Pier 1 Fish & Chips Restaurant by Tayler Robinson

     So, chances are that when token British cuisine is mentioned: Fish & Chips is often the first thing that comes to mind. That being said, I hate fish and chips. Great way to start out a post, right?
     I am neither a fan of fish, nor French fries, but on this trip I decided to suck it up for the sake of experience. I was determined to find the best Fish & Chips in London - or rather the best out of all the restaurants that we would visit in our time here.
    Some were alright, others just reinforced my distaste for the dish, but opinion changed when we dined at a place called Pier 1.
    We had been shopping in Camden and were extremely hungry when we stumbled upon this place. From the outside, it looked like a strictly take out place, and I was hesitant at first because after shopping and catching the tube beforehand, I was desperate for a good meal and a nice sit. However I was pleasantly surprised when we entered - not only was there cafe-style seating immediatley inside, but there was also an upstairs dining area. The tables were almost picnic-table-esque: there was a long central table with benches on either side to sit on. This perfectly accommodated the six of us with our bags and coats.
     The service was great, the waitresses were very kind but we were all so hungry (some of us to the point that we getting a bit testy [not me of course]) that it felt like it took for-EVER to get our food.
     Once we did though, it was definitely worth it. Up until this point, I still don't think I've had better fish and chips than I had there - there was just a huge SLAB of fried fish thrown on a plate with plump french fries, and they were all very delicious. And I quickly realized just how filling fish and chips could be - I wasn't able to finish all of my food.
    It was a very pleasant dining experience, especially when dining amongst friends, and I would recommend Pier 1 as a good lunch spot for anyone staying in London for a while.

Church...at the Tower of London

The most interesting place I have ever gone to church at is officially the Tower of London. You usually have to pay to get in to see this, but when you attend Sunday service you get to walk right into the chapel. Once inside you get to worship with about 50 other people who warmly welcome visitors. The lesson is spoken from the stage where Ann Boleyn is buried along with many other notable Brits. The Pastor is very interesting and very funny. The service felt nicely informal and extremely comfortable for someone who is not used to the customs. You get to experience the use of the Book of Common Prayer and other things that I have never used before. This is very educational in the sense that I have never participated in anything like this before.

I did not take this video...the person who did was breaking the rules but this does show what the chapel looks like.

Shopping! (Harrods, Portobello Road Market and Welsh Arcades)

Notting Hill, as in that place where that Julia Roberts and High Grant Movie took place!

The Portobello Road Market is a quick walk from the Notting Hill Gate Tube station. This street market is an interesting mix of pretty much, well, everything! It's a great way to spend a Saturday morning....but beware! Don't take too much cash because you'll probably end up spending way too much on cute little things that you probably don't need!

The streets are lined with booths selling everything that you can imagine. It is also super famous which is why it's so crowded that you can barely move. I highly recommend eating lunch here as well... The tantalizing aromas coming out of the food booths can be torture if you are hungry. Along with this, you can also find food from every corner of the world here! 

The market is also located in a really cute part of London so just walking around and soaking it all in is an experience unto itself.

The AMAZING Harrods department store! Going in here can be extremely overwhelming. For example, we discovered that they devote FOUR large rooms entirely to high-end and extremely expensive purses. We decided ahead of time that we just wanted to get some dessert here (even though it was only 5 at night). The food area is huge. Food from every country you can imagine!

You must wait in long lines for a slice of heaven but it's totally worth it and part of the experience. Megan and I plan on going back to eat lunch here and just buying a lot of random foods and sharing them.

This was the work of art that I picked! It's a slice of strawberry cheesecake and it was delicious!!!! That Harrods thing on it is made of chocolate and I found this out when I bit into it to figure out what it was. Harrods is a great place to visit and would have been even better at a less busy time which I am not sure is possible.

This is a picture of an Arcade in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. This is unlike any arcade I have even been too...it's all full of shops.

In the UK rain is to be expected and Cardiff makes it so that you can still shop at outdoor little local shops but under the cover of a roof. Such a smart idea and it made for the perfect place to hang out while it was raining!


 This is an old video from the 1950's. It's an ad for tea...but it talks a lot about Harrods so I think it will give a good idea what the store is like still to this day!

Exploring New Churches

After attending service at Wembley, we branched out and experienced two very different churches in London

 

Our first church visit was to an Anglican Church in the Tower of London

 

 

Service was beautiful, I didn't know any of the songs, but the preacher was friendly and funny. I sat next to one of the Beefeaters, and took a picture of him after service.

 

 

 

The next church experience was Hillsong

 

 

Hillsong was a fantastic experience. Everyone in the audience worshipped with sincerity, and was very friendly and accepting of us. A Jewish Rabbi delivered the message themed "Why Jews are Good with Money". He told us that only Jews could say this because they are circumcised.

Visiting different churches in London was an enriching experience.

 

 

 

 

 Tori Sheets

 



Remember, Remember the 5th of November...in Wales?

Guy Fawkes Day commemorates the events that took place on November 5th 1605.  Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives that were planted underneath the House of Lords.  The bombing was unsuccessful and now every November 5th we get to celebrate with fireworks and a bonfire.  Smores anyone?

Whoever thinks Guy Fawkes was only in England should talk to Wales. They have the largest fireworks display in the whole UK. You definitely can't tell by this picture but trust us..they do it right.
 

See! We weren't lying!

Wales was one adventure after another.  An epic night of music and new friends was followed by a night of spectacular fireworks and nauseatingly fun rides.  Even with the rain and mud, I was pleasantly surprised by the magnitude of the fireworks.  Each explosion was truly magical. I got to enjoy something that is celebrated so majorly in England and I got to do it in Wales. It was like for a brief moment in time the Welsh forgot their need to constantly state their independance from England and celebrate with their friends from the East. The people there were so friendly and it was nice to be able to walk down the street and meet super enthusiastic people. Seriously, they are so enthusiastic. They love Wales and I have to agree, I do too! I had a night that most people can only wish they had, and I got to spend it with some of the greatest people. The country is beautiful, the people are great, and their fireworks show is the BEST. It was an awesome chance to see culture transcend borders and share a little tradition with Wales. I would like London to know they did not disappoint!

Laura Bennett

After a busy month in London, Wales was exactly what I needed.  With wonderful music, great friends, and many other cultural experiences, I was rejuvenated. After hearing many stories about how the Welsh wanted to be known separately from England, I was super surprised by Guy Fawkes Day.  Guy Fawkes was clearly something that happened in England and the fact that it is so widely celebrated was an interesting findout.  The fireworks were wonderful and the celebration magnificent.  They had rides, music, food, and of course fireworks.  Lauren has talked about Guy Fawkes several times and it all seemed a bit dark and cult-like.  It was all like-hey, lets get together and burn this fake dead Guy (no pun intended) and then have a party with fireworks. Seriously, thats weird. However, it wasn't creepy at all. It was actually like- hey we need an excuse for a good party and this was an opportunity that was too good to pass up. So along with hundreds of other people we gathered in the muddy grass and watched as lights exploded in the sky. It was an excellent experience and really cool to experience a long time London tradition in Wales. But really it was the best thing ever and everyone should go...like now. But you can't so..... next November 3 get yourself to Wales and brag to EVERYONE and I mean everyone that you were part of the biggest firework celebration in Europe. (secretly I am bragging right now...no judging)  

Jenna Jordan





 

 

Parliament!

"The British are special. The world knows it. In our innermost thoughts we know it. This is the greatest nation on earth."
Tony Blair (Former British Prime Minister) 

A few weeks ago, Megan and I decided to go sit in on a session of Parliament. Trying to get information about getting into Parliament is on the more difficult side. The website gives very few details and it says that you need to have your member of Parliament give you a tour. As an American, I obviously do not have one of these. One Friday Megan and I decided to just show up and see what happened. 

The British Parliament has two separate Houses headed by Queen Elizabeth II. On one side you have the House of Commons and on the other side the House of Lords. Just a little inside knowledge (from a political science major) the House of Commons is definitely the one to see. The Commons has a reputation of becoming quite rowdy. Between yelling Brits and objects being thrown around, the House of Commons can be extremely entertaining. The Commons is the elected body who do a majority of the lawmaking in the UK. It is also where you can find the current Prime Minister, David Cameron. 

 Unsure of what to expect we had low expectations for this outing. When we arrived all we had to tell security was that we wanted to get inside to see a debate. They send you through TSA like security before they let you in, but that was totally expected because after all, this is the home of one of the most powerful governments in the world. Once into the building you wait in another line to get into the different houses. 

 This was the furthest into parliament that we were allowed to take pictures (if you do the men with large guns remove you from the building). When you are about to enter the viewing gallery they make you check in most of your belongings. They did allow us to take in our journals and pens after making sure there was nothing inappropriate written in it.

I did not take this picture so I have to credit these two to Google images. But basically this is what it looks like inside during a full session.

The session we sat in on a Friday afternoon had even less people in attendance, probably about 50 less if I was to guess (only 3 people on this side). The bill they were debating was a family justice bill. They talked a lot about fuel poverty and the overall cost of living in the UK. The nation spends 3 million a weeks on welfare and from what I understand they feel like they are not doing nearly enough. The conservatives want to expand the nuclear power but those in the Labour party are much more skeptical. The conservatives debated that they need more reactors and time to show the benefits of nuclear power. They argue that nuclear power is a way to give the poor cheep power. They also need to build more energy-efficient subsidized housing.  

Sitting in on a session of Parliament was an amazing experience! We hope to go again when there are more MP's in attendance. Wednesdays at noon there is question hour. This is when the Members of Parliament get to question the Prime Minister. This would be great to get into and is one of my goals for my remaining time in London.



Here is an example of how Parliament really works! This is during the Wednesday question hour that I was talking about. This is also really what I want to see... The UK Parliament at its best.

Exploring Porto, Portugal

 

What's is there to do in Portugal?

Why would you want to go there?

What do they even eat?

 

Well guys, it's time to answer all your questions about our random trip to Portugal.

When planning our free travel, Meagan, Carver and I just wanted a cheap place to go and relax. So, we got on Ryanair and selected the cheapest flight available, destination Porto, Portugal.

 

On the plane, the first thing we noticed is that we appeared to be the only people with light skin and light hair. This trend continued throughout our entire trip.

 

Our first impressions of Porto were, "woah, this place looks deserted", "where did we go?", and "are we the only people in this entire city?"

The owner of our hostel informed us that we had arrived on The Day of the Dead, so almost everything was closed. We headed to the one and only cafe open close to our hostel and quickly fell in love with Portuguese food.

 

I ordered what was called "pizza" on the menu, and it turned out to be an amazing breakfast pizza with shrimp, peppers and covered in salsa, also with an egg on the side and a hot dog for unknown reasons. Meagan and Carver chose a "hamburger" and received a meat patty topped with ham and bacon, smothered in cheese and salsa with an egg on top. It was delicious!

The rest of our trip was spent wandering the streets of Porto, making new friends, and eating ourselves silly.

 

 

Carver made the most friends

 

 

 

Beautiful church down the street from our hostel

 

 

Scenes of Porto

 

Architecture!

 

 

I learned to juggle the devil sticks from a busker.

 

We got lost too many times to count, and ate too many calories to count, but it was all worth it. Oh Porto, we'll miss you.

 

And the McDonald's had chandeliers!

 

  

 

 

 

Tori Sheets