Birthday fun, sightseeing...and a social life?

October is turning into a very busy month for me!  I've been trying hard not only to get into the city and see the sights but also to meet new people and be social.  This "being social" can be a bit of a challenge since I only go into my office one or two days a week and spend the rest of my work days with Xavier, which doesn't leave many opportunities for meeting people, but I've been pretty successful the past couple of weeks in getting some socializing in.  How have I achieved this?  Well, a few weeks ago I literally googled "meet people in London" and found a site called City Socialising, a social website for Londoners.  Members can create socials, join groups related to their interests, and see other members' profiles.  The socials are nice because everyone there wants to make new friends, and I've met a lot of really nice people.  I went to my first social at the end of September, which was for new members only, and I've been going to one or two socials a week since then.  It's been a really fun way to meet lots of different people from all over the world and change up my weekly schedule.

Slightly smooshed, but still delicious, birthday cupcakes

My 23rd birthday was October 1! I had a great birthday celebration. Earlier in the week Josh took me to a wine tasting, which was very cool, and I learned a lot. On my actual birthday, Beth, Xavier, and I Skyped with my parents and they all sang happy birthday to me. We had a nice lunch out and then had cupcakes when we came home. It was raining, so I spent a lazy afternoon catching up on Glee online and chatting with some friends back home. That night Josh took me out to Soho House, a swanky social club downtown. We ordered some cocktails (the bartender called me out for ordering a cosmo--thanks, Sex and the City) and then we watched Eat, Pray, Love in the in-house movie theatre (Josh was a very good sport about watching the movie!). The theatre was very small and cozy, and apparently they usually get to show movies before they are released to bigger theatres. After the movie we had dinner at Soho House, then went across the street for a drink at a pub frequented by Peter O'Toole. Apparently Soho House is a popular hang-out for celebrities, but unfortunately we didn't see any (or at least any that I recognized). But even without the celebrities, it was a very fun Friday night out and a great way to celebrate my birthday! On Sunday some family friends from Nebraska, the Hellers, were in town, and I met up with them for tea at Harrods. It was great to see them, and a perfect finish to my birthday weekend.

The next week I did a lot of socializing.  I met up with a friend of my cousin Kerry, who she met here when she was studying abroad last year, for lunch and shopping.  I also went to a couple more City Socialising events, one of which was Rockaoke--karaoke with a live band!!  It was sooo cool, it was like being at a concert with everyone taking turns singing with the band.  My name was too far down the list, and I was disappointed that they didn't get to me before the show ended, but I guess that just gives me more of an incentive to go next time.  Last Saturday I went to an extremely fun and intense jazz class then met up with some girls for ice cream.  We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon together, and it was nice to hang out with a group of girls.  On Sunday I did some shopping at Spitalfields market and checked out the Columbia Road flower market, which was lovely.

Flowers, flowers, everywhere

This week was also very busy.  On Monday I went to Cambridge on a London Walk.  London Walks are very popular walking tours of London, but they also offer day tours to other famous places in England, like Cambridge, Oxford, Bath, etc.  We learned all about the history of the town and the university and saw many of the colleges that make up the university.  It was cool to hear the stories of everything that has happened at Cambridge throughout history--we saw the building where Isaac Newton lived when he was a fellow there, the colleges founded by Henry VIII, and works by Darwin.  I even had lunch in the pub where the discovery of DNA was announced!  The thing that really struck me throughout the day was how much history has taken place in Cambridge and how many people who have changed the course of history studied or taught there.  After all that profoundness, we ended the day with a fun punting trip on the River Cam.  Punts are flat boats that people push around the river with poles, and punting is a big tourist attraction in Cambridge.  It was lovely to float down the river and see all the beautiful fall colors and the impressive buildings and bridges of Cambridge.

King's College, Cambridge University

Punting down the river

Later in the week I met up with some girls from City Socialising for coffee, and we got dinner afterwards.  There's this one girl I've met who always hosts socials specifically for girls in their 20s, and it's been really nice to meet some new girls that I can hopefully continue to hang out with!  I also went to a "monster mingle," put on by CS, which was pretty much the same as the other mingles I've been to but on a much larger scale--there were about 350 people there!  Everyone was there to meet other people, but it was still kind of an overwhelming experience.  But I had a good time and met some nice people, and I got to chat with some people I've met at previous socials.  


On Friday Beth and I went to the Frieze Art Fair, an annual contemporary art exhibit that takes place in Regent's Park.  It's a really big deal in the art world, and artists from all over the world have exhibits.  I'll admit, I didn't get a lot of the art, but a lot of it was really cool too.  Yesterday I intended to go on another London Walks excursion, this time to Stratford-Upon-Avon, but when I arrived at the train station the tour guide told me that we couldn't go because the train had engine trouble.  I was disappointed, but since I was already in sightseeing mode, I decided to go to Hampton Court Palace instead.   Hampton Court Palace was the palace of Henry VIII, and later on William and Mary lived there and added on to it.  I thought the way they set up the palace for tourists was very well done: there were several different tours that you could take through the palace, focusing on different parts of its history.  Also, throughout the day there were events taking place for Henry's and Katherine Parr's "wedding"--actors were dressed up and roaming around the palace all day as if they were preparing for the wedding (of course I ate that up).  In any case, I liked that there were a lot of elements throughout the tours and exhibits that brought the history to life.  After I finished exploring the palace, I rambled through the beautiful gardens, then made my way home.  

Hampton Court Palace

Katherine Parr dressed up for her wedding

the gardens

Sadly, this weekend marks the halfway point of my time in London.  I know the next month and a half are going to fly by, and I still have lots to see and do before I go home!