The Best Days in the Who-niverse!

Camden

Yes, gratuitous puns. Get over it - I like puns.

It has certainly - as has become habit - been a busy few days! On Friday, we went down to the Camden Market, where I acquired a dress, a sweater, and a owl clock necklace! I'm proud to say I bartered for all of them, and got pretty good deals if I do say so myself! Definitely a good use of time. We're hoping to get to the Portobello Market soon, too - good vintage stuff there, we hear! The Markets are great, and the whole haggling system is really growing on me.

Then Saturday I made my way to King's Cross on the coach - very skillfully if I do say so myself! There I met Shelby, and we took tourist pictures at Platform 9 and 3/4. We enjoyed a lovely £5 lunch before heading out to the Doctor Who Experience! And what an experience it was. The actual experience itself (as it advertised on the website) was geared for kids. You went on an "adventure" with the Doctor, who needed help escaping the Pandorica (again). Only Whovians will understand that, but it's all good. What was most impressive about that part was the intricacy of the rooms they set up for it. From the exact replica of Eleven's TARDIS (complete with little interactive consols for the kids), to the Dalek spaceship, and even the gratuitous 3-D video at the end, it was all extremely impressive. Especially considering that the exhibit is about to move and be set up in Cardiff in a few weeks! The amount of effort that must have gone into every detail must have been excruciating, but I will say wholeheartedly that it paid off.


Then, for the older viewers, once you left the Experience you entered a maze of rooms filled with Doctor Who paraphernalia. The TARDIS, all of the Doctors' costumes, Nine and Ten's TARDIS, outfits for companions, K-9, and every monster and villain you could imagine. It was incredible, and basically nerd heaven. I took a staggering amount of pictures, most of which can be found on my Facebook. But I'll include a few, of course! A fantastic day - made all the better by being able to see Shelby! It's kind of disconcerting to see old Easton friends around London-town (we're so far away, after all) but it was really a great time. And I can't wait for more old Easton (and Wilmington! and New Canaan! and Redding!) friends to arrive.

A couple of Whovians!

Today, Sunday, we went on an excursion to the Tower of London. It was kind of freezing, but the sun was out and the Tower is magnificent. It's staggering to think about the amount of history that happened there. It's one thing for a tour guide to tell you that so-and-so many people died right on this spot, and that William the Conquerer built this in 1078, and that this wall has been here 2,000 years, but then when you take a step back and actually consider the length of time between what was their world and what is ours it is nothing short of awe-inspiring. One of the things I have begun to appreciate most about London is the juxtaposition between new and old, which was exemplified beautifully when visiting the Tower. Just over the old turrets and structures that had been standing for hundreds - if not thousands - of years, you can see the construction of the Shard, which - upon completion - will be the tallest building in Europe. It's (obviously) very tall, very slim, and very modern. That you can have such innovative and forward-thinking construction happening right near these blood- and history-soaked walls is absolutely brilliant. You just don't get that in America!

The Tower of London

Anyway, enough gushing. The Tower was awesome. We got to see the Crown Jewels, which were difficult to comprehend. They looked fake! But, of course, they aren't; just magnificently encrusted with diamonds, sapphires, rubies, pearls...they were incredible, and - as our tour guide put it - "absolutely priceless."

They loved me. 

There was so much history in the Tower that I could go on forever - but if you wanted a history lesson you'd be in class. ;) So I'll end there. Today ended with some homework (gasp!) and a impromptu skype-sesh with the family. I missed them all, and it was great seeing everyone together - even if they got hard to hear at times. So it was almost like I was really there! (Kidding, of course...sort of.) Tomorrow is the first day of classes, so I'll be up pretty early to get down to class at 10. I'm nervous, but also excited - I can't wait to see what class is like here. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up!

I miss you all, and I hope to hear from you soon. Cheers!