A Shrewish Night of Laughs

Let me just say a little something about London theatre… very accessible and very entertaining. That’s right, I said it! I recently went to go see two productions of some classic Shakespeare at the Old Vic Theatre (pop quiz: who is the artistic director there? All those who answered Kevin Spacey are correct; all those who just read on and thought that was their answer shame on you). I saw an all male version of Taming of the Shrew and 12th Night both of which were in rep with one another for a month at the Old Vic.

I thoroughly enjoyed both productions. When I first say the ads and heard some of my classmates discussing the production of 12th Night I decided I needed to go and see for myself. There wasn’t a huge focus on the feminism (men dressing up as women) that I thought might be the case. In fact it was quite clear when the actor playing Kate wore a dress that bared a hairy chest that there wasn’t any special consideration to the female roles. The company that did both pieces was extremely talented and well diverse. There were Irish actors, Scottish actors and British actors all in the same company. And I must say that hearing Shakespeare done with those accents makes it sound very authentic. What I really liked about the productions (and what seems to be the case now on Broadway more and more) is the addition of talented actors who can play instruments. EVERY SINGLE ACTOR played the piano at some point, or the guitar or something that added the extra element of music to these productions. In fact it truly enhanced the experience for me as an audience member and really helped further the story along more smoothly. On the plus side the added interludes (especially in 12th Night) of A Capella, really solidified my amazement that not only are these all guys, but guys who can sing, play instruments, and who are very good actors. I only wonder what the audition process was like.

I was lucky enough to see the productions before they closed, but if anyone ever gets a chance to see “true” Shakespeare (all-male companies), I suggest take a gamble and try it out… you may enjoy it.

Next stop March 1st tickets to go see Equus (with Daniel Radcliffe)… This should be interesting

Guards in Grey Coats? That's Not Right...

Ok… so I haven’t blogged in a while, but I haven’t been doing too much to blog about. These past couple of weeks have been quite hectic for me in terms of schoolwork and having my first assignment due… AHH! Well fine, I know it was only a “book report” about certain James Bond novels for my intelligence class, which is awesome by the way, but the books still had to be read and thoroughly analyzed.



I got up early this morning in hopes of trying to become a tourist once again in London. I headed down to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard as well as take pictures of the pristine palace. Unfortunately I forgot where I was and the weather that goes along with the place in which I am residing and it proceeded to threaten to rain. I mean really threaten to rain and the weather did come through with its threat. Because of the inclement weather there was no changing ceremony today only the procession of Horse Guards. For those of you playing the home game, here is brief description about what the changing of the guard is. According to TIME OUT: London … the changing of the guard is a regiment of Foot Guards (scarlet coats and bearskin hats) lines up in the forecourt of Wellington Barracks from 10:45am; at 11:27am the soldiers march to Buckingham Palace to relieve the sentries in the forecourt.



I only got to see the sentries, because the real guards are afraid of a little water. Nevertheless, I shall return and get what I came for. It wasn’t a wasted trip though; I got to experience Green Park and the locals and even got to take some quality shots of the palace. Hopefully the weather will change, but then again it’s London, so anything is really possible.



I shall see the queen… soonish

The Land Of Canterbury & A Train Ride Through the Country

The Land of Canterbury and some tales on train… At least that is what was explained to us before we embarked on our journey outside of the city to the small town of Canterbury to see the famed Cathedral where St. Thomas was murdered and where all the inspiration for Chaucer’s tales came from.

We all meet at Charing Cross station to hop onto the DLR train outside of the city. Man did it feel good to actually see those rolling hills and green pastures and those classic houses all in a row with the dancing chimney sweeps (like in Mary Poppins). Ok maybe not the chimney sweeps, Matt and I came to the conclusion that they had the day off and said chimney sweeps don’t come out until Sunday mornings, not Saturday mornings. Well anyway, we boarded the train all paid for (thanks to Skidmore College… I am glad the 42K a year is paying off some dividends… I kid, I love Skidmore), and we embarked on our journey to the land of tales and a really famous church. Remember how I said before that I was really tired of going to see all the churches for awhile… well I guess this could be the one exception to the rule. The train ride was a blast, just being able to get away and see another side of London that isn’t normally seen was very good for all of us I think. There is one thing to constantly hear sirens going off and honking horns and then there is the sound of birds chirping and clear skies and horses and sheep grazing It’s London at its finest.


This is the entrance to the small town

First of all taking a trip with Matt, Mike, and Jonathan is quite hilarious to begin with, but spending the whole day was quite the treat. The laughs, the cappuccino from the trolley as well as a Strongbow (hard cider) at 11:15am, and the lunch at a small café was just more than expected and fun. We made good time and arrived around 12:30pm and had a couple of hours to explore the historic town before our tour of the Cathedral at 2. We walked around for a bit stopping in at various shops and such and finally settling on place to eat where they had a lunch special... Any pizza or pasta dish and a glass of wine or beer for 6.50 GBP. Not bad. It was perfect for what we wanted. Not the best Italian food, but very quaint little café that seemed to be quite popular with the locals. So why not?

We joined up with the rest of the group and began the tour. Man is the cathedral big and massive. Luckily we had a nice sunny day so the stained glass windows really showed off their exquisite nature. Our tour guide took us all over the Cathedral and really honed in on the fact that this was the Cathedral in which St. Thomas was order ed to be killed by Henry II for speaking out against the crown. Then his tomb that was beloved by all, had its remains removed and burned by Henry VIII. It was quite fascinating to see the many different levels of the church as well as the history behind it. The tour guide seemed a little timid, but very fact oriented and lots of pictures were taken by all.


Canterbury Cathedral courtyard

After the tour we were able to explore for a little while longer. Granted the town isn’t that big, but we stopped into this homemade fudge shop that was absolutely to die for. It just melted in your mouth. We were all debating whether or not to buy some, but we wanted to be good and not spend too much while we were here. We boarded the train and headed back tired, educated and full. The train ride at night made it harder to see outside, but coming past the London Eye at night was definitely a site to see all lit up and decorated.

There are just so many different aspects of England that you really can’t find unless you actively look for them. I can’t wait to see what other new adventures this trip brings.

Until I blob again…

Snow? What? In London?

It’s snowing?…What? That is definitely not right, I mean generally speaking it could happen, but come on it’s London not France. Anyway, I woke up this morning to a very pretty picture (which I took from my window by the way). It’s actually quite lovely and pleasant. I kinda wish I could say that statement after I walked to class. That in itself was quite a struggle and quite amusing at the same time.

But before we start to discuss the trek to campus, let’s just speak about the simple fact of what some people like to call heat. I know it’s a very simple concept, especially in the winter time, but I think there might have been a slight disconnect somewhere here on this continent. It seems as though it is customary to crank the heat all day and then turn it off at night. Ok, I can almost see the reverse logic in that statement, but nonetheless so far so good (it has worked). How about this…When the forecast is predicting “the largest storm/snow in London’s history” one might think to leave the heat and hot water on. NOT THE CASE TODAY!!! I wake up with plenty of time to take a nice hot shower, only to wake up freezing my butt off as well as find out not only is the heat off, but in fact there is no hot water. And I am sure as hell am not going to take a cold shower (all those at skidmore can attest to that statement – when it’s cold you want a hot shower, right?). Is that too much to ask for? I’m sorry it might have been, thank god someone turned it on eventually… phew

On my way to Regent Street campus to go to my International Security Studies class, I walk by the same people everyday. You know the classic business person with their overcoat and their umbrella, etc… This time it was very fun to just walk and observe the different ways in which the people tried to bare the storm. Kids were pulling each other by the coat tails and “ice-skating” through the classic city slush that is produced by these storms, the grownups were either bundled all the way up and trying to just get to wherever it was that they need to go or trying not to get completely soaked from the feet up. And then there were the cars, cabs, and buses driving four feet and stopping because traffic was packed and because the tube seems to “shut down” when there is bad weather, everyone essentially took to the streets and took other modes of transportation.

Nonetheless, I just wanted to share to you all that it does in fact snow in London and all I wanted after my class was a bowl of soup and heat!! Thanks Katie for telling me to save the soup for a really cold day it was just what I wanted.

Until I heat up… oh just u wait!!!