Sister Weekend!

Our friends decided that they were going to Germany for a weekend, and since we already planned our budget for which countries to travel to, we stayed in London. So... we had a sister weekend! We hadn't really done any shopping since we got here, so we decided our first stop on Friday would be Topshop on Oxford Street. The store had a lot of fun clothing and was super packed. It also had frozen yogurt and a cupcake stand inside of it. We tried on a few outfits, but didn't end up getting anything since we were on a search for a bargain (like we always are)! We then decided to walk to Chinatown to get some Chinese takeout. In doing so, we walked through Carnaby Street and found a store called Monki that had really good deals. I ended up getting a purple knit sweater for 5 pounds and Cailin got a silver and black sweater with geometric designs on it for 8 pounds! Deal! By the time we made it to Chinatown we were starving, but there were so many restaurants to choose from that we just kept walking and looking at all the menus. When we picked a place, we ordered Kung Pao Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Special Fried Rice. It was so good and tasted really fresh and more authentic than American Chinese food. 

The next day, we wanted to get up and ready pretty early so we'd have enough time for a full museum day! We decided to go to the Victoria & Albert Museum and then Harrods after! They're both in the same section of London, more specifically, Kensington, so it made sense to tackle them both in one day. However, the V&A was huge and took a pretty long time to look through. We spent a decent amount of our time in the fashion section (Tara's favorite!) and saw how the styles have changed from decade to decade. I loved the vintage Givenchy and of course the Victorian style dresses are always fun to envision yourself in! 

After that, we looked through the section filled with statues, and preceded to the  areas devoted to different Asian countries. In the Nepal and Tibet section we were surprised to see there was a statue of a goddess named Tara! 

Along with seeing interesting things from so many different countries, we saw Raphael Cartoons which were huge and took up full walls! The V&A definitely has something for everybody and if you're in London you should go see it... but be warned, you'll need at least half a day! 

After grabbing a quick lunch at our favorite cheap, little restaurant, Pret-A-Manger, (which can be found all over London) we went straight to Harrods. I had heard from friends that they had an animal kingdom, a Disney section, and tons of food aside from the beautiful clothes, so we wanted to spend a good amount of time there too. 

Really Harrods is just for admiring all the gorgeous things in it, and as I've heard people say, it really does seems more like a museum than an actual store. We did end up buying a few things though... in the food section of course!

I was amazed by all of the food there. Everything you could possibly ever want to eat in your life was there, including my favorite, macarons! Just the chocolate and pastry section could have easily emptied my wallet. We had some self-restraint though and "window-shopped" through the gourmet chocolate section despite wanting the best flavors of truffles I have ever seen!

The Animal Kingdom was also really cool and had fish, reptiles, hamsters, puppies and kittens for sale! How cool would it be to say you got a pet from Harrods?! We also loved all of the clothes and are planning to go back again and try some things on just for fun. After a full day in two "museums" we were so tired and headed back to our dorms, but felt really accomplished that we got all of that done in only a day!

Ofzcourse it wouldn't be a sister weekend without our favorite activity (thrift-shopping!) so the next day we planned on going to a vintage store in Highbury and Islington. We had never been to the area before but since the Overground train we normally take, goes straight there, we didn't think it'd be too difficult to maneuver. The store is in North London and since we're in South London it took a good 45 minutes to get there but it was worth it! Islington is a borough of London, and is filled with a lot of businesses and has a college town vibe. Since London Metropolitan University is in the area, there were a lot of college kids around, and stores that reflected what college students would like. After looking through some really cool vintage clothes and trying on many leather jackets (but knowing we shouldn't bring more clothes home since our suitcases were huge enough), we found a place called iShake and decided to get... of course, shakes! They had really cool flavors and Tara and I both ended up getting one that had Ferrero Rocher, Aero chocolate, and Oreo crumbles in it! 

Our sister weekend extended a little longer into the week and on Tuesday while our friends were in class, the two of us went to the Wellcome Collection's Death Exhibit. Although it may sound creepy, I actually loved it! Yes, there were skulls everywhere and some aspects were more morbid than others, but it showed a lot of paintings, drawings, and scupltures that were really unique. The curator of the show also did a great job and organized the exhibit into different rooms. Every room had a theme and there was a specific order the viewer had to follow. The colorful skulls from Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) were definitely my favorite! The Wellcome Collection is housed in a cool space as well. With a cafe that had tons of seating and delicious looking food, the place seemed like more of a hang out than a stop-by art gallery. It's been really fun discovering new things in London and finding places that we like. Since Tara and I are interested in many of the same things, it's even better to explore the city with my sister!

Stonehenge and Bath

Our program plans a few trips for us throughout our semester and the first one was a trip to Stonehenge and Bath. We got up really early and took the tube to Baker Street to meet the rest of the group and by the time we got out of the tube station there was snow on the ground. We got some hot chocolates as we waited for the bus and it continued to snow. It doesn't snow very often in London so when it does, even if it only an inch of snow, everything shuts down. Stores close, roads close, and attractions close, so we were a little worried about how well we were going to be able to see Stonehenge. Despite the weather, we drove for about 2 hours and when we got to Stonehenge it was in fact closed. So we had to make the best of it and took as many pictures as we could from over the fence. 

However, it was really nice to see it in the snow since not that many people have experienced it that way. It was interesting to see such a famous artifact in real life and what really struck me was how large it was. 

For some reason looking at it in photos always made it seem less impressive, but when we drove towards it for the first time I realized it was huge. Our tour guide explained that some of the rocks weighed several tons and that they would need whole villages to help carry the stones into place. 

After Stonehenge, we drove for about another two hours to Bath, England. We got a walking tour of the town and since there was just a snowfall, everything looked so beautiful! Bath is a cute little town in itself, and has a lot of small shops, cafes, and restaurants. We walked to Bath Abbey first which is a church that is gorgeous! It's at the center of town and definitely the biggest attraction and Bath's most prominent feature aside from the Roman Baths. 

After exploring around the streets during our free time, our tour guide told us about a restaurant close by called Sally Lunn's. Since it's in one of the oldest buildings in all of Bath, it has a lot of history and is known for creating "The Sally Lunn Bun". We decided to eat there and all had sandwiches on their famous bun! 

After, we had some more free time and took pictures with the snow and Bath's cute streets in the background. We stopped in a few shops too that had gift items, postcards, and fudge! Luckily, we got free samples of the homemade fudge which was delicious and saw how they made it! 

The next thing that was planned was a tour of the Roman Baths. We went through their exhibit which had a lot of artifacts from the time period and told us information about what the baths were like when they were being used. 

I was really surprised at how large the main bath was and at the fact that the water was pale green. Who knew a bath could be so pretty?! We also made sure to throw a coin and make a wish in another bath that we noticed was already filled with coins. Before leaving, our tour guide told us we couldn't go without trying the bath water, so Tara and I drank a little cup of it. It's not delicious spring water or anything but tasted more like mineral water. 

I thought the Roman Baths were really interesting and were actually kind of scenic, which I didn't expect. We only got to stay in Bath for a day so I definitely would like to visit the city again some day because it was so cute and unique!

London's Markets

One place everyone told us we had to go to was Borough Market. It's only 10 minutes by train from our school so we decided to go on a Saturday because that's when all the shops are open. I thought it'd be like a cute little market, but it was huge! It went on forever and had everything you could possibly imagine. 

My favorite part was to no surprise... the food! Any kind of food you would ever want they had. They also had some strange choices such as burgers and meatballs made out of wild boar (which is pretty common here), kangaroo, ostrich, and even zebra! 

Our friends ended up getting pasta and cookies for dessert, since the free samples were so good. They give out a lot of free samples which is nice and I definitely took advantage of it by getting more and more every time something new was passed out. 

Tara and I wanted to eat something a little different, that's not so common in America, so we found a baguette stand and bought a pork and apple baguette with chili sauce. It was so good and we had to get dessert after of course and decided on Bailey's and Chocolate cheesecake which was delicious too!

Borough Market is a food market, but we have also been to Portobello Market, Deptford Market, and Camden Market. These markets not only have food, but also have clothing, jewelry, accessories, antiques, among many other novelties. Portobello Market is in Notting Hill where the movie with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts was filmed. 

It is a really cute area of London. All the houses near the market are in pastel colors like pale purple and yellow. It also was a huge market and just went on and on for miles. While looking around, I found a journal I liked in one of the shops at Portobello Market. I wanted a leather journal with a lot of character and most importantly, one that didn't have pre-printed lines on the pages. I ended up getting a red leather journal with an old fashioned hook lock and a key sewn onto the top. When I opened it and it had blank pages, I immediately knew I had to get it! At the same shop, Cailin got sandals from Topshop for only 1 pound, which was a huge bargain. While we were there, we also got the most delicious Nutella and coconut crepes! 

Another day, we went to Deptford Market. It's in the town next to our college so we ended up walking there. It has fruits, vegetables, fish, and a lot of flea market clothes. Cailin got a sweater that has playing cards as a design on it for only 3 pounds. It's really unique! Saturday is when all the markets are fully running and all the stalls are open, so every Saturday we seem to find a new market to go to. 

The next Saturday we went to Camden Market. It is also extremely big. We were there from noon until 5pm and didn't even get through half of it! It also has a lot of clothing, accessories, and unique finds if you dig around a little. Cailin and I got two scarfs for 5 pounds. Mine was yellow with zebras all over it and Cailin's was pink with skulls, the US Flag, and the Union Jack on it. There are also a lot of nice restaurants in Camden so we took the opportunity to try the UK's version of an American Diner. Fittingly it was called "The Diner". We ordered Cubans and chocolate milkshakes. It was all soooo delicious! Now I can stop dreaming about milkshakes every night haha! Even though we've been to a lot of the markets in London there are still a lot more that we have to go to!

Phantom of the Opera, Twelfth Night, and Richard III

With our study abroad program we were given the opportunity to see Phantom of the Opera in London's West End. For those of you unfamiliar with the West End, it's essentially the Broadway of London. I had never seen Phantom of the Opera before so I was really excited since it's one of the more classic musicals. Since my college at home is near NYC, I've had the opportunity to see many Broadway shows such as Billy Elliot, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Wicked, Newsies, and Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. Needless to say, I love Broadway shows! Seeing one in London though was something I needed to do while here. That's why it was really lucky that our program scheduled Phantom of the Opera for all of us. The show was held in Her Majesty's Theatre and Tara, our two friends, and I hurriedly rushed to our stall seats (the UK's equivalent of floor or orchestra seating), making it just 5 minutes before the show was to start. I was familiar with some of the music, but really had no idea about the plot. Yes, I know... most people know what Phantom of the Opera is about, but I honestly didn't. As the show started I was instantly impressed with the main character, Christine, whose voice was unlike anyone I had ever heard... and I've been to a lot of shows! We were all saying that her voice was literally the voice of an angel. The phantom was a great singer as well and definitely pulled off the tormented character that gains the audience's sympathy. Besides the amazing acting, singing, set, and special effects, I was perplexed by their microphones. They actually have these small mics attached to the middle of their foreheads! It was funny that their microphones would be so visible to the audience, showing a difference between technology in the UK versus that of the US. I'm really glad I got to see the show though because I was having Broadway withdrawals... I usually see at least one show every semester! You don't get the opportunity to see a West End musical every day so I'm so thankful to my program for making it possible!

I am in love with Broadway shows just as much as Cailin and was so excited to see Phantom. I had already seen it on Broadway in 6th grade with a play club, but I thought it would be really cool to see the differences in how the West End production performed it. Like Cailin said it was amazing. It was actually pretty similar to the NY version, but their singing voices were just unbelievable. 

Another amazing opportunity that we have gotten through one of our classes is being able to see West End productions of Shakespeare's plays. The first play we read in class and saw was Twelfth Night. Cailin and I knew the plot from the modern day retelling in the movie She's the Man, but we didn't get the chance to read the actual play in high school so we were anxious to see one of Shakespeare's most renown comedies. The production was at the Apollo Theatre right in the heart of Piccadilly Circus. The inside of the theater was very ornate with a lot of decorative molding and sculptures. 

We were in the highest level of seating and the theater is pretty tall so we had to look down to see the stage, but we were in the front rows of the section. The play was put on in traditional Elizabethan style so their costumes were made to match as closely as possible to the type of clothing that would've been worn on the stage in Shakespeare's day.

Additionally, all the female parts are played by males since in Shakespeare's time there were no female actors. We got there early so we got to see the traditional dressing of the actors. During the time of the actual Globe Theatre, those that came early could watch the actors get in their costumes and put their makeup on. Their costumes are very intricate and they don't miss a detail even though the audience might not even notice. They also put white makeup on all the men playing female characters to make them more feminine and regal. It is really funny to watch a grown man getting fitted into his corset!

Twelfth Night was so funny and even more interesting to watch because Viola is a girl who disguises herself as a boy, but in the play the part is actually played by a boy playing a girl who is pretending to be a boy. I laughed out loud several times and the actors did an incredible job. The cast was made up of some big names like Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry, and they didn't disappoint. 

The only thing that could've made this night better was a celebrity sighting! As we were walking out of the theater one of our friends thought she saw someone that looked like Paul McCartney get into a taxi that was parked outside of the side entrance. We just laughed and thought how cool that would be if it were actually him. We were coming out of the specific entrance you went into to get to the nose bleed seats so we didn't expect to see any celebrities. Other people started to look in the cab so out of curiosity we kept stalling in front of the exit. Then someone knocked on the taxi car to say goodbye and when the door opened we ran over and it was Paul McCartney! It was so cool since as far as British celebrities go we would say he is pretty legendary. Cailin snapped a quick photo and all of our friends proceeded to have a fan girl moment as we walked back to the tube to get home. 

A week later we went back to the Apollo Theatre to see Richard III. It was the same cast with Mark Rylance playing the lead role again. Richard III is one of Shakespeare's longest plays so we were a little weary about how long it would be since Twelfth Night went for 3 and a half hours long. However, they cut out a few portions of the play and it also ended in 3 and a half hours. 

Richard III is a history play so I really enjoyed it. I also had my class presentation on this play so I did a lot of research into Richard III's life. Today it was actually found out that the bones archaeologists discovered in Leicester, that were supposed to be Richard III's, were in fact his! The play is attributed for sealing in the general public's mind that Richard III was the most evil king England had ever had.

He is blamed for the deaths of two young princes in the Tower of London as well as killing almost everyone in the line of succession to the throne. There is much controversy into whether he was the hunch-backed murderer that Shakespeare portrays him as, but as far as historical fiction goes, Richard III is the perfect villain and makes for a very entertaining show.