Can you believe we're still here? We are! We're still here, doing things and seeing the sights, although maybe not at such an impressive pace as when we first arrived. Also, I have three blog posts in my head right now so if I pop up in your reader a lot over the next 24 hours, well, you're welcome.
I did want to mention one more thing about last week, specifically about Westminster Abbey because I don't think I gave it its due. It was very old and quite beautiful and lovely in its oldness. I made a point to touch lots of things, just to touch something old. Also, I had no idea that Elizabeth I (and Mary, and the other Mary) were buried there. As I was walking around with Jeremy Irons, I was thinking about how England, and the world in general, has been made what it is by so very, very, very many people. Lots of them we still remember, but there are so many more that we don't. But that doesn't mean they had no effect on the world. I mean, Stone Carver #10 at Westminster may not be remembered specifically, but the effects of his life are still standing. Anyway, what I'm saying in such a plodding fashion is that maybe Achilles made the wrong choice.*
So! (As Lawrence Olivier would say) Here we are. And here is what we have done! It was a lazy week and big weekend.
Tuesday night we made our first attempt to see Into the Woods at the open air theater in Regent's Park. It wound up never starting and being canceled because of some heavy rain, but it was a fun walk in the rain anyway. I do like the English rain.
Thursday night we went to H&M where I got my own posh hat. We may have also bought another posh hat for someone else...
Yeah, so...not much during the week. But then on Friday we took off to the Lake District! We were off on the train at 5:30 and arrived a little before 9 at Windermere. It was so nice to go speeding through the countryside and see the England that I have been seeing in my head and on my TV for all these years. There were sheep, trees, stone walls, fields and little houses. Charming!
We headed up to our sweet hotel, and settled right in. The next day we got up in time to get our included full English breakfast, which turned out to have many options. We settled on just the regular breakfast which included grilled tomatoes (mm) and mushrooms (mmm), as well as sausages and eggs. AND. Black pudding. We weren't sure what it was. So we ate it. Afterwards we did a little research to find out just what black pudding is. It's blood! Blood pudding! The most notorious of English foods! Look at the thing. They look like super crispy, burnt breakfast sausages, but they're actually all soft and weird. I didn't really like it because it tasted like beans, and I didn't finish mine. Naturally Mr. Graham ate the whole thing. I'm glad I tried it, just for the trying, but I mean...really? Who thought of these things?
The rest of the day we spent walking. We walked up to the visitors center, then we walked back down and past the hotel to the actual Lake Windermere so we could catch the ferry to the other side. A little ways before the ferry there were a bunch touristy lake cruises and boat rides to the other side and they charged about 6 pounds. We rode the ferry for 50p each. Hah! Take that! It was my first ferry ride, and I thought about The Ring the whole time. Luckily there were no horses.Anyway, so we found ourselves in the woods on the other side and set off for Hill Top, better known as one of Beatrix Potter's homes. Our trek went up hills and down hills, through the woods and across fields of sheep, and, just over two miles later, we arrived. The house was little and a bit musty, but it was fun to see some of her illustrations and how they were taken straight from the house.With that we headed back the way we came and said hello to the sheep again. We stopped at the lake again on our way back into town and let our feet get acquainted with the water. Once in town we got ordered some Indian take away for dinner and got some locally-made ice cream while we waited. Maybe it was partly due to circumstances that made chocolate things taste better, but seriously, this ice cream ("Death by Chocolate") was the best thing I have had here. Maybe even the best ice cream I have ever had. It was so good that I got some more the next day. Hot diggity.The rest of the night was spent trudging back up the hills to the hotel with our Indian food before collapsing in front of the TV with our food and a couple of movies. Delicious!
The next day was pretty much like the first, except without the black pudding and Hill Top. Mr. Graham got porridge and a sugar waffle and I had the Cumberland ham (Ham for breakfast! What a country!). We walked down to the lake and sat with the water for a while, playing a game that Mr. Graham's dream created, then sitting on the grass, still playing that game, then finally walking back to town and finishing the game. We had fish and chips and some mushy peas that have me reconsidering my stance on split pea soup, and finished it up with more ice cream. A little while later we were back on the train and heading home.
Oh, I guess I forgot to mention why we went to the Lake District. Sunday was our first anniversary and we were celebrating! Huzzah for us and for our being married! We did have plans to be in Disneyland Paris this weekend, but due to circumstances that are best told not in a public venue, we were bound to England. It wasn't super French or Disney-ish, but there were many delights to be had, and we were just happy to be together (aww). One day, Disneyland Paris!
Another week has come and gone, and we ended this last one with a move to another living place (that's four now, if you're counting). Luckily this was the last time for moving, and we will be spending our last weeks in our very favorite place so far. Don't worry, pictures are coming, but let's do this chronologically shall we? List!
My co-worker Caity's old roommate, Melissa, had been visiting for the last week, and for her last night we all went for Italian food and another stop at Platform 9 3/4. (Of course, Melissa wound up coming back a few days later after many failed attempts to get on planes via stand by, but she did finally flee the country successfully on Saturday.)
After several unsuccessful tries at getting into the theatre, we finally got tickets for Les Mis! I had never seen it, and even though I don't love it, I just felt compelled. After seeing it I still don't love it and I actually think, technically speaking, it's rather flawed, but the music seems to cover the weaknesses. Also, the guy who played Marius had the weirdest, most quavery voice and I actually mistook him for a woman before I could see him. You can all look forward to Mr. Graham doing a very enthusiastic and accurate impression on our return!
Before Les Mis we popped into a nearby Vietnamese restaurant where we had our old favorite: pho! The hostess lady was a little intense so I didn't take pictures, but know that it was delicious.
On Saturday we had our own makeshift 5K around Regent's Park, since we couldn't find an official one. Naturally, about five minutes into it we saw a pack of runners with race bibs going through the Park.
Our next stop was Westminster Abbey to see the inside. We had a delightful (free) audio tour led by Jeremy Irons and saw many neat and very old things. The Poet's Corner was naturally our favorite and we made sure to rub the tombs/monuments/floor tiles of Dickens, Hardy and Carroll with our bare feet.
Also on Saturday we made our big move (during a convenient downpour), and no, the cab driver had no idea where to go (that's five out of five). Our new place is an "aparthotel" and is so modern and clean and nice. Also, it has the cutest and tiniest dishwasher in the world. If I could hug it, I would. In fact, I may try later.
Sunday we took a train (my first!) to Oxford in the afternoon. We ran around like mad to see things before they closed, and even though we only had a few hours we saw a lot of sites. Sadly we missed out on Exeter so I was unable to cling lovingly to the bust of Tolkien. But we did get to see the pub where he met with C.S. Lewis, among others, and we also saw a bit of Hogwarts, AKA Christ Church.
It was a mild week, but we definitely made the most of the weekend, as we always try to do. And now, another week! Let us go forth.
Yes, we are still here and doing things. I will tell you these things in a list. Here is our life from the past week:
We went to church at Westminster Abbey. It was very old and it was fun to sit in such an old building for church. And yes, we are going to go back yet again for a tour on some Saturday.
We saw the amusing wreck that is Love Never Dies. Our experience also included both the souvenir brochure and the program (for half the price we expected) AND a free poster. What we will do with it, I have no idea--perhaps hang in our loo at home.
We took a walk up to Primrose Hill to check out the view. It was very impressive, though the weather could have been better for pictures. It seems like most days here that start sunny end cloudy.
After striking out on a deal for Les Mis tickets, we chilled at home with pizza and The IT Crowd (an American version for real??).
We hit Primark, which has the cheapest clothes I have ever seen. It is also a complete madhouse.
We made a fairly brief stop at the British Museum. It was brief because it was SO HOT inside and crowded, and not that that is different from any other place we've seen, but that day I just couldn't take it. So we saw the highlights and then escaped.
Saturday was a big day as we (me, Mr. Graham, co-worker Caity and her visiting [former] roommate Melissa) had booked a tour that took us to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath. It turned out to be a great deal, monetarily speaking, and it was nice to not worry about logistics or buying tickets. Also, it was awesome.
Windsor was fun, though probably the least interesting to all of us. It was old and very opulent, and I have never seen so many guns and swords used in such a decorative fashion. The highlight, for me, was Mary's Doll's House. But no pictures were allowed inside so you must imagine! After lunch in a pub, we journeyed on to Stonehenge. We really really wanted a tour that took us there in the evening and into the Inner Circle but apparently they were doing that only on, like, 3 weekdays from now until December. So. Maybe next time. It was still really cool--very mysterious and old. We did our best Tess of the D'Urbervilles impersonations, only with less death. Our last stop was Bath, which we decided we could easily spent a whole tour day at. We had just a little time to walk about so we got hot chocolate and "Bath Buns." Most of the time there was spent touring the actual Roman baths, where we were greeted by a Roman soldier who was very into his character. I so wish that I had taken some video of him because he was just so great. He was a big highlight for all of us, and actually was the thing that made us settle on this particular tour in the first place. We were not disappointed.It was a long day and I was just beat at the end of it, though I tried my hardest to watch Prisoner of Azkaban with the girls (Mr. Graham did quite literally carry me off to bed, since I could no longer move under my own power).
In a rather anticlimactic end to the week, I spent Sunday afternoon emptying my stomach contents in the loo. Too much exertion and no fuel, but by the evening I was right as rain and eating many, many goodly things.
If you have been within earshot of me in the last several months you have probably heard me complaining about Love Never Dies and all its many faults (they are many). But ever since I found out we were coming to London, it has been on our to do list. Actually, the way I broke the job news to Mr. Graham was by saying "We should go see Love Never Dies. In LONDON."
I'm not going to list all my complaints here because I hate to be a broken record and rehash everything I've already said six times. I will just say that I think it tramples on the original in a way that is neither good nor necessary. In fact the whole thing is just ridiculous and unnecessary. Aside from all of those things, we just felt compelled to see it anyway. Those of you who know my Van Helsing love will not be surprised.
So tonight we saw it for ourselves. It was exciting to see the original cast of something, since I never had done. Luckily Madame Giry had toned down her accent so that I didn't hear horses neigh constantly. It was, in general, pretty much what I expected. There were some cool technical things, but overall I think it's just kind of underwhelming (and frustrating in its lack of logic and consistency).
Going into it there was only one song ("Til I Hear You Sing") that I was really looking forward to, since I have listened to it at least 20 times now. And he delivered! He delivered so well! If I had thought to bring pom poms, I would have waved them about spiritedly. And now I give it to you, in the form of a super dramatic music video on YouTube. It might be best if you just play it and not watch the video, for maximum enjoyment. Here is the Phantom, in his new incarnation, which is romantic and lovable and non-threatening (somewhere Joseph Buquet is protesting).
(Or you can watch this version, which is quite wretched in its drama.)
But then there wound up being another song that just kind of amazed me, this time the title track from Christine. I am not really into belty woman show tunes--those are the songs I always usually skip--and until now this song was no different. But by the time it was over, Mr. Graham and I were both sitting quite dumb founded. It's not the same watching it without the build up of the story and such, but you can watch her sing it live anyway. Just know that in person it was like...wow.
So, when all was said and done, I decided that it was totally worth the pounds for those two songs. And...I would totally see it again for those two songs, sung by these two people. Otherwise I would rather just spend time with Gerard.
We have now spent our first entire week in England, and we are feeling all settled in at last. We use the Tube like pros, hardly ever open the map and say things like "lift" and "surgical spirits." This week we didn't do as much sight seeing, primarily due to time constraints, but we did see some exciting things this weekend. Instead of doing a detailed summary (or saying I won't do a detailed summary and then do exactly that), here are three lists to sum up our life here at the moment--5 things we liked this week, 4 things we didn't care for and 3 things we're looking forward to in the coming week.
Five Things We Liked This Week:
The National Gallery. Oh, loveliness of lovelinesses! All of my life, I have only ever thought of the British Museum so when we saw this place during our visit to Trafalgar Square I was intrigued. We went on Saturday (after the British Museum decided to hate me and have their Egyptian collection closed for a few more days and their Roman collection closed INDEFINITELY) and it was heavenly! I saw not one, not two, but THREE Caravaggios! I had to limit myself to 12 postcards. We will definitely be returning, especially since we somehow missed the Botticelli. Also, it's free! England loves me.
St. Paul's Cathedral. This was a site of particular interest for Mr. Graham, and since we weren't able to see it last Sunday as we planned originally, we went on Friday night. It was just so BIG. We ate dinner on the stairs and fed the pigeons. We fed four and then more came along and I named them all: Henrietta, Piccadilly, Gustave, Ophelia, Bustopher and Jonesy. Afterward, we took a short walk over to the Millennium Bridge, featured in Half-Blood Prince, and clung on for dear life as we watched for Death Eaters. None came around so we continued on to take a look at the Globe Theater and all of its clever Shakespeare merchandise.
Regent's Park. It's so large and scenic. We walked through it about 4 times in a few days, since we had to get to the Underground station on the opposite side of it.
Stability in our living quarters. It's a long story of the hows and whys this all happened, but on Monday we left our first hotel in Bayswater for a second hotel in Harrow, and then on Tuesday evening we left that hotel for a house where we will be staying for next few weeks. So now we're here, in a place with laundry facilities and a kitchen until we move for the last time to some apartments back down by Bayswater. It's so nice to finally feel a little settled.
The Camden Market. We hit this on Saturday morning, and while we weren't wild about the whole thing (the crowds, the stalls that all seemed the same, the long walk over and back), we did find a great fruit stand. 7 peaches for a pound! 3 mangoes for a pound! We loaded up and we loaded up for cheap. Also, Mr. Graham got a swell hat that I have no pictures of.
Four Things We Loved Less:
All the time spent in cabs. Up to Harrow and down from Harrow, and both times we had to direct the driver to our destinations (as we did for the other two drivers we have had). They have GPS, but I'm not so sure they know how to use it. Also, one of our drivers very nearly ran into a couple with their baby.
The batty woman in the Underground station. Picture, if you will, a 65-ish year old woman wearing a flimsy white miniskirt. With blue socks featuring the British flag under wedge sandals. And for the finale, a tank top (sans bra) with an open back with three little ties. I say we loved this less just because...because.
The weekend Underground closures! All of our most frequented lines seem to close on the weekend, which forces us to be much more creative with our travel plans.
On that note, after we leaving the National Gallery, we went over to Piccadilly to investigate theater tickets. We took the Tube from the Charing Cross station at Trafalgar Square over to Piccadilly Circus. Once there we walked a few blocks and found the ticket stand we were looking for...then looked up and saw the back of the National Gallery only a block away. Yes, as it turns out we could have walked behind the Gallery (easily done) and been right where we wanted to be. Maybe we should take that map out more often after all?
Three Things We're Looking Forward To:
Love Never Dies! It's going to be a delicious disaster! I can't wait.
Stonehenge on the weekend? That's the plan! If there's any possible way for Mr. Graham to lay down in the middle, he will surely do it.
No moving at all! Ah, sweet stability.
And that has been our week here. We are happy and excited that we still have so much time to see all the other sights we possibly can. Just this very afternoon we are heading back to Westminster to sit in on a service. So cheerio! Cheerio, dah-ling!* *Name the movie.
So, we have been here for several days now. Generally, things are going well. Our luggage arrived safe and sound, and so far we've navigated the city just fine, with only a few minor hiccups in transit. It took a while for it to sink in just where we were. In some ways, it still is, but more on that later.
There have been some things going on with work that have been quite frustrating, but I don't really want to go into them just now. Hopefully those things will be resolved soon and it will just be one of those stories you tell later and roll your eyes at. For now all of us (me, Mr. Graham and my coworker, Caity) are doing more face palming than eye rolling, but as I say, hopefully they will be resolved soon. The work itself (the card scanning) just started in earnest on Friday and it went fine. It's really cool to be working in such an old building with so much architectural character.
I don't really want this to be a detailed report of things we do every day, but here are some highlights, in chronological order:
On Wednesday, after finally settling in and brushing our teeth (huzzah) we had our first fish and chips (in a...Lebanese restaurant?), bought a map and then sat in our hotel for a long while looking at the map. Finally we went out and got Tube passes and immediately put them to use to visit this place: It was basically deserted so there was no pressure to be hasty with pictures. At this point it began to feel a little more like we're in England. Ah, Harry Potter's homeland. Earlier that day I also saw a UK copy of Half-blood Prince with its hideous cover.
Thursday was another leisurely day, but in the early afternoon Caity and I took a wild cab ride over to the Society to meet with the staff and set up our equipment. When we were on our way out, who should we see but the Minister of Magic himself: Can you tell it's Bill Nighy in the middle of that crowd? Celebrities of almost any caliber make me all fluttery inside, but he is definitely the most celebritous celebrity I have ever seen. I have been on an extra sharp lookout ever since for more.
The rest of that day we spent seeing some of the standard sights: Buckingham Palace (where the Queen was at home), Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, the houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey (we have to go back to go inside) and the Tower of London. A lot of buildings here have been covered for construction/cleaning/etc., including part of the houses of Parliament and the Tower. I suppose preparations for the Olympics are to blame there. On Friday, Caity and I spent the day at work, then spent some time in a massive H&M store that even had a maternity and kids section. I just got some hair flowers, but I'm sure I'll be back there sometime. The rest of the night was pretty mellow. Mr. Graham and I traveled far and wide to get some delicious foods we'd seen in Victoria station, and then picked up a bunch of English candies at the nearby Tesco. We came home to find a new episode of The IT Crowd on tv and laughed and laughed and have been quoting it since ("super mah-rio"). We only have 7 channels, and two of them are the same so we got quite lucky.
Saturday we spent a lot of the day down at the Tower of London (which we only saw from the outside on Thursday). We thought it was kind of pricey to get in, but we didn't realize how much there was to see and I think we spent like 5 hours in there. There were so many old, old, old things that it blew my mind a bit. Am I secretly a history nerd? Mayhap. Sadly the main tower was half covered for construction. I say "main tower" because there were so many towers involved in the structure. Our favorite to talk about is the Bloody Tower because we can refer to it with such gusto. Other things we have done are: eaten pasties from two different shops (my favorite has been the stilton and steak), wandered through the maze of Harrod's (meh), and eaten cheese on toast for breakfast in the hotel. And how could I forget the remnant of the Roman wall we saw? It's ROMAN (and so old and glorious). Glorious!
I guess this is getting kind of long, but I am going to keep going a little longer anyway. A little while ago I started to get a little nervous about this trip because I was so afraid that England could never live up to the ideal in my head, but I so badly wanted to love it no matter what. That said, I was prepared to not love London because I know Dickens's London is not London now and I couldn't expect that. And it's true, I am not desperately in love with London, not as a whole anyway. I love lots of the sites we've seen, but it's really just reaffirming to me that I am not Live in the Big City person. I am a Visit the Big City and Live a Little Further Away person. I love the unique cultural opportunities in big cities, but I don't care for the constant bustle and shops hold only so much interest for me. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to be here, and there are still so many things in London that I'm eagerly anticipating, but I'm also very excited to get out of London in the following weekends to see the countryside and smaller towns.
On a similar note, all of us have been surprised by just how many non-English people we see every day. Some of that, surely, is due to it being tourist season, but also I guess London is just more international than any of us expected. A few nights ago on the news they had a story about how people are feeling that London is becoming a separate entity from the rest of England and that is now making more sense to me.
Anyway. It's a big, exciting city with so many things to see, and so much history to be seen firsthand at last. But for now, take a look at our first pasties in England:
As I mentioned in my last post, there have been some big things happening around here lately. Mr. Graham got a sweet new job, we went to Disneyland and we got some babies--baby tomato plants, that is. But the latest and greatest thing, which is surely going to be The Thing of our 2010, is that next Tuesday we are heading to the airport and relocating to here:
You know, London.
It all started a few months ago when at work they announced that they'd made a sale for some on-site work for the Society of Antiquaries in London. They went on to say that in the coming weeks they'd be posting the job and we would all be free to apply for it. At which point I began to mentally drool. Here is the thing: since I was a wee girl, my cultural diet has included a lot of British, and I've spent many years pining for moors and Bath and accents. Hence the drooling.
Anyway, nothing was said about the job for so long that I thought perhaps the contract fell through, but finally, last month the job was finally posted. I wrote a cover letter, polished my resume and applied. The interview came and went, and I went through alternating phases of cockiness and dread. But lo and behold, the good news came in and I somehow kept it to myself all afternoon until I could spring it on Mr. Graham at home.
They wound up hiring two people, and the other girl going is one who was hired the same time as me so I know her and she's cool (phew). The job itself is simple--we're scanning thousands of cards from the library's old school catalog. Mr. Graham will work away at his job and we'll spend the evenings and weekends exploring the towns.
My plan at the moment is to blog at least semi-regularly while we're there so you can hear all about the fun times. I won't make promises but I will at least make the goal!
I've been trying to collect recommendations for sights to see, but I've also been trying to collect any tips on things to do and not to do--as in things that will make me look stupid or things that will help me avoid pickpockets. So, bloggy friends, if you've been to the UK (or Paris...or Disneyland Paris...), do you have any insights for me?
I haven't blogged in a long time. Lots of things have been going on around here, but I will post more about that later at some point later, later on. For now, here is a story.
Some while ago we went to Disneyland (*sigh*). Since we were driving, we stocked the car up on her necessary fluids, including a can of gas for just in case. It was a great trip and the car behaved perfectly well, as she is prone to do. We came home and went on our merry way in life.
A few weeks ago we went over to the gym, and when we came out to the car there was a post it note on the windshield. This time it was not an ad from the nearby Paul Mitchell school, but was instead from a fellow exercise enthusiast. They had parked behind us and noticed a lot of liquid under the back of the car, and wrote that they suspected we had a gas leak. We looked under the back and sure enough there was a load of liquid blackness on the pavement, freshly dripped. I flailed a few times and then we got in the car, which now had a distinct eau de gas. As we drove home I went through different scenarios of the car suddenly exploding and pondered our chances of survival.
Once home we investigated the car and found the obvious hole where gas was leaking out. Mr. Graham, ever resourceful, stuck some packing tape over it until it could go to the shop. We were out of duct tape.
So the next day, Mr. Graham dropped me off at work and then took the car off to see the mechanic. (Isn't Mr. Graham so nice? He always takes care of my car for me.) The car, Leeloo, was hoisted up so they could check her underpinnings. But instead of immediately seeing the hole on her underside, Mr. Mechanic didn't see a thing and had Mr. Graham come and point it out to him.
No, there was no gas leak. Did you know that trunks have a drainage hole? It turns out if you have a gas can in the trunk, it can tip over. And sometimes it can tip over and land directly on its spout. And sometimes gas cans inexplicably have no cap on the spout. And then the gas leaks out and down through the trunk's drainage hole, prompting concerned gym goer's to leave notes.
Word on the street is that Frank Frazetta died today. If you don't know who he is, he's an American illustrator who revolutionized the look of science fiction and fantasy book covers (think Conan the Barbarian or The Pathfinder*). He's not my very favorite artist or anything--his ladies are distractingly lusty and he sometimes pilfered ideas from Howard Pyle (Pyle vs. Frazetta). But he did do some great work, and it's always sad to see a talent pass on.
Also, can I just say how glad I am that I took those History of Illustration classes so that I know about all these neglected illustrators? If I were ever to get a Masters in art history, that would be my focus. Anyway. Educate yourselves on Frank Frazetta, won't you? Soon you'll start seeing his influence when you're at the library.
Or if you don't want to educate yourselves, you can just look at these favorites of mine.
*Okay, I know these are both movies, but hello, they are both moving** Frazetta paintings.
**Moving as in "brought to life", not "evoking sentimental feelings". Although the beginning of Conan always made me scared sad.
They look like super crispy, burnt breakfast sausages, but they're actually all soft and weird. I didn't really like it because it tasted like beans, and I didn't finish mine. Naturally Mr. Graham ate the whole thing. I'm glad I tried it, just for the trying, but I mean...really? Who thought of these things?
Anyway, so we found ourselves in the woods on the other side and set off for Hill Top, better known as one of Beatrix Potter's homes. Our trek went up hills and down hills, through the woods and across fields of sheep, and, just over two miles later, we arrived. The house was little and a bit musty, but it was fun to see some of her illustrations and how they were taken straight from the house.
With that we headed back the way we came and said hello to the sheep again. We stopped at the lake again on our way back into town and let our feet get acquainted with the water.
Once in town we got ordered some Indian take away for dinner and got some locally-made ice cream while we waited. Maybe it was partly due to circumstances that made chocolate things taste better, but seriously, this ice cream ("Death by Chocolate") was the best thing I have had here. Maybe even the best ice cream I have ever had. It was so good that I got some more the next day. Hot diggity.
The rest of the night was spent trudging back up the hills to the hotel with our Indian food before collapsing in front of the TV with our food and a couple of movies. Delicious!
