Category Archives: Schwartz Athenaeum

London!

Stick with me mates, it has been a few days and I have done a lot. This may be a long one. The flight from D.C. was fairly pleasant. I sat next to a grad student who was on her way to do some fellowship in a country that starts with an A that I can pronounce and she was very nice. We received free socks, eye masks, toothbrush and paste, and we started out with a snack. I had pretzels and a class of Chardonnay, my first legal glass of wine. I felt very cosmopolitan. For dinner we had a feast, salad, a wheat roll, a small block of cheese, chicken breast with a mushroom gravy, rice, sauteed spinach with a pepper medley, a slice of double chocolate swirl cheesecake, and a glass of Merlot. It was quite a meal. I slept most of the way in order to try and prevent jet lag. Night flying has to be one of the most amazing things in the world. Looking out the window was beautiful. Between the stars in the sky and the lights on the ground it was just a big blanket of sparkle. Here we are after our six and a half hour or so flight.Our first views of London, nice crowded little streets.
Here is what the outside of our accommodations at Liberty Fields look like, not too shabby right?
The view from my window, charming isn’t it. Though without screens on the windows I’m a bit scared I’ll have pigeons as pets before long.Here is my flat, a nice little closet in the wall that I share with one other girl.

 

We took a three hour bus tour today. The London Eye and Big Ben.The London Bridge

 


The Tower of London, I can’t wait to actually go here.
Here is a picture Dad might enjoy a little bit more, MI6 their spy headquarters. Recognize it from any of the James Bond flicks?

 


Last but not least, Casey, Ben and I wandered London this evening whilst looking for our internships places. Ben walks out of the tube right up to Big Ben what an unfortunate site to have to see every morning, it is truly amazing. Here you can see the London Eye in the background as well. Even though Casey is afraid of heights I think we’ve talked him into going up in it with us. We also went and saw the British Museum, HUGE! I can’t wait. I find out more about my internship tomorrow. I know I originally wanted to travel the whole island and maybe go to Amsterdam…but there is more than enough to keep me busy here for two months…and might save me some money! We’ll see.

I’ve Arrived!

All right, no worries everybody I am in London and living in a flat smaller than your closet. I don’t have much time to type now, and we don’t have internet at our flats yet. Once we get that all sorted out I will be posting about my travels here and all those wonderful pictures. More soon.


Leaving Tomorrow!

Yesterday I went to Australia. It was amazing. Well almost, I actually went to the Australian Embassy which I guess technically counts as being on Australian soil, neat. Well anyways, yesterday was pretty uneventful. We just did our presentations and the embassy. My presentation was about Britain and the European Union. Mostly just on why some people are for/or against it and what sort of benefits it has for the UK.

 

Today, more presentations and a little seminar from DC Vote. We had our farewell dinner tonight at Elephant & Castle which is a British type restaurant here in D.C. They served everything buffet style, I wasn’t very impressed but the little desserts (or puddings at they say in London) were tasty. I’ve been learning all sorts of fun slang, such as –spotted dick=pudding with raisins or fruit in it–‘jelly=jello only their’s comes all ready made in a box…really weird. Tipp-ex it white-out. Fit Bird=Good looking Girl, etc. etc. It will take a bit to catch on.

 

After dinner a couple of girls and I spent an hour or two at the bookstore. Apparently Laura also likes my favorite author which is awesome because nobody else has even heard of her, so we exchanged books and authors. It’s rare that I find somebody who likes to read the same random stuff as I do. Tonight is full of laundry and packing, tomorrow picking up a few last minute things, packing more, and then we’re off to the airport at 6:15 even though our flight doesn’t leave until 11. I’m not sure why.
Heard from Romney at the home museum today, apparently she heard from somebody at the British Museum who was pleased to tell her I would be starting there next week…She knows more about what is going on than I do. Oh well, soon enough I’ll be in London! Mom says some of my readers would like to comment on my blogs, apparently blogspot has changed and you can only do that if you have your own blog, which isn’t very handy. However, I would love to hear from you all via e-mail (pss004@uni.edu) , sorry it’s not more convenient.


Supreme Court

Today was a more fun day of presentations, the speakers were a little more interesting. We went to Capitol Hill and talked with the deputy parliamentarian who is actually originally from Dubuque, again WOOT IOWA! It was interesting we got to sit in the house. They don’t allow you to take pictures inside but it was all quite exquisite. The staircase had this wrought-iron vine, cherub, and stag all intertwined, it was AMAZING for lack of a better word. I really wanted a picture so I could have it in my house someday but they said no.We went to the Supreme Courtroom. SWEET! The seats of the justices above and below the decor. Also very neat . The marble is from all over the place , ceilings are from Spain I believe. Beautiful and the carvings are really detailed and I would love to go actually watch while they are in session sometime.Below is the spiral staircase. It’s all marble and self-supported. It was built from the bottom up and the stairs are just sort of stuck together like lego pieces. I want one.On a side note, Leslie and I stopped in at the Lucky Asian Buffet ( the one we saw Uncle Joe and Aunt Diana) Scary! Everything they had pretty much looked like the animal it was. Baby octopus, fish with their heads cut off, baby animals. Weird. I ate some french fries, they were really tasty. I’m new to this buying food by the pound thing. Iowans don’t really do that I guess. Either way I’m also currently reading “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” it’s good so far. I bought it for reading on the airplane. Apparently we get free socks, so that exciting.

Memorial Day

This morning we went to the Memorial Day celebration at Arlington Cemetery. Our little group were some of the only TWC kids to get in because we went early enough. We got to hear the firing of the cannons. I met Bob Dole, he said he likes Iowa. Yay Iowa! We saw George Bush speak. It was all very patriotic, it made me miss home and playing the the Memorial Day concert there. We went out for lunch and then met to go to the monuments or the museums and as many of us had done all of that over the weekend we all just sort of went our own way. Tonight were just in for sort of a lazy night, working on our class projects and probably watching some more Lifetime television.George Bush Speaking Bob Dole

Memorial Day Weekend

Our lovely tour guide.

A couple of nights ago Alisa, Leslie, Casey and I went on a haunted walking tour of Lafayette Square. It was a lot of fun. Heard stories about Abe Lincoln, Dan Sickles, Tecumseh, etc. It was all very interesting. I now want to read the book American Scoundrel which is about Dan Sickles, but they sure don’t have that book ANYWHERE in D.C. I was going to get it to read on the plane. This was our tour guide along with one of the monuments on the square.

So, here is a nice picture of the Whitehouse…with a random guy on the roof.

We had a long metro ride home...when we saw this advertisement on the wall. We proceeded to do EVERYTHING on this list. It was fun and kept us busy.

We went to the Mall to peruse the monuments when we came upon this fountain.

The Washington Monument

Standing in the gorgeous WWII Memorial.

World War II Memorial

The Korean War Memorial.

The Lincoln Monument (My fave of course!)

I did a day on Washington D.C. today. Roomies slept in so I took off early this morning. I started by going to the Eastern Market, Mom would been amazed…It was BIG and there was a lot of stuff. There were a lot of thing I wanted but I was good and didn’t let myself get anything. Next I went to the National Portrait Gallery as part of my scavenger hunt assignment (even though I had planned on going anyways). I had to go to the presidential win g and chose my favorite portrait. My favorite was a photograph of Abraham Lincoln a month before his 2nd inauguration taken by Alexander Gardner, I feel like his face just has a lot of conviction in it. After this I wandered through a few shops and went down to the Mall. Saw the Smithsonian Castle, Sackler Gallery, Freer Gallery, and African Art Gallery. As well as the sculpture gardens, loved them.I watched the Rolling Thunder parade. Rolling Thunder is all of the veterans and/or motorcycle riders bring their bikes and ride them around the mall. There were THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of bikes there today. It was loud, but it was fun to see all of the diversity amongst the bikers. 

Rolling Thunder Parade

Abraham Lincoln a nd I hung out for a bit today (outside the wax museum that is).We went to the Memorial Day concert which was really REALLY good. Performers included Colin Powell, Dennis Leary, Idina Menzel, Gary Sinise, Charlie Durning?, Sarah Brighton, The National Symphony Orchestra, Rodney Atkins, John Schneider, Joe Montainia, and the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets. 

TAPS at the Capitol

Memorial Concert at The Capitol Building


Yesterday: Neighborhoods Day

So I guess D.C. is a lot like home…the internet is very unreliable.

Yesterday we traveled around D.C. to a variety of different neighborhoods. We learned a lot about the differences between the areas and also about the problem of gentrification. We started out the day by going to the National Building Museum, we arrived early and took the chance for a photo shoot with some lions..

The Museum was great, we had a docent named Seymour who was very nice. I learned a lot of cool stuff about the beginnings of Washington D.C. and why it is set up so confusingly. Didn’t get enough time there to read everything…

Next we walked through Chinatown…lots of Asian cuisine, probably gonna go back and eat some. This is the friendship arch.

From there we went to U Street which is an African-American/jazz type district. We ate at Ben’s Chili Bowl, it was DELICIOUS! Pretty much everything on the menu had chili and cheese on it, my kinda place. I had a plate of chili/cheese fries the size of my face.

Our group then split into two and my half went to an Islamic center. It was really interesting. We had to take our shoes off, cover our bodies, and wear head coverings. The place was very beautiful inside. Much of the walls were covered with painted porcelain squares.

Next we drove through Georgetown (which is very yuppie it seems) but didn’t have time to stop. We went over to the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Museum. It was also very interesting, it really showed the changes in a neighborhood over

time and how the people are trying to save the area from gentrification. After this we went to the Eastern Market area but not getting there until 5ish we didn’t even get a chance to walk around. Came home and enjoyed the sauna, and now I need to do my homework.

Today we did mock interviews and a writing workshop which were all very helpful. We ate at Cosi which is really tasty. This afternoon we got to go the Newseum which just opened–for free! Love free stuff, nothing else on the trip seems to be free! The museum had a lot of really interesting things to read and look at. The Pulitzer prize photograph area was really powerful. First is the wall of front pages from when 9/11 happened and at the bottom, pieces of the Berlin Wall, neat.


Speeches and Commerce

 

Nice or Naughty? Waiting in the window seat at TWC for stuff to go down.

 

 

So, we’re walking down the street and somebody says, “Hey, isn’t that the Whitehouse?” Indeed it was, so for my first time I just found the Whitehouse by wandering D.C.

 

We look all professional sitting at this huge table at the Chamber of Commerce.

 

Lunch at the Cornerstone, we recruited a couple of new members for our pay-per-pound daily eating extravaganza.


Day 2: Roomies

Crazy, crazy ladies. I have three roomies, two from Ohio and one from California. We get a long really well, they are hysterical. Today we got up nice and early and headed to the Metro for the 45 minute ride to the Washington Center. Today we did a lot of orientation type stuff…and name games and all that fun stuff you do for orientation. Ate lunch at the Cornerstone Buffet where you buy your food by the pound. I didn’t realize I could just up and eat one and a half pounds of random buffet food. It was tasty. We came back to the hotel which is pretty nice, our room is on the fourteenth floor.

 

Tonight we had a pool party…my roomies and I were the only ones cool enough to show up. Some people came later but they weren’t even wearing their suits so just sat and talked for a while. Everybody is really nice, it will be a fun trip.

View from The Grand's 14th floor

I have my interview with the British Museum. I believe I will be doing survey and observation work, I’m not sure just yet. We have two group sort of projects to get started on all ready and then our own personal list of goals outlined by the pillars of the Washington Center.

 

Miss you all at home, but man am I having a good time.

Arriving in D.C.

Yesterday I arrived in Virginia. My aunt and uncle picked me up at the airport. We stayed at my aunt’s sister’s farm, Silverbrook Farm. It is an absolutely gorgeous place, an 18th century farm house, with a meat house and outdoor bath house too. Decorated with antiques and the gorgeous view of the mountains it was exactly like staying at a bed and breakfast, embroidered robe and all. In the gardens there is a HUGE chess set with stone pieces (when I say huge I mean the playing pieces are waist high), there is painted silhouette of a man carrying a candlestick at the bottom of the stairs that led up to my personal little living quarters, and fireplaces in every room. We had dinner at a restaurant called Magnolias in Purcellville. It is in an old mill with many of the furnishings still intact. We took the scenic drive home and I got to see a lot of historical buildings and some really large homes. I think Virginia might be a place that is after my heart.

The flights were all right, though I practically ran from one end of O’Hare to the other for my connecting flight. Today Uncle Joe and Aunt Diana brought me up to The Grand in North Bethesda, which is where I’ll be staying for the ten day duration of our Washington D.C activities.

Another girl who is living in my apartment I went to get some healthy snacks for our place here for in between meals and breakfasts at the Giant Mart down the way. We pretty much have the day to ourselves aside from our short orientation type meeting tonight. So I’ll be reading more of my assigned articles and unpacking some. It’s official I have an interview with The British Museum, can’t wait for London!