but I think my favorite place in the store is the Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate room in the food hall. Yes... a huge room just full of Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate! I know—I can't believe it either. And it's actually affordable! (Some of it). 

Only a small portion of the tea selection:

HARROD'S:

A view of Knightsbridge, the street that Harrod's is on:

After being overwhelmed at Harrod's and buying some tea, I took the bus to Trafalgar Square. I love the word 'Trafalgar' and how my mouth feels when I say it. Ha ha.

On this particular Saturday, as I approached the Square, I saw a group of people wearing red, and from afar I thought "Hmm! British soliders! I wonder what's going on?" And as I approached the scene I discovered it was a rally for Burma! I was really excited to see this! They were calling for Aung San Suu Kyi to be released from house arrest and for FAIR elections in Burma.

That's the National Gallery in the background:

A man was giving a very passionate speech:

I watched the rally for awhile. It was pretty quiet and peaceful which I think most Burmese people have a knack for! Ha, ha. I went into the National Gallery to get some lunch. For dessert, I had an apple tart which was DELICIOUS but as I was sitting on the steps near the rally eating it a pigeon walked up to me... and I tried to shooooo it away... but it didn't care. It just kept getting closer. I thought it was kinda weird looking... missing some feathers and it just didn't look like the other pigeons! But I smiled at it because I didn't know what else to do. Sounds kinda stupid, I know... Then suddenly it jumped up into my face and was flapping it's wings everywhere and I jumped up and yelled. I was so mad because I had to throw my tart away after the incident. Then a man came and kicked the pigeon. Ha ha! I was so angry at that pigeon though... ! GROSS, too! But it's ten days later as I write this and I'm still alive... Surprisingly...

The pigeons really are a problem and there's a huge fine if you feed one.

My delicious tart:

After this incident, I spent some time inside the national Gallery looking at paintings. The place is HUGE! My favorite part are the Impressionist paintings. A lot of the realistic portraits and scenes just don't appeal to me. Although they're clearly well-done, it's just boring to me. I much prefer the Van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, Monet, and Manet that I saw! I can really stare at one of those for a long time! However... the thing about museums is that I get really dizzy in them from walking around and looking at so many things all at once!

It was also Guy Fawke's weekend, which is a 'celebration' of when Guy Fawke's attempted to blow up Parliament. He did not succeed. And for some reason there are fireworks on Friday and Saturday night on this particular weekend! I don't really understand it, but humans love an excuse for a celebration, right? On Friday night from my 10th floor window, I could see fireworks going on in at least 5 different places. Wow! It was really fantastic and impressive. Then Saturday night, I walked with a group of friends to Battersea Park where they had a HUGE bonfire:

And a great firework show!

[September 19] London: East End Markets Tour

Yesterday (Sunday), we went on a tour of some East End Markets. Wow! What a new side of London... So far I've only been in the wealthy parts (Chelsea) and the touristy parts of London. I am definitely NOT complaining about that, but I want to see all sides of London.

We started out our adventure on Brick Lane which was FULL of mostly Indian restaurants. Oh. My. Goodness. It was basically Indiatown.

The group in the picture is mostly students in my IES program:

We went to a Sunday Market that was FULL of stalls selling food from tons of Asian countries and other places as well, jewelry, vintage clothing, art, etc. It was great and I bought a shirt that I'm sure will turn up in later posts...

The market was SO full of food options that I didn't end up buying any food at all there! Instead, me and a friend had our eye on a little Indian place and I bought some chicken somosas (only 50 pence each!) and some Indian dessert.

I don't know what this game is; I just thought it was cool that there were tables set up and people playing. Ha, ha. *tourist*

The street art definitely contributed to the vibe of the area...

We went down another street that was PACKED with people and flowers! It was beautiful...

Cacti!

I bought a Cardamon coffee from this hookah bar:

And then randomly, there was this huge robot on the street being controlled by men in purple suits...

I really like this wall:

And a view of the tube...

This little yellow man is so cute. On the tube, there are constantly announcements to "Mind the gap!"