Today during orientation we met one of our upcoming tutors, Carolyn Richardson. She showed us various garments from different decades. When she isn't teaching at LCF she does costume design for television and films such as Bridget Jones Diary, and currently does costume design for the BBC program Merlin. She also apparently has worked with artists such as Gwen Stefani and Madonna. During orientation we got the chance to sample different token British foods and guess what they were. We were then split into groups and given a tape recorder with instructions on where to go throughout the city in order to see new places. Once we got to a new street we would take time and explore the area. We first walked into the court yard of the royal academy of art. We also got the chance to look in a vintage shop and Hamley’s toy store on Regent Street. It is one of the biggest toy stores in the world and a major tourist attraction in London. We also walked through Burlington Arcade which is a covered shopping center with various jewelry stores. When we eventually got back to the school we were given welcome drinks of champagne. I am so excited to start my classes on Monday and everything else that is to come this semester.
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| Carolyn Richardson showing us a dress |
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| Royal Academy of Art courtyard |
On Friday we got the chance to take some trips to Camden Market, which we traveled to by the signature double decker bus! Camden market is probably my favorite spot in London so far, which has a number of adjoined markets, vintage shops, bars, and, food. Amy Winehouse was notoriously known for lurking around this area as well. One of my study abroad advisors, Hannah, said she would see her all the time when out and about in Camden. While walking down the streets I was just in awe over all the things to look at. I have never seen so many different vintage shops and stalls in my life. Some areas were along the street, while others were more secluded and were partially enclosed by tents and hidden by stairwells that took you into more sections. All the stores layouts were completely unique and different; I wanted to go into every single one. One store was completely filled with black lights making everything look glow in the dark. Camden market has every type of merchandise for every customer; I made my first vintage purchase today also! They also have a lot of reasonably priced touristy type items, I purchased a couple things for family and friends back home and grabbed a couple things for myself. Even though I am a full time student in London I still feel like a tourist and want to take pictures of everything and buy things with the English flag on them.
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| On top of my first double decker! |
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| Camden Market |
On the way back from Camden Market we took the tube and unfortunately ended up the wrong line. When we asked one of the employees at the t station for help we realized that in order to get back home we would have to stop at Kings Cross. We immediately decided to find Platform 9 ¾ once we arrived at said destination. Once we got off at Kings Cross we realized that it was much bigger than appears in the Harry Potter movies. After realizing that we must go to another floor, we headed to level 3 where after a few minutes of general confusion I swallowed my pride and asked the nearest worker where we could find platform 9 ¾, luckily he didn’t think I was crazy and directed me to head “straight and to the left”. I guess other excited Harry Potter fans also come to Kings Cross to look for a nonexistent platform. Completely normal.
Once we got to the platform I spotted a big sign and a cart pushed halfway into the wall, there was no John Williams music playing in the background so it was slightly less magical than anticipated but still pretty exciting nonetheless!
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