london reminiscing.

a new group is preparing to go on the london theatre study abroad. people all over byu are about to embark on journeys to other countries, and they are going to leave me behind. the thought is unbearable. it breaks my heart and makes me want to cry. but the lovely carolyn made a video so we can remember and relive our times in hyde park. oh how i miss that park in the springtime- reading plays under the trees, the breeze blowing in my hair, blossoms floating through the air, the long grass between my fingers and toes...it will never be the same, but i will find a way to go back someday. soon i will escape and leave all this behind, when i have no school, no commitments, and no restrictions. until then i will dream of hyde park and the magic within. 

.:cheers london:.

a blog post on my last week in london...here it goes, with a heavy heart.

MONDAY, JUNE 6TH. DAY 41. 
This day started out with school, our last lecture and our penultimate class. We had a woman come in and teach us about movement, which included some exercices with rhythm and...I am awful at moving my body to a rhythm so that was interesting haha. After class I headed over to the Hammersmith Primark and spent way to much money. 3 pairs of trousers (pants), 4 shirts, shorts, a belt, a pair of white oxfords, and that might be it. This took most of the day and then I met up with the group later to go to "Pygmalion" (what My Fair Lady originates from except it is not a musical). It starred Rupert Everett, who plays Jules' gay friend George in "My Best Friend's Wedding." I was excited to see him act live and the whole time I was expecting him to break out into a chorus starting with "The moment I wake up..." The show was okay and was pretty entertaining but nothing great. Afterwards we waited outside to get his autograph but he totally ditched his fans and hopped into a cab (I am quite disappointed in him). Then we concluded the night with a trip down to Westminster Pier to hear our friend Big Ben chime eleven. Always a good way to conclude an evening. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 7TH. DAY 42.
It was our last day of class...we took our finals and then I was off to the flat to figure out what I wanted to do on one of my last free days in London. I sat on the couch for a while chugging orange juice and booking hostels for Italy and then eventually I set off to Harrod's and Topshop to check them out before it was too late. But in my sick and weakened condition I could barely breathe, what with all the parfum and such, so I came home and waited about until people came back. We ate dinner at "Tortilla" and it was really really good especially for it being Mexican food in the UK. I got a large steak burrito and ate it ALL, because that's just how I do it. Before our last show as a group we went to a little place by the theatre overlooking the water and talked. We saw "Haunting Julia" it was supposed to be a scary thriller but actually it was really lame. Mostly talking and then when the climax came it was just a bunch of rustling of papers and doors banging. But a lot of the people in the group did a good job of scaring themselves from all the tension. And then for like the first time ever I went to bed incredibly early surprising myself and everyone in the room...I guess I finally realized that when you are sick you need sleep.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8TH. DAY 43.
My last day in London :( We started the day off by going to Hampton Court. A palace that Henry the VIII inhabited at some point. They gave us audio guides but...I can't handle those things. It is way too much nonsensical information for me. So I turned it back in and walked around with the others who still had them on, and it made for a quiet day haha. Plus by that time in the program I was getting restless with tours about old things. So I did what I always do- I headed for the gardens and left some of the others behind. Also because it was my last day in London, that meant lots of packing and I needed to get home to sort it all out because if you've ever seen one of my rooms it looks like a hurricane hit it. So I hopped on the train back to the city and from there bought my tickets to a play called "London Road" before it sold out. Except we got DRENCHED in the rain walking from the tube stop to the theatre and it was freezing and incredibly windy. I pretty much hated my life at that point. I was sick, tired, and wet. Plus the irony of it all...I had brought an umbrella to Hampton Court and put in Amberly's backpack because it never rained and then when I split up from her I forgot it. So unfortunate. (ps- some of these pictures are crooked but i am too lazy and busy to straighten them. oh well.)

let's talk about this picture for a second. this is preston listening to the audio on a large pillow. if it looks like he is dead it's because he is. and that's the exact way i felt. and still every time i see this picture i laugh out loud. 

good ol' henry

actors role playing and such

But I finally got home, got warm, packed, and drank some soothing liquid before we had to go to the show. We had standing tickets at London Road but I still really enjoyed it. It was a based on a true story about the murder of prostitutes but it mostly dealt with the response of the people in the town. The music and way they sung was really beautiful as well. Dezi, Megan, and Ari were also at the show so me and Holly walked back with them and me and Dez went to Westminster Pier to see Big Ben one last time because we realized tonight would be the night we had to say goodbye to London. While there we found Amber and Lauren. Me, Dezi, and Lauren were all leaving for Italy the next day and we all had the same idea and ended up at the same place. We stayed till 11 to hear the bells and sat there pondering in silence for what seemed like too short of a period of time. I realized that I can come to London again in the future but it will never be the same. That time in my life, with those people, studying that exact subject...no never again. It was a sad realization and my heart broke a little because I still am in love with it all so much. But I had many adventures to look forward too and still do. And life goes on and I will always remember the time I studied theatre abroad in London as one of the best in my life. I said goodnight to London then and I will say goodbye officially on my blog now.

me and dez with the national theatre in the background

Goodbye London. I love you and will forever miss you. You will always be my city ♥

Stratford Trip: Part 2

THURSDAY, JUNE 2ND. DAY 37.
This day started out with an authentic english breakfast provided by our B&B hosts. It included a sunny-side-up egg, toast, rashers of bacon, sausage, and baked beans. I wouldn't really recommend most british food...it's kinda tasteless sometimes. Then we met at Shakespeare's birthplace and took a tour of that. Next we went to New Place and Hall's Croft (Shakespeare's son-in-law's house). It was a lot of time period-ish artifacts and supposed objects that might've belonged to Shakespeare...after a while it all blurs together so I am not really clear on everything I saw haha. My favorite parts are always the gardens so that what I usually make b-line for. We then ate at another pub, I had my first fish and chips in the UK...which were actually pretty good considering I do not like seafood. 

Shakespeare's diggs

gardens at hall's croft or new place or both, i still don't understand what they are

this is what we do 

After our meal we went to the Holy Trinity Church to view Shakespeare's grave and pay our respects to the great bard who is responsible for out being in England at all. Thank you Will, thank you. Earlier we had passed the avon (river) and had noticed row boats for rent- something I could not possibly pass up on. So into Miranda we went (our boat named after one of the main characters from The Tempest). I loved it. Simple and slow things like this always make my day. It was, me, carolyn, and patrick in the boat. Patrick who is also from Florida had never kayaked or canoed (don't know how that happened), so he had some trouble in the beginning. Eventually carolyn switched him out and he also had difficulty hahaha it was pretty amusing. So I joined Carolyn to help and we rowed Patrick about the avon whilst trying not to run into narrow boats and other row boats. 

view of the trinity church from the river

view of the theatre from the river

Then we went to Moo Moo's to get milkshakes. Best decision of my life. So in Europe they have these candy bars called Buenos. They have a soft hazelnut inside and a chocolate wafer outside. Best things of my life. And this milkshake place had the option of paring them with ice cream into a cold creamy concoction of goodness in my mouth. BUENO MILKSHAKE. If you notice my face in the picture...yeah I was excited. But this place had hundreds of flavors, no joke. So great. Then we went to the "Creaky Cauldron" to get butterbeers of which we paid for completely in small change to get rid of our coins...took us a while to count it up and even longer for the cashier to haha. 

After that we walked around the shops and later had a picnic dinner by the river. We also saw a trained rabbit that ran around like a dog and tripped people, most entertaining thing I've seen in a while. After that we went to the theatre to see "Macbeth". And it was incredible. They replaced the weird sisters with children which made it especially creepy, plus the special effects were very cool. And afterwards we waited at the stage door again to get autographs. We got Macbeth's autograph and Ross's. The actor who played Ross also played Antonio the night before in Merchant. His name is Scott Handy and he was also in the movie "A Knight's Tale" as the servant of Count Adhemar. 

me and holly

patrick and i

amberly, dezi, and i

http://www.rsc.org.uk/

Patrick Stewart's Autograph on the first ticket. Jonathan Slinger and Scott Handy's on the second.