Early Friday morning the 20th of March we arrived in the Euston Train Station in London before 7 o’clock in the morning. We had a nice breakfast at the station, and then walked to our hostel. The weather was perfect and crisp, so we had a very nice brisk morning hike with our backpacks. Af
ter we set our stuff down we went down to “West End” which is really not a cohesive area like Broadway, instead the musicals are spread out EVERYWHERE! So we were quickly redirected to the Wicked theatre where we stood in line for fantastic student tickets. Then we walked to Buckingham palace and had lunch on lawn chairs in St. James Park, which was very relaxing. We went back to the hostel to move in, and this is when we had our first truly terrible experience with hostels. We had an 8 person mixed dorm because the Edens and Derrick were joining us in London, and as soon as we walked in we were overcome with a terrible stench which was coming from the 3 guys that apparently lived in these army style bunks. Well, needless to say, we got out of this situation very rapidly and went to the hotel right beside us for a much better stay. In the afternoon we went to the houses of parliament and saw Big Ben! Well actually we didn’t see Big Ben, we only saw the tower that houses Big Ben, because it is the bell inside. As soon as we stepped out of the Metro station we were right on top of it, and at first we didn’t think it was Big Ben until we noticed the millions of tourists taking pictures in front of it! Then we walked over to Westminster Abbey, but we shall save the inside for a later d
ate. We grabbed some dinner and then went to our 7:30 showing of WICKED!!!!!!!!!!! Our seats were front and center, just perfect for seeing the whole stage. I was very impressed by the show, considering I have had all the songs memorized for quite a while, it was awesome to be able to see how they combine all these songs into a full fledged musical! Although Galinda wasn’t my favorite (and never is, her voice is kind of obnoxious) Elphiba was phenomenal and she definitely did the part justice. This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip, being obsessed with musicals like I am.
On Saturday we headed back to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards (since they only do it every other day during the “off-season”) and we waited around for hours in a huge crowd to see some guys march around. The best part was the end, when the band and guards came back out the central gate. Right before they started marching out, one of the horses guarding the gates decided that he couldn’t hold it in anymore and left a nice little present right in front of the gate. We thought for sure that the guards would just weave around it,, but no! Apparently they are not allowed to break formation for anything, so they had to walk right through it! Next we went to the evensong service at Westminster Abbey, because you can get into the church for free if you go during a service. This was very worth it because we got to sit right beside the choir, whic
h was gorgeous. Next we went across the river to see the Tower Bridge from which you have a great view of London. The skyline is flooded with famous architectural works by Richard Rodgers and Norman Foster, which are interestingly mixed with more historic buildings, making the skyline very eclectic. We crossed the bridge and walked along side of the river where we saw a slightly overweight actor in a unitard juggle on a unicycle—it was interesting to say the least. Then we headed towards Millenium Bridge and the Tate Modern just in time to watch the sunset over the river. We had a little dinner at a nice restaurant on the river, and then went inside the Tate Modern until closing. My favorite parts were the Monet and Pollock, but it was all nice, except for the exhibit where the man used animal sacrifice in his art work- that was highly disturbing. On our way home we stopped at the London Eye to get some good pictures, and then took the metro back.
Sunday we took a day trip bus tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford. Mainly I wanted to do this trip for Stonehenge, but the others were definitely an added bonus. For those of you who don’t know, Windsor Castle is the favored castle of the queen right outside of London. When she is there they fly a special flag over the castle, so when we went we knew she was in! We took a tour inside and outside of the castle. One of my favorite parts was the queens dollhouse,, which is basically a very intricate doll house for the queen. The silverware in the dining room was made out of real silver! It was ridiculous! Another cool thing we saw inside was the armor of King Henry the eighth, which looks normal from the front, but as you look at it sideways on you can tell how hefty he really was! Oh okay one more interesting fact--- there is a large hall that has the family crests of those that have been knighted on the ceiling, however some of them are painted over grey. This is because when a knight falls from favor his shield is left up there in memory of his dishonor but they paint over it to show he is no longer considered a knigh
t. Kind of brutal, but I guess they didn’t get kicked out of knighthood for nothing. Then we hopped on the bus, and our next stop was Stonehenge in the Salisbury Plains. With the words of Eddie Izzard ringing in my head we walked around Stonehenge—which was a lot more condensed than I thought it was. It is surrounded by large plains filled with sheep, and besides that there is very little development around. The area is very mystical, especially since the stones seem so alien to their surroundings. Next we headed toward Oxford College, where we took a quick foot tour and got to see some scenes from Harry Potter! On the drive there we drove through the Forbidden Forest—which unfortunately is not quite as impressive in the sunshine and without the addition of computer animation. At Oxford we saw the lighting bolt in the pavement which inspired HP’s forehead scar, and then saw the infirmary/dorm spaces which will appear in the next HP movie, so I am just ahead of the game! We got to go into some of the “colleges” there at Oxford, and had enough time to purchase a souvenir t-shirt, and then we headed back to London for the night. That night we went to the IMAX and saw Watchmen on the big screen—it was nice to be able to see a movie in a theatre that was in English! Interesting movie and I liked it although those who were more familiar with the comics were not quite as impressed. We headed in late for the night and then woke up only after a few hours to catch a taxi to the airport and head back to Genova! This is when I concluded that I abhor Ryanair, because their system is very inefficient. I had to check my bag because it weighed over the limit of carry ons, but in order to pay for it you have to go to a separate line which also happens to be the line for ticket sales! SO I am standing in this huge long line for an hour when I only need to pay for my luggage, and then I have to go check it in somewhere else and then go drop it off at a different destination. I didn’t get to security until boarding on my flight was supposedly closed, but that got me to the top of the line and then I outright ran through the airport to make it to the gate, just to find that Ryanair and only just started boarding our flight. I was so sure that I was going to miss the flight I had sent the rest of the group a message saying I’ll see you in Genova, go ahead, but thankfully, I made it. Whew! We made it back safely, and a month later I finished the blog!
ter we set our stuff down we went down to “West End” which is really not a cohesive area like Broadway, instead the musicals are spread out EVERYWHERE! So we were quickly redirected to the Wicked theatre where we stood in line for fantastic student tickets. Then we walked to Buckingham palace and had lunch on lawn chairs in St. James Park, which was very relaxing. We went back to the hostel to move in, and this is when we had our first truly terrible experience with hostels. We had an 8 person mixed dorm because the Edens and Derrick were joining us in London, and as soon as we walked in we were overcome with a terrible stench which was coming from the 3 guys that apparently lived in these army style bunks. Well, needless to say, we got out of this situation very rapidly and went to the hotel right beside us for a much better stay. In the afternoon we went to the houses of parliament and saw Big Ben! Well actually we didn’t see Big Ben, we only saw the tower that houses Big Ben, because it is the bell inside. As soon as we stepped out of the Metro station we were right on top of it, and at first we didn’t think it was Big Ben until we noticed the millions of tourists taking pictures in front of it! Then we walked over to Westminster Abbey, but we shall save the inside for a later d
ate. We grabbed some dinner and then went to our 7:30 showing of WICKED!!!!!!!!!!! Our seats were front and center, just perfect for seeing the whole stage. I was very impressed by the show, considering I have had all the songs memorized for quite a while, it was awesome to be able to see how they combine all these songs into a full fledged musical! Although Galinda wasn’t my favorite (and never is, her voice is kind of obnoxious) Elphiba was phenomenal and she definitely did the part justice. This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip, being obsessed with musicals like I am.On Saturday we headed back to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards (since they only do it every other day during the “off-season”) and we waited around for hours in a huge crowd to see some guys march around. The best part was the end, when the band and guards came back out the central gate. Right before they started marching out, one of the horses guarding the gates decided that he couldn’t hold it in anymore and left a nice little present right in front of the gate. We thought for sure that the guards would just weave around it,, but no! Apparently they are not allowed to break formation for anything, so they had to walk right through it! Next we went to the evensong service at Westminster Abbey, because you can get into the church for free if you go during a service. This was very worth it because we got to sit right beside the choir, whic
h was gorgeous. Next we went across the river to see the Tower Bridge from which you have a great view of London. The skyline is flooded with famous architectural works by Richard Rodgers and Norman Foster, which are interestingly mixed with more historic buildings, making the skyline very eclectic. We crossed the bridge and walked along side of the river where we saw a slightly overweight actor in a unitard juggle on a unicycle—it was interesting to say the least. Then we headed towards Millenium Bridge and the Tate Modern just in time to watch the sunset over the river. We had a little dinner at a nice restaurant on the river, and then went inside the Tate Modern until closing. My favorite parts were the Monet and Pollock, but it was all nice, except for the exhibit where the man used animal sacrifice in his art work- that was highly disturbing. On our way home we stopped at the London Eye to get some good pictures, and then took the metro back.Sunday we took a day trip bus tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford. Mainly I wanted to do this trip for Stonehenge, but the others were definitely an added bonus. For those of you who don’t know, Windsor Castle is the favored castle of the queen right outside of London. When she is there they fly a special flag over the castle, so when we went we knew she was in! We took a tour inside and outside of the castle. One of my favorite parts was the queens dollhouse,, which is basically a very intricate doll house for the queen. The silverware in the dining room was made out of real silver! It was ridiculous! Another cool thing we saw inside was the armor of King Henry the eighth, which looks normal from the front, but as you look at it sideways on you can tell how hefty he really was! Oh okay one more interesting fact--- there is a large hall that has the family crests of those that have been knighted on the ceiling, however some of them are painted over grey. This is because when a knight falls from favor his shield is left up there in memory of his dishonor but they paint over it to show he is no longer considered a knigh
t. Kind of brutal, but I guess they didn’t get kicked out of knighthood for nothing. Then we hopped on the bus, and our next stop was Stonehenge in the Salisbury Plains. With the words of Eddie Izzard ringing in my head we walked around Stonehenge—which was a lot more condensed than I thought it was. It is surrounded by large plains filled with sheep, and besides that there is very little development around. The area is very mystical, especially since the stones seem so alien to their surroundings. Next we headed toward Oxford College, where we took a quick foot tour and got to see some scenes from Harry Potter! On the drive there we drove through the Forbidden Forest—which unfortunately is not quite as impressive in the sunshine and without the addition of computer animation. At Oxford we saw the lighting bolt in the pavement which inspired HP’s forehead scar, and then saw the infirmary/dorm spaces which will appear in the next HP movie, so I am just ahead of the game! We got to go into some of the “colleges” there at Oxford, and had enough time to purchase a souvenir t-shirt, and then we headed back to London for the night. That night we went to the IMAX and saw Watchmen on the big screen—it was nice to be able to see a movie in a theatre that was in English! Interesting movie and I liked it although those who were more familiar with the comics were not quite as impressed. We headed in late for the night and then woke up only after a few hours to catch a taxi to the airport and head back to Genova! This is when I concluded that I abhor Ryanair, because their system is very inefficient. I had to check my bag because it weighed over the limit of carry ons, but in order to pay for it you have to go to a separate line which also happens to be the line for ticket sales! SO I am standing in this huge long line for an hour when I only need to pay for my luggage, and then I have to go check it in somewhere else and then go drop it off at a different destination. I didn’t get to security until boarding on my flight was supposedly closed, but that got me to the top of the line and then I outright ran through the airport to make it to the gate, just to find that Ryanair and only just started boarding our flight. I was so sure that I was going to miss the flight I had sent the rest of the group a message saying I’ll see you in Genova, go ahead, but thankfully, I made it. Whew! We made it back safely, and a month later I finished the blog!~Heather
Video of the Evensong service in Westminster Abbey
No comments:
Post a Comment