Jubilee Jams

Hello dearest readers–I suppose you're here because you've chosen to follow along on my adventures! London is calling!

I have officially arrived in Jolly Old England. Luckily (or perhaps, unluckily?) for me, London is even jolly-er than usual these days. Just in case you, like me, have been living under a rock somewhere in America, I'll let you in on the fact that this is the year that Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 70th "birthday" as a monarch of the realm—it's the Queen's Jubilee, and the people here are going absolutely bonkers for it! This has introduced some kinks into my flawless research plans, but that's all yet to come. First, let's start at the very beginning—for as one of my favorite Brits, the indomitable Julie Andrews, taught us, the beginning is a very good place to start.

I left America—the land of the free and the home of the brave!—the day after Memorial Day, with all of my worldly possessions (or rather, only those I chose to take overseas) packed into carry on bags. A feat of which I was particularly proud!

I arrived at the DFW airport at around 6:45pm for my 9:25pm flight (they say come 3 hours early for international) and promptly made it through security. It took wayyy less time than I had been led to believe. I met a wonderful couple in the line who were on their way back from the Caribbean. They were so friendly and gave me some tips about travel in London. It was great! After making it through security, I had a couple of hours to kill. What must one do before leaving the greatest state in the universe for London Town? Why, have one final margarita, of course! 

After chilling in the airport for a couple of hours, I boarded the plane—and man, was it a plane! Fancy shmancy! American Airlines knows what’s up! On the plane, I met another sweet couple, Christian and Chrissy from Tennessee. They talked to me for a bit, and then we all tried to fall asleep, to various degrees of failure. After many hours of trying (and failing) to get some shuteye, we arrived in London!

Going through security in London was also super easy, but I was a bit disappointed that they did not stamp my passport, everything is “contactless” and mechanized now due to Covid.  After making it through security, I sat down in the Heathrow Airport to try to set up my international phone. I had purchased a SIM Card from Amazon that was meant to work within Europe. I was meant to insert and go—a piece of cake, even I shouldn't be able to mess that up!—Except, apparently my phone (although being paid-off, unaffiliated with any phone company, and old) was not unlocked. So here I was in London, data-less! This was made a bit more frustrating by the fact that had places to be! I had made an appointment at the British Library for a couple hours after we were due to land in order to acquire my Reader’s Pass so that I could begin research the following day. 

Thankfully, my friend Stephen had recommended that I print off paper directions from the airport to the library and from the library to the house I’m renting in London, so I was not entirely unmoored. Paper still has its uses! I called Mama using the wi-fi in Heathrow and got her on the job of figuring out how to unlock my phone (I couldn't call AT&T through WhatsApp, so I was a bit at a loss). Then, I set out on my first GREAT ADVENTURE: using the trains in London!

It was easy to use the trains initially. I got an Oyster Card (basically a gift card you use to pay to ride the trains and buses in London), and then asked the poor man at the Oyster Card stand a lot of paranoid questions about whether I was going on the right line in the right direction to get to the British Library. He reassured me by saying that there was only one line going out from Heathrow: Piccadilly, the one I needed. So I literally could not mess up.

Due to the phone woes and being a bit jetlagged, I don’t have too many pictures from the first day in London. I made it to the library, acquired the Reader’s Pass, was told that the Library Reading Rooms would be closed for the next few days because of the Queen’s Jubilee , and then headed out to find my London residence before nightfall. By this point, even my super tiny bags were getting heavy. It’s exhausting lugging luggage around a large city (perhaps that’s why it’s called “luggage,” because you “lug” it?). Anyway, I finally made it to my London house. A very beautiful little flat in Primrose Hill. I got settled in, went to the store down the hill to pick up essentials (like shampoo and toothpaste, both of which were sacrificed on the altar of the carry on), and then checked out the little cluster of shops and restaurants near the flat. My friend Taylin, another graduate student at Rice, used to live in the area, so she sent me a list of recommendations, which I was very thankful for as I was both hungry and tired and didn’t want to make any big decisions. I went to one of the pubs she had recommended, the Queens,  just a few minutes from the house, and had a burger—unfortunately, the bartender misheard me, and I didn’t want to rock the boat, so I got a veggie burger—and a glass or rosé. A beautiful end to the day!

Because of the Queen’s Jubilee the British Library was closed the following day, which meant that my initial plan of spending the first few days in the archives there was shot. Instead, I decided to start the day with a run in Regent’s Park. There’s a beautiful view of London from the top of the hill. And I saw a fox! 

After my run, it was still only 7:30. I had woken up at 5:45 after a very refreshing night of sleep. The sun rises super early over here! The Tate doesn’t open until 10:00, so I had some time. I decided (in consultation with Taylin's list) to visit the Burroughs Market. After a quick shower, it was back to the tube station for another adventure!

The Burroughs Market is a beautiful open-air market right next to London Bridge Station. I got some coffee and a pastry and then just walked around. 

Then it was time to visit the Tate Britain to see some J. M. W. Turner paintings. Due to the Jubilee, some of the buses weren’t running, which I wasn’t aware of until too late. So I ended up about halfway to the Tate, and then could not figure out how to get the rest of the way. So I had an impromptu walk over the Thames to the museum. 

The Tate’s collection is stunning! I enjoyed my time there learning about Turner’s work and seeing how his style evolved over the course of his career. I also had a very stimulating conversation with a staff member at the museum, Alexander, who seemed interested in my work and asked compelling questions about the relationship between word and image, both within Turner’s body of work, but also in other artist’s works such as William Blake. Made me think and was very useful. It was also the first in-depth conversation I had had with anyone since landing in London, for which I was very grateful. 

After the Tate, I visited Any Amount of Books, a local book store. I found some gems there—a copy of Henry James’ The Bostonians and an Arden of Timon of Athens. Lovely! After that, it was time to start thinking about dinner. I chose a place called Haché, which Yelp said had good burgers. They were not wrong! Probably one of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten, and Anthony will be happy to know that with this burger, I didn’t even need ketchup!

 

Then back home. Today has been great as well, but I’m going to leave you on that burger high note. I’ll update again soon!

P.S.: With Mama’s help, I’m no longer phoneless—so that is making life much easier! Thank you, Mama!