You want to hear about London? Fine, I'll tell you about London.

I've been avoiding making this post because I knew it would be a massive picture-heavy posting, but now I have a paper to write and this was a glorious opportunity for procrastination.

So, I went to London. On Thursday of last week I got up earlier than the sun - earlier than any sane person should ever wake. I hauled my sleepy self over to the AirCoach bus stop outside of Peter's apartment and was on my way to the airport. The flight to London was short and sweet, but not sweet enough to allow me to get the much-needed nap I had been hoping for.

Our first "London outing" was seeing the play Boeing Boeing. It was a 70s farce. Not a very tight production but a comedy was just what the doctor ordered for sleepy-face Bri. It starred the actor Kevin McNally, who played Gibbs in the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies. He cleans up well.

The IES staff members who were traveling with us took us out to supper at an Indian restaurant. I don't eat Indian food often because we don't have many options for ethnic cuisine at home, but I enjoy trying new things, and this meal was nice. Not so nice later on though, as my stomach decided to start a rebellion, causing a long and awful night of lots of sickness and little sleep in our filthy tin can of a hostel.

What is the first thing Brianna does when she has free time to see things in London? Visits Platform 9 3/4, of course! King's Cross Station put up a Platform 9 3/4 in honor of the Harry Potter books and our group had a photo shoot there.
Unfortunately we missed the Hogwarts Express by just a few minutes.

That morning our entire group, all of us students, went to the Tower of London. Peter and I broke off from the group tour to explore the many towers and armories on the grounds. The crown jewels are also stored there in a very shiny, velvety showcase tower. I tried to steal the coronation ring as a souvenir, but no dice, those guards are tough.
That's me by Traitor's Gate, the place where they bring in all of the political prisoners who are about to be beheaded. Pleasant place to snap a photo, eh?
This is me reading the prisoners' graffiti carved in the stone walls of one of the tower holding cells. Before execution, prisoners would carve their "final words" - often a prayer or political statement - into the walls of the fortress. These carvings have been preserved, and it's fascinating to peek into the minds of the desperate men and women who were held captive there.

After the Tower of London a more pleasant visit was in order. We toured Shakespeare's Globe, a replica of the original theatre built very close to the original site. I really enjoyed the tour. If only we could have seen a show there! My favorite part of visiting The Globe was the walk through the costuming exhibit. The Globe costume shop uses only the techniques and materials that were available in Shakespeare's time. They cut pattern pieces from burlap and muslin and hand sew almost everything. They dye all of their materials using only the things that Elizabethans would have used. A tedious place to work as a costumer, yes, but the results are amazing.

Here's a picture of all of the IES Theatre Students being ridiculous on stage at The Globe:
After that we ate pizza. Nothing special.

Then it was off to a performance at the National Theatre. In this great little black box performance space we saw The Enchantment. I really liked it, but I don't think anyone else in the group much enjoyed it. Think Hedda Gabler, A Dolls House, and Miss Julie all rolled into one depressing evening of theatre. The playwright committed suicide shortly after completing the script - that should give you a clue as to the tone of the play.

The next day of the trip I made a very poor life choice. The night before I had unpacked the shoes in my suitcase. I brought two pairs: walking shoes and fancy dress shoes. When I awoke, I went to put on the walking shoes, and I found that a pipe in our awful stinky dirty hostel had leaked into my shoes leaving the foam insoles soaked. That meant that I only had one pair of shoes to wear: fancy dress shoes. They sure were cute! But after the first hour of walking I wanted to SCREAM because they hurt so badly. I had five large throbbing blisters on my feet and I really didn't enjoy much of the walking tour of London because my feet were distracting me. One of the blisters still hasn't healed yet - it's red and kind of gross and on my right pinky toe. I named it Pookie and I'm hoping that he heals soon.

I did get to see Buckingham Palace on the walking tour. It is, of course, grandiose. We saw the curtains moving but no glimpses of Princes William or Harry. We were hoping to see the Changing of the Guard but there was no ceremony that day, so we just sat around and enjoyed the atmosphere of palatial life.

The Queen's Cavalry rode by on a practice trot. They don't really do much except accompany the Queen on ceremonial occasions and ride around looking royal and really rather silly. Here's a picture of them (just for you, Alanna!)
After Buckingham Palace we took the tube to Abbey Road and did the picture taking to celebrate our musical friends, The Beatles.
This was followed by a visit to the National Portrait Gallery. I got to see the famous Marilyn Monroe prints by Andy Warhol, along with many other exquisite paintings and photographs. The most intriguing was a portrait of a Nobel Prize winning geneticist. His DNA was mounted in gel on the wall. It was a clever and very contemporary take on the portrait, one that perfectly suited the subject.

That afternoon we saw the most glorious piece of theatre. Dealer's Choice by Patrick Marber. A very talented cast, with names and faces from some very big shows of late, such as History Boys. The show was everything I want theatre to be. In-your-face, seamless, trying, and wrenchingly beautiful. And, of course, I'm a sucker for pop culture references, so I feel obligated to point out that Roger Lloyd Something-Or-Other who played Barty Crouch in the Harry Potter movies was a lead in the show.

Another show followed: Rhinoceros at the Royal Court. Do I like absurdist plays? Yes and no. When performed well, as this production was, yes. On paper? Absolutely not. I'm still mulling over this one.

The next day I put on some comfortable shoes and got ready to enjoy London on my own terms. First we went to Buckingham Palace to see The Changing of the Guard, for real this time. We waited. And waited. And waited. And it rained. And we waited some more. And then it was canceled. These are our unhappy faces upon learning of the cancellation:

So, after a disappointing morning of waiting for nothing, Peter and I went to the National Science Museum. IT WAS THE BEST. You know how I know I will love visiting a place? If there are kids all around it squealing with delight. There were children running wild all over the museum and I could not have enjoyed it more. The medical instrument collection was my favorite, followed by the interactive spy technology exhibit. I wish we could have spent more time here. It was amazing.

What is a trip to London without high tea? Nothing, really. We went to high tea at The Orangery at Kensington Palace and paid a mildly extravagant amount for tea and the accouterments. I knew I was way out of place when I asked for a glass of water and they brought out a chilled bottle of Scottish spring water and poured it for me. Everything was tasty, as it should have been, because we sure paid enough for it. High tea is basically a pot of tea with three courses of dessert. I have an insatiable sweet tooth, so in my opinion high tea is the best idea ever implemented by the aristocracy. Even the cucumber sandwiches were painfully delicate and fancy. They arrived stacked like Lincoln Logs:
Then back to our new hotel to sleep. (Peter and I got out of that horrific hostel for the last night in London. Thank goodness.)

Woke early (again!) the next day for more touristy business. We went to The London Eye. Yet another tourist attraction with monstrously inflated admission prices. The concession tickets were only available for seniors or the unemployed, but not for students! Grrr.

Oh well. The flight on The Eye was beautiful. We had a gorgeous day. Just look at the sky!
The observation wheel took us high off the ground so that we could get amazing views of London. Check it out:
Westminster Abbey and Big Ben
Me on the Eye with Big Ben/Westminster Abbey in the background.
Me giving Big Ben a pinch.

That afternoon we went to the British Museum, where I saw The Rosetta Stone and The Parthenon Marbles. I also very much enjoyed a gallery themed Living and Dying with a great exhibit called From Cradle to Grave that explored the dependency of humans on prescription drugs. And what was Peter doing while I was filling my mind with knowledge and goodness? Taking illicit photos with ancient marble sculptures.
And here are a few more touristy photos from the trip:

Kate, Rachel and myself on London Bridge, with the much more impressive looking Tower Bridge in the background.
Me in one of the iconic red phone booths, trying not to touch anything inside because it was unsavory.
The entire group of IES Theatre students posing in Trafalgar Square. Aren't we gorgeous?

That's all, folks. Time to get to work on those midterm papers!