Oh Hey Again London – 19 August 2011

I thought I had waved my last goodbye to the river Thames but I found myself saying hello again just two days later. Tom had come back from traveling and suggested we make a day trip out of dropping Hannah off at the airport because she was going to leave Saturday morning.

We wanted to get cheap tickets to a sold-out show so we left at 3 o' clock in the morning to get in line at 6. The doors opened at 10 so we had a long wait. Then, it turned out we didn't even need to get there that early because they did a drawing for 20 seated tickets at 10 pounds and then would begin a queu to sell standing and return tickets. I was lucky enough to be pulled for a 10 pound ticket and Tom and Hannah we able to get cheap standing tickets as well. So in the end, we were there way too early but we had fun anyways.

We went to the National Museum to see a Wilton diptych and a Leonardo cartoon. A cartoon is the “rough draft” of a painting. They would often draw what they were going to paint and then poke holes in the cartoon and lay it over the canvas, sprinkle chalk on the cartoon then remove it so a guide was left on the canvas for the painter to follow. It was really beautiful. I think I liked the cartoon almost better than the painting.

Next we went to the National Portrait Museum and into the Tudor gallery. It was so fun to see all of the real paintings I had been staring at in my textbooks for the past three years! I also liked seeing the family resemblance between people like Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. It was interesting to see how the style of portraits evolved through time and to think about the famous people they were depicting. It was a bit of history buff heaven.

Then we walked down to Portabello Road yet again. This was actually a lot more fun because it was Friday and all the street vendors were out. I saw so many beautiful antiques there! Some day when I am rich I am going to go to Portabello Road to find all of my house decorations.

After that we all felt a bit worn out (it was our second time in three days getting up at two for all of us) so we went to Hyde Park and took a nice two hour nap. A nap was vital because we wouldn't be leaving London that night until about 11:30 and Tom had to drive the two or three hours back. It was funny that we all conked out in the middle of London using our backpacks as pillows and the sun for a blanket.

Napping in Hyde Park

Then we grabbed dinner from a grocery store and headed to the Wyndham theater. You might have noticed that I didn't include the information about which show we were going to see. That was intentional. I saw Much Ado About Nothing starring...wait for it...David Tennant and Catherine Tate. Maybe for some of you that isn't that big of a deal but for me, well, it's HUGE. The show was great – both of them were fabulously funny but David stole the show. He is such a beautiful and talented man with an awesome accent that I got to listen to for three hours. I love how pliable his face his – his expressions were simply wild. The play was set in contemporary times in the villa of a wealthy man who looked like a casino owner. The only thing I didn't like about it was the unnecessary filthy parts like the wooing of Margaret to slander Hero – I won't go into specifics but think about what happens at a typical stag or hen party. Yeah. Over all though, it was great and a perfect way to end the day.

Hobofabulous in London - 17 August 2011

Wednesday was a spontaneous trip to London to help Hannah pick up and mail some stuff for her fiance's brother who had served a mission there. I went because I really wanted to see the London temple. We got up at 2 am to catch an early bus and then make a 8:10 train into a little town called Lingfield where the temple is. We hadn't thought to write down the directions from the station to the temple which we had looked up the previous day so we had to call them. We ended up walking about two and a half miles. It wasn't that hard but it was a bit of a hike in.

The temple was very beautiful. It was built with very straight lines, and little additional adornment. I liked how simple it was. The London temple also has beautiful grounds – they were so large! Winding paths circled around flower beds, towering trees, and pretty duck ponds. We both sat and drank in the peace and quiet. Temples are very special places!

 

The mission home was situated on the temple grounds so that is where we went next. Calvin had told Hannah that it was probably just one small box but it turned out to be a medium sized box and a large bag full of heavy books, photo albums, and binders of the letters he had been sent. We were cursing his name a bit and laughing as well as we moved everything into our bags. I couldn't shut my backpack and Hannah had to wear a recyclable grocery bag as a backpack. Then we bent over and hauled it back two and a half miles to Lingfield. Can you say homeless? Unfortunately, Hannah has all the pictures of us packed up.

Mailing the stuff turned out to be a small bit of a nightmare for Hannah because it got very expensive but luckily she was going to be reimbursed. By the time we got all of that sorted out it was the afternoon and we were exhausted already but we were stuck in London until the 11:30 coach for Cardiff left. It was the cheapest one.

We tried to fill the time. We went to Oxford Circus to see the high end shops, Portabello road to an antique store for Hannah and then we went to the Victoria and Albert museum for me. The V&A is massive and such a beautiful place. The building alone is a museum regardless of what they put inside of it. I was particularly impressed by a tiled staircase that was so ornate you felt bad using it. I saw a very cool exhibit of jewelry through the ages, pottery, sculpture, drawings, paintings, glass work, metal work, and practically everything else you can think of. We took some time there to just relax and rest our tired bodies.

We ate dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant called Khan's. The food was soooooooo good. I had delicious Tandoori chicken with rice and nan bread. The hot food helped us perk up our spirits and energy quite a bit. It was embarrassing when their card reader had trouble with my debit card (not an unusual thing in the UK) but we managed and in the end had a great meal.

Then, to pass the last hours of the day, we went to see the new Studio Ghibli film “Arriety”. It's a spin off the borrowers and as always with a Miyasaki film, a gorgeous movie. I love the way they animate and especially their scenery in the background. The music wasn't as well done as some of his others (like Howl's Moving Castle or Spirited Away) but it was still really good. I would like to see it again except with English dubbed over instead of subtitled. There was something really fun about listening to the original Japanese though.

We thought the movie ended with lots of time for us to get back to the coach station but we were wrong. We had to run through the tube system and all the way back to Victoria Coach station. Imagine two girls with blood shot and swollen eyes, red faces, hair flying, and back packs banging all over the place. That was us. We made it to the bus as it was loading. Phew. I would not have loved sleeping in Victoria Station.

About 15 minutes into the bus ride we fell asleep and I didn't wake up until we were 15 minutes from our stop. It was 2 am. 2 am Wednesday morning to 2 am Thursday morning is 24 hours. Sure we had a two hour nap at the end but does that really count? We looked at each other with crazed eyes and realized we had to walk a mile back to our flat. We laughed a lot but I think that was to keep from crying a little bit. Now I just think it was funny.

Braveheart by Bus – 13 August 2011

This day started out very early. My bus from Perth left at 4:35 AM and Bro. Crook was nice enough to drive me to the Park and Ride from where it left. I felt bad but he insisted that he would already be awake and I didn't fancy walking around an unknown part of town at 3:30 in the morning. It was necessary to take this frightfully early bus to be in Edinburgh by 8:00 when my tour bus was scheduled to leave.

The tour was funny because while it started with only 30 people, another tour bus broke down and we took on another 27 passengers from a international language group that was focused on teaching English. Basically no one spoke the same language so the poor tour guide and bus driver were at a loss how to explain when and where to meet the bus when we stopped. I thought it was very amusing though. Another cool part about taking a bus tour was meeting a whole different range of people. Some of the people I befriended was a girl from Australia who had been teaching English in the UK for the past two years but was now getting ready to go home, a couple from Singapore who were on their belated honeymoon and invited me to visit Singapore and see Asia (yes we exchanged contact info) and finally I got to know a man on the board of trustees at Cornell who I exchanged opinions with about the developing Japanese market in the 1980s where he worked in international banking, the best way to organize courses, programs, and semesters in colleges, and why travel is so important for people. It was great! I was glad I knew what he was talking about and I was glad that even though I wasn't at an ivy league he still respected me as a student for finishing my degree early and making a viable plan for using my history degree (he was a history degree too and then he studied banking in graduate school). People lead such interesting lives – I love hearing all about them.

But back to Scotland, some things I saw were a lot of highland cattle, the Highlands themselves (specifically the area of Glencoe), a bit of the West coast, and gorgeous lochs including the Loch Ness. I also saw where they placed Hagrid's hut in the Harry Potter films, the bridge the Hogwarts express travels over, and other Harry Potter sites. They were great. :)

 

Glencoe was gorgeous. There were hardly any trees over rolling terrain that would suddenly shoot into a staggeringly tall mountain. It was very wet so small waterfalls cascaded off of each mountain and the tops of the cliffs were hidden in mystical mists. I wanted to build a small cottage there and never leave! This is the area that the famous Rob Roy comes from. He and his men would charge passing herders of highland cattle for their protective forces, if they refused the service then they were practically guaranteed to be ambushed later. Rob Roy's gang came to be known as The Black Watch because most cattle were black then. And now there is a special Scottish division in the military called The Black Watch.

The other place I loved was Loch Ness. I walked through Urqhart Castle and touched the water of the loch that lapped up onto shore. No sightings of Nessie that day but it was easy to imagine her presence. I learned a ton of interesting things about the lochs but the most interesting to me were the following: Nessie is protected by national law – if she is ever captured they can take DNA samples and photographs but then she is to be immediately released back into the loch. An official Nessie sighting is one that is made by three non-affiliated people, from all different angles, at the same time. There were five of those last year. And finally, the Loch Ness is over 700 feet deep at its deepest which is deeper than the North Sea and the bottom layer of water in this fresh water lake is actually sea water. This means a very diverse range of creatures (monsters) could live within the lake.

Every area we saw this day was magical and special but it only made me realize how much more of Scotland I needed to see. Next time I am going to rent a car and drive through, stopping anywhere and everywhere so I can really get to know this fabulous country.

When I got back to Edinburgh that night I had just enough time to snatch up some dinner and make it onto my coach bound back to Cardiff. It was a long and fairly sleepless night but it was good to be back. Hannah had been alone in Cardiff while I was gone and it was nice to see her again and know I was missed (probably because she had no one else but that doesn't matter).

Exploring Edinburgh – 12 August 2011

I got up the next morning and took the bus back from Perth to Edinburgh. The sky was clear and the sun shining so all of the crowds that I had missed the previous day came swarming back onto the streets. The Fringe Festival was in full swing. Vendors, performers (mostly bad with a few good ones mixed in), and people handing out a million different flyers covered every street and practically screamed for your attention. It was great! 

I walked Prince's Street for about an hour to take in the view of Old Edinburgh. The skyline was interesting because of how the city was built on hills. It moves up and down and buildings peak out from behind each other at unexpected heights then just when you think it is all over the castle looms up on the edge of the cliff. Breathtaking! I also got to see and listen to a piper and see the Sir Walter Raleigh Memorial.

I had decided earlier to make sure I included an art museum into my day so I went to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. It was a large museum so I chose to focus on British artists doing portraits of Scots. They were each very beautiful. Most of them showed men with their guns, dogs, and latest kill – even women

I then began to make my way to a local knitting shop to see if they had any local wools. While passing St. James Cathedral I noticed a local craft fair taking place just outside of it. It turned out to be a stroke of good luck because one of the vendors was a very nice lady who was selling hand-spun and hand-died wool from the sheep her family raised. She had beautiful stuff and because I was so interested she spent quite a bit of time explaining a new project to me and gave me a nice deal on some yarn at the end.

Afterwards, I went back to wandering. I stumbled upon a cute street that was lined with shops and restaurants. I hadn't planned on buying anything to eat but once I saw this store front I absolutely had to stop.

It literally had a whole roasted pig, head and everything, sitting in its window! The workers were pulling meat off of the pig as customers ordered! I HAD to eat there, no questions about it. Whole wheat bun with almost 100 grams of slow cooked pork and a sweet layer of apple-onion stuffing. Mmmmmm. It was  mouth-wateringly delicious.

After a delicious meal I got up the energy to find the Scottish Parliament and the Palace of Holyrood. The Scottish Parliament was a really cool looking building. I didn't go inside because I got distracted by a huge hill/mountain that people were climbing just beyond it. I've discovered that I am not a city person. I like big open spaces, grassy fields, forested mountains, and small towns. The opportunity to get out of the city and into nature was too tempting for me and as soon as I saw where to go I made a beeline for it.

I knew I was short on time so I decided to not take the traditional path up and just climb up the steeper side because it didn't look to hard. This was not one of my smartest decisions. It was an almost vertical climb, I had on a heavy back pack and it was wet and muddy. When I get scared my mind goes into a weird mode. I stop thinking about the danger completely and just focus on finishing. It's like I'm so scared I'm not able to chicken out. (This is how I was able to do a back flip on the trampoline – I knew if I chickened out half way through I would fall, break my neck and die. So I didn't chicken out and I made it all the way over. I'm weird I know.) But the view from the top was fantastic! I could see the whole city all the way out to the North Sea. I learned later that I had climbed Arthur's Seat – named for King Arthur. If anyone visits Edinburgh they should make time to take this hike. It's beautiful and makes you feel like a Highlander, which is always a good thing.

Can you spot the wee castle?

 

On my way back to the center of town I stopped and looked at Holyrood Palace. This is the Queen's Residence when she visits Scotland. 

And so after a long day of mostly aimless wandering I took a bus back to Perth for my last night with the Crooks. The main lesson I learned from this day was that I should have planned my trip better. I could have done everything that I did in Edinburgh in one day and probably visited somewhere else. I have no regrets because I enjoyed my visit, but next time (and I'm determined there will be a next time) I will plan better.

The High Road and the Low Road – 11 August 2011

I've always wanted to go to Scotland – you just say the name and all of this magical imagery starts popping up. The only way I could go would be to take a bus through the night so I did. It was an uncomfortable, bumpy sleep but I would do it again if it meant spending time in Scotland.

I arrived in Edinburgh at around 8 o' clock in the morning. Nothing is open until at least 9 o' clock more like 10.  I was a little at a loss what to do but then I realized what a perfect wandering opportunity it was. So for about an hour and a half I wandered the streets of Edinburgh looking at interesting and beautiful architecture. Edinburgh is built on hills and instead of leveling the ground people just built on them so the entire city is in levels. You can be walking down a street and enter a building on it's fifth floor. While it makes navigating a little bit confusing it creates an impressive view. 

One of the few places open that early (they don't know the meaning of early!) was a Tartan weaving mill exhibit. It wasn't a new process for me but I loved seeing all of the different clan Tartans! Most tartans became prominent or even into existence with the industrial revolution, and they are expanding into a whole range of different colors. 

When other places started to open I made my way up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. This castle was the birthplace of the Stuarts and older kings of Scotland. It was large, spacious and impressively fortified. One of the best defenses it had was a huge canon named Mons Meg that could hurl 300 pound cannonballs approximately 2 miles. That's one dangerous gun! 

After the castle I sauntered down the Royal Mile. It was raining heavily so luckily the streets weren't too crowded. Nevertheless I stopped into every shop I could just to escape the wet for a little while. The Royal Mile was cool but mostly full of souvenir shops and cashmere shops that I couldn't afford so I left that in search of some other famous sites.

Of course I managed to find some. The first was the Elephant House made famous by J.K. Rowling who wrote most of the first Harry Potter book there. The other was a small statue of a Scottish Terrier commemorating Greyfriars Bobby. Greyfriars Bobby was a loyal pet to an old man for years. When his master died the dog refused to leave his grave so the people of the town built him a small house and took turns feeding him. Ahhhh....Oscar Wilde would sit on my grave. I just know it.

I then escaped from the weather into the National Museum of Scotland. I visited the Kingdom of the Scots exhibit which covered Celtic Scotland to the modern day over four different floors. I liked seeing the transition between the eras of history through artifacts such as weapons, clothing, house decorations, jewelry, tools, and everything else you can think of. Also, I always appreciate well thought out buildings and the museum was excellent. There were plenty of places to rest, eat, and enjoy yourself at a very leisurely pace which, after such a horrible nights sleep and freezing morning, I needed. I found out later that the museum had actually been re-done and the exhibit I visited was brand new so no wonder it was fantastic.

After that it was time to head back to the bus station and make my way to Perth where I would stay for the night. My aunt has a friend who has in-laws who live in Perth and that is who I had arranged to stay with. Talk about using your connections eh? I was a bit nervous to intrude into strangers lives but they were very welcoming and made me feel so comfortable.And they had the most beautiful garden!

Check Marks on my Bucket List – 8 August 2011

We decided spur of the moment Sunday night to go on another spree to London, as a sort of last hurrah for Susan who was leaving Tuesday. So we hit the sack and then took off early Monday morning. The drive was looong but shorter and more comfortable than being on a bus.

While everyone else headed off to the National Portrait Gallery I went by myself to the Tower of London. Negotiating my way through the tube system and then the crowds was a little bit of a thrill for me. Never would I have thought that I would explore London on my own. It was a weird “Holy cow I'm an adult now” moment. (Please don't make fun of me too much for this...remember I am only 19.)

Even the outside of the Tower is impressive. I had never before realized just how big the Tower of London was. It's name is misleading because it's not just a tower and not just a castle, but a whole little city within the bigger city of London. It looks absolutely impenetrable as well as inescapable. Apparently only a handful of prisoners have escaped from the tower in all of it's history – and usually they had inside help. I learned there that the tower last held prisoners in the mid-twentieth century including Rudolph Hess who, as many history buffs know, was a famous, powerful Nazi leader. 

I wanted to go on a guided tour by a Beefeater but the crowd was too huge for my taste. So I wandered through the different buildings looking at artifacts that had belonged to kings and queens, words prisoners had carved into walls (like the name JANE, the nine day queen!), the lawn where Anne Boleyn was beheaded, and torture instruments that were used on prisoners such as Thomas More. There was so much to see! And the crowning jewel of the experience was...the crown jewels exhibit. They were absolutely fabulous, unbelievable beautiful, and extravagantly enormous.

Then to top off the day I did join up with a smaller Beefeater tour group. The Beefeaters are the guards of the Tower of London. They are all retired military men and the selection process to become a Beefeater is highly competitive. No one knows why they are called Beefeaters today...The best part of the tour was entering the small chapel that housed the remains of many famous historical figures including Anne Boleyn, Thomas More, the Dudleys, and countless others that have not been  identified. You can't get into the chapel unless you go on a tour so if you ever make it to the Tower of London join a tour – they're free!

Another great site right next to the Tower of London is Tower Bridge. Apparently, this is not the London bridge we all sing about but it is the one we all imagine. The real London Bridge was bought by some Arizonian who moved it out there. I personally think that should have been illegal. You just can't take the London Bridge out of London! But Tower Bridge is very pretty and it was fun to see that famous icon in real life.

When I had finished with the castle I met back up with the group at the Tate Britain. The only things I cared about seeing there were works by John Williams Waterhouse and William Blake because these are two of my favorite artists. I loved the huge Waterhouse paintings! I think my favorite was The Lady of Shallot. He captures her despair and her courage, she is so full of life but so close to death. It's simply beautiful. Blake's works are very, very, very different than Waterhouse's but I like them just as much. I like how small his works are. They are very dark and imaginative. He used interesting lines and geometries that make his works complex, but simple. I liked when I could see a drawing or hand-colored etching and recognize which of his works he was illustrating. I might like his etchings and drawings better than his poetry.

Next we went to Abbey Road. Yes, THE Abbey Road, complete with Apple Recording Studio and all things Beatles. The whole wall outside of the studio is covered with messages and names of adoring fans, and now mine is there too. We walked across the road several times and I glowed with the euphoria just being there brings. I don't know how to express my feelings for the Beatles so I'll state it simply: I. Love. The. Beatles. And they love me too – I can tell every time I give them a listen.

Next up was Portabello Road. If you haven't seen Bedknobs and Broomsticks with the immortal Angela Lansbury then you probably don't know how terrific this street is. But it is. It's a huge outdoor market for antiques, clothing, books, knick-knacks, food, you name it. It's sure to be found on Portabello Road. Unfortunately, the huge weekend market wasn't out but there were still plenty of vendors to see and visit.

We tried to eat at an Indian restaurant that Susan loved but it didn't open until later so we grabbed some food at a Tesco and headed to King's Cross station. Hannah and I needed to see Platform 9 ¾. Because of construction the platform got moved. I was a bit worried for wizards who needed to get to Hogwarts in September but then I realized magic is actually well, magic. I'm sure they've got it all figured out. We all tried to get through the barrier but I think it's time for me to acknowledge the truth. I didn't get a Hogwarts letter when I was eleven, I can not get through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾ – obviously the British Ministry of Magic is as retarded as the Muggle administration system. I've been skipped over by mistake!

From King's Cross we had to run to Soho because Tom had stood in line early that morning for us and scored us some cheap tickets to Les Miserables. We were standing in the back of the balcony but we could see the entire stage and hear everything and we only paid 10 pounds. The show was AMAZING. I couldn't believe the talent of the actors, especially Jean Val Jean. His voice was phenomenal. I cried so many times throughout the show -and it was all made better because I was seeing it in London. It was the perfect way to end the day.

So check marks I have put on my bucket list:

1. Visit the Tower of London
2. See an original Johns Williams Waterhouse painting
3. See an original William Blake etching
4. Walk across Abbey Road
5. Buy something from Portabello Road
6. Try to get into Platform 9 ¾
7. See a broadway musical in London

Mission accomplished. Over and out.