Freed of London Factory Tour

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we visited the Freed of London factory in Hackney. We had to split the group over two days because we are too large a group to visit all at once.

Tuesday's Group

Wednesday's Group

Dr. V-P and I met the students at Courtfield Gardens and then made our way via tube and overground to the Freed factory.

Both days James greeted us and welcomed us to Freed. He gave a brief history and then we separated into the pointe shoe side of the factory and the theatrical side of the factory. On Tuesday, James showed us the pointe shoe side and Jerry showed the theatrical side. On Wednesday, James showed us the theatrical side and Gary showed us the pointe shoe side.  We got to see the entire process for creating both kinds of shoes--from the design to the final product ready for shipping. They shared the ordering forms, daily work logs, and quality control process.

The tour was interesting, educational, and directly related to what the students are working on in class. It was exciting to see the handcrafted work. We feel so lucky to have talked to some employees and to hear how proud they are of their work. It was an honor to visit Freed and see shoes being made.

Fuller's Brewery Tour/Site Visit

We enjoyed a day at Fuller's Griffin Brewery for a behind-the-scenes look at how beer is made.

Fuller's has been brewing at this location since 1845; however, there has been a brewery in that location for almost 400 years. Our tour guides shared stories and walked us through the process of making beer.

London Pride beer named for a flower

Ben's Comments: I think my favorite part about the brewery was just being able to talk to the tour guide about all the beer they make. He was very passionate about this beer and he loved talking about the differences in all the different ways to make it. I never really saw beer brewing as some form of art but that is definitely how he saw the process. It was a very cool experience and I am very glad that I was able to go on the trip with everyone.

Leadenhall and Spitalfields Markets

Markets are known for selling unique items. The best markets are known for selling unique items at a low cost. Ever heard of Leadenhall Market? No? That is probably because Leadenhall is not a cheap market. A small group of three of us ended up at Leadenhall Market on accident. We were wandering through the city after stopping by the London Tower, and asked a local walking by where the nearest market was. We were looking for Spitalfields or Petticoat Market, but couldn't remember the names of them. The local gave us directions to Leadenhall Market instead, as it was the closest market to us. We had hoped to find some cheap souvenirs to take home to friends and family. The only cheap souvenirs at the market were unique candies and shot glasses. Besides those souvenirs, there was expensive art and shops with high end clothing like Barbour. This was all fun to look at, until you saw the price tag. Needless to say, we did not spend long at this market. 

As we were leaving, we talked to a local sitting outside of a pub. He asked if we needed directions or were looking for anything - I guess he could tell we weren't from around here. We asked about any other nearby markets or other things to do in the area. The man was very helpful. He gave us directions to Spitalfields Market, recommended a building with an amazing view of the city, and informed us that we were standing outside of a pub used in the filming of one of the Harry Potter movies. So our trip to Leadenhall Market was not for nothing.

Spitalfields Market is a more commonly known market, and I can see why! There were a lot more tables set up with unique items, like jewelry, hats, clothing, bags, cards, and other unique souvenirs. One of the random souvenirs I saw were boxers with the tube map printed on them. There were also many food trucks set up - the smells coming from the trucks were amazing. The prices were also much lower at Spitalfield, making the unique merchandise that much more appealing. Samira was even able to bargain with one of the vendors to get a deal on a few items. We did not have a lot of time there, so I did not spend any money, but I do hope to go back to Spitalfields Market before I go back home. The markets are a great way to see new parts of London and find unique items and food. I hope to get a chance to check out that building with a view before I leave, as well. ~Sedona

39 Steps

I went and saw a play called the 39 Steps at the Criterion Theater. It is a comedic adaptation of an Alfred Hitchcock film which was originally a novel by John Buchan. This play’s concept is to have the over 100 characters played entirely by only 4 people. This adds to the comedy of the play. The decision to go to this play was pretty last minute and it was my first professional play I have attended. I dressed business casual because I did not know what to expect but many people were wearing much more casual clothing. At first I wanted to purchase tickets online, but I called the theater and they had a student discount of 15 pounds when the show time is near. I caught the last tube to Piccadilly Circus just in time. This was the beginning night of the tube strike so I was lucky to have caught a train. While I waiting outside for the show to start, there were many street performers dancing and playing music to draw the attention and money of the crowds around the square. When I entered the theater, I was surprised at the size of the stage and theater. When I looked at the seating charts online, it seemed as if the theater was pretty large, but it was not.

The performers in the play were spectacular and did a great job of shifting between the roles they played. At one point, one of the characters had half of a costume on and was having a conversation with himself. Hats played a role in distinguishing between characters, especially when role switching was very fast. There was also clever stage maneuvering to achieve playing multiple roles and it all in all was a great show to watch. Students should definitely go and watch this play. I would definitely go back and see another production at this theater. ~Alex

Liberty of London

For our first free Wednesday of the study abroad program, I could think of nothing better than to go shopping.  Several friends of mine who have lived in London had suggested visiting Liberty of London.  I was under the impression that it was a department store, similar to Harrods, so I took the tube to Oxford Circus to find the store.

The first floor had scarfs, jewelry, and a chocolate shop.  I continued up the many floors of the store until the 4^th floor that was surprising filled with so many things relating to textiles.  There was an entire room filled with gorgeous fabrics, another area dedicated to yarns and knitting materials, and finally more buttons and ribbons than I could count.  I was so surprised by all of the fun things there that I spent about 30 minutes just marveling at the items. 

One thing that Liberty of London had a lot of was premade tapestry kits.  They reminded me of the latch hook kits I used to do when I was younger.  Although I’ve never done tapestry work, I was so inclined to buy one to hopefully teach myself how.  Although I decided against it that day, I plan to return to the store before leaving London to buy one.  I think it would be the perfect learning craft, as well as an awesome souvenir. 

Visiting Liberty of London was so exciting to me.  I expected a department store full of over-priced clothing and ended up finding a textile heaven.  I was inspired by the prepackaged kits to grow in my textiles ability.  Regardless of the fact that this experience related to my major, I so much enjoyed looking at the beautiful fabrics, yarns and buttons. ~Lindsay

Embankment

On July 11, I went on a bit of a leisurely exploration of the Embankment area, beginning with the Victoria Embankment Gardens. The gardens are located right next to the River Thames and in between the Hungerford and Waterloo Bridges. Traveling there is fairly simply, as all you need to do is take the eastbound District Line to the Embankment station, which takes about 20 minutes. The gardens are free to enter, and are extremely busy on the weekends, especially Saturday afternoon, which is when I went. Benches are filled, picnics are abundant, and people crowd the walkways.

The Victoria Embankment Gardens are fairly old and first opened in the 1860s. They contain an abundance of vegetation, mainly trees, flowers, and grassy areas, making the landscape look stunning. There is also a large historical side to the gardens in the form of statues, memorials, and ponds built to commemorate historical figures, which I thought complemented the gardens well. A few of this figures include British philosopher John Stuart Mill, poet Robert Burns, and British philanthropist Lady Henry Somerset. I found walking through the gardens aweing, despite the crowded nature at the time. It is probably the perfect place to relax, picnic, or take a break, and apparently many workers visit the gardens for their lunch break.

After exploring the gardens, I crossed the Waterloo Bridge and walked up and down the embankment to see what kind of interesting things were taking place. There was live music, artists who were drawing masterpieces in the sand, and even a gigantic book sale, with seemingly thousands of books on display. I soon decided to walk along the shore of the River Thames and see if I could find any interesting treasures, as it was low tide. I had also heard about old clay pipes that were smoked and then tossed into the river around the 16th century, but was only going to look briefly, since I planned to dedicate another excursion to pipe searching. I ended up finding a few broken stems and some cool looking bones, shells, and pottery, but nothing too spectacular. Hopefully I can find something significant the next time I go.

Overall, I really enjoyed being able to explore a bit of London with no particular purpose in mind except experiencing the surroundings. The Victoria Embankment Gardens were quite beautiful and the street life near the shore was bustling. I would recommend anyone with some free time to spend a few hours of unplanned leisure around London, as you never know what kinds of interesting things you may experience. ~Tyler

Tea Time at The Orangery at Kensington Palace

On a rainy afternoon, we enjoyed a lovely tea at The Orangery at Kensington Palace.

The Orangery was originally built for Queen Anne in 1704 as an elegant greenhouse of various citrus trees. It was eventually transformed into an area for social gatherings and entertainment. Today, it is visited by thousands to enjoy traditional afternoon tea. Our Study Abroad members had tea time at the Orangery on Monday, which was a unique experience for all of us. 

We arrived to The Orangery in early afternoon, and I was pleased to find it was among beautiful gardens near the Kensington Palace. An entire room was reserved for our group and we sat in tables of about 4-6. Tableware was all carefully arranged upon seating, and soon hot English tea and 3 tier platters of small sandwiches, biscuits, and sweets were served. The atmosphere was both elegant and relaxing, and I enjoyed in participating this centuries-old  British tradition. 

Although we learned a bit about the history of The Orangery from staff, I couldn't help but think of more questions throughout the sitting. Is this tradition still relevant or appreciated mostly by tourists and visitors? Is tea time a young, old, casual, or formal occasion? Do most young people like myself here still go for tea, or just drink it at home? The context of this whole tea time thing was a bit baffling, and again I was reminded of the complexities of culture. There are so many little components to a culture, such as tea time, that compose entire lifestyles and ways of thinking. These are the social constructs under which business operates, and so then I saw why even us as engineers should think about something as seemingly insignificant as tea time. 

I would highly recommend visiting The Orangery for afternoon tea if you have the opportunity. Whether with a large group or a few friends, the unique atmosphere is worth experiencing at least once. Opportunities like this are what define the Study Abroad experience, and I am looking forward to the many more that London has to offer. ~Kali