Well I went to the Globe this past Tuesday! I have to say the theater itself was really cool, but I was disappointed later on.
We went to London as a class in my Shakespeare class to see the Globe theater. We all met at the Gloucester Green Bus Station in Oxford and jumped on the Oxford Tube which took us to the Victoria Station in London and then got on the Underground to get to the Globe.
When we first arrived at the Globe we had a short little tour of just pretty much looking at the stage and sitting in 2 different sections. Our guide explained how the plays were viewed back in Shakespeare's time and how people were viewed depending on their various sections that they were in. She also described how the Globe was rebuilt to as close as possible to when Shakespeare was working there. It is also not on the actual site where the original Globe was.
After our tour we all went to Nando's for lunch. It is a chicken place that was actually pretty good. They had a ton of different sauces so Jake and I stocked up and probably brought back about 7-9 bottles of various sauces back to our table. I tried them all including the Extra Extra Hot (which was pretty hot but in the grand scheme of hotness not very hot) and only found one that I liked.
When I was done with lunch I grabbed two different cookies at a restaurant called Eat. and sat out by the Thames and ate them and people watched. After I was done I realized how close St. Paul's cathedral was and I hadn't been able to do what I wanted to do there so I took a walk across a bridge (Actually it was the bridge from the 6th Harry Potter movie that gets destroyed by Death Eaters, if you can remember that scene) and ended up right by St. Paul's. I did not have enough time to go in but I went and saw it and then I walked back to the Globe to go see All's Well That Ends Well.
It was quite the experience seeing a play at the Globe. The ushers were old, paranoid ladies that thought that since we were college students we were going to cause trouble and they had their eyes on us the whole time which was really uncomfortable and annoying. Then the play was a 100% Indian cast the spoke Gujarati! The whole play was in an entirely different language the whole time. They had a quick 3 line synopsis on the screens near the stage but I couldn't read the whole synopsis due to the stage ceiling being in the way and the synopsis did not help at all anyways. Then my seat was right next to a wood pole so I moved and where I moved the two pillars on the stage were in the way! So for about half of the play I did not see any actors and just a stage. Also, the actors would sing sometimes and they had a three piece Indian band on the stage which was cool but it just dragged out the play. Let's just say I was happy to see it end.
After the play I took the girls to Abbey Road, then Paige and Marissa to King's Cross train station to see platform 9 3/4. Then we met up with the rest of the girls at Top Shop and went home.
Wednesay I just did homework. But Thursday was exciting! I will try to tell you about it soon!
Friday, May 9, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
Thursday 5/1: Stratford Upon Avon
After coming home from the May Day festivities I blogged and got ready for the day. We had a class trip to Stratford Upon Avon. We all met at the White Horse and got on the bus there to leave. I plugged straight into my iPod and tried to sleep.
We arrived at Warwick Castle and met our tour guide Roger. He took us into the dungeon and told us some gruesome stories, showed us into the grand hall and showed us the lavish rooms. When he was done with showing us around we had some free time. Roger recommended a walk down to the river where we could get good pictures of the castle or to walk around the castle walls. Well we all wanted to do it but it was raining outside so we explored the inside of the castle that we hadn't seen. I felt like I was walking around in the television show Downton Abbey. I have never seen the show, but from what I have seen I felt like I was walking around in the castle that the show takes place in.
After we had explored all the inside that we could we looked outside and saw that it was still raining. We decided to just go for it. I had forgotten my umbrella for the day and had my jacket that was water resistant, but not water proof. Oh well, it was fun regardless.
After going down to the river we went to the peacock garden! WE heard them calling each other and I joined in....and they responded....to me...no joke
After the wall people started to head back to the bus, but Paige and I saw a cool little grassy hill to climb up so we made our way up it and had these views of the grounds.
Well, we walked along the fields and followed the pathway to where it ended which was in the neighborhood by the cottage. We had to find our way back, but it was fun getting lost.
We all go back on the bus and went to Shakespeare's birthplace. After that we all walked to the church where he was baptized and is currently buried. I did not see his grave because you had to pay to see it and I am not really a Shakespeare fan. We then broke off to go to dinner.
I went to dinner at the Dirty Duck, which is a pub right across the street from the Theater. I guess a ot of actors and actresses go there right after their performances. On the walls they had pictures of the actors that hd come in. I saw Judi Dench on the wall.....she was the most well-known name I saw on the wall. After dinner we got gelato....which was really disappointing because coming from Italy and having it almost twice a day there it....it was a total let down.
We headed back to the theater and saw Arden of Faversham. This play was way better than Billy Elliot (the play we saw in London). It was all in Shakespearian and.....yea it was pretty good. They had a lot of effects and I was in the second row so I couldn't go to sleep (because I had only had about two hours of sleep for the past two days). Oh well.
Then we all got on the bus and came home!
We arrived at Warwick Castle and met our tour guide Roger. He took us into the dungeon and told us some gruesome stories, showed us into the grand hall and showed us the lavish rooms. When he was done with showing us around we had some free time. Roger recommended a walk down to the river where we could get good pictures of the castle or to walk around the castle walls. Well we all wanted to do it but it was raining outside so we explored the inside of the castle that we hadn't seen. I felt like I was walking around in the television show Downton Abbey. I have never seen the show, but from what I have seen I felt like I was walking around in the castle that the show takes place in.
Walking up to Warwick Castle
They had wax people in almost every room. It was really freaky because sometimes you thought they were real or saw people that you thought were fake!
After we had explored all the inside that we could we looked outside and saw that it was still raining. We decided to just go for it. I had forgotten my umbrella for the day and had my jacket that was water resistant, but not water proof. Oh well, it was fun regardless.
Yea the peacocks were just chilling up in the tree. We didn't see any with all their plumes out though.
After we visited the peacocks we decided to walk the wall of the castle. It was fun and all but being wet and climbing all the stairs was tough. The stairs definitely made me sore for the next half hour.
Climbing the stairs from the walkway to this look out was killer
The worst part about the stair was that you would go all the way up to the top of the towers to go back down! All in good fun though.
After the wall people started to head back to the bus, but Paige and I saw a cool little grassy hill to climb up so we made our way up it and had these views of the grounds.
Paige and me on the Hill
After staying up on the hill for about five minutes we made our way back to the front. We walked in in our wet clothes and bought ice cream and headed back to the bus where our lunch was.
We all got back on the bus and made our way to Anne Hathaway's Cottage. No, it's not the actresses cottage but Shakespeare's wife's home. The house was cool but small with low ceilings that were really annoying. The garden was the prettiest part of it though. I walked around with Miakela and we found where a maze used to be and found a little path that led us to a hole in the fence. We went through it. On the other side there were beautiful fields...hang on lemme show you.
This was in front of Anne Hathaway's Cottage. I have no idea what it was. This is Mikaela and I jumping off of it
Ok here is the pathway we found outside the property. I guess I did not take a picture of the fields...but they were really green! I swear!
We all go back on the bus and went to Shakespeare's birthplace. After that we all walked to the church where he was baptized and is currently buried. I did not see his grave because you had to pay to see it and I am not really a Shakespeare fan. We then broke off to go to dinner.
I went to dinner at the Dirty Duck, which is a pub right across the street from the Theater. I guess a ot of actors and actresses go there right after their performances. On the walls they had pictures of the actors that hd come in. I saw Judi Dench on the wall.....she was the most well-known name I saw on the wall. After dinner we got gelato....which was really disappointing because coming from Italy and having it almost twice a day there it....it was a total let down.
We headed back to the theater and saw Arden of Faversham. This play was way better than Billy Elliot (the play we saw in London). It was all in Shakespearian and.....yea it was pretty good. They had a lot of effects and I was in the second row so I couldn't go to sleep (because I had only had about two hours of sleep for the past two days). Oh well.
Then we all got on the bus and came home!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Sunday April 20/14- Part of Tuesday 22/14
Sunday 4/20: Florence
I got up and had breakfast at my hostel and headed off to the train station; which was only about 2 blocks away which was really convenient. I boarded my train to Florence and got there without any difficulty.
I arrived in Florence after the girls, who had invited me over to their apartment that they had rented to stay in. I got to my hostel and went to the roof which had a really cool view from the top.
I decided to go out and wander Florence before I went over to the girl's place for Easter dinner. I walked around Florence. I got a gelato milkshake (which wasn't as good as you would expect) and got a brief idea of my surroundings.
I bought a bottle of wine to bring over to the girls and headed off towards where I thought they were staying. I put down the wrong address and I thought they were living around where the Disney Store was. They were actually at the other end of the street down a little side street. Ooops. After about 45 minutes I finally met up with Reilly and she showed me where their place was.
They had made a nice dinner of chicken, a salad, bread, and some vegetables. We ate on the terrce that they had all to themselves.
Going up to the top and right I quickly decided that it was my favorite spot in all of Florence. I had been there less than 24 hours and I found the views beautiful. The picture above of me is a picture of the view from my favorite spot. I sat on the railing with my feet dangling over the edge for about 45 minutes just taking it all in.
I explored and tried to get into some gardens that were in Florence but they were all like 10 euros to get in.
I met up with some of the girls again on Pointe Vecchio and we had lunch and I told them of my favorite spot and they wanted to go also. I took them up there and we sat up there and did the same as I did earlier. A guitarist was playing on some stairs and the girls went to go sit and watch him but I walked past him and found a wall that looked over the gardens that I had tried to get into earlier. The girls realized it was a better view than they had, due to the guitarist not being the best singer, and came and joined me. We sat there until they wanted to go make dinner at their place.
I grabbed dinner somewhere else and just went back to their apartment and just hung out and had fun.
Tuesday April 22/14
I woke up early to meet the girls to go see David. We got to the museum at 745 and it opened at 815. We were near the front of the line and after the museum opened we did not need to wait long to get in. I snuck a picture of David....but I got.....let's just say the lower half of David. The museum itself had some really cool things in it besides David. My favorite piece of art that I saw the whole trip was a block of marble that was like half a human but it looked like it wasn't completed. It was sculpted by Michelangelo and I don't know why but I saw a lot of meaning in it that I liked.
I kind of forgot what I did for the rest of the day so I will try to remember and blog about that later.
Oh! I remember suddenly! We went to the Duomo. I wasn't very impressed with the inside the outside is very cool and pretty but the inside was nothing special. Then I went back to the girl's apartment after the museum because the museum wasn't very big and hung out there until 1230. At 1230 I met up with a girl that goes to TCU but goes to my church when she's home and I went to school with her. She and her friend were/are studying abroad and they took me out to a really good sandwich place! We then got Gelato and then said good-bye.
I went to a food market after I split up with them and got a Nutellla cookie! I will add photos and finish the rest of the day soon. For now I have to go get ready for the day!
I just remembered! Between shopping and meeting the girls at the Trevi Fountain I went to Saint Pietro Invicoli and saw Michelangelo's Moses statue. It was pretty cool but I couldn't see much because it was in the darkest part of the church and you had to pay a euro to turn the lights on!
I got up and had breakfast at my hostel and headed off to the train station; which was only about 2 blocks away which was really convenient. I boarded my train to Florence and got there without any difficulty.
I arrived in Florence after the girls, who had invited me over to their apartment that they had rented to stay in. I got to my hostel and went to the roof which had a really cool view from the top.
I bought a bottle of wine to bring over to the girls and headed off towards where I thought they were staying. I put down the wrong address and I thought they were living around where the Disney Store was. They were actually at the other end of the street down a little side street. Ooops. After about 45 minutes I finally met up with Reilly and she showed me where their place was.
They had made a nice dinner of chicken, a salad, bread, and some vegetables. We ate on the terrce that they had all to themselves.
After dinner we all grabbed some gelato and watched the sunset over the river right next to the bridge Pointe Vecchio.
Another unedited photo
After watching the sun go down we explore Florence for a little and then went back to their apartment and just hung out and had fun.
Monday April 21/14
I woke up and headed off to the girl's apartment. They said that they would be ready but they actually got a later start than expected. So they told me that they didn't want to hold me back from exploring. So I went off and grabbed a Nutella croissant and an unknown type of cookie that was half dipped in chocolate and went off to Piazzale Michelangelo. I chose this location because on the map it looked like a garden of some sort and I figured if they were going to name a piazza after Michelanglo it was going to be pretty.
It actually to be a longer walk than I expected and a hike up a hill. But it was all completely worth it. From the piazzale you could see all of Florence and off into the hills.
Part of the hill I had to climb up
My breakfast cookie
Going up to the top and right I quickly decided that it was my favorite spot in all of Florence. I had been there less than 24 hours and I found the views beautiful. The picture above of me is a picture of the view from my favorite spot. I sat on the railing with my feet dangling over the edge for about 45 minutes just taking it all in.
I explored and tried to get into some gardens that were in Florence but they were all like 10 euros to get in.
I met up with some of the girls again on Pointe Vecchio and we had lunch and I told them of my favorite spot and they wanted to go also. I took them up there and we sat up there and did the same as I did earlier. A guitarist was playing on some stairs and the girls went to go sit and watch him but I walked past him and found a wall that looked over the gardens that I had tried to get into earlier. The girls realized it was a better view than they had, due to the guitarist not being the best singer, and came and joined me. We sat there until they wanted to go make dinner at their place.
I grabbed dinner somewhere else and just went back to their apartment and just hung out and had fun.
Tuesday April 22/14
I woke up early to meet the girls to go see David. We got to the museum at 745 and it opened at 815. We were near the front of the line and after the museum opened we did not need to wait long to get in. I snuck a picture of David....but I got.....let's just say the lower half of David. The museum itself had some really cool things in it besides David. My favorite piece of art that I saw the whole trip was a block of marble that was like half a human but it looked like it wasn't completed. It was sculpted by Michelangelo and I don't know why but I saw a lot of meaning in it that I liked.
I kind of forgot what I did for the rest of the day so I will try to remember and blog about that later.
Oh! I remember suddenly! We went to the Duomo. I wasn't very impressed with the inside the outside is very cool and pretty but the inside was nothing special. Then I went back to the girl's apartment after the museum because the museum wasn't very big and hung out there until 1230. At 1230 I met up with a girl that goes to TCU but goes to my church when she's home and I went to school with her. She and her friend were/are studying abroad and they took me out to a really good sandwich place! We then got Gelato and then said good-bye.
I went to a food market after I split up with them and got a Nutellla cookie! I will add photos and finish the rest of the day soon. For now I have to go get ready for the day!
I just remembered! Between shopping and meeting the girls at the Trevi Fountain I went to Saint Pietro Invicoli and saw Michelangelo's Moses statue. It was pretty cool but I couldn't see much because it was in the darkest part of the church and you had to pay a euro to turn the lights on!
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