Beefeaters, Fish, and Chips

29 JANUARY

Today, we had our first Food Processors potluck brunch! Several of my friends met on the 7th floor communal kitchen of Nido, each with food in hand and ready to eat. We had stuff like: quesadillas, home fries, chocolate chip pancakes, pies (my roommate and mine), crepes, French toast, bacon, bangers, coffee cake, baked brie, cheese and crackers, and cocktail shrimp (don't ask - all I know is it was good). Unfortunately, we had to wait for the people who were contributing plates for over 45 minutes...but we ate and it was gooooooooood. We were all hit with the itis, bent over and trying to breathe deeply. That part was less good, but at least I was good and full for the rest of the day.

Then, a few friends and I went on the Tube down to Piccadilly Circus. First, we went to Fortnum & Mason's, a huge and gorgeous department store that sells foodstuffs. When you walk in, you are met with towers of chocolate and coffee and tea products. Apparently, the Queen drinks her tea from here!! A smallish box of tea cost £22/$35. A bar of chocolate about the size of a Hershey's bar is £5/$8. EIGHT DOLLARS FOR A CHOCOLATE BAR. Nonetheless, gorgeous and drool-worthy.

Next, we wandered along London's version of Times Square (Piccadilly Circus) to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. After wandering around the square and admiring Nelson's Column and his guard lions, we ventured into the lavish National Gallery. I had two main objectives in today's museum-going, and I was happily satisfied. First, we found Hans Holbein's Ambassadors. I first learned about this in ConWest last last year, and there is a fascinating bit about this painting that I encourage you to look up online. Let's just say, it's a great optical illusion. Next, we found Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding Portrait, which I first saw in Art Appreciation back at Stuy. In art class, we analyzed the painting to bits, including the calligraphy script on the wall that says "Jan van Eyck has been here" and the biblical stories in the mirror hanging in the back. Then, we wandered to see some Monet, van Gogh, Renoir, Seraut, Botticelli, and a lone da Vinci sketch. All in all, the National Gallery is a beautiful museum!

Finally, we walked to the banks of the Thames to again catch night-time shots of the London Eye and Parliament. It was chilly, but beautiful and non-rainy and fun!!

30 JANUARY

This morning, we went to the Tower of London as one of our NYU excursions. The weather was beautiful, blue skies and sunny, and cold. BUT I heard it's below freezing at home, and we were a bit warmer than freezing, so it's all good. We walked across the Tower Bridge, which brought back memories of walking across the Brooklyn Bridge back home. When we arrived at Tower Hill, a procession had started, and a long line of soldiers marched into the promenade area. Apparently they had just returned from overseas and were being welcomed back to London and to HRH the Queen's fortress. I stood watching with family members, and heard people around me saying, "That's my lad!" It was very touching, and certainly not something you see every day.

Then, we went on a tour guided by a Yeoman Warder. They are more widely known as Beefeaters, but this is not a nice thing to call them. The guards of the Tower of London are former soldiers in the British Army, Navy, or Royal Air Force. After 22 years of service, they can retire and take on the job as tour guide/guard to the Tower. Someone told us that they became known as beefeaters because they used to taste the first cuts of meat before the king ate, to check if there was poison, and then there was some French corruption of the word beouf into beefeater. Our guide had a great sense of humor and was so entertaining! We saw the chapel where Anne Boleyn is buried. Then, we saw the gorgeous, amazing, beautiful, glistening, sparkly CROWN JEWELS. Oh, how I wish I were a royal so I could wear a poufy purple velvet thing on my head, bejeweled with massive amounts of precious gems.

Anyway, we wandered around the premises for a couple of hours, until we were starving and ran to the nearest/cheapest fish-and-chips place. We managed a place with orders for £4, which is a great deal cheaper than everywhere else. And now, here I am back at Nido, about to embark on a great rest-of-the-weekend of reading, reading, studying, reading...

What a great weekend!