Bye London!

This trip has been one of the best experiences of my life so far. I feel like I've seen so much and learned so much in the short amount of time that we have been abroad. I enjoyed visiting all the different places that we went to as well as learning more about them instead of just taking pictures and moving on to the next site like the usual tourist. This blog definitely was a big part of that because without these assignments I'm sure I would have overlooked important details or different meanings that all these sites hold. I also really enjoyed looking at everyone else's blogs because it was nice to see the different perspectives everyone else had even though they were talking about the same places.

I think doing this blog helped me understand the British culture more because it made look deeper into things. I realized that the British are very proud people and very traditional. They love their Queen and are proud to have her as their Queen even though she holds no real power, it's a part of history and I feel like they love that about their country. However, with that said, there are also so many diverse cultures here in London. You hear so many different languages on the tube and there are so many different food options, it's just one big melting pot.  

What I learned about my own identity as an American or a Mexican is that identity is very complex and you cannot just identify yourself with one thing. I don't usually say that I'm American because I grew up in a very different culture than the typical American family, even though society plays a big part in shaping you as a person. My family has had a big influence on me so I feel like I have different values and different aspects of different identity. 

If I ever came back to the UK or Europe in general, I would want to branch out from the places I have seen or stayed in and really take the time to enjoy everything and not rush like a typical tourist. I would also love to visit the spots I didn't get to go to while I was here and try more areas that are not as touristy. I hope I can come back in the near future because I honestly loved this city and had a great time here. I won't soon forget this experience and everything I have learned from all the people I have met in this journey! 

Churchill War Rooms

The Churchill War Rooms was another one of my favorites. World War II has always been something I enjoy learning more about so this was really cool to visit. This is where Prime Minister Winston Churchill had to take shelter when the Nazi's were bombing London during the second World War. These war rooms did not just provide shelter for the PM and his advisers but it was where he made important decisions to get them through the war. What I found most interesting is how all the rooms and the items inside have basically not been touched since that time period. It honestly looked like a fake movie set to me or something but this is in fact what it was like. It was a weird feeling looking into these rooms and listening on our audio guide how they lived in here and met in these small spaces to make decisions that impacted millions of lives. It was a powerful thing to see to say the least. 

So with that statement, an element of identity that definitely correlates with this trip is that of power. This museum is basically open to pay its respect to one of the most famous Prime Minister's of London and definitely one of the most powerful and influential men in the world at the time. The other element would obviously be pride in place. The British are obviously proud of this great man who kept his calm during a time of uncertainty and in turn gave hope to Londoners and kept their morale up. These war rooms obviously mean a lot to the British people and are proud to have them open to the public to showcase their love and respect for such an important man. 

this time period is where this famous phrase came from 

Changing of the Horse Guard

One morning we decided to go check out what the Changing of the Guard was since they do it every morning at 11 o’clock. Little did we know we saw the wrong one! Apparently we ended up seeing the Changing of the Guard Mounting, which was still pretty cool. Basically, the Changing of the Guard Mounting is the process of a new guard exchanging duty with the old guard, and they are obviously on horses. The Guard which mounts at Buckingham palace is called the Queen’s Royal Guard. It was still really cool to watch regardless. 

We got there just as the horses were marching down the street to the Horse Guards Arch. it was interesting to see even though not much happened, they rode their horses in, stood in two lines facing each other and then switched out the guards on the outside of the Arch. This is a tradition that dates back to the 1600's. I think it not only represents tradition but pride in place because of how proud the British are of their traditions and the royal family, especially their queen. I would definitely like to see the other Changing of the Guard, but this was just as neat. 

Hyde Park

One of the first parks we visited was Hyde Park. It’s basically the Central Park of London. It’s one of the largest parks in all of London as well as one of the Royal Parks. I really liked it although I’m sure we didn’t even get to see the whole park. When we first got to the park we walked through a really beautiful little flower garden that had. Walking on the little pathway to the rest of the park we noticed there were large circular medallions looking things on the floor. When we looked down to see what they said we noticed it was the pathway that led to the Princess Diana Memorial. This isn’t the only memorial the park has. Other memorials include the Holocaust Memorial and a memorial that commemorates the victims of the July 7th London bombings. I think these memorials showcase how much London cares about its people. For example, the memorial dedicated to Princess Diana really shows how much the country loved Princess Diana and is proud to have had her in their Royal Family. She was very beloved by the people in the country and I’m sure will always be remembered for all her kind acts while she was alive. So I can definitely see pride in place playing a part in here as well as just having a Royal Park in general. The British are so proud of their Royal Family that they also have Royal Parks!?? That's pretty cool. The next one I think of is power because just having all these different memorials and monuments throughout the park shows that the British have money and you know wherever there is money there is power and they definitely love to show that off. 

The park itself was beautiful. After walking through the Princess Diana memorial path, we walked on the track where joggers can run around the park, we passed some playgrounds, met a few squirrels, and saw all kinds of boot camps and exercisers getting their work out it around the park. It really was a beautiful park, I just wish it would've been sunny enough to have a picnic!

Victoria and Albert Museum

Our last class visit that we did was the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was also the last time we got a guided tour by our favorite lady Trudy! :( This museum is the largest decorative arts and design museum in the world! It was one of my favorites. It houses a collection of over 4.5 million artifacts over a span of 5,000 years in 145 different galleries. This tour was mainly focused on the evolution of fashion here in London and how some prominent trends and designers hailed from here. I really enjoyed it seeing as I love fashion and would love to work in the industry some day. I learned some random little facts that I didn't know before. For example, Vivienne Westwood having a boutique on King's Road, where we live! That was a cool one. 

I noticed a few elements of identity that could apply to the V&A museum. The most obvious one was artistic expression. Not only did they have paintings at the museum, but it was also nice to see different forms of art such as fashion and interior decoration which was also emphasized at the museum. It was really interesting to see the way people dressed back in the day for special occasions and weddings as well as what they wore underneath their outfits. Interiors were also showcased and it wasn't just paintings or portraits but the type of wallpapers that were used and the type of furniture as well. Another element I noticed was culture fusion because the museum was not just about the English decorative arts and design but they also incorporated Asia, North Africa, and even North America. My favorite part by far was all the fashion of course. It was one of our most interesting visits, however I wish I would have been able to explore a bit more, especially since it was so close to where we lived.  Here are a few pictures to display all the different displays they had:

flattened instruments at the top of the ceiling 

 blown glass chandelier at the entrance 

vintage Christian Dior!

Chelsea Farmer's Market

One of my favorite things to do during the week was go to the Chelsea Farmer’s Market every Saturday at Duke of York Square on King’s Road. (Whenever we were in London that is) We honestly discovered this by accident one Saturday morning when we went on a walk after breakfast. They have everything! From raw fruits and vegetables to Peruvian, Mediterranean, Brazilian foods, sushi, sandwiches, burgers, salsas, olives, cheeses, meats! Any kind of food you want they honestly probably have it. We usually would start our Saturday there and then continue with the rest of our day after having a good meal.

I think this farmer’s market represents a couple different things such as cultural fusion, pride in place, and tradition. Cultural fusion is obvious because it brings multiple different cultures together in one place through their foods, along with different stores on King’s Road that display what they sell. I believe pride in place also applies because the people of Chelsea are proud to have this farmer’s market every Saturday where they can display all these delicious foods from different cultures in their community as well as locally grown foods. The Chelsea Farmer’s Market has been going on for over 20 years so obviously it has also become a tradition for the people in the area and even people from outside of the Chelsea area. This is going to be one of the things I miss doing in London. It honestly was a favorite!

Chelsea Football Club

Before the season was over, we decided to go to a Chelsea game since we are staying in Chelsea and the stadium is so close. The Chelsea Football club, which was founded in Fulham in 1905 and plays in the Premier League, has been a top tier team in the history of English Football. As soon as we stepped out of the tube station we were overwhelmed by so many Chelsea fans. The entire streets were covered with people wearing light blue shirts and jerseys and hats and painted faces and scarves of the same colors and looking so proud to be wearing all of that! Cars were not even able to drive through the streets because the fans overtook the whole area all the way to the Stamford Bridge stadium (their mascot is also named Stamford). This shows how proud the people of this area are of their team. I mean, even on pub doors and windows they had signs that said they did not allow anyone that was not a Chelsea fan. It was crazy. This is probably because with how passionate they are about their team, if opponent team fans came in to the same bars, there would definitely be a fight. Unfortunately we did not get to go inside the stadium because the remaining tickets were about 100 pounds and over just for one ticket. So we decided to just watch the game at a local pub to still get the feel of all the fans cheering for their team. There were even young fans there with their parents, little boys cheering on the game with their dads, showing family tradition as well. I’m sure if you’re born into a family that cheers for the Chelsea team you are most certainly going to be a Chelsea fan. It just shows how deep rooted their pride and traditions are. It was a really fun experience, but next time I would definitely like to actually go inside the stadium.