A Little Rock 'n Roll

When you think of the London tourism market, there are a few things you think of right away. 

The London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, etc.

You get the picture.

I think of the same things, but as my time in England begins to draw to a close, I've been making it a point to find hidden treasures. If you're a regular follower, you know I've found the location where the last D-Day briefing was among other gems. 

St. John's in Notting Hill 

One of the things that I've been interested in was learning more about the Notting Hill/Ladbroke Grove area.  Knowing general history of the area especially with the notable musicians that hung out in the area in the 1960s and 1970s, I did a simple Google search to see if anything interesting sprung up for locations. Let's just say that I got more things to do than I expected! 

Last week, I hunted down two key places based on the Google search results that I got. 

The first? The building or rather house where Jimi Hendrix was found dead.  22 Lansdowne Crescent was the former Samarkand Hotel where Hendrix was found in dead in the basement in September 1970. 

Down the road, I found my second destination of the day. The Elgin Pub is a pub that I literally pass multiple times a day on my way to school, run errands, or just take in London life. Joe Strummer used to play and hang out at this local spot in Ladbroke Grove before he joined the Clash! 

The hidden treasures of London are my favorite! Stay tuned for what I find next! 

Tired of London, Tired of Life

I acquired a book called, "Tired of London, Tired of Life," awhile back. Essentially, it's a book detailing something new to do everyday in London. I'm a tourist at heart, so this book was made for me. 

A goal of mine this year is to finally complete all of the tourist attractions in London that I have never done. In 2010, I felt as if I was always on a marathon mission to get to the next big attraction whereas in the past year, the things I did in London were still big attractions, but off the beaten track, too! 

This past weekend, I did just that: find some off the beaten track tourist attractions, but spend some time with the favorites as well. 

On Saturday, I took off to find the location where the last D-Day briefing took place. It was actually quite close to my home in Hammersmith. Hammersmith is also an area that I've never really explored apart from the tube/bus station! 

The location was tucked into gardens where a school used to exist. Now, the cite is occupied by a college. You couldn't go inside or rather too close to the building due to construction works, but it was still a sight to see especially due to the significance of the plan that was finalized there. 

From there, I wandered around to my favorite areas of London: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower of London, and St. James' Park.

Buckingham Palace

Tower of London

Second Star to the Right & Straight onto Morning

On Sunday, I showed a fellow Syracuse alumna around Portobello Road before I committed to homework and waiting out the UK storm!

The Blue Door from the movie, Notting Hill 

How would you spend your day in London? Or any place?

A Birthday Celebration, a Walking Tour, and a lot of Homework!

Well, it is hard to believe that in two short weeks, I'll be on a plane back home to the US for a three week break before returning for the next term. Michaelmas term has flown by. I feel like I just got here the other day, began the pre-semester math course, and now, I'm working on two group projects and final STATA problem sets before they are due in week ten. Nevertheless, it's clear that I made the correct decision by choosing to attend LSE. And, thank goodness, weekly adventures have been able to balance the hectic crazy work schedule that I find myself in.

This past week was my friend, Kaitlyn's 23rd birthday. We planned a mini-celebration post economics Tuesday morning with mimosas, balloons, and some Krispy Kreme donuts. 

Friday evening, we all went out to dinner for her birthday followed by a few drinks to celebrate.  We went to the Blue Lagoon Restaurant on High Street Kensington followed by drinks down in Shoreditch. Here are some photos from the evening!

Birthday Girl, Emma, and me

Arielle and me

On Saturday, Jenny and I met up to use this Groupon tour that we had bought several weeks ago. We spent 10 pounds in total for what we expected to be a guided tour about the royals  of England. Yet, what we got yesterday was little emphasis on the royals. Rather, our tour focused on Coco Chanel, the pelicans in St. James's Park, and Downing Street. It was interesting and fun, but not really what we paid for. 

Hanging out at New Scotland Yard 

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

View of the Eye from the Downing Street Entrance

Today, I'm in the library trying to finish a lot of work, so that is the reason why this post concentrates more on photos than an actual weekend re-cap. Stay tuned this week for some interesting wrap-up posts to the semester!