Midweek Musings.

Today is Wednesday and to help combat the midweek blues, I thought I would share a few of my favorite photos from the weekend. I have gotten quite hooked on taking photos of city scenes and, thus far, have been relying solely on my Iphone 5 to do so. So far, I see no reason to change that as I am adoring the challenge of using such a small device to take pictures of such a beautifully large city. Hopefully getting a glimpse of my world seen through my little camera will make today look just a bit brighter.

Enjoy!

A New Era.

After a year long hiatus from the blogosphere, I have returned happily and fervently to it in order to share my corner of the world, which at the moment happens to, once again, be London, England. I have received a lot of suggestions to continue writing posts and I am lucky to have others out there who enjoy my blog as much as I enjoy working on it. This week's post will be short and sweet, comprising of an assortment of photos that I have taken around the city in my first week back. Between getting settled in my new Bloomsbury flat, starting two new jobs, and getting back into schoolwork, I have a busy few weeks ahead, and hope that this little view of London life will satisfy for now.

Exploring Bloomsbury

Dalston Rooftops

Chelsea

A Beautiful Year

"Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering - because you can't take it in all at once". -Audrey Hepburn


I admit it, I am a complete sucker for self-reflection and nostalgia for past experiences. I love to reflect and what better opportunity to do that than on the ending of my Master's degree at Royal Holloway. This year has gone by SO quickly. I underline it because I know that is a clichéd thing to say, but it really is true. I've been in the UK for a little over a year now, and I can honestly say that life could not be more different, yet exciting, than it was a year ago. A year ago I was on the edge of a personal precipice, basically throwing myself over the edge in order to reinvent myself. I left a life behind that I happened to like very much because I had a deep-seeded feeling that something of colossal importance was missing from it. I'm sure that each and everyone of you that I left behind at home was probably scared for me at some point, or maybe still are; I'd have been scared for myself too if I didn't know myself better. The point is, that I could have been ok at home, but I don't think that I would have been completely happy. If there is one thing that this year has taught me (and there have been so many life lessons that came out of it) is the immense importance of being able to read and understand yourself. I took this year to focus on me, and to figure out what I wanted; in short, it has been a year of self-discovery and what I've concluded is that I don't ever want to be just ok. I want to be happy and the people that I choose to surround myself with both in England and in America are people that subscribe to that.

This year has been the best year of my life, despite having periods of intense homesickness or sadness. It has changed my outlook on people and life more profoundly than anything else up to this period in my life. I can't say where (or what continent) my future career will take me, but what I can say is that for right now, London is the perfect place for me. I will begin the next phase of my life at the end of September, my PhD program at University College London, and my hopes for the next year of my life in London are to keep learning, thinking about, and exploring the people and places directly around me. I am, at my heart, a people person and nothing gives me greater pleasure than getting to know people from all walks of life and learning about how they do and see things. As my aunt Mary says, "People are where I get my energy from" and I subscribe wholeheartedly to that. So bring on year two in England! I have a feeling that things won't be slowing down in London-town anytime soon.

My Finished Dissertation :)

The Meanderings of a Literature Student

Over the past month, there have been days where I've gotten the urge to walk and explore London by foot. My meanderings have taken me to various parts of London, but two of my new favorite areas were ones that I discovered just the other day. I had been longing to visit Hampstead Heath and Chelsea for ages, and finally got the opportunity to do so. Hampstead Heath is an enormous park in the north of London and is famous for its ruggedness and wildness, as well as its spectacular views over London from Parliament Hill. As I hiked through it I felt like I was transplanted back into the state parks of Minnesota, which is something that I miss deeply, so when I find it I hold on to it with both hands.
One thing that I'm not sure that everyone knows about me is how much of an outdoors fanatic I am. I love the outdoors, pure and simple. Growing up in North Dakota and being raised by a family of sports enthusiasts and hunters, how could I not? Appreciating the outdoors is in my blood and it is one thing, among many, that I am so thankful for in regards to my upbringing. Now, I am also at heart a city person, but I found quite early on that the two do not necessarily go hand in hand as easily as I would have hoped. I find myself pounding the pavement more often than hiking through tree-lined paths or biking along grassy meadows. This is ok, but every week or so I get an intense longing and urge to get out into nature and just clear my lungs of the polluted city air. This is why going to Hampstead Heath meant so much to me; I think I may have found an escapist's paradise within the bustling city.

Walking in the park-a mixture of meadow and forest

view from Parliament hill

Now for Chelsea: Chelsea is located in the southwestern part of central London and is famous as being the "posh" area of London where the rich and beautiful live. You can find large mansions, expensive cars, and designer shops surrounding the Sloane Square area and it is a treat to wander through and imagine living there. I took a 2 hour walking tour of Chelsea as I was most interested in learning about the area because of the high amount of Victorian writers and painters who have lived there. I saw many houses formally owned by the bigs of the Victorian period as well as the houses of Mick Jagger, prominent London architects, and the likes of Lawrence Olivier and Vivian Leigh. The area is steeped in history and is just a pleasure to walk around. Chelsea is largely free of tourists and the sidewalks are wider, the air feels cleaner, and the houses are nicer. It is a wonderful place to spend a sunny afternoon slowly ambling along the streets.

Old Pub- The Fox and Hound

The Thatcher Infirmary 

Gorgeous Chelsea Houses

Christopher Wren's Royal Chelsea Hospital

Bram Stoker's House

Oscar Wilde's House

George Eliot's House

Church dedicated to Sir Thomas More

Olympic Fever

The Olympic games have come and gone, capping off a truly spectacular year for Great Britain. This year held Charles Dickens' 200th birthday, the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones, the 100-year anniversaries Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, AND the 2012 London Olympics. What a year. I really did have excellent timing when it came to being in the hottest possible spot on the earth in the year 2012. 

Olympics Stadium

London was hectic during the games but I have to say that I was really pleased with how well the transportation system held up under such enormous pressure and just overall with how the Olympic committee did with making London into an excellent venue for the games. It really could not have been better and the games were judged a swimming success in Britain. The real heros of the games were the thousands of volunteers throughout Britain who came together to give their time to make the games into something really special. Venues were spread out throughout the city, transforming London into one giant venue. People were on hand, in pink vests, everywhere to help guide tourists and to make sure that everyone got to where they needed to be safely. Like I said, I was thoroughly impressed and really proud of the British public and Londoners in general for how they ran the games. 

I did manage to attend one event: women's trampoline gymnastics. It was held at the North Greenwich arena which is actually only about a 10 minute bus ride from my flat. My flat is directly across the river from the Olympic village and when standing just up the hill from my flat you can see it. I really enjoyed attending an event (even if it was such an obscure one). I got to see a medal ceremony and just got to partake in the general olympic vibe. I got to cheer for someone I'd never heard of before simply because she was American and I got to interact with strangers based on our excitement and patriotic spirit. It was really a time for people of all nations to come together and I enjoyed every random train or bus conversation with Americans on holiday or living in London about our athletes. It is the reason that I love sports as much as I do, they are a way to get people excited about something that is bigger than them and to bring strangers together under a common interest. 

North Greenwich Arena

London 2012 was an experience that I will remember forever. I was lucky enough to get to live it day in and day out for two weeks, and even though it bred frustration at different points, it was a unique experience that I don't think will ever be relived again in the same way for me. It was a beautiful time in a beautiful city, and the olympic fever will continue to live on, at least until soccer season starts up again.