LaSt NiTe iN LoNdOn

Saturday, December 13th

I started off this morning with a scramble to make up an entire semester’s worth of life drawing… Having taken this class as an independent study, I really slacked off quite a bit to enjoy the best that London had to offer. At about 10:30, I had a meeting with Diane where she reviewed my portfolio, and lucky for me I do an incredible job of presenting work and making it look like I have put far more time into it than I really have… Needless to say, she loved it and I am getting an A in the class. Mission accomplished.

We ended up talking about another painter who is very influential to her, and then Mya and I talked for a while. I’m sure that also helped…

I went back to my room and packed a bunch of stuff up, worked a bit for my duties for the Student Assistant cleaning the WI room, and then ventured out into the rain with Cody to accomplish the last few items on our to-do list before our departure tomorrow.

We walked through the rain to Kings Cross Station, Platform 9 ¾ from the Harry Potter movies to get our parting pictures here. After taking a few pictures ourselves, a few very enthusiastic Spanish ladies came over and took a few pictures and videos for us too. We exchanged the favor as well. I loved how universally ridiculous the situation was. It didn’t matter if you spoke two completely different languages or had traveled from completely different countries… none of us thought less of the other when we ran full force into a brick wall or tried to push a cart through to imaginary boundaries…











Cody and I had been planning our last night out for quite some time now, ending our trip with the most sentimental of ways. We both, unanimously agreed that there would be no better way to do so than taking one last walk down our favorite part of the city, the west end to Oxford Street.

We started off by taking the tube from King’s Cross to Trafalgar Square, another sentimental moment for me. I had spent so much time there over the past few months, and it would be really hard to part with such a place. But oh boy… we had no idea what was in store for us!

We walked to the top of the station, the lions and columns opening up to us as we entered Trafalgar Square. We wanted to make stopping here a priority because of the huge Christmas tree that was put up in the middle of the plaza, erected while we were gone in Ireland the previous weekend. We were upset that we had missed the ceremony with the tree was first lit, however, what we happened to stumble upon tonight was far more exciting!

Within only a few minutes of wandering around the square, we heard a bunch of loud chanting and yelling. We looked across the plaza and saw a group of about fifteen people dressed in Santa costumes, with megaphones and crazy outfits, coming our way. Within only a few more minutes, we were surrounded by literally, hundreds of Santas filling the entire square.

They started accumulating around Nelson’s column, climbing up on top of the lions and jumping and yelling all over the place. There were a few people looking on, and the Santas started handing out candy to some of the little kids standing around us. Soon after, however, things started getting rather rowdy, and of course, Cody and I ended up being the only two people/regular citizens who stuck around, becoming engulfed in a sea of Santas.

There were all kinds of crazies all over the place. The transvestite Santa with the megaphone was the craziest of them all, but others such as elves, reindeer, and all other kinds also contributed to the mad ness. The Santas yelled out chants such as ‘What do we want!?’ ‘CHRISTMAS!’ ‘When do we want it?!’ ‘NOW!’ ‘What do we want!?’ ‘CHRISTMAS!’ ‘When do we want it?!’ ‘NOW!’ ‘HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!’ It was hilarious! I also rather enjoyed hundreds of British voices yelling out ‘Santa! Santa!” Very funny.

Thing soon got a little bit out of hand… One of the guys who had climbed up on top of the lions had obviously had a little too much to drink… and it was raining… This combined with the slick statues high above ground was obviously not a good idea. He fell off, and although I didn’t see it, I definitely heard him hit the pavement below… even over all the chanting and yelling. Cody saw it along with several other of the more sober Santas around us, and they said that his head hit first. Not good. So, within about 10 minutes of the start of the madness, an ambulance had already been called.

Cody and I started chatting with a nearby Santa and Elf, who gave a few details on the status of the injured Santa, and then started telling us a few details of the event that had accumulated around us. They said that this was the annual Santa convention, and Trafalgar Square was the meeting place this year. Basically, as he put it, the event is an excuse to dress up silly, drink, and march around London being obnoxious and crazy for an evening. Good fun, he said. I would say so!

We managed to fight our way through the crowd, getting heckled a bit by some of the Santas. ‘Have you girls been naughty this year?’ was one of the comments… But we managed to make our way into the National Gallery where I planned to purchase my long awaited temptation: plush toys of Van Gogh and Monet.

After making my 30 pound purchase, we went to another souvenir shop down Haymarket (the street connecting the National Gallery to Piccadilly Circus) and splurged on lots of memorabilia. We continued on through Piccadilly Circus and saw all kinds of crazy characters. A very lively last night in the most wonderful city in the world. The first one we came across was a ‘weightlifter’ right outside of Haymarket by the horse fountain. He had crazy spandex shorts, a leopard spotted shirt, and what looked like a latex swimming cap on. He lifted his air filled, pool toy looking, weights into the air in such a struggle, screaming and giving it everything he had. Accompanied by him, announcing the excitement was a man in a red suit and top hat. What a show! After his fine display and dramatically dropping the weights to the ground, the weightlifter so nonchalantly picked up the blow toy and paraded through the crowd to pick a new spot to begin the show all over again.

We moved on through the excitement, running into other small displays such as this, and musicians through the junction area. Bright lights everywhere, busses, taxis, bicycles and more combined with the chaos of the large crowds and eventful happenings. We walked down Regent Street and Oxford Street enjoying the street musicians, extravagant window displays, and all of our favorite aspects of the way for the very last time.



When we got back to MTH, Cody and I met up with Colin who was planning on taking us out to his favorite place for fish and chips. I could think of nothing better for a last meal in London. He knew of this small little ‘mom and pops’ restaurant on one of the lesser traveled side streets, which was also rated the best fish and chips in the city. We ate there, and it was incredible.

We all went back to our rooms and packed up the rest of our things, and despite Cody going to bed early, I went to hang out with Colin for the rest of the evening after we were done. It was sad knowing that it was possibly the last time that I would see him as well. The times that we have all had on this trip and the places we have gone have created so many memories for us all. It is nearly impossible to believe that I hadn’t known anyone before going on this trip, and how close the four of us had become and the relationships we have developed.

I think what I am going to miss the most about this city is the spontaneity about it, and how you never know what excitement you will face until you walk out the door. There is so much to offer with the arts and I would never be satisfied with enough time spent here, however, it is the crazy, random happenings that make it so exciting. Where else would you go and just happen to run into an Olympic rally, or be bombarded by hundreds of Santa impersonators, watch shows of weightlifters dramatically struggling to lift a blow up toy into the air, or stumble across a group of talented street musicians? That is what I will miss. The character of the individuals in this city.