Everyone needs an "England" scarf.

Monday 15 November 2010

After a long weekend, the work day felt extra long. I was exhausted from traveling around England. I continued to work on researching lists of potential clients for Think London.

Once 5:30pm hit the clock, I was out of the office and onto Victoria underground station. I was heading to the Victorian Apollo Theatre to watch Wicked on Broadway with other IFSA students. We got a sweet deal for the tickets, only fifteen pounds which is ridiculously cheap! I hadn’t seen this musical before and actually, I’ve only seen one other musical on Broadway. The summer before college, I saw Mary Poppins in NYC and it was amazing! I loved it and I had been looking forward to see wicked for a couple weeks.

I remember being so impressed with how talented the singers were. It was extraordinary. The story is based on the Wizard of Oz, except the story is told from the Wicked Witch’s point of view. It was really clever and I was surprised at how well both of the stories fit together. I really loved the music and I’ve even YouTubed several of the songs numerous times since I saw the show. I would absolutely go see it again, I enjoyed it that much. “Defying Gravity” is probably the most popular song from the show and when Alphaeba, The Wicked Witch, sang it right before intermission I got goosebumps. It was definitely a "feel good show."

Elizabeth, Mark and I at the theatre before the show (Christine refused to be in it, so she photographed)

Definitely not supposed to take pictures of the set, but Elizabeth did and these are her photos. She's ruthless with photography and I love it.

Leaving the theatre

Tuesday 16 November 2010

I had class in the morning and in the afternoon. After class, I returned to Harrow for a relaxing night. I made dinner (pasta time!) and settled in early for the night. Northing to excited on Tuesday happened.

On a side note, we tried to buy tickets for the final football (soccer) game at Wembley for the next day’s game. They were sold out and my heart was crushed. Other than that, no other notable things happened.

Wednesday 17 November 2010

“Clap your hands if you hate the French” -Actual chant in Wembley during the English vs. France friendly football match

This night was one of my favorites of London so far. It’s also one that I know I will remember for the rest of my life and be telling this ridiculous story to my grandkids when I am old and ramble on about my youth.

I worked during the day and continued the process of completing the Olympic Sponsor briefs. Can’t wait until I am finished with this project.

During work, I had the brilliant idea to try and scalp tickets for the final football game of the season at Wembley, England vs. France. I had no idea this is strictly an American pastime or if people in Europe do the same. Elizabeth was up for the adventure and so it began. We left about 6:45pm since the game started at 8pm. It’s only a couple stops from our tube stop. I guess living in Harrow finally paid off! Hah. Anyway, we get there and begin walking towards the iconic white ring in the sky that is Wembley Arena. We don’t see anyone lingering outside with signs like, “Need tickets?” or “I need tickets.” like at every professional sporting event in America. I was getting a little disappointed because I had really wanted to see Wembley but we just never got our act together to get tickets in time. Meanwhile, I am texting my friend Christine who was still in Central because she was thinking about joining us. I tell her it’s not really worth it because we are not seeing any scalpers. She goes back to her flat. We ask a few people where we could buy tickets and everyone says that people don’t sell tickets anywhere near the stadium. They also couldn’t tell us any surrounding area that is known for selling tickets. That was discouraging.

We figured if we made the trek in the rain here, we were at least going to get some photos!

Elizabeth and I decided to call it a night after we ask a street vendor selling cheesy England merchandise if there is a place nearby that is known for scalping. He can’t tell us anywhere so we figure it’s a sign to go back home.

A few minutes later as we are walking back to the tube to head home for the night, I get a call from Christine. She said she had found a phone number online of a dude who was selling tickets at the Wembley tonight for tonight’s game. I’m quite a bit hesitant, but I have her text me the phone number anyway. I give this man a ring and ask about his tickets. He wants 40 quid for them but Elizabeth and I combined only have fifty-five. We ask if he could do cheaper and he agrees. He declares a meeting point near a hotel that we can see off in the distance. We stop by the street vendor again to ask for directions and he is only somewhat helpful (just as all Londoners are with directions!) but he also gives us FREE scarves! Sweeeet! We were so excited and very surprised.

It probably took us twenty minutes to find our guy by Hotel Ibis and I think he called me five times to confirm we were actually coming. We eventually made it but by the time we got there he only had two tickets that we on opposite sides of the stadium. Not kidding.  Elizabeth and I had a quick conversation and exchanged looks but in the end decided to buy them anyway. He was with his girlfriend so that helped take the edge off that we weren’t being scammed. Not sure why, but it did. We figured we could meet up at halftime.

We did and had separate entrances to the stadium. I think I walked more than halfway around to get in. It was alright though and I found my seat pretty painlessly. I was sitting next to a line of about 7 guys about my age. When I sat down they are stared at me and I felt quite uncomfortable so I said “Hi” in a very American cheesy way. You know what I mean, I’m sure. Maybe not, but that’s the best way I can explain it. I remember feeling so excited to be in the stadium and loving that is was a sold out game. So cool! Elizabeth texted me shortly after we sat down telling me there were four empty seats next to her. We got into the stadium about 25 minutes after it started and it was nearly halftime by that point. I figured at halftime if no one was there I would join her.

The halftime horn sounded and I got up and headed to her section, 110. As I’m walking I get a call from our guy saying that there are empty seats by her because he couldn’t sell the rest of the tickets. What a nice guy I thought. He knew we were a bit concerned about being separated and he took the extra time to help us out. Quite nice and refreshing. We got to sit together the rest of the game (in the tenth row!!) and it was so much fun! There was a group of drunk men in front of us shouting and chanting ridiculous sayings. Very entertaining.  It was a great game to watch and I’m so glad it worked out for us to go!

Dripping wet from the downpour but excited about our tickets!

10th Row Seats!

When we were leaving it was a human traffic jam to the tube. Think about it, 90,000 people trying to fit in a train station. Not many drove cars, so it only makes sense that is was super crowded to get to the public transportation. It took us four times as long to walk from the stadium to the tube. Police officers were “guarding” the tube station and only letting so many in at once. It was like a herd of animals walking into a sidewalk shaped like a funnel. After walking a few steps, we'd have to come to a complete stop because the people in front of stopped moving.

It was such a fun night and the traffic jam leaving or the fact that our toes were frozen from the rain didn’t taint my memories whatsoever. It was just so great and a story I will keep forever.

Bros and Bath.

Saturday 13 November 2010
Some weekend trips are included in the IFSA program. This past weekend we went to Bath, England. We left at 7am to get into Central and Notting Hill where the IFSA office is. Whew. Elizabeth and I enjoyed a tasty breakfast at McDonald's before boarding the bus. We should have known it was going to be a long day when I called Christine as we were boarding at 8am and she wasn't here yet. My phone call woke her up so she wasn't able to go with us. Sad times.
We got on the coach bus and of course I fell asleep within minutes. Love that about traveling. :) It was about a two and a half hour ride to get to Bath. When we arrived our driver parked in the wrong space so we all unloaded only to find our all of us had to get back on the bus.
We went on a walking tour of the city. It was a really gorgeous city, as every European city is (at least I feel like that!). Below is some pictures and descriptions of the buildings.

Royal Crescent

It was finished in 1775 by architect, John Wood. Some families own a single "house" and the other rooms are rented out as a luxury hotel.

Roundabout in the town center

It's hard to see from the photograph, but each of the three columns have a different detail. The designer was somewhat obsessed with the number three. There were three entrances to this roundabout, three levels to the surrounding buildings and each of the three pillars looked differently.

This building was used for social gathering hundreds of years ago. The blue room was used for dances and the room on the bottom was for cards. People would gather every evening dressed in their finest clothes to socialize and falunt their fine wardrobes.

Part of the River Avon that runs through the city

Bridge over River Avon

A park that's just down the street from the River Avon. You have to pay to get into the park as it is a "royal" park.

Street in Bath

Jane Austen Museum

We didn't actually go inside because we didn't have time. We did sneak by for a photo though. Classic.

Bath Abbey

After our walking tour, we had a thirty minute break for lunch before reconvening at the Roman Baths for our tour. I ate "Cornwall Pastries" which was delicious. I had a chicken pot pie-ish croissant for lunch. We were delayed going into the Roman Baths for about twenty minutes because a group of students who we collectively refer to as "The Bros" were late. Shocker time. They are a group of several dudes and one girl who are just constantly drunk, loud and fratty. It's mildly annoying, but we enjoying referring to them as "The Bros". Elizabeth, Christine and I named them this during our initial walking tour of London during IFSAorientation in the first few days of studying abroad. Anyway, they were late again today and held up the entire group.

Bath is the only city in Britain that has a natural hot spring. It was originally treated as a shrine for the Celts and was dedicated to the goddess of Sulis. After the Romans invaded it was called "Aquae Sulis," quite literally, Waters of Sulis. Now, it's a World Heritage site and attracts over three million of visitors annually. It was pretty sweet to see the heat literally rising from the spring. 

Our "tickets" to get into the Roman Baths

It was really pretty, too.

See the steam?

After exploring the Roman Bath museum and seeing the Baths, we went to the Pump Room to try some of the water from the bath. It tasted of warm pennies. Not really something I would want an entire glass of, if you know what I mean. It was still cool to get to actually try the water. It had been purified so it wasn't like drinking straight out of this green "pond" but it was still Roman Bath water.

After the tour, we had a little more free time. Elizabeth and I walked around and did some browsing in the local shops. When it was time to leave, we got another late start thanks to The Bros. Oh well. Life goes on. The commute home was another four hours all the way to Harrow. We spent eight hours commuting to Bath and only explored the city for four. I guess you only study abroad once right, so you gotta do it all anyway?

Now, isn't this the cutest little English town you ever did see?

Friday 12 November 2010
Our class on Friday got cancelled because we had one-on-one tutorial meetings with our teacher and Elizabeth's and mine were both the following week. We decided to plan a day trip to Stratford-upon-Avon and The Cotswolds. Our train left Marylebone station pretty early in the morning, around 9:15am, but that meant we needed to leave about an hour earlier than that to get to the station. Of course we're running late in the morning and we get to the station and there are delays on the Metropolitan line. Also, not much of a surprise. We had to leave ASAP in order to make it to the train on time. We decided to walk to the next nearest tube stop off the Bakerloo line, Kenton. It was about an eight minute walk from our tube stop. I was walking pretty briskly because I was spazzing about missing our train to Stratford. It was all for nothing, because we made it in plenty of time. We boarded the train and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep before we even left Marylebone Station (also, not a surprise whatsoever). That's what I do, one of my talents...I can sleep almost anywhere. I was up feeling rested and we get off at Stratford. You had to pay for a map, so of course we weren't about to play that game. We took a mental picture of the city map and tried to walk to the center of town. Stratford-upon-Avon isn't big at all so we weren't worried or really prepared considering we did about zero research of what do once we got there.

Start of our adventure in Stratford

On our way to the City Center we found a market...of course we had to stop!

Most of our time in Stratford-upon-Avon was spent shopping. There were tons of cute shops that we wanted to see. We got a great deal of Christmas shopping done which was great of course.

Lots of shoppers on a Friday afternoon!

Simply adorable, right?

Stratford was the birthplace of Shakespeare so after a bit of shopping we ventured over to the building where he was born and snapped a few pictures.

In front of Shakespeare's Birthplace

Afterward, we headed to the tourist information center to get information about taking a bus to Chipping Campden, a part of the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are the area of England that is often featured in movies. It's a beautiful part of the English countryside. I loved it. I can only imagine how pretty it is in the Spring or Summertime when flowers are blooming. We'd looked up buses before we left so we knew they existed, we just weren't sure where to catch one or where to buy tickets. The tourist place helped us out with that part and recommended a place we should go for lunch. We took her advice...lunch was delicious...but interesting...

We ate at what used to be the home of Shakespeare's granddaughter. It was such a tiny space above a costmetics store on a street corner.

Such a delicious ham and cheese sandwich lunch. Yummm.

Scone and homemade jam for dessert. That's what you want.

We had over an hour for lunch before we had to leave to catch our bus to Chipping Campden. Our waitress was less than attentive. That's the English way for ya, though. Not like a waitress in America. It took quite a long time for her to get our order, then she didn't bring any silverware out for our meal. Elizabeth's tea had curdled milk in it. She forgot our tap waters to drink with our food. And we had to ask for the bill from multiple employees before we finally got it because by this point we were getting really close to the departure time of our bus. It was a really delicious meal and it was really beautiful inside the tearoom but I just felt like we were rushing the whole meal because everything took forever.

We hopped on our bus about 2:15pm and it was about a 25 minute ride to Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds. The bus fare was inexpensive, only 3 pounds 30. We spent the first hour or so just walking around the quaint town. We took lots of pictures before wandering into an outdoor garden shop and talking to two English women for about 20 minutes. They recommended we go check out "The Guild" a metal workshop. We took their advice, but once we got there it was pretty awkward. I guess it's open to the public but it's literally old men working on making vases, silverware, jewlery etc.

"The Guild"

"The Guild"

One of the shops we went into. Tons of antique dishes.

I bought Nana's Christmas gift from Chipping Campden (and no it's not a tea cup from the shop above!). I know she is going to love it. We spent a almost 3 hours there. It was raining the entire time but it was alright. We got back out bus to Stratford-upon-Avon. We relaxed in a coffee shop for awhile until we walked to the train station return to London. Of course, I slept the entire way home, just the way I like it.