From London to Stratford and Everything in Between

I can definitely tell that the term's drawing to a close. Everything is getting slightly more hectic, everybody's trying to cram everything they haven't done yet into the little time they have left and summer is on everyone's minds.

Last Tuesday everybody taking Brit Pop went to go see the West End production of "Billy Elliot" at the Victoria Palace Theatre.


It is definitely one of the productions most relevant to Brit Pop since the storyline takes place in northern England during the time of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and the music for the show was written by Sir Elton John. However, the main attraction of the show is not the music itself but the dancing.

For those of you who haven't seen the movie, "Billy Elliot" is about a young boy growing up in a mining community who just wants to dance, despite the pressure to become a boxer or miner when he grows up. The lads who rotate playing Billy are about 12-13 years old and they've spent a year or two perfecting their dance routines. They dance ballet, contemporary, tap and even aerial work. It was insanely amazing, and I loved it!

Wednesday was an eventful one in the London community. Last week was the G20 summit and many world leaders, including President Obama, were in London (we actually saw the president of India going to and from the hotel he was staying at near the IC London Centre). Also in London were protesters from all over the country and the world protesting the banking industry, economy, etc. Thousands descended upon the bank district of London, hung effigies of bankers from the trees and even broke into the Royal Bank of Scotland. I thankfully kept my distance that day, but I couldn't escape the madhouse that was the tube system. Still, it was very interesting to actually be here for it, considering I probably won't ever see anything like it in Vermont or Ithaca!

On Friday many of us went on a IC London Centre-coordinated trip to Warwick, Stratford and Oxford. First stop was Warwick Castle.


The castle was VERY old and beautiful and the views from the towers were gorgeous.


The grounds were very pretty as well; there was even a peacock menagerie!

We then moved on to Stratford-upon-Avon, where we were all staying in cute B&Bs. My friend Katie and I stayed in one called Quilts and Croissants (best name ever!). Everybody went to a Royal Shakespeare Company production of "A Winter's Tale" at the Courtyard Theatre. Since I wasn't in the Shakespeare course or any of the drama classes I hadn't read the script beforehand, but thankfully I was able to follow along pretty well. It was a very entertaining show. After the performance we all went to the Dirty Duck bar where the actors from the show were hanging out.

The next day we went to the Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried.


After we visited his grave we went on a walk led by one of the ICLC professors. He showed us some of Shakespeare's former properties, all of which had that Tudor-period architecture that was lost in London during the Great Fire.

After the tour most of us walked around the town a little bit and ended up lounging by the Avon.

On the way back to London we stopped at Oxford. Almost everybody headed toward the Christ Church College, considered to be the most beautiful of all the colleges at Oxford University.


It is also where all the Great Hall scenes in the Harry Potter movies are filmed. However, the Great Hall wasn't open when we arrived. Still, the campus and the surrounding area of town were very pretty. Maybe I'll apply to Oxford University for grad school! ;-)