Condensing the Past Two Weeks

I know, I've been bad about updating the past couple weeks. It's been crazy busy! I'll just start where I left off - after Greece.

We started new our 2nd session class (which is now almost over) and I'm in British Victorian Lit, taught by a Truman professor. It's interesting, and I actually do feel like I've learned more by being in London. The London program has this phrase, "Use London as your classroom," which is really lame, but it makes a lot of sense... Anyway, we've gone on some field trips for this class. We went to the Charles Dickens Museum and the Florence Nightingale Museum. Also, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery. London has an incredible National Gallery. It's huge! I was there for a few hours and got through a little less than half of it, so I need to go back. The Tudor wing in the National Portrait Gallery was quite exciting for me. I am also not done going through there. Good thing they're free! We also had a guided tour of the Tate Britain through the program, which I had already been to. The tour was interesting though, because the guide was able to tell us things that aren't written on the plaques by the paintings.

I do have a very exciting story (I've already told this to several people.) One morning I woke up with a very strong urge to go see Les Mis. I've seen Les Mis before (more than once), but it's been a while. So that night, I went to see it, because I'm in London and I can do that. :) First of all, I'd forgotten how much I love that show. It was amazing. But the exciting part was... the guy playing Jean Valjean went to my high school!! How crazy is that?! I didn't know he was in the show, I just recognized his name in the program because I know someone who was in a show with him back in the day in St. Louis. So after the performance, I went back to the stage door and met him. We talked for a bit, and he seemed excited to meet someone from his hometown so far away. It was way cool.

Last weekend I went to Scotland with two other girls, one who is here for just 2nd session and one who is here for 2 and 3. We spent two days in Edinburgh, and one day we took a day tour to the highlands/Loch Ness/Urquhart Castle. We saw the Loch Ness monster, of course. And the highlands are absolutely breathtaking. I'll post some pictures. Our tour bus made a stop where we "met" a highland cow (very furry cows) named Hamish. Highland cows are so cute! Too bad they wouldn't like the climate in Missouri much, or I'd bring one home! Edinburgh's a great city. We went to the castle where we saw the crown jewels and the room where Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI of Scotland/James I of England. And Edinburgh Castle has a cannon that they fire every day at 1pm, so we saw that. We also went to the National Gallery of Scotland and just wandered around Edinburgh quite a bit. It was a great weekend, even if it was cold and rainy.

Last Wednesday we had a field trip to Dover Castle and Canterbury Cathedral. We ran into traffic on the way there, so our time was cut short at the castle, which was very disappointing. We went through the WWII tunnels, which was cool, but there was so much more to see! I really wanted to see the WWII hospital and the medieval tunnels. Oh well. I was also kind of sad that we didn't get to see more of the famous white cliffs or Dover Beach. Then we headed off to Canterbury, and on the way to the Cathedral, our guide pointed out what's left of the church where Christopher Marlowe was baptised. That was exciting. And the Cathedral was beautiful, of course. And huge. And lots of people are buried in it. Also last week I went on a "Jack the Ripper Walk" where a guide took us around some shady looking parts of London where some of Jack the Ripper's victims were found, and told a version of the story. Apparently there's a conspiracy theory where the whole Jack the Ripper deal is related to the royal family. It's pretty interesting, but I don't know if it's true.

This past weekend I took the train to Aix-en-Provence (in southern France near Marseilles) to visit Jake where he's studying abroad. What a great weekend! It was so nice to see Jake, but it went by way too quickly. And Aix is absolutely beautiful. The weather during the day was hot, but at night it was perfect. On Saturday we did a lot of walking around the city center, which is all one way streets full of shops and restaurants. There's also the Cours Mirabeau, which is apparently the 2nd most beautiful street in France. The gelato is delicious. So was dinner on Saturday. We ate at a pretty nice place, outside of course. I had cod, and it came with veggies, potatoes, and three snails. I couldn't bring myself to try them, but Jake said they weren't bad. Aix is known for it's fountains throughout the city. It has a lot of them, and you can drink from most. It's also known for being the birthplace of Cezanne, so they have this thing called "footsteps of Cezanne" going around, where you can follow paths where he walked. It's pretty cool. I was sad to leave on Sunday, and had a rather traumatizing experience at the train station in Paris, where I had a layover... I didn't realize I had to change train stations. So I got directions and took the correct metro line... the wrong way. I only saw one way, so I assumed it was right, but apparently it wasn't. I missed my train and had to buy another ticket to get back to London. All they had left was first class, too. At least they fed me! Train food is actually pretty good.

And that brings me to today. I went to the Imperial War Museum this afternoon. It's huge and extremely well put together. Tom would love it. They had lots of tanks and various war machinery, and amazing exhibits on WWI and WWII. They had this "Trench Experience" where you could walk through a recreated WWI trench, which was eerily realistic. Then they had the "Blitz Experience," for WWII where you sat in a recreated shelter while the city around you was bombed, and they had recordings of people talking that were supposed to be with you in the shelter. After that, you came out of the shelter and walk down a recreated street that was just bombed. It was sad. I also went through their Holocaust exhibit, which was very moving, and a WWII through they eyes of children exhibit. I didn't realize that they evacuated so many children out of London. They also had a recreated house from WWII times that was really cool to walk through. It was really a depressing museum, but very interesting.

And now for pictures!

My friend, Hamish from Scotland:















The beautiful highlands:















Urquhart Castle from Loch Ness:















Edinburgh Castle from a park:















The white cliffs of Dover/Dover beach:



















Canterbury Cathedral:



















Fountain in Aix:

Greece!

Greece was amazing!!

On Sunday, June 8th, we (a group consisting of six, five girls and one guy) flew into Athens. By the time we found our hostel, it was pretty late. We dropped off our stuff and went in search of a place to eat, and found a restaurant where the waitress only spoke Greek and the menus were only in Greek. That was kind of tough for a vegetarian. I ended up getting a Greek salad, which was delicious. Then we went back to our not-so-great hostel to sleep. The next day we set out to explore the city. It was rough at first because we had no idea where to go. But eventually, we found this train/trolley thing that did a tour around some of the major sites, so we went on that. We stopped at the Acropolis and hiked up a hill to see all the ruins, including some awesome temples, the Parthenon, and the Theatre of Dionysus. The view of the city from there was gorgeous. Much better than from the ground, because Athens is actually quite a dirty city. I thought it was weird that they were doing some construction on the ruins. Aren't you supposed to leave them as they are? That kind of took some of the excitement out of it, sadly. After that we went to the Archaeological Museum, where there were lots of artifacts from ancient Greek times. My favorite rooms were the statue rooms. There were hundreds of ancient statues of gods and people of various classes that were found all over the place! Most of them had parts missing, like a nose or something.

That night we took an overnight ferry to Ios, where we spent three days. It was great, because we would lay on the beach all day, reading or listening to music or napping, and then go out to eat at a restaurant, usually outside and with a view of the ocean except for the night we had dinner in the village. All of the food was delicious. On our final day there, I decided to be adventurous and do something I've never done before. I went scuba diving! It was SO COOL! It was a beginner's dive, and it was myself and an instructor. We went down about 18 feet and were underwater for 45 minutes. I had to call my doctor first and have him email the place saying I could go, since I'm diabetic. That was kind of frustrating, but understandable, and my doctor didn't mind at all, so it all worked out. Anyway, it was definitely one of the best things I have ever done. There were lots of brightly coloured tropical fish. And I held a sea urchin! It was spiky and purple and had suckers on the bottom so it stuck to my hand when I flipped it over. I also saw a sea cucumber, and several of those sea sponge things that people used to use as loofas. They feel really weird.

After Ios, we took a ferry to Santorini for a day. It was beautiful. I've heard it's the most beautiful island in Greece, and I believe it. The views are incredible. After dropping our stuff at our hostel, we took the bus to Thira, a coastal area, where we rode a cable car down a cliff. Then we decided to see how much it would cost to ride a donkey back up it, and it was only 5 euro. I rode a donkey up a cliff! Actually, it was kind of a frightening experience. They brought up a donkey, I hopped on it, and they sent it off. I had no control over this animal. Of course it knew where it was going, but it went at its own speed, and it kept walking right up against the wall and I was afraid I would smash my knee. It also kept switching sides of the path and cutting off the donkey Emma was on. That was pretty funny. There were tourists walking down the cliff, and the donkey just walked right through them and they had to scatter. It was an extremely interesting experience, and I'm very glad I did it. I don't think I would do it again.

After that we took a break, got drinks, and sat outside admiring the view. Then we did some shopping and took the bus back to the area our hostel was in and had dinner. Saturday was a long day of travel, since we had to take a 4 hour ferry back to Athens, then take the metro to the airport, which took a good 2 hours. Then our plane was delayed by an hour, and then we had the 3.5 hour plane ride. We didn't get back to London until 1 AM, and Greece is two hours ahead of that, so it felt later.

Yesterday I just rested, did laundry, did grocery shopping, and did some homework. Today I met several people who just got here for 2nd session, and they all seem cool. I'm now taking British Victorian Lit with a professor from Truman, and it should be a good class. We have reading every night, but not too much, and one page journal entries. I don't think it will be too much work by any means, and it seems like a good group of people in the class.

I can't believe session one went by so quickly!


The Theatre of Dionysus:















Athens:















The beach on Ios:















Just chilling:



















Scuba diving:















Santorini:















Yum:



















Donkey ride:

Some History, More Shows, and Literally Freezing Bar!

Wednesday morning we got up early for a program sponsored field trip to Parliament. What a beautiful building! Not just on the outside. The inside is full of statues and paintings and amazing architecture. We went in through the Great Hall, and I guess I didn't realise that the Parliament building used to be a palace up until Henry VIII decided he didn't like it and handed it over to Parliament. The great hall was this huge open space where they used to have banquets and such, and lots of famous people have lain in state there. It's the oldest part of the building, because the rest of it has burned down a few times, like every other historical building here. Our tour guide took us through the building, including the areas for the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Queen isn't aloud inside the House of Commons because of a precedent set by Charles I. Actually, there are a lot of customs in Parliament in general that are there for no good reason at all except that there was some sort of historical precedent. It's quite funny, and makes for good stories to tell tour groups! In the House of Commons, the government sits on one side and the opposition sits on the other. Shortly after we were in there, they had Prime Minister questions, which is basically when the MPs ask Gordon Brown (the current PM) questions, or rather, rip him to shreds. We saw part of it on a television while we were in the cafe for lunch a bit later. It was entertaining. Anyway, we also saw the House of Lords, which people are appointed to be in. Their area in Parliament was much prettier than the House of Commons, and much more decorated, and the Queen is aloud in.

After the tour and lunch in the cafe, we went into a conference room where we got to talk to Graham Brady, a conservative MP. It was quite interesting. I did learn a lot about Parliament from him, but also about some of his personal beliefs. This guy could talk for ages. Apparently he was one of a handful of MPs, even in his own party, who didn't like Tony Blair.

That evening I was bored, so I walked to Holland Park. It's a beautiful park, and it has an outdoor opera theatre. There was an opera playing, but I had already missed an hour of it. I plan to go back and see a show there sometime this summer. But there were benches throughout the park, so I picked one in front of the theatre where I could hear the music and I sat down and read my book. It was lovely.

Thursday was crazy. After class, a group of people from my Theatre class went to see Lord of the Rings: The Musical. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. A couple of the main actors sucked, which was kind of disappointing, and the script was really awkward since they had to cut so much. But the music was great, most of the actors were great, the set was great, and the costumes were great. I can understand why it got bad reviews, but really, it wasn't horrible. Oh, and Sarah Kelce will appreciate this (if she's still reading my blog): The guy who played Sam was the kid in the 10th anniversary concert of Les Mis who played Gavroche. I got really excited when I read that in the program. And he was definitely one of the best people in the show!

After that we had dinner at a little Italian place, and then met the rest of our class, our Professor, and his family at the Old Vic to see Pygmalion. What a great show! I'm quite familiar with My Fair Lady, which is based on Pygmalion, but I'd never actually seen the play. The first scene especially was just like My Fair Lady, almost word for word. I kept expecting Eliza to burst out into "Wouldn't It Be Loverly". The actors, sets, and costumes were all just amazing. I am getting so spoiled with all this great theatre over here!

Last night we decided to go out to celebrate Azeema's last weekend here. We went to the Absolut Ice Bar, which was expensive but completely worth it! It's a bar made entirely out of ice, and they have you wear these capes and gloves to stay warm, and they send groups of people in for 40 minutes at a time. Great drinks, too! I'll post some pictures, of course. We made friends with three Londoners there, and talked to them for quite a while. They seemed excited to meet people not from here, and we were excited to meet people who are. On our way to the Ice Bar, we saw a pair of street musicians. One was playing the tenor sax, and the other was playing a drum set made out of various buckets! He was really good, too! I just wanted to mention that because it was awesome.

Tomorrow I'm off to Greece! I'm not bringing my computer because we're staying in hostels, so I won't be updating for the next week. I should be able to check my email in an internet cafe once in a while though.

A statue outside Parliament. We weren't aloud to take pictures inside except in the Great Hall:



















This was in Holland Park, and I thought it was hilarious:















Sitting in an ice chair at the Ice Bar:















Brrr!

Stonehenge, Bath, and Some Shows

On Saturday we went with Anderson Tours to Stonehenge and Bath. Both were very cool. Stonehenge was beautiful. Very tourist-y, but it's one of those things you can't miss out on if you're in England for any length of time. And the weather was perfect. The drive from Stonehenge to Bath was just gorgeous. It was all rolling English countryside and we drove through a couple of small villages. Then Bath was great. We spent a lot of time going through the Roman Baths, which were really cool, I'll post a couple pictures. It's just so amazing to walk through there and realise how long the architecture and the baths have been there, and that people used them. At the end you could drink a glass of the water, which is supposed to be very good for you, but it smelled and tasted awful. It was exactly like the hot springs in Karlovy Vary, in the Czech Republic. After that we didn't have too much time to wander around Bath, which was a bit disappointing. But we did get to walk around for a bit and have lunch. Interesting bit of information our tour guide told us - gas here is six pounds per gallon. That's twelve dollars.

Sunday night we went to the Globe to see King Lear, and paid five pounds to be groundlings like we did for Midsummer. The show was incredible, of course. It was just as good as Midsummer, only very different, because it is a tragedy. The guy who played King Lear was very impressive. That is not an easy role by any stretch of the imagination.

Yesterday Azeema and I went to a fringe theatre (basically just alternative/experimental/new), because our class required us to. But I'm glad we did, and I would love to go to some other fringe theatres. We saw a show called "The City," which was interesting... Overall, it was good, but kind of confusing. It was really cool to see a smaller theatre though, because so far I had only been to the big West End shows or the Globe.

This afternoon I was bored, so I decided to go wander around Oxford Street, which is a huge shopping area. Of course everything was expensive, but I did find a great top that was reasonably priced. Going into a bookstore was depressing, because they are twice as expensive here, but they had a lot more books by British authors. Perhaps I will just look some up some of the ones that caught my eye when I get home...

Tomorrow we have a tour of Parliament. Thursday I'm seeing Lord of the Rings: the Musical (god help me...) and Pygmalion (yes, two shows in one day!) At some point this weekend we're going to celebrate Azeema's last weekend here, then Sunday I leave for Greece!!


Obligatory Stonehenge picture:















Roman Baths:















More Roman Baths: