Week Six
Saturday We flew out in the morning without any problems. Did some final shopping in the airport (they had a Harrod’s store), and we were back in Detroit by the afternoon. I miss London already, but I’m sure I’ll be back one day…
Friday Sadly, it’s my last full day in London. I finally see the inside of the British Museum and the National Gallery. We tried to get a little souvenir shopping done, but we probably shouldn’t have waited until the last day to do so. At this point, it almost feels like we live in London – we decided it’d be like souvenir shopping in Michigan. Most importantly, I took pictures at Platform 9 and 3/4 in King’s Cross Station. After acting like idiots in public, a group of us went to The Rocket for our last night of pubbing (and I still haven’t finished packing).
Thursday Another day of exams, after which a group of us had afternoon tea at The Orangery at Kensington Palace complete with cucumber sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and cake. Afterwards, we walked around the gardens towards Harrod’s, then headed home. Our celebrations continued at the Icebar London. Inside the bar, they make you wear these ridiculous silver parkas and even your drinks came in cute little glasses made of ice. We took full advantage of all the photo opportunities (there was a telephone booth made completely of ice, and we managed to talk one of the bartenders into giving us his furry hat), then we made our way to the sports cafe.
Wednesday I was forced to endure around four hours of non-stop essay writing for my Shakespeare and Postcolonial Literature courses. It was absolute torture, and I don’t particularly wish to remember it (especially because I missed out on the London premiere of the Bourne Ultimatum and my chance to see Matt Damon). So, myself and a couple others recouped with a little retail therapy on Oxford Street.
Tuesday Tonight, after our last day of classes, we all went as a group for dinner at the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. It was some of the best pub food, and I had the most amazing braised lamb and a raspberry trifle for dessert.
Monday Our last day in Venice began with a little shopping at the marketplace and a walk to the Piazza. We finally rode a gondola (even though it cost a bit more than we might of liked). Our gondolianer was a very funny guy, and very knowledgeable about the city. On our walk back we came across a fantastic street performer singing opera for a large crowd of onlookers.
Sunday Another gorgeous day in Italy, so we decided to capitalize on the weather by spending the day at the beach in Lido. To get there, we to a waterbus from the Rialto Bridge (the views along the ride were amazing). We managed to catch the waterbus back to Venice just in time to watch the sun set over the Piazza San Marco as we passed it.
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Week Five
Saturday We were up bright and early (and the weather was beautiful) for our major sight seeing day in Venice. We miraculously found our way back through the labyrinth that is Venice to the Rialto Bridge – because here maps are no good and you never know quite where you are, but you always happen to get to where you’re going. We ate at the Caffe Saraceno on the Grand Canal, then headed toward the Piazza San Marco (shopping at all the market stalls along the way, of course). The Piazza is just like they show it in the movies and Venice is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to, I can’t imagine any other place like it and words simply cannot describe it – so I’ll give you pictures instead:
Friday We made it to Italy on RyanAir without any difficulties (except maybe the baggage allowance) and found our hostel without getting too lost. It was also ridiculously hot compared to the foggy London weather to which we had grown accustom, so we napped by the hostel’s pool for a while then finally headed into Venice. We had our first of many gelatos immediately, then had the most amazing dinner near the Rialto Bridge (complete with tiramisu). After dinner, it was pouring, but we didn’t let it get us down.
Thursday Today, Marianne Elliott, the director of my least favorite play so far (Saint Joan for those of you who don’t remember), spoke to our class. She was a surprisingly interesting woman, and I have a great deal of respect for her, despite not liking her work all too much.
Wednesday Nothing but work work work today. I locked myself in my dorm room tonight so that I could finish my paper on Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare. If you are interested in actually facts about Shakespeare’s life (which are surprisingly few and far between to begin with), this book is not for you. However, if you are interested in speculation about Shakespeare’s life and being constantly reminded that everything you are reading is in all likelihood completely made up, then enjoy.
Tuesday John Akomfrah, an English film director, came and spoke with us about his films. We watched one of his documentaries about the Hansworth riots in the 1980s and were able to discuss the film with him. This experience was the exact opposite of the one we had with writer Hanif Kureishi. Akomfrah was much more of an academic and an authority on his subject matter. You can tell that he wants for his work to have an impact on society, whereas Kureishi might not care less of what society thinks of him or his work.
We watched my favorite play thus far, Rafta Rafta, at the Lyttleton Theatre. Rafta Rafta is about an immigrant Indian family whose son has recently married. The story is hilarious, I loved all of the family dynamics (they reminded me of my own Filipino extended family – always getting in one another’s business).
Monday Today, we finally made our way out to Harrod’s. Of course, I loved it. And, of course, I didn’t buy a single thing for myself. I did buy a couple of gifts (chocolates and tea) for people back home, but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend ridiculous amounts of money on the amazing designer fashions. Surprising, I know, but maybe one day…
Sunday The girls and I woke up early to attend mass as St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was absolutely beautiful. We were able to walk around a little before the service to look at the statues and paintings, Candice and I also lit candles. We sat off to the right during the service, so we didn’t have the best view of the alter, but we could easily see the dome overhead. The choir sang beautifully as well, making me miss church choir a little bit. Overall, the service itself only had a few differences from Catholic mass as I remember it.
Afterwards, we walked over the Thames and had lunch at Gabriel’s Wharf. Then, we headed to Tate Modern. While some of the work was a bit too odd for me to really enjoy or understand, the highlights of the visit were definitely the Monet, Warhol, and Picassos.
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Week Four
Saturday Round two of both shopping and Portobello Road Market. I bought a few things, ate some paella, and had an overall good time. I do wish I had so much more money though because I love that place. If I lived here, I would do so much shopping there on a regular basis. We ate at O’neills for dinner, so of course I had a Guinness. Then, later that night, I got all dolled up and went out with some of the girls. We were going to go out on a boat that was also a club on the River Thames, but that didn’t pan out so we ended up at another club. Then, I went to my room and passed out from exhaustion.
Friday Today was my shopping day. We only managed to hit not even half of Oxford Street, but I still spent a good amount of money. The last place we went to was Topshop, which was just so completely overwhelming – four huge floors of shopping. Then, we had dinner at Pizza Hut and headed back to the dorms. A few of us decided to watch Devil Wears Prada later that night, which was a good time.
Thursday We moved out of our dorms today into the ones right next door because of construction. Then, Candice, Steph, and I had to give our presentation on A Midsummer’s Nights Dream during our Shakespeare class today. We did alright considering that we only worked on it the night before after seeing the play. Then, for my Postcolonial Literature and Theory course, we went out with our professor for dinner in Brick Lane. It was delicious. Later that night, a group of us ladies went out to Leicester Square. Candice and I swear that we saw the actor who played Iago in the production of Othello we saw at The Globe – he was also in Notting Hill. Best of all, he was wearing pajama pants when we saw him. After this brush with fame, we had a couple of drinks at one club, then headed over to Zoo Bar. It was a fun night.
Wednesday After my midterm for my 20th Century English Novel course, we took a mini-tour of The Globe. While we were there, we we able to catch a glimpse of the actors of Love’s Labors Lost warm up. Then, we took part in a little acting workshop. My roommate from school, Alicia, met up with me after the tour with a couple of our friends from Michigan. She had just finished her study abroad program in Spain and was passing though. We walked along the Thames, then headed to the flat in South Kensington that our friends, Audrey and Sean, had rented out for the week while they were in London. Then, I had to head back to the dorms in order to make it to the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park for a production of A Midsummer’s Nights Dream (my favorite Shakespeare play). It wasn’t a bad production, though a bit more overtly comedic than I had seen it done before.
Tuesday Tonight, we saw Gaslight starring Rosamund Pike (who played Jane Bennet in the most recent Pride and Prejudice film). It was by far my favorite performance of those we have seen in London. It was in the Old Vic Theatre, which was beautiful and I believe Kevin Spacey is its artistic director.
Monday I woke up early for my last day in Ireland. Walked by myself down to St. Stephen’s Green, which is absolutely gorgeous, then I went over to Trinity College. Once the shops started to open, I did a little more shopping. I headed back around 10am to check out of the hostel. Our ferry left that afternoon and I napped for the majority of the ride. Also, on the train to London, we saw a guy who looked just like Elijah Wood. However, he had a ton of dandruff, sagged his pants so we could see his tighty whities, and was reading some Maxim-esque type of magazine called Nuts – very disturbing.
Sunday Day two in Dublin and loving it. Ashley and I ate breakfast in the church cafeteria. Then, once everyone was awake, the four of us headed out and ate lunch in the Henry Street area again, then we got sidetracked from sightseeing by a few hours of shopping. We managed to stop over by St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Patrick is my dad’s name, so that was fun and I took tons of pictures), then we were off to tour the Guinness Storehouse. I had, of course, the best Guinness of my life and bought tons of gifts from the shop (and again, tons of pictures). Then, we ate dinner at the Brazen Head and headed back to our hostel – where it was just four of us for the night, since the others left.
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Week Three
Saturday We got into Dublin around 7am and parted ways with Dwayne. We ate breakfast at McDonald’s and headed to our hostel, which was actually really nice. We napped on the couches in the lobby until we could check in at 11am, then we were put in a 10 women dorm room with five other girls for that first night. The cafeteria was a church connected to the main hostel building. It still had the stained glass and the alter had be turned into a kitchen area, it was pretty cool. Just outside the cafeteria, the confessionals had been transformed into phone booths. During the day, we walked down O’Connell Street to Henry Street and had some lunch. Then, we saw Temple Bar, the Dublin Castle, and Christ Church before making our way back to the dorms for more napping. On the way, we came across this breakdancing/graffiti/bmx competition near Christ Church. That night (after the napping), we had pub food on Dame Street, then we went to the Purty Kitchen bar and listened to this guy sing and play the guitar to (American) songs that everyone knew.
Friday I finished Harry Potter!! It was really good. I read the last 10 pages on the train to Holyhead, where were catching a ferry to Dublin. The train ride wasn’t that horrible, except that we were all already pretty tired and we had to switch trains in Crewe due to technical problems. We met a Canadian named Dwayne who was also on his way to Ireland. He’d been backpacking through Europe for months and was on the last bit of his journey to Ireland and Scotland, then he was headed home. He was really nice and told us about the places he’d visited. He even bought us pints of Guinness once we were on the ferry.
Thursday Hanif Kureishi, who wrote the screenplay for My Beautiful Launderette and other novels/short stories, came to speak to our class. He was actually a really interesting person. He reminded me of how, when you’re in your high school English class and you’re really tired of your teacher for trying to almost force all this hidden meaning behind a work of literature, you begin to question whether the author truly intended for his/her work to have that deeper meaning or whether it just is what it is. Hanif Kureishi explained his work as the latter. Of My Beautiful Launderette, in which the launderette became a symbol of Thatcher-ism and race relations are explored, he said that he wrote it simply because his uncle owned launderettes and would show them to him and that he had a friend who became a skinhead (which inspired Daniel Day Lewis’ character in the film). Kureishi advised us to write about what we know, the everyday/seemingly mundane things. He explained that you do not have to write about extraordinary circumstances or do tons of research to create a good piece of literature.
Then, that night we headed out to The Gardening Club in Covent Garden where Tara was supposed to be in a karaoke competition. However, the competition was cancelled so after a few drinks we headed over to Zoo Bar in Leicester Square. A lot of the girls from our group came out, so it was a really fun night.
Wednesday We saw Saint Joan at the National Theatre, which is now my least favorite play of the ones we have seen. The humorous dialogue and the dramatic music during scene changes did not compliment each other at all, rather, the contrast took you from one extreme to the other and you didn’t know how you should be feeling. Also, Joan of Arc is supposed to be a strong woman leader, a soldier, but this version of her is that of a meek little whiny farm girl.
Tuesday After classes today where we were visited by Michael Dobson, a professor in Shakespeare Studies at Birkbeck College, we headed over to The Globe to watch a production of Othello. I thought the production was very good and The Globe was simply amazing in and of itself. Before the play, we ate dinner at this place called The Anchor along the river. However, because we were running a little late we had to inhale our food and hurry over to the theatre. In all of the hurry, I left my wallet at the restaurant. So, I ran back during intermission and, luckily, it was still there.
Monday Another calm day. The only significant thing that happened was that night when I finally cracked and started to read the new Harry Potter.
Sunday It was a fairly calm day. We headed over to Russell Square to do a bit of reading for class. I read a little of Hanif Kureishi’s work for my Postcolonial Literature and Theory class.
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Week Two
Happy 18 month anniversary, Parker!! I miss you!
Saturday We took the tube over to Notting Hill and walked through Portobello Market. It was pretty amazing. The market itself made me a little nostalgic for the Philippines (where the markets are also much cheaper). When we got there, we ate bratwursts from a street vender. They were delicious, of course. Then, we managed to find the Travel Bookshop (like in the movie Notting Hill). Sadly, Hugh Grant was nowhere to be found. Shortly thereafter, it started to pour rain. So here we are, four girls without umbrellas running underneath awnings, attempting to stay somewhat dry (we failed) and enjoy the market. In the end, I bought a skirt (because the dress I wanted was too expensive) and we headed back to the dorms. For dinner, we ate really delicious (and cheap) Chinese food down the road. Then, we had a couple of beers back in the dorm.
Friday It was a pretty amazing night. We took the tube out to Kentish Town for the Gym Class Heroes concert at The Forum. Travis, the lead singer, was fantastic. I lost my voice a little from singing and shouting and we danced – all around a good time. I danced to “The Queen and I”, missed my boyfriend during “Cupid’s Chokehold”, and watched the band strip while playing “Clothes Off”. Then, after the show, we headed over to Waterstone’s to pick up our copies of Harry Potter. We stood in line from around 11:45pm to around 1:15am, but it was worth it because now I have the last book!
Thursday The weirdest, scariest thing happened when I woke up to get ready for class today. I had just barely started my shower when my vision gets blurry and everything goes dark. I get out of the shower and slowly my vision comes back, but I still can’t really hear and breathing is a little difficult. I try really hard to remain calm and Candice takes me to the store for medicine. And, despite all of this, I still have to go to class. I manage to survive all three of my classes that day – thanks to a nap and some lemon tea. Then, we have to watch Pinter’s Hothouse at the National Theatre. It was by far the strangest, most confusing play I have ever seen.
Wednesday After touring Anne Hathaway’s cottage, we left Stratford and headed to Oxford. Oxford was a much more bustling city than I had imagined it to be. We walked along the shopping areas (I bought an Oxford zip-up hoodie) and saw Christ’s Church. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to take the tour to see the Great Hall from the Harry Potter movies, but I did get great pictures of the outside and the courtyard. Then, while waiting for our bus to leave. We went to a pub/restaurant called Old Orleans for drinks.
Tuesday We went to Stratford-Upon-Avon with our program to visit Shakespeare’s birthplace and watch Macbeth performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stratford was beautiful, period. We were given a mini-tour by one of our professors, then we had dinner at a pub called The Rose and Crown. I shared fish and chips with Ashley. The play was very intense, with dead babies and a pregnant woman being murdered. Since I was in the third row (in the Swan Theatre, which is amazing), everything was happening right in front of me. Luckily, I wasn’t any closer or I would have been hit with a leather coat or spit on. We stayed in this adorable bed and breakfast, Green Haven, owned by the nicest woman.
Monday An even lazier day than Sunday.
Sunday After a lazy day of trying to read, we headed out to O’neill’s and celebrated one week in London. I had a very good Irish stew and a Guinness (of course). On the way, back we ran into Lee and Brandon – a couple of guys from MSU on the Political Science trip we had met the night before when we came home from the club. They told us that we should come out to The Rocket (a pub) with them, instead of reading like we planned. So, after an hour or so, we decided to meet up with them and had a couple beers. We also met a couple other guys from their program and some girls from the Women’s Studies program. We got along with the guys fairly well, the girls not so much. As someone with a Women’s Studies specialization, I can honestly say I am really glad that I didn’t choose that trip. The girls were taking straight shots of Smirnoff just for the sake of getting belligerently drunk. A conversation with one of them went as follows:
Girl: What program are you guys on?
Me: English Lit
Girl: (confused) But… what do you study?
Candice: (slowly) English Literature
Girl: But, do you read?
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Week One
Saturday We (Candice, Ashley, Stephanie and I) went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the Odeon in Camden. I loved it, of course, and I cannot wait for the last book to come out next weekend. We have already pre-ordered our copies of the British version at the Waterstone’s near where we have class in Birkbeck. After the movie, we had lunch from the Waitrose, a grocery store near us. I had half a baguette, brie, strawberries and cranberry apple juice – it was so good. Then, I took a four hour nap.
When I woke up, the girls and I went out to dinner at Yo! Sushi. It was alright, although I prefer Omi Sushi back home. Afterwards, we bought some vodka and cranberry juice to drink while we got ready for out first real night out in London. We ended up going to this club called Brown for half price, since Candice talked up one of the door guys.
Friday It was the most amazing day. We finally did the big tour of London. We walked from our dorms down through Soho to the Thames. We saw Big Ben and the London Eye before getting some Japanese food nearby. From there we walked by St. James Park to Buckingham Palace. I almost bought a tote bag from the Palace’s gift shop, but decided against it. We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, were I did buy a shot glass for my dad’s collection. I also received a free hurricane glass for ordering the drink that I did with dinner, which consisted of the best macaroni and cheese. We walked back through Piccadilly Circus, but we didn’t spend nearly enough time there to see everything. By the time we got back to the dorms, we were all very tired and my feet hurt like no other.
Thursday Between classes we did a little more book hunting (still unsuccessful), then ate cheap and delicious 11 inch pizzas for only 3 pounds each. That night, we ate at the Cafe Pasta before we saw our first play, Pinter’s Betrayal at the Donmar Warehouse. Candice and I shared tapas and the four of us also split a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. The play was interesting, it’s about a wife who cheats on her husband with his best friend. The best friend was played by actress Maggie Smith’s son who was also the villain in the James Bond movie, Die Another Day. I thought I recognized him as I was watching the performance, so of course I looked him up.
We decided to stay in that night to take care of Ashley, who’s eye puffed up from a combination of allergies and rubbing it too much. I told her the swelling would go down if she gave it some time (it’s happened to me a few times before) and I was right, but there was still a little panic – too bad we didn’t get any good pictures of it.
Wednesday After classes, Wednesday was a day of walking. We spent the day searching for bookstores that might have the screenplay for My Beautiful Launderette as well as a theatre to watch Harry Potter in (both were unsuccessful). We did come across a BBC film set at one point, but we didn’t see anything too exciting. Then, we ate dinner in Chinatown at this pretty nice restaurant with delicious fried rice. On the way home we came across a Jack Daniels cab, so of course we had a photo session with it. Afterwards, we had two bottles of Riesling (different brands from before) in the dorms and ordered our Harry Potter tickets online.
Tuesday First of all, we were woken up at around 4am by someone who set of the fire alarm (not cool). Then, we had to wake up for breakfast and class a couple hours later. During our first day of classes in London, Prof. Johnsen went over our syllabus and sent us on our way. We were only there for about half an hour. However, we had to come back after lunch to watch My Beautiful Launderette for Prof. Singh’s class. The film wasn’t bad, mostly what I expected from reading the screenplay.
We went out to Snugg Bar that night since they had student drink specials (a pint for 2 pounds, but all they had on tap was Budweiser).
Monday We woke up in time for breakfast at 8am. It consisted of English breakfast staples like poached eggs, ham, baked beans, hashbrowns, corn flakes, etc. The breakfast here isn’t too horrible, but it is the same every day. After breakfast, we attended our orientation in Connaught Hall. Then, Professor Johnsen showed us where our classes would be held, the British Museum, and Blackwells (a giant bookstore). I had lunch with Candice, Ashley, and Stephanie at Pret a Manger, a small sandwich chain, in Soho. I had chicken avacado sandwich and a Coke, which tasted way better than in the States, since they use actual sugar and not corn syrup.
That night, I had my first Indian food in London. I ordered vegetable curry, rice, and naan. It was very good. Then, we bought a bottle of Riesling to share between the four of us. We watched Notting Hill while drinking our wine (it was Nottage Hill wine, but we were calling it Notting Hill anyway). About halfway through the film, Ashley had the best epiphany (“Notting Hill and Notting Hill!”). Good times.
Sunday Our flight finally left Detroit around 1:30am (it was originally scheduled for 10pm) and we flew into London Heathrow at around 2:30 or 3pm. The flight wasn’t too horrible. There were a good selection of movies to choose from and I had my own little bottle of red wine to help me sleep.
From the airport, we took a coach to the dorms. We finally reached Commonwealth Hall around 5pm and I met up with my ‘London friend,’ Candice, before we went on our walking tour of the area with one of the RAs. For dinner we went to this place called O’neil’s, part of an Irish pub chain. I had seafood chowder and a Guinness – it was a perfect first meal in London.
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LONDON!!
That’s right, in less than an hour I’ll be boarding my flight to London and this will become my “London blog.” Exciting, isn’t it?
Even though I don’t feel as though I’m really leaving quite yet, it just hasn’t hit me, I’m slowly feeling the excitement building. I do, however, miss my boyfriend already, which may be a little lame of me, but I don’t care. And, although I’m not quite sure what to expect in Europe, this trip has been a long time coming. So, off I go. Hopefully, I’ll post again soon with pictures and wonderful stories to tell.
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And so it begins…
I’ve finally begun a blog of my very own, though I’m unsure of whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
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