Fall Break (or the Long Awaited Update)

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I don’t think I would ever actually like to be on MTV’s The Real World in any city – the idea of having cameras monitor my every move as I navigate a new social situation with six complete strangers is only moderately weird to me – but fall break did prove to be a quasi-Real World experience. Seven relatively new friends venturing to three new cities and experiencing them together is a potentially wonky situation – sounds like the beginning of a bad “novel” that’s sitting on a teenaged girl’s shelf somewhere having been grabbed off the teen fiction shelf at the nearest Borders. I am happy to report, though, that our version of Real World: Eastern Europe was an amazing success! What follows is a day-by-day account of our trip to Budapest, Vienna, and Prague.

 

Budapest, Hungary

 

Saturday, 31 October – Our trip began with a very early morning wake up (4:30 am…grr) to get to our 6:00 am train for our 8:20 flight. The flight was relatively boring and uneventful and by 10:30, we were on the ground in Hungary! A quick trip through customs and a brief stop at baggage claim got us into cabs into the city pretty quickly. Our first battle with Magyar came when our cab drivers did not know exactly where our hostel was. Luckily, we were able to find it pretty quickly and we got settled and headed out for our first Hungarian lunch at For Sale, a pub that the hostel employee recommended for a good time with a “quirky atmosphere.” No kidding – there was hay on the floor, bowls of peanuts on the tables, and we were told beforehand that the custom is to put the peanut shells directly on the floor. The service was slow and not the most friendly to Americans (as you can imagine, we are easily spotted for a variety of reasons), but it was a great experience. It was also our first experience trying to deal with forints – moving from dollars, pounds, and euros to a currency where you have to think in thousands is not the easiest transition to make, especially when seven people are paying, but we made it through and even got some money back at the end of it all.

 

From For Sale, we crossed the Danube from the Pest side to Buda and hiked up the huge hill to get a closer look at the Gellert and Liberation Monuments and the Citadel. We got there at just the right time: sunset! It was stunning!

 

After the sun set, we grabbed some mulled wine from a street vendor and headed down the hill in search of the Cave Church. (Description beyond that isn’t really necessary because it is just that: a church in a cave. It was really cool to see.) On our way, we passed by a playground and ran around for a little bit to get some more energy for our evening. For dinner, we hit up an Iranian restaurant a short walk from our hostel. Everyone was pretty tired so we made it an early night and got some much needed rest.

 

Sunday, 1 November – Today was All Saints Day, a huge national holiday in Hungary. Our first stop was St. Stephen’s, one of the big cathedrals on the Pest side of the city. We caught a portion of the mass and headed to the roof of the dome where we got an incredible view of the city. After making a brief stop at the nearby Allami Operhaz (Budapest Opera House), we went over to Parliament and then to the Jewish Quarter. Since the main synagogue was closed, we decided that a trip back the next day was the best way to remedy that. On our walk to our would be siesta at our hostel, we happened upon a church off the beaten path where they were rehearsing for an evening performance of Mozart’s Requiem. We sat in on the rehearsal, mass, and the concert. It was a very interesting experience – the performance itself was sort of disorganized although it was not lacking in artistic success. The most surprising bit came at the end when the audience began applauding in tempo! Literally hundreds of people doing what we think of a as a slow clap to show how much they enjoyed the concert. After that, we headed to a restaurant called Verne that took its inspiration from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Kitschy, but fun.

 

Monday, 2 November – We started off at the big covered market by the river where we munched on inexpensive strudel and fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast. This market is huge and covers all the bases – everywhere I looked there was fresh produce, meats, souvenirs, and other goods for sale. A large portion of the basement floor is actually devoted to the sale of  pickled foods. They were great, even just after eating breakfast.

 

The morning continued with a trip back to the synagogue. It was absolutely stunning. Inside they have a very comprehensive museum of Hungarian Judaism. It was so interesting to learn about the very small Jewish population that has returned to Budapest and Hungary at large since the end of the Holocaust. The scars of World War II are all throughout the cities, most notably on buildings that show their battle wounds from the 1940s; the Holocaust memorial behind the synagogue fits in with the overall landscape, but clearly shows the more contemplative side of the country’s reflections on its history throughout the 20^th century.

 

We made the trek across the Danube to see more on the Buda side, complete with stops at St. Matyas Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion, Buda Castle, and the National Gallery. It was a gorgeous afternoon and we took some great pictures from the tops of the hills. Our last stop in Budapest (upon the recommendation of Chris Cook, our theatre criticism professor at BADA) was the Gellert Hotel for a dip in the infamous thermal baths. Indeed, a relaxing end to the first leg of our trip.

 

Vienna, Austria

 

Tuesday, 3 November – We caught an early morning bus to get us to Austria. During the drive through the Austrian countryside, we saw our first snow in our time abroad! It was stunning, even early in the morning after just waking up. Our first stop in Vienna (amidst the snow and rain) was at St. Stephen’s in the center of the city. Just outside the church, we all stopped for chestnuts and potatoes on the side of the street before grabbing pumpkin soup for lunch at a café near the church. After nourishing ourselves, we walked around the Hofburg Palace, trying to keep warm at every possible turn. To stay warm for an extended period, we headed over to MUMOK, the modern art museum (with some very interesting exhibits, to say the least) in the Museums Quartier.

 

Jeff and I had plans of our own for the evening (which will be discussed in just a few sentences…and trust me, it’s worth waiting for) so instead of heading back to the hostel, we did a little more exploration. We went to see the Secession Building, the Kanskirche (which we climbed to the very top), and then stopped for a quick Viennese dinner and sachertorte before our evening out.

 

My friend and housemate Jeff has a mild obsession with vampires – and by mild, I mean just the opposite. Let me clearly state that I – in no way, shape, or form – share this fascination, but I am a supportive friend who will go see musicals about vampires with friends who love these gothic, fanged beings. Thus explains our outing to see the “kultmusikal” Tanz der Vampire (Dance of the Vampires), a revival of a show based on Roman Polanski’s film of the same title. Although I understood next to none of the lyrics, I really enjoyed myself. I think I was most happy seeing how engrossed Jeff was. An interesting note for everyone – the composer of the show also wrote the timeless pop classic “Total Eclipse of the Heart” which appeared (auf deutsch) several times throughout the show. After this theatrical extravaganza, complete with men scaling backdrops of cemeteries, we met up with the rest of our group at the Bier Factory where we had a really fun night sampling different Viennese beers with our wonderfully entertaining server, Nina.

 

Wednesday, 4 November – Rainy day number two began with a trip out to Schloss Schonbrunn, the former home of the Hapsburgs during their reign. It was a spectacular palace and the gardens were even gorgeous on this wet day. We ventured to the Naschmarkt (street market) downtown for lunch and then Isabelle, Alex, Jeff, and I ventured out to the Hundertwasserhaus just east of downtown. It’s a gorgeous apartment building that uses a lot of modern art on the edifice to make it very visually compelling. We hopped right back on the U-Bahn to go see the Rathaus, Parliament, and Volksgarten before getting standing room tickets to see Salome at the Vienna Staatsoper. (I think I did Brendan, Bridget, and Julia proud with that excursion – all of them studied in Vienna for their time abroad and I was so happy to take all of their recommendations in terms of what to do while I was there.)

 

Prague, Czech Republic

 

Thursday, 5 November – Another day, another early bus ride. Most of our day was spent traveling. We arrived in Prague in the early afternoon and immediately headed over to the Old Town Sqaure. This city is absolutely gorgeous! It has a real sense of its history and the old parts of the city make you feel like you are walking around the city as it was somewhere between tens and hundreds of years ago. We ate dinner with some of Maya’s friends from Penn at this awesome vegetarian restaurant Mai Trea. Awesome food at fantastic prices – definitely a nice break for everybody’s wallets.

 

Friday, 6 November – We started this morning at the Charles Bridge and crossed the river to see the Prague Castle and Cathedral, both buildings of magnificent splendor that offer great views of the river and the rest of the city. Alex and I then headed over to the Jewish Quarter where we toured the cemetery, along with various synagogues and museums devoted to the Jewish community (both past and present) of Prague. For someone whose academic focus is the Holocaust and Jewish history, this was an incredibly enriching visit to make. I learned so much not only from the museum exhibitions, but also from just wandering around the city and seeing how big the Jewish Quarter is and trying to imagine what it was like in earlier times.

 

Saturday, 7 November – Bagels were the first priority of the day and our trip to Bohemia Bagels in Old Town fit the bill perfectly. After we fueled up, we walked down to Wenceslas Square and then headed back to Old Town to hang out at the market that they had set up. We ate traditional Czech food (which seemed to take a lot of hints from the cuisines we had been eating in Vienna and Budapest) and watched some very interesting performances that depicted medieval courtship rituals and sword fighting. (Interesting may be putting it lightly, as many of us spent some time afterwards imitating these performances in the streets which I’m sure thrilled every non-American in the square…oops!) Our final stop was the climb up the clock tower for a final group picture before heading off to the airport.

 

Fall break was an incredible travel experience with some wonderful friends (most new and one old). I apologize for the terrible delay in updating this, but midterms got the better of me. Pictures will come soon!

“But the poet of them all start ‘em simply ravin’, is the poet people call the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon!”

- Cole Porter, “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” from the musical Kiss Me, Kate

Before coming abroad, whenever I would mention that I would be studying Shakespeare in London for the semester, people would always become more interested. England is clearly the place to be studying the Bard and his work. Lucky for us, Shakespeare’s birthplace is only 40 miles away from the city. BADA plans a weeklong trip for the Shakespeare program every year and it is something that I had been looking forward to since applying to the program last winter. All fifteen of us boarded a train to Stratford on Tuesday morning (27 October) at Marylebone Station for the hour long train ride. As we got off, we walked over to our bed and breakfasts. That’s right – a week of quaint English country life at Jon and Kate’s (sans the additional 8, plus Henry the black lab) B&B, the Forget Me Not. We got settled in and then headed “downtown” to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, our home base during the trip. Nick, one of the lecturers at the Institute, gave us an opening lecture about Shakespeare’s life and times, as well as a brief overview of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). We broke for tea and then headed to the BADA dinner at Pizza Express where we all had a lovely evening of conversation and relaxation on BADA’s dime. One restful night of sleep got us to our first English breakfast of the trip – baked beans, toast, fried eggs, sausage, bacon, grilled tomatoes, brown sauce, button mushrooms…can you feel your arteries clogging? It was well worth the extra calories, but I’m glad that that is not my breakfast every day (otherwise I think I’d be coming home all too changed, and not for the better). Wednesday was our day of quick lectures about the performance history of Twelfth Night, the production we would be seeing on Thursday at the RSC. After a long lunch break downtown, we were whisked away on a coach to Oxford. Paul, the Director of the Shakespeare Program, took us around his alma mater and showed us all the key sights around town. From there, I met up with my friend Claire who is studying on the Tufts-in-Oxford program this year for a delicious (and spicy!) dinner at a pub in the alley of which I am forgetting the name…hopefully she’ll be able to help me out. It was great to see her, catch up, and hear about all the fun stuff she is doing at Oxford! She walked me over to the theater where we had a nice glass of hot chocolate before we said our goodbyes. That night, we were treated to a performance of Days of Significance, a modern “response” to Much Ado About Nothing that was being put on tour by the RSC. Sadly, I was underwhelmed – and that is putting it lightly. Bad script, bad acting, bad direction – bad, bad, bad. 14/15 of us felt this way and vocally shared these feelings on the bus ride back to Stratford. Apparently you can take the students out of the criticism class, but you can’t take the critical eyes out of the students… Thursday brought another English breakfast and more classes! We had a makeup class with the delightfully charming head of makeup from the RSC who gave us a whole overview on how different effects are achieved on stage. Some of it was stuff that I have learned about from working on various shows, but most of it was new to me and it was very cool to see many of these techniques applied to my friends. That afternoon, we had a class with the head voice teacher at the RSC who reinforced all of the ideas that Emily has been teaching us at BADA (again, reaffirming my love for Emily Bruni), but all related to different speeches from Twelfth Night. Our final stop at the Institute was an archive display about Twelfth Night. The librarian who presented this collection was fantastic and really wanted to make it special. It not only chronicled the history of productions, but also included sources that Shakespeare would have used in his lifetime – books about herbs, atlases showing Illyria (the setting of the play), and even Quarto editions and copies of playscripts that were edited by his contemporaries. Geekiness satisfied, we headed down to the RSC Courtyard Theatre for a backstage tour before taking in the really wonderful performance that evening. It was a very interesting take on the play – not the happy ending one might expect from this comedy – but it gave us all a lot to think about and was a solid three hour block of entertainment. Friday morning was our last bit of time in Stratford. The day began with a talk back about the show and we were then joined by James Fleet, an actor from the company who played Sir Andrew in the show. It was so great to talk to him and hear about his experiences in rehearsals and performing this great show at the RSC. I took in the last few hours in Stratford with a sandwich at the As You Like It Café and some tea and a scone at a nearby tearoom. A great, educational trip! Now rushing off to class!

An Apology

I am terribly sorry for my absence from the blogosphere as of late. You may be wondering if I’ve disappeared in some foreign European country where I’ve no grasp of the language, or if I’ve been deported again, or even if I’ve joined up with a troupe of strolling players who are Shakespearean portrayers (name that show that just closed at Tufts this past weekend…) and gone off to gallivant across the English countryside performing scenes from Richard III. Alas, alack – not one of these excuses is the truth. They’d probably make for much more exciting blog chatter. What’s the truth, then? I’ve been away from London for approximately two weeks (Stratford and Fall Break – the missing entries) and, since returning, have had to finish a midterm paper and two substantial projects. But now these are done, so blog entries, photos, and general amusement will be returning here shortly – make sure to keep a lookout!

Accomplishments in the last 48 hours…

1. I have read Hamlet. “What?” you’re asking yourself right about now…”a twenty year old, Drama/sort of English double major who is studying at a Shakespeare program in London hasn’t read Hamlet?! Why am I trusting this guy?” I know. But I promise, it’s not for lack of trying. I’ve read Macbeth and Othello more than once in different English and Drama classes – somehow Hamlet fell through the cracks. I wanted to wait to read it until getting to BADA, but sadly Boika didn’t put it on the syllabus because “everyone’s read Hamlet.” And now I have! I made it my goal to read this masterpiece before coming to Shakespeare’s birthplace and I did just that. What a page turner! (That one’s for you, Hilary.) No, but in all seriousness, I’m happy that I did because it was so freakin’ good!
2. I went to the Shakespeare Institute Library in Stratford today with BADA…and found Shakespeare in HEBREW!! AH!! I had a pretty major dork moment, but I was so happy. I made some copies, I did some reading. And there’s iambic pentameter!! I feel so good about this. I want to find out more.

Now off to finish my papers and then head to bed…

Whirlwind Week 7

So before that random foray into the world of YouTube musical theater, I left things off just before we went to see La Cage. I really enjoyed it. I’m a musical theater snob (yes, yes…I readily admit it) and not always the easiest to please, but this pulled out all the stops with really wonderful singing and dancing, and a fantastic story to match. The production value was very high and, best of all, it was so refreshing to see something a little less academic. (I say “a little less” because I will be the first person to defend the legitimacy of the academic study of musical theater…watch out for a thesis about it in May, 2011…but La Cage certainly was not quite as heady as many of the other things I’ve seen in London.) Sunday involved a lot of writing for my midterm papers. I had a glorious Sunday brunch (full English breakfast) with Hilary and then we sat in a café in our neighborhood and did homework together. Very reminiscent of a Dewick Sunday brunch, but sadly without most of the usual suspects who are scattered all across the globe right now. I’m sure they’ll resume soon enough. Monday – I finished the National Portrait Gallery! Granted, it’s not really possible to finish a museum, but I got through every room and saw every picture that I hadn’t seen on my previous visit. I felt very accomplished and it was cool to see such a range of photos of people that I’ve read about all my life in classes (and many more that I had never even heard of). After that, BADA sent us to see Trevor Griffith’s play The Comedians at the Lyric Hammersmith. Upon reflection I liked it more than I thought I did, but upon leaving the theater, I was dazed and confused and wanted to just curl up in bed. Tuesday – a beautiful class with the ever so lovely Emily Bruni, then home to do more work on my midterms. Not such an exciting day. Wednesday – full day of classes, complete with Boika returning from her sick leave (hurrah!). Lizzy, Alex, Isabelle, and I went to see The Author at the Royal Court Theatre that night. Wow. It was incredible, but unfortunately very hard to accurately describe. To do my best – it’s a very dark play about the effects that a play has on the writer, actors, and audience members. I’m still thinking about it…just very puzzling but in the best way possible. I know it’s a show that I’ll remember forever. Thursday – classes, work. Notice a pattern because of midterms? Friday – directing class and then…dun dun dun…Sister Act: The Musical (!). Yes, you read that correctly. The ever so wonderful movie with overly peppy singing nuns is now a stage musical. And it was fantastic. Mostly fluff, but just a lot of great music and really high production value. Two and a half hours of solid gold entertainment. I was so happy that Julia and I went to see it together. Saturday – went to Portobello Road and Borough Market with Anna Rose, Maya and Jeff. Jeff and I also went to an Evensong service at Westminster. That was an incredible experience. Both of us sing in the choirs at Tufts, so it was a real treat for us to hear this world renowned choir in their beautiful home (and see it for free!). We stood right behind one row of the choir so we got to read their music over their shoulders which was super fun to do. I can still sight read which is good news. Music is one thing I’ve been missing since being here, just because I’m not singing nearly as often as I have been for the rest of my life. I’m really excited to go back to Tufts and sing more next semester. Sunday – Lizzy and I took a beautiful afternoon walk through Hyde Park. We stopped by Speaker’s Corner (NE corner of the park where open speech making is encouraged by the government and tradition) to hear relatively unintelligent debates happening from men standing on ladders, preaching to hordes of people about world conflicts. It was certainly an experience to hear everyone’s opinions colliding in one space. We followed that up with a paddle boat ride around the lake in Hyde Park which made us both feel like we were 7 years old, but it was exactly what we needed. The night ended with Anna Rose cooking a wonderful meal and some great chill out time at the flats. Monday – Lizzy and I spent the day venturing around town doing errands before fall break. We also made the trek out to Greenwich where we stood on the Prime Meridian and saw some really beautiful views and museums. We just got back from seeing Porgy and Bess staged by Cape Town Opera from South Africa at the Royal Festival Hall. They staged it as if Catfish Row were in South Africa during the apartheid – such an interesting concept, but unfortunately did not really translate well. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Gershwin is such an American composer and that South African music has many similarities to American music, but is a sound of its own. They incorporated a lot of South African dance which helped a lot, but I wish they had done a bit more. I’m still very glad we went, though. And now for the travel news – we head to Stratford-upon-Avon tomorrow for a four day stay in the place of Shakespeare’s birth, complete with master classes and shows. I’m super pumped! After that, it’s back to London for literally 12 hours before we set off for fall break – I will be traveling to Budapest, Vienna, and Prague. Pictures to come, along with more stories.

Because musical theater can brighten anyone’s day…

My Acting Shakespeare today said that someone’s action wasn’t “epic…because it was borderline musical theater.” This sparked a brief discussion about her being what she calls a “musical theater Mary” because she grew up in the provinces and there was nothing else to do but listen to musicals and dream of her future as an actress. I’ve now invited her to see a musical with me and she accepted – not sure what we’ll see yet, but I’ll keep you posted.

In the midst of midterms, who doesn’t look for good procrastination material. (I’m sure YouTube gets more hits during midterms and finals.) So, for the sake of procrastination and sheer entertainment, I present a few YouTube gems – two good, one bad enough to be called good.

Audra McDonald came to sing at Tufts my freshman years…great voice to sooth some tired minds

My friend Allie and I are both SO excited to see this on tour in Boston in January…

Please do not waste your time by watching the entire thing…it’s not worth the whole nine minutes. A man made this video for his niece to celebrate her seventh birthday. What a present for her…and for the rest of the world. Skip around for the first few minutes…but make sure you watch the last minute and a half or so. Well worth it.

This post may have come to my mind because I just used a significant portion of my weekly allotment of bandwidth to watch these videos. Enjoy!

Another Tufts blog…

To liven up this post and to aid my procrastination (and to wish my friend Britt a very Happy Birthday!!), I want to give everyone a glimpse into the experiences of another Tufts student. One of my best friends at school, Britt is  documenting all of her travels and work on conflict resolution around the world at her blog here. She has done a lot of work with the IGL, EPIIC, Exposure, and other globally focused programs at school. Please check it out – she is an excellent photographer and writer, as well as a fantastic friend! I learn something new every time I talk to her, and her blog is certainly no exception – it’s a very enlightening read and artistic view of life around the world.

Now off to finish that midterm…

Waking up with the sun may start to have its perks…

Yes, the sad reality of having an hour long walk to class every day means sometimes beating your light and heat source in the morning. I think in the end it’s worth it, but many mornings I wake up cold and tired and wonder why that is. That being said, though, it’s worth it!

I had an absolutely fantastic week. After getting back from Dublin, I spent all of Monday getting work done at the flat and catching up on sleep. I also met Courtney Minden (an Admissions Officer) and Adam, a recent alum now attending the London School of Economics for dinner. Surprise surprise that sleeping in hostels does not really involve all that much sleeping – more of the sleep intermittently amidst really disruptive noises and lights turning on and off in the rooms. But this is what being a college student is for – I’ll sleep when I’m dead and get my stories where I can, right?

Tuesday was a gorgeous day here. I took a long walk down Oxford Street doing some window shopping and general exploration, including a stop at Ben’s Cookies which is my London bakery obsession – seriously, the best cookies ever. I’m already looking into the cheapest way to get them shipped to the US. They’re too delicious. Oxford Street was a good morning activity before I met up with a family friend for lunch. He works on the administration for one of the theaters here in London and it was so great to meet him, here his thoughts, and share great conversation. From lunch, I went right to Camden Town to go do some work before my Acting Shakespeare class that afternoon. Tuesday night we saw Enron at the Royal Court Theatre. As one of my friends asked over skype, “wait, Enron? As in the company?” Yes! I was skeptical when I first read a description of the show over the summer. Once I got to London, though, this show was all the rage. It sold out its entire Royal Court run (a huge feat for a new show), already had guaranteed transfers to the West End AND Broadway, and, to top off all of that promise and moolah, a MOVIE deal. Lucy Prebble (playwright), go on with your bad-ass 28 year old self (so young and so accomplished!). I absolutely loved this show. It basically told the entire story of the Enron scandal in the context of a Western tragedy, employing every theatrical device from tragic flaws to campy musical numbers to ultimately turn it into a satire of epic proportions. As if the story isn’t captivating enough to begin with, the writing made it all the more compelling to watch unfold again (even though these events are all too familiar to anyone who watched the news from 1999 on). I think the most interesting part of the entire experience was seeing a show about an American scandal, written by a British woman, directed by a British man, and performed by British actors in front of a mostly British audience. (I would guess that the BADA Americans made up about a third of the house.) Seeing how perfectly the playwright nailed American humor and how some of it only translated to Americans while other parts were completely universal was a real delight and fed my inner cultural theory dork.

Wednesday we had a class canceled, so Alex, Isabelle and I headed down to see Parliament. We got there at just the right time and had the chance to watch a debate in the House of Lords. It was super cool to see government in action and here all of the proposals and rebuttals about Afghanistan and Pakistan. Isabelle and I want to go back and see a session in the House of Commons. I also want to head back to see Westminster Abbey – it has a hefty admission price, but I think it will be worth it.

Thursday was another full day of class that ended in a really awesome event that fed everyone in the Shakespeare program’s inner English nerd. Michael Dobson (our academic chair) and Stanley Wells (president of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and general editor of the Oxford Complete Works), arguably two of the most renowned Shakespeare scholars living today, talked to us together and answered our questions about the Bard. It was fantastic! I asked a question about cultural adaptation of Shakespeare and got a very thought provoking response from Stanley Wells. Really interesting stuff.

After that amazing master class, I made my way across the northern part of Regent’s Park toward the American School of London. Going back to high school? Hardly. I was there to present with Courtney and Adam at the Tufts On Tour: London event. As much as I am loving abroad, I do miss Tufts; speaking at this event was nice to reconnect with Tufts in thought and interaction. It was also great to see Adam and Courtney and hear all about their urban planning classes and European travels respectively.

Friday I had another directing class and then made. Most of our class went out for 5-pound Thai afterwards and then I made my way to Camden Market with my friend Dani to get a Nutella-Banana crepe. Much needed and appreciated. I then had a much needed catch up with a recent PhD graduate of Tufts who is now teaching out in California and then had a low key dinner and went out for a bit during the night. Today, I got up early to go down to Portobello Road have lunch with my Tufts friend John. For those unfamiliar, Portobello Road is a very famous antiques/flea/food market here in London. It was jam packed, but I get that there is a charm and atmosphere to the masses of people (tourists, really – most of whom do not speak English) who flock to the mile or so long road to see what there is to buy.

That, along with the moment of catching the view of Big Ben on my way to Parliament, really solidify my love of this city. I’m so lucky to call this “home” for a few months!

Off to see John Barrowman in La Cage Aux Folles! Happy weekend!

“To Ireland, I…”

Donalbain from Macbeth
The first thing I’d like to mention is that I’m very much enjoying the fact that my Shakespeare reading has been lining up very well with my travels. This week we had to read Macbeth and, perfectly enough, I read most of it en route to Dublin! I knew very little about Ireland and its history and had not been there (aside from my brief stint there that ultimately led to my whole immigration status debacle…but I digress) so I was excited to see it and experience some Dublin culture. Alex, Lizzy, and Isabelle and I began our foursome travel adventures. We discovered that we form a wonderful travel group so we are very happy that we’ll be able to share many foreign European adventures together.

The trip began when we landed in Dublin at 1:00 on Saturday. We flew over on Ryanair – I had heard horrible things about this airline, but come on people – it is not bad at all. Sure, the screaming babies, lack of legitimate leg room, and generally claustrophobic travel conditions aren’t exactly ideal, but for a college student on a tight abroad budget, this is perfection! We made our way into the city center by bus, stopped off at our hostel and quickly set off to find lunch. This is when we discovered that Dublin is arguably a more expensive city than London. Why, you may ask? How is this possible? I couldn’t believe it at first, but when we were looking for lunch, everything was easily 9 euros and above. In London, I gripe if I have to pay more than 5 or 6 pounds for lunch (the pound and euro are approximately the same at this moment). We found an Italian restaurant that seemed to be the cheapest thing in the neighborhood.

From there, we set off on a walk around. I wanted to head up to the Dublin Writers Museum. On the way there, we started to call around to different theaters in Dublin. The Dublin Theater Festival was ending that weekend and we wanted to sneak a show in while we were there. Sadly, our quest for tickets got us to the museum a mere 5 minutes after they allowed the last visitors in for the day. (Sorry, Brady!) No rest for the turned away, we set out to see the Irish Civil War Memorial and then made our way through the not so touristy (read: the underbelly) parts of the city. Having learned about Irish history and economics while reading Irish drama this semester, it was interesting to get a general idea about what Sean O’Casey was writing about in his plays. We stopped to rest along the river, sorted out our plans for what show to see, and made our way to the theater right near Trinity College and Grafton Street.

We ultimately decided to see The Pitmen Painters. We knew we could get tickets for it and it definitely seemed interesting. It had been playing at the National in London early on in our stage. It was very cool to see a play in Ireland – the audience really set it apart in that they were terribly late and loud throughout the performance whereas London audiences are extremely punctual and reserved. The play was fantastic and, much to my surprise, I understood both the Northern English accents and the humor! Hooray for relative cultural acclamation! After the show, we ran into some people from BADA on the street (including Claire, another Tufts student) and hit up Bewley’s for a late night bite. This place defied description in terms of decor (part Asian, part European, not at all Irish) but they served a mean salad. We decided to head straight back to the hostel to get a good night’s rest for our busy Sunday.

Sunday brought two of the best decisions we made in Dublin. The first was the historical walking tour of the city, led by our very quirky but intriguing tour guide, Tommy. He showed us around stunning Trinity College where he went for undergrad and then took us around the city and gave us the two hour, encapsulated version of Irish history (complete with discussions about the sexual economics of society…something that I frankly never would have thought to include in a two hour tour but that was very interesting nonetheless). After the tour, we grabbed lunch at a pub with some slightly shady Irish folk – at least they provided good inspiration for Lizzy’s overheard conversation assignment for her playwrighting class. Lunch then brought us to our trip to the Guinness Storehouse. I had never had Guinness before and I was very intrigued – so different from what I was expecting (aka not as gross as I thought it would be) but still filling enough to sort of consider it a meal. We got to tour the Storehouse and then head up to the tallest point in Dublin to enjoy a complimentary pint. I’m glad we did it to really experience a very large part of Irish (Dublin) culture and history.

From the Storehouse, we went through the Temple Bar area and had dinner before heading to our evening activity (awesome decision number 2) – the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl. This is definitely not a pub crawl in the American sense of the term – this one involved learning! We saw four pubs that housed some of Dublin’s most famous writers (Wilde, Beckett, Behan, Heaney, Swift, Joyce, etc.) and the two guides performed some very interesting excerpts from the works of all the writers. After that was over, we went back to the pub where the tour began to hear some traditional Irish music before heading off to bed before catching our very early flight back to London the next morning.

Overall a fantastic weekend. Expect a full update of this week sometime in the next few days, but for now – good night!

The past two weeks…

…have included trips to the opera (to see Le Grand Macabre, the strangest “anti-opera” complete with 25 foot tall set that is comprised entirely of an unclothed woman…all in all, a very strange experience), Borough Market (coolest outdoor market for food EVER), trips to see Endgame, Vanya (which is one of the best shows I think I’ve ever seen – complete with the most creative set design…and no, not another naked lady statue), The York Realist, Judgment Day at the Almeida, and a comedy show (featuring Frisky and Mannish, a really incredible modern cabaret act – I’m now their newest fan thanks to my friend and housemate from Tufts, Jeff)! Busy times! I also managed to make morning trips to the Natural History Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and BEN’S COOKIES. And all with midterms just around the corner. Before things get totally underway with my paper writing, I’m heading to Dublin this weekend for a bit of fun! Our first weekend trip! Yay!

We leave early tomorrow morning, but I just wanted to write a quick update before we head out. I promise to post pictures once I’m back. I apologize for my more than lack luster entry, but I promise that the past two weeks have been absolutely grand and that I’m having a great time. And hey – no news is usually good news, right? (Much to the dismay of the Admissions Office…)

**Also, quick shout out to my brother who will be running the Chicago Marathon this weekend. Good luck, Joel!! Sending lots of love across the pond for you.**