March Madness

First, a sincere apology for the lag between posts; the last one was almost a month ago! Terrible.

Second, a warning - this is going to be a long one.

Well, where to begin? Where we last left off, I had just returned from Paris, and was eagerly awaiting the arrival of all my visitors. Well, all of them have come and gone, and I've had some grand adventures in between. So let's get going!

The innermost part of Windsor Castle

On Saturday (March 3rd) ISA took us to Windsor Castle. Windsor is the largest inhabited castle in the world, and the Queen's favored residence (over Buckingham Palace). So it goes without saying that the castle was very, very large, and our self-guided (relatively unhelpful) audio tour didn't even show us half of it. But we were able to walk around a bit, and toured the State Apartments. In the first room was this humongous doll house, which displayed an incredibly lush and detailed home. It was originally made for Queen Mary, and was really really impressive. Apparently, artists and designers from back in the day donated little miniatures of their paintings/clothing etc. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but I included a picture found from a quick search on Google.

From there we moved into a room commemorating 60 years of photographing the Queen, who is just the cutest woman in the world. Then we moved into the next room and saw an incredible amount of sets of china (my favorite being the one with all the pieces shaped like pineapples). Then the tour took us into the rest of the state room, which were all very lavishly decorated and featured various works of art by various noteworthy artists. We even got to see some of the rooms where the Queen does her entertaining! Very cool.

St. George's Chapel

Then it was back outside and into the breathtaking St. George's Chapel, where the Royal Family celebrates Easter every year. It is also where the Queen Mother and King George VI (the current Queen's father) are buried in a chapel (along with Princess Margaret). A great number of royalty are buried here as well (including Henry VIII and his third of six wives, Jane Seymour), and the church itself is yet another breathtaking example of that famous Gothic architecture. As many churches as I see with that style, they'll never become any less impressive, I think.

From there we popped over to Eton College for a second, though we couldn't go in. Eton is one of the most prestigious secondary schools in the world, and costs a hefty amount to attend. It was founded all the way back in the 1400s, and the boys all have to wear tailcoats and waistcoats as their uniform!

Rosetta Stone

The next day (Sunday, March 4th) I was up early to go get Diane from Heathrow! We headed back into London, dropped off her luggage in my room, and I dragged her shopping up and down Oxford Street in an attempt to keep her awake (though she kept nodding off on the tube...not that I could blame her!) We made a delicious dinner of pasta and she passed out early (around 7) and slept all the way until I got back from class at 12:30 on Monday! But I got her awake and we went sightseeing at all the major places (Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey Buckingham Palace...etc) and Harrods, and then to a pub! You'll have to ask Diane how she thought it went, but I certainly enjoyed being the tour guide.

Then Tuesday we went to Abbey Road and were tourists, then to Covent Garden to look around that area and stare at some wonderful clothing items so far out of our price range it was depressing, and then to the British Museum! Afterwards we went to get Indian at Aladin's, which was delicious as usual!

At the BBC

On Wednesday we were invited to go to Esher to spend some time with the ever-hospitable and lovely Mount family. I dropped Di off at Waterloo to get her there around noon, then went back to my room and did some laundry (ho-hum). Then ISA took us out to White City to go on a tour of the BBC which was very very cool. At the start of the tour (after going through security and posing next to the TARDIS they have just hanging out right outside the building) they warned us that we might see some people we recognize, and asked us not to freak out or ask for autographs or pictures with them if that happened, which totally got my hopes up to run into David Tennant. We didn't. ...disappointment.

But the rest of the tour was still cool! In the first room we watched a little montage video explaining all the different aspects of the BBC (in it were many clips of Doctor Who and Merlin and Miranda and all sorts of great shows) and a good amount of it was narrated by John Barrowman, which made me laugh. The conference room we were in had glass walls, so we were able to look into the news headquarters for the BBC, and showed us a news anchor practicing for the segment he had coming up. They also explained to us how they didn't have ads on their programmes because of the tv licensing tax citizens have to pay, which was interesting.

Among other things, we saw a recording studio (no longer in use), and they explained the process of recording for a show - how a set is dismantled and put back together every week, and that every day the floor is washed off and then repainted (and that if it's a sit-com or something that needs a carpet, every day people painstakingly paint on a carpet design because camera equipment can't wheel over carpet). It was fascinating.

Then we were taken to see how the weather reporting works - it's one weatherman or woman, by him or herself, in a tiny little room, talking to a blue screen. Everything runs automatically, and the reporter can see what's being played on a screen in front of them (so they can tell they're pointing in the right place). Kristen got to demonstrate what that would be like ("rain here...and here...yeah, rain all over, pretty much...") and then they put a blue cloth around my body so that it was just my head floating around a weather map to demonstrate the blue screen affect.

They then took us into a dressing room/preparation room type thing, and told us two ridiculous stories; the first was about J.Lo, who was dissatisfied with how "small" all the rooms were and demanded a conference room to be her dressing room, but wanted it to be made over all in white (white drapes, white furniture, white candles, and so on). Since the BBC accommodates for anything celebrities want, but doesn't pay for it, J.Lo's manager agreed to spend £10,000 to refurbish the room...which she only spent forty five minutes in. Ridiculous!

Then they told us how Madonna requested a cardboard cutout of Pope John Paul (this was obviously a while ago) and when they couldn't find one, they requested the extra wax model of him from Madame Tussauds. They agreed, and put a wax figure of the Pope in a taxi and brought it from central London all the way out to White City, where it was set up in the dressing room. Upon seeing the figure, Madonna believed it was really him and started genuflecting and praying and so on, and then when she realized he wasn't real thought it was hysterical. Just goes to show that celebrities really are as crazy as you think!

From the tour, I too took a train from Waterloo to Esher, and was picked up by the gracious Carron and Diane and taken back to a delicious, home-cooked dinner of hamburgers and salad. So good. AND I got to sleep in a real bed. God bless the Mount family. Anyway, the next day, Carron took Diane and I to Hampton Court, a nearby royal palace. It is probably most famous for once belonging to Henry VIII, and so is half made up of Tudor-style architecture. However, when William of Orange took the throne about 80 years after the end of the Tudor dynasty, he and his wife Mary began to renovate the palace, and much of the Tudor architecture was lost. But when Mary died, William stopped renovations, which is why the palace is half and half in terms of architectural design. Pretty cool!

Hampton Court

To make the trip even better, when we first entered, we were approached by a kind volunteer who asked us if we needed any directions, and gave us a brief introduction about the buildings. Carron joked that it'd be nice if she just came everywhere with us, and she gave us a surprised look and told us to come find her after we got our audio guides and went through the kitchen. When we did, she actually left her position and led us around the castle! She was a phenomenal guide; she showed us all the things that visitors usually miss, and was even able to get us sneak peeks into areas not even open to visitors! It was so interesting, and everyone was really nice and helpful. One man told us all about how roses were an extremely expensive commodity, as they used to only be grown in two countries, one of which only allowed them grown in the royal palaces. One stem could cost a million pounds! Then he told us how not having teeth was a sign of being rich, because that meant that sugar had rotted your teeth and since sugar was expensive it meant you could afford sugar. In fact, rich husbands would have their wives' teeth pulled out when they got married, because it would be an embarrassment to the husband if his wife had all her teeth!

Cousin love! <3

After touring some more rooms (including the huge dining hall that contained these massive tapestries) and a really beautiful little chapel, we then went into the extensive gardens and out the door! Carron bought a BBC documentary about Henry VIII and his wives and we hung out at their house and watched it until the boys came home from school, and then went to watch Lee row down the Thames in a pub! Then after a scrumptious dinner of French toast and Annie's mac and cheese, Diane and I were back to London!

The following day (Friday) we went to Camden Market, and shopped around for a while, which was a lot of fun! Then we had a delicious dinner at Salvador and Amanda's (mmm, sangria!) and went to pick up Lizzy. This is when the disaster began.

Lizzy and her friend, Katie, were supposed to get into Victoria station at 10:15. Now, there are two Victoria stations - the coach station, and the rail station. Not knowing which one she'd pull into, Diane and I ran back and forth between the two after it was clear that Lizzy hadn't come to the coach station when she was supposed to. But as the bus was "delayed, without any further information" (thanks a bunch, Victoria) we weren't sure if she'd still be coming to the coach station. At 12:15, we finally had to give up and head home, because the tubes were about to close. Worried sick (since Lizzy hadn't called) I arrived home to a facebook message that Lizzy had got a different bus than originally planned. Of course, this didn't help us much now, and we had still been at the station when she should've been.

Tired and worried, we went to bed. At 2 am, we finally got a call that Lizzy was still alive (THANK GOODNESS) and had somehow gotten herself to an internet cafe in Piccadilly Circus. I got Lizzy and Katie bus directions to me, and they were finally asleep on my floor at 4 am. Of course, then I had to be up at 6:45 to get Diane to the airport, but it was all good. In the morning (and after a smooth-sailing but sad goodbye to Diane) Lizzy, Katie and I went to Katie's hostel to check her in for that day. There we met up with Nick and the four of us headed off on adventures! Once again I took everyone to all the tourist hot-spots, and once again to the British Museum, where we had a very good time. We enjoyed an evening at the pub and a relatively early bedtime, before waking up the following day for more adventures. We went to Harrods and the Camden Market, and all would have been fine, except that the Camden tube station closes randomly during the day on Sunday, which prompted a frantic run back to my flat and to Victoria to get the girls to their coach to Stansed on time. Unfortunately we didn't make it, but fortunately there was another coach right after that which had room. So Nick and I bid them goodbye and wandered around Hyde Park for a while, before I then unfortunately had to say goodbye to catch up on my homework!

Monday, I met up with Shelby and Brittany and Shana, and we went to the Portobello Market! Shelby got this really really cool ring that covers her whole finger and looks like a piece from a suit of armor - I swear, she's the only one that could make it look as awesome as it did. It was great to see them, but also pretty weird, I have to say. Weird in a good way though!

Tuesday Emily and I navigated ourselves back out to White City to explore the Westfield mall there. It was like being home! Except this Westfield was about ten times nicer (and three times bigger) than the good ol' Trumbull mall. But being in a mall in general, I feel, is a pretty American thing, so that was nice.

Wednesday I once again met up with Shelby and co., and we went to the Camden Market to enjoy some food and explore. That market is, I think, one of my absolute favorite places in London. I think it's somewhere I'm really going to miss. There's just so much life, so much to see and do, and so many people from so many walks of life congregate there. It's just fantastic.

Then Thursday I met Robie at Westminster Abbey! We headed off to Trafalgar Square and grabbed a traditional Pret a Manger lunch (hahahaha oh London) and headed off to the British Museum! I have to give Robie credit for dealing with me as I dealt with Douglas being in the hospital yet again, which is always good. But Robie joined us for an unsuccessful hunt for a pub around Trafalgar Square, and we wound up eating dinner at a nice restaurant-ish place on the Strand. Then we headed back and Emily, Robie and I chilled for a while, and then I got to talk to Doug (hooray!). I suppose I should actually extend credit to everyone who was with me on Thursday night as I am sure I was not the most fun.

Then Friday I dropped Robie off at the National Gallery and went to class (uneventful) and then picked him up again when it was over. We enjoyed a lovely pasta lunch made by a master chef (yours truly) and I got Robie to St. Pancras without incident! Then Friday evening Emily, Kristen, Devyn and I had a wonderful time watching Mean Girls and being ridiculous, then on Saturday we were up bright and early for an excursion to Canterbury and Dover!

(I promise, this is almost done. If you've lost track of what day this is, it's yesterday - Saturday, March 17th.)

Canterbury Cathedral

After an extremely early start to the day and a bus ride to Canterbury (about 60 miles southeast of London), we were treated to a lovely walking tour of the city. It was kind of a dreary day, but luckily the rain held off for the most part! We also got to go on a boat ride down the river, and learned quite a bit about Christopher Marlowe and Geoffrey Chaucer along the way. (For those of you who don't know, Marlowe was a playwright in the time of Shakespeare, and many theorize that he faked his death at a relatively young age in order to escape the law, and continued to write under the pseudonym "William Shakespeare." Just a theory, though! And one way or another, he was still an impressive playwright.) On the river tour we also saw the dunking chair, where the townspeople would bring lying businessmen, witches, and nagging wives to be dunked in the sewage-filled river as punishment. Lovely.

Misty Dover Castle

We also got to go to Canterbury Cathedral, which is the central location of the Anglican church. It is the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the leader of the Church of England. It was a massive, beautiful cathedral, made all the more impressive by the huge choir/orchestra that was rehearsing there while we visited. It is also famous for being the site of the martyrdom of Thomas Becket, an Archbishop in the time of Henry II who was killed for not giving the state judiciary power over the church. It is also where Edward, the Black Prince, is buried!

Roman Lighthouse

From Canterbury (and after a traditional excursion meal of pasties - scrumptious) we were off to Dover. Here the rain unfortunately picked up, and it was so misty that it was actually pretty difficult to see the famed white cliffs. But it was still very cool! We got to see Dover Castle, which has served as the first line of defense for England since the middle ages! Dover is right on the English Channel (it's actually where those crazy people who swim across start from) and there have been structures there since the Romans first came to England, and possibly before! There are still remains of a Roman lighthouse on the site - which is incredible. Most of the castle was built by Henry II, though. Throughout its history, the castle withstood a siege by Louis VIII of France, and the Napoleonic invasion, and also was an integral part of World War II.

Some White Cliffs!

During World War II, the secret wartime tunnels were converted into a military headquarters and a hospital. It was from these tunnels that the miraculous retreat at Dunkirk was orchestrated. We got to tour the tunnels and while no photography was allowed, I assure you that it was fascinating. They still had the original table and maps that were used during World War II!

English Channel

From the castle and tunnels we went down to the pebbled beach and saw the cliffs (of course chucking some rocks into the water while we were there, and picking up all the prettiest ones as keepsakes) and headed back into London. Phew. Now, today, I am once again at work on homework, and doing my best to relax. This week should be relatively tame, though! Then next weekend Kristen and I are up to Cardiff and Bristol, where I will hopefully find Emma C. a hedgehog. :)

Until next time! Cheers <3