Hyde Park and Museum

One of the great things about London is the number of parks, gigantic parks, all around the city. When you live in a major city you just need that sometimes. I am lucky to live outside the city centre where it's a lot quieter and less touristy, but I still enjoy to go to these places.

For example Hyde Park! Of course there is Hyde Park Speaker's Corner where you can stand on a box etc. and talk about what concerns you. It also more or less marks the west end of Oxford Street which means most people are familiar with it in some way.

But did you ever see the rest of the park? Like, actually walked through it? It is amazing, I promise. Starting in the south east (tube station Hyde Park Corner) you have a few little gardens and memorials which all look very aesthetic. Between this spot and the Serpentine which is a very big lake you can actually try and feed the squirrels. They will come to you! They will climb up your leg, not kidding! It is so much fun, especially when you see little kids getting really excited about it and old couples sitting on benches giving out nuts. 

The Serpentine itself is really nice to look at when you walk by, or you can get a pedal boat if you like. There are also a few cafes if you want to sit down, watch the people walk by and maybe get a coffee and something to eat... if you can.

If you walk on the south side of the lake, you will get to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain eventually. It was closed when I was there due to autumn preparations, but normally you can just walk around there, put your feet  in the water, as long as you are not disrespectful. Walking a bit further you get to a really nice statue of Peter Pan with animals, mermaids and elfs swirling around the base. Then there are the Italian Gardens, a lovely place at the end of the lake. It has waterspout fountains and can also be visited by taking the Tube to the Lancaster Gate Station. This spot is almost the middle of the park all the way in the North because the Serpentine make a 90° turn that you barely notice when you concentrate on the landscape.

I then took a slightly different path down to the Speke Monument and south past the Physical Energy Statue to the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall. These is an amazing Memorial, with a lot of gold and statues representing the four continents Europe, America, Africa and Asia (using stereotypes of course) but also ideals like justice and bravery. I would have loved to see Kensington Palace but I already had other plans and had to leave. Another day I will come back to finish my journal (*dramatic music*).

Anyway, I took a bus towards Trafalgar Square ad walked to Covent Garden from there. I didn't really have a purpose except that I wasn't there for two years and I wanted to see what's different and new. For example, the last time I was here they didn't have any decoration hanging from the ceiling; at least I didn't remember it....

At this point I was getting slightly hungry and I knew some of the other au pairs were planning on meeting at Waterloo Station to go to a museum together. So I went down to the Southbank Centre behind which a small food market opens its doors every weekend including friday. I can absolutely recommand it, it is very nice, the atmosphere is good and there is so much to try from all around the world that everyone can find something to enjoy. I waited a few minutes for Nele and togethewe ate a cheeseburger before we walked to the next bus stop. As it turns out, most of the others didn't have time after all and Sarah was already at the museum.

Taking the bus to the British Museum we were a bit confused when we weren't able to find Sarah even though we called her and were standing at the tourist shop right at the beginning. Until we figured out: we were at the wrong museum!
Yep. We managed to confuse the British Museum with the National History Museum. Thanks google!
So, taking another two buses, we told her to stay were she is and that we would be there as fast as possible. Which means another 45 minutes, because of course we missed the bus right as it was driving by!

When we finally managed to get there it was already late, at least considering the time we wanted to be there in the first place, so we narrowed it down to the dinosaur exhibition and the human body exhibition. The first one is always my favorite: dinosaurs were a childhood obsession of mine and I still enjoy movies and documentations about them. It is really well done, with signs that explain everything without being boring, graphics and even pieces you can touch.

The human body one was ok, with interactive parts as well that show you how your muscles work etc, even though you know most of it from biology class anyway.

And that was basically the end of the day! We went straight to a pub afterwards to meet the others as usual. Next time, we really need to make clear were we want to go exactly.

(21.11.15)

birthday night

It is always the same: one of your friend's birthday is coming up and nobody knows what to get them. Especially when you don't know each other for very long.

It gets even funnier when not only one, but six birthdays are happening within two months. Oh, and Christmas. So money-shortage is another issue.

Sarah, one of the other au pairs at my kids school, turns 19 today, but we already started to celebrate on Saturday, meeting for a few hours in a pub. Wetherspoons is a really nice one, with a carpet that keeps your shoes from making too much sounds as you g o to the counter and a rather dark and old interior that makes it look really cozy. And it's a lot cheaper than a lot of other locations, so I can really understand why so many people come here to get tipsy before going to an actual club.

Anyway, we had something to eat and drink (the chicken breast burger is really good!) and left at around ten o'clock.

What came after that is starting to turn into a tradition of ours just like the pub night every Sunday: We got cupcakes at a cute little store just around the corner of the market that is still open at that time. Seriously, I would love to know when the guy sleeps!

Sitting at the Thames, we ate our pastries before trying to decide what to do. Kingston doesn't really have much of a party scene, and not all of us wanted to spend money on a club we might not even enjoy, including me. Good thing that there is one location that 'doesn't suck as much as the others' and has free entrance until 11pm called the Hippodrome Kingston. 

It was really funny. Of course it was still almost empty when we arrived at 10:30pm so we sat down for a bit before hitting the dancefloor. About an hour after we came it started to fill up which means it was less awkward to dance because you are not the only one there anymore. 

There isn't a lot to talk about the next drei hours, we danced the whole time and tried to stay away from weird guys as much as possible. After some time it filled up and got really cramped, but we managed to stay to the side which was a relieve especially to me. We even got a birthday message on the hugh TV thanks to a tweet! Not to forget a little countdown and a 'happy birthday to you' song in the middle of the dancefloor.

When we left we still had her birthday present that she opened in the middle of the street. This actually attracted  bunch of locals to come over and sing a song for her, too. And they told us what we already knew: the best clubs are in Central London, they are just on the more expensive side.

Anyways, Sarah got a feel-good-package for a lazy afternoon: a hot-water bottle in the form of an owl, fuzzy socks, three facemasks, blue nail polish, crisps and gummi bears, a cup with a slit for cookies, a pocket heater in the shape of a heart and a candle. This cost everyone 5 pound only which is the best thing about getting a present together as a group. And she really seemed to like it, so we did that right at least.

It was a great night, I really enjoyed it even if I'm not a big fan of clubs. Really looking forward to the next birthday (read: next week).

(15.11.15)

Hampton Court Palace

Do you know that feeling when you wake up, look outside and your brain just goes 'nah'?

That's what I was thinking today. The sky was grey, it was drizzling and the wind was blowing like crazy. I stood up anyways and after searching for my phone for half an hour without finding it I set out to meet up with two other au pairs, one of which was singing in a choir in Hampton Court Palace and invited the other two of us. We only had to pay 1 pound instead of 16 I think, which is a huge relieve.

It was still raining when we met in Kingston and got on a bus. Of course we got out a stop too early and had to walk, though we were actually there before the bus due to traffic. S. then left us at the entrance to meet the rest of her singing group for a warm up. N. and I decided to do a little tour of the place with audio guides. It was really interesting though we only saw about half of the rooms and had to rush through a lot of them to actually see our friend perform. We were in King Henry VIII's apartments, King William III's apartments and King Henry VIII's Kitchens. The people working there were all wearing red uniforms and were really nice and ready to answer questions. I would definitely recommand going there, though it is a bit expensive so big thanks to my friend for giving us the extra tickets!

The singing itself was really good! Apparently Hampton Court Palace was built 500 years ago and to celebrate this anniversary several small choirs joint together to sing a specially composed new song as well as sing there own selection of older songs on their own in the Cartoon Gallery that is part of Cumberland Art Gallery. S.'s choir finished their own performance at around 3pm which means we were all hungry, so we decided to leave and go to Kingston to grab a bite. And it actually stopped raining by the time we left the building.

We ended up in Costa for a drink and a shared panini. We talked for quite a bit, amongst other things about our plans once we go back to Germany. Turns out we could all end up in roughly the same region of Germany if everything goes as planned.

And now I'm sitting here in my room. I found my phone (behind my bed) but can't find my USB port which is just my typical bad luck, really. You would think I have my life figured out, but nah.

Anyways, a big thank you to S. and N., it was a great day with you guys!