June 25th 2011: Bon Voyage

Here I sit on the ever-so-long plane ride over the Atlantic and I realize what an amazing opportunity I have just experienced. I think back from how excited I was on the plane ride over, and how I am definitely not disappointed as I ponder the experience as a whole on the plane ride home. I think about all of the history lessons I was given, touring houses and museums, taking in every piece of knowledge I could.  I think of the amazing sights I have seen… things I never in a million years thought I would be able to see with my own two eyes. I think of my two best friends that I got to share it all with, I think of the great people traveling with me that I’ve come to know, and I realize how truly blessed I am. Some of the trip was hard, long, and frustrating, but I think of all the things I get to bring back with me, the memories, the souvenirs, the pictures, the friendships, and I realize that every moment I spent on this adventure was worth it. Even when the hot water didn’t work in our hotel, or my shoes got soaking wet in the rain, it was all worth it. I probably will never get a chance to partake in such an amazing experience for the rest of my life, and for this opportunity I am grateful.  As my blog comes to a close right along side this trip, I know that I will return home a cultured and educated student who has only a small grasp on the world as a whole, but it well on her way to figuring it out a little more.  This time I have spent abroad has planted a seed in me, and I want to continue to travel, to take it more amazing sights, sounds, and sensations.  To any who may read this with interest to go abroad in the future: do it. It’s expensive, and very different, but so worth it. You’ll come home a much better person.

Thank you to all who have kept up with and read my blog! I know I had some trouble keeping up with it, but better late than never! Cheers! 

June 24th 2011

Although we were not scheduled to be anywhere until this evening, I was not about to let the day go by. We still got up pretty early, had our delicious breakfast, and went exploring. Of course, this is our last day, we gotta fit in whatever we missed! On the way to Regent’s Park, we decided to stop at Oxford Circus to find a shop I had heard about. It’s call TopShop…. Ever heard of it? It was massive! There were clothes and shoes and accessories everywhere! Plus, they were having a rather large sale, which indeed caught our attention the most! However (and probably fortunately for my bank account) I didn’t find anything worth purchasing, but the store itself was enough of an experience! We ate lunch at a place called Garfunkel’s, which was recommended to us by students from last year’s trip. Pretty good chicken, I must say.  We finally made it to Regent’s Park, and really wanted to visit the zoo. Unfortunately, the cost to get in was 20 pounds, which in the case of the terrible exchange rate would have almost been 40 dollars. Oh well. We decided to find Queen Mary’s Garden instead, which was free of charge to visit (yes!). I can honestly say I have never seen more beautiful flowers in my entire life. There were roses of all colors, some as big as my open hand! And the garden was so big that we didn’t even have time to see it all! I am sure this was the perfect way to close such a perfect trip. We made our way back to the hotel, a little reluctantly because the flowers were so mesmerizing, but we had a show to make. We ventured out to Hampstead Theatre to see a production of Richard III.  Never have I seen something so disturbing and amazing at the same time. I was on the edge of my seat the entire performance! The acting was spectacular, and the bloody quality was definitely believable.  I am so glad we made arrangements to see it!

Fountain in Regent's Park

                       Flowers in Queen Mary's Garden

June 23rd 2011

Rachael and I spent the morning at the Covent Garden market. There were cute little market shops everywhere! Also, a lovely string quartet played in the middle of the market. It was beautiful. We made it back to the hotel in time to hear some poetry readings by the ENGL 210 class, and then we boarded the bus for an afternoon to Charleston. We first stopped at the Berwick Church, where Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, two of our members of the Bloomsbury Group, painted beautiful murals on the walls of the church.  A cool fact about the murals is that Angelica Bell, Vanessa and Duncan’s daughter, was the model for Mary in the murals. Also, the two shepherds found in the nativity scene mural had both lost an arm. It was not specified how, but one can assume it was because of the war or some type of laborious job. Other smaller paintings surrounded the walls of the church, such as farm life, flowers, and landscapes. We stopped for a snack at the local pub and headed to Charleston house.  This is where Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Clive Bell, other members of the group lived for a number of years. The house has been preserved quite well, and to this day houses original paintings created by the artists.  My favorite part of the house was that the walls in each room were uniquely painted. Most of the bedrooms were painted as the artist inhabiting the room would have liked it. I really appreciated how these people had decorated their own home with their own work. We were given a free glass of wine after the tour, which was a nice end to a lovely day. Plus, the garden at Charleston house, just like many other gardens I have seen in England, was beautiful. I just wish it wouldn’t have been raining so I could have enjoyed it more! We boarded back on the bus and headed back to London, where we filled our bellies with yummy pub food and hit the sack. Only one day left of our glorious adventure!

Beautiful mural at Berwick Church

           beautiful vines growing on Charleston house

   Our wonderful bus driver, and honorary group member, Paul.

June 22nd 2011

Early morning class started our day.  We got to hear presentations from the grad students (and Miranda who is an honors student) about some of the members of the Bloomsbury Group. We as a group decided that their relationships with each other and their scandalous stories could totally make up an entire season of a soap opera. We then took a rather long and rainy walk to several famous squares around Bloomsbury that were directly connected to our members of the group.  Most squares had flats that one or more of the members had lived in at some point in their lives.  This was pretty cool. After the walk, we ate lunch and went to find more shopping opportunities. Our evening show was Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which was hilarious! I was sad though, because several posters around town advertised Tim Curry would be starring. Unfortunately, he was not in the performance that we saw, but it was still great! I really enjoy how the show doesn’t have much of a tangible plot; it’s more about contemplating life and all that comes with it. R & G spend the entire span of the play trying to figure out who they were (because they didn’t know which name belonged to which one of them), why they were where they were, where they came from, and what their purpose was. It was a fun concept and kept us thinking the whole time. It helped a lot that most of time we were laughing our heads off. If anyone hasn’t seen the movie with Gary Oldman, it’s on Netflix, and I recommend it… if you’re into this sort of thing.

Me, Holly, and Rachael outside the Haymarket Theatre.

June 21st 2011

Back to the National Theatre for a wonderful production of Cherry Orchard starring Zoe Wanamaker! It was a lovely production, but no matter who produces it, it still jerks tears in the end. I was just so thrilled to be in the Olivier theatre once more.  The show was pretty lengthy, so we didn’t have much time in between Cherry Orchard and War Horse. I can honestly say that I have never seen a better show than War Horse. I was completely taken away into the story.  The horses are life size puppets that are worked by 3 puppeteers each. I had to constantly remind myself that the horses weren’t real. But they were definitely alive.  They each had so much personality, which left not only me, but I’m sure the entire audience in tears by the end.  If I had my choice, I would go back again and see it. After a long day of nothing but theatre, it was time for bed. Our trip is coming quickly to an end, and it’s bitter sweet.

June 20th 2011

Last day of our weekend off! The girls and I made it to the Sherlock Holmes museum. It was very interesting… very detailed, with real fire blazing in the fireplace. The very top floor was clad in wax figures that look very much alive in the pictures I took. Right next door to the museum was the Beatles store. I was very excited to check this place out, since they are one of my favorite bands, but of course, everything found inside was way overpriced, so I had to turn it all down… although I almost bought a Beatles juke box for 2,000 pounds, but I realized I probably didn’t have that much room in my suitcase…. We then ventured to the famous Abbey Road crosswalk, where it is actually very difficult to get in a good picture. People driving on the streets don’t really care if you’re trying to capture such a splendid moment, so you gotta walk briskly! We then found the National Gallery where we saw lots of van Gogh painting, which I thought was really cool. It’s so neat be familiar with paintings from textbooks or pictures on the internet, and then see the originals with your own eyes. We were so tired after that, so we decided to rest for the remainder of the afternoon before heading to the Globe theatre to see Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, and it was a great production. However, it was raining for most of the performance. I felt terrible for the people in the yard, where there was no cover! Fun day overall, and only 5 days left! It’s gone by so fast!

Elementary, my dear Rachael

June 19th 2011

Well, we didn’t get a lot of sunshine, but at least it didn’t pour! We spent the beginning of our day wandering around Regent’s Park and Kensington Gardens. A small scare of rain sent us hunting for late breakfast, which we found was on the same street as the stables! Then it was time for horseback riding through Hyde Park. It was fantastic! And it only rained on us once! It was a little scary at times, especially when we would pass people with open umbrellas and our lead horse would go crazy! Apparently most horses are scared of umbrellas… random fact for the day. After riding for an hour, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Hyde Park, where we found the Peter Pan statue and the Princess Diana memorial fountain. We walked along the Serpentine where we saw a mother swan and her babies (I’m not sure what the proper term for a young swan is). They were beautiful and came so close to us! After plenty of adventure, and more than enough walking for one day, we called it a day pretty early, grabbed some snacks from the nearby Tesco’s (a grocery/convenient store) and hung out with some newly made friends in the lobby of our hotel.

Holly and me with our horseback riding hats.

Me posing with the boy who never grew up. 

A mother goose and her babies in the Serpentine in Hyde Park