England Trip - Day 5

Today was quite a day! We got up this morning and got an "early" start (left at 9) and took a train to Hampton Court, which is where Henry VIII spent time and hung out with many of his wives. We got to see his apartments, places where lots of kings lived, Cardinal Wolsey's closet (I stood in it), the kitchens, the wine cellar, the world's most famous hedge maze and some amazing gardens. The weather here as been ridiculously cold (but at least it didn't rain for a couple of days) and yesterday we had snow. The bad part is it has been super windy and that makes the cold worse. However, I'm really happy it's not raining and I would prefer the cold and wind. T

Hampton Court was amazing. I can't even describe it. I got some pictures and a couple of postcards so you can get an idea of what it's like. I was so stoked to go there. I love Tudor history and it was AMAZING being in the places where they actually walked and lived. A really fun part was they had actors that dressed up as historical figures (King Henry, Anne Boleyn, George Boleyn, and Lady Jane Rochfort) and would do skits throughout the day pretending about events. At one point, Henry received the gift of a shirt that had pomegranates embroidered on it (the logo of Katherine of Aragon, from whom he was separated at the time and shouldn't have been receiving gifts from - Anne was pissed) and they asked who had brought it. I said I had and Anne Boleyn got mad at me. They were being really funny and gossiping about each other and she kept shooting me dirty looks and telling me I could leave. It was so funny. And they called me Lady Amanda. I could get used to that.

The entrance to Hampton Court

Aerial shot of Hampton Court that I pilfered from the Internet.

After that, we went home and had a few hours off which gave us time to read Macbeth, and was great after the super long day we had yesterday.The theatre where we saw Macbeth was amazing and I had front row seats. The play was awesome. It was set in a post apocalyptic/ distopian world and was very cool. They made some interesting changes like having Macbeth drink a potion and giving his own prophecy instead of some creepy visions. It was cool. There was also a lot of blood and gore everywhere. They had to mop up the stage at intermission (or interval as they say here) and afterward. Then I got a picture with James McAvoy and he autographed my Macbeth book. I thought of it on a whim but didn't want to get separated from the group. I wasn't sure if it would even work out, so I just went with them to find a restaurant. Luckily, we found one close and I decided to run back to the theatre to see if I could catch him. It worked out perfectly and he was out there signing stuff and taking photos. There were only about 10-15 people and it was great. He was being funny and nice and talking to everyone. He walked right up to me, signed my book, and let me take the photo. It was a happy accident that I had my phone in my pocket - I ran there without my purse. I'm super bummed the picture is so bad. I wish I had used the flash or had someone else take the picture. I was just so flustered and star struck! 

The set of Macbeth.

The final bow - check out all the blood on the stage!

Tomorrow is our last day in London which is a bummer, but then we head to Oxford and Stratford!

The blurry picture of me and James McAvoy.

England Trip - Day 4

I apologize for my tone in these blog posts. It's pretty casual and since they are from emails to Henry, I wasn't overly concerned about saying insightful things, hence the repetition of the phrase, "It was so cool." I just don't have the time and energy to make these posts sound more eloquent. At least I removed all the mushy stuff from the emails.

Snowing in London! I think it's better than rain because I don't like being wet all day, but others did not share my feelings.

Today was an epic day. There was so much amazing stuff crammed into it - definitely some trip highlights. We started the morning at a church called St. Stephen of Wolbrook, which is a church designed by Christopher Wren, the architect who designed St. Paul's. It was his practice run at doing a dome and it was quite a beautiful church.

The dome of St. Stephen, filled with beautiful stonework.

Church in the round - a modern altar sculpture in the middle of the church and the pews went all around. Very cool.

Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral and got to go around through the inside. The workers there were actually pretty rude and that was kind of a bummer. We weren't allowed to get the audio tours because we were part of a group (???) and we all had to go up to the dome together. But, at least we got to go up to the dome. That was very cool. We could also go down into the crypts and I saw where Wellington and Lord Admiral Nelson were buried. That was cool.

St. Paul's, from the back.

St. Paul's, looking down from inside the dome.

After the cathedral, we raced over to the Tower of London (and stopped for a quick sandwich along the way). I was SOOOOOOOO excited to go to the Tower because it's so prominent in Tudor history which is where I spend a lot of my time. I got to see where Anne Boleyn was kept and where she was beheaded. Also, where the princes disappeared (maybe at the command of Richard III ??) and I got to see the Crown Jewels, replicas of torture devices (the rack, the scavenger's daughter, manacles - none of which look fun) and go through the basement of the tower where they did all the torturing. It's a gift shop now. There was so much I wanted to see there, I was essentially running through it because our time was short. I missed seeing where Clarence was drowned in the malmsey butt. I might go back on Wednesday (our free day) and spend more time there.

I'm so happy!!!!!!

Some of my friends at the Tower. Isabel, Parker, and the corner of John's face.

The White Tower - the original tower that was started in 1066 by William the Conqueror, and then fortified with the surrounding walls. In the basement is where people were tortured. Now it's a gift shop.

Where Anne Boleyn and 5 other people were executed. Most were taken up to Tower Hill and executed up there. You had to be a friend of the king to have a private execution within the tower walls. People executed here were Anne Boleyn, Margaret Pole (the last descendant of the Plantagenet line - she made the mistake of appearing to side with Katherine of Aragon), Catherine Howard (Henry VIII's 5th wife), Lady Jane Rochfort (Catherine Howard's friend who helped her sleep around, also the widow of George Boleyn), Lady Jane Grey (the 9 day queen between when Edward VI died and Mary Tudor took over) and  the Earl of Essex (Elizabeth's former favorite who then staged a rebellion against her).

Henry VIII's armor and horse armor

Traitor's gate - used to be a water entrance for those who were accused of treason.

Then we went to the Globe which was amazing. We got to go inside and they were rehearsing Romeo and Juliet there. It was so cool. They were doing a modern dress version and there was a car overturned on the stage. It was awesome. Then we go to go to a work shop with a guy who is an actor there. It was so much fun. We did fun acting exercises and he talked to us about really awesome things. There is a plaque where the original Globe used to stand and he pointed out where it was, but I wasn't able to go to it. So I am definitely doing that on Wednesday. It's my main priority. At the Globe shop I got some cool magnets and a quill and ink pen. A real one. You have to dip the pen in the ink. It's awesome. I'm going to use it to sign my thesis.

Heading toward the Globe over Millennium Bridge - it was super cold and windy, but that didn't abate my excitement.

Bah! There it is!

Me and Will at the Globe - a bit blurry. Oops.

Inside the Globe!

We stayed at the Globe for a few hours and then we went to Les Mis. That was amazing. We had great seats and the production was fabulous. The voices were incredible. I cried at the end, which doesn't usually happen when I'm watching things on stage.

Sunset on the Thames - heading back across Millennium Bridge to get to Les Mis.

There it is!

After that, a group of us went to a sushi restaurant. It was so fun because it was the kind where the table is really low, but it's hollowed out under. So it looks like you are sitting on the floor but it's actually quite comfortable because you don't have to fold your legs. We didn't get home until midnight tonight! It was such an amazing day. I think it might be my favorite one so far.

London Trip - Day 3

Today we we started by going to Leicester Square which is a really cool part of town. Then, on our way to the British Library, we stopped at King's Cross station and saw Platform 9 3/4. You can take pictures with the cart and there is a guy there that will give you a scarf for whichever Hogwarts house you want, but the line was super long so I just took a picture of the cart without me holding on to it.

King's Cross station. And Parker's head.

Platform 9 3/4!

After King's Cross, we went to the British Library and saw all sorts of really cool things: Shakespeare's folio, quartos, a manuscript of Beowulf, writing diaries of Jane Austen (her handwriting!!!!), an execution order from Elizabeth for Essex (poor Essex...), a letter from Henry VIII to Prince Philip, Gutenberg Bible, a lot of illuminated texts, and the Magna Carta. That was pretty amazing.

At the British Library. Towers of preserved books. So happy.

The First Folio, published in 1623. Opened to 1 Henry IV.

Jane Austen's writing notes.

Execution order from Elizabeth 1.

DaVinci drawings.

THE Magna Carta. Gahhhhh!!!!!!

A treacle tart that I ate at the British Library. I ordered it  solely because Harry Potter talks about it all the time. And now I know why. It's delightful.

The British Library is a non-circulating library, as illustrated by this sculpture/bench.

After the library, we went to the British Museum. The building is huge and incredibly beautiful. I almost liked the building more than the exhibits. :) We saw the Rosetta Stone, mummies, the Japanese samurai stuff, an exhibit on clocks through history, lots of Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, and lots more. It was amazing how much stuff they have here.


 

The outside of the British Museum. (Part of it. It's massive.)

The inside of the British Museum. Beautiful.

The Rosetta Stone.

Hanging out in the mummy exhibit. Carl and Parker were quite effective in shoving people away from it so we could take a picture. It was quite crowded.

Then we decided to try to find some Indian food. There were 8 of us that were hanging out and we went to the Liverpool street tube stop and wandered around. That area of town was really cool. However, everything was closed since it was Sunday. So we found an English pub called Dirty Dicks and went in there. We all sat around a big table, drank beer, and ate some really good food. I had bangers and mash and it was DELICIOUS!!! We were all so exhausted that we came home after that and were home before 7. It kind of sucks having no Internet in the rooms, but it does force us all to hang out downstairs in the lounge. But, the lifts are broken, so every time we forget something, or need something, we have to walk up 5 floors. Argh!!! My legs are super sore. All of me is sore from all the walking and carrying stuff around. At least it helps combat all the beer and food I'm consuming.

We had a super nice Canadian waitress and rested our weary feet and drank beer.

My bangers and mash, topped with caramelized onions that I think had been cooked over a match for 7 hours, they were so sweet and perfect. Someone spent a lot of time with those.

London Trip - Day 2

Like I said yesterday, these posts are excerpts from emails I sent to Henry so they were written as the day happened and will sound that way.

Big Ben! (Or, more accurately, the tower that houses Big Ben, which is the name of the bell.)

Today we went to Westminster Abbey and went on a tour. It was so amazing. There are so many incredibly famous and historical people buried there. I saw the tombs of Henry III, V, VII, and VIII (and probably others) Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Tudor, Mary Queen of Scots, Edward VI, and so many more. It was amazing. That building is so cool. Also, Edward Longshanks, Edward the Confessor, and more. We saw the coronation chair that has been used in every coronation since 1050 or something like that. We also saw the oldest door in Britain (that's definitely from 1050 so maybe the chair is from 13something). I touched the door. I don't think I was supposed to. But it was really old. I also took a couple of illicit pictures in the Abbey. I got one of Charles Darwin's grave and Queen Elizabeth's. There's no way I couldn't get one of Elizabeth. There was a really amazing ceiling in the Henry VII chapel that I got a postcard of. The picture doesn't do it justice, but you'll get a good idea anyway.

Westminster Abbey, the side entrance.

Henry V tomb in Westminster Abbey.

Darwin's tomb in Westminster.

Blurry picture of Elizabeth's tomb. Sneaky pictures do not equal clear pictures.

Britain's oldest door - 1050.

Ceiling of the Henry VII chapel in Westminster that I snagged from the Internet.

After that, we watched the changing of the guard. It was really crowded and we didn't get a great view, but I'd seen it the last time I was here so I was ok with it. It was fun to see Buckingham palace and King James palace. Then we went to Trafalgar Square and I had never been there before. That's the one with the big statue of Admiral Lord Nelson and the big lions. My friend Isabel and I climbed up on the lions and got some pictures. For one, I have my hand in the lion's mouth and am making a horrified face, like he's eating my harm. I'm hilarious. It was actually hard to climb up there. They don't have stairs. Probably because they don't want you climbing up there. Oh well. Everyone and their dog was doing it. And how many times do you get to climb on lion statues?

Mauled by a lion in Trafalgar Square.

We had lunch in crypt cafe - under a church where the crypt is (was?), they have a cafe and it was really good food. After lunch, we went to the National Portrait Gallery where all the official portraits hang for lots of people. We went to the Tudor room and saw portraits of Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Parr, Mary Tudor, Edward 6, Elizabeth, Dudley (her man friend - virgin queen my ass), Walsingham (her most trusted councilor), Shakespeare, Mary Queen of Scots, etc. That was super awesome. Then we went to the National Gallery, but I wasn't super stoked about that. I just don't know that much about art so none of it meant that much. It did make me think of the Thomas Crown Affair though and I was on the lookout for a man in a bowler hat. I didn't see any. I think I'll have to go back though - I believe they have some really famous pieces of art in there (Monet, Van Gogh) so maybe I'll figure out where those are and go see them. The museums are free so it doesn't matter if you go in for ten minutes, or whatever. So that's cool. Tonight we are going to see our first play, Mies Julie, which is an adaptation of August Strindberg's Miss Julie. It is being adapted to take place in modern day South Africa instead of turn of the century Sweden, so I'm really excited to see how that alters the class tensions that are present in the original play.


Current voice - the play was incredible. It was very edgy and something I had never seen on the stage before. The class issues were converted to race issues which can be significantly more volatile. They brought a lot of dance style movement into the play and violence was brought to the forefront. The relationship between the two main characters (there are only 3 characters in this play) was volatile, passionate, and complicated. I remember one of my thoughts during the play was sympathy for the actors who had to act such intense roles on a nightly basis. I can't emphasize enough how intense this play was. It contained violence, (simulated) sex, suicide, and nudity. While it sounds awful, each decision served to emphasize the story and importance of the message in the adaptation. It's a performance that will stay with me forever.

England Trip - Day 1

Last fall, my thesis adviser announced she would be leading a study abroad trip to England over Spring Break. The trip was titled Shakespeare's England and would consist of time in London and Stratford upon Avon, as well as seeing a lot of theatre. I sat drooling over the trip, and realizing that there was no way I could go on it. I didn't even put my name on the "interested" list because I couldn't bear to get the emails with info. 

Then, in late September or early October, she asked me if I would be interested in going on the trip as a TA and having all or part of the trip funded. She couldn't make any promises, but it was a possibility. I was ecstatic but tried not to get my hopes too high.

Long story short, it ended up working out and I was able to go on the trip thanks to the generous funding I received. I have just returned from that trip and was smart enough to write daily recap emails to Henry. I will be working on getting each day blogged over the next couple of weeks. It was a 10 day trip so I hope to have it done within two weeks. (One blog day per real day with time for me to skip days - thesis work is cranking into high gear.) So these posts will mainly be excerpts from those emails and contain a few of the 400 photos I took during one of the most amazing trips of my life.

Leaving Montana!

Day 1: Arriving in London

We arrived at our hostel around 10 in the morning, but weren't able to check in until 2.That made for a very long day. I only got about 1 hour of sleep on the plane last night. The flight from Chicago was 8 hours, and when I stopped and thought about it, that's a whole workday of sitting in a tin can hurtling through the sky with 3 inches of leg room. Luckily, I was sitting next to Gretchen so I had a good seat mate. I listened to some "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" and couldn't fall asleep because I kept laughing. I finally had to turn it off but I still had trouble going to sleep.

I'm so tired right now that I'm having a hard time enjoying it. I know that will change soon. I am feeling a little bit of culture shock and homesickness. It would be so great to be asleep on the couch with Siri right now. Our room is on the 3rd floor of the hostel and the lifts are broken. And in Europe they start counting at 0. So I had to carry the suitcase up to the 4th floor. Garr!!!!

The flights were good and uneventful and pretty much on time. Going through customs was a breeze and the luggage was waiting for us at the carousel. Easy breezy. I think it is supposed to be foggy and rainy in London for most of the time we are here. It's a pretty huge place. Not sure I could live here. It's cool, but massive. We have tube passes so we get to ride the tube the whole time we're here. To kill time today we rode the tube down to Picadilly Circus and found a little cafe to eat in and had lunch . 

I was able to take a shower and a 1 hour nap and then we had class and went to dinner. We kept getting lost walking to dinner and it ended up being a 45 minute walk through the rain before we found it. It was delicious though. It was at an old pub on the Thames called the Anchor and we had our own room (like 4 floors up) and got fish and chips. It was so tasty. We took the tube home and it only took like 15-20 minutes. :) My tube card seems to have stopped working which is annoying. They have to manually let me through every time. I might see if I can get it fixed tomorrow. Now we're back at the hostel and I'm having some Internet time before bed. 

We have a walking tour tomorrow at 9, about 3 hours. I had to give myself a foot massage today. It's so wet here I can't wear my Toms or little flats, but my Danskos and sneakers are doing great. I'm pretty sure I won't be dry until I get back to MT. 

Tomorrow night we are going to see our first play. It should be cool. It's an adaptation of a play called Miss Julie and we've been seeing posters everywhere for it. The play we are seeing is called Mies Julie and it's an adaptation that is done with a South African point of view. It will take the class issues in the play and I'm sure race tensions will also become an issue. It should be interesting to see what they do!

Dinner at the Anchor, the lower level of the tavern.

Our group at dinner.

The Tube!

Our tube stop during our stay in London.