Good morning/arvo/night, wherever you are! Welcome back to another update from London town. I've been rushed to keep up with everything that's been going on, but I'd like to get back to writing another letter from me to you via the interwebs. Last week was super hectic, I went lots of places, wrote 2 essays & said goodbye to 2 dear friends that I have made this semester!
I'd like to say a big thank you to both Alicia & Kat for being lovely, hospitable, friendly Americans, for teaching me in your ways & sharing your love of all things fandom & cat related!! You are both wonderful ladies & I hope we see each other again soon, hopefully under those bright Chicago lights. If you ever need a Cadbury or Malteser fix just let me know & a box of goodies will be on its way!
On the 14th of May, Mo, Hannah, Sydney, Maeve, Alana, Meghan & I set out on a day trip to Brighton! It was beautiful, sunny & warm (I definitely should have worn shorts)! We wandered around the beach, soaking up the vitamin D & collecting shells amongst the pebbles before having lunch at an adorable beach-side cafe. Then we meandered through the touristy shops & up to the famous Brighton Pier. We were overly skeptical about a little stall selling 'Jellied Eels' & other questionably fishy things...
Thinking that the Seven Sisters Cliffs were only a 30 minute bus ride away, we jumped on to go out & take a look.... almost an hour later we made it to the visitor centre (which was shut of course) & adventured out onto the cliffs.
It was a lovely afternoon spent with friends albeit the lack of Workplace Health & Safety England seems to have... The long bus ride was worth the view! This week I have a final exam & then I'm hoping to do at least one or two more day trips before Mum (& her merry band of fellow teachers) arrives. Monday night we're going out to dinner together - a real Gilroy reunion - before heading out on a few trips ourselves, & then ultimately to Ireland! More updates coming your way soon from my wonderful weekend in Edinburgh!
Currently listening to Touch the Sky from the Brave Soundtrack... ever since we returned from Edinburgh! "IF YEW HAD A CHARNCE TEW CHENGE YER FETE, WOOD YA?" :) ♪
Before I came to London I heard about this wonderful new cafe that was going to open soon, the Cat Cafe! This semester London launched its very first Cat Cafe ~ Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium! (x) These cafes are gaining popularity in Europe after humble beginnings in Japan a few years ago! It's super difficult to get the right licensing papers & takes a long time to set up, but finally, after all of the preparation, Lady Dinah's opened a few months ago & has been flooded with customers every since. I booked at least a month & a half in advance just to get a table for 4 of us!
Lady Dinah's is home to 11 friendly & lovable rescue cats! Kat (hehe), Devyn, Kaitlyn & I visited the lovely felines on the 12th of May for a scrumptious brunch of bagels, cakes & tea. We cuddled plenty of kitties & dined with them for almost 2 hours!
It is a must see in London for cat lovers & skeptics alike! We're allergic to cats, but we had to make the sacrifice to see these cuties!
Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Currently loving A Great Big World who originally featured on an Ingrid Michaelson track before they hit the big time with Say Something! Here's one of my faves: This is the New Year ♪ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've got a lot to catch you all up on from the last week! It's getting warmer & warmer here in London & I hear you lot back home are complaining about the cold!!
On the 11th of May I embarked on a solo day trip through the south east of England. My journey began at the Stratford station where I boarded the (over-priced) National Rail to Dover. It's somewhere that I've always wanted to go, & it certainly fulfilled all of my expectations!
Here is some footage I filmed from the trains:
Once I arrived in Dover, I walked to the town market square & paid a visit to the Information Centre to ask about cliff walks. After some very vague directions, I set out to find the sea & follow it north east to the famous chalk cliffs. What I found was my first pebble beach, some wild horses & a terrifying cliff top hike.
I then raced back to catch the 2:04 to Walmer, which is where my Great Great Grandma, Alice Carman (Emery) grew up. I got a bit lost, made friends with some sheep, found a lone glove at the beach & explored the lovely castle gardens in full bloom!
Although my visit was rushed, it was a wonderful day & the countryside of the south east is some of the most beautiful I've seen so far. Take a look at my vlog from the day:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Currently listening to & loving Jessie Ware, who features in the Southeastern. vlog! ♫ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As much as I'd like to claim that title, it unfortunately doesn't belong to me, but to the world's favourite detective, Sherlock Holmes.
Today (currently being Wednesday), Alicia, my beloved twin, & I explored the streets of London from a different point of view. We followed some of the famous routes & visited the favourite nooks & crannies of that very detective & his lovely partner, Dr. Watson.
This entry probably wont be published today, because I'm using it as procrastination & I have a more pressing (but in no way more important) summary due tomorrow for class... Also I have to finish putting together the video footage from today. x
Summary is done! It's now Thursday morning here in London & our Sherlock Day yesterday was absolutely wonderful! First Stop: 221B Baker St, currently occupied by the Sherlock Holmes Museum.
This is a magical place filled with every kind of Sherlock memorabilia you could imagine! I picked up some gifts for my Sherlock loving friends (Eshwar & Lauren you're welcome!) & bought a small poster of the chronology of Sherlock stories designed like a family tree. It's £10 entry to the museum, but well worth it. Although the front looks deceivingly small, tucked in behind that policeman is 4 stories and even more rooms filled with memorabilia and artefacts that tell the story of everyone's favourite detective. Next door to this is Mrs Hudson's Restaurant!
Second Stop: Speedy's Cafe & Sandwich Bar for lunch!
This is a lovely little cafe beside the door of 187 North Gower Street which was used as 221B in filming the latest instalment of Sherlock by the BBC with Benedict Cumberpatch & Martin Freeman. Alicia & I had lunch there & got some snaps with the door, of course!
Third & Final Stop of the day: St Bart's Hospital. Although the spot is visited many times throughout the series, it is mostly remembered for it's role in the Reichenbach Fall. On each of the ground floor windows there are fan messages and quotes scrawled in the dust. Also beside the hospital is the famous phone booth. This particular booth was the centre of the Sherlock fandom directly after the Reichenbach Fall aired. It is covered in message of hope, favourite quotations, notes from fans from all over the world, & hate for Steven Moffat for making us wait two years between series. Some of these messages are also displayed on a pin board in the museum.
I had only heard about this phone booth from other fans & wasn't sure if it was still a fan meeting point or even used for messages any more - it's been 4 year since the first episodes aired - but I was so happy to finally see it!
These are all great spots to visit & I owe it the blog, Sherlockology, who have mapped out the series across London for all fans to enjoy! (x) As an addition to our Sherlock Day we popped into the London Beatles Store, which is right next to the Sherlock Museum & picked up a few goodies!
Here is my vlog from yesterday!
Along with a video from earlier in the week! Some friends & I attempted (somewhat successfully) to have a barbecue at our local Beckton Park!
"The lowest & vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling & beautiful countryside." ~ Sherlock Holmes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Currently listening to British Singer/Songwriter, Gabrielle Aplin's cover of Case of You ♫ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This title quote is of course the wondrous insight of Albus Dumbledore & this time last week my fellow Ravenclaw, Devyn, & I visited the Harry Potter Studios in Leavesden. ALL ABOARD THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS (otherwise known as the London Euston to Birmingham New Street)!!!
We had a truly magical day wandering through the studios, fangirling over that sweater that Matthew Lewis wore (you know which one..) & enjoying some butterbeer!
Here is my video from the day!
There was so much to see & do! We 'flew' around London on broomsticks, walked through Diagon Alley & paid a visit to Buckbeak, before heading out through the gift shop... Oh, the gift shop. They have everything & anything you could possibly want! I indulged & bought myself a Ravenclaw scarf, a remembrall, a chocolate frog & a buckbeak of my own. I would definitely advise everyone who even mildly like Harry Potter to go for the tour, it's a bit pricey, but absolutely worth it! Some of the activities are extra, but if you have some friends with you it works out cheaper & is so much more fun! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Currently listening to 5SOS's new single, Don't Stop! The lyric video was released today, Enjoy! ♫ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whoops! Wrong literary figure, wrong era, wrong country...
Let's rewind 301 years to a small village called Stratford-Upon-Avon, half way across the globe from Walt Whitman, a child was born known by the name of William Shakespeare.
I'm going to assume you've heard of him.
On the 23rd of April this year it was Shakespeare's 450th birthday & a I attended a huge festival in Stratford-Upon-Avon on the 26th (which apart from being my Mum's birthday - Happy Birthday Mum, is the date of Shakespeare's baptism in the Holy Trinity Church).
As part of UEL's international program I was on a coach tour to the Cotswolds, an old patch of English countryside about two and half hours out of London. We stopped off for breakfast & chicken teddies (chicken nuggets in the shape of teddy bears, can you get any more English?) at a little place called 'Bourton-on-the-Water'... All of the names are weird, don't ask, I don't know the answer.
The majority of the houses in the Cotswolds are made from Cotswold Stone, which is a type of creamy golden limestone. The area is also known for the construction & craftsmanship of dry stone walls made out of this limestone. All of the paths are directed by these dry stone walls which reminded me a lot of my uncle's place in Stanthorpe. Each time he mows he uses the stones he finds to create small dry stone walls in the hope that one day his own miniature railway will run through the entire block of land. Every time we've visited Dad always adds to the walls. The Cotswolds in general is a very beautiful place & each village is skirted by a patchwork of yellow canola crops.
Our next stop was Anne Hathaway's house, (no not the incredible actress who proved her vocal prowess in Les Miserables - Shakespeare's wife!?) which is just outside Stratford-Upon-Avon. The cottage has since been expanded & converted into a museum surrounded by beautiful gardens, but the original structure is still there. You can walk through the house & see the 'possible' second best bed, mentioned in Shakespeare's will.
Stratford-Upon-Avon itself was impressive & the four main streets had been cut off for pedestrians only in light of the festivities. There were Shakespearean characters roaming the streets, one group of American boys had travelled all the way here for a camp & were volunteering their time to quote entire monologues of their desired characters.
As a tour group we visited the Holy Trinity Church, which is surrounded by an old church cemetery & covered in green. It has the most impressive church organ I have ever seen & visiting Shakespeare's grave on the 450th anniversary of his baptism was quite special. Truth be told, I never thoroughly appreciated his plays in the beginning, but I always felt they were better taught & understood from a theatre point of view. Every play I studied in Drama, I adored. Maybe introducing Shakespeare to a class full of teenagers who can't read Old English with a story about two kids who fall in love in three days & in the process kill six people (including their stupid selves??) isn't the best idea.
Alicia & I (being nerds, & more creepily twins, in almost every aspect...) found a 'Time Warp' shop full of Star Wars & Doctor Who memorabilia - life size Dalek included! Then we stumbled across a Beatrix Potter shop. If you grew up without the stories of Beatrix Potter, I pity you! I was completely enthralled by this shop & walked out with three new soft toys for my bed after joking with the shopkeeper that yes, they were indeed for me & there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I bought myself a Peter Rabbit in his pretty blue coat, & a Little Nutbrown Hare & matching Big Nutbrown Hare which are from a story called "Guess How Much I Love You".
Sorry to drag this out, but it was a really wonderful experience, & also the last of my organised school tours. So I will leave you with the video footage from the day which is accompanied by a rather interesting Shakespearean TedxTalk. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Currently listening to Aaron Tveit's incredible live sessions including his cover of She's Always a Woman by Billy Joel ♪Aaron Tveit also starred in the aforementioned Les Mis, as Enjolras. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'd like to say a big thank you to both Alicia & Kat for being lovely, hospitable, friendly Americans, for teaching me in your ways & sharing your love of all things fandom & cat related!! You are both wonderful ladies & I hope we see each other again soon, hopefully under those bright Chicago lights. If you ever need a Cadbury or Malteser fix just let me know & a box of goodies will be on its way!
It was a lovely afternoon spent with friends albeit the lack of Workplace Health & Safety England seems to have... The long bus ride was worth the view! This week I have a final exam & then I'm hoping to do at least one or two more day trips before Mum (& her merry band of fellow teachers) arrives. Monday night we're going out to dinner together - a real Gilroy reunion - before heading out on a few trips ourselves, & then ultimately to Ireland! More updates coming your way soon from my wonderful weekend in Edinburgh!
