London

So in my last post I just wrote about some of the experiences we had so far in London, but didn't really get into much detail. We haven't had too much time to explore this amazing city, mostly because we have been focusing on our research but meeting with people from the headquarters of the Transport for London line we're researching most of this week has helped us get a better perspective of how the line back home can improve and what has been successful. This week we went on a Harry Potter themed London walk (the guide showed us where the famous London shots were!), ventured out to Abbey Road's zebra crossing, where the famous Beatles album cover was shot, strolled through a street called Portobello Road which was really picturesque, explored more of Picadilly Circus (it's impossible to do that area one time) and watched the unbelievable World Cup games that no one could have predicted.

In our tour of iconic Harry Potter London areas, our guide explained how J.K. Rowling could have been inspired by some areas in City of London proper and showed us through some alleys that made us feel as if we could be transported into the wizarding world. We started off in front of the Bank of England which looked a lot like the one in Harry Potter, walked to one of the oldest pubs through an alleyway, and then off to a market where one of the first scenes is filmed with Harry and Hagrid. The tour was so interesting and I could understand how J.K. Rowling was inspired by the city to create the amazing story of Harry and Hogwarts.

Where Daniel Radcliffe went to high school is right next to the Thames River and really close to the St. Paul's Cathedral, I would say it's a pretty good location, right?

                                             My first picture with a guard!

Abbey Road was unreal and since cars were driving through it was really difficult to take good pictures, but after spending an hour or two we got a couple.

 It was so weird to find this post on the wall, it says "The Malvinas are Argentinian." Argentina went into a war with the U.K. over these islands (which are off the southern coast of Argentina) in 1982 and the U.K. won by a long shot! Soldiers from the Argentinian army died of being cold, the islands are extremely close to Antarctica, and it was an embarrasment.. This put a smile on my face though because it's a weird placement for this public service announcement.

                    Some other parts of the wall where people write their messages:

                              Portobello Road, in which we spent an afternoon:

After meetings with many heads in the Docklands Light Railway and taking a tour out to the control center this whole week we decided that we should take one break day, since we had not even gone to Buckingham Palace or the London Eye yet. So today we took the whole day off to actually be TOURISTS! It was honestly a perfect day (besides not figuring out if it should be cold or hot). We saw the changing of the guard in front of the Palace in the morning, had a picnic in front of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, went to Convent Garden (an outdoor market with shops and lots of brick everywhere) and walked around the area, saw the Costa Rica vs. Italy game in an outdoor screening, went on the London Eye as the sun was setting (at 9 pm) and then decided it was time to come back. We had seen many individual iconic parts of London separately, and this day made them all come together and we realized how close all of the tourist attractions are.

Some pictures from that amazing day:

                                           Picnic in front of the Big Ben

                                                      Covent Garden

                                         Argentinian ice cream in London!!

                                                    The London Eye

London (about 10 days in.. whoops)

After our first day encountering a lot of the famous tourist spots by accident, we explored a bit of Piccadilly Circus (a Times Square type spot, with an M&M world and everything!), watched World Cup games at pubs, went through Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross, visited the Globe Theatre and researched the light railway system of Transport for London by meeting with some key staff who have been extremely helpful. We also met up with my cousin who lives here and works for Transport for London, and she took Mariana and I on the cable cars that cross the River Thames and we had an amazing view of the city.

 The stage was covered for the performance they were going to have that afternoon but the ceiling represents heaven, the floor earth and the part underneath the stage represents hell. The tour guide told us this, but my English teachers taught me well because I had remembered the importance of the stage and how the actors entered from the Shakespeare plays I read in school and saw with my grandparents in Buenos Aires.

                               
                                This is the spectacular view from the cable car:

London

Our first day out and about in London was a huge success, we started the day off by riding the Docklands Light Railway to the ends of the line to begin our on-ground research. This tactic helped us because we hadn't planned what we would explore that day, but leaving one of the stations we walked a bit and found the London Tower Bridge and at another end-of-line station we walked around Olympic Park. It wouldn't have been better if we tried planning that and it was all such a coincidence.
The transportation systems of London have been amazing so far because they are so easy to use and well-signed so even someone who doesn't know the area can find the closest station. All of the trains look very modern and uniform with red doors and the tube symbol everywhere you turn.

After resting up after our journeys back and forth on the Docklands, we decided to take a tube to Waterloo, I picked it because it reminded me of the ABBA song, and just walk around for a bit. As soon as we walked out, we saw the London Eye and a couple steps later.. the Big Ben! It was unreal and completely unexpected, like the whole beginning of the day had been. This day was filled with unexpected surprises that made us begin to feel as though we're officially in this beautiful city of London.

Our last day in Delhi was sad but at the same time a lot of fun because we did our last bit of walking around the outdoor markets, took a tuc-tuc (a type of taxi with only three wheels and space for three people in the back) and had an amazing farewell dinner at one of the top 10 restaurants in the whole world called the Spice Route. In the morning, all of the civil engineers with Professor Ganguly had breakfast together to discuss the course and how things like this could be implemented back at Northeastern in a semester long course and if somethings could change about this Dialogue what it would be.

After discussing these things, a group of us went out into what we thought would be a marketplace (our trip organizer recommended this place for us), but the tuc-tuc driver took us to a spare car parts place of town instead so he could take us to the bazaar, more expensive shops. I'm glad we had split up all of the boys into the three separate cars though because one of the cars actually went to the right place, while we got stuck somewhere else. We finally asked the driver to take us back to the hotel and found our other friends back already and we were so relieved!

When we came back to the hotel we went across the street to the market we had already walked around to buy some presents and then had to finish packing. We had to be ready by around 7 to get to the restaurant and then be on our way to the airport because our flight left at 2:35 in the morning. The restaurant was beautiful and was so intricate that it took seven years to finish building and designing. It had nine sections and each one represented a part of life with a different design in each part. The food was also an experience and was delicious with appetizers, a soup and the waiters coming around to offer each possibility for you to choose which things to get. After that meal, I was ready to sleep so it was great that we had a late flight so I could sleep through all of it.

When we got to Frankfurt, one of the friends we were going to go explore downtown with was not feeling well so we stayed in the airport until she felt a little better and then ventured out. We saw the very small downtown area and the beautiful architecture and then had to head back for our flight to London, which unfortunately was in another airport 2 hours away from the international airport. I felt sick when we got to our second airport and all of the first day in London so we haven't gotten to explore as of yet but tomorrow our journey here begins, but I did meet up with Ariella and Tali (cousins that live in London) for dinner and had a splendid time talking with them and seeing them in their home city!

I can't wait to explore this amazing place!

Taj Mahal and Agra Fort

Yesterday, we went to one of the wonders of the world: the beautiful Taj Mahal. It is said to be a "teardrop on the cheek of time" because the tale it tells, of the king who loved his (second) wife so much that when she died he wanted a monument built as her tomb. The wife died giving birth to her 14th child, even though the doctors had warned her that her body was too frail to go through with more pregnancies. The king, missing his wife so dearly after she passed, was at the building and placement of every piece of marble leading up to the completion, which is a huge commitment from a king who had duties elsewhere. He indebted his family and eventually one of his sons beheaded two of his brothers and locked his father up in the Agra Fort with a view of the Taj Mahal and proceeded to rule the kingdom.

                                                 


                                            Inside the "jail" cell, Agra Fort:

Today we had a free day, so we shopped around and got our suitcases ready because our flight leaves tonight!! So now, off to Frankfurt for a couple hours and then to London for our research of the Tube!