Stratford-Upon-Avon (Day 1)

September 14, 2012August 31, 2013 by ericmistry ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Today, we made the voyage via train to Stratford-Upon-Avon for a weekend of theatre, history, and fun. It was a wonderful day. We saw Shakespeare’s grave and birthplace while exploring Stratford-Upon-Avon and then went to see a production of the Tempest. It was quite magnificent and so impressive to see the play come to life right here in Shakespeare’s hometown. The town is gorgeous, with an idyllic countryside setting a gorgeous backdrop. It seems almost a city lost in time. Tomorrow we see two plays and get more time to explore the city!

Stratford-Upon-Avon

Shakespeare’s Burial Church

Shakespeare’s Grave

Michael and Grace

Shakespeare’s Bust in his Birth Home

Fish and Chips

The Tempest Set

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The Cheswick Garden Tour + Lunch

September 13, 2012August 31, 2013 by ericmistry ♥ 2 Comments

This past morning, we went to Cheswick (way to the west of us) for a tour of the Cheswick Gardens. These were an impressive set of grounds. The original owner/designer was nobleman with a great love for the classical style. We wandered the grounds, seeing tons of interesting architecture, statues, and natural features. It was a great way to spend the morning, especially when we followed it with brunch! (Adriyel and Aniela had crepes, whilst I had a breakfast sandwich.) Enjoy the pictures!

My Brunchfest Sandwich

Happy with Her Crepe!

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The Wonderful Walk to School

September 11, 2012August 31, 2013 by ericmistry ♥ 2 Comments

It never fails to amaze me how incredible it is to be going to school in the heart of London. My daily walk to the teaching site seems designed to make sure I stay impressed. I get off of the bus at Museum Street and walk directly north to Great Russell Street. As I turn onto Great Russell Street, I am greeted with the sight of the majestic British Museum. It's impossible not be impressed by its immense size and incredible architecture. I continue walking down Great Russell Street, a wonderful road lined with shops, restaurants, and miniature museums all encased in beautiful and old buildings until I reach number 99. This is the teaching site, and even it astonishes me daily. It is housed in an ornate historical building, and has a massive mural lining its ceiling in the entrance foyer. It is absolutely incredible to see all these amazing sights and it boggles my mind that this is my daily routine.

The British Museum is One Block Away

Great Russell Street

The Teaching Site, #99

Just Inside the Front Door

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The River Thames Festival: A Night of Good Food, Good Fun, & Good Fireworks

September 10, 2012August 31, 2013 by ericmistry ♥ 1 Comment

Last night, a large group of we Grinnell-In-Londoners adventured down to the banks of the River Thames for the Lord Mayor's River Thames Festival. It was a wonderful atmosphere, taking place from sunset until late at night. We enjoyed some great food, saw an incredible parade, walked around, and watched one of the most impressive fireworks displays I have ever seen.

Of the various options available, the fish and chips called out the most strongly to our group, as both Teddy and I are on quests to find London's greatest fish and chips. The fish and chips we had at the festival were freshly fried and hot, slathered in delicious vinegar, and just the perfect food to eat while watching the sun descend over the River Thames. While delicious, the fish and chips did not stand out in any particular way to win the honor of best fish and chips. We did enjoy our feast, and as the pictures below may indicate, we are already major fans of the iconic British dish.

Teddy, Joe, & Greg Enjoying Food & Fun

Next, we headed back to the streets to watch the parade. The crowds were enormous, but we managed to get a great spot streetside to watch the elaborate floats, incredible dancers, and outrageous costumes go by. Check out the crowd and some choice parade pictures below!

Post-parade, we persisted in plodding around until we procured some paella. (Awesome alliteration, eh?) In any case, we found a great Spanish stand selling paella, which Teddy and I split. It was intensely flavorful, the result of cooking in that massive pan for so long, and the chicken practically fell off the bone, infused with flavor and so delicious. Claire opted to get an incredible chorizo and chicken wrap from the same stand, an excellent choice which she so graciously let me try. The chorizo was so powerful and scrumptious, its inherent smokiness leaching into the chicken and giving it a spicy touch as well.

Teddy Displays Our Choice

Quality Assured

My Half Serving of Paella

Chorizo & Chicken

Happiness and Silliness

After our second snack of the night, we had to kill a little time before the fireworks. A few of us decided to go down a slide attached to the outside of a temporary lighthouse. It was presumably intended for little kids, but the majority of slide-riders were our age or older. We felt incredibly mature and dignified… Kind of.

Finally, the forays of fireworks flew into the skies, an incredible sight to behold. Some boats in the river were loaded up with fireworks, and they lit the sky beautifully. They made the riverbank, packed with thousands, glow as if it were day, and left our ears ringing and hearts pounding. It was an amazing sight to behold, and seemed a perfect cap to the atmosphere of happiness and celebration. I managed to get some pretty nice shots of the fireworks, so enjoy them below!

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Exploring Bricklane Again (Plus Gözleme for lunch)

September 10, 2012August 31, 2013 by ericmistry ♥ 1 Comment

Today, Tracey and I ventured back to Bricklane market and its surrounding streets stuffed full of stands and of shoppers. It was another exhilarating, interesting experience. We explored countless stands, browsed designer sample racks, and ducked into little food halls to check out the best meal. We saw hundreds of stands, and looked over thousands of items. Prize find of the day? Russian Cold War Era medals for extremely cheap prices. I picked up some Olympic themed pins from the '73 Olympics in Moscow, while Tracey opted for some more military oriented pins. We also got a few presents for people back home, but I won't be naming what they are, because I know they read my writing here. We also saw some phenomenal graffiti and antiques, featured after the food descriptions below.

For lunch, I had a dish known as Gözleme at a stand inside of one of the markets. It is a Turkish dish that consists of spinach and feta cheese being cooked inside a dough crust and topped with various vegetables and sauces. My Gözleme was accompanied today by cabbage, lettuce, tomato, and hummus, all with a creamy garlic dressing drizzled on top. The hummus was particularly outstanding, with a strong tahini taste that accented the feta cheese in the Gözleme quite well. The Gözleme itself was also incredible. Fresh off of the griddle, it was incredibly hot and filled with tons of fresh spinach and reasonable amount of feta. I feasted in total delight upon the hot Turkish food. It was familiar to me, as it was like the Turkish version of a Salvadoran pupusa, yet totally unique in its combination of flavors by including the incredible hummus and garlic sauce. I love being able to travel the world, eating all its wonderful food, without ever leaving London. It is truly the world within a city.

Gözleme

Graffiti 1

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Fish & Chips at Fish!Kitchen

September 8, 2012August 31, 2013 by ericmistry ♥ 2 Comments

This morning, after my exploration of Borough market, I was pretty exhausted and overwhelmed, and in dire need of food! I ended up choosing to go with Fish!Kitchen, a nearby takeaway place whose line stretched for ages. I figured it was a good bet that they would have some pretty incredible food, given that they had a huge line outside of one of the best food markets I had seen yet.

Fish!kitchen's fish and chips were simple , efficiently made, and utterly delicious. Fresh from the fryer into a narrow, well-designed box, the fish was golden and the chips were steaming hot. The cooks then asked me if I would like my fish and chips topped with vinegar and salt, which was an obvious yes. I grabbed my box, and went in search of somewhere to sit. The fish and chips exceeded my expectations once I finally sat down in the nearby church's courtyard to enjoy the spoils of my questing. It was a phenomenal batch of food to eat.

First, the fish. The beer-batter encrusted haddock was a substantial piece of fish, and fried perfectly. I would say this was the best batter I have encountered so far, perfectly delicate and light, yet crisp and flavorful. The fish tied The Golden Hind for freshness and flavor. It was cooked perfectly, pure white, and incredibly flakey. The vinegar and salt soaked in nicely, adding a nice aftertaste to the meal.

The chips were the best I have encountered thus far in this quest of mine, just edging out The Golden Hind's offering. They were nicely crisped, fresh, and the ideal amount of vinegar and salt made them simply pop with flavor. Paired with the fish, it was an incredible side. Sadly, it was the only side I got this time, as adding mushy peas was a relatively costly endeavor, and I didn't want to waste money if the food was not high quality. A return trip will see me getting them to fill out the experience.

Overall, Fish!Kitchen offers a great fish and chips. An incredible beer batter and quality chips help it stand out. However, the overall fish and chips crown (which I decide based on food quality, service, atmosphere, experience, cost, batter, sides, appearance, etc.) still belongs to The Golden Hind.

Fish!Kitchen

The Fish and Chips

Flakey & Delicious Fish

A Charmingly Yummy Chip

The View As I Ate

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Julius Caesar, Live in London

September 7, 2012August 31, 2013 by ericmistry ♥ 4 Comments

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!

This evening, I saw a production of Julius Caesar that was impressive beyond words. The actors, confident in their skills, made the words radiate pure power through the air. The impassioned monologues, the verbal duels, the air of conspiracy, and the dramatic death of Caesar all were brought to life by the talented actors.

I saw the play in the Noel Coward Theatre, a picturesque locale, as the pictures below may indicate. The grandeur of the theatre added to the atmosphere of the play. I was simply blown away by the quality and sheer addictiveness of the performance. I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time, the electric atmosphere flying off the stage into the audience. I was also surprised at how relevant and relatable this ancient play still is. The themes and characters are timeless, a point the creative director chose to exploit by setting the costuming and set in a modernish Africa. It seemed to allow the actors a little more freedom to push emotion into the performance and showed how the fallen, martyred leader is a character in all societies. The African setting also opened up a discussion of Shakespeare's role in Africa. The articles within the program (which I bought as a great souvenir) explained how Shakespeare connects well with African culture and that he was one of the only non-African authors preserved in the curriculum in some nations.

I found the play, the venue, and the modern twists on the classic themes all incredible. This experience was yet another unforgettable memory. Hearing these immortalized lines sent shivers down my spine, most of all when Cassius proclaimed, “How many ages hence/ Shall this our lofty scene be acted o'er,/ In states unborn, and accents yet unknown!”

Dressing Up For the Theatre

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The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, & More!

September 7, 2012August 31, 2013 by ericmistry ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Yesterday we visited the Trafalgar Square area for my Cultures of Empire history class. Though the iconic square was covered in a set-up for celebrating and watching the Paralympics, we could still walk around it and enjoy the sights. It was incredible to see the historical buildings I have read about for years up close and personal. Nelson's Column is an awe-inspiring sight to see, towering overhead and guarded by sculpted lions. The ability to see Whitehall (and Big Ben) directly from the National Gallery's steps is also so impressive to me. It will be a great deal of fun to keep returning to the Trafalgar Square area, as I need to come back to the National Gallery at least weekly for my art history class. It will be interesting to see the square change as the seasons change along with events.

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A City of Old & New

September 5, 2012August 31, 2013 by ericmistry ♥ 1 Comment

This morning, we took a walking tour from the Monument to the Great Fire to just below St. Paul's Cathedral. It was an incredibly interesting walk, with Professor Layton-Jones pointing out various places and structures of historical importance. One thing I began to notice as we walked, however, was the incredible blend of the old and new structures. History doesn't build out from London's center, it builds up and around it. We saw numerous rows of buildings with facades and details from various centuries. It's the historical touches that give London its unique feeling. It is a city lost in time. There are places that look unchanged from their same appearances hundreds of years prior. Their juxtaposition next to modern buildings further highlights it. I feel the stark contrast adds a certain beauty to both the old and the new. London may be lost in time, but that's what makes it beautiful.

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Bricklane Market

September 3, 2012August 31, 2013 by ericmistry ♥ 4 Comments

Today my flatmates and I ventured over to the area known as Bricklane to visit the Bricklane market. It's open on Sundays only, so this was our first real chance to visit it. We reached the market by taking the tube to Aldgate East station, and then walked about five minutes through an Indian and Bengali neighborhood lined with incredibly-smelling restaurants and little sweet shops. (Both of which I will be returning to soon to try!) It still blows my mind how a quick tube ride and walk can completely transport you to a new world of sights, smells, and sounds. The people that define a neighborhood change from block to block, and the level of diversity is truly astounding.

In any case, we reached one of the indoor markets, and were immediately overwhelmed with a blast of heat and delicious smells. The market reminded me of the Des Moines Downtown Farmer's Market, but placed inside an old warehouse and with Indian/Thai/Chinese food dominating the scene.) There were some great clothing booths and lots of amazing little art stands.

At the market, I managed to accomplish three of my London goals in a matter of minutes.

Buy some quality loose tea. (Great chai from a tea vendor who shared his favorite teashops)
Eat delicious Indian food. (Yum! See next post!)
Find a brown leather bomber jacket. (Not only did I find one, but it fit me like it was made for me, and the vendor gave me a twenty percent discount when I bargained. #winning?)

It was an overwhelming, awesome experience. We didn't manage to make it all around the market areas, but will return soon! As we explored the area, we also found some great street art. Enjoy the pictures below!