Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The longest update ever


Okay so I haven’t really posted in a while. My bad. Whoops. But this is what has happened to me in bullet form. This is the Spark Notes version.

  • ·         Got sick right when my midterm break started
  • ·         But not before Les Mis which was awesome!
  • ·         Saw Skyfall and cried over the awesomeness
  • ·         Went to Stratford-Upon-Avon during this break while being sick
  • ·         Basically stayed in bed for the rest of break
  • ·         Started NaNoWriMo which is National Novel Writing Month
  • ·         Visited Brighton and loved it
  • ·         Went to the red carpet of Nativity 2 to try to meet David Tennant
  • ·         That didn’t happen because of this obnoxious lady seriously so much hate towards that lady
  • ·         Saw Billy Elliot the Musical and loved every minute of it
  • ·         Maybe because Killian Donnelly was in it and he had to dance
  • ·         Also he was pantsless in a scene and the Les Mis fangirl in me cried
  • ·         Saw The Silver Linings Playbook on Thanksgiving
  • ·         Saw Dominic Monaghan walking down High Street Kensington that day I was walking to the cinema to see the movie
  • ·         BUT HE WAS ON THE PHONE
  • ·         WHY DOM WHY?
  • ·         Went to the Tower of London
  • ·         Then explored Covent Garden the same day
  • ·         Found various West End theaters and cried over them
  • ·         Met my friend Weasley from the Internet in London
  • ·         Visited my friend Ann in Wales where she is currently studying for the year


So I guess I can say I’ve done a lot. I also have a lot of pictures of Brighton and Stratford that I have yet to even upload on facebook. I think I will be doing a post about Stratford after I come home when I have the time to look through pictures. I can talk about Brighton right now though.

Also this is the more in depth version.

Brighton

Brighton is amazing. The beach is great but very rocky. The day I went, the waves were pretty big. The city also has a lot of little narrow streets and I felt like I was in Diagon Alley sometimes. It’s sort of this picture perfect English town on the coast but with a seedy past.  Way back in the day, the area was crawling with pirates. Underground the city is a series tunnels leading out of the city. However the area ended up suffering from a major storm making the area where the pirates had their area destroyed. They rebuilt it, but the city was starting to change all thanks to this guy called the Prince Regent.

The Prince Regent was the son of George III also known as Mad King George. Yes, this is the George that we decided to ride ourselves of. I mean, we tried to reason with him but he didn’t listen. Your loss buddy. I can’t hear you over our bald eagles. The Prince Regent was the Prince William of 18th century England. He revitalized the town by his presence. Suddenly, everyone wanted to go to the place where the party prince visited. They also went for their health since the sea air was “good for you.”

The Prince Regent also fell in love with Maria Fitzherbet who was so below his social class he shouldn’t have even loved her. She was also a widow and a Catholic. Yikes. They married in a secret ceremony that was technically illegal and they met often at the Royal Pavilion. However, the government was not okay with this. So they offered the Prince a deal: Dump her forever and you can be the prince regent because your father is kind of crazy and we can’t have our great empire ruled but a crazy man. But you have to marry who we say and just produce an heir. That’s all. And like any man wanting to be king faster, he did what he was told, got married to a woman he didn’t love (Caroline of Brunswick), and produced a daughter who was the Princess Diana of her day, Princess Charlotte.

However, tragedy struck when she died. The Prince Regent loved his daughter a lot. But now he had no legitimate heir so when he became king it would pass along to one of his brothers, William, who in return had no legitimate children at all. Only one brother had a legitimate child even though he died early on. That child ended up becoming the longest running monarch in history.

After sometime the Prince Regent got FAT. This right here created a problem for him. He didn’t want anyone to see him at all. His carriages were designed so you could only see his head because he was so big. Soon he stopped coming to Brighton all together and the royal family slowly ended their presence.

When the railway began to expand, the train to Brighton made it a popular resort city. Today it has the biggest population of the LBGTQ community in England and Europe (I believe). Pretty cool place, right?

Trying to meet David Tennant

My friends and I decided to go to the premiere for Nativity 2, the new David Tennant film. While we didn’t get to meet him, it was really cool.

Billy Elliot the Musical

This musical is so amazing. Gah. Just perfect. It is so wonderfully English. I mean, they have an entire musical number making fun of Margaret Thatcher. How perfect is that!? Also, our Billy was fantastic! It is also a very moving and emotional show. My ticket was in the stalls. I cried tears of joy. Also, the tube is located under it so it gave this cool effect.

The Tower of London

So it’s old but really cool. I really enjoyed the Crown Jewels display. They revamped it for the Diamond Jubilee. I found it so awesome seeing so much history of England in one area. That’s one of the reasons why I came here.

Covent Garden

This area became my favorite place in London instantly. One of the reasons was the Christmas lights. I literally walked outside of the tube station, turned to the right, and saw the lights dangling down. If there is one thing London knows how to do, it’s Christmas. The first day I went there was a Friday. I saw a lot of street performers. One performer was doing a show outside of St. Pauls. Yes, the St. Pauls. The one of My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins fame.

I also went to the Apple Store. Four levels of awesome. I cried. I wandered around the area for a bit before deciding to walk into the Royal Opera House. I couldn’t go in it but I was able to go in the gift shop. I took a lot of pictures of the building before seeing the theatre for The Lion King.

I decided to walk down the street. That is when I hit the motherload. Three theatres right in a row. Theatre Royal Durry Lane currently houses Shrek the Musical. Behind it is the theatre that houses The Women in Black. Further down the road on is the Duchess Theatre where Our Boys is being housed. I’m seeing it very soon. Across the street from that is where Mamma Mia is.

I took pictures, naturally, and ended up on The Strand. I decided to walk down it, took pictures of the theatre where The Lion King is at. I then decided to catch a bus home. But not before taking pictures of the theatres housing Uncle Vayna and The Bodyguard. I know where my priorities lie.

Seeing Friends

I met Weasley the day before I went to Wales. We only had a few hours together but we basically wandered most of West End and surrounding places. After we ate dinner, we went to the coach stop that would take her home and said our goodbyes.

The next day I took a 7 hour journey by coach from London to Aberystwyth in Wales to visit my friend Ann who is spending the year abroad. On Friday she showed me the university and parts of the town. On Saturday we went up half of Constitution Hill and walked along the Promenade to the ruins of the castle. Then we wandered around town for a bit before going back. The area is VERY hilly and it took me a while to get used to it. Then on Sunday morning I woke up early to catch my coach home.

London in December is wonderful somehow. Everywhere I look there is something Christmas related. The lights in Covent Garden, Seven Dials, and on Oxford Street are just beautiful.

I have a lot planned for the next few weeks before I leave. Tomorrow, Wednesday, is the premiere for Les Miserables. I am spending all day there in hopes of meeting some of my favorite actors ever. The next day I am waking up early to catch a coach to Oxford where I will be spending the day being a nerd crying over Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Friday I am planning on seeing the Tate Modern finally. Saturday is still up in the air for me. I might go to a Tumblr meetup but I know nothing about it yet. Sunday is my half birthday and I am thinking of seeing Buckingham Palace and going to Regent’s Park and maybe walking around Hyde Park again.

Then next week this is what my life looks like:
  • ·         Our Boys, the play Arthur Darvill is in (still have to buy tickets but I’m going to the Box Office Friday) on that Tuesday
  • ·         ALL DAY HOBBIT PREMIRE BECAUSE AHIUDFHDHBSHBDSHKJAHDSBGBJHDSAJHGAFDHSGJHFGDSJGFJLDSA HOBBITTTTTTT
  • ·         Seeing The Hobbit at the BFI IMAX in 3D on Thursday
  • ·         Spending Friday in Cardiff for the Doctor Who Experience

And then the final week looks like this:

  • ·         Warner Brothers Studio Tour that Wednesday
  • ·         Les Mis one last time before I leave on Sunday that Thursday

It’s hard to believe that my time here is almost done. I don’t want to leave at all. But I know I have to leave this lovely place. I am very behind on uploading pictures on Facebook so I am going to go do that now as I watch Made in Chelsea.

Oh. You know how I mentioned I was writing a novel during this month? I finished November 29.