After class on Monday, my roommates and I were on the Piccadilly line of the Underground when it stopped at a station for a really long time. The stop was one of the more isolated stations within London because no other lines ran through there. Fortunately, on our agenda for that day we had Harvey Nichols and Harrods visits and that stop was right across the street from them. We daydreamed about all the things we would love to buy in Harvey Nichols for a bit, but before we went to Harrods I realized that I had forgotten my ticket to our play that night at the flat. We made plans to meet at the National Gallery later and Megan and I went back to get it while Mandy and Catherine went on to Harrods.
We were actually kind of lucky that we left that area when we did, because by the time Mandy and Catherine left the Tube was not running at that station at all. They had to walk about two miles to meet up with us.
The National Gallery was great. It was fun to just wander around looking at the art for a while. I know everyone says this, but I love Impressionism. It's not that I just know tons about it or anything like that, but I have had a smidgen of art history so I definitely appreciate it. I am also most definitely smitten with the work of Claude Monet. I probably spent the most time gazing at his pieces.
That afternoon we also went to the National Portrait Gallery. The modern ones were the best, especially the one of Paul Mccartney done by a friend of his brother. There was also a very small portrait of Jane Austen there.
Before our show that night we had really great gelato down the street. I'm usually just a plain old vanilla type of girl, but I got coconut and mango and was not disappointed.
Our play for the evening was One Man, Two Guvnors. As it was Commedia dell'arte, it was very entertaining and it made me love the band playing on stage, The Craze.
Tuesday was got an early morning start in order to catch a train to Stratford. The birthplace and burial town of Shakespeare. We went to the home where he was born and generally just walked around the area. Stratford is one of those quaint English towns. Because the weather has been so cold and we are all going to even colder places during the break, we bought Edinburgh Woolen Mill sweaters that were on sale in the shop. Basically, we all have the exact same sweater in varying colors. It's cute and also hilarious.
That afternoon I finally had tea. It's very weird because I am a tea drinker at home (milk and honey), but I had yet to have any tea whilst in England. Because the day was very drizzly, we had tea and snacks and read until it was time to go to our play.
We saw Richard III that night, which was one of the plays we read for class. Richard is a very Machiavellian character so I was interested in seeing how the actor would portray him. I thought he was wonderful. Katie made a comment on how his clothing had three stages and evolved to a zenith and then it reverses. I believe that it was purposeful in that when he reaches the point of first becoming king his goals were realized and he is at his most powerful, if not stable. After that he has peaked and his position and mind deteriorate. His clothing shows that.
Today was a pretty low-key day. We were served traditional English breakfast this morning which consists of: fried eggs, cooked tomato, a croissant, baked beans, and bacon. It sounds slightly strange, but it was actually quite delicious. Of course, I also had to start my morning off with a spot of tea.
Before we made our way to the train we took a stroll to Hall's Croft where Shakespeare's daughter lived and to Trinity Church where he is buried.
The train ride back was nice. You really get the opportunity to see the English countryside which is a wondrous thing to behold.
Our break starts officially tomorrow, so I am excited to rest a bit before I make my way to Dublin!
Cheers,
Cis
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