High tea at Fortnum and Mason was such a fun experience. It was possibly one of the classiest meals that I have had in my life.
The lobster omelette that they served was amazing, and so were all the scones and cookies. The tea was definitely the best tea that I've had in England. I would highly suggest going to high tea while in London!
Here's a video with some information on how to have proper etiquette at Tea.
This story has to do with the day Rachel and I went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, but seeing as it took us 2 full hours to get there, taking all modes of public transportation (save for the ferry) to get there, I feel it deserves it's own post.
As earlier stated the studio is in Leavesden, which is ideally about an hour out of central london. We began our journey immediately after Speech class by hopping on the Central line to Oxford circus, then switching to the Bakerloo to Baker street, and then getting on the Metropolitan line all the way to Moor Park- which we were so sure was the right station to alight at for the studio.
Wrong.
After asking for help at the local post office (the station had been basically deserted) and coming to no conclusion, we went into a cafe next door to ask if they knew how to get there. Turns out, one of them lived in Leavesden and was thankfully able to give us directions. We then got back on the Metropolitan line to Watford where we had to call a cab to take us to the studio.
Insert HP studio blog entry.
Coming back from the studio, we took the free bus back to Watford Junction and got on a non-stop above ground train to Euston, where we connected with the Northern line back to Tottenham Court Road.
here is a map of the tube system:
and here is a video of the tube:
and here is a photo of Rachel and me:
Ten points from Gryffindor if you can figure out which station this is at.
Wicked! I never thought I would enjoy a silly musical as much as I did Wicked.
Wicked is based on the Wizard of Oz, but from a different perspective all together. In the musical version, the Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba) is actually the protagonist, and the Good Witch (Glinda) is her school time friend.
The production was beautifully done, a huge dragon hovering over the stage, and tall spiral staircases on both sides of the stage added an interesting dept to the set.
The actors were amazing, and I found myself giggling almost the entire performance. I'm so glad I got to experience this iconic musical for the first time in London!
Tonight, I went to see Wicked with Rachel, Megan, Chloe, and Tori. I'd already seen it once in New York, but I really love the show and every production is different. I enjoyed the play thoroughly, and I have to admit, everything does sound better in a British accent.
For a limited time, the Tate is featuring the first British art Avant-Garde movement; the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition.
The Pre-Raphaelites formed in the late 1800 as a rebellion art movement against the present day boring art and stiff postures. The Pre-Raph's wanted to restore art to the old conventions used before Raphael redefined how people looked at art. The Pre-Raph's combined vivid colors, odd postures, and complex scenery to create artwork like the world had never seen.
At the Tate, I was fortunate enough to see almost all the most famous paintings by all the big names in the movement. The collection included works by Hunt, Millais, and Rossetti.
A computer screen cannot to justice to the vivid colors and amazing scenery in all the paintings.
My favorite piece was this one entitled "The Scapegoat" by William Hunt. The plaque by the painting said that Hunt actually used a dying goat as his model for this painting. It symbolizes Jesus's forty days of fasting in the wilderness. In person, the goat looked real, and the pain in it's eyes was so real I couldn't stop looking at it.
These are some more of my favorite paintings also featured in the exhibit. Since I obviously wasn't allowed to take pictures in the actual exhibit, here's a picture of me holding the information booklet I received.
And here's a dramatic video on the Pre-Raphaelites!
This November 5th, a group of us journeyed out to Chelsea and Kensington to view a bonfire in honor of Guy Fawkes Day, remembering the day he almost blew up Parliament. It was a crazy, fun, loud affair, filled with screaming children and adults calling for the effigy of Guy Fawkes to go up in flames on the top of a pyre, formed by panels painted with the 5th of November-esque things. Sounds, exciting, right? Well, it was!
A view of the bonfire before it went up.....
And after. Burn, baby burn!
There were fire jugglers there, too, which was really exciting. I got a video of one performing:
and some pictures of us at the magnificent celebration:
Basically, it was one of the funnest nights we've had, and if you ever get the chance to go to a Guy Fawkes bonfire in England on November 5, you really need to do it. It's awesome.
Over the past few weeks, I've done a lot of shopping throughout London. I've been to Camden Town, Portabello Road, Oxford Circus, and Rachel and I even took a traumatizing trip to Harrods. I've bought the most at Camden Town and Primark though honestly. Shopping here is a bit more aggressive than what I'm used to, though not unpleasant.
here is a picture of Rachel and me in Camden. We bought sweaters that day. I like my sweater.
Last Thursday, Rachel, Tayler and I went to see a production of Our Boys by Jonathan Lewis. It's a play about six young soldiers and their struggles as they recover from injuries incurred in the line of duty. It's a show filled with amusement and the antics of the young soldiers, mixed with the severity and impact of war that they try to forget about. It was an excellent play, that I highly recommend if you have a chance to see it before December 15.
Oh, and did I mention Matthew Lewis and Arthur Darvill are in it?
A few days ago I was slightly bored so I decided that since it was nice out I might as well check out Hyde Park since I had not been there yet. It was a great decision. I took my journal with me and just sat down for a while and absorbed the calmness not a typical part of my London life. It's an odd feeling of tranquility found simply in the heart of such a crazy, yet wonderful, city.
I sat down on a bench for a while and some girls about my age came and sat down on the other side. I did not pay them much attention since I was busy writing and listening to music but eventually realized that they were not speaking with a British accent, in fact their accents were American. We started chatting and I found out that they were from a school in N. Carolina and one of them was from Dallas and the other Tennessee. We talked for a bit about our programs and school and it was all around a pretty interesting experience.
I also thought it was very interesting that people let their dogs just wander off ahead of them in the middle of the park. The dogs socialize with each other and seem to be very nice to other animals and people. I'm not sure if this would happen in the states especially if children were around due to the threat of things such as law suits. But who knows?
-Chloe
I took a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum a couple days ago, to have a look around. When I got there, I found that there was a Hollywood Costume exhibit being put on, and was instantly intrigued. I bought my self a ticket and was completely enthralled with all the costumes I saw, from so many movies!
Indiana Jones
Star Wars
The Dark Knight Rises
Sweeny Todd
Pirates of the Caribbean
Fight Club
The Matrix
Avatar
Just to name a few. It was an amazing exhibit! Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed in the exhibit, so some from the internet of those famous costumes will have to do here:
Indiana Jones
The Dark Knight Rises
Even Dorothy's dress, complete with the Ruby Slippers.
And, here's me with my ticket, outside the exhibit:
Tonight Megan, Tori, Rachel, Autumn and I decided to see Wicked! A few of us had been talking about seeing it for a while now and an hour before we left it was decided that we would just show up an hour early and see if they had tickets...and they did! We got to sit all together too which was surprising as well.
The first time I saw Wicked was about four years ago and I feel like I was able to get more of the hidden humor this time around. The Wizard of Oz sand this song and the words just seemed to make so much sense. Here is a snip it of the lyrics:
[Wizard:] Oh, my dear child...
I never asked for this or planned it in advance
I was merely blown here by the winds of chance
I never saw myself as a Solomon or Socrates
I knew who I was, one of your dime a dozen mediocrities
Then suddenly I’m here, respected, worshiped even
Just because the folks in Oz needed someone to believe in
Does it surprise you I got hooked and all too soon
What can I say? I got carried away
And not just by balloon...
Wonderful, they called me wonderful
So I said, wonderful, if you insist
I will be wonderful and they said wonderful
Believe me it's hard to resist
'Cuz it feels wonderful
They think I’m wonderful
Hey look who's wonderful
This corn-fed hick!
Who said it might be keen
To build a town of green
And a wonderful road of yellow brick!
See, I never had a family of my own since I was always traveling,
and I guess I just wanted to give the citizens of Oz everything.
[Elphaba:] So you lied to them?
[Wizard:] Only verbally. Besides, they were the lies they wanted to
hear. Elphaba, where I come from we believe all sorts of things that
aren't true... We call it history!
A man's called a traitor or liberator
A rich man's a thief or philanthropist
Is one a crusader or ruthless invader
It's all in the label which is able to persist
There are precious few at ease
With moral ambiguities
So we act as though they don't exist...
They call me wonderful, so I am
In fact, it's so much who I am it's part of my name!
And with my help you can be the same...
The first time I listened to this song I just did not get the meaning of the song. But something about this song just clicked this time around and it is probably one of my favorites from the show.
Seeing Wicked in the UK was also an interesting experience. Elphaba spoke with an American accent but Glinda did not but she was still as wonderful and glamorous as ever! I am very glad we went and saw it here in London because it is probably my favorite musical. I got the same feeling when Glinda and Elphaba sang Defying Gravity and they did a beautiful job during that song. I am posting that song below because even though I really like the above song, Defying Gravity will always be the best song in the musical.
November 8, me, Autumn, and Tayler took a trip to Covent Garden to see an original British play called Our Boys. This play is about a group of six young army men recovering from traumatic war wounds in an army hospital during the 1980's. It starred Matthew Lewis, Arthur Darvill, Cian Berry, Jolyon Coy, Laurence Fox, and Lewis Reeves.
This is the poster for the production:
We wanted to see this play for a few reasons: one being the fact that Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter movies, and Arthur Darvill, who played Rory in the BBC show Doctor Who, were starring, another being that the reviews we'd heard had nothing but good things to say.
After seeing this play, I feel like I know more about the hardship soldiers go through recuperating from severe wounds, from having to amputate a finger, to recovering from a shot to the head and severe brain damage. It would have me holding my sides laughing at one moment, then one line would instantly change the mood from playful to heartbreaking. Seeing those men trying to cope with the fact that they might not be able to go back into the army, their only means of supporting themselves, and going through the pressure of keeping it together through depression and doubt really made a lasting effect on me. Once you see something like this, your view on war is completely changed. The ending almost had me in tears, I was so invested in these characters. The actors did a brilliant job, and Jonathan Lewis, the playwright, created a truly remarkable work.
Here's a trailer for the play, with reactions from the audience:
And here's a couple pictures of me with two of my favorite actors from my favorite show and movies!
Matthew Lewis:
And Arthur Darvill:
It was a marvelous night for someone who loves geeky things like Harry Potter or Doctor Who, and for anyone who's interested in brilliant, compassionate plays.
Over the past few weeks, I've been shopping around town. Here are
some of the places I went:
Harrod's
Camden Town
Portabello Road Market
Each place is unique, and has its own fun things.
At Portabello, the best part (in my opinion) was this stall with these
amazing doughnuts:
Camden was my favorite place; there was an outside market, with lots of cool things:
That first one is me and my friend Autumn
outside the market, showed in the second picture.
Here's a picture of Harrod's, all lit up:
Here’s a quick video about Portabello
Road:
Harrod's is a giant building, filled with
tons of high end stores and brand names. It's kinda on the expensive side, so I
didn't get anything there. The middle section has a bunch of places to eat and
buy food from all over the place. There was one floor that was just toys, and
that was my favorite part because I am such a kid at heart and really love looking
at toys.
Camden Town is essentially a long shopping
strip, with every single kind of shop you could imagine. There's something for
everyone: preppy, goth, hipster, tourist shops; you can find anything you want.
I found a sweater with the British flag on it, that's really warm and cozy.
There's also a Henna shop, which was, sadly, closed the last time I was there,
otherwise I would've gotten something. It's a cute, fun little place, perfect
for a group with lots of different interests to shop and be happy.
I hope you enjoy my thoughts on shopping in London, and if you
ever get a chance to try out some of the places around here, I highly recommend
it! Though, try to make it before the crowds, or you'll be doing the penguin
waddle down the middle of the sidewalk :)
I recently visited the Natural History Museum of London. It has
over 70 million specimens from all over the natural world, from dinosaurs and
mammals, to human anatomy, even a history of the geological earth! Occupying
the central hall is a 26 meter longDiplodocus
model,affectionately called
Dippy by the museum staff:
There are five zones to visit, each with a different focus of
specimen. The Orange Zone has The Wildlife Garden and the Darwin Centre, which
allows you to see science in action. The Blue Zone is the home of the dinosaur
exhibit, for which you have to queue (it's that popular!), as well as human
anatomy, mammals, and marine life. This zone houses a life size model of the
Blue Whale, one of the largest animals in the world. There are also models of
other whales, as well as elephants, rhinos, and even a bison. This section of
the Blue Zone was one of my favorites to see and explore, as it had many hands
on activities, letting you see and hear what a dolphin sees and hears. All the
skeletons and models were pretty exciting too:
This is me in the Blue Zone, with the rhino and whale skeleton
models behind me. They were huge!
The Central Hall is the next zone, which houses a spectacular
painted ceiling, as well as a coelacanth, or living fossil fish, Dippy, and
other large fossils. The Green Zone Has a cross section of a giant sequoia, the
world's largest tree. There's also a large wall filled with the fossils of
Ichtheosaurs and Plesiosaurs, ancient marine reptiles, much like marine
dinosaurs, found by Mary Anning. Here's a few pictures of those fossils- the
first is an Ichthiosaur, the second is a Plesiosaur:
Pretty cool, huh? They were oceanic giants! The next zone is the
Red Zone, which holds the history of the earth, and various other geological
artifacts.
Being interested in the sciences, especially animal science, I
loved being able to visit this museum! The Blue Zone was by far my favorite,
and the one I spent the most time in. I just loved looking at all the animals
the earth holds, or has held in the past, especially the marine invertebrates
and mammals. There were a lot of funny looking fish models, like this guy:
He's a trench fish, basically blind from living in the dark depths
of the ocean. His shape is so interesting, I just had to get a picture of it!
If you're visiting London, I definitely recommend taking some time
out to visit the Natural History Museum. It has something interesting for
everyone, and it's also free! With so many cool exhibits to explore, and at no
cost, how could anyone pass up a chance to look around one of London's best
museums?
Here’s a video with some information about the museum and some of
the things you can find there:
The other day, the lovely Jenna and Molly went with me to the British Museum for a special exhibit on Mr. William Shakespeare.
The exhibit was mainly artefacts from the 15th century, things that would've been contemporary to Shakespeare, including a First Folio (the second I've seen within a week!!!). But, First Folio aside, my very favourite thing in the exhibit was the section created by the Royal Shakespeare Company. A lot of it had projections and audio of actors performing monologues. Specifically, there were three plasma screens and across them was a video of an actor portraying Richard III. No speaking. He was simply making faces and slightly moving his body and hands. It was great. He just had... attitude. It's too hard to explain. Just... go to the British Museum before the 25th!
Sunday after a beautiful Remembrance Sunday service at St. Paul's, Victoria, Jenna, and I visited Shakespeare's Globe Theater. During the initial part of the HUE program, our group visited The Globe together to attend a performance of The Taming of the Shrew. This second visit served a more educational purpose. The first part of the trip included a walk through various exhibits involving Shakespeare's world and work. There were some really cool interactive touch-screens that explained how the theater operated in Shakespeare's time.
In the play, Titus Andronicu, one of the characters has her arms cut off and her tongue cut out. When she presents herself, the audience doesn't yet know about her missing tongue, but as she goes to speak, blood spurts from her mouth. Gross, huh? It gets grosser! In Shakespeare's day the theater did not use fake blood. Instead, they would put a real sheep's intestine, with real sheep's blood inside of it, inside the actor's mouth, and as the actor started to speak, he would bite down on the organ, and out would come the blood!
The second half of the visit was a great guided tour through the actual theatre. Our guide, Stephanie, was an extra in Shakespeare in Love. We learned all sorts of cool information about the Globe, the plays, and Shakespeare's genius. We were shown trap doors, and directed to the best seats in the house, and encouraged to BYOB. (Ha!) I came away from the Globe tour feeling a lot more educated and with one more wonderful British experience under my belt.
The Globe tries to get its' productions as close as it possibly can to the way they would have been performed originally, but there are all sorts of strange adaptations out there. Below is one of my favorites!
The sheer amount of historically significant objects and manuscripts to be found in London is staggering, and the British Library holds many of these. One of the most impressive exhibits in the Library is the room with four different editions of the Magna Carta. They have an impressive stamp and letter collections, and one of the more interesting letters to be found has stamps on it from both Nazi Germany and Stalin's Russia.
Here's an interesting video that will give you some more insight on what exactly can be found here at the British Library. Enjoy!
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