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.
