Thursday - Embankment, River Tour, and Antony and Cleopatra

So Thursday was our first "London as a Visual Text" class. Basically we walk around the city, look at arcitecture and such things, and then talk about how it effects the city now, or did in other times - that sort of thing. Honestly, I'm a little lukewarm to this class. I love history and symbolism and everything and love going to museums, but this is a tiring class. Not because all of the walking - honestly, walking doesn't bother me - it's the speed at which she walks. The teacher (Sarah) will be talking, and we'll be taking notes and pictures, and all of the sudden she'll say, "Right! Let's move on, then!" And then she's GONE. She's like The Historian from Spamalot meets Speedy Gonzales. Wham. Other than that we got to talk about the Romans and I love the Romans, and also a lot of talk about the river - and actually my first paper due Tuesday is 1000 words on the river.

( Classtime on Thursday. Picture heavy. )

Next, we boarded a cruise boat to go up the river, away from Westminster and to the City. (What we think of as London is a collection of larger boroughs, the City is London proper, an area of 1.1 square miles.) Yay! I like boats. Except for walking on them. Our tour guide was a very laconic young man who was, in my humble opinion, hilarious. I had a laugh, anyway.

( The river cruise! )

After that, I headed home because I was tired and we still had the theatre that night. :D I watched the House episode (SO GOOD), and then got dressed and headed to the Novello:

( Picture! )

Where we saw Patrick Stewart as Marc Antony in Antony and Cleopatra. I... I have no words. Nope. It was awesome. I kept expecting him to tell one of the soldiers, "Make it so, number one!" He didn't, of course, but that doesn't mean that I can't be a nerd about it. Once I acclimated to the level of AWESOMENESS in the theatre, I was able to pay attention to other things and other characters. The guy who played Caesar I was particularly interested with. They went for an incesty angle with Octavia, which I think was interesting. Sort of woke me up, anyway. It was very artful, and I really enjoyed it. I wish I could have heard something from my classmates besides "It was long," but I guess I can't have everything. (They think this is long, wait until we have to sit through Coriolanus.

Friday - The Romans, The Museum of London, Wandering Around, and PHANTOM

Friday was, perhaps the best day I've had here yet.

We had London as a Visual Text class again, meeting at the Roman Wall near the Tower Hill stop. It's a bit of the original Roman wall built in AD 200.

( Class time! Romans, Lords of the Universe. Or At Least They Liked To Think So. )

Once I finished in there, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was a little reluctant to head back to the hostel just yet but by this time everyone else had moved on to whatever they were doing, and so I was alone. Which I thought was awesome. I decided to decide whilst making my way back to the Barbican tube station, but then I simply got lost. I pulled out my A to Z (which has a lot of street maps that sometimes prove useful and sometimes not so much), and determined that I would just wander around. I had a map, a brain, and am not too proud to ask for directions, so I'd be okay.

Imagine my amusement when I found this pub, not too far into my wanderings:

( Wanderings! St. Paul's Cathedral and Trafalgar Square. )

By this time, I didn't really know where I was. I was all turned around and had my A to Z out and was looking at the streets, but since I didn't really know which way I was facing it wasn't that big of a help. Then I found a bus stop across the street that went to Trafalgar Square. I figured a) I haven't been there yet, let's go! and b) I know how to get home from Trafalgar Square. So I hopped on, and then hopped off at the appropriate stop, looking around.

( Trafalgar Square. )

So, I left Trafalgar square and headed in a general western direction, because I knew somewhere in that direction laid Piccadilly Circus. I walked. And I walked and I walked and I walked and it couldn't have been all that long but it felt like it had been. I did find, however:

( Phantom! )

I sighed and walked on. I got so turned around and decided that I would pull out my A to Z again and was looking up the street I was on (Charles II Street) when I heard a voice ask, "Where do you want to go, love?"

My AHH DON'T HURT ME instinct kicked in but finally I was able to stammer out, "I'm looking for Piccadilly Circus."

"Oh!" he said and directed me... in the direction that I had just come from. It figured, right? Well I thanked him, and he invited me to walk with him. So off we went, and he asked about me and where I was from, obviously not being British. I told him I was American, studying here for two months. He said, "Oh, Americans! I love Americans. Except for Bush." Uh, yeah, you and me both on that one. He said his son had done some studying in America, in Minnesota (I've never understood why people come to the Midwest when they study abroad, I just don't get it), and told me the name of his three daughters. It was a short conversation since we only walked a block before our paths diverged, but it was nice. My first friendly conversation with a total stranger. :]

So then I kept walking and wham, there was Piccadilly just as he'd said.

( Piccadilly Circus and how I saw Phantom of the Opera!!!!!1!!...!!!!!!! )

All in all, like I said, definitely my best day here so far. I may (and I really hate to say this) have to see Phantom one more time before I head out of town. I should see something else, but... come on.

The first of your DVD Extras.

Okay so remember where I said that you weren't going to have to friend sofarafield because you were going to get everything here that you could get there, and more. Here's the first part of "more."

So I was sitting in the basement, alternatively reading The Empty Space for class, talking to people, and doing other things, and this man who's staying at the Albert asked me to come sit beside him. My alarms should have been going off but they weren't, because I'm here to experience new things. So I gave lostlikealice a brb and went to sit on the couch. We shook hands when we introduced ourselves, because that's polite, and periodically he kept trying to shake my hand.

It was... agh, sd;hg;aslhgtoitewht it's all a bungled memory in my brain, probably because I just sort of want to blank it out but he gave me steak and onion crisps (which taste kind of icky) and tried to give me a drink (I eventually lied and said that I don't drink alcohol). It was SO PAINFULLY TERRIBLE. Agh. ;_; And then one of the girls on the trip came up to me and said, "We're going to play cards in the classroom, would you like to join us?"

Not being an idiot, I said yes, packed up my stuff and left. He pressed the chips into my hand that I had abandoned on the table and bid me good night. o_o

Christian (a boy on the trip) ate the chips, I couldn't bring myself to. They were a symbol of my near molestation.

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