London, 22 May 2011

Okay, here's the worst news I've ever heard:
Nottingham Castle is closed on Mondays. Of course, the day that I chose to go to Nottingham is tomorrow, which is a Monday. I'm very bitter.
But don't worry, I'm still planning on taking a bus up to Sherwood Forest to see some awesome trees. I spent $70 on this train ticket, so I'm not planning on wasting it. At all.

London has grown on me definitely, and I've discovered that I could live in a big city if I wanted to. Lacock, however, and Oxford, showed me that I would much rather live in a smaller city. There may not be as much to do, but there is a lot less hustle and bustle, and I think I prefer a quieter life. I could work in London, but not live here.

I took a nap today, which was very sad because I'm in London, but I was tired. So I slept. Besides, we didn't really have anything planned. It was nice to just lie on my bed with the window open and let the wind blow in while I dreamed. Though I don't really know what I dreamed about. I've had some pretty strange dreams here, and I really should have written some of them down. The only one I did write down was about a scorned mistress who decided to take the entire estate of her monarch husband under control while he was away at war, and she did so by using her torturing blow darts. "Choose your torture," she said to everyone. It was terrifying.

Anyway, London has been absolutely amazing, but I've reached the point where I'm ready to go back to the states. I've been thrown out of my element long enough, and I definitely like familiar surroundings. I'm used to here enough that I could stay longer if I needed to, but I miss the customs I know. So I don't mind as much as other people that I only have a couple of days left here. I definitely want to come back some day--it is so beautiful here!

Okay, so on Friday we took a bus to Oxford and Lacock to see some Harry Potter filming locations. Just wait until you see my pictures--incredible! We all got to geek out a bit. Or a lot. It was probably one of the greatest Harry Potter moments I've ever had. I've never really been much of a celebrity stalker, but I got extremely excited when I realized that I was standing in the same place that Alan Rickman stood in Snape's classroom, or where Tom Felton was turned into a ferret. And I walked through the same halls as Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. I'm that cool. Ah! I can't forget that Amber pushed me against the wall where Snape pushed Quirrell against the wall. We have that kind of relationship, you know.

I love being so enamored by a series of books, because it gives me something to get excited about. I didn't really have anything here in London that made me super excited--not like Amber at least. She's a big Sherlock Holmes fan, so this was heaven for her.

Well, I probably won't write another blog until I get home, seeing as I'll be in Nottingham all day tomorrow, and then I check out of Regent's College Tuesday morning. I will be basically internet-less until I get home. Which, in case you'd like to know, will be at four in the morning London time. That should be fun.

Until then!

London Days...uh

Yep, I've officially lost count. And, I never find the time to actually blog about things. At least I'm keeping a journal in a notebook, too, because I really don't want to forget anything.

Anyway, we got back from Scotland last night, and that country is absolutely beautiful! Because there were no giant fires, and no one bombed it during the wars, all of the buildings are super old and gorgeous. Especially the castle. The castle was pretty much awesome.

And I really can't believe how green everything is up there. It was cold and astonishingly windy, but it wasn't too bad, so I didn't really care. It was green, and green is something that I'll eventually need in my life.

Scotland taught me that I probably couldn't ever live in a big city in London. I mean, I can do it, I just don't want to. I prefer smaller towns. So maybe I should move to Scotland, because it is small AND green.

I wrote on a napkin in the Elephant House. (For those who don't know, J.K. Rowling did that with Harry Potter.) And apparently the director for the music students who came with us has seen Rowling walking around Edinburgh (she lived there for a bit), which just blows my mind. How would it be, walking down the street and seeing the greatest modern author ever? Olivia (the music teacher) wouldn't tell us where she lives, though, so we couldn't go stalk her. I was in a bathroom that she has used, though!

Anyway, I don't have a ton to say about Scotland at the moment. The train ride was pretty epic because it definitely felt like the ride to Hogwarts, but the two days we spent in Edinburgh felt more like a trip to Hogsmeade. And I got to experience a hostel, in which I got to be one of the lucky ones in the nice, clean, Sherlock Holmes-decorated room that had fourteen beds in the bunk style and overlooked the street.

Pretty soon we're going to go try to get tickets to Les Mis at a discounted price because it is the day of the show. Hopefully that works out, because I really want to see it! And if it doesn't work out, I'll be mad, because this excursion will have ruined my chance to see Wicked as well. But don't worry, I'm planning on going to see Phantom as well as Much Ado About Nothing. And I might try to go see the Wizard of Oz because--get this--Michael Crawford is the Wizard. Michael Crawford. As in the original Phantom. Michael Crawford. Anyway, that's the plans for my last few days in London (aside from some shopping moments and a tour of the BBC facilites, which should be interesting).

Okay, that's all I'm going to say for today.

London Days 4 and 5

Okay, I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday, so here's two posts in one:

Observations of the day(s):

1. Amber and I are master navigators. Our professor doesn't realize that. She doesn't trust us to find places on our own. But we really can.
2. Poetry readings are great and all, but when they are clear across the town and don't start until eight, we have a problem. I was so tired that I didn't even hear the alarm in the morning. Luckily, I managed to hear Aleshea get in her closet...
3. The Sherlock Holmes Restaurant is delicious. But I don't like the minimum ten pound order.
4. The British, adult, completely boxed set of Harry Potter is the coolest thing I've ever seen. I have to buy it. The covers are phenomenal.
5. Poetry libraries are a little boring. Except for Green Plagues and Lamb, the Dr. Suess version of the story of Moses in the form of Green Eggs and Ham.
6. Feet don't like walking all day.
7. St. Paul's Cathedral is absolutely gorgeous! I wish I could go inside.
8. Shopping in central London on a Friday night? Bad idea. I nearly got trampled in the shoe section. Apparently, though, that store is always like that.
9. The Birds is a very interesting movie.
10. Some parts of the tube are super confusion, but I think I've got it down now. No worries.
11. A ton of people smoke out here. Everywhere. On the street, outside buildings, in the park...everywhere. I actually miss the states because of this fact.
12. I miss my kitchen...
13. Chocolate here in England is so much better, and I wish I could buy some for everyone! As it is, that might be a little difficult. The Harry Potter boxed set is going to drain me of my money.
14. Talking about Harry Potter, especially in the middle of Regent's Park, never gets old.
15. Hyde Park? So beautiful!
16. I actually don't mind some modern art. Not all of it is good, but the Tate Museums (both Modern and Britain) showed me some good stuff.
17. Boats along the Thames are fun, but I wish I could have been further toward the edge of the boat. I couldn't get any good pictures.
18. I still have so many famous landmarks to see! And so little time!
19. Time definitely speeds up here in London. I'm pretty sure that it didn't actually take us five minutes to get from the boat to the shore. We're not that slow.
20. I CANNOT WAIT TO GO TO NOTTINGHAM!!!! Dream of a passion, that is, and I've finally convinced people to come with me.

I know there wasn't much detail in that, but that's okay. I can tell you all about it when I get home!

London Day Three

Okay, I'm going to try to be a little bit better about today. And I have pictures issues, so that's where Facebook is going to come in. They're all on there.

Anyway, we went to the British Museum today, which made me really really want to watch The Mummy Returns. But that's beside the point. We saw the coolest things, and we didn't even get to most of the museum! I saw the Rosetta Stone, ancient Greek statues and urns, mummies, and so many old English things that were just amazing! Oh, and a giant sword, which was probably one of my favorites. I have to go back so I can try to see the rest.

After that, we crossed the Millenium Bridge. For those of you who don't know, that is the bridge that the Death Eaters collapse in the beginning of the Half-blood Prince. Anyway, that was awesome, but not quite as cool as the Globe. We saw All's Well That Ends Well, which was a completely new play for me. It was pretty much hilarious, and exceptionally cool because we were groundlings and I was literally resting my arms on the stage. However, two and a half hours of standing is not fun.

I did try fish and chips, though I didn't buy my own batch. I'm still not a fish person, but I can now say that I've tried it. We killed two birds with one stone for this meal, because we had both fish and chips and ate in a pub, which was fun. The dining hall was upstairs, so it was really quiet. But it was fun.

We went to Chinatown again (before dinner, actually) to buy some awesome scarves that were super cheap, and wandered around for a little bit before coming back to the college, where we saw a bunch of sleeping ducks.

And I can't forget mentioning the massive amount of chocolate that I just bought. And it's delicious chocolate.

And, once again, we managed to navigate the Tube like pros.

At least I'm more awake today...

London Day 2

Here are some pictures so far:






Chinatown!

This is how many stairs I have to take to

get to my room. Because there isn't an elevator.

Above is Primrose Hill. Gorgeous!


Waiting for the train!

Our view of London from Primrose Hill.



Taking a taxi!

Okay, I think I may be more tired than I was last night. I'm certainly not thinking as clearly. It could be because I went to bed at ten and woke up at two. I fell back asleep, but I woke up again at six thirty. Anyway, the day started bright with the Hufflepuffs at breakfast--I actually ate an egg in which the yoke was runny. Crazy!

I can't even remember what happened today, really, so I'll just make a list of the things I saw:

1. The Parliament building, complete with the famous clock tower


2. The London Eye


3. Trafalgar Square


4. The National Gallery


5. Over 1000 original paintings, including works by Da Vinci and Van Gogh


6. The original, hand-written Canterbury Tales


7. The original Jane Eyre


8. Jane Austen's writing desk


9. Beethoven's tuning fork


10. Handel's Messiah (the original, of course)


11. Many red phone booths and double decker buses


12. Two of the original copies of the Magna Carta


13. Chinatown


14. Much of the Underground


15. An original piece by Mozart


16. A 3rd century copy of the Gospel of John


17. The complete works of Alexandre Dumas (48 volumes), and an old one at that


18. Darwin's copy of The Origin of Species


19. Original copies of Renaissance authors like Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson


20. Original, hand-written lyrics of the Beatles' songs. Yeah, John Lennon's handwriting.


21. Many, many tourists


22. How easily I have become one of the people who get annoyed by the Americans


23. The many places to eat that I couldn't eat in because we didn't have time

London Day 1

To make this easy on myself, I'm going to blog about things rather than write in a notebook. Actually, I'll probably end up doing both. This is just a way for other people to hear about my adventures.

Okay, my journey started at nine in the morning at the Salt Lake Airport when I had a little freak out, thinking that I had left my passport at home. That would have been very bad. Luckily, I found it lurking in the bottom of my backpack, so I was able to check my bags and head over to security. Going through that was a cinch, and the biggest problem I had was waiting to board the plane. The flight was easy, calm, and I had a window seat, so there really wasn't much to complain about. I did, however, get to experience airplane bathrooms for the first time. We landed in Chicago around three (Chicago time), then got to spend the next three hours sitting in the O'Hare International airport eating cheap McDonalds because I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg to get a bagel. Then we boarded the huge 777, and the longest flight in the world began.

Of course, I was almost in the middle of the 5-seat middle aisle. That was fun. Dinner (curry, rice, and veggies) was slightly disgusting, but I ate most of it anyway, and then I settled down to try to sleep, watching bits of I Am Number Four and Tron: Legacy. I didn't finish either of them. And I probably slept less than two hours total.

We landed in London around nine (2 AM Utah time), and had to go to a different terminal to meet up with the other groups who were flying in around the same time. Dr. Bishop got lost in his search for one group, so we ended up having to wait an hour longer than we planned. This, in turn, made us get to the train later, and then to the taxis later. (The taxis were awesome, by the way!) The arrival at Regent's College, however, made everything better. It is the most beautiful campus I have ever seen, and this is probably because it is smack dab in the middle of Regent's Park. I could walk around the campus and park all day and still find new things to see.

After lunch (which was better than anything I ever ate at SUU's cafeteria), we did the dirty work of buying shampoo and other such necessary items. After that was the Oyster car (for the Tube), and then a long time waiting for everyone to get a phone. I didn't get a phone, though, because I'm too cool for that. And didn't want to pay for it. That put us to dinner, which was also delicious, and then a hike to Primrose Hill, which gave us an amazing view of the London skyline.

By this time, we were all pretty much dead on our feet, except for those who came early and have already adjusted. And here I am now, far too excited to want to go to bed, but way too tired to stay awake for much longer. So, until tomorrow.