LONDON

NOTICE- NEW PHOTOS FROM LONDON ARE UP ON THE SITE. CLICK TO THE LINK TO THE RIGHT, THEN HIT "LONDON 1"


So, I went to London this weekend. It was pretty intense. I think the best thing to say about London is that it is really really big. I mean big. Think New York big, but take away any semblance of city planning or skyscrapers. London seems to me to have been just sort of barfed into existence. Like, there is a difference between Greater London, Central London, and the City of London. The whole thing is a vast urban jungle of comglomerated villages and patched together areas. Because of this, the grid system that we as Americans consider so normal is completely nonexistant. A map is an absolutely essential tool. I feel it would be just a regurgitation if I just went over what I did, so I think I'll just name a couple highlights with comments, and then you can check out some of the photos for other stuff.

Of course, I hit up a couple musicals. Friday night, after a delayed coach arrival (thanks to our driver running over the end of car 50 yards outside the Nottingham station), we quite literally sprinted to the theater, and arrived about 2 minutes into Monty Python's Spamalot. I would characterize the play as good. Just like that, good. My friend was considerably more enthralled than I. It follows the movie (Monty Python and the Holy Grail), so you always know what's coming, and I felt the music left something to be desired. But, a good experience overall. On Saturday however, we had the opportunity to go see a matinee performance of Wicked, which is currently on its first run on the West End. And fortunately for us, Idina Menzel, who won the Tony for best actress for her role in Wicked, is in the London production until December. For those of you who don't know of the musical (you are probably over the age of 35), it's based off a "prequel" to the Wizard of Oz about the two witches. Wicked was absolutely amazing, and the singing was unbelievable. If any of you are in fact familiar with the music, especially the song "Defying Gravity," it was a near religious experience, hearing her unleash on that song. I completely enjoyed it, and felt the quality of the singing made me leave the theatre as a fundamentally better person. I was inspired enough to return after the evening performance, and attempt to get autographs. I did succeed, and got both witches' signatures. Myra, eat your heart out. Plus, I must say, the dude playing bass trombone was absolutely destroying pedal notes. I mean that in a good way.

Another highlight was the British Museum. It's a huge history museum, which basically contains one of the most amazing collections ever. They definitely benefitted from the glory days of the British Empire, as there is incredible stuff from all over the world. I spent 2 hours in the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek and Roman galleries, only the first level, and still felt as if I barely scratched the surface of those exhibits, not to mention the 2 other floors of stuff from all over the globe. It was overwhelming, yet awe inspiring. They had a whole gallery full of ancient Egyptian sculpture, every single piece over 4,000 years old. I can't even comprehend it. A whole gallery. They have the Rosetta Stone there, the real Rosetta Stone that unlocked the translation of hieroglyphics. Yikes. Another amazing highlight of what I saw was a whole room of friezes taken from the Parthenon. Yeah, that one. The real friezes. I mean, granted, they were sort of, I wouldn't call it stolen, but taken from Athens by the British ambassador to Constantinople. But no one can deny that they at least now are displayed in a way that both inspires and helps people to appreciate it. Needless to say, as a history major, the next trip I take to London, I am planning a whole day in the British Museum.

On a general sense, I really enjoyed the urban feel. I like big cities, I must say. I love New York, and even though it can't compare, it's always fun to be in downtown Minneapolis. I became quite the savvy Underground traveler I feel, and really liked using it to get around. Besides, it's freakishly efficient. We were blessed with beautiful weather both Saturday and Sunday, and I spent a lot of time walking as well. On Saturday morning, I took the underground down to the Houses of Parliament. So, I got some good photos of Parliament, Big Ben, as well as the London Eye. I then walked down Whitehall Avenue, which is best described as a sort of British equivalent of the National Mall in D.C., except it's a road. I saw Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives, but it's pretty heavily gated off and guarded by cops. Anyways, I walked down Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, aptly named for the Battle of Trafalgar, where Admiral Lord Nelson defeated a numerically superior French fleet in around 1803. The Napoleonic Wars, whatever. Anyways, there's this huge column, and Admiral Nelson is at the top, forever gazing towards Trafalgar. The National Gallery is also here. I then walked up past Leicester Square (center of the West End theatre district) and on to the British Museum. At the end of the year, everyone can look forward to a slideshow I'm in the midst of putting together featuring all the fried chicken shops I can document. That apparently is our contribution to world cuisine. Fried chicken, be it Kentucky fried, Southern fried, American fried, etc, etc, etc. I also had some other good walks along the Thames, including a couple of trips across the Millennium Bridge made famous by "Love Actually." I walked around the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, a whole bunch of stuff. I had the chance this morning to dash in and out of the Tate Modern, which is the British national museum of modern art. I really enjoyed the half hour I had, and resolved to make a more substantial visit later on this year. I like modern art, I must admit it.

Quick other notes. I had some amazing coffee at a small Italian coffe bar Saturday morning called Caffé Vergnano. They had one of those huge silver expresso machine things. I was impressed, as it may have been the best coffee beverage of my life, even taking into effect my predisposition towards Starbucks' peppermint mocha. I had a Krispy Kreme doughnut in Victoria Station. Lunch on Saturday was had at Wagamama, a popular Japanese noodle bar chain. It made me reminisce about the time a friend and I stumbled into a Chinese restaurant with no English speakers our first night on the Japanese tour, and ordered ramen. I had ramen here, and it looked almost exactly the same. Good memories. The hostel was a little out of the way, but good. They had a weird breakfast rule though. You were allowed only one small glass of juice, but unlimited toast. I was tempted to walk out with as much toast as I could carry. Like, maybe a whole loaf. I'm undertaking the annual journey of growing a beard. Although I don't think it looks that bad, I still don't know how I feel about hair upon my face, and will be eliminating it upon receiving my Gillette Fusion razor from my mom. By the time it gets here, it will probably have been around 3 weeks, a week longer than last year. Next year, maybe I'll go a full month. Whatever. Quick sidenote, I saw Casino Royale, the new Bond flick upon arriving back in Nottingham. It's phenomenal, perhaps the best Bond film ever. I highly recommend it. This is getting long, and it's late. Photos should be up soon.