A day of plays -- July 22, 2011

Friday we only had one class! That was nice. After that, we worked on journals and blogs for a little bit and then headed out to start our day.  A few of us had already purchased tickets for two different plays.  The first one that we went to was at 2:30.  It was A Midsummer Night's Dream.  It was being performed at a church near Covent Garden.  It was very different from any other play I have seen a) because it was a modern version of a classic and b) the sets didn't change, the audience actually moved around the church and grounds to different sets.  It was very interesting. There was one part of the play when they needed the assistance of an audience member. Molly volunteered. They ended up needing her to play the part of a wall.

After this play, we grabbed a quick dinner at a Mexican place close by. Then Molly and I made our way to the Globe Theatre.  There, we saw Anne Boleyn. It was so good. I really enjoyed it. The Globe is so beautiful.  

We were really excited because there was only a 30 % chance of rain that day. Molly and I decided that we didn't think we'd need our jackets. We were wrong. Fifteen minutes before the play was over, it started to rain and became windy.  We were freezing! 

When we got back to school, Molly just happened to look at the sidewalk and discovered this. 

This is definitely the largest slug that I have ever seen. It might even break the world record for largest slug. It was gross. Molly thought it was mean of me to say that I wanted to go get salt....Oh well. 

Detective and Portraits -- July 21, 2011

On Thursday Molly and I went to the Sherlock Holmes House and Museum.  By the title, you can guess that this is where Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Watson lived. I thought this was really cool. There wasn't much to the museum though.  It counts as the house of a notable person for my IDS class. It was really neat to see the house just as he left it with a few minor, creepy changes. You'll understand when I put pictures up.

As part of the museum, I guess they made figurines that are related to some of his cases. I don't know what the cases are because I was never a huge Sherlock Holmes fan but they were very, VERY creepy.

I thought the toilet and matching sink were so pretty. I love the blue flowers! This was in the third floor or fourth floor. I lost count of how many set of extremely thin stairs we went up.  

 creepy.

 I do not like these.

 At all.

 Oh hey dog, I hope it wasn't real! 

 That woman in the back wrapped somewhat like a mummy and sort of blue scared the crap out of me. I didn't stay in this room very long...

 I wasn't particularly fond of this one either...

Sherlock Holmes and Watson hanging from the ceiling...

 Some of Sherlock's iconic things.  His pipe, magnifying glass, and hat! 

Some of his diaries! 

 The rooms were so beautiful.  I absolutely loved the furniture. It was gorgeous and so antique. I really like this blue wallpaper. 

This white chair was so pretty. I wanted it really badly! 

After Sherlock Holme's House and Museum, Molly and I went to the National Portrait Gallery.  There are 160,000 portraits in this museum and they are made using different mediums. Some are paint, some are pencil, and some are photographs, dating from the 16th century until now. 

There was a section on the Early Tudors.  This room included the pictures of King Henry VII & VIII, Queen Mary I, Anne Boleyn, Edward VI, and Catherine of Aragon. I also saw the portraits of Elizabeth I, Robert Dorsey, Shakespeare, and Mary Queen of Scots.  There were also portraits of Sarah Siddons, a famous celebrity and actress.  She was known as the chief interpreter of Shakespeare. She was in several of his plays. David Garrick was also present in the portrait gallery. He is the man that the Garrick Theatre was named after. That is where I saw Pygmalion.  Several very famous historical figures also have portraits in the gallery.  These people include George Washington, Winston Churchill, Sir Alexander Fleming (the founder of penicillin), Elizabeth Taylor, and Princess Diana.  A man that is of importance in today's time that has a portrait at the gallery is Nick Clegg. He is the current Deputy Prime Minister for the United Kingdom.    This is another museum where you aren' allowed to take pictures.  Part of the museum is dedicated to the BP Music Awards 2011.  Here are several works of art that have received awards for various things.  There is one portrait in there that I will never forget.  I understand that the English are not as concerned with modesty as Americans are.  I mean, we were first inhabited by Puritans, but I didn't realize that someone would paint a very detailed picture of a NUDIST BEACH! It goes without saying that we made our way through that exhibit fairly quickly. 

After that, we just made our way back to school where we had tea with the retired nuns next door. They were quite a hoot.  My favorite was Euchary, which is short for Eucharist.  They were all very friendly and quite funny. They explained to Molly that she says her name wrong. That was hilarious because they were trying to say it in American accents. It wasn't working. After we had been there for about 30 minutes, we had to leave because they were about to have afternoon mass and prayers.  

Churchill Museum! -- July 20, 2011

Wednesday, Maegan and I went to the Winston Churchill War Rooms.  It was so amazing. It was an extremely interactive museum. It was very difficult to find the entrance because it is this huge building with a single door in the corner that is the front entrance. It sort of looks like a hole in the wall. This is definitely my favorite museum. 

The Churchill War Rooms, also called the Cabinet War Rooms were used by Winston Churchill and his staff during World War II.  This is where the Prime Minister and his staff met when London was being bombed.  It was considered very safe because it was reinforced by steel and concrete.  In the Cabinet War Rooms, there are bedrooms for Winston Churchill, his detectives, his Minister of Information, Brendan Bracken, and his wife, Clementine Churchill.  Connected to the Cabinet War Rooms, the Winston Churchill Museum tells about his life.  

This is the bedroom of Churchill's detectives. 

This is the Prime Minister's Dining Room. 

Here is a picture of the reinforcement above the Cabinet War Rooms. They did this to ensure that if a bomb were dropped on the building, no one would be hurt. The concrete here, is called "The Slab" and is five feet thick! 

This is a room where many BBC broadcasts were done. Churchill's office and bedroom were also fully equipped with BBC equipment so that he could make broadcasts at any time. 

Here is a secretary's office and bedroom. 

This is called the Typist's rooms. Up to 11 women worked in this room at any given moment. 

You can barely see it, but the white phone at the end of this bank on the right is the secure line that Winston Churchill used to phone President Roosevelt.  

This is Churchill's office and bedroom. 

This bedroom belongs to Churchill's wife, Clementine.

Sooo....Churchill invented the Romper? Hmm...

The military dress worn by Winston Churchill.  

A picture of 80 year old Winston Churchill surrounded by younger versions of himself.  They are toasting to his birthday. 

This is a painting done by Winston Churchill.  Apparently he was quite the artist. He really enjoyed painting with oils. 

The door of No. 10 Downing Street while Winston Churchill lived there. 

After Maegan and I left the Cabinet War Rooms, we went to Covent Garden to look around and get ice cream. We went to the Ice Creamist's.  It is a very dark kind of ice cream boutique.  The cone's are jet black.