Camden Market, Carnival, Proms

Ryan and I spent Saturday at this place. It's called Camden and it's full of punks and disgruntled youth and really cool shops. We went through almost every stall of the Camden Market (and every other HUGE market we came across) and I bought a new, hip wallet to hold my credit card and also some asparagus for dinner from a vendor. The market had almost all types of goods and people. I loved it there.

So Ryan and I missed Sunday's school-sponsored bus tour of London by about eight minutes. Obviously nothing starts at 9:45 in the morning. Everything starts at 9 or 9:30. We really should have figured this out. Instead of the tour, we set out for Regent's street where we windowed shopped at a bunch of high end stores and then spent over an hour in Hamley's, a toy store with over seven floors of stupid crap for girls and boys. Ryan and I stood in line for 20 minutes so we could play Guitar Hero and ended up having to tell a nine year old that he would have to wait, that it was "our turn now." After Hamley's, we grabbed sushi for lunch and then ate in Trafalgar Square where all the 2012 Olympic hand-off festivities were happening. The sushi was tasty and each piece of roll was individually wrapped. It was like toy food.

The closing ceremonies in Beijing were projected on a giant screen attached to Nelson's Column and hundreds and hundreds of people were flying flags and clapping. We watched for awhile and then walked up and down the Mall (where Buckingham Palace is located) where the HUGE hand-off party was taking place. Apparently, David Beckham and Micheal Phelps were in attendance but we didn't have the proper credentials to get close enough to see. People in London are very, very excited for the Olympics especially since the team did so well in the Beijing games.

We would have liked to stay longer (the HUGE hand-off party was being projected on an even bigger screen in a park on the Mall) but we had to go to the garden party at the house of our program director. It took some time to train there, but we enjoyed the party, stuffing ourselves with Brie and cheesecake and Perrier. In the evening, some Grinnell kids came over for a visit and we chatted and ate guacamole.

On Monday we went to the Notting Hill Carnival. And stood in line. This picture is of the 1.5 million people who attended Carnival this year.

We watched a small chunk of the parade, drank some Jamaican beer (Red Stripe), and then walked a million miles to the nearest open underground station. Carnival was exciting, but the crowds were outrageous and there was not much to do beyond drinking and smoking pot. It was great getting a chance to walk around Notting Hill, however. Every block had at least six 15 foot tall speakers playing different music and I surprised to see really old people and babies dancing together in the streets. Instead of the curried goat, I opted for the jerk chicken, rice, salad, and an ear of sweet corn. Delicious.

Monday evening, school treated us to the BBC Proms 53 concert of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Royal Albert Hall. They played a selection from Prokofiev's score from Romeo and Juliet and also Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. The hall was absolutely stunning and it was nice to spend a minute before the concert in Kensington Gardens (across the street from Royal Albert Hall) admiring this memorial statue of Prince Albert.I start school in an hour and 34 minutes. Oh god.