Middle Temple & Dickens House & Portabello

Yesterday was our London study day a.k.a. another full day of walking and site seeing. I usually LOVE these days but with having an injured foot they get pretty tiring. I have just been taping myself up and continuing walking. So far my foot hasn't gotten any worse. Hopefull this weekend will allow me to rest it a little more. Anyhow we started our day off getting a tour of Middle Temple. I am not completely sure how to adequetly explain what Middle Temple is but basically it's one of four "inns" or houses of The British Bar. So they have lawyers that belong to these inns and this society goes way back... like back past Shakespeare's time. So we went and saw Middle Temple, had a tour of the big banqueting room and the church and then we had the privilege of eating lunch there. It was one of my favorite things I have done so far I think. The history behind the building is really pretty intriguing. The first production of "Twelfth Night" was performed here, Prince William has often eaten here, the head banqueting table is original and has never been removed (we ate on that table) , the ceiling is Solid English oak and the history list goes on and on. It's interesting to learn about another judicial system besides America's too. It makes me appreciate America's even if it's not completely functioning how our Founding Fathers anticipated. Anyways after touring the hall and the church we had the best lunch. Definitely gourmet. It consisted (take note mom so you can replicate this) a cherry tomato, mushroom and leek tartlet with hollandaise, Medaillon pork, potatoes, veggies, and an apple crumble followed by some pretty bomb blackcurrant herbal tea. It was cool because we sat at the head of the hall facing out all the baristers who were dressed in nice suits. I feel like we got a feeling of what the upper, upper British class are like. It's kinda insane. But after we finished off our "once in a study abroad" gourmet meal, were all stuffed and pretty much just sat around digesting until we had to walk up to the Dicken's house.

The big banqueting table

Middle Temple Hall

Anna, Arrin, Sarah and I at the church

Dickens's house was... cool. It had a lot of potential that it didn't really live up to. They showed a very poorly made video about Dickens and then had some disorganized manuscripts of his novels. I just felt like it was cool to see, but the museum wasn't structured that well. Here comes my classic phrase... for those of you who come to London, maybe walk into the gift shop in the back of the house (it's free to go in the shop), realize there is nothing in there, and then walk back out and take a photo out front. This way, you have seen about one third of the museum, walked in his house, taken a photo, AND you saved your six pounds. That will buy you a Cath Kidston card holder wallet.

Inside Dicken's House. Now you really don't have to tour it!

Outside in Charles's itty bitty garden

The front door of Dickens House

So after snapping photos (the most fun part of the Dicken's experience), Laura and I rushed to Portabello road in hopes of catching some shops before they closed shop. It was pretty rainy so people were closing up when we got there but we went in a few shops and Laura found some cool old knobs for her future home and I found a good deal on souvenirs (i can't say what because they are gifts for my sisters). Also I have made the liberating decision that I probably wont buy a Cath Kidston bag. They are expensive and heaven knows I don't need another bag. I still have my eye on the wallet though. One of the coolest parts about this Portabello experience was that I went home last night and watched Notting Hill. I have never seen this movie and I will be honest, I didn't really like it BUT it was pretty awesome to recognize exactly where the main guys' book shop is and recognize like ten other sites right in the neighborhood I am currently living in.

So after Portabello Laura and the girls in my room went out for Kebabs on Queensway. The dorm 3 girls are always raving about this place so we tried it out. Lesson learned: the kebab place on Bayswater outshines the one on Queensway. It was ok but the guy who owned the hole in the wall place was ticked that we all paid seperate and his kebabs were kind of icky. So now we know. Anyhow I gotta run and get ready for class.

Kebabs. They sort of look like gyros.