Long overdue...the past 2 weeks in London/Paris!
Saturday July 12
I broke a world record today. Yes, a world record. Most people doing a choreographed dance! About 8 of us from the group learned a dance and made tshirts...went to Trafalgar Square and broke a world record with 2000-some more people. It was really a once in a lifetime sort of experience. The dance was about 5 minutes and it attracted a big crowd. My mom watched on a webcam back in Illinois. They told us at the end that we'd all be getting certificates from Guinness World Records saying that we took part in the world record. That night we had to go out and make a big deal out of it. I put on my new dress and primped up. Sebastian decided it was time we go to a gay club with him so that's what we did. Though as we were going out I forgot my Oyster card to get on the Tube...so I had to go back real quick to get it...my friend Vinnie waited with me and we got a little lost on the way there. I was glad for that since Vinnie and I have a lot in common but I hadn't had much of a chance to talk to him before then. Once we were there they had a long line to get in. It was fun, though. They played awesome music and I got really into dancing. It was fun to be in such an accepting environment...our group had both girls and guys approaching us. We ended up getting back to the hostel at about 4am.
Sunday July 13
Sunday was pretty chill. I slept in and watched TV in the afternoon. Yup.
Monday July 14
Monday started with IAH class and continued at the British Library. The British Library is massive but we only went to see the “treasures” collection. We saw the Magna Carta, Da Vinci's notebooks, original Beatles lyrics, and Shakespeare's first folio (which I swooned over). That night we left Pickwick early to go up to Abbey Road before the show at the outdoor theatre in Regent's Park. We did the road crossing several times over. We annoyed a lot of drivers...but it was for a good cause. I haven't, however, been able to locate a good picture of me and my other 3 “Beatles” crossing. We walked back to Regent's Park to see Twelfth Night, which is a good show but it wasn't done very well. It was a bit hokey and wasn't too memorable. Still cute, though.
Tuesday July 15
Tuesday gave us the lovely gift of our first history lecture, wherein Karen spouted names and dates at us too quickly for us to type them all in. About 300 years of theatre history was smushed in to an hour and a half of mostly boring lecture. But that's alright because after that we made our way to the costume warehouse for the National Theatre to play dress up! We spent two hours going through all eras of clothing. I even put on a lobster suit. No joke. I could have been there all day and I really wish I could have taken some of the things with me. We saw yet another show at the National that night...this one was a modern play called Harper Regan. It was intense and it was a favorite for most of us. It was about a woman suffering her mid life crisis in a few days.
Wednesday July 16
Wednesday we had voice class followed by an insane 2 shows. Brief Encounter was very cool...the story was bland but it mixed classic 1930s movie style with contemporary technology...movies and innovative sets. Very very cool to see. There was a movie screen where they would be playing black and white clips and the screen was built in strips so when the actors walked “into” the screen they would step into the film...and vice versa...people on the screen would walk forward and come through onto the stage. Later on we say King Lear at the Globe. I stood the entire time in the yard...being a “groundling” was so much fun. The show was good but not really a stand out favorite of mine. Later on that night I finished up my homework and went to sleep for a mere 3 hours before getting up at 4am for my train to Paris...
Thursday July 17
We walked to King's Cross to catch the 5:25 train to Paris...5 of us girls. Myself, Lori, Laura, Julianne, and Alara. We got in with just enough time to check in and get on the train to do some more sleeping. We arrived in Paris around 8 and it took us more than an hour to get a good map and find our way to the hostel near Sacre Coeur. We had a little petite dejonie at the cafe next door and explored our area a bit. That included purchasing some chocolates and walking through an old cemetery near by. We walked back to the hostel and rested up a little before finding the tour bus to take us around to the Arch de Triumph and the Tour Eiffel. We climbed the near 300 steps to the top of the Arch for some great views of the Champs-elleysis and the Tour Eiffel. We got back to the bus and took our time admiring the Eiffel Tower up close. We didn't go to the top since the lines were so long, but the trip was amazing nonetheless. We even say a kid there wearing a U of M tshirt so Alara in her MSU hoodie screamed “GO GREEN!” at him. Rivalry around the world, I guess. We had a lovely dinner and turned in for the night.
Friday July 18
Friday we were up and out early again to do some serious museuming. We took our bus tour around to the Louvre, Notre Dame, and Musee d'Orsay. I'd never been to Orsay, so it was good to go. There were a lot of impressionist paintings that I loved. The Louvre was good to go to again, too. We saw the big attractions like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, but we also walked through the Napoleon apartments, which I didn't see on my last visit. It was the most elaborate and richly decorated place I have ever seen. There has been so many things on this trip that I've experienced and I think wow...I can't believe we missed this on our trip 3 years ago. I need to bring my parents back. That night we went on a mission to have a very French dinner somewhere looking over the city. Laura, Lori, and I (with our limited knowledge of cheese and wine) headed to the grocery store to pick a selection of cheeses and bottles of red and white wine. We also grabbed a baguette from a baker. We walked to Sacre Coeur and found that a couple hundred other young people had the same idea that we did. We sat ourselves down and spend around 3 hours eating, drinking, and meeting people from all over. I was perused by a Belgian, my friends by Moroccans, and we chatted with French locals and other Americans. There were people playing guitar (my favorite being when the guitarist broke out Imagine and everyone sang along) and performers juggling and breathing fire. It was such a lively and positive environment that it seemed like we all had some common thread, like we were all good friends. It was one of my favorite moments in this entire trip. We turned in at around 1:30 to get some rest for our third day in Paris.
Saturday July 19
Another early morning. We walked to the Opera (the Phantom one) and did a tour. Every piece of the building was decorated and detailed...and it was massive. We saw the auditorium, the golden foyers, libraries with model sets, and carved stone staircases. After the Opera we did some shopping...which was disappointing, believe it or not. At around 5 pm we were back at the hostel to pick up our things and head back to the train. We bought a baguette and munched on the last of our cheese while rolling through the French countryside. It was good to get back to London. I feel very comfortable and relaxed here. We turned in when we got home at around 10pm.
Sunday July 20
Sunday myself, Ally, and Laura went to the uver touristy Madame Tussaud's wax museum. We stood in line for more than an hour and were pushed and shoved all the way through the museum. We did get some good photos but I wanted more time and room to look at the figures. My favorites were Shakespeare, The Beatles, and Shrek. After the museum we went to the Shakespeare's Head pub. It's become one of our favorites...they have a 4.99 beer and burger deal that we love.
Monday July 21
On Monday the classes continued. We had our last voice class and a history lecture. The European premiere of The Dark Knight was happening in Leicester Square so we tried our hardest to make it...before our play (Harold Pinter's A Slight Ache) they were just setting up and things were just ending when we bolted back after the play things were wrapping up. We did get to watch the batmobile in action, which was great. The group had a nice dinner together, which doesn't happen very often.
Tuesday July 22
Street Scene was an Operetta that wasn't all that great. Lots of British opera singers trying to do New York accents = bad.
Wednesday July 23
Wednesday I had IAH and at 2pm we went to the National Gallery. Again, the impressionists were my favorites. Though I did like some da Vinci paintings on display. When you tour a gallery like that and the lesser known paintings by the masters stand out at you...you realize why they are remembered. For the painting I saw it was all about the detail and accuracy of the bodies and the interesting and original use of light. It was a beautiful and warm day so when everyone else went back to the hostel before that night's play, I opted to take a walk around St. James park and do some discovering on my own. I walked through the park and around the lake towards Buckingham and then back to the mall back into Trafalgar Square. I made my way to the National with my dinner and met up with everyone else before going in to watch Michael Frayn's (of Noises Off fame) Afterlife. It starred a gentleman who was in V for Vendetta and I really enjoyed his performance. For the first time we stood outside the stage door for autographs. After that we went to Hard Rock for dessert. We had planned to tour the vault there, but it was closed by the time we arrived so we'll have to do it over the weekend.
Thursday July 24
We left for Bath at 8 am and had a beautiful drive into the city. Most of the buildings are built with the same Bath stone, which is a cream color...very pretty. We had a sweet bed and breakfast to stay at for the night. I roomed with my 3 good friends that I made here on my trip. The group went on a walking your of the city and learned a little about how the city sprang up around the hot springs that the Romans built a temple around. They have always been known to have healing properties. Next we went to the Fashion Museum where they had clothes from hundred of years ago up to the present date. I loved the designer clothes from the 70s and the floral dresses that they recreated for today's style. We also got to try on corsets and crinolines. My waist looked so tiny! After that we went to tour the Roman Baths. It was amazing how much of the building was preserved. We were able to drink the warm spa waters that had been purified. They have a lot of calcium and iron and minerals. We saw Born in the Gardens that evening.
Friday July 25
Friday morning we took off for Stonehenge. It took an hour to get there from Bath. It was very surreal to be there. I wish I could see it when it aligns with the sun rise or sunset on the solstices. We got back on the bus for London. On the way I wrote a couple papers that are due this next week. A group of us went to the half price ticket booth in Leicester Square to get tickets for that night. Vinnie and I went to see The 39 Steps. They turned it into a 4 person comedy. I was glad to have seen it since we haven't seen much comedy on this trip. After that We went back To Pickwick and I took a nap before going out to see The Dark Knight at 2:30 am on Imax. It is the best movie I've seen in a long time and I need to see it at least once more in theatres. There were so many good performances...we can't stop talking about it. We got out of the movie at 5:30 am and it was plenty light outside...it wasn't even like the sun was just rising...it was up and the day had started.
Saturday July 26
I slept from 6 to 11 on Saturday morning. That afternoon Ally, Laura, Jessica, and I went to Camden Market. Because I am still under budget after my trip to Paris, I decided to spend lots of money. I bought clothes (including a lovely lace dress) and a floor cushion for my room, some jewelry, and purses. The group also went to a hookah bar...which was a first to me. It was a lot of fun. We took off for Pickwick again and chilled out until going out for Vinnie's birthday. He decided that he wanted to go to a cafe where they serve absinthe. So we had a couple glasses of absinthe. It tasted like black licorice (though it was green) but it didn't taste horribly strong. After that we went to Club 101 to do some dancing. There were lots of creepers trying to pick up my friends and I so I had to cling to the 2 guys we were with for protection. We turned in at around 3am.
Sunday July 27
Sunday my roommates and I did homework. We have a ton of final papers coming up so we wanted to get a lot done. The internet kept cutting out so I didn't get as much done as I wanted.