London | Days N° 10-11 | Midterm, Baku, and the London Eye

Chocolates at Harrod's  

It’s hard to believe that I’ve already been in London for a week and a half! I don’t have much longer here… the time is speeding by. I took my midterm exam this morning, after studying like a madman for the past week (and particularly yesterday). It went well – I hope. The UK uses a different grading scale than the one I’m used to. In the US, a student starts with 100 points for their grade, and then deductions are made. An ‘A’ is often given for grades in the 90-100% range, ‘B’ in the 80-89% range, and so on and so forth. Here, a student starts with 0 points, and is assigned points based on their work, making their way up toward 100%. However, it’s more difficult to get a high grade this way, so an ‘A’ is given for grades in the 80-100% range, ‘B’ in the 70-80% range, ‘C’ in the 60-70% range, and so forth. We’ll see just how difficult it is to get an ‘A’ by this method, but it seemed like most of the previous summer school students at LSE have been able to get A’s and B’s.

After taking the midterm exam, my two friends and I did a bit of touring around London! This is our only full afternoon and evening off until the end of the course, so we wanted to take advantage of it and see a bit more of the city. We took the Underground over to Knightsbridge (once again) and spent a bit of time at Harrod’s. This time, I was able to see the gourmet foods section in more detail, found some rose-black tea, and purchased passionfruit macarons (yum!!). I also had to get some chocolate-covered rose-flavoured Turkish delight for my little sisters, who are fans of the Chronicles of Narnia series. It was interesting talking to my friends (who are from the UK and Azerbaijan) about the differences in food availability here. For example, it’s pretty difficult to find Turkish delight in the US, except in some gourmet food stores and around the holidays. No one really even knows what it is except for its famous role in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But it’s relatively easy to find here. On the contrary, Godiva chocolates are rare in the UK and Europe, while you can buy a box of Godiva chocolates basically anywhere in the US. Harrod’s was carrying basic boxes of Godiva chocolates (worth less than $20 in the US) for almost £40 ($60!!).  Of course, it depends on availability, but it’s just interesting to see what it is considered rare or valuable on each continent.

The main purpose of our trip to Knightsbridge was to visit Baku, a fantastic Azerbaijani restaurant south of Hyde Park. My friend (currently studying at LSE  Summer School) attends university in Wales but is from Azerbaijan, and wanted to introduce us to Azeri food. I’m always ready to try new things, and I was particularly interested in this type of cuisine because my little sister is from Kazakhstan, which borders the Caspian Sea across from Azerbaijan.

It was absolutely delicious. Between the three of us, we tried many different dishes: yarpag dolma (vine leaves stuffed with lamb), gutab (thin pancakes filled with herbs, lamb, and pumpkin with pomegranate seeds), Barbary duck and watermelon salad, a cheese-and-pick platter, dushbara (a wanton-type soup with beef parcels in veal broth), and baklava. Everything was new to me (even those dishes which I thought I had tried before, like baklava and dolma, but soon realised that the American versions are nothing near the real thing) and so, so good. In addition, the restaurant itself was stunning. The dining room was chic and comfortable, and the presentations of food were unique and beautiful (everything was served on slate tablets, except for the dolma, which was in a boat!). And of course, after lunch, I had to try Azeri tea, which I found similar to Russian tea, but a little lighter. The whole lunch was such a delicious discovery, and I wish Azeri cuisine was easier to find!

The view of the River Thames west from the London Eye

Once we were quite full, my friend and I used up the rest of our free afternoon by taking a turn on the London Eye (finally!). The queue wasn’t too bad, and I’m glad we did it. First of all, this enormous Ferris wheel is almost 450 feet high but is cantilevered (supported on one side only), which is incredibly impressive and a little scary. It’s just enormous. Its position also allows unparalleled views of the River Thames to the east and west. London is beautiful, especially along the riverfront, and the Eye gives you a pretty perfect view of the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Charing Cross Station, and the Shard. It’s a shame, but because of how much studying I need to do, I don’t think I’ll be able to visit all these places in the next week. I’ve passed them and seen them from afar, but most cost so much to tour, and I feel like I need to dedicate all my extra time to schoolwork. I’ll try to maybe sneak one or two more in before I go – but I’m sure this won’t be my last time in London!