a DaY TriP tO BaTh

Sunday, November 30th

Today I took a day trip to Bath with Cody, Rachael, and Colin. After we got breakfast and had purchased tickets, we were on a train from Paddington at 10:03.

When we arrived in Bath about an hour and 45 minutes later, we bought some pretty cheap tickets for a bus tour through the hills outside of the city to see the skyline. It was cool seeing all of the old cathedrals and gothic and Georgian architecture from above, however it was kind of hard to see through all of the trees. We went past a lot of rugby fields, and the University of Bath where some of the events for the Olympics will be held next time.

When we got back into the city, we walked through the Christmas markets, which is a big attraction going on here right now. The streets were filled with miniature wooden houses, filled with arts and crafts and food. It was so busy that we literally had to hold on to each other to make it through together. Once we fought the crowds through here, we went to the Roman Baths and spent a great deal of time looking through here at all of the hot springs and temples. The Romans thought that the water was holy and from the Gods, thinking that it had special healing powers. It was pretty cool, and also nice to be inside from the cold. We also drank some of the bath water in the café. Hey, if Rick Steves does it, you kind of have to as well…

When we were done here, we got some lunch at Burger King and then walked through the Christmas market once more on the way to the bus tour again. Our tickets were valid for the skyline tour and a city tour, so we wanted to do the city tour before we left. It was starting to get dark, and by the time our bus left and made it through a pretty busy street because of the traffic from the festival, it was completely dark. It was cool to see everything lit up at night however, since we had already seen a lot of the places on the tour already this afternoon on the skyline bus tour and from walking around the main areas.

When we were done on the city tour, we walked back to the train station, and hopped a train back home. It was a really enjoyable day, but sooo cold. Ireland is going to be a bit of a chilly weekend, but I am super excited! We will just have to make sure to dress extra warm!

NeVeR a DuLL dAy iN LoNdOn

Saturday, November 30th

Becca and her mom left today, but before they had to head back to Heathrow, we were able to get a little bit in. We left at 10:00 to go to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. We were pretty early, but it was absolutely necessary to get the amazing spots that we did. We ended up standing next to some really funny people from Chicago, and a really… friendly guy from Boston.

The soldiers and horses and band all marched in, same fashion as last time, and played another concert before changing the soldiers. This time, we got to hear the traditional British marches as they came in, of course. However, the performance changed a bit as the next song was a Michael Jackson medley, including ‘Thriller’ and ‘Beat It.’ Next the marching band played a medley of the Indiana Jones Theme, Star Wars, and the Olympics Theme. I thought it was pretty cool.

After watching the rest of the show, critiquing the soldier’s roll steps (meaning… mostly making fun of our high school band teacher), and taking some pictures on top of the monument in front of the palace, we left back to my room to get their luggage and send them off to Heathrow Airport.

Hope you guys had a great time here! Thanks for visiting! It was a blast!

After I saw Becca and her mom off to the tube station, I ate lunch at ISH and then left to meet Cody and Rachael at Camden Market. As I was walking down to the platform, I heard someone screaming, and as I got down there, a woman who obviously was mentally ill, was accompanied by another woman, and some guards. She was probably upset with either the guards or having to go down into the underground, but it was kinda a crazy experience.

I made it to Camden, and looked through the markets with Cody and Rachael. It was mostly a bunch of tents full of jackets, fake Gucci and Louis Vuitton purses, silly t-shirts, and wool sweatshirts, all with people selling and bartering all over the place. Definitely a lively scene. We didn’t really buy anything, except for a few posters that Cody got, and after looking around for a while more, we decided to head out.

After being inspired by Becca and her mom going to Harrods to get an amazing ice cream sundae, we decided to head back there to get some ourselves. Rachael had not been to Harrods yet either, so we needed to make sure she got to see it as well. It was definitely 10 times busier than when I went with Becca and her mom earlier this week, but I guess it made sense as it was a Saturday afternoon. The fur protesters were outside again, and you practically had to elbow your way into the building.

We walked around the food stalls for a while, and then made our way to the ice cream parlor where Rachael got some mint gelato and Cody and I split an amazing looking strawberry sundae. Better be amazing I guess, because it cost 11 pounds… but the server offered to chip in his number for free, so I guess that counts… ha.

Harrods is such a unique experience. While we were sitting and eating our ice cream, we looked over the he pizza parlor next to us to see a man singing the Italian opera ‘Figaro’ song, while flipping pizza dough in the air. How cool is that? Also, on our way upstairs on the escalators, we heard all kinds of music, thinking it was just pretty music to keep customers happy. Well, on the balconies to one of the levels (there are elegant balconies on each floor with manicans and displays) was woman singing operas as well. Talk about high class… or just super touristy…

We kept going to the Christmas section, and the toy section, where all the crazy toys were being demonstrated (sorry you guys missed all of the crazy demonstrations Lamers family!). The lady with light up roller blades, flying helicopters and birds, flying saucers, and the snow demo were all going again. There was a really cute little girl too how kept bouncing this giant flying saucer at the employee. We also went through some of the clothing departments, and honestly, even if I had the money, I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a single thing I saw there… crazy business…

We got on a bus to head back toward our place, hoping to see the Christmas lights through the city on the way back. Since it was only about 5:30 or so, we were looking for something else to do, and have quite a few things to cross off of our list since we only have two weeks left (only two weeks! I think I may cry!). Rachael was leaving to hang out with some other friends, and Cody and I really wanted to go to the play ‘Imagine This,’ so luckily I had the number to the theatre in my phone since I called just the day before, and we were able to get off and go directly to the theatre. Literally as we got off the bus, we ran into Shawn on Tottenham Court Road, and asked if he would want to go with us. Coincidentally, he was just wandering the west end, looking for a cool show to go to, and decided to come along with us. Talk about coincidental occurrences lately… ha.

We walked down to the area the theatre was in, but since there was a lot of construction the streets weren’t very clearly marked so we asked a man standing outside of a restaurant. Also rather coincidentally, he said he was going to the same show and we only had to walk a few blocks down the street we were on. We got to the New London theatre rather early and bought tickets for only 17.50.

Since we had a bit of time to kill, we went across the street to a coffee shop and bought a few drinks and then continued to walk down the street on a mission: we were on Drury Lane, and we NEEDED to find the Muffin Man. Cody and I are going to come back later in the morning sometime and buy a muffin on Drury Lane. Now, we walked up and down, and there wasn’t a SINGLE muffin shop. Doesn’t really make sense to me… Oh well, the coffee shop will have to do. Shawn probably thought we were crazy, but went along with it anyway. Ha.

We walked around for a little while and admired the Christmas decorations. We stumbled upon a shop dedicated to astrology and decided we will need to bring Rachael back here because she is really into this kind of stuff.

We decided to head back to the theatre and take our seats. We had tickets all the way to the side in the restricted view, but moved to the center where no one was sitting just before the show started to some amazing seats right in the stalls. The show was amazing. I mentioned how much I enjoyed ‘War Horse’ before… well this one ranks right up there. It was a musical that takes place during the Holocaust. It seems gloomy, and it was, but it also had really happy, comical moments, and it was so powerful. It was such an incredible feeling at the end of the performance. It is a story of a family in the ghettos, and he puts on a musical he writes about the story of Masada, when the Romans want to kill all of the Jews. It has love and hope and is supposed to be an inspiration for the Jews in the ghetto. The show tunes in and out of the musical that they are performing and the actors are faced with dangerous situations to send messages to the rest of the camp, endangering their own lives. The singing and dancing and choreography were incredible. Simply incredible. I wish it were a movie because I would absolutely make the purchase. And the feeling you have at the end of the show, possibly the most powerful emotion you could ever feel…

After the show, the three of us walked back to ISH. Shawn left back to ISH, and Cody and I stopped in TESCO quickly. We got back to our rooms, and I packed for our trip to Bath tomorrow, and went to bed.

fRiDaY NiTe FiSh FrY iN LoNdOn... GoOd FiSh & cHiPs, bUt nOt LiKe WiScOnSiN!!

the Magna Carta

Illuminated Manuscripts

Early Music

Friday, November 29th

Today’s original plan was to meet at the South Kensington station in the morning and go to Kew Gardens which are some beautiful botanical gardens here that include a palm house, lots of indoor green houses, and gardens outside as well. However, there was a misunderstanding as to which station to meet at, so it took us a while to find each other. It ended out working for the best because we decided not to go to the gardens, and to go to the British Library and a concert at the Royal Academy of Music instead.

We went to Kings Cross train station, and for the first time, I really saw it in the daylight from the outside. It really is very cool, with all brick exterior and a giant clock tower. Right next door is the British Library, where we went inside to check out the ‘Treasures’ exhibit, which holds lots of famous literary documents in their original form.

Here is a list of some of the things that I saw------

Classical Music
-Early Music- signs of direction in melody but no pitch- resembles illuminated manuscripts- all religious music
-‘Old Hall Manuscript’- one of the most important early English polyphonic music documents. Beginning to use complex rhythms and notes start to have shape and color
-Henry Purcell- ‘Autograph Score Book’ – a record of English court anthems from Chapel Royal in the 1680’s. Songs were both formal and informal written for James I.
-Henry Purcell- ‘1st Publication Venture’- this was a collection of sonatas dedicated to Charles II. He wanted to imitate Italian masters to encourage more serious music, as he loathed the popular French style.
-Motzart- ‘Horn Concerto in E-flat’
-Haydn- apparently he spent a lot of time in London in the 1790’s, and here we get the ‘London Symphonies.’ These were his last 12 symphonies, and an autograph score of one of them, symphony no. 96, was here in the library. It was first performed in 1791 and later named ‘The Miracle’ as at the premier the audience was almost hit by a chandelier.
-Beethoven’s Tuning Fork- this was given to George Bridgewater, who gave it to Haydn, who passed it to Holst, who passed it to Ralph Vaughn Williams, whose widow gave to the British Library… needless to say, it has passed through some pretty important hands…
-Schubert’s ‘An Die Musik’
-Elgar’s 3rd Symphony ‘A Sea Symphony’- this was commissioned for the BBC but he died in 1932 before it was finished. In the 1990’s a man named Anthony Payne picked it up and finished it, with the premier by the London BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1998. Here were a collection of the Elgar’s sketches that Payne used to finish the piece.
-Ralph Vaughn Williams- ‘Scott of the Antarctic’

the Beatles
A case was filled with sketches of lyrics from ‘Help!,’ ‘Yesterday,’ ‘Ticket to Ride,’ and ‘Hard Days Night.’ It also held records, eps, and other booklets.

Literature:
-Jane Austen’s ‘Volume the Third’ and ‘Persuasion’
-Charlotte Bronte’s ‘Jane Eyre’
-Lewis Carrol’s Diary
-Oscar Wilde’s ‘Ballad of Reading Gaol’
-Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’

Excerpts from the Magna Carta

Science
-Works and sketches by DaVinci, Galileo, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin

Illuminated Manuscripts from Bologna, Venice, Florence and Rome.
I saw some from Matteo Di Filippo Torelli (1356-1442) who was a monk at Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence- We studied a few pieces in the chapel in my art history class.
-also was able to see the Lindisfarne Gospels with the carpet pages, gold leaf, and intricate hand painted details from the monks.
-papyrus letters to the Hebrews

The collection also held literary works from other eastern cultures as well, however I don’t know much about any of those…

We looked inside of here for just over an hour, and then left to head back over by my place to go to the Royal Academy of Music. One of the ensembles was performing a Vaughn Williams variety, including ‘English Folk Song Suite,’ which I have performed twice, and was able to see performed on organ at Westminster Abbey earlier this semester. I also met up with Shawn and Cody here.

After the concert, I separated from Becca and her mom for a little bit because I had to get some things done, so they went out to Harrods once more to get an AMAZING ice cream sundae. I on the other hand went to lunch with Shawn and Cody, and then to TESCO with Cody to pick up some groceries. I looked up some information in my room, got a few things done, and tried to call home to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, however had a terrible time trying to get a hold of anyone…

At about 4:15, Rachael and I got on the tube to head over to St. Pauls Cathedral, where Becca and her mom were going to meet us for Evensong. Somehow, when we transferred at Piccadilly Circus, we hopped on the tube, and I hear someone call my name. I look through the masses of people (as it was INCREDIBLY crowded since it was rush hour… we barely got on the train), and saw that it was Becca. What are the odds? Same timing, same station, same train, same car? Crazy. Absolutely crazy.

We got to St. Paul’s and I bought a book from the gift shop that explained the names of lots of sights in London, for example, the tube stops. I had my eye on this last time I was here, but decided not to get it. Changed my mind, and here I am.

Evensong was amazing, of course, and it was great to be back inside of the beautiful, and absolutely massive cathedral again. It was interesting seeing Becca’s mom too, because she followed a lot with Princess Diana and knew about her wedding here, and other events with her around London.

After Evensong, we walked a few blocks to a very rowdy pub to get some authentic fish and chips. We fought our way to the bar, and later found a booth to sit in. It was soo crowded and busy, with everyone coming off of work on a Friday night, but we made it. Becca had her first taste of Strongbow (an amazing beer that is half cider half beer) and we all really enjoyed our dinner. I don’t eat out much, so it was really good.

After dinner, the three of us met up with Cody, Rachael, and Colin at the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. It was filled with tacky rides, German Christmas markets, lots of good food, ice skating, and booths for selling craft items. We went on a Christmas Roller Coaster, and went through the room of mirrors and maze, which was pretty fun. Cody got a ridiculous candy apple that she painfully tried to eat for the majority of the evening and we all laughed at her and her red teeth. We were all getting pretty cold, so we went inside of a heated tent and got some hot chocolate and sat down for a while. I laughed a bit because there was no fireplace (as it was a giant fabric tent…), but they had plasma TVs with the image of a fire playing. I guess HD is the next best thing? haha

We were all pretty tired, so we left to go home and parted ways. Christmas is coming so soon!

TuRkEy DaY iN LoNdOn!

Thursday, November 28th

This morning we all had end-of-term meetings with Diane, and then I was supposed to meet Becca and her mom at the MTH lobby, as we were going to head out to the British Museum. After waiting for about 45 minutes, I figured the plans had changed. I left a note at the front desk just in case they did come, along with one at ISH and then left on my way.

I got on the tube to go to the British Museum and stopped at a few tourist shops before going inside. I ended up buying a light up crystal with part of the London Skyline.

I went into the museum, past the Rosetta Stone, and straight to the Parthenon exhibits to work on some life drawing. A little bit afterward, I hear Becca in the gallery and we were all reunited once again.

Becca and her mom looked through a lot of the exhibits on the first floor, Becca explored a lot of the areas that we studied in art history, and I got a good 2 ½ hours of life drawing in. It is incredible to be doing drawings from such amazing sculptures. My sketchbook is a portfolio of drawings from the National Gallery, the Saatchi Gallery, the Parthenon, life drawing sessions, and much more. Definitely a unique approach to a life drawing course.

We finished up at the British Museum around 4:15 and then rushed over to Westminster Abbey to hear the beautiful voices of the boys choir in the Evensong mass, in addition to seeing the inside of the gorgeous cathedral for yet another art history lesson. I have been to many Evensong masses throughout my time here, and that is definitely going to be one of the things that I miss most about going back home.

After the mass finished up, we left back to my room to change quickly before going to our Thanksgiving dinner at a café in Regents Park. It was here that Becca and her mom got to meet a lot of the friends that I have gotten so close to on this trip. The dinner was catered specially for us, with submissions of traditional recipes and a giant turkey wheeled out on a platter. We enjoyed a delicious (and very much appreciated) home cooked meal, as it was nice to have something of substance! I am going to enjoy some nice home cooked meals when I get home! With everything from turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, rolls, green beans, milk, and of course pumpkin pie, the dinner was sooo good. I also laughed quite a bit because we were all joking around about how Billy always eats everyone’s left-overs, and just after we said it, he came over and asked if we were going to eat what was left on our plates. After a great dinner, and some pictures of us in our fancy attire, we left for the evening.

After dinner, Cody, Becca, and myself walked down Oxford Street and then towards Piccadilly Circus to go to the Ice Bar. This was basically a fancy bar where you can wear a giant thermal suit and go into a room that is an igloo for 45 minutes. The ticket includes one drink as well, which comes in a glass made of ice. While we were inside we took advantage of the ice furniture, funny suits, and even had a dance party to the music in our ridiculous suits. It was a good time, and definitely a unique experience!

We all walked back to our place down Oxford Street once more to admire the Christmas decorations, and Becca got on the tube to go back to her hostel. Cody and I stood outside talking for a while, and while we were out there, we thought we saw a cat walking down the street, but once we got a closer look, it was actually a fox! We were quite surprised! We've finally seen the Regents Park fox! haha.

Happy Thanksgiving!