Short and sweet 24-11-10

The Pet Shop Boys sang "Go West". So we did; to Westfield shopping centre. The Bristollian was rather disgruntled at the lack of real fields and tractors, however, was satisifed by Starbucks and "snowies" (those white chocolate buttons with sprinkles - helping us get into the spirit of Christmas!) Good times.

Westfield is HUGE; too much to see in one day. After 3 hours, we were zonked so had to call it a day. To be continued, when we have more money and more energy. Short and sweet this week, like our coffee and chocolates.

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A surprise for you all! 10-11-10

Today we have a treat in store – guest writers! (Not because we’re too lazy to write our own accounts you understand…: p) 10.11.10 saw UCL students march down from the campus past Trafalgar Square to join the masses outside of Whitehall – here’s what they had to say:

"As is often the case with plans, our one for the demo didn't quite come together. We had intended to meet in the UCL quad at around ten o'clock but instead met at eleven – after everyone else had long since left.

We attempted to catch up with the main protest and walked towards the intended start point of the protest – Horseguards Avenue. We didn't realise at the time that we wouldn't stand a chance of getting there, due to the 40000 other people also there.

As we approached Trafalgar Square, we began to hear chanting. The sight that greeted us was that of a river of students, marching unbroken from Strand onto Whitehall. Peckish, we were content to sit at the base of Nelson's Column and observe. And eat lunch.

We sat there for more than 40 minutes, as a seemingly never-ending train of students walked by. Eventually the procession reached a standstill; one can only assume that there was no more space for students between Horseguards Avenue and Trafalgar Square.

Not wanting to be standing stationary for ages, we elected to take the scenic route, crossing the river and walking parallel to the demo route, rejoining it by the Houses of Parliament, once it was in full swing. There we met an old friend (who featured in a previous instalment of this blog) and continued on the march, which by now had reached a snail's pace. The atmosphere was defiant and angry, but never violent or tense.

The march sped up somewhat as we approached the Millbank tower, which was the focus of the less savoury behaviour involved with the demo. The courtyard was filled with protesters, most of them no different to those on the rest of the march. the <vandals> had long ago gained entry to the building, although we couldn't see how. We hung around there for a while, but decided to leave as people began emptying fire extinguishers from the roof and setting off flares. We couldn't have timed it much better; as we left, we saw more riot police preparing to enter the building."

So there you have it : )

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Our Radio debut! (maybe) 3-11-10

True to form, here comes a flurry of late catch up posts – just be glad they’re in English and not Russian or French! Monopoly Wednesday this week saw a craving for baguette turn into an impromptu picnic in the autumnal splendour of Regent’s Park : D Magnifique! 

Having purchased the essential components of our picnic (baguette, jam, cheese and muffins) we trotted off to Regents Park for baguette-consumption purposes. However, on our way there, we were waylaid by a BBC correspondent wielding a microphone in our direction. Was this to be our radio debut?! So we gave a brief interview, indeed, very brief as it consisted of only 3 questions, and trundled off, somewhat shell-shocked and mind blown by the whole experience. By the way, if any of you merry bunch heard it, please get in touch, it was on Radio 1Xtra (we think).

Finding an empty bench in Regents Park is rather like getting on a tube at rush hour; nigh impossible unless you're ruthless, classy and determined. Being all of those, after ten minutes, we succeeded, only to be attacked from above! Needless to say, our pigeon-busting skills have improved immensely since arriving in London town!  The picnic was beautiful, the leaves were beautiful and the scenery was beautiful; in short, autumnal London is beautiful. We then proceeded to take artsy pictures and have a ridiculously good time unleashing our inner children. As is probably obvious to our regular readers, this is not a one off event!

And then we went home for tea.

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Hoide Paark 27-10-10

(Yes, one of us is a Bristolian : ) )
It's Wednesday! More specifically the last Wednesday of the month, which means International food stalls at UCL : D Following our new-found tradition, we had empanadas and crepes and then hit the streets. As it was beautifully sunny today (a rarity here in the Big Smoke) we decided to take a stroll in Hoide Paark (Translation: Hyde Park) Having agreed to meet an old friend at the bandstand we proceeded to amuse ourselves with a leaf fight (yeah, we're 8 not 18 : D ) Half an hour later, suspecting something was up, we checked in with our friend...turns out he was at the OTHER bandstand...on a page of the A-Z we successfully skipped : D Checking our watches, we sprinted across Hyde Park (exercise for the week!) only to discover he was behind us (in true pantomime style) After exploring the Imperial accommodation with green eyes, we headed back through Knightsbridge (admiring the estate-agents' windows on the way past!) and reached our Mecca: Harrods : D Zooming through the hallowed halls, we discovered the wonders of non-alcoholic chocolate and lobster while making a beeline for the Krispy Kreme stand. There, fearing our student budgets wouldn't quite cover it, we fled the scene of the crime. Ah well, give it 10 years, we're at UCL after all : p

Next time: Impromptu picnic at Regent's Park and attack of the pigeons
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The Muffin Man does NOT live on Drury Lane 16-10-10

Aujourd’hui we decided to head south to visit Leicester Square (Chinatown! And the Odeon!) and Trafalgar Square. Feeling lazy, we Tubed it down to Leicester Square and emerged into a flurry of people packing up the Moon Day decorations. Despite being sorely tempted by the Chinese lanterns, we put our blinkers on (something we are now very accustomed to doing : P) and headed on. Chinatown, although beautiful, RED and ornate is VERY unsuitable for vegetarians : ( so we moseyed on down to Trafalgar Square. Amid a shouting match between campaigners, we soaked in the very London-y atmosphere and successfully avoided the pigeons ; ) Feeling rather skint by this point, we dug out the trusty (pink!) A-Z to plot a new route back and decided to sacrifice the Tube fare home for a muffin from the famous Drury Lane. HOWEVER, we were shocked and appalled to discover how grievously we had been misled: there is no muffin man down Drury Lane : (

Next time: Farmer’s Market II and counting the bandstands in Hyde Park…good times : )

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Oxford Circus 03-10-10

What do get when you cross 2 excitable university freshers with London? Lots of shopping! Well, what do you expect?! It is 20 minutes' walk from our current location after all, plus the student loan came through :D Armed with a shopping list (toaster - 2 weeks without toast?! What a nightmare!) we hit the shops. Halfway down the street, we succumbed to temptation; WAFFLES! So worth it : )
In true student style, a toaster was first on our list of purchases; a lack of cheese on toast was starting to make one of us a little edgy. John Lewis Value range is great for student essentials like that, we heartily recommend it. (Of course, there are other shops available for such purchases :p) Part of doing this blog was to pass on to other Freshers our experiences, as sanctimonious as that sounds, but nevertheless. Anyway.
Increasingly aware that winter was fast approaching and that rain would soon arrive and drench us, there was nothing for it but to buy umbrellas. In the most pretty patterns possible. Of course. Well, you wouldn't want a plain umbrella, would you? That would be boring and counter intuitive. So, our purchases consisted of umbrellas and a toaster, as you do.
On the subject of toast, food appeared  to be the order of the day as we moved on to TopShop. Surreptitiously sneaking past twice, we sampled the many delicious, wait for it, SPARKLY (!) cupcakes on offer : D We were also terrified by the number of owls on display in the jewellery, watching us with their beady eyes from all the shelves. Needless to say, there were no "owls" purchased during our trip.

Next time... something else exciting, as with much of our Freshers life.

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Regent's Park 29-09-10

Hi guys!
This is a little post-dated but never mind - we're disorganised uni students! Two weeks ago, we met. 10 minutes later, we set off on our first crusade. On discovering a shared loved of peanut butter sandwiches, Jane Austen and mini-bridges, we embarked (cameras in tow) on a voyage of discovery to Regent's Park. Marvelling at the audacity of the man-eating squirrels, we admired the roses. Trekking a little further, we succumbed to the temptation to run like small children over every single mini-bridge we could find (see picture) The resident ducks were rather perturbed - can't imagine why.
In all seriousness, Regent's Park is a fabulous oasis in the thriving metrop that is London (Note to North Pole - please realign yourself to correct the compass in Regent's Park!)

Coming soon to a post near you: Oxford Street and the temptations of TopShop's sparkly green cupcakes : )
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Intro

Hi guys!

This blog comes to you from two VERY excited UCL freshers exploring London through new eyes. Currently we've known each other two weeks but over the next few months (years!) we hope to give you an insight into our London as we get to know our new home. So, welcome to the Diary of a London Fresher!

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