I hopped on a bus early Thursday morning, due to arrive at the Victoria Coach Station in London at 2:00 pm. My dad's friend Rosie met me at the station and she took me on a crash course of the art scene in the city. Most of our afternoon together was spent gallery-hopping on Cork Street, which literally was made up of gallery-after-gallery-after-gallery. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing both old masters and contemporary artists all in one central location. Some of the contemporary galleries we visited really made me question what art was, but not in a good/philosophical way (Case and point: one of the "pieces" by an artist literally consisted of a Styrofoam that had been slightly torn / mashed. It was called "Ripped Cup" -- how appropriate -- and was selling for £1000. It's artists like that who, in my opinion, give art a bad name. Art is about expression and feeling and reacting to the environment around you, not just stacking some cups on top of each other or breaking a ceramic pot and calling it "art." It's no wonder why people don't care about the art world; I know I certainly could care less about that sort of stuff. Ugh. End rant. I'm getting off my soapbox now). After 4 hours of walking around (and lugging my suitcase with me) on top of a 6 hour bus ride, I was completely exhausted. Rosie gave me an old Oyster travel card which I topped up at the station and used to catch the train to Bromley, which is where Kez and her family live (and also where I would be staying the next 5 nights). I played a game called Go For Broke with Kez, Ryan, and Kez's brother Chris, and hopped in bed a little after midnight.
On Friday, I went with Kez and Ryan to Stonehenge. The countryside was absolutely beautiful, but being Easter weekend there was a TON of traffic. We grabbed lunch at a restaurant called Harvester (an endless salad bar, free refills, and a delicious chicken & chips dish -- soooo good) in Amesbury, then headed into Stonehenge. I did a presentation on the mysteries surrounding Stonehenge back in 9th or 10th grade, but the only thing I remember was the fact that, after loads of research, I still have no idea how those bluestones got there. Stonehenge was just as impressive and mysterious and cool as I remember it, but there's really only so many pictures you can take of some giant rocks in a circle.After Stonehenge we drove to a smaller, less popular henge a few miles away (henge meaning "a roughly circular or oval-shaped flat area enclosed and delimited by a boundary earthwork") called Woodhenge. Woodhenge had a similar setup to Stonehenge, and was set up around 2000 BC during the Bronze age for ceremonial use. We then drove a little ways away to a West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill, which are a Neolithic burial tomb and the tallest prehistoric human-made mound in Europe,
respectively. There was a group of hippies walking up to West Kennet Long Barrow just as we were leaving, armed with bongos and bandanas and blankets and the whole nine yards. We think they were going to do some sort of sunset ceremonial dance thing up at the burial site, but we didn't stick around for it. We then drove to see the largest stone circle in Europe: Avebury. The henge surrounded the entire city of Avebury, so we walked around and took in a gorgeous sunset before heading back home to Bromley.
I took a train into London on Saturday morning, bought a map, and spent the entire day sightseeing and exploring. Again, being Easter weekend there were heaps of people at all the popular tourist attractions; Buckinham Palace was certainly no different. Pushing through the mass of bodies, I spotted some of the Queen's guard patrolling the front entrance to the Palace. Walking through St. James' Park, I saw a lot of pigeons and ducks snatching up any food that people threw to them. There was a bagpipe player in Trafalgar Square, but he was
really awful compared to the ones in Scotland. The National Gallery of London housed an impressive collection of art by Titian, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Cézanne, Monet, Rembrandt, and tons of other artists I learned all about in art history. Covent Garden was a popular site for street performers, as well as the Jubilee Market. Rosie had told me about the 200-something giant eggs painted by different artists, which I learned were being auctioned off to raise money for charities. In the British Museum, I found the Rosetta stone, Assyrian sculptures, and friezes from the Greek Parthenon. When I found out the British Museum also owned
Hokusai's
Great Wave in their collections, I had a mini-heart attack and got really excited, only to find that it wasn't on display at the moment. Super sad. I took the tube with Kez and Ryan to the London Eye/Parliament/Big Ben, and then stopped at Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross station before heading back to Bromley for a family fondue dinner with the Prices. One horribly lost game of British Trivial Pursuit later (sorry, Chris!), it was time for bed -- we had a boot sale in Bromley to go to in the morning!
On Friday, I went with Kez and Ryan to Stonehenge. The countryside was absolutely beautiful, but being Easter weekend there was a TON of traffic. We grabbed lunch at a restaurant called Harvester (an endless salad bar, free refills, and a delicious chicken & chips dish -- soooo good) in Amesbury, then headed into Stonehenge. I did a presentation on the mysteries surrounding Stonehenge back in 9th or 10th grade, but the only thing I remember was the fact that, after loads of research, I still have no idea how those bluestones got there. Stonehenge was just as impressive and mysterious and cool as I remember it, but there's really only so many pictures you can take of some giant rocks in a circle.After Stonehenge we drove to a smaller, less popular henge a few miles away (henge meaning "a roughly circular or oval-shaped flat area enclosed and delimited by a boundary earthwork") called Woodhenge. Woodhenge had a similar setup to Stonehenge, and was set up around 2000 BC during the Bronze age for ceremonial use. We then drove a little ways away to a West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill, which are a Neolithic burial tomb and the tallest prehistoric human-made mound in Europe, 
respectively. There was a group of hippies walking up to West Kennet Long Barrow just as we were leaving, armed with bongos and bandanas and blankets and the whole nine yards. We think they were going to do some sort of sunset ceremonial dance thing up at the burial site, but we didn't stick around for it. We then drove to see the largest stone circle in Europe: Avebury. The henge surrounded the entire city of Avebury, so we walked around and took in a gorgeous sunset before heading back home to Bromley.
I took a train into London on Saturday morning, bought a map, and spent the entire day sightseeing and exploring. Again, being Easter weekend there were heaps of people at all the popular tourist attractions; Buckinham Palace was certainly no different. Pushing through the mass of bodies, I spotted some of the Queen's guard patrolling the front entrance to the Palace. Walking through St. James' Park, I saw a lot of pigeons and ducks snatching up any food that people threw to them. There was a bagpipe player in Trafalgar Square, but he was really awful compared to the ones in Scotland. The National Gallery of London housed an impressive collection of art by Titian, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Cézanne, Monet, Rembrandt, and tons of other artists I learned all about in art history. Covent Garden was a popular site for street performers, as well as the Jubilee Market. Rosie had told me about the 200-something giant eggs painted by different artists, which I learned were being auctioned off to raise money for charities. In the British Museum, I found the Rosetta stone, Assyrian sculptures, and friezes from the Greek Parthenon. When I found out the British Museum also owned 
Hokusai's Great Wave in their collections, I had a mini-heart attack and got really excited, only to find that it wasn't on display at the moment. Super sad. I took the tube with Kez and Ryan to the London Eye/Parliament/Big Ben, and then stopped at Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross station before heading back to Bromley for a family fondue dinner with the Prices. One horribly lost game of British Trivial Pursuit later (sorry, Chris!), it was time for bed -- we had a boot sale in Bromley to go to in the morning!
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