March of the Elephants . . . Through the Alps?

So, there is this tube station called Elephant & Castle, and I had always wondered why it was called that. Also, I really wanted to get a picture of the name of the station. Elephant & Castle is a really cool name.

Anyway, Lindsey and I decided to go find out. It was our day of touristy London - Angel Station escalator, the British Library (Magna Carta, the Bard, Gutenberg bible, Alice and the Mad Hatter all included), St. Paul's for Evensong. Anyway, the station is right near the Hannibal House museum on South Bank. I totally forgot about Hannibal and the march to Italy. He was the one that marched the war elephants through the Alps into Italy.

Up the Escalator - 90 feet

A friend and I stopped at Angel Station today. Apparently Angel has the longest escalator in Western Europe. It was the longest escalator ride of my life. It has a vertical rise of 90 feet and a length of 197 feet. It was pretty crazy.

Yes, we rode up it, down it, up it, and down it again before getting back on the tube having never actually exited the station. The security guards probably thought we were insane when we took the escalator for a second time.

Just Some Photos

I went to the Houses of Parliament one night and got some really great shots.

Ratzinger in London!?

I don't really think of London as a city full of vermin - well other than pigeons - but one day was just disturbing.

There was a dead rat in the middle of our campus, and some friends and I sat at our kitchen windows and watched people's reactions. But as we were watching, we saw several rats scurrying between the bushes.

It was a little disturbing to see in the middle of the day.

In Search of Banksy

For one of my final projects, I made a walk though the contemporary art scene in London. The research (aka visiting museums and galleries) was so great.

I really like post-modern and contemporary art, and I think it is a very misunderstood genre. A lot of people still question whether it is even art (only those who are un-enlightened), and I enjoyed the chance to dive right in and get a better understanding.

I focused on street art/graffiti (the right term is still debated), and more specifically, Banksy graffiti in London. Unfortunately, a lot of Banksy pieces have been removed by the government or property owners or have been tagged over due to turf wars.

If you don't know who Banksy is (in other words, if you've been living under a rock . . . :)  j/k), he is a prominent stencil graffiti artist who has done work all over the world and is known for his anonymity, simply going by Banksy and never giving interviews. No one even really knows who he is.

I found one of his Hoodie pieces, and I am still searching for a couple other ones. I did promise a picture of one of Banksy's rats.

Missed Meeting My Soulmate?

I feel like I missed out on meeting my soul mate on our trip to Berlin.

Luckily, the trip to the airport was far less stressful than the one to Tours and far less obnoxious than the 10 hour wait in the Shannon airport. A friend and I were waiting for our other friends to get through security when we spotted him.

Security had to go through his bag, and that was when I knew. He unzipped his bag, and you wouldn't believe how organized he was. I am talking about everything folded uniformly and perfectly. He literally flipped the stuff out then flipped everything back in. It was amazing. Then I noticed what he was wearing - a hoodie under a leather jacket. Then he did the emo-boy hairflip. The sad thing, I realize, is that I noticed how neat he was first.

Unfortunately my carry on to get home consists of a bag full of glass - 14 Guinness glasses, 2 Jameson glasses, 1 mug. I am bringing a friend's glass home, too, so no, it's not all mine - and a bag with my computer, camera, and a couple books to read on the plane. It won't be nearly as organized. Although, my friend and I decided to wrap all the glass in clothes, so at least the checked bags won't be overflowing with clothing.

Here We Go A Market-ing

One of the major things I'm going to miss about Europe in general and about London in particular is the whole market experience.

The US doesn't have anything like the markets in London. And each market has its own little quirks. Portabello Road is in the West End and is hugely overwhelming but has a lot of really cool stands. Borough Market is really just food, but I had some amazing hot apple cider. Petticoat Lane is, um, different. It;s big but kind of strange. It just has a weird feel. Spitalfield is really cool but kind of pricey.

Brick Lane is by far my favorite market. I might be biased since I live right near it, but it is really cool. It has some amazing food - Moroccan, Pad Thai, Chinese, Crepes, lots of different stuff. This is the market I go to every Sunday to get fruit and veg and fresh bread. There is also the Up Market in Brick Lane that has a lot of up and coming artists selling clothes, bags, jewelry, etc.

Columbia Flower Market is another place I've been a few times, and after the first visit, I never again made the mistake of forgetting to take an allergy pill before.

Now, I've been to the market in Seattle, but even that has absolutely nothing on the markets in London and other parts of Europe, especially Barcelona.

On my last market trip, I made lots of cool purchases that will be worn/used when I get home.