The Wednesday of my last week in London everybody at the Ithaca College London Centre (or those who hadn't left, anyways) got together to take a group photo in front of the school. We DID take a serious photo, but I only have an electronic copy of our comic pose. Find me if you can!
That night Kara and I went to the West End production of "Wicked," which was just around the block from "Billy Elliot." It was AMAZING! The production had the most complex set and elaborate costuming of any show I've ever seen. Not to mention that the performances of the actors were all quite fantastic! It did make me sad, however, to reflect that it would be my last West End performance (at least for this trip). I had gotten very used to thinking, "Hmm, what show can I see for cheap now?"
Thursday marked my final day in Brit Pop and Contemporary Music. Very sad, as that was definitely one of my most enjoyable classes of all time.
That night most of us IC London Centre students went to Cruse 9, owned by ICLC director Bill's son, up in Islington. We all had a delicious (and very fancy!) meal, watched a slide show of everybody's pictures from the semester and all in all just had one last hurrah. I won an awesome lottery prize of a tartan beanie with fake ginger hair attached (I had seen them in Edinburgh and secretly wanted to buy one).
On Friday Kara and I trekked down to the Greenwich peninsula. We first stopped in North Greenwich at the O2 arena, which is HUGE.
It used to be called the Millennium Dome but has since become permanent. It is now a major shopping/exhibition/club/concert venue. Our interest lay in the British Music Experience exhibition that had recently opened.
The exhibition was awesome; it was basically our entire semester in British Pop and Contemporary Music. We walked through interactive exhibits detailing everything from the British Invasion to Beatlemania to glam rock to punk rock to Live Aid to Spice Girls and beyond. There were outfits and instruments used by legendary British acts. There were articles and audio/video clips of important events in British music. There was a Dance Through the Decades booth, where you can learn different popular dances from different decades (as evidenced by the previous blog entry). There was a "jam session" room where you could either learn to play the guitar, drum set or keyboard or record your own music on said instruments. At the end there was the Soundstage, where a 360-degree screen put you in the middle of some of Britain's most important concerts (for my part, I was overjoyed that the Soundstage ended with a Queen concert). All in all, a not-to-be-missed experience for the British music enthusiast!
Kara and I then had our first experience riding the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) over to Greenwich town center. We then had a fun time navigating our way to the Old Royal Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich Park. The park was GORGEOUS through.
We found the observatory and were too late to go inside, but we were at least able to stand on the Greenwich/Prime Meridian!
On Saturday I said my final farewells to the Portobello Road Market and Covent Garden before finally paying a visit to the British Museum.
I had thought that the Victoria & Albert Museum had the most confusing setup of any museum I'd seen. The British Museum quickly proved me wrong. It's HUGE! I was particularly excited to visit the exhibits on the ancient Greek and Roman empires. It was almost like being back in Rome and Athens again, especially when I went to the Parthenon Marbles exhibit.
The Parthenon Marbles is just one of many controversial exhibits at the British Museum. Also known as the "Elgin Marbles," they were basically given away by the Greeks to the British explorer Elgin. The Greeks were just letting the Parthenon and all its treasures crumble away, and the British restored them. Now Greece has built a brand new Parthenon Museum (opened a week after my trip there), and they have spaces for the Parthenon Marbles. Judging by the elaborateness of the exhibit they were in at the British Museum, I doubt the Parthenon Marbles are going to be returned to Greece anytime soon!
I was also excited to see the ancient Egyptian exhibit, since "The Egypt Game" was one of my favorite books as a kid (I even used to pretend with a friend that my brother's Disney playhouse was a temple like the one they made in the book!). It was extraordinary to see sarcophagi, bits of the Sphinx, busts of pharaohs, etc.
I'm particularly fascinated by the Rosetta Stone, which is how archaeologists learned to decipher hieroglyphics.
Even cooler were the mummies. I never realized, for one, that they had Cleopatra's mummy.
There were also some mummies that weren't in their wrappings. This one, in particular, seemed to be screaming, "Don't take pictures of me!" But you could so I did.
Sunday, my final full day in London, was mostly spent packing. But I had one final thing left to do: pay a visit to Abbey Road.
Kathy, Katie W., and I all went over to Abbey Road, amazed since it was quite close to our flats (and very very close to where I had interned all semester). When we got there, there were some other American students posing at the zebra crosswalk, costumes and all. When they were finished, we asked if one of them would take our picture and if another would pose with us, since we were one short. The result is below.
We have some spacing issues and we are clearly holding up traffic, but otherwise, I think it's a pretty good Abbey Road shot! My Beatle is George Harrison and I was at least in the right spot.
And then, after an eight-hour flight to JFK and a one-hour flight to VT, I'm home. I've now been home for a week...
Honestly, I didn't miss London immediately. I was too relieved to collapse into my own bed in my own bedroom (as opposed to my top-bunk bed with Primark/Argos sheets in my closet-room). I got to meet our new puppy, Ringo (obvious who thought up the name haha). I also got to attend my uncle's wedding in Maine.
Then yesterday I made the mistake of watching the London episodes of "Friends." For the first time (and I've watched these episodes many many times) I knew EXACTLY what I was looking at. And I missed London. A lot. I think until my summer activities pick up, I will continue to miss it a lot. But I know that I will find a way to get back there and visit London (and the rest of Europe that I missed) again...someday! :-)
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