Windsor Castle, Stonehenge & Oxford! Day 14.

Allison, Jill, and I woke up so early today to get to our bus tour going to Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Oxford.

The first place we went to was Windsor Castle!

 While we were there, we got to see the changing of the guards!  This was so amazing an entertaining to me! I had no idea what to expect, but it was so authentic and there was music…Super exciting.   

After that, we walked around the castle a bit.. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures :(  But it was definitely beautiful in there.  Massive rooms filled with massive carpets, and paintings, and armory..   

After taking a picture with the guard......

....we had to hurry back to make it to the bus on time..I don’t feel like we had enough time there, or anywhere for that matter..but luckily we made it on time!

When we got on the bus I was planning on doing some reading for class, but as I tried to, I totally fell asleep.  I seem to have so much trouble staying awake on public transportation…

After some time, we made it to Stonehenge.  It was beautiful. And rainy. I was so glad I remembered my umbrella!  We hurried out of the bus and did our best to figure out how to get in to walk around Stonehenge, but we couldn’t figure it out, after asking somebody we discovered that apparently we had to go through a tunnel to get there..haha! That was strange.  Then we finally made it..it was so surreal to be there!

 

It is so so gorgeous.

See that bird? I was jealous of him..I'd love to get a picture sitting on one of the rocks!!!

<3

Look! It's a face!!!!

We only got to stay at Stonehenge for awhile so we got some souvenirs and got back on the bus!  Our next stop was Oxford!  Oxford is a beautiful city, but it was cold.  As we were on the walking tour, we ran into a gift shop to buy a sweatshirt for Allison because she was wearing short sleeves in the almost-raining weather.  So we did that and totally caught up with the tour before we lost them! We’re pros at speed walking! Haha!  We learned a little bit of history about the city and the University.   

 We had so little time in Oxford that basically all we did while we were there (other than the half hour walking tour) was shop. 

But that was okay because I was able to get presents for people!!

We got on the bus and found a place to get food.  I forgot the name of the place we went, but I believe it was Italian food.  I got soup and it was yummy.  We also found out that our server was apparently Brad Pitt’s stunt double in Troy!! There was a picture of it on the wall in the restaurant!! It was so cool! It was even cooler that he gave us all free chocolate muffins! Best day ever! :)

After din din, we walked back home and Jill and I decided we wanted to go on a movie date. Now, a couple days ago I thought it would be silly to go to the movies while in London, and you may be thinking that too…BUT before you judge, you must know that it was cold and rainy, and we had done all kinds of walking that day, and Bad Teacher looked way cute. SO we relaxed for about a half hour then Jill came over to my room so we could go.  That’s when we realized we were totally matching. 

We made it to the movies and got our tickets and then it was like a maze to get to the actual theater.  I can’t even tell you how many doors we had to go through! It was crazy! But we eventually found it and all was well.  The movie was so cute and corny and funny.  Exactly what we were hoping for :)

After the movie we walked around the corner to get home and we made it there very safely :)

Then I got to sleep!! Yay!

The V&A (again) and The Seagull. Day 13.

Today was a day for the birds and no food for me.

We woke up semi-early to go to the V&A museum again! That museum is too dang large to take care of in just one part of a day. I pretty much did what I did last time and wandered around towards things that visually intrigued me—no plan whatsoever. I explored and found things I enjoyed looking at…

This reminded me of beauty and the beast :)

After awhile, I felt like I had seen a lot and needed a simplicity break. So, I decided to go outside to the John Madejski Garden to sit by the pond and eat my poppy seed muffin I had bought earlier. It was a beautiful day..the sun was shinning and there was a slight breeze. I felt so at peace and completely content with where I was. While I was sitting, I people-watched a bit. I saw some children trying to swim in the pond…it was absolutely adorable.

Then I noticed some pigeons taking a bath in the pond water. They were so adorable and funny looking. Their feathers were all fluffed up from the water.

As I took my muffin out of my purse, I decided to feed the pigeons a bit. The first one that arrived was a scrawny little guy and he was my favorite right away..

Basically every time I grabbed a piece of the muffin for myself, I ended up throwing it to the pigeons because they were just so entertaining to watch and I as thoroughly enjoying their company.

There was one other pigeon that was my other favorite…he took me by surprise, I was looking at him and all of a sudden I noticed he was hopping around and then I realized he was missing a foot. I gave him more and more food after noticing that because I felt so bad for him. Poor little guy..

At some point, a little girl walked by us in the pond and splashed water at us for no reason! It wasn’t too bad at all though.. it was actually mostly refreshing.

Before I knew it, my muffin was finished and I had managed to get maybe one or two bites of it..haha!

After the V&A we walked to class. I really really enjoyed class that day. I am loving everything we’re learning in there..it’s giving me a whole new appreciation for theater, and is also definitely making me miss it. I wish it was still a big part of my life..

We discussed All’s Well That Ends Well and got a general idea of how everyone liked (or disliked) it. We also talked some more about realism and naturalistic plays. We discussed the writers August Ibsen, Henrik Strinberg, and Anton Chekhov and method acting. We also talked a bit about the “plot” of The Seagull to prepare us for seeing it that night. Anton Chekhov described his work (The Seagull) as containing “5 tons of love.” And that it explored the “human tendency to reject love and go after love that is withheld.”

After class, we all made the long journey to the Arcola Theater to see The Seagull.

We had a bit of time before the show started and we tried to find food real quick. I was so hungry because I still hadn’t eaten all day long. We found a KFC (and even though I promised I wouldn’t go anywhere that I could just go to in America ((other than starbucks))) We went there. I was excited to get warm mashed potatoes, but then I found out that apparently they don’t make those at London KFCs. So, I reluctantly got French fries..but I didn’t really eat a lot of them because I’m not a big fan of French fries.

We made our way back to the theater and found seats for the show. The theater itself was an extremely intimate set-up. The chairs in the front were practically onstage. The stage was sort of like a thrust stage type in that there were 3 sides of the audience. However, the stage it self was not risen in any way.

The Seagull was so much different than anything I’ve ever seen before. It was so raw and real (hence realism..).

The best way I was able to describe the play after seeing it was that it was beautiful. Not necessarily in the costumes, or the set, ..but in the words, and the symbolism-the dead seagull symbolizing the destruction of Nina..etc. I found some quotes to give you an idea of the type of language that moved me so much..

“I’m in mourning for my life.”

“ Do you remember you shot a seagull? A man came by chance, saw it and destroyed it, just to pass the time.”

“For the sake of happiness like that, being a writer or an actress, I would endure poverty, disillusionment, and in the hatred of those lose to me. I’d live in an attic and eat nothing but rye bread. I’d suffer dissatisfaction with myself in realizing my own fame.”

“It’s not a matter of old or new forms; a person writes without thinking about any forms, he writes because it flows freely from his soul.”

“I’m the seagull. No, that’s not it. I’m an actress. That’s it.”

“How much love there is about this lake of spells!”

“You’re sixty-years old. Medicine won’t help.”

“It is a dream!”

There are so many more that I liked, but this could go on for a long time.. I think It was so beautiful because of how unique and new it was to me. I completely enjoyed it and am so thankful I had the opportunity to see it.

It was just simply beautiful. It was beautiful, but also haunting in many ways.

After the show, some of us wandered around looking for a pub that was open so we could celebrate the 4^th of July a little bit, but all of the pubs were done for the night-it was probably for the best because I was so tired.

Moving Day. Day 12.

July 3rd.

We moved. It sucked.
Remember that HUGE pile of books I have?

Well, I had to carry those plus my giant-ass bags. Also, the weather was hot and I was wearing a sweatshirt of course.

I unpacked. It rocked.
It is SO wonderful to finally have a home. Although, we were pretty spoiled at the other place..they would bring us clean towels every day, take out our trash..we only had to share the bathroom with our roommates..etc, etc..

We had dinner. It was cute and open for 24 hrs.  
We went to Vingt-Quatre-which apparently means 24 in French.

 

Walked home, which looks like this:

And then talked to the boyfriend, and worked on the blog, and then came sleep.