And in the end, the love you take...

Tuesday
Several of us went to a concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields by a German pianist/composer/conductor/otherwise musical extraordinaire named Ratko Dilarko. He played some Chopin, Debussy, and Gershwin (including "Rhapsody in Blue"). I swear he grew extra hands to cover all of the notes in a few of the pieces! Amy and I got a gelato at the interval. Mmm.

Wednesday
My flatmates went to see Jersey Boys, which I already saw (still the second best show I've seen), so I stayed in and did my laundry. Nothing exciting - just read a chick lit novel whilst in the laundry room.

Thursday
We went to see Billy Elliot – not the best singing we've seen (okay, okay, the some of the worst so far), but the dancing was great! It was also cool to see a British story in London, even though the thick Northern English accents were a little tough to decipher now and then. The kid that played Billy was 13 and had never had formal dance training before he was in the show! I had to look up the British coal miners' strike of 1984 when I got back to the flat. Overall, a solid show, but not amazing.

Friday
Grayson invited everyone on a pub crawl. I think that pretty much sums it up. :)

Saturday
I had grand plans to do something on my last Saturday before Mom comes to London. Hmm. Yeah, I didn't really get around to any of that stuff. Connie took us out to dinner at a Greek restaurant around the corner from our flat. It was a little dank and sketchy-looking, and we were the only people there for a while, but the food ended up being good. The chef made me a special vegetarian moussaka. I wanted to go for a walk after dinner, but promptly fell fast asleep at 8 p.m. Wild and crazy times.

Sunday
After a lazy Saturday, I was motivated to get out and do something on Sunday! I walked to Regent's Park to check out Queen Mary's Gardens. They were beautiful, but I guess not quite as spectacular as I had hoped. I did happen upon an outdoor jazz concert, though, and stopped to listen for a while. I left my spot when the two women next to me got in an argument with the park rental chair collections guy. Someone else had given them their receipt/ticket and they claimed it was still valid - they asked to speak to his manager, etc. I am happy to report that they were British and not American! I got a cookies-n-cream milkshake on the way back at a place in the West End called Ed's Diner.

Monday
I tubed it down to Victoria Station to get tickets for Wicked on Saturday (didn't want to take the chance it'd be sold out, especially since that's Mom's only chance to see it!) I met Amy at the National Gallery, where we looked at the Franco-Flemish and Impressionists. The room with the VanGoghs and Monets was the most crowded in the museum. I was really struck by a few of the paintings, though – it's interesting to see which ones look really different in person (as opposed to a reproduction/picture/poster). More gelato on the way back to the flat (it's been kind of warm the past few days...)
Then... Kirsten and I went to Abbey Road! There wasn't a whole lot to see, but it was really cool to be there. It's in a really nice neighborhood that we walked around in for a while, and we stopped for dinner and dessert at a cafe on St. John's Wood High Street. There was even a little Beatles tchotchke shop in the tube station.


I can't believe this is my last week in London! I am getting excited about France, though, and I'm trying to pack a lot in these last few days.

Cockles and Mussels, Alive, Alive-o!

Yikes, it's been a week since I posted last! Here's a brief outline of the past week; I'll flesh out the details later.

Monday
missed scheduled flight - oops!
walked around Dublin city centre
Guinness Storehouse tour

Tuesday
historical walking tour - Trinity College, Dublin Castle, City Hall
St. Audoen's Church
Christ Church Cathedral
Dublinia

Wednesday
Wild Wicklow - woo!
Glendalough
Irish music

Thursday
Book of Kells
return to London

Friday
Harrods!
failed attempt to see Wall-E

Saturday
Windsor Castle, Windsor and Eton
Wall-E!

Sunday
London Zoo

Monday
back to class
posted new pictures! (link on left)

The sun'll come out... Saturday!

Friday
Friday was our last day of class with Dr. Madsen... and it was a doozy! I'm happy to report that it was a very inspiring and worthwhile course (remember - I am here for school!) After class, a bunch of us walked over to Lamb's Conduit Street (isn't that a great name?!?) for a pub lunch in celebration of Nathan's birthday. The weather held out for lunch, but it soon turned windy, gray and rainy.

Kirsten and I braved the elements to go on a Jack the Ripper walking tour. After a roundabout journey to the tube station the guide leaves from, we arrived to find that we were the only people who showed up for the tour! Our guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining, and we learned lots of juicy details about the history of London (not just Jack the Ripper). After the tour guide dropped us off, we went to dinner at a Korean restaurant around the corner from our flat. The food was really tasty! I had a spicy seafood noodle soup, perfect after a night of walking around in the cold rain.

Saturday
No rain! Unfortunately, there's not much more to say for Saturday except that I took way too long to write my comprehensive exams. My flatmates left me alone in the evening and I finally finished after watching the British version of "Last Choir Standing."

Sunday
Today I walked around Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street, and Soho for several hours. The weather was great! I got the shopping bug, but the only thing I ended up buying was a mini-guide for Dublin. I discovered lots of interesting little side streets and even a cute square right behind the histle and bustle of Oxford Street. I noticed there were people lined up (I guess I should say "queued up") outside the Apple store - waiting for their new iPhones, I'm sure! I also went into all of the big department stores that I had been wondering about - they were pretty high-priced. Selfridge's especially was overwhelmingly large and upscale. All of these department stores have awesome grocery stores ("food halls") in their basements. Weird, huh?

Some amusing highlights of the day:
- I passed by the Nickelodeon offices, where a TV was on in the lobby even though the office was closed.
- Meticulously decorated cakes and confections at the food hall in Selfridge's. I wish I had taken pictures!
- There was a guy all-out singing to his iPod accompaniment in the foyer of Marks and Spencer (department store) to raise money for a cancer research organization. He was actually a pretty good singer, too!
- I saw a group of maybe 200 people blocking traffic to rollerblade down Oxford Street. I was only able to snap a picture of the last of the group.

Tomorrow morning it's off to Dublin for a few days...

Tut tut, looks like rain!

Tuesday
Rainy. The class went to the Institute of Education at the University of London for the day. I met Jeff back at the study centre and we went out for a spot of tea. We went to a cafe in the theatre district with the most beautiful cakes and pastries in its case. I got a strawberry tart and Jeff got black forest cake. Mmm. When I got back to the flat, it was so quiet! With so many of us living in close quarters, it's definitely unusual for it to be that quiet around here. Even the city noise seemed to be dulled. It was a nice, short auditory respite. :)

Wednesday
More rain. Amy and I met Jeff for lunch and tea. I had heard that there was a pub nearby called the Bung Hole. Of course, I had to look it up online, and sure enough, it's there! We couldn't resist the hilarity of the name and ventured out to find this pub in the rain. It was not what we expected - we were definitely the only tourists in the place, and almost all of the patrons were in business suits having their serious business lunches. The food was not bad, and we took some cheesy tourist pictures in front of the sign. We practiced our awesome synchronized umbrella routine on the way back to the flat, and bid farewell to Jeff. I went visiting at the other flats for the evening, which was fun and a good distraction from my academic endeavors.

Thursday
Minnie and I walked over to the British Museum to finish up our observations for class. I saw a replica of the Rosetta Stone in a gallery on the first floor, but I'm not quite sure where the real Rosetta Stone is on display. I will have to go back and find it! We walked up to the Marks and Spencer "Simply Food" grocery store in our neighborhood. It's small (just like all of the other grocery stores in London) but a bit more upscale. I guess I would compare it to a mini-Wegmans prepared food section or a mini-Whole Foods. Oddly enough, they also have a small section of non-food products, most notably underwear. I guess the regular Marks and Spencer stores are department stores with grocery stores inside them. My seven-layer couscous salad with honey-lime dressing was delicious!

Big Girls Don't Cry

Sunday

A lazy, rainy day.  My flatmates lured me into the living room to watch the Wimbledon championship point by popping a bag of popcorn.  It was interesting to think that all of that was going down just a short ride from where we are!

Monday

Jeff came to visit from Germany!!!  Amy and I dashed to Primark after class (a discount department store - think H&M/Old Navy/the apparel section of Target with the crowds on Black Friday times seven).  I got a bag to use as a carry-on for my excursion to Dublin for 6 pounds!  (I am not thinking about dollars anymore...)  We rushed back to meet Jeff at the study centre, and then had afternoon tea and some pub food before going to see Jersey Boys.  GREAT show!!!  The music was so much fun, and the show was so well-paced and entertaining.  I still give Avenue Q top marks, but this comes in as a close second so far.

YO!

Saturday

We woke up to the steady patter of rain on the window Saturday morning.  Luckily, the weather cleared by the time I went out to catch the London Pride parade.  Kirsten, Amy and I thought we had a prime spot at Piccadilly Circus, but when the parade rolled down Regent Street we realized it wasn't going past us. :(  We scrambled to find another spot and were able to see at least some of the parade - there were no "floats," but many groups rode by on double decker buses and truck beds.  There were TONS of people out and about, and it was weird to see the streets closed to traffic!

We stumbled upon YO! Sushi in our search for ice cream and decided to try it.  No ice cream - but they did have a conveyor belt with little dishes riding along for the taking!  The color of the plate denoted the price of the dish.  The soy sauce and wasabi were recessed into the counter, and there were fizzy and still water dispensers every few seats.  They tally up your empty plates at the end.  The sushi was pretty good, but a bit expensive... I guess you are paying for the experience as well as the food.

In the evening, a group of us went to see Avenue Q.  We got our tickets at the tkts booth in Leicester Square - a good move as the theatre wasn't selling discounted tickets an hour before the show. :(  This was by far the best show I've seen so far.  I was surprised to see in the program that all of the actors were British - they all had fantastic American accents!  All of the actors were great, and the show itself was outrageously funny.  I'm still laughing just thinking about it!

Recap Part 2

Monday

Amy, Minnie and I walked all the way down Oxford Street to check out the paddle boats at Hyde Park.  Tons of people were out shopping, though, and it took longer than expected to fight the crowds out on the streets!  By the time we got to the park and looked around, we had to leave to get to Westminster Abbey in time for the Evensong service.  Unlike the service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, there was much pomp and circumstance.  The church really is amazing on that grand level, and the boys' choir sounded angelic in the space.  I will have to go back for a tour of the Abbey sometime.

Tuesday

The forecast for Tuesday was 80 degrees and sunny, so Minnie, Abigail and I headed over to Hyde Park for a picnic and paddle boating.  There were tons of people enjoying the weather in the park, including one guy who was sunbathing in just his boxer-briefs!  Later that evening, a large group of us went to the London Eye, which is basically a huge ferris wheel with enclosed capsules for groups to see London from the sky.  We had some great views as the sun set and the city lights came to life.  Parliament and Big Ben were especially impressive all lit up on the bank of the Thames. 

Wednesday

We visited the National Portrait Gallery, the lesser known and lesser visited gallery just behind the National Gallery.  It was really interesting to see the progression of history and painting styles along with all of the historical information on the monarchs and their minions.  In the evening, we enjoyed "Jazz in the Crypt" at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.  It was pretty eerie to hang out in a crypt all evening, but hey - the bread pudding was good!

Thursday

After dawdling a bit in the afternoon, Minnie and I checked out the British Museum, which is literally a stone's throw from the study centre and our flat.  The vast amount of information and artifacts was pretty overwhelming, and we didn't last too long among the crowds.  We got some pretty good pizza (real Italian style) at a little restaurant just a few blocks from the museum and our flats, and then headed back to pick up some more people for Spamalot!  We went to the box office about an hour before the show to get discount tickets.  The eight of us were split into two groups, but hey! our tickets were only 25 pounds (I am trying not to think about the dollars...)  It was a really fun show, and I can't wait to see more musicals here at the West End!

Friday

The weather was perfect for our cruise down the Thames to Greenwich.  I didn't even put two and two together about the whole prime meridian thing until we got there (duh).  We had falafel and onion bhaji pitas (mmm) at the Greenwich Market before climbing the hill to the observatory.  The view of Greenwich and of the London skyline was fantastic, and I got the obligatory photo of myself at the prime meridian.  In the evening, we attended another concert at St. Martin-in--the-Fields (man, I've been there a lot!)  During one of the Vivaldi pieces, the conductor turned around and sang a countertenor solo.  Anyway... there were two fantastic soprano soloists, and as it was the 4th of July, the choir sang two Eric Whitacre pieces and the orchestra played Barber's Adagio for Strings.

And so... that brings me to today!  I was thinking about checking out the Pride parade this afternoon, but it's supposed to rain all morning and into the afternoon.  Hmm.  I'm also itching to see another musical...

Recap Part 1

Since I'm starting this blog a little late, here's a recap:

Thursday

Arrival in London!  I took the train from the airport into the city, and stopped for a bite to eat in Paddington station.  I couldn't figure out why there were no trash cans around to throw away my apple core until the next day, when Amy reminded me about the fear of bombs in the train stations.  Dumb American Moment #1.

After the FSU welcome reception (Subway sandwiches - really), Minnie and I walked around Piccadilly Circus like a couple of zombies, trying to push through the jet lag. 

Friday

The study centre provided a "practical walking tour" of the area to help us get our bearings in the neighborhood.  After a dinner of fish and chips and vinegar, vinegar, vinegar... we saw The Lion King in the West End!  It was great, but honestly, the Broadway production I saw in '06 was better.

Saturday

Our Blue Badge Guide Hugh led us on a walking tour of the Bloomsbury neighborhood (where we are living/studying).  It's home to the British Museum and the University of London, as well as lots of posh homes.  All of the music ed folks attended the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus concert, including Brahms' Requiem, conducted by Lorin Maazel.

Sunday

We began the day with a three-hour bus tour around the major sites, including the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  Minnie and I went to the Evensong service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and then stumbled upon a concert at a church in Knightsbridge.  We were actually looking for Hyde Park, but instead we got the ENTIRE Bach B Minor Mass in one sitting!

Welcome to Brilliant Catsup!

I'm in London until August!

I'll post a recap of the past week a bit later.  Until then, check out my facebook photo album!