I'll admit, because of how adventurous I've been this week, I had very little time to actually update this blog. Though, once you read this blog, you'll find that my reasons were wholly justified. :)
Day 49
This is the day our class headed to Stratford-upon-Avon as part of our 2-day excursion. What we encountered was idyllic Elizabethan farmlife at the Mary Arden house and a surprisingly fun, modern town of Shakespeare's birthplace.
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| A cottage in Mary Arden's farm. |
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| More farmlife! |
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| Center of Stratford-upon-Avon |
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| Outside of the house! |
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| The man was a doctor, so this was pretty nice! |
We finally reached the church where Shakespeare is buried in, then ended the tour for the day just before going to watch "Henry IV part 1".
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| A plaque with his face on it. |
There is something wonderful about being in the place where Shakespeare once lived and to see one of his plays performed in the area.
We headed back to the RSC for a special surprise: we got to meet the actor for Prince Hal, Alex Hassel! Our class had a few minutes to ask questions regarding theatre work and Shakespeare, then eventually got autographs.
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| The Royal Shakespeare Company! |
It was amazing! The sets, the acting, the whole thing was phenomenal!
Afterwards, a few of us decided to visit a pub where some of the RSC actors go to after the show. We managed to see at least one of the actors, Trevor White who played Hotspur, and got have a quick chat with him.
Day 50
On this day, we all packed up our things and got on the coach bus to visit Anne Hathaway's house.
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| It's like it is straight out of a book. |
There was an hour long break for lunch before we got to see the show, "The Roaring Girl", also in the RSC in another stage. After the show, we got on the coach for the trip back to London.
Day 51
This was the day we spent partly in class in the morning to debrief on our theatre excursion. The afternoon, however, became a surprising twist on our classtime.
Originally, this was a day that one of our professors arranged to have us visit parliament, apparently they were all on vacation at this time. So, it was canceled, plans switched around, many people joined my professor for a drink at a boat while me and a few others visited Westminster Abbey Church.
If you can recall, this is the place of the many kings and queens' funerals and burials that occurred here, such as Richard II, a few Henrys, Queen Elizabeth I, and Mary, Queen of Scots. Diana, Princess of Wales had her funeral here, as well as the Royal Wedding of William and Kate happened here, too! There is also an area where many famous writers and poets were buried or commemorated here, as well as Handel!
After that, we went to go shopping at Primark, which is basically a clothing store like that of H&M. I got a new dress for only 5 GBP!
The end the day, I went to watch a play with a friend to see "The 39 Steps", which was hilarious and fun! I can assure you that I was very tired.
Day 52
The morning started with our Victorian Literature class visiting the house of the famous Victorian designer, William Morris, over at South Kensington. Many famous ornate designs of wallpaper and tapestries were made by him and are continued to be repeated to this day!
Then, we were free to spend the rest of the day doing whatever we liked. One of my friends planned to go to the National Gallery, which was a place I had not yet visited before, so I asked to join her.
From that point, we had lunch at a cafe in the crypt of an old church building, St. Martin's in the Field. It was around that time we decided to see if we can get good tickets for shows tonight because we were feeling spontaneous!
Turns out, we were lucky to get 20 GBP each to see the musical "Once"!!!
Once we visited the National Gallery and saw a few paintings, we figured we had a lot of time to visit more things, so we made our way to London Bridge to see Borough Market. Then we figured "well, since we're here, let's visit the Shard!"
If there is anything you should try doing in London, it's to go to the bar on the 32nd floor without paying loads of money to get to the very top of the Shard.
The Aquashard is a pretty fancy bar. It's also really expensive. For example, 4.50 GBP for a latte. Don't get me wrong, the latte was absolutely delicious, but WHEWWW. The view, however, was just amazing. The place itself was really busy, but it was still worth seeing the city from that floor.
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| "I've spent so much money today." |
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| Looking on the river Thames! |
With one more walk around the bank, my friend and I ate a quick dinner and headed over to the Phoenix theatre to see the play!
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| Agghhh I know the song by heart!!! |
Day 53
After a much needed sleep, I got out of bed by 10, showered, then joined some friends to the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington.
That place has A LOT of stuff. There are exhibits for culture and art in that place and you cannot do the whole place in one day. It was amazing to look at!
We tried to swing by the Shard today, and also Borough Market, but by that time, we were already done for the day.
So, that's all you missed in my life. Already, people are wondering if I ever have class time. What they should know is that I have fully invested in my education. ;)
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