Our second day here, we were met by our bus to take us on a tour of London. I got to see all the big sites doing this, but I was so tired that not a lot of it stuck. Then, about half-way through the tour our tour-guide jumps up and decides to tell everyone that we need to get off of the bus. We grab our things and sprint over to Buckingham Palace to see the marching/changing of the guard. We get right in line and guess what? It starts pouring down rain. But, we still got to see it. That night we went to see Hamlet! The Musical, which was hilarious.
Nothing too big happened on our third day except for a trip to the Tate Modern, where I got to see a painting by one of my favorite artists, Francis Bacon. The sad part about it was that the reason I went, which was to see Duchamp's Fountain, was in a part of the gallery that was closed for public viewing. Oh well I guess, I may have to try to go back so I can see it.
After that we headed across town to see the play Cause Celebre. Now, the theatre which the play is produced, the Old Vic, is actually headed by Kevin Spacey. The play however was phenomenal. It kept me entertained at all times, curious as to what was going to happen. The acting was spot-on, making you get behind the characters, wondering what was going to happen, and just how everything was going to work out. The only thing I wasn't entirely thrilled with was that we sat in the front row, some some of the brilliant aspects of staging (the stage and the high-stage above it) was harder to see, and therefore made it lose some of its affect. The production is ending soon and then will soon be replaced by Richard III which is staring, guess who, Kevin Spacey. The main thing I loved about Cause Celebre is that I had gone into it thinking it would just be something I had to sit through, but then I came out in awe of it, and discovered a playwright to begin to explore, Terence Rattigan.
Day four everyone was in front of the flat at 9am sharp, and then we proceeded to catch the tube, then the train to Windsor, UK, which is where the Queen holds her official residence. I spent about an hour touring the state apartments, then another hour in St. George's Chapel where I got to see a lot of famous burials. The one thing I was surprised about was that this is the church where Henry VIII is buried, and he's just sort of barely mentioned on a plaque along with Charles I.
Day five was an off day for the class, but it was my favorite day so far on this trip, going to the British Library! Not only did I get to see their amazing current exhibit, which is all on science fiction, but I got to see the Magna Carta, one of the first 180 books published in the entire world (The Gutenberg Bible), The notebook that Virginia Woolf kept while writing Mrs. Dalloway, an original copy of the Canterbury Tales, one of Marlowe's first plays AND Shakespeare's first folio.
Day Six and Seven were spent seeing plays, namely the Cherry Orchard and School for Scandal.
Days Eight and Nine we were back in our busy mode, taking our first overnight trip to the town of Bath, and then onto the town of Wells. After being picked up quite early in the morning on June 1st, we took a ride in our coach and ended up somewhere that I've wanted to see almost all of my life. Guesses, anyone? Stonehenge. (Picture left, taken by me) Unfortunately, like a lot of things in England, this has been turned into another tourist event. This was the closest to what I actually thought would happen though. You get to walk around the site and hear facts about it. Of course, you can't go in it since that hasn't been allowed since the 1970s.
After this, we headed to Bath which is a lot like Hot Springs or Eureka Springs, AR. It was built upon hot-springs that the people believed had healing properties. It's
also got plenty of famous names who have inhabited it, Jane Austen probably being the most famous. (And, and Nicholas Cage just lost his house here because of all of those little tax problems he's been having.) After arriving we waited outside our Guesthouse, which was lovely, and then went on a walking tour of the city. After seeing the Royal Crescent, Assembly Rooms, and other various places, we finally got to stop and look at the Baths.The next day it was onto the town of Wells, which is one of the smallest towns in the UK. For those looking for reference, it's actually a lot like Bella Vista is supposed to be - a retirement community. It's where the Bishop of Bath and Wells lived, and where a very famous cathedral stands. My only complaint is that we were there for four hours, and it was easy to see everything in about two. After finishing up, we took a four and a half hour, yes, that long, bus ride back to our flat.
And today is day ten, and I've mostly just taken it easy. Tonight we're seeing the Edward Albee play, A Delicate Balance. We have the next few days off but I want to make sure that I'm not lagging when we begin our next week. We're seeing four plays in the evenings next week, and have something to do every day!
I'll be posting again next week with an update, happy travels!
Until next time,
Caitlin
