After over 24 hours of traveling, two uncomfortable planes, one really long layover, boarder control, customs, and one piece of lost luggage (grrr), I am finally back in the States! London was wonderful, but it is great to be back home!
From now on I will be updating my normal, every-day, relatively less international blog:
http://acollyer.blogspot.com/
Happy Blogging!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The Tube Strike!
The past couple of days there has been a tube strike going on here. The tube workers are protesting for a pay raise, and the strike is the biggest pain ever!
Almost none of the tubes are running, so everyone is taking buses everywhere. Most of the buses are so full that they don't even stop at every stop. Each bus stop has about seventy people waiting to get on, pushing and shoving each other when any bus comes around!
Luckily, there I have figured out a way to avoid the masses...walk. This week I have just been walking everywhere, and it is kind of fun! Harrods is about a thirty minute walk away, and the theatres are only about an hour away. With the tube strike, taking the bus or a taxi takes over an hour, so walking is the best way to get around! Plus, I get to see some cool stores that I otherwise would have missed out on. Overall, the tube strike is not so bad for me.
Yesterday I went down to the theatre district to catch the last of my shows on my must-see list. What did I see?
and
Both shows were absolutely amazing! Hairspray was especially exciting because I went with a girl in the program named Tracy. :)
These were the last two shows on my list of absolute must-sees, so I am feeling really good about myself right now. Here is a list of all the shows I have seen while here:
1. Sunset Boulevard
2. Romeo and Juliet
3. Alphabetical Order
4. Wicked
5. Twelfth night
6. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat
7. Time and the Conways
8. The Lion King
9. Carousel
10. All's Well that Ends Well
11. The Cherry Orchard
12. The Phantom of the Opera
13. Waiting for Godot
14. Much Ado About Nothing
15. The Comedy of Errors
16. War Horse
17. The Winter's Tale
18. As You Like It
19. Mama Mia
20. Peter Pan
21. Les Miserables
22. Hairspray
Almost none of the tubes are running, so everyone is taking buses everywhere. Most of the buses are so full that they don't even stop at every stop. Each bus stop has about seventy people waiting to get on, pushing and shoving each other when any bus comes around!
Luckily, there I have figured out a way to avoid the masses...walk. This week I have just been walking everywhere, and it is kind of fun! Harrods is about a thirty minute walk away, and the theatres are only about an hour away. With the tube strike, taking the bus or a taxi takes over an hour, so walking is the best way to get around! Plus, I get to see some cool stores that I otherwise would have missed out on. Overall, the tube strike is not so bad for me.
Yesterday I went down to the theatre district to catch the last of my shows on my must-see list. What did I see?
and
Both shows were absolutely amazing! Hairspray was especially exciting because I went with a girl in the program named Tracy. :)These were the last two shows on my list of absolute must-sees, so I am feeling really good about myself right now. Here is a list of all the shows I have seen while here:
1. Sunset Boulevard
2. Romeo and Juliet
3. Alphabetical Order
4. Wicked
5. Twelfth night
6. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat
7. Time and the Conways
8. The Lion King
9. Carousel
10. All's Well that Ends Well
11. The Cherry Orchard
12. The Phantom of the Opera
13. Waiting for Godot
14. Much Ado About Nothing
15. The Comedy of Errors
16. War Horse
17. The Winter's Tale
18. As You Like It
19. Mama Mia
20. Peter Pan
21. Les Miserables
22. Hairspray
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
It's My Birthday!
Things I got to do on my birthday:
Take a Final. Bad.
Go to the Hard Rock Cafe Store. Good. :)
Shop at Harrods. Better!
See Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Best!
I think I found a new obsession. Peter Pan at Kensington Gardens is the best piece of Theatre I have ever seen! Seeing the play performed in the park where the story was inspired was very magical. There was flying and pirates and crocodiles and Indians and fairies and everything you could ever dream of!
Take a Final. Bad.
Go to the Hard Rock Cafe Store. Good. :)
Shop at Harrods. Better!
See Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Best!
I think I found a new obsession. Peter Pan at Kensington Gardens is the best piece of Theatre I have ever seen! Seeing the play performed in the park where the story was inspired was very magical. There was flying and pirates and crocodiles and Indians and fairies and everything you could ever dream of!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Mama Mia!
Finals are coming up, so I won't have as many opportunities to do exciting things, but I could not leave the country without seeing Mama Mia!
I loved the show! It was a blast! The characters had me laughing the whole time!
At the end of the show, the entire audience got up and danced! I absolutely loved it!
I loved the show! It was a blast! The characters had me laughing the whole time!
At the end of the show, the entire audience got up and danced! I absolutely loved it!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
A day in the life of a BYU London Theatre Student
I have a funny little story to tell you. It is more of a personal ritual than a story, but it is 100% true. Some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent. :)
In the morning, May wakes up to the sound of her alarm clock. She stretches a little, then gets up to spend a few minutes in the shower, lovingly dubbed "The Torture Chamber." The Torture Chamber is unique because, unlike most showers, The Torture Chamber does not always mix the hot and cold water. So May crosses her fingers and turns on the shower. She spends about five minutes switching the temperature from blistering hot to absolutely freezing, trying to avoid the spluttering stream of water that fills the entire tub. She fails at finding a happy medium.
She turns off the water, hops out of the shower, and turns on the sink. With the sink running, she turns on The Torture Chamber again. Magical! When the sink is running, the hot and cold water mix! Unfortunately, the sink as to be on full blast for this miracle to occur. The faucet sprays faster than the drain drains, and the sink will soon overflow if May does not hop back out of the shower and turn off the sink. She does so, and the shower water ceases to mix once again. A vicious cycle.
When May is finally done with The Torture Chamber, she makes her bed, organizes her books, and skips down the hall to the shared kitchen. As it were, May does not mind sharing a kitchen with the entire flat, because of the comfortable consistency it offers. The kitchen is consistently over-crowded, the fridge is consistently full of rotting food that no one will claim, and the mountain of dirty dishes by the sink is growing consistently. She begins to realize the truth in the statement that "foolish consistency is the Hob-Goblin of little minds." (Name that author and you get bumped up on the coolness scale).
May exits the kitchen, skips down the hall, snatches her satchel, and is off to class! On the way, once again, she looks the wrong direction while crossing the street and almost gets run over by a cab driver. Like all British Cabby's, he doesn't even try to swerve out of the way in an attempt to miss her. May begins to wonder if, in the Cabby business, there is glory in hitting a pedestrian. Maybe a twenty-year-old college student is something to brag about. She decides this is the case and re-commits herself to be more careful next time she reaches an intersection.
Class, as it were, is horrible dull. May pinches her arms and flexes her leg muscles in an attempt to stay awake, but once again, dozes. She dreams of the dramatic unities, hamartia, Godot, blank verse, and, of course, "Exit, pursued by bear." Just as the dream is starting to get good, the student next to her comments on whatever conversation is going on in the class, arousing her from her peaceful dreams. Class ends.
May spends the rest of the afternoon doing whatever she wants, whenever she wants, where ever she wants. She is satisfied, and at night, climbs into her not-so-cozy bed and sleeps soundly. Such is a day in the life of May.
Yeah, I probably had more fun writing it than you had reading it. I was laughing the whole time.
In the morning, May wakes up to the sound of her alarm clock. She stretches a little, then gets up to spend a few minutes in the shower, lovingly dubbed "The Torture Chamber." The Torture Chamber is unique because, unlike most showers, The Torture Chamber does not always mix the hot and cold water. So May crosses her fingers and turns on the shower. She spends about five minutes switching the temperature from blistering hot to absolutely freezing, trying to avoid the spluttering stream of water that fills the entire tub. She fails at finding a happy medium.
She turns off the water, hops out of the shower, and turns on the sink. With the sink running, she turns on The Torture Chamber again. Magical! When the sink is running, the hot and cold water mix! Unfortunately, the sink as to be on full blast for this miracle to occur. The faucet sprays faster than the drain drains, and the sink will soon overflow if May does not hop back out of the shower and turn off the sink. She does so, and the shower water ceases to mix once again. A vicious cycle.
When May is finally done with The Torture Chamber, she makes her bed, organizes her books, and skips down the hall to the shared kitchen. As it were, May does not mind sharing a kitchen with the entire flat, because of the comfortable consistency it offers. The kitchen is consistently over-crowded, the fridge is consistently full of rotting food that no one will claim, and the mountain of dirty dishes by the sink is growing consistently. She begins to realize the truth in the statement that "foolish consistency is the Hob-Goblin of little minds." (Name that author and you get bumped up on the coolness scale).
May exits the kitchen, skips down the hall, snatches her satchel, and is off to class! On the way, once again, she looks the wrong direction while crossing the street and almost gets run over by a cab driver. Like all British Cabby's, he doesn't even try to swerve out of the way in an attempt to miss her. May begins to wonder if, in the Cabby business, there is glory in hitting a pedestrian. Maybe a twenty-year-old college student is something to brag about. She decides this is the case and re-commits herself to be more careful next time she reaches an intersection.
Class, as it were, is horrible dull. May pinches her arms and flexes her leg muscles in an attempt to stay awake, but once again, dozes. She dreams of the dramatic unities, hamartia, Godot, blank verse, and, of course, "Exit, pursued by bear." Just as the dream is starting to get good, the student next to her comments on whatever conversation is going on in the class, arousing her from her peaceful dreams. Class ends.
May spends the rest of the afternoon doing whatever she wants, whenever she wants, where ever she wants. She is satisfied, and at night, climbs into her not-so-cozy bed and sleeps soundly. Such is a day in the life of May.
Yeah, I probably had more fun writing it than you had reading it. I was laughing the whole time.
Friday, June 5, 2009
More Shakespeare Sights and Oxford!
We left Stratford for London yesterday, which I found rather sad. I love Stratford! It is kind of a small town, but I had a blast while we were there. On the way out, we hit up two more famous Shakespeare sights.
The first place we went was Anne Hathaway's Cottage. Anne Hathaway was Shakespeare's wife. Funny story, he was 18 and she was 26 when they got married. Why did they get married with a rather strange generation gap? Because he got her pregnant. Whoops!
After the cottage, we went to Mary Arden's Farm. Mary Arden was Shakespeare's mom. The farm is still a working farm, and I really liked it a lot. They even had ripening cheese in the servants room! Stinky!
Then we left Stratford for good. It would be heartbreaking...if we hadn't hit up Oxford next!
Oxford was wonderful! The campus is built all over the city and is not centralized at all. one minute you are looking at a pub, then at the History Faculty building. Now you are looking at a castle, and now the Bodleian Library! Really cool city.
One of the Major tourist attractions is Christ's Church. This is where a lot of the scenes from Harry Potter were filmed.
The most notable room in Christ's Church is the great hall from Harry Potter! The great hall actually wasn't filmed here, but Hollywood modeled their own set after this room, and just left the ceiling off. So cool!
One of my most favorite buildings in Oxford was the Bodleian Library. We couldn't get into the actual library part, but we got into one of the rooms; see if you recognize it...
No? That is okay. If didn't recognize it until someone told me. In the first Harry Potter movie, this is the infirmary. In the Goblet of Fire, this is where the students are learning how to dance for the Yule Ball. The room was awesome! Check out the Ceiling and the side door!
Can you guess what this building is used for? How about a reading room? Yeah, great idea! Lets make a magnificent building and have it be a reading room! I love it. I wish we could go inside, but it is for students only. I really wanted to read in there!
Take a look at this little pub. It is very, very special:
The actual name for it is the Eagle and Child, but most people call it the Bird and Baby. A group of writers called "The Inklings" met here every Tuesday from 1939 to 1962 to drink and discuss literature and simply be intelligent. Two of the most famous Inklings are C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Here I am reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis in front of the place where he may have written part of it! I am in awe.
The last thing we hit up in Oxford was the castle. We came to the place on the map where the Castle was supposed to be, and this is what we found:
Not much of a castle, if you ask me. But then walk around the back and...
Vwalla! A castle! I love England. Things really do feel magical here, especially the castles that come out of no where!
The first place we went was Anne Hathaway's Cottage. Anne Hathaway was Shakespeare's wife. Funny story, he was 18 and she was 26 when they got married. Why did they get married with a rather strange generation gap? Because he got her pregnant. Whoops!
After the cottage, we went to Mary Arden's Farm. Mary Arden was Shakespeare's mom. The farm is still a working farm, and I really liked it a lot. They even had ripening cheese in the servants room! Stinky!
Then we left Stratford for good. It would be heartbreaking...if we hadn't hit up Oxford next!Oxford was wonderful! The campus is built all over the city and is not centralized at all. one minute you are looking at a pub, then at the History Faculty building. Now you are looking at a castle, and now the Bodleian Library! Really cool city.
One of the Major tourist attractions is Christ's Church. This is where a lot of the scenes from Harry Potter were filmed.
The most notable room in Christ's Church is the great hall from Harry Potter! The great hall actually wasn't filmed here, but Hollywood modeled their own set after this room, and just left the ceiling off. So cool!
One of my most favorite buildings in Oxford was the Bodleian Library. We couldn't get into the actual library part, but we got into one of the rooms; see if you recognize it...
No? That is okay. If didn't recognize it until someone told me. In the first Harry Potter movie, this is the infirmary. In the Goblet of Fire, this is where the students are learning how to dance for the Yule Ball. The room was awesome! Check out the Ceiling and the side door!
Can you guess what this building is used for? How about a reading room? Yeah, great idea! Lets make a magnificent building and have it be a reading room! I love it. I wish we could go inside, but it is for students only. I really wanted to read in there!
Take a look at this little pub. It is very, very special:
The actual name for it is the Eagle and Child, but most people call it the Bird and Baby. A group of writers called "The Inklings" met here every Tuesday from 1939 to 1962 to drink and discuss literature and simply be intelligent. Two of the most famous Inklings are C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Here I am reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis in front of the place where he may have written part of it! I am in awe.
The last thing we hit up in Oxford was the castle. We came to the place on the map where the Castle was supposed to be, and this is what we found:
Not much of a castle, if you ask me. But then walk around the back and...
Vwalla! A castle! I love England. Things really do feel magical here, especially the castles that come out of no where!
Shakespeare and a Bike Ride
The second day in Stratford was our only full day there, and it was wonderful. I love the feel of Stratford! It is just such a beautiful town!
I especially liked these boats. Each one is named after a Shakespearean heroin. I especially liked the "Ophelia" boat. didn't she drown in Hamlet? Yeah, I think I will pass up a ride in that one!
On Wednesday morning, we went to a whole bunch of Shakespearean landmarks. The highlights were:
Shakespeare's birthplace
Nash's house (Shakespeare's grandaughter and her husband lived here. This is where Shakespeare died)
John Hall's house (Shakespeare's daughter and her husband lived here. John Hall was a doctor, and Shakespeare learned a lot about medicine from him):
And the Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is burried:
In the afternoon, two other girls and I went on a bike ride through the surrounding countryside. The bike ride was absolutely beautiful! This may have been the highlight of Stratford for me.
Overall, I absolutely love Stratford-Upon-Avon. It is a wonderful town!
I especially liked these boats. Each one is named after a Shakespearean heroin. I especially liked the "Ophelia" boat. didn't she drown in Hamlet? Yeah, I think I will pass up a ride in that one!
On Wednesday morning, we went to a whole bunch of Shakespearean landmarks. The highlights were:Shakespeare's birthplace
Nash's house (Shakespeare's grandaughter and her husband lived here. This is where Shakespeare died)
John Hall's house (Shakespeare's daughter and her husband lived here. John Hall was a doctor, and Shakespeare learned a lot about medicine from him):
And the Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is burried:
In the afternoon, two other girls and I went on a bike ride through the surrounding countryside. The bike ride was absolutely beautiful! This may have been the highlight of Stratford for me.
Overall, I absolutely love Stratford-Upon-Avon. It is a wonderful town!
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