London VIII: Let me just sum up...

So...this is kind of late. It's been sitting in my "draft" box for about a week, but I haven't been able to finish it.

Anyway, I originally planned this great post with the idea of music being a cure for claustrophobia at its core, but then I didn't have time to write it and more and more things happened...so here are some highlights from Saturday the 15th to Thursday the 20th. (Also, this might have been the week I shook hands with Robert Sean Leonard, who often ate in our refectory since he was playing Atticus in The Open Air Theatre's production of To Kill a Mockingbird in Regent's Park, but the days are all running together, and I'm honestly not sure.)

Saturday

Crowds of people I don't know generally don't bother me. If I could survive Toomer's Corner on both January 10, 2010 (National Championship), and April 20, 2013 (A-Day and "last" Toomer's Trees rolling), then I can survive anything.  Last weekend, however, my friends and I went to Portobello Market, and let me tell you, there was a crowd. It was fantastic--don't get me wrong--but there were so many people. You couldn't walk far, and you definitely couldn't get anywhere quickly. It got irritating.

But then something wonderful happened. We heard singing. Hannah and I leaned against a parked car to listen. People gave him space, so the area felt much more open. The music helped as well. There's something about music--be it in the tube station or a market--that makes me feel like I have more space. We loved him and the moment of calm, so we bought his CDs.

Part of the Robbie Boyd Band
You can find them in your local iTunes store.

Two of my favorites are "I Won't Let You Go" and "Spring Generation."

Later that night, we went on a Jack the Ripper Tour with "ripper-vision," which was fascinating but also quite sad.

Sunday

Some friends and I went to the Tower of London, which was fascinating and much prettier than I thought the home of the Bloody Tower would be. The Tower itself wasn't too crowded. It was the crown jewels room that got me. I felt like I was in a human game of pinball. Seeing the jewels is great, but you can tell most people there are tourists because they don't follow queuing rules.

We also had our most awkward War Eagle moment ever. Marjorie, Carson, and I saw this guy in an Auburn hat on our tour, but we were too far away at the time to say anything, so we waited, positioning ourselves for the best possible War Eagle. When he got closer, Marjorie shouted, "War Eagle!" He didn't respond, so she tried again...and again. Finally she asked, "Aren't you going to say it back?"He thought "I lived in Alabama for awhile" was an appropriate response. 

Just a suggestion: Don't wear school clothing OF ANY KIND if you don't care to interact with other people associated with the school.

Monday

I often forget that Benjamin Franklin lived in London for a few years, but he did. In fact, he resided in the house of 36 Craven Street. We walked on the same warped floors that he walked on, and Hannah played "Yankee Doodle" on the armonica. (No, I did not spell "harmonica" wrong.) Ben Franklin invinted it. Well, not that one specifically. But still.

We also looked at the architecture in Covent Garden. Or actually, we tried to examine the architecture, but a street performer dancing and doing tricks to "Footloose" distracted us.

Tuesday

My creative writing class took a trip to the Tate Modern, where I came to the interesting realization that I do actually like modern art (and I'm not sure how I feel about that). Not all modern art, but some. In class we talked about the emotion the art conveys instead of the image itself. Anyway, I added Picasso and another Monet to my list of famous paintings I've seen, which I thought was pretty cool.

I honestly still don't understand the red painting. It's the first one of a trilogy. I also don't really get the dark room with the light, but how cool, right? Yes. I love the last two, though. The first one has to do with the pieces of the cosmos, and the second one is a crumbling city at night.

After lunch my friends and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which I've decided is my favorite museum. It has something for everyone--fashion, theater, stained glass windows, casts of Italian sculptures, a David Bowie exhibit, etc. Hannah and I had a great time trying on theater costumes. She was the Queen of the Night; I was the Firebird.

Wednesday

My history class went on a field trip to the Museum of Homes, which showed how parlors changed from the 17th to the 21st century. It was great, but it also further confirmed that the Hammersmith and City tube line is the worst because the line we needed just never came, so we had to take 2-3 other lines and rush to make it back to Regent's for lunch. A Matilda matinee awaited.

Matilda was spectacular. Seriously, you should check out the trailer from the Matilda website (just here). The set was fantastic. Books were everywhere. The desks rose from the ground. They had a wall made out of hollow squares that large lettered cubes fit in. In the school song, they put in the letters in alphabetical order. As they sang words that started with the letter, a cast member would put the letter in the hole and the other performer would climb higher up the wall. The dancing was interesting, too. It was jerky with an unhinged feel, which was perfect for the feeling of the play.

Favorite songs/performances:

• "When I Grow UP"
• "Revolting Children"
• "Quiet"

Thursday

Okay, so we went to another play. But it wasn't just any other play. It was Once, which is a musical based on the movie Once. I actually haven't seen the movie, but I have heard one of the main songs, "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I can't tell you how many times I listened to that song senior year when one of my friends introduced me to it. We basically decided to go based on the music we'd heard. (If you don't know Hansard or Irglova, Hannah says it's like the Civil Wars made a musical. But it also has Irish folk music and Czech music.)

And let me tell you, we were not disappointed. It was perfect and breathtaking and funny and beautiful and devastating. I just had so many feelings at the end of it. I didn't know what to do with myself. Actually, I was having a hard time forming sentences. So...so, yeah. It's the best play I've been to. Maybe ever.

You can (and should) preview the show here.

Favorite songs:

• "Falling Slowly"
• "Gold"
• "The North Strand"

Actually, they're all good. If you want something funny, try "Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy" or "Chandler's Wife."

Nota bene: Once will be in Atlanta in March. 

Last thought:

I leave London on Saturday. I'm not sure how that happened. The six weeks have gone by so quickly, and I feel cliche for saying this, but these really have been some of the best weeks of my life. I've made so many fantastic new friends and explored a city that I've always thought was somehow magic.

When I get home, I'll probably write about our final adventures, like the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, getting questioned by British kids on a train, our last two plays at the Globe, seeing Daniel Radcliffe, Colin Morgan, and Billy Boyd in plays, and running around London trying to fit just a few more things in. Maybe I'll get crazy and even write a nice little "looking back" piece. 

I'm off to prepare for my last day!

Cheers!

London VII: A City of Stories

London is full of stories, both historical and fictional. All places are, really. Some come before us, and some we create. I arrived in London with some of my favorite stories in mind, and I've managed to make pilgrimages to the pieces of their stories that remain. So yes, all of this has happened before, and it will all happen again soon for someone else. (Peter Pan, anyone?) But this trip is my notch in the timeline.

I apologize for the cheesy-ness of this post.

Here are a few of the stories I participated in this week:

Peter Pan Statue:
Ever since I was a wee child, I've had a dream--a dream that has stayed with me for years, infiltrating my imagination and my usernames for social medias. I dreamed of finding the Peter Pan statue. I loved Peter Pan long before I knew there was a statue. I read the book (darker than you might think). I memorized the Mary Martin play and the 1953 Disney version (and later the live action film). I sang along and pretended to fight pirates. My sister and I jumped off of the couch and pretended to fly. My dad even took me to the play when I was still learning to read. I loved Peter Pan.

So, when I watched Hook and Winning London for the first times, I was thrilled to learn that Peter has his own statue, and that J.M. Barrie himself helped find the best place for it. Peter lives in Kensington Gardens in Hyde Park, just as he should, and after years of waiting, I have finally found him.

He keeps fairy dust with him. You have to climb on the ledge to get it.
Sadly, it only works when you're next to him.

If you say that it will stay with me as one of my happiest simple memories, you would be right.

The London Police Call Box:
When I got to college, I kept hearing people talking about Doctor Who (a very British show that's basically been around since the '60s), and I thought, "What does that even mean?" and "Why are there so many pictures in the English Department of Barty Crouch, Jr., telling me that I 'should be writing'?"I just didn't understand. Realizing I would never truly fit in with my people until I watched this show, I finally caved last summer. Now I understand.

We found the Doctor's TARDIS.

Attempting to run into the TARDIS to steal it

I happily accept my nerd status.

Shakespeare's Globe:

I can't recall when I first heard about Shakespeare. It's just like he's always been there, a familiar name in my vocabulary--Shakespeare, the magnificent writer. (I will not believe that other people wrote his plays, so stop. I mean, he did steal ideas, though.) I do remember playing jeopardy in my 7th grade English class and getting the question about the Globe right. I've wanted to visit ever since, especially after studying 14+ of his plays in high school.

The set of The Taming of the Shrew

That was me fulfilling my middle school dream.

Harry Potter Studio Tour:

How else can I describe it but magical? It truly was. But we almost missed the magic. Almost.

When you buy your ticket for the tour, you receive a notice that suggests you arrive at the Watford Junction Station 45 minutes before your tour and that you arrive at the building 20 minutes before your tour starts. We had it all planned out. We booked the fast train, which would get us there in 15 to 20 minutes, so that we would arrive 51 minutes before our tour. Just to make sure, we got to the London Euston Station over an hour early. Our tickets were a bit more confusing than normal, so one of the workers told us which train to catch. Our train arrived at Platform 9 (almost 9 3/4), and we were soon on our way. About 15 minutes into the ride, however, Hannah and I realized that, while our train was going to the correct station, it was taking a bit longer than planned. 

The worker had sent us to the slow train, the train that took 40-45 minutes. We panicked. We raged. We hit ourselves on the foreheads for being idiots.

When we neared the station, we walked to the front of the train to position ourselves for a fast getaway, where we met a girl who was also running late for the tour. When the doors opened, the four of us sprinted through the station and to the Harry Potter bus stop. The bus wouldn't arrive for another 10 minutes, so we hailed a taxi, shouted "To the studio, and fast!" and were on our way. Luckily, we made it just in time.

Now we know how Harry and Ron felt when they missed the Hogwarts Express and had to take the flying car.

If you love Harry Potter and ever go to London, do try to visit the Harry Potter Studio Tour. You walk through the doors into the Grand Hall and then explore parts of the sets (inside and out), see costumes, drink butterbeer, see concept art, and learn about how they made the mechanical creatures. I've said this a lot while I've been here, but it was perfect. Worth every penny.

In front of the Hogwarts Castle.
Keep in mind that we were on the second level at this point.
The castle wouldn't fit in my room at home.

Concept Art

This was long. Sorry!

Let me leave you with these last two London pictures of the week:

London VI: Not England, but Scotland

Scotland

Friday:

Nothing says fun like a five-hour train ride to Edinburgh with Scottish guys dressed in either fake kilts and wigs or spandex and a painted cardboard box.

Yes, this is real life. Welcome to my train ride.

Everything was going pretty well at first. I was working on my short story for class and enjoying the scenery (the real scenery, not the above views). But then I received a phone call from Eamonn, who says that he accidentally overbooked our room. He took a long time to tell me that we could stay at Rhone's (Rone-ah) B&B on Friday night and that we'd simply move our things to his place on Saturday. We had a room for both nights, so I was fine. No worries. Of course, our bus took us much too far, so we asked a Travel Lodge for directions...and then we caved and called Eamonn...and then Rhone. (If you ever go to Edinburgh, I highly recommend staying with one of them. They're lovely.)

We went to a pub for dinner, where we heard a waiter complain that all the queen does is spend money, and then the twelve of us said, "Hey, let's climb Arthur's Seat!" 

It's about 820 ft. high, and I get for all of you hikers and mountain climbers that this is not a problem, but we're city people now and weren't in the proper clothing.

Feel the struggle.

See the view from the top. 

Applaud me for a job well done.

It was worth every struggle, and I didn't slip until we nearly returned to the bottom.

We had grand plans to reward ourselves with Scottish dessert. After talking to the locals, however, we learned that MacDonald's is the only place open "late" (meaning after 8) other than pubs that were already too full. We got there a few minutes before they closed (10, maybe?) and grabbed ice cream.

Saturday:

I love, love, love cities, but we've gotten a bit weary of them after living in London for three weeks, so we took a train to Balloch and spent the day around Loch Lomond. And guys, it was all that is good and beautiful. It was sunny and about 70 degrees, which is the opposite of typical Scotland weather. Perfect.

We stumbled upon the "dragon races," which felt like the 4th of July. They had tents and food trucks and played "YMCA" and the "Macarena." 

Look, I've found the Romans!

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond 

After exploring Balloch and having the best ice cream of my life (honeycomb, if you were wondering), four of us went back to the train station. My group was the first to leave and, therefore, the first to discover that the train system was having "overhead wire problems." This meant that we got on a train that dropped us off in Dalmuir, where we stood for 30 minutes with several Scottish people, all of whom had no idea how to get to a real station. Luckily, an older couple adopted us, saying that I reminded them of their "wee granddaughter" and traveled with us, herding us into our next three trains and giving us all hugs when we parted.

For dinner we went to The Elephant House, which is where J.K. Rowling wrote most of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Because a chair broke when one of my friends sat on it, we got 20% off our total. If you ever go, you should try the hot chocolate (I got mint and caramel) and check out the women's restroom. I don't care if you're a girl or guy. Check out the women's restroom.

The "Birthplace" of Harry Potter (Note the Gryffindor colors.)

We all signed the restroom walls.
They essentially make up a giant "Thank You" card to Rowling.

Sunday:

After Eamonn gave us his "How well do you know your country?" quiz (Did you know that 22 of our states end with an a? Because we do.), we walked around Scotland, heard a man playing "Amazing Grace" on his bagpipes, went shopping, and returned to The Elephant House for lunch, where my waiter said, "Sorry, I can't remember your order. I'm actually still quite drunk."

Fun things we learned in Scotland:

• They really do say "wee" all of the time.
• If you introduce yourself with "Hey, I'm American," they're generally pretty nice and give good explanations.
• Even the locals don't always understand their train system.

Join me next time for my flight with Peter Pan, my attempt to steal the TARDIS, and my first theatre experience at The Globe!

Cheers!

London V: Tickets and Anticipation

I've decided that buying theater tickets is one of the most exciting things you can do, especially if you buy them at the box office. You rush up to the ticket booth, somewhat excited and slightly nervous--What if they don't have the tickets you want? Or *gasp* are sold out--and you say, "Exactly how bad is your 'restricted view' section? Not too bad then. We'll take them." You thrust your money in their hands and watch as they print off your ticket. You grab the ticket and leave with a goofy grin.

Maybe it's just me--I don't know--but that's how it felt last week when a group of us bought tickets to Singin' in the Rain. This time we paid for the second lowest price and sat in the center of the balcony, which was pretty high, but the performance was fantastic. They danced in the "rain" twice, splashing people in the front each time. We think they recognized that one side of the theater screamed more than the other because they started kicking more water towards them.

I did say the balcony was pretty high.

Ralph the Auburn Sock Monkey is classy and cultured.
Hannah and I obviously love him.

This week we stopped by the Globe to buy groundling tickets for The Taming of the Shrew (all women cast, which should be interesting) and MacBeth (or The Scottish Play--whichever you're the most comfortable with). We're also seeing The Tempest through my study abroad program. I'm not sure my friends knew what to do with me when we arrived at the Globe. You have to understand that I was fulfilling a dream I've had since middle school. I've never been so close to crying in a theater, and that's including Les Mis a few weeks ago. You could say I'm a happy English major.

Speaking of Scottish things... I'm grabbing a train to Scotland tomorrow! After almost exactly four years, I'm making my grand return, except I'm going to Edinburgh (castles and J.K. Rowling's cafe) and Balloch (there's a national park nearby) this time. We're staying in a cheap-ish family-run B&B, so I'll let you know how that goes.

Flashback to June 2009:

I think it's the anticipation that comes with tickets that is so great. Of course, after buying all of these tickets, I fear that my bank account (I woke up this morning and decided to name him Perry. Not sure why.) will soon lock me in the Tower of London.

London IV: Sorry, just highlights.

I am actually taking classes while I'm in London (okay, and I've visited lots of places lately), so I'm a bit behind. I'll try to pick out the highlights.

Monday: London
A group of us tried to go to a free symphony concert in Trafalgar's Square. They had the square sectioned off with fences covered in white plastic material, which means that many people couldn't see. Londoners and travelers really like to see the orchestra as they give a free concert, so they ignored the event guards and tore down the walls. Well, the plastic covering.

Londoners love free music.

Tuesday: London
My friends and I went to the National Gallery, which is in Trafalgar's Square. The inside of the building would be gorgeous without the paintings, which got me to thinking about the significance of how a museum presents paintings and whether or not where the painting hangs affects how we view its, I don't know, greatness, but I won't bore you with that.

Other than seeing paintings by Van Gogh and Pissarro, my favorite part might have been hearing a mom explain a mythological scene with Juniper and a girl. She said, "Basically he's going to do quite a few terrible things to her. It's a bit rude." Yes. Yes, a bit.

Wednesday: London

My history class visited the parish of St. Bartholomew the Great and Guildhall. We got to stop at the cafe in St. Bartholomew's because my professor was "gasping for a cup of tea." I did not spill my tea after tripping over the threshold of a 12th century church. No, I did not.

I just almost did.

Unfortunately, you can't see the man who
kept shouting "scum!" when reading
his paper.

Guildhall (They found the remains of a Roman amphitheater next to it. Pretty sure my professor helped dig it up.)

Thursday: London
Ah, Thursday. My short story class eavesdropped in Trafalgar's Square and the National Gallery. (It's less creepy if you're a writer.) Then a man somehow conned me into drawing a picture of a double-decker bus on a gridded canvas... and paying him. (Everyone has to have one dumb tourist moment. This was mine.) Later I visited Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey, where I gave Chaucer's tomb (though I think they moved him again) a loving pat while reciting the first 18 lines of The Canterbury Tales in my head. I also saluted memorials to Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and the Bronte sisters. You think I'm exaggerating, don't you? 5 pounds says I'm not.

Friday: Bath
I have to admit that I originally heard about Bath from Jane Austen novels. The characters kept traveling there when they were ill, and in middle school I just didn't understand what was so amazing about a place called "Bath." I think I get it now. Also, the Romans were brilliant.

Classic Roman Baths pictures

We toured the Jane Austen Centre, which sadly did not live up to my dreams. Then we waited 40 minutes on a staircase to have a Jane Austen themed tea, which did live up to my dreams. While we waited, we read Austen's brief history of England, where she tells us how much she hated Queen Elizabeth I (controversy!). The workers asked if we were forming a book club.

Just in case anyone forgot how wonderful Alan Rickman is.

Saturday: Stonehenge and Salisbury
Basically we took a bus to Stonehenge, saw pigs, swans, and sheep on the way, and made a dent on the bucket list.

What's funny is that Stonehenge is right next to a highway.
For some people it's like seeing the peach at Peach Park on the way to the beach or something.

I mean, you all know what it looks like.

The neglected stone (obviously my favorite)

Annnndddd then we ate fish and chips and went to a market to buy jazz CDs.

I promise more people were there than this picture suggests.

I also discovered that Turkish Delight is not good enough to betray your siblings. (Hannah did warn me.)


I'll try to keep up so the next post isn't just an overflow of more "and then THIS happened...and then this..."