LONDON!!! (And another The Office Reference)
HOME SWEET HOME! I'm back in Oxford after 4 glorious days in London! So I had a very busy few days, which means I'll probably get sick of typing and will have to finish this later, but whatevs.
So Thursday we went on a bus tour. Obnoxious people in my group talked through alot of it, causing our chaperone guy to be angry. I don't like most people, and, as you may recall, I was worried that this trip might suck if everyone in my group sucks. Luckily there's a good chunk of this group that I love, but I'd say \at least half of them I want to just stab in the eye. Or push down the stairs. Anyway, bus tour was okay, but not as good as the one I did last time I was in London.
Thursday night we had a reception where we met Lord Fairfax (as in the guy who's great-great-great-etc grandfather owned all the land back in VA on which I've lived my whole life). Oh, and Lord Fairfax's brother was there, too. Very nice, funny guys, but with pretty boring speeches that I couldn't focus on. Another example of people in my group making me nuts: We're in this highly selective program because in theory we are passionate about learning, etc. But instead of savoring the amazinf experiences we're being handed, people are too busy worrying about which club they're going to go to that night. "You mean we HAVE to go to the Tower of London? But when will I have a chance to change into my skanky shirt?" On this particular evening, one guy in our group actually skipped the whole reception so he could go out and drink with his buddy. WTF?
Friday we saw the London Museum, which, although not as popular as all the major Brit museums, was really really cool. Now I know all about London. Woo hoo! I wished that we'd had more time, but instead we had to be whisked out so we could make it to the Tower of London. I was extremely psyched about the tower. Saw an exhibit called Torture in the Tower, which directly applies to what I'm going to be studying here come october. Also snuck into the very ending of a tour. Tour guide was AWESOME and taught me all about Anne Bolyn. He did not, however, explain how to spell her name, so I fear I probably just butchered it. but no matter. He said he gives Jack the Ripper tours and was handing out his card.
Friday night went to see Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare's Globe. Very cool, but yet again, not quite as cool as last time. Less audience interaction. It was an all-female cast, which was kinda annoying. The chick playing Claudio was especially sucky. The chick playing the Prince, though, made a pretty hot guy. Mmmm... cross-dressing Shakespearean actress....
Saturday (yesterday) we went to Portobello Road, a GIANT antique, etc market type of deal. Bought stuff even though I tolds myself I wouldn't. Saw Minnie Driver on the street (I think). Then went on a mystical, mysterious bus ride through London until we hit Piccadilly, the Times Square of London. Thjis was nice, because I finally shook off the annoying group and spent the rest of the day with a couple people who I actually get along with. We went to see, and I SWEAR I am not kidding, a production of One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest starring Christian Slater.
Christian Slater.
How nuts is that? He was actually extremely good, as was the play in general. (Silv- have you heard of any reviews of this?) Christian Slater came out in a towel at one point. That was pretty damn cool. Also starring was the guy who plays Gareth on The Office and one of the pirates in Pirates of the Carribean. It was cool seeing him in a dramatic role. He also was very good. our seats rocked- centered and about 2/3 back in a relatively small theatre. God bless standby.
After the play we headed back to thew Tower of London to check out the Jack the Ripper tour. I dragged along the 2 people I had been with all afternoon, as well as a guy I'd roped in the previous day. I knew that the tour guide from the Tower wouldn't be there, since he already told us he was only 4 nights a month, but I figured that the rest of the guides on his little card would be just as good. We arrived and found a single guy offering Ripper Tours, but he didnt seem to be from the same group as the guys on the business card. I asked one of the guards at the Tube stop if there were other tours. He said usually yeah, but that he hadn't seen them that night. He also called the guy there Jack the Rip-off. This should have been a clue, but one which I apparantly decided to ignore. We went along with this guy, and holy crap, it was one of the worst tours I've ever been on.
Picture this:
Picture the worst neighborhood you can think of in your nearby metropolis (DC, NYC, etc). Got it? Good. Now picture 10 sweet, middleaged tourist women from Kansas. Hell, make one of them your mother. Got it? Okay, now take these ten women and place them in the bad neighborhood at just about dusk. Cherry on top: Picture a weird little scruffy man dressed in a huge, funky Victorian hat and Victorian cape. Have him walk around in front of the group and randomly stop in front of groups of local drunken gang members and start talking about local history. This was our tour. Oh wait! One more final touch! Now imagine lots of racist comments being thrown about my members of your group. We were apparantly in a Muslim neighborhood, so at one point a nice, sweet nurse from Pennsylvania turns to me and say, "I wonder if this is where they have their Al Queda parties." No joke. Also, at one point I'm walking right behind our guide right after a group of local teenages screamed at us. He said, "We always have trouble with the Muslims. They don't even think Jack the Ripper exists; they think I made him up. But it's in all the newspapers; how can I make it up? They dont' even read newspapers. They read their own special newspapers." Holy fuck. We were definitely harrased by every person we passed for a good several blocks, and even had a bottle thrown at us. It hit the tour guide. Hoooly shit. Needless to say, I didn't listen to much of the tour, as I was too busy thinking about how badly I wanted to be gone.
Hmm... that's the London trip in a nutshell. Saw the Victoria Albert museum this morning, then hopped on a bus home. Now I'm gonna go eat and shower.
So Thursday we went on a bus tour. Obnoxious people in my group talked through alot of it, causing our chaperone guy to be angry. I don't like most people, and, as you may recall, I was worried that this trip might suck if everyone in my group sucks. Luckily there's a good chunk of this group that I love, but I'd say \at least half of them I want to just stab in the eye. Or push down the stairs. Anyway, bus tour was okay, but not as good as the one I did last time I was in London.
Thursday night we had a reception where we met Lord Fairfax (as in the guy who's great-great-great-etc grandfather owned all the land back in VA on which I've lived my whole life). Oh, and Lord Fairfax's brother was there, too. Very nice, funny guys, but with pretty boring speeches that I couldn't focus on. Another example of people in my group making me nuts: We're in this highly selective program because in theory we are passionate about learning, etc. But instead of savoring the amazinf experiences we're being handed, people are too busy worrying about which club they're going to go to that night. "You mean we HAVE to go to the Tower of London? But when will I have a chance to change into my skanky shirt?" On this particular evening, one guy in our group actually skipped the whole reception so he could go out and drink with his buddy. WTF?
Friday we saw the London Museum, which, although not as popular as all the major Brit museums, was really really cool. Now I know all about London. Woo hoo! I wished that we'd had more time, but instead we had to be whisked out so we could make it to the Tower of London. I was extremely psyched about the tower. Saw an exhibit called Torture in the Tower, which directly applies to what I'm going to be studying here come october. Also snuck into the very ending of a tour. Tour guide was AWESOME and taught me all about Anne Bolyn. He did not, however, explain how to spell her name, so I fear I probably just butchered it. but no matter. He said he gives Jack the Ripper tours and was handing out his card.
Friday night went to see Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare's Globe. Very cool, but yet again, not quite as cool as last time. Less audience interaction. It was an all-female cast, which was kinda annoying. The chick playing Claudio was especially sucky. The chick playing the Prince, though, made a pretty hot guy. Mmmm... cross-dressing Shakespearean actress....
Saturday (yesterday) we went to Portobello Road, a GIANT antique, etc market type of deal. Bought stuff even though I tolds myself I wouldn't. Saw Minnie Driver on the street (I think). Then went on a mystical, mysterious bus ride through London until we hit Piccadilly, the Times Square of London. Thjis was nice, because I finally shook off the annoying group and spent the rest of the day with a couple people who I actually get along with. We went to see, and I SWEAR I am not kidding, a production of One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest starring Christian Slater.
Christian Slater.
How nuts is that? He was actually extremely good, as was the play in general. (Silv- have you heard of any reviews of this?) Christian Slater came out in a towel at one point. That was pretty damn cool. Also starring was the guy who plays Gareth on The Office and one of the pirates in Pirates of the Carribean. It was cool seeing him in a dramatic role. He also was very good. our seats rocked- centered and about 2/3 back in a relatively small theatre. God bless standby.
After the play we headed back to thew Tower of London to check out the Jack the Ripper tour. I dragged along the 2 people I had been with all afternoon, as well as a guy I'd roped in the previous day. I knew that the tour guide from the Tower wouldn't be there, since he already told us he was only 4 nights a month, but I figured that the rest of the guides on his little card would be just as good. We arrived and found a single guy offering Ripper Tours, but he didnt seem to be from the same group as the guys on the business card. I asked one of the guards at the Tube stop if there were other tours. He said usually yeah, but that he hadn't seen them that night. He also called the guy there Jack the Rip-off. This should have been a clue, but one which I apparantly decided to ignore. We went along with this guy, and holy crap, it was one of the worst tours I've ever been on.
Picture this:
Picture the worst neighborhood you can think of in your nearby metropolis (DC, NYC, etc). Got it? Good. Now picture 10 sweet, middleaged tourist women from Kansas. Hell, make one of them your mother. Got it? Okay, now take these ten women and place them in the bad neighborhood at just about dusk. Cherry on top: Picture a weird little scruffy man dressed in a huge, funky Victorian hat and Victorian cape. Have him walk around in front of the group and randomly stop in front of groups of local drunken gang members and start talking about local history. This was our tour. Oh wait! One more final touch! Now imagine lots of racist comments being thrown about my members of your group. We were apparantly in a Muslim neighborhood, so at one point a nice, sweet nurse from Pennsylvania turns to me and say, "I wonder if this is where they have their Al Queda parties." No joke. Also, at one point I'm walking right behind our guide right after a group of local teenages screamed at us. He said, "We always have trouble with the Muslims. They don't even think Jack the Ripper exists; they think I made him up. But it's in all the newspapers; how can I make it up? They dont' even read newspapers. They read their own special newspapers." Holy fuck. We were definitely harrased by every person we passed for a good several blocks, and even had a bottle thrown at us. It hit the tour guide. Hoooly shit. Needless to say, I didn't listen to much of the tour, as I was too busy thinking about how badly I wanted to be gone.
Hmm... that's the London trip in a nutshell. Saw the Victoria Albert museum this morning, then hopped on a bus home. Now I'm gonna go eat and shower.