Monday night I went to go see "Mamma Mia!" at the Prince of Wales Theatre in the West End. It was pretty good, though I didn't expect even more ABBA songs than they had in the movie! My audience experience was also interesting, because I sat next to a pair of mothers who were either singing along with the songs or crying at tunes such as "Slipping Through My Fingers" and "The Winner Takes It All." And all the while, their daughters had their heads in their hands, muttering, "Oh my god, Mom, quit embarrassing me..." My favorite part definitely had to be the end, though, when everybody got up and danced along with the three encore songs ("Mamma Mia," "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo").
On Tuesday night I went out to dinner with my mom's cousin and her family, who were in town on vacation and were heading out to Paris the next day. It was great to see non-classmate familiar faces!
On Friday Kara and I were the epitome of London tourists. We first attempted to check out the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. We did get to see the processions, which included dozens of bagpipe players and a marching guard band.
We didn't get to see the actual changing of the guards, though, so we'll probably have to go back to check out that part.
We didn't get to see the actual changing of the guards, though, so we'll probably have to go back to check out that part.
After some touristy photographing we boarded a "flight" on the London Eye.
The London Eye was a "Ferris wheel" built for the millennium celebration in London. At the time it was the largest wheel of its kind; now it's the third-largest. We were told it was only worth it if we went on a nice day. Thankfully, we went on a GORGEOUS day! It was also awesome, because we knew what everything was and where to look to see what we wanted to see. Honestly, I never imagined I'd get to look down on Big Ben!
The London Eye was a "Ferris wheel" built for the millennium celebration in London. At the time it was the largest wheel of its kind; now it's the third-largest. We were told it was only worth it if we went on a nice day. Thankfully, we went on a GORGEOUS day! It was also awesome, because we knew what everything was and where to look to see what we wanted to see. Honestly, I never imagined I'd get to look down on Big Ben!
On Saturday Katie W. and I took a train from Paddington over to Windsor to see...you guessed it! Windsor Castle!
It was definitely the biggest and best-kept of all the castles I've seen this semester. The gardens were extraordinarily beautiful as well.
We went through St. George's Chapel, where some royalty is buried (including Henry VIII).
We then went up to see Queen Mary's Dollhouse, which was VERY intricate. There was also a Henry VIII exhibit in the drawing room, so there were many famous sketches by Hans Holbein the Younger, a famous court painter who lived during Henry VIII's reign. There were also lots of sketches by Leonardo da Vinci. We then went through the richly furnished State Apartments, where we found the one piece of Henry VIII armor not at the Tower of London and plenty more famous paintings.
After Windsor Castle Katie and I wandered around the town of Windsor for a bit before we headed down to the Thames to ride the Ferris wheel in town. As we suspected, the wheel offered awesome views of the Windsor Castle and surrounding landscapes.
After the ride we walked along the Thames and encountered the largest group of (incredibly aggressive!) swans either of us had ever seen.
(That's not even all of them! There had to be at least 50 swans in that section of the river.)
We crossed the bridge and found ourselves in the neighboring community of Eton. We browsed an antique shop and walked along the outside of Eton College before returning to the train station to head back to London.
As our time here draws to a close I suspect we'll be trying to fit everything in these next two weeks. A fun task, since this is also the last week of classes and we are now heading into finals week!
TEN THINGS I'LL MISS ABOUT LONDON:
1) The rich history in everything
2) Hyde Park
3) West End shows
4) Free newspapers in the morning and evening
5) Brit Pop and Contemporary Music class
6) Weekend markets
7) Chilling in the local pubs
8) Double-decker buses
9) Proximity to the rest of Europe
10) The simple thrill of living in a large city
After the ride we walked along the Thames and encountered the largest group of (incredibly aggressive!) swans either of us had ever seen.
(That's not even all of them! There had to be at least 50 swans in that section of the river.)
We crossed the bridge and found ourselves in the neighboring community of Eton. We browsed an antique shop and walked along the outside of Eton College before returning to the train station to head back to London.
As our time here draws to a close I suspect we'll be trying to fit everything in these next two weeks. A fun task, since this is also the last week of classes and we are now heading into finals week!
TEN THINGS I'LL MISS ABOUT LONDON:
1) The rich history in everything
2) Hyde Park
3) West End shows
4) Free newspapers in the morning and evening
5) Brit Pop and Contemporary Music class
6) Weekend markets
7) Chilling in the local pubs
8) Double-decker buses
9) Proximity to the rest of Europe
10) The simple thrill of living in a large city
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