BeAuTy aNd tHe BeAsT aT tHe BaLLeT

Wednesday, October 29th

History class again today. I really enjoyed today’s class, and we covered quite a bit, and a very wide variety of topics. A few of the topics covered included:

-opium wars with China
-Benjamin Disraeli
-Manchester as the leading city in Industrialism
-Cutty Sark and Great Clippers
-Great Clippers Races
-Threat of Industrialism, with the steamboat taking over
-Railway engineer and architect, Brunell (Paddington Station)
-Irish Potato Famine
-Poor conditions of the poor working class
-child labor, etc.
-Educational System
-tradition, no creativity, facts only
-students given no identity “girl no. 20”
-Charles Dickens novel

We spent the second half of the class walking around town again, this time closer to our flats and Regents Park. We walked down to a classy little villa called Park Village, full of ‘affordable’ townhouses. These little white houses were fenced in with gardens, and were designed by John Nash for the middle working class. They were commissioned by Prince Regent (George IV) for new ideas of fancy architecture by his favorite architect (who also created the Royal Pavillion and the flats where I live, as mentioned in previous entries). I guess that these ‘affordable’ homes go for about 1 million pounds…

Just a few blocks down was some other interesting architecture as well. A bunch of white, classical buildings lined the streets, much resembling the feel of Greek Temples. One that we saw was a building to celebrate the Triumph against the French Wars in 1815 (once again showing the rivalry between the French and the English). The building was filled with ionic orders, columns, and an elaborate pediment depicting the victory.

Continuing down the road, we came to a Danish church. There was a stone with a scripture on it that shows the Christianization of Denmark. Tolkein used this scripture as inspiration for the Elvish language in his series, Lord of the Rings.

Nearby we also got to see some houses used by monks and nuns of the Church of England. I learned that they wanted to practice much of the Catholic rituals, but even though they went a bit off of the ideals of the Church of England. I am somewhat confused with the transition of Catholicism to the Church of England and the history that goes along with that, so I plan on using that as the topic for my next research paper for the class. I have spent a great deal learning about the Protestant Reformation vs. the Catholic Counter Reformation in my art history classes, but know nothing about this. Cody and I addressed it a while ago when going to mass at St. Paul’s and Westminster Abbey, however, we need to figure out quite a bit more, as it is rather confusing…

Fun Fact: On all of the gates and lamp posts are the inscriptions G IV R or E II R. I have been wondering what this meant the entire time we have been here, but kept forgetting to ask. I figured it had something to do with the King or Queen, but wasn’t sure. I found out that G IV R, stands for George IV Rex. This would mean that George IV was the one who was king during the time of the development of the area, and with the Latin word Rex for king. E II R would mean Queen Elizabeth was queen during the time of the development, with the Latin word Regina for queen.

On all of the gates outside of our flat, a man has been outside painting each of these inscriptions with gold leaf. It is fun to watch, and interesting that the city actually uses real gold leaf to keep up with such maintenance. It is a traditional art, and really, shows the ‘posh-ness’ of London.

after dinner, I left to go the the ballet with Cody. We got tickets to go to a ballet interpretation of Beauty and the Beast. I had never been to a ballet before, and it was phenomenal. It was probably one of the top 5 best things I have done since coming here. The music was awesome, a full pit and beautiful arrangement. And the dance was so elegant and artistic. The set and the costumes were so detailed and beautiful as well.

I had a discussion with Cody after the performance, and I really find it interesting how all of the arts are intertwined. I don’t know the first thing about dance, but I noticed so much, as far as the movement, and the use of space and composition in their performance that related to the visual effects. The music definitely shapes so much of the drama as well, and the set and costumes definitely play a big part in the final production as well.

We took a bus back to Picadilly Circus after the show, and window shopped all the way home. There are sooo many beautiful displays, and they are so artistically done. It really is a work of art. All the way down Regents Street, we saw the Christmas decorations going up as well. We think that decorations are too early at home, well, apparently London likes to celebrate even before Halloween… but I LOVE CHRISTMAS! So I’m totally ok with that!

When I got back to my room, I was really tired, so I finished my pointer article, and talked to Mary for a bit online. :)

Also, speaking of Christmas, and my discussion… it snowed last nite! I woke up to my roommate yelling about how it was snowing out and there were international students outside going crazy because they had only seen snow twice in their entire lives (which I later discovered was Cody’s roommate from Tawian). When we left for class this morning, there was still snow on people’s cars parked outside, and we got to throw a few snowballs. It isn’t really incredibly cold yet, but I guess winter is coming…

FaLL iS HeRe

Tuesday, October 28th

Today went by really fast, and I didn’t really do anything exciting… When I woke up this morning, I was going to go shopping for some authentic English tea with Cody and Rachael, however, we decided to stay in and be productive instead. It worked out because I finished a paper and got some other things done as well. Now I only have one more paper due, in addition to my artwork throughout the remainder of the semester.

The weather outside is getting a bit chillier. About a week ago, you could really feel the crisp fall air, and today, was the first day that it really felt like the transition of the seasons. The colors are finally starting to turn, and I will have to take a walk through Regents Park again soon. I was starting to fall into this trap of thinking that it wont get cold out in London… well, at least it wont be as bad as Wisconsin…

For International Studies Class today, we went over to the Farringdon area to participate in an event called ‘the Big Draw.’ This is a nationwide campaign to promote the power of drawing for people of all ages and abilities. The theme was regions, so we all had to create 3D drawings and such relating to where we live or a certain part of the world. It was interesting seeing such a variety of people, from toddlers, to senior citizens, all working on the same project.

It was interesting talking to the leader about his experiences in illustration. He gave me some advice, some very realistic advice, and tips for the industry. I have always wanted to do graphic design, but am really hoping to achieve a side career in children’s illustration, or at least get a book published someday.

When we were walking back to the tube afterwards, we saw perhaps the funniest window display I have ever seen… and rather sad at that as well… It was Bugs Bunny shooting daffy duck… with a rather graphic display. A little bit of sick humor, but still really funny, and surprising to see walking down the road.



Speaking of window displays, it is interesting seeing the variety of careers here. During my life drawing session a while back, at tea time intermission I was talking to a nice lady who does window dressing as a career. I had never thought about that before. There are so many extravagant displays that have a lot of time put into them, all very artistically done, but I guess I had never thought of it as a career.

I got back to my room, worked on a bit more work, and am now here journaling. I’m going to dinner pretty soon, and plan to do some drawing and relaxing for the evening… goodnite. :)

A ViSiT tO tHe DoCkLaNdS

'Duck and Cover!'- One of the examples of a bomb shelter from WWII. No one knew the jingle... I was thoroughly disappointed...

Monday, October 27th

I spent a good deal of time this morning journaling from the weekend, and basking in the glory of Carmina Burana and its greatness.

I left to go get some lunch, and then went with Cody to our trip to the Docklands. Our International Studies 381 class required a trip to the Docklands and Canary Wharf, so that was on today’s agenda.

First stop was the Museum of Docklands. We had to take the DLR railway out there, and for the first time, I actually paid attention to what DLR stands for- Docklands Light Railway. It all made sense after touring the museum.

Here is a brief timeline of the ENTIRE history of London’s docklands, definitely making me understand more of this city’s existence:

-50AD- Londinium: City on the Thames founded by the Romans
-410AD- Londonium falls into political and financial crisis, vulnerable to attack by outside forces, and the city falls
-late 5th century- Vikings and Anglo Saxon tribes invade Londinium, but do not stay
-Medieval London- trade increased, but was threatened because of the plague
-Mid 1500’s- Tudor :London- the ports attract merchants worldwide due to innovations in ship technology, and the population grows back from the decline of the plague
-1700s- London continues to grow with finance and commerce, and the slave trade begins
-early 19th century- massive dock displays were built, replacing old Medieval landmarks including the old London Bridge. The population grows by 50%.
-1775- the second whaling trade is developed. For a while, London is the leader in the industry.
-1800s- The banks of the Thames holds the largest shipbuilding industry in the world. The development of the steamboat arises, again, increasing productivity and trade.
-9-3-1939- Prime Minister Chamberlain announces Britain’s involvement in WWII against Germany. The enemy targeted docks along the Thames because of the huge trade industry and the losses that would result in the damage. Raids hit industrial targets and London’s suburbs.
-9-1-1940- Black Saturday- London’s docks are obliterated by enemy attacks. Top secret tactics are developed for the war effort, including project ‘PLUTO (pipe lines under the sea)’ to ensure fuel delivery over to France to supply the soldiers, and building defense forts along the Thames.
-6-6-1944- D-Day- British and American invasion of Western Europe
-5-7-1945- WWII ends, leaving London much damage, however, the rebuilding process will come to quite an advantage over time, making the Docklands one of the most impressive industrialized cities in Britain
-Docklands are successfully rebuilt by 1955, but suffered a state of decline by 1975. Plans to regenerate were hotly contested.
-1981- London Docklands Development Corporation is created to ensure financial and economic prosper. London expands outside of strictly the trade industry, creating developments such as the DLR Railway, London City Airport, and industrial parks.


After walking through some of these areas after our visit to the museum, I saw how industrialized this area was, from what it was in the past. It was getting dark by the time we left the museum, and the city was absolutely beautiful with such tall buildings lit up along the Thames. It is a different feel in Central London because there aren’t really many skyscrapers like you would expect in the big city, so it was interesting to see more of the industrial, modern side of town.

We walked around for a while looking at all of the buildings, the light casting on the reflections in the water. We took a walk through Jubilee Park, which had really pretty lighted fountains, hedges, and trees. We walked some more along the water, into a park, and along more tall buildings, and then decided to get on the Canary Wharf tube and head back for dinner and our mandatory Monday night meeting.

After the meeting, I went back to my room to get ready for scheduling for next semester. I had everything planned out before I left so that I wouldn’t have to go through the trouble here, but now some of the classes I needed are not offered next semester… I think I should have it all figured out now, so we will see what happens. Just a little frustrating though…. Gr. Just when you think you are ahead…

NaTiOnAL PoRtRaiT GaLLeRy & WeStMiNsTeR EvEnSoNg

Sunday, October 26th

Today’s plan was to go to the Kew Gardens, but then it decided to rain all day, so an alternate plan was formed. London- it’s all about versatility here.

I left a little before 11:00 to go get lunch from ISH, but upon getting there, I realized that they didn’t start serving till noon on Sundays, so I went to TESCO and bought some cookies and a croissant. I got on the tube, and left for the National Portrait Gallery, since I didn’t get to fully examine the museum on my last visit.

When I got to the top of the tube station, I walked out to the entrance of Trafalgar Square, where there was another Trafalgar Day celebration taking place with the Sea Cadets. A man handed me a program with the schedule of events, and there was supposed to be a marching band playing in the next 10 minutes, so I decided to hang around for a little bit. It was raining out, and they had technical difficulties, and I wasn’t sure that the band would play in such weather, so after waiting for a little bit, I decided to head inside to examine the gallery.

Last time I came, we had to head out right away to go to the Organ Recital at Westminster Abbey, so it was nice to relax and take my time this time around. Whenever I go into these museums, I spend so much time trying to take in as much as I possibly can about the historical aspects, reading almost every sign and taking notes, and get to distracted with that rather than just sitting back and enjoying the art that is in front of me. This time around, I decided to make it a more relaxing venture, examining the works for their artistic and figural qualities. I made my visit into a figural study for my figure drawings class, examining the painting techniques, and the forms the portraits take to contribute that to my own works. It was much more relaxing, and beneficial for that matter. The blending and softness to the Renaissance and Victorian portraits particularly caught my eye.

The National Portrait Gallery is an attachment to the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, dedicated strictly to portraiture. It is filled with paintings, and busts, massive and tiny. It has a range of portraits from a single person, to hundreds in one frame. Everything from Tudors to contemporary, in only three floors. It was very exciting. On my first visit, I wasn’t sure that I would be too enthralled with hundreds of portraits, as I was more excited to see the famous paintings I have studied that are in the National Gallery (which I still have to get to…), but wow, this was awesome. I should have been more excited before, especially with my love for painting portraits myself. What was I thinking?

In 2 ½ hours, I covered the entire museum, with the exception of the Annie Leibovitz exhibition, which had an entrance fee. I would have liked to go inside of here, but the fee was rather pricy. However, I got to see some of her work hanging outside of the studio: her series ‘Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II.’

After my visit to the gallery, I decided to head down to Westminster Abbey to catch the 3:00 Evensong. It was just a short walk from the gallery, and you can see Big Ben clearly from Trafalgar Square. It was a nice walk, with extravagant architecture, and I walked past the cavalry buildings too, filled with tourists taking photos of the guards on horses.

I was still a bit early, so I ate the croissant that I bought that morning, and went into the Westminster Abbey Shop before the performance. I have been hoping to find some music of the organ and choirs since I got here, and today was the day. I bought a Christmas CD of the Westminster choirs. They had two different ones, and I debated between the two for a while: one was traditional Christmas songs, popular in the states, and the other was the choirs and the organ with songs sung in Latin. I chose to go with this one, as it is not your typical Christmas CD, and Latin is beautiful. I don’t know why it was such a hard choice… it seems like an absolutely obvious decision now.

I walked out of the shop, and went into church, getting a front row seat for the Evensong mass. It was a bit different than the organ recital last time, as they have you sit in the back of the church of this event. Being on the other side gave, obviously, an entirely new visual perspective. Absolutely beautiful. The church is much like Notre Dame as far as the stone vaulting and interior, but also, has quite a feel of the Byzantine period with all of the glittering gold elegance everywhere, and a gothic rose window. It is absolutely gorgeous.

As the organ played the processional music, he played a piece that I performed last year in Concert Band. I can’t remember the name of it (which is driving me insane!) but it was the one where the entire ensemble performed without a conductor. If anyone remembers, leave me a message….

Almost the entire mass was sung in Latin, with the exception of the spoken sermon. The organ sounded and the beauty of the voices echoing through the church was once again, possibly one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. It was a very relaxing, glorious atmosphere, and gave me exactly the opportunity to contemplate things that I needed, which is exactly what the vastness of the church is designed to do.

It was really cool leaving the church, because you get to walk out through the center aisle (the nave), under the organ as it is playing. I paused near the side aisle after passing through to listen to the music once more, and take one last look at the beauty inside.

I walked around by Parliament for a little bit, examining its incredible, intricate architecture. Hopefully I will be able to tour it before I leave. My friend Katie has her internship there, and I am waiting to hear from her as to when she can take us around. I will definitely give props to International Programs on the internships the get here. Some of the students have internships at the Royal Opera House, PARLIAMENT, Galleries, Radio Stations, and many other actual famous, high end places.

When I returned, Rachael had been looking up websites about palm-reading. She is really fascinated by these sorts of things, and it makes me laugh. She read my palm, and here are some of the things that we discovered:

-a long life full of vitality and health
-A deep long line stretching across the palm indicates a logical and direct way of thinking. The straighter the line, the more realistic the thinking, and the deeper the line, the better the memory.
-If the line is long and curved (especially upwards), then the person has a pleasant, romantic nature, great warmth in their actions. They may also tend to give all of themselves to love, no matter the costs.
-If the line is strong and undisturbed, then you tend to have a strong business sense as well as the strength to work hard to make money.
-If a break occurs in your Fate Line at the Head Line and goes on, this indicates that you will successfully change your job in your middle years.

We went to dinner, and then went to the guys room to exchange some pictures and such. We ended up looking at a bunch of youtube videos that were absolutely hilarious, so I will share some of them here for you:

Especially for Nickolas- http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JvltzwkUEEA

Trigger Happy TV
these are a bunch of videos taken in London, with hidden cameras, just to mess with people. Absolutely, ridiculously, hilarious… Or at least I thought so anyway…

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=k1MHY_AFNAM
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZztlIUZk-Eo
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KxFSGUbiK7o


I spent the remainder of the evening back in my room, talking online, and finishing some papers. I’m really excited. I only have two more papers to write. What a good feeling. :) I also booked tickets to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and to Ronnie Scott’s (world renowned jazz club!) for when Becca comes to visit. The exchange rate is REALLY good right now, so I was rather excited about that… even if it is due to our failing economies…

SoMe BeAtLeS aNd tHe WoNdErS oF HaRrOdS

Saturday, October 25th

This morning I slept in a little bit, and then went over to get lunch by 11:00am. The original itinerary for the day was to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum and explore Harrods for a while before heading out to Royal Albert Hall for Carmina Burana. However, after eating lunch with Shawn, Kim, Chad, and Luke, Cody and I decided to join them for a Beatles excursion over to Abbey Road.

We got to the famous street, and signed witty Beatles comments on the columns outside of the recording studio, along with millions of other fans. I wonder how many times the columns have been painted over and over again to allow more signatures and comments. Of course, we had to go across the crosswalk and take the famous pose. The guys were much more successful than the second group of us that went, but it was fun stopping traffic with our madness. I was sad that we didn’t get the picture-perfect pose, but I felt silly going more than twice. It was still a good time. Yay for the Beatles : )

After this, we left to go to Harrods, the world famous, ridiculously extravagant department store. We walked into a several huge rooms dedicated to cosmetics, decorated with chandeliers and all kinds of fancy, elegant décor. We carried on to the food stalls, where our 9 person group quickly dispersed due to the crowds and many different flavors being presented to our wide eyes and stomachs. There were several huge rooms filled with different meats and sandwich bars, chocolates and pastries, ice cream, candy, all kinds of ethnic foods, and more. Cody and I spent a good deal of time in the coffee and tea room, where she bought some grounds and I bought a container (I don’t know the actual name of the jar-ish thing) to hold hot chocolate. I was going to buy some tea as well, but decided I want to get some from an authentic English tea shop. We spent a good deal of time lavishing over the chocolate display, before finally settling on some extravagant, and absolutely delectable strawberry cheesecake. There were counters and counters full of chocolates. My eye caught some with little treble clefs frosted on them, right next to the ones with little sprinkles of gold leaf on top… wow. Talk about high-end!

We finally made our way past all of the amazing goodies, and continued to explore the gigantic store. I felt like a little kid’ it was so exciting! We went past restaurants with piano players and opera singers, and the escalators and elevators to go to each floor were so extravagant. They even have men standing to hold the door for you.

We wanted to work our way up to the toy department, but when the elevator doors opened to an entire room full of Christmas, we immediately took advantage of the detour. We literally walked into Christmas. It was such an incredible feeling. I LOVE Christmas! I usually get a little frustrated with decorations being out before Thanksgiving, let alone Halloween, distracting from the other holidays, but this was completely ok with me! The room was dimly lit, glowing of red and green, with extravagantly decorated Christmas trees everywhere, and filled with stockings, and other Christmas decorations. Nutcrackers, figurines, ornaments, and statues- this place was filled with festivities. Even Santa’s sack was in the department.

We moved on to some other rooms, making our way to pet’s heaven. This floor was filled with every accessory your pet could ever want. Complete with a pet bakery and dressing rooms, racks full of clothing, chew toys, and pillows, all dogs would go to heaven. There was even one freakishly real mechanical dog that would respond to you touching him. I enjoyed the real dogs walking around in the department with their owners, waiting to go into the dressing rooms to try on clothes… I’m absolutely not kidding… for real.

After this, we finally made our way to the toy department… absolutely huge! I turned to Cody and said that it was like a Christmas catalog come to life! The first huge room we walked into was the plush toy room. It was absolutely filled with all kinds of stuffed animals, tiny and insanely large. There were teddy bears bigger than me! It took everything I had not to buy one of the adorable plush monkeys… I love monkeys…

My favorite part was the animated teddy bears. There was a huge assortment of mechanical bears, all inside of a giant toy globe theatre. Some were sword fighting on stage, another peeking from behind the curtain, others twirling around or playing instruments or watching the performance from the gallery. It was awesome!

We went to a room full of princess outfits, dolls all over the place, aisles and aisles full of legos, and toys flying and rolling all over the place. It was like walking through a Christmas toy movie, like a Miracle on 34th street. There were remote control birds and planes flying through the air, cars and puppies all over the floor, and space ships flying at you. In this room was also a huge powerwheel-ish hummer, with firemen bears inside: only 18,000 GBP!

The employees were riding around on glittery, light up roller blades, and throwing toys in every direction. I particularly enjoyed the guy who was making snow. That’s right, I said making snow. He had a big bin full of snow, complete with a T-Rex to venture through the Winter Wonderland. Apparently, when mixing these ‘crystals from the north pole’ with a bit of ‘holy water’ the mixture makes a magical (chemical…) reaction, foaming cold, crystal snow into your hands. He demonstrated on me, and cold snow literally did blossom out of my hands. It was pretty cool. My favorite part was his enthusiasm and ‘oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaa! Magical Snow!’ comment every time that the snow blossomed up.

We made our way onward, looking at all the wonderful toys, and then decided to head back downstairs, grab some extravagant sandwiches, and head out for CARMINA BURANA!

HiStOrY & SoMe HaIrSpRaY!

Whoops, I forgot about ThUrSdAy...

Thursday, October 23rd

Thursday mornings consist of my Art and Paper class, and today entailed the completion of my mica book and a little bit of marbling paper.

After class, got lunch with Cody, Rachael, and Michelle, and then we left for the Museum of London. Unfortunately, many of the exhibits were closed, however we were able to tour the four that were still available: London before London, The Great Fire of London, the Roman Galleries, and the Medieval Galleries. I really enjoyed this museum and its historical aspects, as it was really a walk through the timeline of London. We had to examine each gallery, and choose one section to write a paper on.

I particularly enjoyed the Roman and Great Fire exhibit. Here are some of the interesting things I learned:

London Before London
This exhibit had a lot of the prehistoric aspects of the city, and displayed items such as mammoth tusks and partial skeletons, tools, and fossils. I thought this poem displayed on the wall, was rather intriguing.

Routes
Time has frozen this midwinter night.
Outside, the pavement coated with transparent skin.
Inside, I retreat into down, sensing the vibration of polar sheets creeping south,
Burying us a thousand feet under blue ice,
Diverting the river out of the Vale of St. Albans into the London Basin.
Welcome home. Welcome first citizen, chasing reindeer over the hip joint with France,
Tropical and glacial cycles, waves of migrators-
Your long trek north, from below the Sahara, circling a campfire by the Thames,
The hair of wolves over tight backs; dread-lock beards, unpolished eyes, your slow heavy mouths chewing fresh rhinoceros, roasted; no spices.
Unaware that you are dislocating from France as you eat,
That the channel is rising, that my heated body floats above a London of birds and pine forest,
Of open grasslands where gangs of straight-tusked elephants gather in Trafalgar Square.
Hippopotami wallow in the brown marshes of Pall Mall and from Marble Arch,
I gaze longingly on sheets of marigold, meadowsweet, mint.

The Great Fire of London, 1666
The Great Fire is one of the greatest disasters in London’s history, and they really stress education about it here. It reminds me of growing up in Illinois and learning so much about the Great Chicago Fire with Mrs. O’leary’s cow. Here, the fire was not supposedly started by a cow kicking over a lantern, but rather by a baker on Pudding Lane. Houses were all built of wood, and incredibly close together, causing the fire to spread most rapidly. The careless methods of living did not help to contribute to a fire-cautious atmosphere either.

The fire started on September 2, 1666, and in five days destroyed 80% of the city. I also learned about how the fire helped to deplete the great plague, due to the decline in the rat population.

The Roman Galleries
In 54 AD Julius Caesar invaded Britain and took over soon after. The brilliance of the Romans has always fascinated me, and this exhibit showed their influence on London through technology such as paved roads, economics and trade, bridges, baths, entertainment venues, medical efforts, government structure and so on. They were so far ahead of their time, and I find it very interesting. This is the gallery I will be writing my paper on.

After the museum, we browsed through the gift shop, and left to head back home.

I started working a bit on my paper to try to get that out of the way, and Cody sends me an instant message asking if I wanted to go to Hairspray that night because we could get student rush tickets for only 20GBP. It was almost 6:00, so we quick ran to ISH to grab something to eat on the go, and jumped on a tube to the theatre.

As we were booking it down the street, my bag ripped and my sandwich flew out, still perfectly in tact however. I grabbed it off the ground, and Cody asked if I wanted half of hers of if I would eat it, ‘she wouldn’t judge me either way.’ Haha. I thought it was funny. I ended up eating it cuz I picked it up immediately and it was perfectly intact, and there was no way that we had time to stop for anything else. I think I did however bit in to a little piece of gravel toward the bottom. Haha. I’ll live.

We made it to the theatre, and got tickets in row J of the stalls. The seats were AMAZING! We were so close! I absolutely love the movie, and the live performance was awesome as well. The energy presented on stage was amazing, and I really enjoyed the intensity of the singing and the dancing. It was definitely one of those experience where I had so much excitement built up inside of me that I couldn’t find any way to effectively release it. And WOW- I don’t know what it is… but black people can DANCE! Whatever it is, they’ve just got it. It was awesome! By the end of the show, Cody and I were half jumping out of our seats we had so much energy to release.

We quickly got out of the theatre, and left for the back stage door in attempts to get some autographs on our tickets. We got nearly the whole collection: Seaweed, Link, Tracy, Amber, and Edna Turnblad (John Travolta substitute man/woman). I absolutely loved Seaweed, mostly because he was an amazing dancer. Damn! I’m still amazed at their dancing skills! It was also funny because we were talking with ‘Link’ for a few minutes as he signed our tickets and took pictures and such, and he noticed our American accents right away. During the show, he kept falling in and out of the British/American accent, as the story takes place in Baltimore, so I thought this was kind of funny.

We left for the evening to go back to MTH. What an evening... I love that show!

CaRmInA BuRaNa aT LaSt!

Saturday, October 25th (contd.)

We walked over to Royal Albert Hall, and met up with Shawn underneath the statues to eat our sandwiches and cheesecake before the show. The hall is absolutely beautiful, but even moreso lit up at night. We made our way inside, and I was nearly breathless by the time we got inside to take our seats. The hall is absolutely gigantic! Cody and I sat in the back, upper circle, in the middle. We had a great view of the entire hall- absolutely massive! The stage itself held three galleries of choirs, a full orchestra, and an organ as big as my house! What a huge orchestration!
The concert itself was amazing. Absolutely moving, and so powerful. Carmina Burana is by far the most powerful piece I have ever played, and when I performed it, it was in a high school band arrangement- no choirs, and no professional musicians. I cant imagine how it must have felt when Point performed it a few years ago, let alone in a professional setting such as this. The tenor and bass put on a rather comical performance, really getting into it. The tenor actually collapsed during one scene, and remained lying there for the rest of the concert. I also thought it was rather funny that an entire boys choir was singing during such ranchy parts… if you translate the lyrics. Carl Orff was a genius, but the piece itself is rather dirty… haha.

I was nearly in tears at the end of the performance, due to the impact of the hall, and the incredible music making that was in front of me. The power of a massive organ, and three stories of choirs, plus an incredible symphony, had an incredible impact. I will not be able to effectively put into words the amazing-ness of the evening.

However, I was a bit sad that during the performance; I wasn’t completely submerged into the music, as I had hoped to be. It was still incredible, and amazing at that, however I feel that I have been so busy and things have been so fast paced that it distracted me during the performance. I couldn’t completely concentrate, and I tried filming a few parts, which distracted me as well. I’m glad I did film, even though it wasn’t allowed (there was no one to stop you…), because I have watched the clips many, many times since the concert. It was just sad that this was the highlight of my trip, what I have been waiting for since July, and I don’t feel like I was fully able to appreciate it due to all of the craziness running through my head.

However, what an incredible, powerful experience. Oh Carl Orff, you exhaust me with your brilliance.

Above: Mvmt. I of Carmina Burana: O Fortuna

Below: View of Royal Albert Hall. Note: the organ is about as big as my house... no joke.

MuSiC mAkEs Me HaPpY!

Friday, October 24th

Changing of the Guard

This morning Cody, Rachael, and I went to get breakfast at ISH, and then journeyed onward to the changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. I feel like this is something you have to do if you go to London, and I was kind of sad because the state rooms are closed now, so I couldn’t tour the palace itself. From what I am told, it is terribly extravagant.

We showed up an hour early to get a good spot for the ceremony, learning from those who had gone already and seen practically nothing. We ended up getting really good spots, just behind the gate and along the side where the band and guards walk into the palace. Prime real estate.

After waiting for quite some time, and trying to entertain ourselves with the two guards that were outside, the ceremony finally began. A small marching band marched inside of the gates to the palace followed by a small set of guards. Next followed a set of soldiers carrying a the flags. Coming in the gates on our side was a full marching band and a larger brigade of soldiers. Also following the procession was a group of British soldiers on horseback with fancy outfits as well. Overall, it was quite a unique ceremony.

Once inside of the gates, on the main area in front of the palace, the guards exchanged positions, the flags were marched back and forth, and the marching band put on quite a performance. They started off with a medley of ‘76 trombones’ and ‘the stars and stripes’ Sousa march. It confused me a bit why they would play patriotic American music for a British Monarchy celebration, but the arrangement was pretty good. They played some really interesting music, four pieces total, one of which included the theme to ‘the Incredibles.’ This threw me for a curve because I was really expecting some traditional British music, or English marches, or something, because English ceremonies are known for being very, very traditional. I thought it was great!

After the ceremony, we took some pictures of the palace and the famous statue in front, and then left on our way back to ISH for lunch. I got a wonderful smoked salmon baguette. I have absolutely gotten hooked on baguettes (basically a sub sandwich with really good French bread (ish) and great fillings. Common types are ham and cheese, tuna and cucumber, salmon and cream cheese, or cheese/tomato/cucumber). I have had the pleasure of sampling each of these… all absolutely delicious!

Later that night, Colin, Cody, and myself went to the New Orleans Festival at the O2. The NFL Saints/Chargers game is playing in London on Sunday, and preceeding the game is a 2 day New Orleans Festival. Inside of the arena, there were three stages setup, along with a parade of bands that traveled around the outer circle of the arena. There were supposed to be authentic food demonstrations as well, but we couldn’t find those.

We walked around for a bit, watched some of the ‘parade,’ which was really a group of musicians and people in crazy, bright feathered outfits marching around the outer circle of the arena. It is setup as one giant circle for the inner arena, and outside of that is a walkway with restaurants and other stages and events, finally closed in by the outer wall of the arena. The architecture is really cool, with posts sticking out of the ceiling. Very modern. I wish I would have taken pictures.

We then found our way to the main stage where we watched the Rebirth Brass Band. I LOVE brass bands! Last year I had the opportunity to watch the Youngblood Brass Band at UWSP and it was incredible. What makes these ensemble unique is that with the exception of a percussionist or two, the entire band is made of brass instruments. Even the percussionists have different perspectives. Usually, one has a bass drum with a ride symbol, and then there is another on a snare drum with some other crazy accessories. As for the winds, the tuba takes over the role of the bass, and the winds have awesome melodies interchanging all over the place. The music is so lively and upbeat and definitely authentic New Orleans.

We watched them play, and when they were done, we decided to go get something to eat from the ‘American Bar and Grill.’ I decided to get the Cajun Chicken sandwich to continue with my New Orleans experience. However, the restaurant wasn’t very American at all. I wanted to eat at an American restaurant while overseas to see the different perspective, and that I did. We ordered lemonade, which we found out really means sprite. Colin’s chili dog and quite the absence of chili, and there were a few other differences that I have forgotten. Either way, it was definitely not all that ‘American.’

We sat and watched new members of the parade, and then went to the main stage again. This time we got to see and accordion and washboard act by Buckwheat Zydeco. This guy was really entertaining as well, and was more of the stereotypical Louisiana feel.

After quite the enjoyable evening, we left back on the tube, through some very futuristic feeling stations, and went home to some internet time and bed. I was really excited for more planning for Becca’s visit, and actually booked our train tickets to Paris.

There is so much to look forward to each and every day on this trip! I am coming to the realization that even with the crazy amounts of events I have been doing, and the amount of time I am spending here, I would never be able to see everything… there is so much to do, and that is why I LOVE this city!

JuSt AnOtHeR DaY oF CLaSsEs... ToUriNg ArOuNd LoNdOn ThAt iS!

The pizza delivery mopeds make me laugh :)

Wednesday, October 22nd

Today started off with another session of history class. The second part of the class was dedicated to another walk around town, this time to Soho. We got to explore several parts of the burrough, but the highlight was the church, All Saints Margaret. The interior had a beautiful Byzantine atmosphere, and organ pipes filled both walls on either side of the high altar. I decided I am definitely going to mass here one morning because I am told he music is incredible.

On the way back, Cody, Rachael and myself found an awesome store with really cheap clothing. I was pretty excited because I found a pair of jeans that fit my pretty well for only 5 GBP!! I’ve been needing to get another pair because I ripped a hole in my favorite ones, and I definitely did not want to wait an hour in Primark (the big deal shopping place here) to get another pair. Mission accomplished.

I got lunch and went back to my room absolutely exhausted while Cody and Rachael went to their afternoon class. I don’t’ know why I am still so tired. I even got sleep last night. I worked on some things in my room, and ordered tickets to a ballet: Beauty and the Beast, for next Wednesday. I’ve never seen a ballet before, so this will be pretty cool.

I also took a little bit of time to talk to my dad regarding the election. I spent a long time today researching the candidates more, and I really should have put in much more work and followed the events up until this point, but have been so busy with working this summer and this trip. I asked him some questions and addressed my concerns with Sarah Palin- who the heck is she, what experience does she really have, and is she only in the race because she is a woman and that will even out the affirmative action on the ballot? We talked for a little bit, and he helped me clear out a few things, but then he had to go back to work. He always does a good job of letting me know some things that I may have not figured out on my own, but making sure I always have both sides of the issue without trying to influence me upon his views. I really appreciate that.

When Cody and Rachael got done with class, Rachael and I went to the post office to mail our absentee ballots and some other things I needed to send out. It was kind of expensive, but I wanted to send some postcards out to friends and family, so it was worth it. Stopped at a grocery store on the way home, ate dinner, and came back to my room for the rest of the night to upload some pictures on facebook and get some other work done.

As cLoSe tO GrEeCe aS iT GeTs!!

Tuesday, October 21st

Today’s International Studies class was a trip to the British Museum. I was saving this to do for when Becca came to visit due to all the sculptures from the Parthenon, but ended up going today instead. We started off in the first room by walking directly into none other than the Rosetta Stone. Wow. Way to start off. The stone carries an inscription in three different languages which helped to decipher the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic script.

We continued on through the Egyptian exhibits and it was awesome seeing the statues and sarcophagi in person. They are absolutely massive! It was also interesting seeing the statues and how they stood and what positions they were in due to the analysis that we studied in my art history classes.

We continued on to Assyria and saw how really intimidating their artwork really was. Everything was based off of putting fear in anyone who passed by, not to mess with them because they will kick your ass… basically. Seeing the giant, fierce figures, and the many friezes of lion hunting, I think they did the trick.

Next was the Greek exhibits. WOW. It is set up so that we walked through it backwards, from Helenistic to Geometric, but I am glad that we did because it is that much more exciting when you go from the end figures, to the pottery, to the PARTHENON! There isn’t a huge selection of Helenistic sculpture, which really is my favorite of all the sculptures because of how obscure and absurd some of them are, but it was great getting another taste of the attic black and red pottery in addition to what I saw in the Louvre.

I was also particularly excited to see MINOAN pottery and some of their artwork. I absolutely loved learning about them in class, and I want to go to Crete sooo badly someday. Their culture and artwork fascinates me. Becca understands. Ha.

Finally, Cody and I made it to the Parthenon gallery. Oh my… INCREDIBLE! I started freaking out when I got inside. This entire trip has been a year of art history flashing before my eyes, and seeing all of this in person, and imagining it to how it was in the past is simply amazing. I got to see the friezes that span across the west and south side of the structure, in addition to many other of the sculptures of the temple. Seeing the statues from the pediment was the absolute highlight, and I was going crazy with excitement. I would reiterate all the history and concept and amazingness behind all of this, but I elaborate too much already… Oh Prof. Larry Ball, the inspiration you have instilled in us. Haha. I cannot wait till Becca comes here to show her!

In the Parthenon exhibit, there were many artists doing sketches of the figures, which I am sure I will have to stop in and do some work here for my figure drawing. A bit of a different approach than in the states. Oh, what did you do today? Ya know, just did some sketches from ANCIENT GREEK SCULPTURE GENIUS!

Stopping only to grab a quick lunch in the museum café and to browse the gift shop, Cody and I spent five hours in the museum… only on the first floor. We are definitely going back so that we can finish the entire museum. We still have to see the Roman, Chinese, and other exhibits that are also going to be awesome, I’m sure.

I came back to my room to find Rachael trying to operate our vintage oven. The room started filling up with smoke when she tried to use it, so we quickly turned it off, while fanning the smoke alarm, opening all the windows, putting on the fan, and swinging the door back and forth to create the most possible airflow to make sure the alarms didn’t go off. It was hilarious to be completely honest. I guess we will be using the stove down the hall from now on.

The evening consisted of my first experience of West Side Story. We had to go to a theatre all the way on the other side of town, so it was a bit of a ride, but definitely worth it. New Wimbledon Theatre was beautiful, and the production was awesome. Not my favorite so far, but still really good. I think I also had really high expectations because it is such a big deal production. The dancing was really good, and I really enjoyed the pit orchestra. Overall it was really good, but I was sad with how sad the storyline was.

We made our way back afterward, and I spent a bit of the ride calling home to say hello. However, after the train started the transition back into the underground, I lost my signal and cut my mom off… sorry about that…

It was funny walking back to our room because Cody, Rachael, and I were completely silent the entire walk back because we were all so exhausted. We laughed about it quite a bit when we got back to MTH. Oh well, no time for sleep in this city!

PoSh, As iN... nOt ThE SpIcE GiRLs...

Monday, October, 20th

I decided not to go to theatre this morning because I did not enjoy the play we went to last week at all and didn’t think that I would be missing much in lecture. I am auditing the class because I really wanted to go to the plays and sit in on most discussions, but I have too many credits to take it. My time was, however, spent much more efficiently, dedicated to my incredibly long ‘to do’ list. I crossed quite of things off of there by the time I needed to go to International Studies class, so that made me feel pretty good.

We started off class again by naming some of the things we have done, giving others ideas of things to do, and other facts about the city. It turns out, that the Prince Regent (later George IV), who we just learned about when visiting the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, is also the one who commissioned the very buildings we are studying and living in. I knew we were in a ritzy part of town, but I didn’t know it was that much! Apparently he was notorious for building expensive, pointless buildings, which was true with the Royal Pavilion too. Many people were upset with him for spending so much money on the structure when the country was not doing so well economically. With our buildings of residence, he wanted the area to be a bigger palace, but simply ran out of money. Also, Regents Park, our backyard almost literally, is named after him. Pretty cool.

It is pretty cool being here. Anytime you talk to someone from the city and tell them you are staying in the Regents Park area, they look at you in surprise and say how ‘posh’ it is. Yea, its kind of a big deal…

As far as discussion in class, a big part of today’s discussion was directed toward the British political system and issues pertaining to that. I am very opposed to universal healthcare, and seeing the system first hand in Europe has definitely not helped to sway my opinion. Interestingly enough, that was a big part of today’s discussion, also linked with immigration. Part of the problem lies with the fact that the government simply does not have the money to pay for it, and lots of people take advantage of the system. Illegal immigrants come in to be treated and do not have to pay, and often do not get sufficient treatment anyway because the medical facilities pay more attention to paying customers. Most citizens actually have to get insurance on top of the universal healthcare to have proficient medical care anyway as there is no fast track medical care unless you have private health insurance. Linked to this is the fact that doctors are only allocated so much money per patient. Doctors are obligated to operate or whatever the task may be, even though there may be no money. They are forced to choose which patient is more important if insurance is an issue. This is much like the problems we run into in the states as well with health insurance, but it was another issue addressed in class.

The major issue I have with the system, which we did not discuss is the quality of the medical care the patient receives. I’m sure there are some clinics that are far better than others, but I believe if there is more competition for doctors, where they can be paid more and have a better career, they are going to go to a system that suites those ambitions. Universal health care is not going to allow this. Even after seeing friends who have had to go to the doctor here, some for rather severe issues, I have not been impressed with the quality or efficiency of the system at all, definitely not improving my opinion on the matter.

Anyway… after class, I came back to try and get more crossed off of my list. I ended up finishing my 3000 word history paper, which is a huge load off now. I am trying to get as much of my homework for the semester done as possible before Becca gets here, and so that I can devote as much time as I can to sight-seeing so that I don’t have the pressure of doing all of this when other opportunities present themselves. I’ve been doing a pretty good job of that and pacing myself so that I have still done a lot while doing homework non-stop whenever I am in my room.

I spent the remainder of the evening doing more research for things to do in London and around the UK. There is so much to do and I wish I could have more time! I don’t know how I was considering doing the summer program. Less than one month would have been impossible! I also got to talk to Chris, who is studying in France right now. We discussed some more details for Ireland and such.

WoO HoO! It'S tRaFaLgAR DaY!!

Sunday, October 19th

Another exciting day in London. The girls and I left to go get breakfast at 9:30 this morning, and then Cody and I went over to St. Bride’s Church for mass. The service started at 11:00, and we were about a half hour early, but lucky for us, we happened to walk into another special event. Remember how I said that the British really take Lord Nelson seriously? Well, we happened to walk into the 203rd celebratory mass in honor of Admiral Nelson.

We walked up to the church, and the woman greeting everyone at the door took us under her wing, fell in love with the two of us, and showed us all around, including giving us a lecture of the history of the church. She showed us down to the crypts where we saw old Roman structures, and learned about this history of the newspaper printing that encompassed the rest of the street the church was built upon.

This is the church I mentioned before that is famous for it’s wedding cake like architecture. The interior is just as intricate, and has a mixture of classical and gothic architecture. It has gold gilded decorations, and beautifully carved wooden columns and figures. During the service, an organ sounded with the beautiful voices of a choir, along with a trumpet, notably for the military celebration. I have seen several musical performances, many religious, since I have gotten here, and the combination of these three elements were possibly the most beautiful, elegant sounds I have heard yet. I wish I could record some of this, and I tried a little bit, but I thought it would be rather disrespectful to record in mass… so I didn’t do more than just a little clip, trying to conceal it as much as possible.

During mass, the music was amazing, as I mentioned before. It was interesting hearing the ‘Offertory Hymn’ which is actually the song sung during mass in the movie ‘Titanic.’ The ocean connection I’m sure (‘…for those in peril on the sea’). Also, Britain’s National Anthem is to the theme of ‘Our Country Tis of Thee.’ Cody and I looked at each other and laughed a bit, and said, well, I guess America is kind of British…

After mass, we grabbed quite a collection of brochures from the main area, involving a great variety of music venues which we will most definitely be checking out very soon. Symphonies all over the place. Never a problem!

We got on the tube, and decided to head back toward Hyde Park to catch a bit of the action at Speakers Corner. We went into a souvenir shop to look around for a few minutes, and got lunch at a chain here called “Pret.” I got a wonderful baguette with lots of herbs, tomatoes and cheese, and delicious bread of some flavor. Mmmm…. We talked about all kinds of childhood stories, and the silly things our parents would say or do to get us to do things. I’ve decided I will be equally cruel and entertained by my children when the day comes…. Honestly, Nick didn’t turn out too bad after being convinced that the routine tornado whistle really means that the Boogie Man is coming out to make sure little boys are in bed on time…

We met up with Rachael in Hyde park, and watched some of the crazies again.

There was one new man who was speaking about American politics, so that caught my attention and I decided to listen to him for a while. He brought up some valid points, but like most of the people in the park, contradicted himself at many points, losing most credibility that I had gained for him. He spoke about how both John McCain and Barak Obama would hold no change when elected to office because the subsidiary offices of the government would all be the same, however later, he said that there would be substantial change no matter who was elected due to all of the craziness with what is going on in the global and national current events.

He also talked about immigration, Sarah Palin, and the war in Iraq, however threw out some pretty bold statements without a lot of credibility or information to back them up. What is interesting to me, is that I am finding that American politics IS such a global interest, and you hear more about what is going on in the states, than in the own country we are currently living in.

He talked about the black community and how rappers give a terrible identity, and also bashed Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as well. These guys drive me crazy, so I was ok with his statements here. His point was that they bring down the black community by making themselves look crazy in the ways that they support it, which really, I think is not too far off.

Lucky us, we got to see Diane, the friendly (or not so friendly) crazy that told all of the immigrants ‘to go back to where they came from’ last week. This week, a crazy old man who was much quieter last week, was up in front of her, singing and egging her on with his senile craziness. The man is rather out there, but was really entertaining to see him revel in her drama with his witty comebacks from every direction. What a silly old man. Anyway, here is a list of a few of my favorite comments of the day:

-Crazy Lady: “God didn’t create the Irish!”
Person from the crowd: “The who did?”
Another person from the crowd: “God only knows!”

-Individual attacks on members of the crowd: “Look at the way you talk! Saying ‘mate’ and whatever! What did your culture ever bring to us? The English brought you Shakespeare!”

-“Don’t be upset with God because he didn’t make you English! Deal with it! You are insecure about your own race! Leave here or die violently!”

-“I’m not here to talk about the holocaust! Take it up with the Jews!”


This lady is hardcore…

Anyway, we watched another battle between two of the guys from last week as well, and left soon after. On the way back, I bought another suitcase to bring back my accumulation of goods so far. It was cheap, cute, and will get the job done. Mission accomplished.

I devoted the rest of the day to working on my 10 page history paper, writing postcards, completing some other necessary tasks, and making a phone call to Job and my brother.


This is a quick look at the church and the opening song this morning.

A DaY tRiP tO tHe CoAsT oF bRiGhToN

Saturday, October 18th

So, today Cody, Rachael, Colin, and myself woke up early and took the tube to Kings Cross/St. Pancras to hop a train for an excellent day trip to Brighton. (Fun Fact: Kings Cross is where the famous Harry Potter’s platform 9 ¾ is supposed to take place, but it is actually in the Liverpool Tube Station where the scene is filmed).

We left ISH around 7:45am, and made it to Brighton just a little past 9:00am. Not too bad. The book I had planned the trip with said that on Saturday mornings, the town held a marketplace on Upper Gardner Street, so we decided to check that out. It was really small, and was the equivalent to an outdoor thrift shop, but it had some crazy items that made us laugh. Some of these included a little porcelin elephant that looked like it belonged to a board game from the 70’s, and a little figurine of a man punching a donkey… not quite sure the story there. Of course there were also old, broken electronics, books, flatware and china, among other common goodwill-worthy items. I bought a cool seashell, even though I am certain it is not originally from Brighton, but it looked really cool, and the city is right on the coastline, so I decided to just pretend…

We wandered around for a little bit more, and Colin was hungry so we decided to find a place for breakfast. After passing a few shops, we came across a small sit-down restaurant called ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and the decision was unanimous. The four of us sat down, and had some of the regular breakfast items, in addition to a new exploration of ‘black pudding,’ and ‘bubble and squeak.’ Black pudding is really not pudding at all, and is actually just a little loafy slice of some sort of meat and bread and spices, or something… we never really determined if it had any of these things because it was so odd, but collectively decided that it was absolutely terrible. Bubble and squeak on the other hand is basically like a cross between mashed potatoes and hash browns with peas mixed in.

After breakfast, we left to head down to the famous Royal Pavilion, which was the main attraction of our visit. Here is your history lesson on this amazing place, that may be my favorite of the architectural splendor so far:

The Royal Pavilion was originally a simple farmhouse that George, Prince of Wales, rented when he first began visiting Brighton in 1783. The interiors are all decorated with Chinese influence, even though no one in the house had ever traveled to China, including the architect himself (it was common at this time to have oriental outside influences as artists were inspired by these new, exotic tastes and incorporating it into their work as they gained more freedom from their patrons). As George became Prince Regent, he employed John Nash to enlarge the building and this was inspired by Indian architecture. George used the Pavilion as his home for many years, but during this time he had many illegitimate children, and only one legitimate child, Charlotte, who preceded him in death, therefore unable to pass his estate on to her. It went instead to his brother, and then to George’s niece, Queen Victoria. Apparently she was too good for the Pavillion, and it didn’t meet the needs to house her 18 children, so she sold it to the city, whos control it is under till today.

The architecture and interior was stunning, partly because it is so different than anything we have seen on this trip so far. Walking into the banqueting room was stunning, seeing the amazing chandelier hanging from the ceiling. From the top of the ceiling is a dragon, elegantly tangled around the top of the chandelier which hangs down with layers upon layers of crystals. At the bottom as it bellows out, are more dragon heads protruding from the rim and lights coming from their mouths that are supposed to resemble fire. I tried taking pictures of this amazing room, as the attendant was distracted by another visitor and left the room for a moment… but it turned out too dark and I didn’t have the chance to take another one of the chandelier itself… sorry folks…

The music room was also quite impressive, and here I saw an organ with its pipes painted with oriental patterns. Very elegant and detailed. The King also hired musicians to play here, including the Italian composer, Rosinni. (another fun fact: solo ensemble in high school- I played Variations by Rossini)

By coincidence, we ran into some other students on our trip who had gone on the guided tour of Brighton for the day while in the gift shop. We chatted for a bit and then my company decided to explore the gardens and outside architecture of the Pavilion. Awesome. As we were walking around, we also ran into a man sitting on the road, burning incents and smoking ‘flavors of his choice’ and playing a Hindustani Sitar. I thought it was all rather fitting…

We then traveled around town, and making our way down to the coastline. For some reason I kept calling it the lakeshore all day, even though it is obviously not a lake. Just habit from growing up on the lake my whole life, and of course NEVER HAVING SEEN THE OCEAN BEFORE I guess… So beautiful. We got some ice cream and sat down in the rock filled beach. It was an absolutely gorgeous day; the weather was warm and it was rather bright and sunny. We looked around at some of the stands too, which were pretty cool. There were lots of shell assortments, and one art gallery that caught my eye of an oil painter. I really liked some of his work and it gave me some good ideas to contribute to my own.

We walked along some of the shops that equipped the shoreline, and contemplated getting our fortune read, however declined the idea due to the fact that it would have cost around 20 GBP (Great British Pounds… that’s about $40). It would have been interesting though…. Apparently Colin got his fortune read (by one of his friends or something) and he is supposed to get rich from a software company, and will have lots of daughters. As his fortune was read before he went into the field of software, I guess it is halfway true already… There was another lady later, who apparently had 43 years experience in the field, so it was rather tempting… but we still passed. I guess ill have to wait for the future to know what happens in my life…

After we walked around and had some delicious ice cream/gelato/im still not sure which it was… leaning toward gelato… we walked out to the famous Brighton Pier. It was filled with cut out figures for you to pose with your face, assorted food stands, and lots and lots of tacky games and rides. I had my fill of rides in Shakespeare Land, and decided I probably shouldn’t spend money on something like that- although flying all over the place, upside down over the ocean would have been pretty cool…

After checking out that scene, we walked around town in ‘the lanes.’ This area used to be an old fisherman’s village, but now is just a million little tourist shops. It reminded me much of the scene in Venice, with the narrow walkways and tons of shops. I ran into one store that was called ‘Long Tall Sally’ and laughed sooooo hard. My best friend back home is Sally, and she is 6’3’’. I took a picture for her. :)

We also ran into a church that was really an art exhibit showing the work of a photographer. When we walked inside, there was a huge banner, measuring 4 meters high and 18 meters long, filled with incredibly graphic images from the war in Iraq. The top is spray painted with the title “The Incommensurable, The Incommensurable.’ I walked through quickly because it was really hard to look at. It is crazy to see how much this war has such a global effect.

We left the exhibit, and looked through some more shops in the lanes and then decided to eat some dinner down by the water. We ate at the top of the pier, overlooking the ocean and the entire shoreline. It was cool seeing a guy surfing by holding onto a kite (don’t really know the technical term…) and some musicians as well. There were these two crazy guys with absolute musical identity crisis issues. They were on stilts, one playing a weird version of a sousaphone, and the other with a home made guitar made out of a gasoline can… they were playing all kinds of disco and old classic rock tunes to a regae beat, including ‘Welcome to the Jungle,’ ‘Rawhide’ and ‘I Will Survive.’ It was rather entertaining at first, and I was giggling uncontrollably for a while, but it all went downhill after ‘the YMCA.’ I also enjoyed the hippies dancing around them. Good times…

It was getting pretty late, and we basically hit up everything of interest in the town for the day, so after sitting and taking in the beauty of the coast for a while longer, we got back on the train and left back to London. I was really tired, so I came back to my room to relax for the rest of the nite, so here I am, journaling and chatting online with a windswept face and comfy sweatpants, lisitening to some Louis Armstrong. Mmm, good day. :)