| The New and Improved Picture Post |
[Apr. 20th, 2010|09:51 pm] |
**This post will stay at the top of the entry list. Scroll past it to see new journal entries.**
I've changed where I'm hosting the pictures from this trip. Instead of hosting them and linking to individual ones here, I'm uploading them all to my photobucket account that I've set up for this trip.
Photobucket will be easier for people to navigate, as they can see thumbnails and such of the photos. Also, I've been adding captions to them as I upload, so you'll know what things are, too! Navigation is very easy: on the left side of the page are the albums I've organized the photos into, click on the albums to see the pictures. Sometimes the albums will have sub albums--keep clicking on things until you see pictures, essentially!
Most of my pictures are in my London account, which you can find by clicking here.
My Italy pictures, because of the sheer number of them, will all be found by clicking here.
Pictures are now current! All Italy and London pictures have been uploaded. All of the London pictures have been organized into categories, but the Venice and Milan pictures in the Italy album haven't been organized yet. And, erm, none of the Italy pictures, nor the new London pictures, have been captioned. I'll do that....later.
Last updated 4 May 2008 |
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| 04 May 08 |
[May. 9th, 2008|04:38 pm] |
Homework day! I worked (meaning I chose a topic) for my Shakespeare final---fathers and daughters. Should be interesting at least! I also thought some about my theatre paper and found an article to read to incorporate into my paper. Woot.
I didn't really do much else because I am a bad person and just want to be DONE with school. I did have tastytasty rice for dinner, though! |
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| 3 May 08 |
[May. 9th, 2008|04:33 pm] |
Went to Camden Market with Alissa and Lauren today! I picked up a couple of gifts for people, yay. Also got myself the most adorable red and white dress for 5 pounds! I love it and I can't wait to wear it with my red shoes. I MISS SHOES. They only had one size, though, so I wasn't sure if it'd fit, but it does (though it's a bit tight in the hips. But I'll work it).
We did some wandering around the market and just enjoying what a beautiful day it was. We got iced drinks at Nero and chatted for a bit, then went to get Alissa dinner. I was supposed to meet up with Kelsey and her mom for dinner, but it never worked out which was sad. So Lauren and I went to Tortilla for one last burrito. It was tasty! |
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| 2 May 08 |
[May. 9th, 2008|04:29 pm] |
Woke up and worked on my paper--only took me 3 hours! I wrote about how though the British government is extremely centralised, there are still a lot of institutions that are demanding power from it and all, so really it's not in danger of becoming a dictatorial system or anything. Only I said it way more elegantly. I'm hoping to get a decent grade on it, but we'll see what Martin thinks.
Alissa went out to lunch with Margaret and didn't get back until 2 and still hadn't started her paper. She finished it in 2 and a half hours! Good for her!
Then we went out to Pizza Hut with Lauren and got to gossip a bit, which is always fun and amusing. We were, sadly, too full for dessert, so we went home and had some chocolate a few hours later. |
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| 1 May 08 |
[May. 9th, 2008|04:25 pm] |
Happy birthday to Nathan! 13! WTH.
Gilbert and Sullivan was canceled this morning to make up for all the weekend excursions Anita made us go on. I still had to show up at AHA by 11, though, because we scheduled to practice our skit for the talent show next week. We're doing the Pyramus and Thisbe play-within-a-play from Midsummer Night's Dream. It's going to be awesome. Alissa brought us all donuts, too yay!
We went home after that to work on our Britain Today papers that are due tomorrow when we go to Kew Gardens with Martin, but then Martin decided to cancel it because it was supposed to rain and that would be less than fun. Which meant we just had to email him our papers by tomorrow evening instead. Which is horrible for me, because that means I slack off even more! I did the research and such for it all tonight, and will write it tomorrow. Because I am a bad person. |
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| 30 April 08 |
[May. 9th, 2008|04:13 pm] |
Today we didn't have our Theatre class as usual, we have tutorials with Chris to talk about our papers we're writing. My time wasn't until 12, so I got to sleep in, yay! It was rather glorious. I'm writing on Phedre and had done some research on possible topics. Chris gave me some good ideas about discussing symmetry and balance in the play and how Phedre upsets that balance, and whether we should feel bad for her or condemn her, considering the context that the play was written in. I think it's going to be a semi-difficult paper to write, just because I really have to dig into the symmetry stuff, but it'll be interesting!
That was our only class for the day, so Alissa and I decided to go to the Tate Modern art museum. On our way, we stopped at Baker Street to see the Sherlock Holmes museum, which was a little hokey. The Tate Modern was....modern art. Which I just really don't get most of the time. Like the sculpture thing that was supposed to be the creation, but looked to me like....some metal and some boxes and poop. Seriously.
After walking around the galleries, Alissa and took some modern art pictures. Then we met up with Lauren and had Wagamama's for dinner which was delicious. Then we went to the National to get some cake for dessert, and then walked down to the Globe so we could see King Lear!
Now, it had been raining on and off all day, so we were already a little damp. It started raining pretty good, though, once we got to the Globe, which was kinda crappy as we had groundling tickets, where you stand down in the pit in front of the stage. I got a spot right in front, so I could lean on the stage for the whole performance, which was nice. What wasn't nice was the fact that the Globe is open air ie no ceiling. So it rained on us all night long. But! if there is any Shakespeare play to see in the rain, it's King Lear (and maybe the Tempest, but I haven't read that so I'll ignore it).
The play was amazing. Lear was played like a father and someone you just...you just wanted to hug him. His voice was amazing and his performance was flawless. Edgar was HOT. Finally, a guy takes his shirt off in a Shakespeare play that should take his shirt off. I loved the brother dynamic between Edgar and Edmund and how freaking evil Edmund was. Edmund was the same actor that had been Claudio in the production of Much Ado we saw, and I think Edmund is a much better role for him--not that he did badly as Claudio, but Claudio is kind of a marshmallow role to start with. Regan and Cornwall were creepy and awesome. Kent was SO fantastic, so natural on stage.
It was definitely what we needed after the horrible performance in Stratford. I can't really say that it was better than Richard II, because seeing the Globe and seeing the RSC are two different things. You can't compare them. I didn't even notice that I was wet and cold until I was walking home to the tube; I was that wrapped up in the play. It was amazing and I wish I had time to go see it again. |
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| 29 April 08 |
[May. 9th, 2008|03:49 pm] |
Talked about King Lear in Shakespeare this morning. It really is an amazing play, one I'll definitely be rereading over and over. I'm really excited to see it at the Globe tomorrow night. It has to be better than Merchant of Venice at Stratford, right?
We were going to Parliament with our Britain Today class at 3:00 this afternoon, so instead of going home and coming back, Alissa and I hung around AHA sort of doing homework, but really just chatting with people who came in and out. For four hours. We finally went to Parliament with everyone to find that it would be a 4 hour wait to get it because there were several large groups that were in the open debates. Martin was pissed. So we went home without going to Parliament and having spent 4 hours at AHA for nothing. Sad day. |
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| 28 April 08 |
[May. 9th, 2008|03:47 pm] |
In Shakespeare today we talked about the final--writing an in-class essay connecting several of the plays we've studied by a common theme. It's a little more like the kind of papers I normally write, and therefore I'm freaking out only a little bit, since I haven't written that kind of paper in a while. In class, no less. But we get to use any notes we want AND the plays themselves during the test, which is both good and bad. Good because that means you're not going to flounder once you get to the actual writing, bad because then more is expected of you.
In the meeting Anita was irritating as usual. She was irritating in G&S too and wanted us, again, to all go around in a circle and figure out casting. Which we did last Thursday, so I don't know what she was thinking. We wound up talking her into letting us split up and work on our stuff instead.
Went home after class, poked around a bit. |
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| 27 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:56 pm] |
Time to leave Cardiff, sadly. I had tons of fun in this city and definitely want to return some day.
We took a bus to Bristol and then used our train tickets that the program bought, since they were good all weekend. Got home around 4, so Alissa and I did some homework and ate some rice and just relaxed for a bit. |
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| 26 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:54 pm] |
Cardiff day!
Woke up and showered--tiiiny shower room, but whatev, it's a hostel. Breakfast was bread, since the toaster wasn't very good. Then we went to Cardiff Castle! Alissa, Lauren, Margaret, Kelly, and I got the tour of the 19th century portion of the house, which was really cool and our tour guide was hilarious and very Welsh. After the tour we went to get lunch at a panini place--I had bacon, chicken, brie, and cranberry. SO TASTY OMG. Then we went back to the castle to see the Norman castle that was also on the grounds--we got to go up and in it and everything. It was really cool!
After the castle we decided to walk down to the bay. It took about 30 minutes, but it was a really nice day, so it was fun to walk there. The bay was goooorgeous, even if the water was nasty. We wandered about a bit and then got some ice cream. Then we wandered around the bay a bit more and found a nice park with grass and took a nap there.
For dinner we ate down by the bay at an Italian place--I had garlic and butter ravioli which was delicious.
Then we walked back to the hostel and discovered that we'd all gotten a bit sunburnt! Crazy! We decided to hang out for a bit--Susan gave me a back massage--and watch Zandy, Andrew, and Kelly play card games. Then we all went out to one of the pubs near the hostel and got our first round of drinks free! What fun! The pub had karaoke going, so Margaret sang a song, but it broke before Zandy and Andrew could do a song as well. |
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| 25 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:48 pm] |
Bristol day! We had about a 2 hour trainride to Bristol. When we got there we went into the Empire and Commonwealth Museum, which was kinda boring and mostly for the people in the Empire class. Then we went on a guided boat ride down the river, which was really nice. We stopped at the trendy part of town to get lunch--I had an odd sandwich, but my fries were skinny and tasty--and then we got back on the boat. I really enjoyed being on the water again--it reminded me of Minnesota!
After the boat ride we went to the SS Great Britain museum, which won a best museum prize, and it totally deserves it. We got to see the hull of the ship and the preservation process--ships are HUGE. Then in the museum part you had your ticket which was like a passenger ticket would have been like, and you could get it stamped as you went to the various exhibits. I think that was my favorite part. Then we got to go on the ship itself, which was really cool. The cabins were tiiiiiny!
After the ship we went to a cathedral, which was really nice. Then the rest of the group went to catch a train and our group going to Wales--Alissa, Margaret, Lauren, Susan, Kelly, Zandy, Andrew, and me--walked to the otherside of the city to catch our bus, but it didn't leave for a few ours, so we got some dinner in a pub. Alissa and Margaret split the biggest sundae I've ever seen in my entire life. We got pictures.
On the bus to Cardiff Lauren and I talked about TV shows and generally amused ourselves. We didn't get into Cardiff until about 9:30, so we headed to the hostel and hung out in the room for the rest of the night playing card games. Kings is fun, but sort of confusing, and Susan wasn't very good at it. I did some yoga moves too, which was fun, but I definitely bruised my spine from doing it improperly on the hard floor. Whoops. |
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| 24 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:39 pm] |
G&S today. Sure enough, Anita tried to have us go around in a circle again and talk about our projects. Alissa, kind soul that she is, intervened and asked that we meet with her individually to discuss our projects to not only use our time more efficiently, but to also have time to work on our projects. Alissa and I have decided to rewrite Bunthorne's song from Patience, but instead of a man pretending to be an aesthetic, we're going to have a geek pretending to be a jock to get the cheerleader to like him. Is it cliche? yes. Will Anita eat it up and give us a good grade? absolutely.
After class we went home to pack for our trip to Bristol with class and then Cardiff, Wales! So exciting! |
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| 23 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:36 pm] |
Happy Birthday Shakespeare!
We went to the Globe for a workshop today! It was raining like crazy, and Alissa and I got there early. We snooped around the gift shop while we waited for everyone and found the PERFECT gift for Jane! I'm excited to give it to her!
Then we had our tour and workshop, which was tons of fun with Phil! It was cool to listen to him tell stories about working there, since he's an actor for the company and was actually in a production of Merchant of Venice! He seems like he's a good enough actor that it wouldn't suck as bad as the one's we've seen. The workshop was really cool, too, we got to do improv games and such. It was kinda fun to do the acting thing again, since I haven't done that since high school.
We then headed back to AHA for Theatre at 3. We discussed Blood Wedding, which is all about symbolism, not my favorite kind of theatre. We also got our paper prompts and I'm thinking about writing on Phedre, though I'm not quite sure what yet. |
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| 22 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:28 pm] |
We didn't have Shakespeare today because we're going to the Globe tomorrow for a workshop! Instead we had Britain Today for only an hour and a half, DOUBLE WOOT. Martin did a wrap up of the section talking about the political system and the power of the prime minister, which is considerable.
Alissa and I went home and cleared up all our loose ends for our post term trip! Officially, we are doing Dublin, Cornwall, and Paris! So exciting! |
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| 21 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:25 pm] |
In Shakespeare we all let loose on Merchant of Venice and talked about how much we hated it, except for Zach who thought it was great because he's an idiot. Andrew made a good point in saying that the Royal Shakespeare Company clearly shipped their Varsity team into London to do the Histories and left the JV team to do Merchant in Stratford. Heh.
In G&S, Anita wanted to go around in a circle and talk about our projects again. It was painful and took up most of class. If she tries to do it again on Thursday we're vetoing her because it's just ridiculous and wastes time. |
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| 19 - 20 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:21 pm] |
Well, Susan woke me up at 5 this morning because for some reason Andrew was in her bed. Drunk people are silly.
We went to see Shakespeare's birthplace, which was exciting! We also saw Anne Hathaway's cottage, which we got to by walking on tiny paths through the meadows, which was a lot of fun. We saw more sheep!
Then we had lots of free time before the train back to London, so we did some shopping. We found a little used bookstore and I got a couple of books for myself--Adam Bede from 1904 and Pickwick Papers from 1911. I love old books!
Then we took the train back home and Alissa and I relaxed the rest of the night.
Sunday was homework day again! We didn't do much, but we did eat tastytasty rice for dinner! |
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| 18 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:17 pm] |
Stratford!
Alissa and I got to Marlyborne station early and found, shock, A BAGEL PLACE. We were so excited, we took pictures. I had a cheese bagel with cream cheese and it was soso tasty.
Then we hopped on the train to Stratford! I sat with Lauren and read Blood Wedding for Theatre, and then Lauren and I did Sudoku for most of the ride. It was a good time!
Stratford is an adorable little town. We dropped our stuff off at the Bed and Breakfasts--I roomed with Lauren, though she got the big bed--and then Jean led us around on a walk of the town. Sheep street is adorable and has tons of restaurants. We went to the big church there and saw Shakespeare's grave and then headed to John Nash's house, which is the house that Shakespeare's daughter lived in. After touring the house we went out into the back gardens and people started playing tag. This is what we go to college for!
After that we were on our own until the play, so we got some fish and chips on Sheep Street-they were kinda gross--and then wandered about to do some shopping. Kelly and Stephanie and I got some fudge which was delicious.
Then we went to see Merchant of Venice! You'd think that being in Stratford and seeing the Royal Shakespeare Company that it'd be lightyears beyond the crap production we saw in the Greenwhich pub? WRONG. It was painfully bad. Portia's dress was SEE THROUGH. There was ICE ON STAGE FOR NO REASON. Shylock started straddling Antonio for no apparently reason other than to create awkward sexual tension in the audience during the trial scene. Antonio was such a terrible, terrible actor. I wanted to cry it was so bad. Josh and I kept looking at each other at random parts with baffled looks on our faces.
I'm convinced, now, that England is incapable of performing Merchant of Venice. Stick with the easier plays, guys. |
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| 17 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:09 pm] |
Today was a quiet, uneventful day. We had G&S in the morning and we were supposed to have time to work on our projects. Instead, Anita had us go around in a circle and tell everyone what we wanted to do, and then she told us what she thought we needed to do. For the second half of class she disappeared, so we sat around and chatted for an hour. It was good fun!
Went home and packed for our trip to Stratford tomorrow! |
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| 16 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|02:06 pm] |
Long day agaaaaain.
In Theatre we discussed Mother Courage and her Children. I'd read this play in high school, so it was my second time studying it and I think my overall understanding of the play is a lot different this time around, especially since this time we looked at it in the context of Brecht's approach to theatre and his political views. I'm still not overly found of the play, but I have a new respect for it.
Then in Britain Today we went to the Bank of England museum, which was a little boring, but still informative, and it was cool to be down in the financial district of the city, which I hadn't been to yet. Then we walked to the Trade Union Congress to meet with Tom Wilson who is the Head of the Organisation and Services Department for the TUC, which means he's a powerful and an important person. He gave an informal talk to us about what the TUC does and how it interacts with the British government and used the example of the current issue they're fighting on, which is the job agencies that young people use. Apparently the deal is the agency puts the person in a job, but instead of being paid, say, 6 pounds/hour like their coworker, they're paid 5 pounds/hour and the extra pound goes to the agency. So TUC is petitioning for equal pay for the same job, yadda. It was really interesting.
After the TUC, Alissa, Zandy, Margaret, Josh, and I went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner--I had chicken katsu for only 4.50 and it was DELICIOUS. Then Josh went to a concert and the rest of us went to see the Queen musical--We Will Rock You. IT WAS AWESOME. I was expecting it to be so bad and it wasn't! It was, seriously, a rock concert with a plotline. I had so much fun--I think it's my favorite musical we've gone to. |
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| 15 April 08 |
[May. 2nd, 2008|01:59 pm] |
Just Shakespeare today, going around discussing what we thought of Richard II. All around peopled loved it except for Zach, who is an idiot anyway, so we ignore what he says.
Didn't do much else today, and tonight is Never So Good, a play at the National Theatre with JEREMY IRONS as Harold Macmillian!! I was a little unsure if this play could really grab my attention after I was so blown away by Richard II last night, but I was pleasantly surprised! Jeremy Irons was fabulous--all the actors were great--and the play was not at all what I expected it to be. I expected a political play that would talk about Britain in postWWII and the 50s and instead we had the life and times of Harold Macmillian. I found out things that I'd never known about him and about the government in general and was really pleased with the play. There were also tons of explosions and hey, can't go wrong with that. :) |
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