Lions of London: A Prezi-tation

Though the "explore London" part of my summer is over, I'm still finishing up a few more assignments before the class portion is done.  Please enjoy my Prezi on the history of the lion in England, and the many places you might see it represented around the city of London.

(It's best to go through the Prezi using the right arrow at the bottom, not the autoplay.)

Lions of London on Prezi

Ireland: The Tour(ism) Begins

  Well, my friends, my adventure comes to a close.  I finally made it home on Monday night, tired but better for my travels, and then promptly did nothing on Tuesday.  Now I’m rested and ready to fill you in on my trip since I left London.

   After bidding a sorrowful goodbye to my flatmates, I caught the train from Euston Station to Holyhead Port, which is on the west coast of England.  From there I was herded onto a huge ferry, which was more like a cruise ship than what comes to mind when I hear “ferry.”  What surprised me was the lack of security.  Here I am expecting to go through the pre-flight gauntlet of checkpoints:  I’ve got my passport out, I’ve got two other forms of ID at the ready just in case, I’ve got shoes that are easy to take off to go through the scanner . . . but the officials wanted none of it.   Just my ticket, thank you very much, and what’s your name?  She didn’t even check any IDs.  My backpack had to go through a scanner, but I didn’t.  OK, I think, they’re just a bit more relaxed about this than I'm used to.   So I join a crowd of other people sitting in the waiting room and wait for them to call my ferry over the PA system.  Instead, a man in a reflective vest walks through the room and says “Would you all like to follow me now, please?”  then leads us all onto busses to be transported out to the ferry.  And no one checked my boarding pass.  It all went very smoothly and was very easy, but I’m afraid I’m a bit suspicious of too easy and it left me disoriented (or “disorientated” as one of our Irish hosts said).  Anyway, despite my misgivings we made it safely to port and I managed to get myself to Dublin centre where I found my parents, who had arrived earlier in the day.  It was a joyous reunion capped by a lovely dinner in the pub attached to the hotel.  O’Shea’s gave me a perfectly adequate room and I was expecting to sleep well that night after all the traveling.  But, alas, I found this a bit difficult for when I had just laid down mine head upon the pillow the live music started up just below me.  It was wonderful music, to be sure, but a bit loud for sleeping.  Ireland, whatcha gonna do?

    Well, we started off early the next morning on our Paddywagon bus tour with our driver/tour guide Barry. 

Our very discreet bus.

He was quite funny and really knew his Irish history, but are you aware of how narrow the roads are in Ireland?  Or of how close the vehicles pass each other on the road?  I’m here to tell you:  very narrow, and very close.  I am truly shocked that we didn’t scrape the side of the bus, at least, not to mention hit another car, careen off the side of a cliff, or hit any of the sheep that cross the country roads willy-nilly.  There were moments when I thought any or all of those would happen.  I had to keep reminding myself that the driver was very experienced at his job and that he didn’t want to die any more than I did. It was distressing but, after all, I am here to tell you the tale of our harrowing journey.  And for those of you who are acquainted with my mother, you’ll understand that if I was a bit nervy about the driving, she deserves a medal for not having a nervous breakdown.  Despite some scary moments on the roads, we had a great time and saw some gorgeous landscapes.

 So I’ll leave you for now with this little teaser, and will post again soon about the places we saw, the people we met, and (for my sister Michelle) the food that we ate.

Lon-Done: And Everything in Between

   Have you ever seen The Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother?  They happen to be two of my favorite sitcoms, and they are both highly recommended.  You might think that on my whirlwind tour of London I’ve had little time for such mundane things as watching TV, but you’d be wrong.  Our flat is equipped with a rather large flat screen and we get upward of 70 channels; several of which play exclusively US television shows.  It’s a good bet that at any given time of day you’ll find repeats of one of the shows mentioned above playing.  We take bets as to which one will be on before we turn the set on in the flat.

   “Emily!” You might say, “How can you think of wasting your time on TV when you have the wonderful city of London at your doorstep?!”  Well, I might reply, I’ve been walking up and down the wonderful city of London all day.  Despite my excitement about where I am and the wonderful things I’m doing on a daily basis, the tedious necessities of everyday life intrude.  These necessities include things like grocery shopping, laundry, and after a big day of exploring the city putting my feet up and watching a little TV.

  We have a little grocery store just down the street called Sainsbury’s.  My favorite purchase so far has been a candy called Penguins (called Tim Tams in Australia) which are delicious.  But don’t worry, Mom, the produce is extremely fresh and I get at least two fruits every time I go.  It’s been interesting actually living here.  I’m not just a tourist when I cook my own meals and buy paper products for my flat.

  Today is my last day in London.  Tomorrow morning I’ll be off to Ireland to meet my parents for a 4 day tour.  It's certainly exciting, but I’m going to miss London.  As you may have deduced from all the gushing in my previous blog posts, I’ve had a great time here and am so happy I came.  I’ll try to keep blogging through my Ireland adventures, but I’m not certain when I’ll have WiFi.  I’ll at least do a big post about the trip once I get back to the States so stay tuned!  Thanks for following along on my London adventures.  I’m glad I could share them with you!   Cheers!

A Day in Paris

   As this is a free weekend, many of the others in the group remained in Paris for the weekend.  Since I had my own Paris adventure last fall, I elected to return to London for my last few days here.  But while I prefer London overall as a city, it is a thing universally acknowledged that the most delicious food is to be found in France.  And let me assure you, I acknowledged this fact heartily in the one day I was there.  Unfortunately, I didn’t stop at any pâtisseries for pastries, though I did slobber on the windows of Ladurée at one point.  What I did do was heartily enjoy a three course meal at a restaurant called Chez Francis, complete with view of the Eiffel Tower!

My view, featuring (from left) Liz, Katie, Brandy, and Melissa

(back row) Eiffel Tower

   This was paid for by the program, so it was all the more enjoyable; I didn’t even have to order, I just sat down and they started putting amazing food in front of me.  My kind of restaurant.  We started with the most delicious bread; I ate too much of it but don’t regret it for a moment.  Then we were served an odd looking salad which had mixed reviews down the table but I ate every bite.

  More bread.  Then the chicken course with the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever eaten.  Even better than my dad’s and my grandmother’s recipes, which is saying something.  It could have had something to do with the pools of butter.  By this time I was full.  Not the “oh, that was good” kind of full but the “I’m positive I can’t shove another bite down because there’s no more room” kind of full.  Then they brought out the crème brûlée.

Who could say “no” to that?  So I soldiered on, and, boy, was it worth it.  My flatmate Callie Ann joked that she wouldn’t need to spend any more money on food while she was in Paris because that one meal was going to last her the whole weekend, and at the time it seemed very reasonable.

   Despite everyone wanting a nap after this delectable overindulgence, we spent the rest of the day walking around Paris and seeing the many wonderful sights.

We climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe

 

Strolled along the Champs-Élysées

 

Walked under the Eiffel Tower (I’ve yet to travel to the top of this monument, despite three separate trips to Paris; some day)

 

Saw Notre Dame

 

Took a boat tour along the Seine

And finally had a whirlwind tour of the Louvre before those of us returning to London that night had to catch our train.

  By the time I got back to the flat it was close to midnight and I had been up for 20 hours straight, having awakened at 4am to catch an early train.  Overall a very full (in more ways than one) and fun day.

Picture taken by fellow Seine cruiser Mike, with Harry Everhart's camera.

The Play's the Thing

   I’ve been to maybe three professional theatre productions in the United States.  In my life.  If I include amateur shows that number goes up to a more respectable number, but I really don’t have the time, access, money, or inclination to go to the theatre at home.  In the past three weeks I’ve been to four professional shows in London.  Four!  And they’ve all been spectacular.  Plus, I plan on going to one more before I leave this great city (in just 3 short days!). 





I saw Wicked and Billy Elliot with my program.


(Thanks to Dr. Everhart and Cara for use of their pictures.)

Also, to Singin’ in the Rain with three others in our group.

And tonight I traveled to Piccadilly Circus (not actually a circus, this is what Englanders call a roundabout or a traffic circle—though there were so many people milling about one could call it a circus) and saw The 39 Steps on my own.

  I’ve seen a recent BBC version of this story and loved it.  A film I highly recommend, and the reason I thought I’d enjoy this play.  Then I heard that four actors play all the roles—all 130 roles—and that it was hilarious.  Add the great deal I could get as a student and I had my Saturday night.  So I went an hour before the show opened and got my discounted, last-minute ticket and wandered a bit before going to find my seat . . . which was second row, dead center.  The Criterion Theatre is a fairly small theatre, but still.

   With only four actors playing all the roles, they pretty much had to make a big joke of it, and they did it superbly.  For example, during a scene one actor had three hats (literally: bowler hat, police helmet, newsboy’s cap) and he quickly switched between them, having a conversation with himself.  Really funny.  Obviously they all had to have a great amount of energy.  Also, they made several references to Hitchcock, since the original 39 Steps was his.  References I picked up were Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Psycho, North by Northwest, and Rear Window.
   Plus, I was part of the play!  For those of you who don’t know the story, there’s a part where the main character, Richard, is mistaken for a guest speaker at a political rally and to avoid the police he goes along with it.  He starts talking about the state of the country and at one point says “Is that the kind of life we want?” The actor paused for a long time, then said again “Well, is it?”  He was obviously waiting for an answer, so I said “No!”  And he said “Thank you!”!  Then he smiled and winked at me (I doubt he could actually see me with the lights, but still).  I should probably mention this actor strongly resembles the looks and manner of Cary Elwes, à la Princess Bride.

   Well, from how I’ve run on you can probably tell it was great fun!  And I’ve come away from all four shows with just about the same enthusiasm.  It’s enough to make me plan more trips to the city when I’m back in the States so I can see more great theatre productions.  Who wants to come with me?

Emily Goes to the British Library!

   Today was our trip to the British Library.  As you can imagine, this is a destination that went over well with our group.  While there was a little trouble with getting my own “Reader’s Pass” (to be remedied this weekend), this didn’t detract at all from the trip.  Without even getting past the first couple floors we had a great visit.  The British Library runs on a closed-stacks system, which means you don’t just browse the shelves, but need to request the item you want and it will be retrieved for you.  The Library is the world’s largest library (in terms of the number of items it owns), and while there are floors beneath the already huge building, many of these items are housed off-site.

   What was so exciting to this librarian were the exhibits of ancient and famous books and manuscripts on display.  In the “Treasures” room were carefully preserved items such as illuminated manuscripts from centuries past.  Some really timeworn yet well-preserved books.  Some examples include the Gutenberg Bible, Shakespeare’s first folio, Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, and two exemplars of the Magna Carta.  Amazing, right?  And these are just a few of the many items permanently on display.  There was also an exhibit which focused on the use of land in English literature called “Wastelands to Wonderlands.”  Here I found interesting stories behind uses of the land in literature like how the “Winnie the Pooh” stories by A.A. Milne represents the English countryside as an idyllic play land when it is bare of tourists and picnickers.  And, of course, Charles Dickens was highlighted for his use of the city for his backdrops; representing both the city’s greatest joys and gloomiest tragedies.  Of course, original printings and often the notes of the authors were on display.  Perhaps my favorite aspect of this display were these drafts, almost all of which were in the authors’ own hand, and the red pen used liberally.  It made me think of the process of writing.  I love to read, I love books, but when a story finally gets to me, it is in its final stage.  The author has brought it to some sense of completion (though I’ve read quotes from authors who say they are never done with a novel) and it will not change from that.  Because of this I often overlook the work that goes into writing.  The words don’t come streaming out in their final form; books are often edited tens of times-- and perhaps more, what do I know about the book-writing process?  So it was a fascinating reminder to me to see these drafts which show the work that goes into this, my favorite artistic process.  Just the change of one word, for example, in a book called The Owl Service by Alan Garner makes a difference.  In one scene he had started with a quote from a character as this: “I feel it, look at this sick valley, Gwyn.  Empty farms, poor land.”  And with a red pen and several cross outs and additions ended up with: “I’ve felt it but couldn’t put it into words like you can; look at this sick valley, Gwyn.  Tumble-down buildings, rough land.”  Thinking about this process is of great interest to me, and contemplating how a slightly different word can change a passage is the kind of thing that makes me happy.  So thank you, British Library!

   I’m off to an early bed tonight as we’re meeting at 4:30 AM tomorrow to catch the Eurostar to Paris.  Some things are just worth 4:30AM.  Paris qualifies.  À bientôt!

What can I get for ya, luv?

   During the day I’m mostly talking to the other women in my class.  We have a great group of 12 women from all over the US, a range of ages and backgrounds, and we have great fun together.  But it’s always fun to interact with people who actually live and work in London.  From buying groceries to shopping in a tourist attraction store, the people who work in the shops are who I usually interact with.  A common thing for informal meetings is to call people “love.”  Many times I’ve heard variations of “What can I get for ya, luv?” and “Here ya go, luv.”  I think this is great.  In the US we do a similar thing.  Nicknames for people you don’t know can range from “dear” to “buddy.”  But there’s something about the “love” that’s so cheerful and friendly.  I’m not saying I’m going to start using it, but if you ever get the chance to travel to England keep an ear open for its use.
  Other natives I’ve been talking to are often guides or museum employees.  We’ve had one dud as a guide, probably because it was a dreary Sunday and his frivolity rubbed us the wrong way.  Other than that, the Blue Badge guides from the Guild of Registered Tourist Guides are amazing.  They are phenomenally knowledgeable and engaging.  Hugh (who showed us around Westminster Abbey) and Patrick (our Salisbury and Stonehenge guide) were great and I’m blown away by all that they know of the history of England.  Tony, our driver to and from Salisbury, was great, as well.  It’s nice, too, that they live in the places they are telling us about.  I could research and learn about the history they are telling us, but they have a connection with their subjects and that makes a positive difference for us, the tourists.

  Another notable local interaction I’ve had is with Richard, who works at Kensington Palace.  Katie, Kristen, Callie Ann, and I were wandering through the King’s rooms when we spotted a table with a deck of cards on it.  Naturally we sat down and I started shuffling.  All of a sudden Richard sat down and said “What are we playing, then?”  As I stated, our group of 12 women has mostly been spending time with each other, so when a handsome young British man dressed formally in a coat with tails sits down and asks what we’re playing, we were delighted.  For a half hour we played “Go Fish” and chatted about what we were doing in London.  Unfortunately we had to meet up with our group at that point, so we said our goodbyes, but it was a great memory to add to my time here.

A decoration hanging from the ceiling in Kensington Palace.