Livin' the Dream in London

Whenever I passed these Victorian buildings I always wondered who lived inside.  What was it like?  Did they realize how lucky they were to be living in something so historical and so beautiful?  

I'm living in London!  I still wake up every morning in complete confusion as to whether or not I'm still dreaming- for this is truly a dream come true.  This is a picture of our 1800s walkup.  It was once a home for different families since the early 1800s.  One family was the Scots– as in Robert Falcon Scot, the famous explorer of Antarctica.  Yeah... I'd never heard of him either.  

The building, snuggled comfortably between it's twins, has seen different styles as time has gone on, but the basic structure is still the same.  BYU bought the building about 40 years ago (according to one of my professors) and adjustments were made so that it is now a dormitory with two dining rooms, a sitting room, library, kitchen, laundry facilities– basically it has everything we could ever need.

This is the dining room, but the chairs are up and Teresa's bucket of cleaning supplies is on the table.  Oh, Teresa is a feisty Irish woman who helps keep things tidy.  I stay out of her way!  I'm sorry I didn't get a better picture.  But, in fact, the whole place is very pretty.  There is artwork on the walls, a pretty glass chess set in the sitting room, and gorgeous fireplaces throughout all of the downstairs rooms.  My only complaint would be the carpet.  Why put such weird carpet with such handsome wood paneling?  

These... are the stairs of death.  No one has actually died climbing them, but there have been some awfully close calls.  I just so happen to live on the top floor of the center in the former attic.  From the very bottom floor there are exactly 100 steps to climb to get to our landing.  It's seven floors to climb several times a day.  We always know when someone is coming due to two inevitable factors.  Firstly, there is the creaking.  The floors are entirely made of wood and the ceilings are made of plaster.  This means that the house is quite creaky.  I feel bad walking up or down the stairs early in the morning or late at night because it sounds like the whole building is going to crumble!  But it's cool too, it adds to the antiqueness.  Secondly, from our room we can hear people huffing and puffing long before they make it up here.  I'm probably one of the worst climbers- I always have to stop and lean against the doorframe to catch my breath once I've made it up.  I'm hoping that by the end of next month I will be able to trot right up the steps without getting winded whatsoever!  We attic girls are going to be in the best shape of our lives!

Here's my little bed.  I thought it was too cute not to include.  Right under the eaves- but not so low that I would hit my head when sitting.  It's a nice little nook.  And being on the top floor, we aren't bothered at night by much creaking.  Also, we are the furthest from the kitchen, which means we are the furthest from the rats.  Yes- rats love London.  I've seen them scurrying down the steel rails of the Underground and I've seen them sniffing around the bushes in Hyde Park.  Rat traps are in the corners of nearly every room.  Not ours.  Another perk to living in the "attic".  Even the rats don't think the struggle up that last flight of stairs is worth it- haha!  It's good to know I don't have to worry about sharing my bed with any rodents. 

Here is our little attic.  There are only six of us up here.  The other rooms have between 14 and 16 girls in each.  Insanity, I know.  But from the rumors I've heard from past groups, I'm really lucky to have landed in this room.  Not only is there potential for quieter study hours but also, with only six of us and being so secluded from the rest of the building, we get to grow closer.  I love each of my roomies already.  They are all lots of fun and genuinely nice.  We've already had some crazy adventures together, and there are more to come!  

Looking the opposite way from my bed, I get to look out this cute little window.  It opens, and you can take the stairs out onto the landing on top of the roof.  Here is the view.

I know it's difficult not to break out into a chorus of "chim chim cher-ee" so I appreciate your restraint.

Here is the sink and mirror that I get to share with the six girls.  Not a lot of counter space, but we've actually been keeping it quite clean.  Then again it's only been five days, so I'll keep you posted.

The shower is pretty tiny, and I've come to the firm conclusion that every shower-head in Europe is designed to be difficult.

This is Ivan the Terrible.  Rather intimidating, isn't it?  Ivan received the name because... well the plumbing is in desperate need of some upgrading.  Enough said.

Now you know a little bit about where and how I'm living.  We get breakfast and dinner made for us every day, which is super nice.  They're always delicious!  We have a cook from Brazil, but sometimes the professor's wives cook too.  The mashed potatoes last night we're so good that I'm actually at loss for words.  Sometimes there's dessert.  And of course we're always famished from out day out in the bustling city and our hours hunched over our books.

Here is the Tower Bridge, as Mr. Massey informed me- haha!  We just caught a good view of it as we were walking around exploring London.  The Thames is not very clean.
Here's Alex, Sarah, and I in the underground.  It's actually a lot easier than I anticipated.  We've never gotten lost and I've almost always known what was going on (haha!)  But seriously, the maps are easy to read.  I get to go to the other side of town for church, and I found myself to be the navigator in our little group of two.  Dad- I didn't get lost even for a second.  :-) 
The grouping of these three buildings together is absolutely astounding.  Three completely different centuries stand side by side.  There is the gothic styled tower, then the Victorian building, and finally a very modern skyscraper.  Other than knowing the name of the newest structure, the Swiss Reinsurance Tower, I don't know anything about these buildings.  But it is an excellent example of what London is all about.  There is the ancient Roman and medieval world, the later Elizabethan and Renaissance time, and yet there is even still very modern 21st century.  It all exists in one city.  
Here a bunch of us are eating lunch in a crypt.  It sounded so unappealing to eat in a vault built to house dead bodies that we just couldn't resist.  My quiche was delicious, actually, thank you.

I love that England has so many monuments.  They are everywhere, honoring even the most obscure heros throughout British history.  I'm a fan of this guy: John Smith.  I developed a crush on Mr. Smith when I was a little kid.  Is that OK to admit?  Plus he helped get America started, so I think the U.S. probably owes him a little more than the U.K.

Tomorrow we're thinking about exploring Piccadilly and then maybe heading over to Buckingham Palace since the Queen isn't in residence.  That is, if I'm ever able to finish As You Like It.  If the stairs don't kill me, Shakespeare might.