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 I couldn’t believe I was here-my excitement that preceded even entering the body was superseded tenfolds once we actually got inside, if that was even thought to be possible.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.

6/10-6/18: From Brighton to the Tower of London, and everything in between.

Apologies in advance for typos. Too excited about finally being up to date to go back and edit.

6/10

Sunday morning we met at Faraday at 9:30 AM to take the busses to Brighton. We took a charter bus with students from the other classes down south toward the sea. After about an hour and a half bus ride, we were dropped off then walked toward our first stop at the Pavilion. This is the pleasure palace that is most greatly associated with King George III. The architecture is a combination of Chinese and Indian and every room had a distinctive feel and design to it. We were given an audio self-guided tour device to make our way through the building with. My favorite room I think was the extensively decorated dining room where the royalty would entertain guests. The chandelier was “held up” by a large dragon that was wrapped around a tree. Beneath the biggest dragon lay four other ones in which different ends of the chandelier were connected. The long table seated about 20 guests, with the King’s chair in the center as he enjoyed being in the middle of conversation. It took a little over 45 minutes to get through the entire building, but it was definitely worth hearing the details about every room!

Jessie and I unfortunately missed when the tour group was leaving from the Pavilion to walk around the city, so we ended up wandering by ourselves and attempting to find everyone. It proved unsuccessful initially so we just grabbed lunch at a restaurant that was buffet style, similar to the buffet at Whole Food. The veggies, potatoes, and more lined the window so after walking by we did a double and triple take and eventually decided to eat there. Afterward we met up with everyone and spent some time shopping in the kitsch and novel shops throughout Brighton. Unfortunately our day was dampened by rain so we didn’t go down on the beach at all. I wish we had more time as we didn’t get to make it on the pier, but Brighton was definitely a cool area to have had the opportunity to explore for the day!

6/11

            On Monday we opened class discussing the Olympic bid process. Professor Hollenbeck talked about how the general process works, and also London’s reception of the Olympic bid. Their bid focused on sustainability, motivating individuals to become more active, use of public transportation, multiculturalism, and the ability to reuse their venues. Turns out there was only a four vote difference between London and Paris, but on July 7, 2005 it was announced from Singapore that London would receive the bid for 2012. Unfortunately, the day after the bid was announced there was the terrorist attack in the Underground killing 51 people. Though there was no definite signs pointing to a relationship between the attacks and the Olympics, there probably was something to do with the timing of the attacks. After talking about the bid, we went into London 2012’s logo and how it has proven controversial and hard to understand. I had no idea, but apparently the “2012” part of it are five shapes that represent the five boroughs directly affected by the Olympics. It has been widely criticized for being seemingly unclear and not really showing the personality of London.

            After our lunch break we watched a documentary on the Munich Olympics. These were the 1936 Olympics in which the terrorist attack happened against the Israeli Olympic team. The film we watched was both emotionally gripping and very frustrating, as we learned about the lack of intervention by the German government, police, and special forces during the attacks. It seemed like all the mistakes they could have made, they made in attempting to free the hostages. I thought I had an idea of what happened during these Olympics, but this documentary proved me wrong.

            I went to Café Nero to work on my project after class, and ran into Yi who told me about plans to go to a pub to watch the England versus France game. A group of us went to The Apple Tree, a pub down the street from our flat to watch the competition between the rivals. We sat in an upstairs area with one other group of people, so we didn’t experience the hooligan action first hand but it was still a cool experience to have watched the game in a pub!

6/12

            On Tuesday, the BBC Project Executive for London 2012 came to speak to our class. She told us about the project team of 40 individuals who are in charge of looking after the events happening during 2012 such as the Jubilee and the Olympics to name a few. It was really interesting seeing the extent of coverage that BBC will be putting on for the Olympics. As each country has a network that covers the Olympics, us in the States won’t be able to make use of the online feature created by BBC that streams every single event simultaneously, live. It was a little disappointing to hear the difference between NBC and BBC’s coverage. I’m sure NBC’s will be great but it would’ve been really cool to have the online platform that BBC has. After her talk Professor Cook gave us some historical background on the Blitz in London and we watched a film about it afterward. They had encouraged us to go to the Imperial War Museum after class, but many people were burnt out or stressed about a paper/project due that week so we decided to save that for another day.

 In the evening we went on a Harry Potter walking tour! Though it was mostly the outside of buildings, a little disappointing, and a lot of time on the tube-it was still cool to see spots where the movie was filmed. This included the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron, an alleyway that Diagon Alley was modeled after, the entrance to the Ministry of Magic, and the real and re-created Platform 9 3/4.

6/13

            Wednesday morning we traveled to the Houses of Parliament to speak with Karen Buck, a Member of Parliament from the House of Commons. The area that she represents is one of the most economically and socially diverse, with constituents from both the highest and lower ends of the income spectrum. It was pretty interesting hearing about what her job entails exactly. As she is also a member of the opposition party, on top of doing normal legislature and duties she is part of the group that will have to be on the rebuttal side during governmental debates. She spoke to us about some of the work that she is most proud of, which includes a lot regarding early education as a means to decreasing the achievement gap. I asked her how she prioritized which emails, tasks, etc. to work on and she explained to me that it’s a day by day basis. She said to make a to-do list would be to fail in that the job is so fast-paced that you cannot predict what issues will come up; for example, an eviction notice could suddenly popup and due to its urgent priority she may have to handle that instead of something else slated for the day.

            In the afternoon I was the first to present on our final paper topics. My topic is “Team as Sport.” I discussed what the meaning of the team is in relation to the Olympics, the relationship between teams and the media, the types of teams in the Olympics, and brought up the debate about individualism within teams. Overall it went pretty well which was a sigh of relief after a lot of time preparing and some initial nerves. After my presentation, Mike Gillespie came to speak to us about the Paralympics. During his presentation he showed a clip from a TED talk given by Aimee Mullins, a paralympic track star which was really interesting. Following his talk, Mike and Jasper presented on their project and we were done for the day.  After being pent up in the classroom all day, I went to the gym to get my legs moving. In the evening I got to meet up with David from Emory who has been Euro-tripping since graduation. It was great again to see a familiar face and try out a new pub near the flats.

6/14

       

Sandys Row Synagogue.

After a few presentations on Thursday morning, we headed out to the East End and Spitalfields for a walking tour. We took the tube to Liverpool Street and began walking down what we thought was the main road to meet the tour guide, Alan Dein who is also a correspondent for BBC Radio. As we were walking down that road it became evident of the multiculturalism of the area we were at. Stalls lined the streets with Bangladeshi clothing and food. Once we met up with him, he gave our group a run down of our day. During this introduction one of the strangest things happened that I’ve witness since I’ve been here. Two men were biking on the street and decided to stop, one of them who was wearing some ankle-length dress dismounts his bike and walks behind our tour guide and holds up a white piece of paper that says “Jesus” on it. We all stared, puzzled at what had just happened while trying to continue to listen to Alan. He lead us through the side streets and back roads of the East End.

            This was honestly one of my favorite areas we have been to. One neighborhood would turn into the next almost every corner. The archaic buildings were up against the backdrop of the ever-growing financial center of London. My absolute favorite part of the tour was when we were standing outside of Sandys Row Synagogue, the oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in London, a man popped his head out of the doors and invited us in. This man was Jeremy Freedman, a 4^th generation of Dutch Jews who belonged to the synagogue. It was breathtaking being in such a distinctive, historical piece of Jewish history in London. There was a golden glow of the interior of the congregation, accented by the white ceiling (newly rebuilt) with orange-salmon colored trimming. Jeremy told us about the history of the synagogue, both the building itself and its congregation. One of the things that first caught my eye was the purple bima cover with the lettering that dedicated it to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It wasn’t until he starting talking about it that I didn’t even realize that it wasn’t in fact from QEII’s Diamond Jubilee, but Queen Victoria’s in the 1800’s. I was happy to hear that their services are open to the public, and am hoping that Jessie and I will get a chance to go back this coming Friday night. That, by far, made my tour and I was very elated afterward.

We continued through Spitalfields to Brick Lane, the curry capital of London. The curry restaurants and other shops were crammed into this bustling street. He led us to “the only place to get bagels in London.” They had bagels premade with smoked salmon/lox and cream cheese. Overall, they weren’t too bad but I wish they had had fresh ones for us when we were there. As many people had raved about them, I wonder if that’s saying something about the bagel quality in London. Though they were tasty I don’t think they were anything quite like Goldberg’s (deli by Emory) or KSB/Bagel Bakery’s (delis by home). The area was very eclectic and was full of vintage shops. I’m hoping to make it back there sometime before I leave as I decided to go back after our tour since I had to wrap up a paper.

6/15

View of the Olympic Park from John Lewis.

On Friday a coach picked our class up from the flats and headed out toward the Olympic site. We bussed through the city with our tour guide explaining to us all-things important and historical that we passed. We made a pit stop by 3 Mills Studios, where many famous producers work. One of notable interest is David Bay, the director of Slumdog Millionaire and the opening ceremony of this year’s Olympics! It seemed pretty low-key for such an important studio, much less so than anything in Hollywood at least. After leaving there we drove closer and closer to the Olympic site. We unfortunately couldn’t actually get inside of the site as they have been upping their security as the games are quickly approaching. We drove on the highway around it, trying to snap as many photos as possible. It was definitely disappointing that we couldn’t actually get into Olympic Park. Our final stop of the day was Westfields Shopping Center, a humungous mall right on the outskirts of the Olympic Park. We went up to the London 2012 store located within John Lewis (a department store) to get the best view of the park. It was cool to see the venues up close, but the entirety of the area was still shrouded by construction going on.

We had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves to wander through Westfields. I had always thought Tysons was massive, but it is honestly nothing compared to this mall. After fueling up on a jacket potato, we started hitting the stores. Though most of my time at the mall was just browsing, I ended up getting a jacket from GAP as the weather has been a bit chillier than I anticipated. The variety and number of storms was almost overwhelming, but I’m really glad we went there. I was crashing pretty hard in the afternoon but decided to go on a run instead of nap, which ended up waking me up a bit. Afterward Jasper and I went to the local park to kick around and ended up playing some 1v1. We kicked back in the flats afterward and hung out into the evening, played both Ninja and Jedi (or light saber?). And naturally capped the night off with Perfect Chicken. It was a good end to the long week of classes, and a great start to a three day weekend!

6/16

Tate Modern.

            It has been SO nice to have a full, free, three-day weekend the past few days. Saturday I finally got to knock two major things off of my London bucket list. Our first stop for the day was Tate Modern. I absolutely love modern art, as weird as it can be, and was very happy I finally got to go here. What I loved about this museum is that it was organized thematically rather than by time period. This really gave a distinctive feel to each of the galleries. Before hitting any of the main galleries, we went to Damien Hirst’s exhibit on the same floor as the entrance. We cued and then worked our way toward the entrance to what appeared to be a black box. My eyes squinted hard trying to make out anything as we made our way inside, but you could barely see where you were walking. We turned the corner and then we saw what the buildup was for. In the middle, inside of a glass case, was a skull that was completely covered in diamonds. It was the most beautiful representation of anything regarding death that I’ve seen. The exhibit called “For the Love of God” is supposed to represented the beauty in a life, and not just the morbid part of death.

            From there, we worked our way through the galleries. We started out in ‘Poetry and Dream’ which was one of my favorites. It mostly consisted of surrealism-based pieces, including works by Salvador Dali. I enjoyed learning about how this type of work emerged alongside the development of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jungst’s theories (psych-nerd moment). From there we went to ‘Energy and Process’ which I thought was incredibly interesting. This gallery focused on art that reused material and the movement called Arte Povera, “poor art.” Lastly, I went into ‘Structure and Clarity.’ This gallery was essentially what the name means, and contrasted greatly with the last exhibits. I was feeling very inspired after exploring Tate Modern, and stopped by the gift shop on the way out to pick up a few things. Afterward we went to Borough Market. The place was packed and definitely the biggest market we had been to. We took our time to walk around and try and make a decision on what to get for lunch. I ended up getting some dried fruit from a vendor and a sausage from a booth that claimed they were the best in the market. After finally getting to go there I now understand why Wen spent so much time there during his semester in London!

Walking into Borough Market.

            Saturday night we went out to Club Aquarium, a club that also has a pool inside. This was probably one of the strangest going-out experiences that I’ve had before. As soon as we walked in I questioned whether or not we should have been there. There were people in costumes, animal masks, tutus abound. It may or may not have been gay night there…up for debate between our friends but we still haven’t decided. We ended up staying and it turned into a pretty fun night despite the very interesting crowd. Overall, Saturday was an awesome day and I felt very relieved to have finally gotten to go to both Tate and Borough Market.

6/17

            Yesterday (ah I finally caught up in my blogging to where I could write yesterday, this is exciting!) we went to the Tower of London, which was also a major thing on my bucket list. After strolling by a bagpipe playing street performer, a protest by some Italians regarding the U-21 UEFA tournament final being hosted in Israel, and going through security, we made it in! Our group split up so I ended up exploring the entirety of the tower, which is more like a castle, with Jessie. We moved from room to room, tower to tower. At one point, you suddenly come upon a mission to protect the tower and all of the important belongings inside. We got to try on helmets and make our way around as if we were guards. It was amazing seeing the etches of prisoner’s names or other details on the walls of the Tower. Many were covered by a piece of glass that also gave a caption to who they were, why they were imprisoned, and what the etching said. Other highlights of the Tower include the exhibit on animals’ roles. We learned how a polar bear used to be kept on a leash and brought along fishing in the Thames, and how monkeys smoked cigars as they were encouraged to participate in human-like behavior. After exploring the perimeter of the tower, we descended down to try and find the area where you could see the Crown Jewels. The exhibit for the Crown Jewels was very interesting, it took you through a timeline of sorts all building up to the main exhibition of the crown jewels. Every crown was incredibly unique and mind-blowingly beautiful. The detail that went into them was amazing, and who knows how much each are actually worth. I wish we had been able to take pictures!

            After that exhibit, we exited and decided to go up and talk to a couple of Beefeaters, who are part of the Royal Guard stationed at the Tower of London. This was probably one of my favorite interactions I’ve had on my trip so far. Below are an assortment of quotes from said conversation:

Me and the awesome Beefeater.

Me: “This may be a stupid question, but what does the ‘R’ stand for in ‘ER II’?”

Beefeater: “It stands for ‘Romantic.”

Me: “Really?”

Beefeater: “Yeah, ‘Everlasting Romantic’..it’s how we get the job.”

Me: “That was actually going to be my second question, how did you get the gig?”

Beefeater: “You have to be able to shake a leg.”

Me: “Oh really?”

Beefeater: “Yes, and be great with the ladies.”

Me: “Clearly.”

*posing for our picture together*

Beefeater: “American girls always just smile because they have such nice teeth, here..let’s do a 1920’s pose.”

Me: “What’s that mean?”

Beefeater: “Look serious…ok now look away.”

We couldn’t have picked better people to go up and talk to. The guy was quite the charmer, and definitely hilarious. He told us about how they live directly in the houses in the Tower of London, crazy! We told him we’d seem at the club later before bidding adieu.

That actually made the visit 100x more worth it, and we couldn’t stop laughing about it afterward as we made our way through the exhibit on guns and armor (the details blurred together at this point). After we wrapped up at the Tower, we headed down to St. Katherine’s docks to walk around there. We had bussed by there a few times, but not actually into the dock-area themselves. It was a very cute area, with shops and restaurants flanking the sides of the water. These docks were also home to the Royal Barge from the Jubilee flotilla which we got to see up close after only seeing it from afar in the Thames. After a lap around the docks, we finally took the tube home. I stopped at Tesco Express to stock up on groceries for the time being and grab dinner for the night. Last night we had a girls night and watched ‘My Sister’s Keeper.’ There was both tears and/or laughter pretty much all-around, by the end it was pretty much indistinguishable whether people were crying or laughing. Naturally we made the mistake of following it up turning to what seemed to be as equally depressing of a movie, the Shawshank Redemption (or at least the part we watched). It was nice to have a chill night, and get a nice nine hours of sleep before today.

6/18

TODAY! It feels so good to finally have caught up with my blogging. I apologize for typos and stuff because I didn’t take the time to go through and read all of this again. From here on out I will do my best to stay up to date. It was much easier in Italy as we had lengthy bus rides almost everyday. After getting a decent night’s rest thanks to my new nightly habit of using of ear plugs #firstfloorproblems, it was great to wake up today with another day off of no class! I hung around the apartment for a bit before doing my normal 3+ mile lap around the area before hitting the gym. I got a good lift in and didn’t kill anyone, which was reassuring after my last almost-mishap. Afterward I came back to the flat, made lunch, and we headed out to the Tube. We took the Underground to Knightsbridge and went to Harrod’s, the massive and incredibly nice department store. We trekked from room to room admiring the different products, and quickly putting them down after looking at the price tag. We passed champagne bars, walked through the home furnishing section (which included a room solely made up of pianos), and spent some time in the section of women’s clothing that included lots of sales. I didn’t buy anything but it was nice to have been able to at least go there. Since we’ve gotten back I’ve just been hanging out at the flat, cooking dinner, and catching up on my blog! I can’t believe I only have less than two weeks here. Time has been flying but looking forward to everything planned, and still to be planned, before we head home. 

Eton/Windsor, Hackney, and Houses of Parliament!

6/6

            On June 6 instead of heading to Faraday House in the morning, we met our professors at Paddington Train station to depart for the day out to Eton and Windsor. Following a tube, train, and taxi ride, we came to our first stop for the afternoon at the Eton College Rowing Center. The rowing center on Dorney Lake will be host to the rowing, sculling, and canoe competitions for the London 2012 Olympics. We were introduced to Terry Hunter, the Eton rowing coach and father of  Team Great Britain’s Mark Hunter. Terry was probably one of my favorite people who we have had the chance to meet during our trip. He lead us into the clubhouse that overlooked the water, and delved into the history of the rowing center and their role in the Olympic games. The 2000 meter stretch of water was man made after it became increasingly difficult to row in the Thames with the tides. We learned how one man dug and filled the lake himself, and how it has developed since then. There was much bustle going on around the lake, as grandstands and press areas were being assembled. There is also a device that stretches across the length of the lake so a camera can zip down it as the rowing competitions are taking place.  It was such a privilege to not only go on site, but get to row in the water!

            We were almost in disbelief when Terry told us that we would have the chance to row out onto the water. Luckily he assured us that the boats we were going out in could not tip over at all. What we thought was going to be a leisurely boat ride turned into a fierce competition between the two boats. I was in the boat steered by Terry along with Lauren, Eleni, Jessie, and Carter. We rowed out hurriedly toward the opposite end of the lake. We ended up cruising to the 1500 meter mark, with heavy encouragement and direction from Terry. Apparently he thought that the names of fast food restaurants would help motivate us Americans, so oftentimes instead or “ROW..ROW..” we were pushed along by “POPEYES..MCDONALDS…” It was funny and just from the time we spent with him it was evident how great of a coach he is. Though there was some debate of who won the race, I believe that we crossed the Olympic finish line first after coming from behind. It was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience to be able to go out onto the water. Though I have watched these types of events before, I’m going to take particular interest to them this year as I’ve now experienced the venue in the fullest! I also just found this vide on on Mark Hunter and Eton Dorney if you want to check it out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15495142.

            After our time at the rowing center, we cabbed back to Windsor and had the afternoon to explore there. After looking through a gift shop, we went to go grab food in the main area. Some of us went to Nando’s to eat (shout out to Emily Fedeles who introduced me to this place in DC!) and then we walked around afterward. Though we didn’t go inside of Windsor Castle, the Queen’s home away from Buckingham Palace, we did walk around the outside and take as much in as we could. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the area.

6/7

            After sleeping in on Thursday, we had a presentation by Richard Tames in our class. He is a historian, author, and also a SU London staff member. He talked in depth about the 1098 Olympics which was the first time that London hosted. The city wasn’t supposed to host originally, but due to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius the games were moved from Rome to London. This was a Games of firsts-the first purpose built Olympic stadium was built at Westfield, and the silver and bronze medals were awarded for the first time. They had lunch from Pizza Express for us, so his presentation continued into the afternoon.

Following a brief break, we had a second guest lecturer who is also a SU London professor. He explored the 1948 Olympics, the other time that London hosted. These post-war games were unique in that they came to be known as the “austerity games” due to government cutbacks and desire to reduce deficit spending. For example, athletes had to make their own uniforms, were fed only a cheese sandwich/egg/apple for lunch, and they had to bring their own towels. The 1948 Games did bring along with it the birth of the Paralympics, however. One of the most interesting things we learned was about how female athletes had chaperones. These were typically older, ugly women or even nuns who would travel alongside these women in order to fend off any unwanted attention.

6/8

            Friday morning we had a normal lecture about Politics in the UK. Professor Cook gave us an overview of the political system and the Houses of Parliament. This was great background knowledge before our tour of Parliament on Saturday. I’m not usually big into politics but it was very interesting hearing about the system of another country, and one that is as unique as Great Britain’s. After a decently long lecture, we departed for the borough of Hackney-one of five boroughs in which the Olympic Village is located. Hackney is not very economically sound and has a very high rate of unemployment. Our stop for this field trip was the Hackney Marshes Centre where we were introduced to Charlie Forman, the head of the borough’s Olympics committee. He gave a great presentation on how the Olympics are directly affecting the borough, both in terms of place and people. What was most interesting about this though, was the explanation of the legacy the games will hopefully leave on the borough.

He discussed how the games hope to provide jobs to those who have been out of work for quite some time, and even if they are temporary places of employment, it at least gives them some sort of transition into getting back into work full time. The Olympic Village has created widespread regeneration efforts of the land itself, with the Hackney Marshes center just being recently built and home to 60+ rugby and soccer fields. It was really powerful hearing the impact these games are having on this specific part of the city, and really showed how these Olympics focus on the cultural diversity of London rather than the Big Ben/double-decker bus/old school type of London that many people think of when they think of the city. I really hope that the world is able to see how much these games will improve the lives of those living in the five boroughs, but particularly Hackney. I asked Charlie if the international coverage will really get to how much the legacy part of the games is affecting the surrounding area. He answered by explaining the different parts of the games that members of the community are participating in, such as performances during the opening ceremony and events leading up to the Olympics. He is definitely optimistic in the lasting legacy of London 2012. After his presentation, my skepticism was definitely pushed aside and I am hopeful too for the impact these games will have on Hackney and the other boroughs for many years to come.

Me and Jasper, the birthday boy!

Friday was also Jasper’s birthday. We were planning on going to a pub to watch a football game but that fell through. We ended up going to Penthouse again which was a good time. Highlights included playing limbo with people on the dancefloor-two people would hook arms and others would try and maneuver under- and getting free glasses they were handing out (err I didn’t get mine directly..thanks, Mike). We also made a pit stop at McDonald’s before taking the bus home. We all had a great time and Jasper definitely had a great birthday celebration!

6/9

Saturday morning we had a scheduled tour of the House of Parliament. We met Professor Hollenbeck outside and passed through an intense bout of security before finally being admitted in. The architecture is as beautiful on the inside of the building as it is on the outside. Each room is incredibly distinctive in its décor. We were able to see the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and more as we precessed throughout the building as the Queen would do when she formally opens Parliament. Professor Cook’s talk the day before about the makeup of the government definitely helped so we could picture the duties and roles of the different chambers. I thought the most interesting part was how they vote on legislature. Before we entered the House of Commons we got to sit in a hallway which we soon learned was the “Nay” chamber. Instead of voting by ballot in the different rooms, the Members of Parliament (MP) go to either the “Yay” or “Nay” hallways to place their vote in the ballot. They have a certain amount of time to do so, and our tour guide explained that some will even go to a local pub to grab some brews mulling over their decision until they hear the warning bell to come back in and vote. On the way out, we got to see the stained glass window that was made specifically for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and will soon be going up in the main window when visitors enter the House of Parliament.

After our tour wrapped up we walked across Waterloo Bridge back to the Southbank and the area by the Eye. We grabbed lunch at Wagamama, a popular noodle house chain in London. It was packed but we waited in line and still ate there, it wasn’t bad. I thought Noodles & Co back in the states in better but it was definitely a filling lunch! Then we walked down to the Southbank Centre area where we went to the World Street Food Fair. I thought that the market wasn’t there as the food festival was only that weekend, but I turned out to be wrong (sorry Jessie!!). There was an extensive selection of food tents and stands, not as many as the food festival but still a substantial amount. A long day of touring and walking complete, we headed back to the flats to hang out for the evening. We stayed in as we were going to Brighton as a group on Sunday.