Having been accepted to both UCL and Sheffield for their environmental archaeology programs, it was high time that Matt and I headed over to Jolly Old England to check things out! Plus we were pretty tired of eating all meals seasoned with olive oil, garlic, lemon and oregano. So we packed up our rain gear and flew north!
To get to Sheffield, we used all modes of transportation except boat, blimp, and horse-drawn carriage. In the morning we left our Athens apartment taking a taxi, to the metro to the airport. Then we flew to London where we took the train to Victoria Bus station and rode the bus to Sheffield. From the Sheffield bus station we took the tram to our hotel. (Man, its tiring just thinking back to that day and all our transportation!)
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Sheffield's Cathedral is an incredibly beautiful
and old medieval building |
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| Occupy Sheffield |
Sheffield is located in Yorkshire and has been the heart of England's cutlery production for centuries. It is a largely industrial city with a nice center full of shops, pubs, and the University. We suffered our fair share of culture shock in this quiet town after being in the hustle and bustle of Athens for so long. It was kinda nice to walk around without thousands of others milling about and the opportunity of a proper English breakfast was too good to be true!
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| exploring the city by night |
After one full day in Sheffield it was back in a taxi, another bus, the underground, a broken metro, and another cab to our hostel, The Greenman Pub. We figured when in England, it would be a hoot to stay above a corner pub in the heart of the city. We couldn't have asked for a better location as we were in close walking distance to all things touristy London. For the next few days we saw the sights, met up with friends, and toured the archaeology department at University College of London.
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| Grrr... we hate antiquities dealers and collectors!! |
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| Fornum and Mason- Foodie Heaven |
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| Iberian Ham... HOOF INCLUDED. |
We did the British Museum, as all archaeologists should. Admittedly, it was pretty awesome to see all the textbook famous finds in real life even if they should belong in their respective home countries...
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| Ram in a thicket! |
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| Touring the BM with Synchro Buddy Sarah Harrison |
I managed to restrain myself in the Parthenon Marbles' exhibit room. I had threatened to douse ourselves in fake blood and roll around screaming on the floor demanding their release to Greece. I guess that would have been going a little overboard...
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| Big Ben |
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| Poppies for Veterans Day |
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| Outside Westminster Abbey |
We toured the Tower of London which was eerie, and dark and incredibly cool. We still have to come back and get the guided tour by one of the guards though.
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| Tower of London and Castle |
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| London Bridge |
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We skipped the incredibly chic high fashion
departments and stayed only in the food sections... typical. |
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| Fellow CYA-alumn Sam Holzman visiting us from Cambridge! |
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Giant Ferris Wheel. Oh, eye mean The I..
(see what I did there?!) |
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| Who would ride a ferris wheel 45 mins through the clouds? |
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| Parliament etc |
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| Christmas lights and shopping around Oxford Circus |
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| studying their map... |
One of the coolest museums we went through was, of course, the Sherlock Holmes Museum. You can go to 221b Baker street and tour through his home! Its a tiny little house packed with all kinds of cool gadgets and trinkets, and you really half expect Watson to be sitting on the couch waiting to greet you.
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| 221 B Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes' House!!! |
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| Professor Moriarty (Left) and Matt Stirn (Right) |
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| Sherlock Holmes and Constable! |
We said bye to Jolly Old England, for now. Plenty more things to see and foods to eat when we return next fall!
