First Post from London

So now that I have been in London for almost two months, I guess I should update this blog… Where to start? So much has happened since moving here! I guess I will start from the beginning.

St. Paul's Cathedral

A couple weeks after arriving, Adrian and I had an old friend stay with us for a couple of days. The day Kshiti arrived, we went for a long walk (roughly three miles one way) all along the Thames. Despite the fact that it was June, the weather was a bit cloudy and chilly (welcome to London), but that didn’t stop us from having fun. While walking, we saw St. Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye, Big Ben, the Globe, and Tower Bridge. Kshiti is a talented photographer (she shot most of the photos in this post), so we stopped every once in a while in order for her to take a photo. She has such a wonderful compositional eye of which I am quite envious.

Kshiti was very excited when we walked past here - a scene from Sherlock was filmed here!

The London Eye

Big Ben

We ended up walking to Trafalgar Square and stopping in the National Gallery (where I was reprimanded for taking photos). Although I have been to the National Gallery before, I always find it a little surreal. I’m so used to seeing these famous paintings and works of art in books or prints; it’s a whole different experience seeing the actual brush strokes. Also adding to the experience - an art student was painting a copy of a portrait, so the entire hall smelled of paint.

After that, we went to the British Museum. If you have never been to the British Museum, I highly recommend it. It’s full of artifacts from around the world! There is part of the chin of the Sphinx, mummies, giant statues from Babylon, and frescos and statues from the Parthenon. Walking around the museum, you get to see the scale of things you have only ever read about. And if you go with my husband, you get a personal history lesson about how Britain plundered the entire world to get their artifacts. Ah, the joys of being married to a historian… ;)

The entrance to the British Museum

Kshiti’s second day in town, the weather was fairly disagreeable and we were all feeling a bit lazy from the previous day, so we took the day off and decided that we would go see a West End play that night. Before the play, we went to a South Indian restaurant near the theatre where Kshiti introduced us to dosas. Dosas are like a crepe made of lentils with potato filling and they are absolutely delicious! I wish I had a photo of Kshiti when our food came out; she was so excited!

The play we went and saw was amazingly hilarious! It was called “The 39 Steps” and it is a comedy based on a Hitchcock movie based on a spy novel. The entire cast is four people and it is very tongue-in-cheek. The actors break the forth wall, switch characters constantly and mid-scene, and perform their own special effects. For instance, when there was wind blowing, the actors grabbed ahold of their jackets and shook them. It may sound a little weird (or a little cheesy), but it really was incredibly funny! My description of it will never do it justice. Suffice it to say, I would highly recommend it!

Kshiti and me waiting for the show to start

One of the things that Kshiti really wanted to do with us while she was in town was take us to a Hindu temple called the London Mandir. 

The London Mandir and gate (from their website)

 We arrived early in the afternoon and entered the Haveli (welcome area) where we removed our shoes. It was a huge hallway made of dark wood with intricately carved columns and ceilings. I wish we were allowed to take photos, but we weren’t allowed to bring our cameras inside. The pictures from inside the temple all come from the London Mandir website.

Here we are in front of the temple (on the left) and the Haveli (on the right)

We walked up a stair of white marble into the Mandir itself. The temple was one large room with several altars around it, which housed the various gods. The entire chamber was floor to ceiling white marble with elaborate carvings of different deities. We walked into the center of the room and looked up to see one of the more beautiful ceilings I have ever seen! Words cannot begin to do it justice. Gods, surrounded by flowers and other décor, looked down from their perch at the worshipers.

The dome (from the website)

The inside of the temple (from the website)

We walked around the circular path and visited all of the altars. There were many women in the mandir who seemed to be doing laps; they would walk briskly around the main altar in the middle of the room underneath the dome numerous times. When I asked Kshiti about it, she said that it was a way to remind yourself that god is at the center of your life. It was a very interesting and educational experience!

Closer look at the outside of the temple

After we left the temple, and I bought a small Ganesh for our flat, we went across the street to the Indian grocery where we bought a large number of tasty treats! Kshiti picked out so many candies and savory items for us to try and of course, I can’t say no to food!

On Kshiti’s final day, we visited Spitalfield Market, where we tried on many hats and tried to convince each other that we needed all the pretty things. In the end, neither Kshiti nor I ended up buying anything, but it was fun just to walk around and browse. It may not have been Adrian’s cup of tea, but I know he enjoyed the falafel we got for lunch, so it was not a huge loss for him.

Neither of us care for the wallpaper in the flat

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend! We hadn’t seen Kshiti for a while, so it was really nice to catch up with her and explore London together.

Well, there you have it – my first post from London. I promise that I will try a little harder to update a bit more frequently!