A Look Back at London

Reflecting at the Roman Baths, you know.

I remember sitting in the Callaway Building at Emory, casually checking my email between classes as my eyes darted downward to see the subject line about my acceptance into the London 2012 program. Though adrenaline pumped through my body before, during, and after reading that email, there was no way in anticipating the truly incredible experience that I was about to have. Looking back to six weeks ago, I left Milan with anxiety and nerves interspersed with excitement. My time in London will be something that I remember for the rest of my life. Going home, I don’t necessarily feel like a completely changed person. What I have gotten out of this experience is a better understanding of myself, my interests, and my love for travel. I’ve learned that I can navigate a city on my own, be almost as good of a personal travel agent as my mom is, and open myself up to new life experiences. I’ve learned that it’s okay to not have a plan, as much as I like structuring my day, and just go with the flow to see where your footsteps take you. I’ve felt the power of a unified and spirited nation, from being here during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and singing with thousands of people in Hyde Park. I’ve expanded my understanding of the Olympics to a great extent, and have had a taste of the extensive work that goes into being a host city. I’ve confirmed my love of learning about a wide array of subjects, whether it be from onsite visits, tours, guest speakers, or museums. I’ve become connected with the arts and theatre again in a way which I know will motivate me to seek out exhibits and performances on my own for personal enjoyment. I’ve broadened my palate, from Polish sandwiches to Paella to Perfect Chicken. I’ve made connections with individuals from different backgrounds and interests, united by our time and experiences in London. I’ve learned to open beer and cider bottles solely using my hand and a table ledge, a skill perfected over six weeks without a bottle opener. I’ve crossed things off of a bucket list, and instead of regretting what I didn’t get to-am saving them for next time I am in the wonderful city of London.
            I’ve been incredibly reflective upon my time here in the past week. Like I have said, things as simple as walking around various parts of the city to take in the sites, smells, and noises have been so meaningful in themselves. I’ll miss the aroma of Yo! Sushi, .60 miles into normal route for running. I’ll miss feeling impressive when I jaywalk first, and have native Londoners follow my lead rather than me follow theirs. I’ll miss the necessity of getting caffeinated at Café Nero before lectures. I’ll miss the “Righto”’s, “Mhmm. Yup. That’s right.”’s, and the sidebars..not to mention the “Am I right, ladies?” and “Helloooo felllasss.” I’ll miss the friends I made here, a group that meshed so well together from the start-guaranteed to make the best of a boring lecture or to have a great time together regardless of where we went out. I’ll miss the diversity and possibility of everything London. I could go on forever, but intricacies above reflect the minute parts of my experience here that truly made it all the while. I’m overwhelmed with gratefulness for the opportunity, to both travel to Italy with my team but also largely to have been in London at this specific point in time. Thankful beyond measure to my parents in getting me here, and those who have aided in or journeyed with me along the way. London will forever have a special place in my heart, and I cannot wait to go back there again someday.

6/30-6/31: The Journey Home

That all brings me today (Saturday), the day where we left our home for five weeks to go to our respective destinations around the world or United States. Goodbyes/see you later’s began in the evening the night before and continued into the morning. We got one last English breakfast at Café Maya and ate back at the flat as we were waiting for the cab. At 11:00 AM, our final goodbye was said to Jasper as me, Mike, Margot, and Moira piled into a cab to travel to Heathrow. Right as we were pulling into Terminal 5, the song “Home” by Michael Buble came on the radio. It was almost too fitting to have been real, but it happened. I said my final goodbyes to them and lugged my overabundant bagged into the airport. The check-in process actually went really fast. I had a few hours to kill once I got through security, so I hung out in around the A Gates, the same place where my team hung out waiting for our connecting flight to Italy. Thus, another full circle moment. I couldn’t believe that just over six weeks ago I was there with my teammates, awaiting our ten day adventure through Northern Italy. Once my gate finally popped up on the screen, I made my way to C63 and waited to board my British Airways flight. I was delighted to hear that I got upgraded when I got to the ticket counter to check in.

            That all brings me to right now (middle of the day Saturday), sitting in my business class reclining seat/bed/nook. This is nothing compared to a normal intercontinental first class, which I have flown once. I feel spoiled and ignorant sitting here. I made eye contact with a girl who looks about my age who also got upgraded, we excited excitingly dumbfounded looks. I explored the different features of my seat before taking off and read through the extensive menu they gave us. I spent the beginning of my flight watching 21 Jump Street with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, which was hilarious. Last time I tried to watch this was at Emory with a few of the guys. By watch I mean connected a laptop to the television and tried to watch an illegally recorded version online. I think this is much better ;) The lunch I was served was the most extensive one I have eaten on this trip, haha. Salad, salmon appetizer, and a risotto and seafood dish have been keeping me incredibly full and content throughout the entirety of the eight hour flight. It also says there is a snack bar area at the gallery, but I don’t know where that is so I’m just sticking to my seat, haha. The second movie I watched was one with Jason Segal and Andy Bernard from the Office, his name is slipping my mind right now. It was interesting, wasn’t the greatest movie but they’re both always hilarious. Now I finally have caught up with my blogging, my eyelids are definitely heavy between the late evenings and lack of sleep due to the spring coated beds. I am definitely looking forward to my bed at home, you know there’s something wrong when you’re seat/bed on the plane is more comfortable than the bed you’ve been sleeping in for the past five weeks. For now, bidding adieu until I wrap this post up later during my connecting flight from Atlanta to Washington, DC.

            Okay so that all brings me to now now (Monday afternoon in Starbucks), I’m home but want to detail the rest of my journey back. Connecting flight from Atlanta to Washington, DC didn’t actually happen until Sunday morning. Once I got through customs, got my bags, re-checked them, went through security again, and got Qdoba for dinner, I made my way to the gate. While just sitting around they asked for volunteers to give up their seats for the flight that evening. I ended up bumping my flight until the morning. After waiting for a while to get my hotel voucher sorted out for the night, I navigated to ground transportation to find the shuttle for the quality Motel 6 they set me up in. The Atlanta air hit me in the face as I walked outside. I couldn’t believe how hot it was even at 10:30-11:00 at night, which still makes me question how we’re able to make it through preseason every year in these temperatures. I know it’s a heat wave now, but hopefully it’ll cool down a tad before we go back to school in August! Anyway, after about 20 more minutes of groggy, tired waiting the shuttle game and a group of us piled on. We cued to get our room keys and I headed up to the sixth level for the night. At this point, I wasn’t concerned about the quality of the place where I stayed, I just wanted to get some sleep. And that I did, in a King sized bed. As my house is still without power and AC, I didn’t mind bumping my flight until the morning. Plus I got $400 Delta Dollars in the bank to use within the year, which I definitely plan on doing so for either getaways or visiting friends during the Spring J After uploading some pictures from the last week, I hit the hay for six hours until my wake up call.

            Finally, finally took the last leg of my journey home on Sunday morning. Exhausted from traveling and late nights, I was a little draggy throughout the day but excited to be heading home. The flight from Atlanta to DC was painless as usual, aside from a bit of turbulance. I got in around 11:30 AM where Papa Stein came to pick me up and meet me at baggage claim, a dozen roses and all. Apparently my baggage still came in on Saturday night, even though I didn’t do so myself. It took us about seven minutes to realize that they were there and not coming around the baggage loop with everything else. After getting all of my stuff, we headed home to a house with no electricity or air conditioning, woohoo! When I was going through the Atlanta airport, I noticed that my body was definitely still in London mode. I walked to the left side to try and go down the escalators, wrong move. I also tried to pay $11.25 for an $11.33 meal, thinking that the quarter was equivalent to the 50 pence coin in London. Not to mention I also almost walked into the men’s bathroom and then almost dropped my phone into the toilet…was thinking that they were all signs saying I should go back to London. Once we arrived at home, I gave my family all of their souvineers from both Italy and London. I passed out for about 30 minutes before we went to Champp’s to watch the Euro 2012 final!

6/27-6/29: Wrapping Up in London: Matilda the Musical, Dr. Dee, and Soaking It All In

6/27

Lunch box from Thai Square.

            Wednesday morning I went on a really nice run down the Thames. Instead of just going down to Blackfriars Bridge then to Waterloo and wherever from there, I kept running toward the footbridge that crossed over to the area of the South Bank where the London Eye is. I dodged people traffic and crossed the bridge and headed back east. Though we have spent some time around the Eye and Southbank Centre, we hadn’t been to the area between the Southbank Centre and Blackfriars. I ran by an outdoor bookstore and a few outdoor bars with artsy seating and architecture. When I’m back in London this will definitely be an area I will spend more time in. After I got back and ready for the day, Margot and I headed over to the Cambridge Theatre in Covent Garden to try and snag some tickets to Matilda the Musical. We got there around 1:00 PM, and there were already a few people waiting for return tickets as they had sold out. We decided to grab lunch at Thai Square, a restaurant we had passed on the bus that boasted about its recent winning of a best restaurant award. I hadn’t gotten Thai food yet since I had been in London, even though it is one of my favorites, so I was excited. We both got lunch boxes that ended up being way too much food, but it was delicious.

The BEAUTIFUL Matilda stage.

            Following lunch, we went back to the theatre and cued (I think American English should start using this phrase, it’s much simpler than saying “got in line”) to wait for return tickets. Unfortunately they only had enough for one of us. Margot being the awesome, selfless person she is insisted on myself taking the ticket. I hesitated and felt bad at first, but after her persistence I finally decided to just get the ticket and go by myself (she ended up getting to see it on Friday though J). Matilda was by far one of my favorite musicals that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been lucky enough to have seen a decent amount. I laughed, I almost cried, I grinned nonstop, I was completely engulfed in the show. It was by far one of the most dynamic, creative, and impressive performances I have ever seen. The children, who made up half the cast, had loads upon loads of talent. I was so impressed with their singing, acting, choreography, and the like. I can’t get over the creativity of the set and how the actors and actresses oftentimes intertwined the set with their choreography, namely in “School Song” with the letter blocks/gate of the school and with “When I Grow Up” and the swings. Seriously though, I would see this again in a second-especially as it is coming to Broadway in the fall! And yes, they do include the cake scene in the musical version J My favorite characters were probably Matilda, Bruce, Sergio (Matilda’s brother, hilariously recreated in the musical) and Ms. Trunchbull (spoiler alert: she’s played by a man in the musical, hilarious). I cannot say enough good things about the show. I bought the soundtrack right when I got home and have been listening nonstop since then. I apologize in advance for any ranting and raving I do about the show in the next few months. After the show, I decided to walk home as it was nice out and Covent Garden is about a mile and a half away from the flats. I stopped at Bea’s on the way back to get Margot a cupcake for her kindness in letting me get the ticket. When I got home I cooked myself dinner and just hung out for the rest of the evening as I was pretty exhausted.

6/28

           

            Thursday morning I began my day with another run. This last week I have honestly have been spending a lot of time while I’ve been running or walking just reflecting upon my time in the city and really just taking in the city and all of its senses. It’s almost been sort of a mental and therapeutic closure for me, just exploring the different neighborhoods and thinking back upon all that I have seen. I went to Café Nero in the afternoon to try and get some work done which proved unsuccessful. I decided to head over to Covent Garden again and just walk around there, soaking more of London in. We had to meet our professor at 5:15 PM to get our tickets to Dr. Dee so I had a few hours to kill. I mainly used my internal compass to get around, which was pretty good by the end of the trip, not really caring if I got lost. I eventually made my way down to the National Portrait Gallery. This was a museum I was a little ehh about visiting, as it wasn’t on my “must-see” list, but I’m very happy that I took the time to go in. I most greatly enjoyed the more recent portraits. I really enjoyed the variety in technique of the more modern portraits. One of my favorites was the one of David Beckham, naturally. It definitely wasn’t a traditional portrait, as it was a video on loop of him sleeping in bed. My favorite portraits were also the ones that made my put my nose millimeters from the canvas to discern whether or not it was a photograph-all of the times I had to do this, it was in fact not a photograph. That is what blew my mind the most. The intricacies of someones facial features-from the veins in their eyes to the wrinkles running along their cheeks-recreated from oil pastel or whichever medium was incredibly impressive. I read in my Fodor’s book that they had a restaurant/bar on the top floor, and because I had about 20 more minutes to kill I decided to go up there. I ended up getting a bellini and enjoying the view of Trafalgar Square and the rooftops of London.

English National Opera's Dr. Dee.

            When 5:15 PM came around, we met in the lobby to collect our tickets then we were told we had some more time to kill before the pre-show talk led by Professor Cook. We hung out at the Café Nero next door and got some coffee. Once we filed into our temporary seats by the Dress Circle bar, Professor Cook began leading the pre-performance talk. I had initially thought that this was just going to be a talk with our professors, a few actors, the director, and the composer-but it turns out it was a ticketed event that was being recorded for a podcast (I am guessing for one of Professor Cook’s BBC Radio arts broadcasts). The two performers discussed their role, and the director took us about his vision and the process of collaborating on the piece. I am most grateful for this presentation as it gave me a fairly good background to the show so I was able to follow along better during it. The show itself was..interesting to say the least. Dr. Dee is about man from the early 18^th century who essentially acted as an oracle, made some predications and sometimes played advisor to the Queen. I honestly didn’t really follow the first act, and only did more for the second act because it was discussed more in depth during the pre-performance talk. Like I said about my experience seeing a play at the Globe, though I didn’t totally get the show, I enjoyed the experience of seeing my first opera. One thing I was surprised with was the variety of music within it. I was expecting the traditional belting-out opera singer throughout-but the opera singing was interspersed with more contemporary sounds in addition to one of the directors who would play the acoustic guitar and sing every so often. Fun fact: that guy is also a member of Gorillaz. After the show, the professors took us to a late dinner at Pizza Express down the road. I had a delicious grilled vegetable salad with goat cheese, something I had been craving from there since the last time we went before the Globe. It was a definitely nice conclusion to the class and one last big dinner together. That was probably the point where I realized that my journey in London was really coming to a close. Sitting at the table with my ten other classmates and reflecting upon how much we had done and learned together was really a moment of thankfulness for me.

Group on the last night at Picadilly Institute.

After finally wrapping dinner up around 11:45 PM, we headed back to the flats where we debated about whether or not to go out. I ended up going back to Picadilly Institute with Lucie, Eleni, Carter, Mike and Jasper. This is probably the occurrence that began the events that really came full circle from the beginning. This was the club that we went to on our first night out. Both times were also coincidently marked by us accessorizing at the club, the first time with a straw hat and goggles being passed around-this time with a glittery top hat. We wandered through the many different rooms that made up the club, each with their own personality-still proving to be one of my favorite venues in terms of decoration and set up. There was even the same DJ in the 90’s/00’s throwback room, as we went on Saturdays both times. Our time there winded down with his mixing of a Destiny’s Child song with Mambo No. 5 per my request (I told him it was written about me). After the club I went to the casino with Jasper and Mike to hang out and extend our evening, the same one I went to before when the guys wanted to watch the NBA finals. All I really did there was watch ESPN America-which was playing the X-Games and also showed a few highlights of the Redskins acquiring RG3 and some from a Nats game, which I got really excited about. At around 5:00 AM we finally left the casino to Leicester Square already plenty illuminated by daylight. We wandered around (interspersed with some skipping around on my behalf) trying to find a bus to get us back. I don’t know why seeing sunlight then is rejuvenating for me. It was just another seemingly minor experience that helped me see the city and explore its streets in a new light-quite literally. I finally got back to the flats around 5:20 AM, and was tempted to just stay up and hit the gym at 6:00 AM to lift. Especially because Jasper told me he’d cook me breakfast if I did so. Despite that incentive, exhaustion finally began to hit me when I got in and I went to bed until 11:00  AM.

           

6/29

Atop the London Eye!

            Friday morning and early afternoon I spent packing and trying to get all of my stuff organized for my departure on Saturday. I went to the gym to get one last lift in at LA Fitness then went to Faraday one last time to print out my boarding pass. My sentimentality really began to sink in then, especially as the goodbyes to our friends from the other classes had already begun as many were traveling this weekend. When I came back to Gazzano I found out that some people had gotten tickets to the London Eye. I luckily showered and got ready just in time to get a ticket and leave to go with them. I’m actually very happy that we waited to ride the London Eye until our last day. It was a very symbolic way of closing our journey in London. It was nice to be able to recognize buildings and parts of the city on our own, and reflect back upon our time at each of them. Though it was looking like an overcast evening (we up went around 7:00 PM), the clouds slowly moved east revealing a sunset and blue skies dotted with more-white-than-grey clouds. After our thirty minute trip around the Eye, we decided to stop by a pub before heading home. Walking along the Thames and down the Strand, I led everyone to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a historic pub that I have been wanting to go to since reading about it in Fodors. Located about halfway between the Eye and our flats, it seemed like the perfect place to stop. Not to mention it was one last thing to knock of my bucket list J

            The pub definitely lives up to being “ye olde” and the atmosphere is such also. The sign to the right of the front door proclaims “Under 15 Sovereigns: Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Rebuilt 1657, in the reign of Charles II and continued successively in the Reigns of James II (1702-1714)…….Elizabeth II (1952). All of the sovereign king and queens were listed in between, really giving a perspective on how archaic the pub is. As we descended the staircase down two flights, there were tables literally in every nook and cranny. Ducking our heads, our feet shuffled downwards along the woodchip dusted floor until we settled in at a long wooden table. I tried a pint of Smith’s organic wheat ale, which was pretty good. Some of us spent some quality time at a 63 bus stop with an incredibly intoxicated man before finally catching one back toward our flat. Myself, Lauren, and Jessie went to Perfect Chicken for our last dinner-once again, another “full circle” moment. When we walked in Reese was as bubbly as ever, but he was definitely lamenting in our departure with us. “AMERICA!” he yelled cheerfully as I walked in, a greeting that I will definitely miss and a nickname I will probably never be called again. I can’t remember if I talked about this before, but Reese has been calling me “America” since the second time we went there. He misheard my friends when they tried to tell him my name is Erica, and thought it was America…it’s stuck since then J As we were discussing how sad we were about leaving, I was clearly pouting and he came over and grabbed my cheeks and told me to smile, “America, don’t be sad yet!” Promises were made to tell all of our friends in the States about Perfect Chicken in the City. For a departing gift, they gave us our already affordable £3 meals for £1 each. Reese exchanged hugs with all over us, and we left with food in hand to eat back at the flats. The rest of the evening was spent booking cabs and sitting around with the girls listening to sad music, talking about our time there, and singing . Funny enough, we found out the guys were also listening to sad, goodbye music also next door. I guess we all had the same mentality by the time our last true night was drawing to a close. It was a relaxing way to bring our time in London to a close, and the evening turned out to be a great synthesis of random things to end our time there.

6/26: Last day of "Class" and the Science Museum

            It turned out that Tuesday ended up being our last day of legitimate lecture, and also a fairly eventful day for me in general. We arrived at Faraday House at 9:30 AM, a little sluggish from our eventful day yesterday, but ready to start the day. We actually had one of my favorite guest lecturers come speak to us in the morning. A woman who is part of the organizing committee for the Cultural Olympiad came to discuss with us her role in the Olympic Games, the London 2012 Festival, and what sorts of tasks and challenges make up her job. One of her main roles in her position is being a sort of middleman between the International Olympic Committee and those participating in the Cultural Olympiad. She discussed the integrity of the Olympic logos, and how one of the greatest challenges is regulating the use of such logos by those participating in the Cultural Olympiad (a problem that was solved by coming up with a whole other logo altogether). I had asked her what some of her favorite projects or performances have been to work with or acquire. One that she mentioned was a performance called “Dinosaurs Not Allowed.” In short, a group of English children who are traditional folk dancers wanted to create their own show-but didn’t want the complete interference of adults. Thus, they organized their own production and came up with the title. She was very honest about her job and other organizations she works with, which was both refreshing and a bit humorous. She made me really think further about my appreciation for the arts in addition to other sorts of jobs I had never even pondered about before.

            After lecture, we had a final meeting about our papers with our professors. Jessie and I decided to go to the Science Museum in South Kensington with our free afternoon. We took the tube and meandered through an underground tunnel to walk up the steps to the entrance to the museum. The size of the museum was apparent the moment we stepped through the doors. Regardless, we decided to start at the top at level five and work our way down from there. On the top floor there were two exhibits: one on the history of veterinary medicine, and the Wellcome collection regarding normal medicine. The Wellcome collection was perhaps the most extensive and thorough exhibits I have ever seen. We had spent about 20 minutes in one section of the room, learning about medical factoids from health care around the world to the first heart rate monitors, before finally realizing we had only hit about 1/6 of the exhibit total. We still walked around the rest of the area before moving down to Level Four where the main room took us through the history of surgical medicine and hospitals through the use of models and dioramas. I really enjoyed the portion on Psychology (obviously), which included a lot of materials from various psychology studies.

            The third floor was one of myself and Jessie’s favorite areas-the children’s section. I remember when Grandpa Gene and Grandma Edie lived in Richmond, going to the children’s museum there was always one of my favorite highlights of visiting. Specifically the part where you got to lift a hula-hoop around your body and above your head to create a giant bubble with you inside. Though there were no giant bubbles here, we still had a good time checking out the different interactive exhibits. And yes, we were the oldest “kids” playing in that section. After getting some refreshments we moved on to the other side of that level which was about Aviation. It was mostly closed off, however, so we didn’t get to look too far into it. I wasn’t too worried about missing that part as I have been to the Air and Space Museum/Udvar-Hazy Center countless times. The second level opened up to a reveal a section on Energy. In the middle stood a giant pole that ran up to the ceiling and was literally buzzing. Emblazoned in yellow with black text screaming “Do Not Touch,” the exhibit naturally invited you to touch it. Though it was nothing like Electroshock Therapy from Tough Mudder (running through hanging wires, with 1000V of electricity jolts through them, in order to get to the finish line), you were still able to feel a slight tingling from it. The concept was energy and electricity can be tangible and isn’t just something going around in space that you can’t experience physically. Another cool part of this section was an installation that dominated the entranceway and few levels above, where your answers to questions regarding energy would be displayed. Also on this floor (I think, I’m losing track now) was an extensive section of computer technology, which my dad would’ve enjoyed. By far, however, one of the most interesting things from this museum was the installation called “The Listening Post”. It was pretty much a few hundred of little screens with text scrolling across them. The catch was that the words being displayed were being randomly selected and streamed live from the internet-creating a raw and unedited projection of the world’s online thoughts. Some of the textual display was paired with basic instruments in order to create a symphonic vibe to it.

            After we finished at the museum, we went to Chinatown to have dinner with Lauren and Eleni who were going to see Mama Mia. Getting dinner in Chinatown was on my bucket list, and one of the many last minute things I got to do before I left. My main course was alright, but what was really the best food there was the duck we had for an appetizer. I don’t know why I never eat duck at home, either it’s not as popular as England, or it’s way too expensive. It’s actually become one of the tastes that I like more in terms of protein now. The highlight of dinner was probably when, at the beginning, I asked the waitress if they had any specialties. She thought I asked if they had any special teas. Thus, we ended up with a massive pot of tea that none of us necessarily wanted. After dinner we stopped by a gift shop so Jessie could pick up a few things, and headed home. I ran and went to the gym after I got back, definitely not used to doing that anytime post-Chinese food but I needed to. Following my workout, I took the 63 bus down to the King’s Cross area to meet up with Annette who had just arrived in London last week to study abroad! It was SO good seeing her and catching up. Like I’ve said, seeing Emory friends in London has been so nice and such a surreal experience. We spent hours just talking and catching up, along with giving her plenty of recommendations for things to do during her time here. We lost track of time and by the time I got to the bus stop it was about 2:09 AM. Even though I had to wait until 2:36 AM to catch the bus back (didn’t realize that during the week the night busses only come every thirty minutes…shout out to Mama Stein and Sam for talking to me on the phone then/making me stay on the phone until the bus came), it was completely worth it to see her J

6/25: The Magic Behind the Magic, Harry Potter Studio Tour

Photos will be added to the post when I'm home, stalk the Facebook ones in the meantime.

6/25

            Monday was probably one of my favorite days in London J Adrenaline got me through the morning knowing that we were on our way to the Harry Potter Studio Tour!!!! We took the tube to Euston, and then the overground out to Watford Junction, from there we took a double-decker decked out (say that five times fast) in Harry Potter photos to the studio. Pulling up to the Warner Bros. studio, I was literally bouncing in my seat. Getting off of the bus, I was literally bouncing down the stairs. Finally standing in front of the studios, I was literally bouncing around while we were getting our tickets and waiting to go inside. I couldn’t believe I was here-my excitement that preceded even entering the body was superseded tenfolds once we actually got inside, if that was even thought to be possible. We posed for a group photograph outside of the entrance before entering the main atrium. The entrance was flanked by a café on the left, and gift store on the right. The topmost parts of the walls were lined with headshots of the actors and actresses in character. The photographs were already rolling, and continued all the way through (I took over two hundred). Our tickets were scanned, and we joined the cue waiting to go into whatever laid beyond the closed doors. While we were cueing we already got a glimpse of what was to come-as the cupboard under the stairs was right by where the line weaved.

            First, we were led to a holding room which had four digital screen on each side in which posters for the Harry Potter movies scrolled through from different countries. We were given a brief introduction from a guide, then led into a theatre in which Daniel/Harry, Rupert/Ron, and Emma/Hermione gave us a brief introduction to the studio and described what it meant to them, both as actors and as children growing up through the filming of the series. After getting pumped up from the guide again, the movie screen lifted to reveal the entrance to Hogwarts. The doors slowly creaked open to reveal the Great Hall, and thus began our tour. Awe filled the air as the group shuffled into the long hallway, flanked with tables and silverware from the set in addition to robes from each of the houses. This was the only room actually that the guide provided his own commentary for, before we were off on our own. One of my favorite things the guide pointed out was the Hogwarts crest engraved into the back of the fireplace. This is a detail never visible to the viewer, as the fire was always burning in the movies, but goes to show how much intricate consideration was put into the set. Another fun fact is that there isn’t actually a ceiling built for the Great Hall. As in the movies it changes with the seasons, weather, and holidays-they actually build a scaled down version of it that they would add special effects to (this was shown in the next room).

            After we explored the Great Hall, we moved into the first of the lots-Lot J. I honestly could probably write a ten page essay about my experience here. If only I was able to actually be capable of writing that much for my final paper. Anyway. We entered the first Lot and were absolutely taken aback in amazement of all of the site surrounding us. The giant room was divided into sections in which narration was provided on different signs from different parts of the crew, e.g. screenwriting and costume design. We moved from Yule Ball arrangements to the boy’s dormitory to the Hogwart’s gates to the Gryffindor common room. Everything was breathtaking and mindblowing. Being able to see the amount of STUFF that went into the making of the movies really gave me a newfound appreciation from the process. Okay so instead of a rambling narrative about each of the lots, I’m just going some highlights from the first lot in hopes that I can be selective.

Lot J:

·      The Goblet of Fire-I learned that the five-foot goblet was carved from a single trunk of an English Elm.

·      Snape’s Potions Classroom-This was by far one of the biggest rooms on the set. Apparently they had to keep expanding it to accommodate for scenes that were being written into the films.

·      Learning how to fly-There was a section dedicated to flying brooms, flying motorbikes, and flying cars. It showed the machinery that was involved in simulating flying movements as smoothly as possible. Following the exhibition on this, we entered a room filled with green screens where we were able to fly ourselves J First, Jessie and I took a ride in Mr. Weasley’s car, out chasing the Hogwarts Express as we raced to get to school on time. Afterward, we were given a Hogwarts robe to get the full experience of racing on a broom. We took turns mounting a broom, and we were off. We “flew” through London, alongside double-decker busses and down the Thames, once again arriving at Hogwarts. After a few photos were snapped, we dismounted the brooms and continued wandering through the lot.

·      The Ministry of Magic-Only two of the sixteen emerald green fireplaces were displayed from the Ministry of Magic set. We took the time to watch videos at most of the different parts, but this was one of my favorite. It discussed how much of the crew had the chance to be extras in this scene, which was incredibly exciting for them. Between this, and the directors being immortalized in the Hogwart’s paintings, I thought it was really cool how the crew got some recognition on screen. The video also made it clear that this was one of the most breathtaking sets that the cast had worked on.

·      Dolores Umbridge’s Office and Kitten Plates-Apparently a solitary prop buyer traveling all throughout England searching for plates in which the cats would eventually be added. It then talked about how one of the most fun days of filming was with the variety of different cats that were added to the plates by the visual effects team.

After thoroughly exploring the entirety of the first lot, we made our way to the Back Lot where we first grabbed some Butterbeer to quench our thirst. The back lot consisted of Mr. Weasley’s Car, Hagrid’s Motorbike, the Knight Bus, Tom Riddle’s grave, the Hogwart’s bridge walkway, No. 4 Privet Drive, Potter’s cottage in Godric’s Hollow, and the giant chess pieces from Chamber of Secrets. My favorite two things from this lot was the Knight Bus (both due to its construction and also a running inside joke I have with Kaele) and the chess pieces. Apparently the Knight Bus was put together from pieces from three different double-deckers, and the interior of the busses was filmed on a whole different set altogether. The chess pieces were just as massive as they appeared in the movies, and also just as intimidating. We walked around outside under the shining sun taking in everything the outside lot had to offer.

We finally moved onto the last lot, Lot K (yes, they were named J and K). The first portion of this lot was dedicated to makeup effects. Masks of the Gringott’s goblins lined the walls. Then came the animatronics section, the magic behind any inanimate moving objects, or mythical creatures. Even the littlest props, such as the Monster Book of Monsters, opened up to reveal an intricate weaving of wires and switches that allowed it to come to life. One thing that I thought was interesting was that the creation of the werewolf was originally an animatronic suit that an actor would wear. However, this became too burdensome so it was just digitally created by the effects department. As we moved into the second room, Aragog-the giant spider-looked over us with its menacing eyes and pincers. The Hungarian Horntail swooped over, as if it was going to breath fire at any second. And Buckbeak sat calm and submissively in front of the screen. Though these mythical creatures were incredibly impressive in their making, one of the most unexpected things I learned from this room, and mentioned earlier on, was about Hagrid. Apparently the actor who plays Hagrid is not as large as the cameras make him seem. To compensate for this, a body double who is a professional rugby player will often be filmed as Hagrid. In order to make this as seamless as possible, a mask was created for his body-double that both had motion and was the replica of the original actor’s face. Facial movement was evident in the mouth, eyebrows, and more. Who had any idea!

After the makeup effects and animatronics section we moved into Diagon Alley. Ok I said I was going to list things instead of talking about them continuously, but oh well. Each shop’s exterior had a different personality to it, from Slug & Jiggers to Wiseacre’s  Wizarding Equipment. Following Diagon Alley came a feature on the architecture crew, a very underappreciated or underrecognized group. This all led up to what I believe was probably the pinnacle of the tour. Rounding the corner and down a hallway, we emerged into a room sparkling in a blue shade of light. In the middle of this room was a scale replica of the Hogwart’s castle. It was absolutely beautiful. This was used when filming scenes that involved sweeping shots around the castle or panoramic views.

Fun facts about the Castle:

•       The replica was put together brick by brick. In the winter scenes, salt was sprinkled to represent snow.
•       The model in itself was a 1:24 scale model, built by 40 artists and crew-members and maintained by 50 sculptors, painters, and other artists.
•       300 fibre optic lights were installed to simulate lanterns, torches, and students passing through the hallway.
•       Artists used real gravel for rockwork and boulders, and real plants for landscaping and trees.

It was something that I had never even thought about before, and was blown away by the techniques used with this piece. This was probably the best representation of the amazingly detailed work that went into the films. Needless to say, I had to pick my jaw off the floor afterward. After making a lap around the castle, ooh-ing and aah-ing at each and every angle, we walked through Ollivander’s shop. Before exiting, we admired the thousands upon thousands of hand-painted wand boxes. Finally, we got to put on the sorting had and snap a few photos before looking through the giftshop. I ended up getting a mug and buying a copy of me flying over Hogwarts, which I will scan when I get home. Overall, it was an incredible day and I left feeling so elated. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to do the studio tour. At the end of the afternoon, my cheeks hurt from grinning so much. I was exhausted from having to almost hold back tears of joy. Like I said, I have an great newfound appreciation form film and all of the hard work that goes into it. Seeing the magic behind the magic of the films that so much defined my generation is something that I will never forget.

Just when I thought the day couldn’t get any better, Monday night was by far one of the most fun nights out yet. It was Nate’s birthday, so we all celebrated by going to O’Neill’s. Yes, all of us finally went out together for the first time in a while-and stuck together too! When we were going up to the bar to get drinks once, I had one of those “after you..” “no, after you” shuffles with this random guy. It lasted about a minute until I finally gave in and walk by, at that point he grabbed my hand and led me to start dancing. It caught me off-guard but it was hilarious and he was really nice. Derrick the Canadian backpacker definitely knew how to dance, I had no idea what I was doing but he did a good job leading me. After spending some more time there, I left with Alesha, Moira, and Jessie to head back to Gazzano. It was definitely the cherry on top of an amazing day overall.

6/21-6/24: Sweeney Todd and Some Old Things (Stonehenge and Bath)

6/21

            Thursday’s class began with an elaborate lecture on the art’s in London. One of the things I really have loved about London is the way that the arts are so embedded in their culture. I have always appreciate art and performance, but I found a newfound respect for it since I have been here. I find it really interesting how public money greatly funds much of the arts through the National Lottery.  Of course, museums and theatres still rely on benefactors and commercial ticket sales, but I think that it is great that art is so much a part of the United Kingdom that public tax money goes to it and it’s seemingly normal. After this discussion, Kristian Gustafson came to speak to our class about security and its relation to the Olympics. He works as a security advisor for the London 2012 Olympics, and has an extensive resume of other important projects he’s been a part of. We walked through the thought process, and questions the security team asks themselves when given a task. It was really interesting seeing the intricacies of finding the balance between making the public feel safe, but not freaking them out by having policemen or safety officials everywhere. After our lecture and guest speaker finished, we met with our professors to discuss our final paper.

            In the evening, Margot and I went to go see the production of Sweeney Todd! We were lucky enough to have booked seats on a whim (although we had been talking about it for a while) while were in class during the day. And were really excited to finally get to go to the show! We took the bus from our flats over to the West End, which is London’s version of Broadway. We picked up our tickets at the box office (the lady working was nice enough to move us to more central seats) and had some time to kill so we went to the Canadian bar just around the corner. Margot (from Canada) had been there a few times already to watch Stanley Cup games. It was a nice little pub, I tried out some Canadian beer which was very light and crisp. A nice change to the ales on tap in the pubs which are less chilled and sometimes darker. After getting our drinks there, we walked back to the Adelphi Theatre and took our seats for the show. We were about three rows from the top, but it was incredible nonetheless! Compared to the show at the Globe, it was great actually being able to understand the dialogue, songs, and plot..haha. Although Michael Ball played a great Sweeney Todd, by far I thought Imelda Staunton shone the brightest on stage. She is the actress who also played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films, but absolutely killed it in this role. The show was amazing overall, and I had the songs stuck in my head for days afterward. I ended the night incredibly happy to have finally gotten to one of my shows on my list of performances to see.

6/22

            Friday afternoon was a catch-up day for me. I spent the day working out, lifting, and attempting to get going on my paper. One thing I am going to miss about London is Café Nero, the coffeehouse chain around the city. They have great lattes which have often been my savior for our longer days of classes, especially following late evenings out. They have free wifi at their locations so I have been going to the one by the flats to work.  I was going to attempt to get to Buckingham Palace but I was feeling lazy and it was nice to have a day to my disposal. We spent the evening in, watching Rumor Has It and eating Perfect Chicken.  It was an interesting movie to say the least, but it definitely felt nice to rejuvenate and try and get some sleep before leaving for our trip on Saturday!

6/23

            Me, Jessie, and Lauren arose around 6:00 AM on Saturday morning to begin our adventure to Stonehenge and Bath. We took the bus to King’s Cross where we caught the charter bus we would be traveling for during the day around 7:55 AM. This was definitely our earliest morning yet, and even with staying in the night before it was a struggle getting up then. The ride to Stongehege took about two and a half hours, it took us a while to get out of the city of London as we were the first stop in the morning and there were about four subsequent other ones. Once we were on the road, our attempt to sleep was interjected often by the tour guide’s louder-than-need-be voice over the loudspeaker informing us about our trip. We were lucky enough to get the front seat on the top of the bus, so we got a beautiful view driving into the countryside. Stonehenge was just a speck on the rolling hills as we approached, flanked by cattle and burial mounds. Once the bus driver maneuvered into a parking spot (yes, maneuvered, people were literally taking pictures of him trying to get into the space) we exited the bus. After a brief stop at the bathroom, we were hurriedly encouraged to get moving by the now clearly pushy tour guide. The older woman clearly wanted to get the show on the road, and had no disregard for our bladders.

            We walked through the tunnel, under the main road and up toward Stonehenge. We merged with the large line of people processed slowly around the main attraction. Taking the site in on our own, we decided not to listen to much of the audio tour as it was pretty in depth and I was still particularly tired at that point. It was pretty much what I had expected but I’m glad I got to come see the historic site. We spent our time there checking it out at all angles that we could and snapping photos. It was unfortunate that we only had about 50 minutes there. Day trips like these sometimes stress me out as I feel like I’m worrying about making it to the bus on time-especially with the guide we had that day. It was great to see overall before moving on to Bath. We drove another hour and a half through the western countryside before arriving into Bath. I loved seeing the cottages that dotted the farmlands, and learning about how the area we were driving through is used by the British Army for practice shooting ranges and more. Quite the contrast.

            

Bath was a nice little city whose architecture is very reminiscent of Italy. Though it definitely wasn’t the same as being in Italy, it was nice to get out of London and get a different taste of the United Kingdom. After corralling the group, we walked toward the Roman Baths where we had tickets to a self-guided tour throughout. The Roman Baths were used for purification, health rejuvination, and sacrifice. The museum part was pretty much interspersed throughout the site, leading up to main Bath area. Although we couldn’t actually go in the water (which is polluted by rain water and seagull..you know) it was still relaxing just spending the time there and taking in the history of it all. After we wrapped up and threw a coin into one of the remaining parts of the baths, we wandered around the city finding somewhere to grab food. We ended up going to M&S and getting food to go and eating on the steps of the Bath Abbey where we were meeting. Before leaving I grabbed hot chocolate from the cute chocolate shop, where it was tempting to make additional purchases. Eventually we headed back to central London, getting home around 7:00 PM. Saturday night was a really fun night out at Zoo Bar with all of the girls! It was nice to go out with all of them as it was our last Saturday night together.

6/24

            Sunday was a relatively chill day again. Unless I’m completely forgetting what I did during the day-it involved mainly doing work and working out. As Saturday was fairly busy, it was nice to take another downtime day again. The highlight of Sunday was going to go watch the England versus Italy quarterfinal Euro 2012 game. Jasper was nice enough to come with me to a pub down the road, Hoop and Grapes, to watch the game and try and experience it in as much of an English way as possible. We soon came to realize that the area we live in is much more business rather than residential, which explained why the pub wasn’t as packed as we had anticipated. Hoop & Grapes is a dim, long-established pub that looks like it was built inside a condo. Carpeted stairs reach up three levels-on the first is the main bar flanked by tables and a dining area, on the second is a cozier dining area with normal tables, and on the third is a room filled with couches and chairs to watch the game on the relatively large television in the corner.

            Jasper and I explored the floors at first, though it would’ve been cool to watch it on the third floor, it seemed like there was a group that had reserved it already and was watching it in there. We settled down at a table by the bar on the first floor which we had good view of two televisions. The tables next to us were filled with what seemed to be an extended family. It was evident that well into the first half that the men were the ones truly interested in the game, as one of the wives kept asking when it was going to be over (didn’t help for her case that it went into overtime, then penalty kicks). As we were watching the game, we both ordered some traditional British food. I had a steak and ale pie with chips and had a few pints of 4-4-2 ale (mainly because of the name J..soccer formation for those who don’t know). It was fun to watch the game with an energized and passionate crowd, even though it was on the smaller side. England was able to hold off Italy and take them into overtime, and eventually penalty kicks. When Italy made their final kick, the pub essentially went silent. You literally felt the aura of the pub change from anticipation, excitement, and nervousness to an audible emptiness. Despite England losing, it was still really fun to have that authentic experience!

6/19-6/20: O! For a Muse of Fire.

6/19

            Tuesday we had the luxury of not having class until noon, I took advantage of the free morning and worked out and stopped by Sainsbury’s to get more groceries for the week. After coming back and getting ready, I headed to Faraday for a day of project presentations and another guest speaker from BBC. Though what he talked to us about overlapped greatly with the other speaker from BBC, it was interesting to her the editorial side of the London 2012 team. He also told us his role in the big concert this upcoming weekend, BBC Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend, that includes headliners such as Jay-Z. His job is pretty much being on censorship duties and issuing any apologies if need be if Jay-Z drops the f-bomb too many times, for example.  The British are definitely a lot more liberal in their television content and commercials, and him explaining how there’s not even a delay used for live performances definitely showed that. We wrapped up around 5:30 PM and I headed back to the flats. Though I didn’t make it to a pub for the England versus Ukraine game, I am definitely going to try to as they won their group and are heading to the quarterfinals in Euro 2012! We hung out the rest of the evening until going out to O’Neill’s, a bar, later in the evening. This is probably one of the best known places to go out in London, especially for international students. It was also located in the heart of Chinatown, which I will hopefully get to go back to during the day sometime to grab dim sum and explore.

It got increasingly crowded after we got there even though we didn’t get through the doors until around midnight. They had a live band that did a pretty impressive set for a while. I’m really only used to DJ’s but it was a cool change of pace in terms of music when we’re out. It was nice that we were actually capable of hearing each other unlike when we were at Club Aquarium over the weekend. I ended up staying later and then going to a club/casino, that other’s had been to before, with a group of us. The main motivation in going was a place to watch the NBA Finals, naturally on during the wee hours of the morning for us. We ended up hanging there, I got nachos and probably four things of water prior to getting really sleepy really fast. I’ve heard of people staying out until 5 or 6 AM, but I guess I’m not that resilient. Before I left I went over to the guy wearing the Washington Redskins hat that I had spotted before to see if he was from the area. As many people probably know that have been to Europe, you’re pretty much instantly bonded with other Americans. Turns out he’s from Miami, not DC, but still pretty cool nonetheless. Three of us headed home on the bus and that’s when I realized that it was starting to get light out (I think it was around 4 AM). I got overly excited that I had finally made it out until sunrise, and that excitement probably kept me from falling asleep on the bus on the way back. We eventually got back to the flats and I hit the hay for the night.

6/20/12

St. Paul's Cathedral

After sleeping in, working out, and getting ready for the day, we headed across the Thames to tour Shakespeare’s Globe. Though London is a massive city, the ease of getting from place to place really makes it seem smaller. We took a bus down Blackfriars Bridge and walked to the Globe to meet Professor Hollenbeck. She gave us our tickets and we had a bit of time to kill prior to our tour. At 3:30 PM we gathered in a room downstairs to begin our tour of the Globe. We first went outside where the guide versed us in the history of the current Globe, and the two prior that came before it. The original burned down following when a flint from a prop cannon caught fire and burnt the entirety of the building to the ground in one hour. The funding for the current Shakespeare’s Globe began in 1970, but construction wasn’t completed until 1997. The architecture is completely recreated from the original Glove, from the thatched roof to the handmade bricks that it is mounted on. Then we went inside where they were rehearsing for their upcoming show, The Taming of the Shrew. Luckily they gave us a heads up, but our eyes were first met with a scantily-clad groom who had just wed his wife, Kate. It was really interesting to see the behind-the-scenes aspect, with the stage manager cutting in and giving directions every few minutes. It made me really appreciate and understand how much work goes into putting on a production. Afterward we went outside where the guide talked to us for a bit longer.We had gotten tickets to Henry V but the show wasn’t until 7:30 PM so we had about three hours of down time beforehand. Some of us grabbed lunch at Pizza Express, probably the sort-of equivalent of California Pizza Kitchen here. Afterward we walked across the Millennium Bridge (which you would recognize as the bridge from the Harry Potter film) to the other side of the Thames to visit St. Paul’s Cathedral. The afternoon turned into a nice way to knock a few more things off our bucket lists. We didn’t realize St. Paul’s was open at first, but eventually made our way into the cathedral. 

Millennium Bridge

They were actually having a service when we went in, so it was the first time that I got to see a church in action during my European trip. The ceilings were towering and the building has such a presence in the surrounding area, which makes sense as it is the third largest cathedral in Europe. Around 6:00 we walked back to the Globe as you could start queing for the show if you were a groundling at 6:30. “Groundling” is the name of the people who stand for the entirety of the show in the middle of the Globe for £5 tickets.

View of the Globe from the Millennium Bridge.

After finally filing into the main area, we took a stand (instead of seat..get it? get it?) toward the back wall where we could lean against it during the show. The inside of the Globe is beautiful. You almost wouldn’t expect it with the simplicity of the exterior. Before the show began, a man strummed on a Shakespearian guitar (sitar? Not sure of the type) and then a few other musicians of sorts came onto the stage. Though I knew going into that Shakespearian English can be relatively difficult to decipher, it was definitely tough to follow as this was a play that I wasn’t familiar with. As the Syracuse people booked the show for us, we didn’t really have a choice with what we were seeing-I was sort of hoping to see The Tempest, as we put it on as our 5^th grade play at Canterbury Woods. I tried to enjoy the performance as best I 

Inside the Globe!

could and understand. It didn’t help that the people in our surrounding area were incredibly frustrating. A group of students who didn’t speak English continuously talked and moved about during the performance, and a man standing directly in front of our group kept shuffling about to get a better view. As much as we had hoped to have stayed and enjoy it, we decided to leave at intermission. I’m not usually one to dip out of anything early, but we felt like we got enough of the experience to have left then. I probably would’ve stayed if 1. I had been able to follow the play better and 2. If the people around us weren’t so incredibly annoying. Despite that disappointment, it was great to have the experience of seeing a live performance at the Globe! We grabbed some warm Starbucks for the bus ride home on the 63. I had a late dinner from Perfect Chicken and got to chat with Kaele on the phone before hitting the hay.