Week Two

Wow, another week has gone by. I have been having so much fun that I have been struggling to find time to write these blog entries, but here we go. So since last I wrote we have really began to get into the swing of things, getting used to walking a mile to class everyday, walking even further than that to get groceries and buying everything in smaller quantities and more often (thats just how they do it over here, no preservatives means smaller quantities and more frequent shopping). This past tuesday I went over to a new park across the river called Battersea Park where I did one of my favorite workouts to do, 5-3-1 two times, where you run hard for 5 minutes take 3 minutes rest, hard for 3 more rest for 1, hard for 1 then full recovery of maybe 5 minutes and then repeat. It was a gorgeous day and the park was beautiful. I was so glad I went over there. They had some really fun paths that winded all aroun some duck ponds where there were giant cranes and swans and many birds. It was really fun and afterwards I sat on the shore of one of the ponds and stretched as the birds swam directly up to me, probably expecting some sort of bread or crackers that I didn't have.

Wednesday was a big day for me. No because I had class from 5-8, not because I went to the V&A museum, but because this was the day I ventured out to find the beautiful home that one of my all time favorite movies was shot at, The Parent Trap. Sure enough, 23 Egerton Terrace was the home of Annie James and Elizabeth James. So my heart melted a little while I starred into the beautiful white house, probably creeping out the neighbors but I'm sure I'm not the first. They should feel complimented that so many of us are fans of their home and neighborhood.

After this visit I stopped in at the V&A Museum which is just chalk full of a random assortment of beautiful artifacts from all over Europe. My favorite sections were both the photography exhibits (obviously) and the glass exhibit. I am really intrigued by glass and art created with it or by it and so this area of the museum was just stunning to me. There were some excellent pieces in both sections of the museum but by far the best and most important to me was the large print of a photo by Steven Meisel, my favorite photographer. It was quite exciting and thrilling to see his work from something other than a computer screen and to be able to study the intricacies of his work. Plus this time his picture had been made into a giant puzzel so that was just cool also.

(Top Right is the V&A from the outside, Left: amazing centerpiece in the museum, Bottom Left: the dome inside, Bottom Center: glass work of art, incredible, Bottom Right: columns of stacked glass as the railing in the glass exhibit, nifty.)

 (Here is my favorite peice of the day, Meisel's puzzel. INCREDIBLE)

On thursday evening I went to my first Serpentine Running Club official practice. And guess what, it was at Battersea Park. So I made my way over there at 7 pm, which meant it was dark out so I was curious how well lit the park would be for our workout. Anyways, we did 9k of speed work (ouch!) but it was very beneficial for me. We did a tempo paced run around the outside of the park which was a 3k loop, then 90 seconds rest, then 3 x 800 meter intervals at 5k pace, so fast, with only 75 seconds rest in between. Then I somehow survived another tempo loop around the park, but this was more about survival than tempo-ing the thing. But I did and I didn't do too shabby. So I was proud of myself. It was really fun and I met some really great people so I will definitely head back over there for next thursday's workout.


By saturday it was time for our free trip to Stonhenge/Bath. I was really excited about his, and I got some great photos out of it. I decided to scurry away from the Marist group in an attempt to try to meet some new people, (why not right?) and I was successful. I spent the entire day with a girl named Sabrina who is in two of my classes. She attends Drexel and we had a great day all around together. Later on saturday we met back up and she introduced me to a bunch of other Drexel-ites so it was great to meet more people in the FIE family. Anywho, Stonehenge was incredible, the story of it, the beauty, just everything about it was mystical and very interesting to me. Not so much for most of the other ditsy girls attending the trip as I heard many of them say, "Ok I don't need any more stupid pictures of rocks, lets go." This occurring only maybe 10 minutes after we arrived. Good. Then we headed out to Bath and learned a lot of the history from our bus tour guide before even reaching the city. Incredible place, that looks so much like an Italian Roman city its scary. We got to go to the relatively newly rediscovered Roman Bath houses and saw the amazing natural springs and got to roam the city for a few hours following this. It was really fun and extremely interesting.

 (Photos of Stonehenge, Roman Baths, English countryside and the beautiful architecture of a Church in Bath)

 

This brings us to Saturday night. A big group of us from Marist headed out to the Worlds End Pub in Camden. The worlds biggest pub that is. I had been there before but this was the first for everyone else. We had the times of our lives. While the photos may make it seem like we were all incredibly drunk this could not be further from the truth. I am certain that not one of us was even buzzed. We were just having so much fun spending time together, dancing the night away and just enjoying some great company from the other pub attendees, and I think we gave them quite a show. The magic truly began when none other than Lady Gagas classic, "Poker Face" was played by the eclectic DJ. We took over the dance floor and from then on we got had most of the pub dancing. It was a blast. So many random people came up to us and asked us where we were from and said that we were so much fun and wished we could be with them whenever they went out. We were happy to give the good old USA a good representation for once.

 

(Here we have myself and my brat pack of Sarah and Yasin breakin it down to who knows what, probably Ke$ha, possibly Gaga, either way having fun which is all that matters. Second we have the group of people that fell in love with us and wanted to take a photo with us. One of them even told us we could stop by the starbucks he works at and get free drinks whenever we want. We might just have to hit him up on that one of these days!)

So this brings us to Sunday which meant of course, LONG RUN. As always I ventured off to a new park to do some exploring while running at the same time. This time I went to the park where I know my next cross country race is to be held. This place is called Horsenden Hill. It was so much fun, very muddy, very slippery (confession: I actually slipped on a turn and face planted in a mud puddle, fun times) but a great way to explor the area and see a great new running venue that I will use in the future I'm sure.

Today was a good day filled with class and running and then some hanging out with my fellow flat mates. I went to see Black Swan for a second time tonight at a little picturehouse (which was a 1 room cinema that was amazing and had a student discount, so I know where I will be seeing my movies from now on) and it was just as splendid the second time around. Still blown away by that movie. But that brings you up to date on everything that has happened in the past week. Maybe sometime this week I'll make time to do a mid week post, no guarentees though so don't hold me to that! I hope everything is going well wherever you the reader are! On a side note, great job to my Red Foxes back at home!!! Great performances by the men in NYC last weekend and then to the ladies this past weekend at Harvard!!! So happy for all of you that have got new PR's or collegiate bests! Keep it up! So proud of all of you for that, because I know how hard you all work so its always great to see it finally pay off! Other than that take care everyone and try and stay warm, I hear it is bitterly cold over there right now. All I can say is that I ran in shorts today, and was comfortable doing so. Unfortunately I don't feel any of you did the same. Except maybe Lauren in Micronesia. But thats a different story. Ok I'm done. Take care.