I admit, I'm kind of terrible at updating this regularly. Well, I've been back in the States for over a day now so I figured I should actually write about my trip in a little more depth than the last post. I'm sorry that it got cut off - I don't know what happened. Hopefully, it does not happen again.
5 January
We landed at noon (local time), and made it through customs and all without a hitch. I did realized that the recorded voices have accents, which made me realize how American I really am. Rick gave us our tube passes for the week, and explained how to ride the tube and blah blah blah. I ended up exploring the area with Ben, Caitlynn, Mike, and Lauren. We found the tube super easy to navigate - I can even find my way around! - so we explored the Bayswater area until we got hungry. We ended up eating at The Swan, which is a pub just down the street from our hostel. Being the overexcited American that I am, I had fish and chips with fizzy water. I love fizzy water, and I'm really excited that its the norm over here. The bartender was really nice and helpful. He could tell we were from out-of-town (cause we're so not obvious, right?) and reminded Caitlynn not to leave her purse when she went to order, and made sure that we were ordering what we actually wanted. We decided it wasn't late enough, so we headed downtown and check out Big Ben and surrounding area at night. It was very beautiful, and made me wish I was a young girl in a blue nightgown flying around the night sky.
6 January
Continental breakfast here is pretty much the best thing ever. The croissants are delicious, and there is the most delicious tea! I could definitely get used to this. The class took a Big Bus Tour today, and saw all of the big sights in London. It was a double-decker bus and I got to ride on top, wearing a cheesy plastic parka because it was SNOWING. We accidentally brought it with us, apparently. Who hid the snow in their suitcase? A few of us got off the bus tour at the Tower of London and explored that for awhile. We took a Beefeater Tour but it was only like half of one due to the snow. Our Beefeater's name was Shady, and he was a total gentleman. He was telling us about this little step in the chapel entrance that everyone trips over, and told the guys in our group, straight up, "I just want to warn you, I'll be a bit busy catching the ladies, so I'll just say - it hurts." Oh, it was a lovely little moment. A lot of the guys here - the older ones that are working - refer to us as "darling" in conversation. The bartender last night called both Caitlynn and I that while helping us order. It makes me feel special. After we finished the Tower, we hopped back on a different bus, or so we thought. The tour guide was the same guy! It was really funny. He remembered us and would joke with us while talking about the sights. We had dinner at a restaurant called Noodle Noodle and then wound up at The Shakespeare 'cause some of our group wanted drinks. There's a cute grocery around the corner for snacks/light meals and they have the candy of the Gods: CRUNCHIES!
7 January
The class took a walking tour of the West End today, and saw all sorts of ancient theatres. We even saw one on Drury Lane, but alas! No muffin man in sight. We got to see Covent Garden briefly - everything looks so fun here. Not much else happened during the day - dinner at The Mitre (another pub down the street) and then Nicki, Caitlynn, and I went to La Bohème. It was astounding. Definitely worth the 28 pounds we paid for seats, and a wonderful choice for my first opera. Surprisingly, it was Rick's first opera years ago as well. For those of you who don't know, La Bohème is the Italian opera that inspired Jonathan Larson to write RENT. It was beautiful, both visually and aurally.
8 January
AKA THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE.
I spent three hours in Westminster Abbey today. I just wandered through it slowly, admiring all of the different graves and memorials that are inside. So many incredibly famous people - I accidentally stepped on the memorial slab for T.S. Eliot, who is not actually buried there. I also saw Dicken's and Chaucer's graves. I could feel all of the English majors on the trip glisten in honour as they walked through Poet's Corner. The building itself is gorgeous, as well. After I finally finished Westminster, we went to the Cupcake Emporium for lunch and I had a smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich and I am never eating anything else again.
However, the reason today was so amazing is that Nicki, Lauren, Alyssa, and I went and got FRONT ROW seats to J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan for this evening. Everything about the production was perfect. I was completely in love with everything. The theatre itself was built specifically for the production - it was a tent outside the O2, with a flyloft in the cupola and everything. We had an understudy Peter Pan and he was absolutely perfect (and also rather gorgeous in his headshot). It was the most amazing play - I cried for the last twenty minutes because of how touched I was by a story I know by heart.
9 January
We went to the British Library as a class today, and as a class were thoroughly disappointed by the fact that we could only see a total of two rooms - a photography exhibit and the Treasures room. Now, don't get me wrong, the Treasures room is worth the trip out there. Seeing original manuscripts and the Magna Carta and all that jazz is worth the time it takes to get there. I just don't like the fact that its a library that doesn't allow people to access ANY of its books. Like, you have to apply to access any of the library rooms, and you can only apply to a section of the room if you are studying at the graduate level in a subject pertaining to that section. I don't even know if it is possible to see the King's Library section. It just seems ridiculous that you'd have all of these incredible books and not let people see them. Ended up at a pub called Rockets that was definitely geared towards the younger generation for lunch, and then explored Camden Markets with Ben and Mike and found my gift for Mom! Surprisingly, shopping with the guys wasn't that bad. We got meat pies for dinner, but they were not from Fleet Street so I felt okay about eating them. The class went to see Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, which I still am not sure if I liked it or not.
10 January
After an Anglican church service this morning, a few of us explored Hyde Park. We got to experience Speaker's Corner first hand, which was really interesting. There's so much to hear and see there. And after we got our fill of religious and political debates, we headed to the most magical part of the entire park - PETER PAN. It was very nice to meet him again. The entire park is just beautiful, but that little spot where Peter dances on top of a small mountain covered in admiring fairies and animals is magical. After I breathed in some fairy dust, we flew over to
Churchill Arms, which is a pub and a thai restaurant in one for dinner, explored until it was time for live music at The Swan.
No comments:
Post a Comment