Billy Elliot

So, if you have been following either this blog or my facebook, you would know that I have been really wanting to see Billy Elliot while I was here in London. Well, I can cross that one off of my list! We saw it tonight and it was really quite excellent.

First of all, I went on to a site called Get Into London Theatre, which sells discounted tickets to certain shows in the beginning of the year to help with generally lagging ticket sales since nobody has any money to spend on theatre after Christmas.  So I got tickets in the Grand Circle for 25 pounds. Reduced from like 40, so that's pretty prime.

Let me just explain about London theatres. There is no continuity in what they call their sections of the theatre, save for the stalls (we call it orchestra in the states). Other than that, there are a variety of names for what we call the front and rear mezzanine (or sometimes the balcony). For example, at Phantom, the progression is stalls, dress circle, grand circle then upper circle/balcony. Others have royal circle and some don't have as many levels as Her Majesty's. So for simplicity's sake, we would have been on the third level. We got upgraded to the stalls, which was nice but annoying at the same time. See, stalls are pretty flat, where the upper levels tend to be more stadium seating style as they are up higher and such. So as a person that is vertically challenged, when someone sits in front of me it is a bit hard to see. But it was good nonetheless.

Comments on the show

It was really good. Not Phantom or Wicked caliber, I must confess, but still quite good. Some of the songs are meaningful, some funny, and some superfluous. What Billy Elliot relies on is the dancing. Which was awesome. The boy who was playing Billy (they rotate because of labour laws) wasn't the most excellent singer, but he was an amazing tap dancer and an excellent ballet dancer. There were some epic scenes, like one where he danced to Swan Lake juxtaposed with what I guess was future older Billy. He flew on a wire. It was prime. There is also a cute scene with a song called "Expressing  Yourself" where Billy's gay friend Michael gets him to try on dresses and stuff because he wants to show there is nothing wrong with being who you are. Much hilarity and impressive tap dancing ensued. The show is filled to the brim with wit and humour, but also poignancy and emotion as well. So. Good.

I do have to say, while I enjoy lively live theatre, the show ran a bit long for me, running at about 2 hours and 50 minutes because of a few semi-drawn out scenes and a very lengthy curtain call. Another departure from musical theatre is the absence of an overture, which was a bit surprising, plus a non traditional curtain call. It was a fun but ultimately lengthy tap dance bow sort of thing, but then they did traditional bows too. I felt it was a bit overkill after sitting through a long show. Don't get me wrong, it was excellent fun, but I think they should have stuck with one or the other.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and a wonderful show, though I think I would have understood it a bit better if I understood the politics of the Margaret Thatcher era with the coal miners strikes and such, the backdrop of the show. But going in purposely not knowing the songs or anything was a good idea, especially considering when I normally go to theatre I am well versed in the songs and dialogue of the show.  I HIGHLY recommend it

I can't wait to see Les Mis now, though I know I've got to prep myself for an even longer show when I go there.

So I only have 2 pics for you, but here they are!

The Victoria Palace Theatre

This is where we got upgraded to. Not too bad.

Trip #1 Day Two

So. Did some homework. Not feeling dinner yet, so I'm just gonna keep going with this whole trip thing. Right. So Bath. Named after, well, the baths. Roman Baths are pretty sweet. Except we couldn't touch the water. Cause it is gross and untreated. You could taste a treated, safe version. It tasted like coppery or something. And I hate warm water. But I did it. Ha. Pictures!

Bath Abbey- Partially destroyed, but Elizabeth I wanted it rebuilt

A ladder to help the angels climb to god?

Audio tour!

Minerva's head

People used to sit here and do business and enjoy the baths and stuff!

This somehow was a heating system

Roomies at the bath!

The baths and the abbey

An entertainer in Bath. Juggling torches on a unicycle

Bought some prime fudge in Bath. Casey was excited

This guy ran by. We were confused

Then these guys went by

It was a foxhunt!

Casey captured it on video:

So. Stonehenge. It's a bunch of impressively maneuvered and placed rocks. Pretty cool. Except there's only so many pictures you can take of the stones before they all start to look the same. So we decided to be creative.

So cold. So many rocks.

Well, there it is

Because there's so many other cool things around Stonehenge to distract you.
Get it?

We decided to get a cute roomie pose

And then we made the new Stonehenge. Yeah. We are that awesome.

And then we came home. It was an excellent trip. Totally worth it. Next one is to Liverpool. Here's to hoping it isn't 0 degrees.

Trip #1 Day One

This weekend marked the first subsidized trip from the London Center. They offer 4 each semester, though I think Bill said there is talk of a fifth. I dunno. Anyway, this weekend, we headed out to the West Country. This included stops in Avebury (to see rocks), Glastonbury (to see ruins of the abbey), Wells (to see the Cathedral), Bath (to see, well, the Baths), and finally Stonehenge (to finish the trip with more rocks).

It was a bright and sunny day when we left, not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was warm and delightful. Except not. This is England. And at 5 am when I had to get up, it was not sunny, it was cloudy and cold. Now, I know you all at home are getting hit with an ice blast, but here where it has been no lower than 40, walking around for extended periods outside to see some rocks while it was freezing (I say this because it was literally 0 degrees Celsius, meaning it was technically freezing) sure chills ya to the bone pretty quickly.

Anyway, Avebury is lesser known than Stonehenge, though apparently equally impressive. I mean, apparently it took years to drag all of those rocks and arrange them in a circle. Well, two circles I guess. There were a couple cool ones, like the fertility rock/devil's throne. Sit on it, it will bring you many years of fertile child bearing happiness. Run around it 100 times counterclockwise, it will bring you the devil. Yeah, how those two ended up on the same rock, I have no idea. There's also a big ditch. I guess that was important. Yeah, you can see I'm really into this.

Trying to push Casey in the ditch

The boys really loved the rocks

It makes me look short! Oh, wait...

Willie is communing with his inner Ariel. As he said "Imagine a wave behind me!"

You can't really see the circle cause there isn't really a good way to get it, but you can see how big the stones are

They train horses around here too!

We then headed over to Glastonbury (it is at this point that I excitedly say I've finally been places my father hasn't! He keeps saying 'I've been there" every time I tell him about something. So THERE! Kidding Dad, love you). Anyway, Glastonbury has this HUGE Abbey. Well, it did. Till the Reformation. Then the Protestants destroyed it and it lies in ruins. Lots of cool stuff here, included King Arthur's tomb (ITS THE REAL DEAL CESCA), a thorn tree (it's Mediterranean, no idea how it got to England), and this GIANT HILL called the Tor. We climbed it. I almost died. But the view was lovely. Casey made a video and we have tons of beautiful pictures. Check out my Facebook for more!

Our Glastonbury tour guide. He was Sir Dunston. I think

Some of the ruins

King Arthur's supposed tomb was here

So huge and cool

The thorn tree that shouldn't be there

The Tower on top of the Tor... What a walk!

"Do you trust me?" 

All of us on top of the Tor

Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king.

yeah, we went there with the Lion King references

Casey made a video at the top for your viewing pleasure

Then we headed over to Wells for a short trip to Wells Cathedral. Couldn't take pics inside without a permit, so I didn't. But it was pretty sweet and I have a postcard with a lot of the inside stuff on it

Wells Cathedral

Finally, to end day one, we got to the YMCA we were staying in in Bath. It was more a hostel, so it was pretty nice. We were exhausted so we went out and got food (I got fish and chips!) and then crashed at like 9. It was glorious.

The beds were cute!

And that was day one! Will update about day 2 after I do some homework and make dinner (Oh, so grown up!) which will include Bath and Stonehenge. Pretty sweet. 

Touristy things

So Wednesday night we decided to do some touristy things we skipped the first week (and were unable to do because stupid washing machine man decided to make us wait all day last Sunday). After creeping on me at my work placement, Casey, Andrea and I wandered around Piccadilly for a little while, hit Trafalgar and then went over to the Westminster stop to meet Sarah and check out Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and see the London Eye. We didn't ride it cause Liz wasn't with us and that wouldn't be fair, but that is in our future. Not really much else to report- so here's some pics!

Trafalgar

HUGE LIONS

Ship in a bottle

So cool

Two major attractions

Westminster

They're all obsessed

Three Day Weekends Are Throwing Me Off

So, it is Sunday on my first 3 day weekend in London. You know that feeling you get where your brain is confused because you should be at work or school or something and you're not because it is a day off? Yeah, I can see that happening like every weekend here. Thursday night feels like Friday night, so on Saturday I felt like I should be getting ready for class the next day. But no! Which, in actuality, is pretty sweet.

Friday we went on an adventure to find Fish and Chips. We wanted to go to the Goose, where we got amazing ones last time, but it was really crowded. We also thought that maybe we should try somewhere else, just to make sure. Well, everything closes really early in London (it was only like 9 o'clock) so this was a bit difficult, but we ended up at a place called the Broadway Cafe. It was a fun time, but we can all definitively say that the Goose is way better. Well, at least we can say we tried other places.

Saturday was a packed day. Casey and I got up early to go on a walk with Bill, the Director of the London Centre who is basically a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about London. We went all over, seeing St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Bartholomew's hospital and church, The Museum of London, the Guildhall and a couple of other things. We also crossed the Millennium Bridge (the one that gets destroyed in Harry Potter 5) and walked by the Globe Theatre, but didn't have time to stop. We will be returning.

After about 4 solid hours of walking, we hopped on a train (not the tube, but the railway, which was pretty cool) to Charlton to meet the rest of the gang and catch a football match. By this time, I was freezing (though I hear I can't complain, as the temperature at home is in the negatives sometimes), but the home team won and we had 2nd row, unbelievable seats. We had been planning an adventure to a karaoke bar but we were all just so tired that we chilled around the flat instead, played some cards and watched Big Fish, an excellent movie.

Today on the agenda is a visit to Tesco, as I have run out of lots of things, a visit to Piccadilly Circus to wander around the area, and a stop at Westminster to see the Parliament Building, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, hopefully. All of this is contingent upon the washing machine guy getting here soon... Because I would really like to not have to go to the laundromat to wash my stuff. I don't have time for that!

Anyway, here are some pictures of my adventures this weekend!

There is currently a lake inside our washer

 First Football match in the UK!

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Bartholomew's

Bill calls this "The Mel Gibson Memorial"

The Guildhall

It is ginormous inside

We were super excited to cross the Millennium Bridge

They segregate the fans

Casey loves football

Celebrating their second goal