London in January

I spent a rainy afternoon and (a rain-free) evening in London on Friday of Week 1 visiting museums, sitting in on a concert rehearsal, and taking a long walk along the river.

Things weren't going well for me at the beginning of the day. I bought a ticket from the machine at the railway station and realized something was wrong when I got two one-way tickets instead of one ticket to use all day like I had last time I went to London (a day travelcard, which for about 4 more pounds provides you with unlimited Tube rides in all six zones). I was luckily able to return it at the ticket counter and buy the proper ticket.
Once on the train, I went to get my water bottle out of my bag to find that it wasn't completely closed and had leaked, ruining unimportant papers and some gum. Then my iPod (different pocket, so unrelated to the water incident) died. It had been on the fritz but would work if it was charged before each use, but it shut off on the train and started making funny sounds. I took a trip to the Apple store in Covent Garden that evening to learn that it was totally dead (something with the hard drive) and not fixable because it was a 2005 "vintage," so they no longer have replacement parts. I think it is safe to say that iPod was one of the longest-lasting pieces of technology I've had.

In London:
I stopped in Chinatown to see the decorations for Chinese New Year and grab a red bean bun. There was a New Year celebration planned for the next weekend in Trafalgar Square, and I probably would have attended if I lived in London (though some people still get confused and think I live there).

On my way to Trafalgar Square I passed a creatively named Tex-Mex restaurant called the "Texas Embassy" (started by a Texas secessionist perhaps?). There was a young guy in the square in traditional Scottish dress playing the bagpipes and a countdown to the start of the Olympics.

I went into the National Gallery, which was free (apparently that is the case with most museums in Britain). The paintings definitely had some competition from the architecture:

I didn't spend too much time in the museum, since it was divided in 4 sections by centuries, and I only really like looking at the 1700-1900 paintings (more impressionism and landscapes, less serious portraits and Christian art).

After the museum, I started walking towards Covent Garden, but right across the street from the museum was a fancy church, St. Martin in the Field, that had up posters for upcoming concerts. There was a Baroque by Candlelight concert that night with an excellent programme and tickets as cheap as 8 pounds, so I went into the church to find the box office. It turned out that the box office was on the side, and I had walked into the main entrance of the chapel.

The ensemble was practicing for the concert that evening, and I ended up sitting there for at least an hour watching.

At that point, I figured I wouldn't get a ticket to the concert and walked up to Covent Garden.

It's amazing how much you can remember about a place that you haven't been to in so long. Though it had been 5 or 6 years since my last visit to Covent Garden, I still remember Ben's Cookies, playing in Lush, and the street performer area.

After Covent Garden, I walked down to the river and crossed a bridge to the South Bank.

I walked down to the area where the Eye is and passed a cool skate park on the way (it only looked so cool because of the intense graffiti).

I then turned around and went the other way towards Millenium Bridge. Even though it was probably around 8-ish, I ended up getting to go to the Tate Modern, which is open until 10 on Fridays and Saturdays. I would have assumed all museums close by 7.

Palestinian resistant in Lebanon: gun in one hand, peace sign in the other

When I left the museum, I walked over the Millenium Bridge. It was rather windy, but the lit up walkways made it look really cool at night.

Once on the other side of the river, I stumbled upon Occupy London. Some of the tents smelled of drugs, and some of the people walking around definitely could have benefited from a shower. There was a sign saying it had been 97 days since the last eviction, making it "the world's longest occupation."

I then headed back to Paddington Station to head home and arrived in Oxford around 11:30. The Tube cars felt smaller than the NYC subway cars, so I looked it up to see if this was actually true. Apparently London cars average 8'6" across, and NY cars average 10' across.