Day 61 to 65 - Where you been, Jillian?

Since the last post, I have had to withdraw from an ATM because I had a moment of mild panic. Don't worry, nothing bad happened. It has to do with the fact that I wanted to buy things for when I get back!

What happened on those days? Well, they were filled with lots of interesting things, but some of those days were slightly hindered by muggy rainy days.

So, here's a long post about rainy days and the need for sleep.

Day 61

This was the day I took a trip to Birmingham, the old hometown of J.R.R. Tolkien.

I ventured into this bustling city in the Midlands on Sunday for a couple hours, then I stumbled out of the station into a place that gave off a different vibe than London.

If Dublin were a real city, it'd be Birmingham.

After a few minutes of reorienting myself, I took a bus that got me to Sarehole Mill, a neighborhood where Tolkien and his family spent part of his childhood in. The area was once a country village that was lush and green. You can even believe that this place inspired the Shire, as is constantly advertised by the city.

The square of Sarehole Mill!

Ahh, a lake~

Sarehole Mill back in the day.

It's such a cute little place and I would have loved it even more had the day been sunny and bright. Even so, the place was the only real "museum" to learn about Tolkien's life since most other places where he lived or worked have changed drastically. There's very little Hobbit/LOTR related souvenirs there, but plenty of things around the Mill to give his life story, education on the Mill and environmental studies, and the occasional Hobbit reference.

I had a little bit of time left to look around the city centre and made a quick trip to the Birmingham Art Museum where I figured out at least one wing of the exhibit to sample. I picked Pre-Raphaelite art because of how much I learned about it in my Victorian Literature class already. I had a conversation about the Pre-Raphaelite paintings with my professor later on and he explained that Birmingham was the one place that the paintings could be fully featured when London didn't want them and Birmingham wanted to distinguish itself as a cultural city.

After another really long trip back, I made it to London despite the big football game-related events happening and some tube station closures. I was ready to sleep!

Day 62

It was the Bank Holiday part 2! I was hoping I could see two museums before our afternoon tour of the National Theatre, but one of them was closed for the day. I eventually made my way to the Tate Modern museum and sampled some wonderful modern art. That's something people don't know about me, but I'm glad that I had some knowledge of a couple modern artists.

Pictures don't do this space justice.

The museum was filled with all kinds of patrons that day because of the Bank Holiday vacationers. The weather wasn't the greatest, but I still braved the gusts of wind and mist through the South Bank.

Later, our class did a tour around the National Theatre, which is one of the coolest theatres of the London theatre scenes I've been to. I'm hoping to see at least one show here before I go!

The play we saw that night was "This May Hurt A Bit", which is a satirical story that focuses on England's National Health Services and the pros and cons that surround it. After a long trip home, it was time to sleep.

Day 63

Sometimes, you have to accept a part of your love for pop culture to take over.

Especially when it comes to Sherlock Holmes!

It was fun to explore the house and imagine all of Sherlock Holmes' familiar stories in this house museum. It was set up to be as if Holmes and Watson lived there long ago. Suffice to say, we all couldn't resist wearing the hats and sitting in the seats we could actually sit down on.

221 B Baker Street!

Do I need to say anything?

The day was also supplemented with the story of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning's elopement at a church nearby, a statue of Sherlock, and a surprise run-in with the building where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once worked in.

Later that night was the pub crawl through Victorian-era pubs, but I only went to one because I really wanted to go home and get out of the rain. I had to sleep.

Day 64

Today, I managed to snag some tickets to see Miss Saigon!!

My friend and I got to see it on this day when I bought day tickets for 20 GBP per person.

The whole day was long in itself because of a 3-hour walk along a canal that was once used for trade. It is also a canal that can lead boaters to Manchester!

But the night was completed by seeing the West End revival of this show. It was spectacular and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I could sing those songs all day! Then I went to sleep.

Day 65

As if I couldn't get enough sleep, I had my class in the morning, then discussed projects, then had lunch with friends on Leather Lane. It's always fun to go here and find good deals on delicious food. We also walked around to find frozen yoghurt. (yeah, it's spelt like this in some places)

Later, we had a class trip to Covent Garden. There was some time to browse the Transport Museum, and then I found time to also find tickets for the play "Blithe Spirit", starring Dame Angela Lansbury.

After trudging through more miserable mist/rain, I dragged myself home, got a warm shower, and ready to sleep.

~~~

So, that's what has been happening lately! I know it seems that I should be lamenting about my departure, but I've been keeping myself busy and taking time to organize my thing, I don't quite feel sad. I know that I'll miss London, but I still have a good amount of days left to make things work!

But, first...sleep.