It's spring! The sun is finally out and we have a chance to enjoy the best weather England has to offer. Jess and Candace and I went into London on Wednesday to start crossing things off of our list. We started with a visit to the Tate Modern (but I still only saw one floor! Must go back). Then Candace got her ear pierced at Camden which was pretty exciting (don't worry, it was a very clean place). We had some Yuforia at Covent Garden and then made it to King's Cross Station to take a dorky picture at Platform 9 3/4. Lame, but totally worth it :-)
Then Candace and I met up with some of the Arcadia group for a send-off tea party. It was at a nice place in St. Pancras Station. We were spoiled with trays of food and deelish Darjeeling tea.
We had some time to kill so we walked from Russell Square to the theatre where Jessica and I had tickets to see "ENRON". We had heard good things about it and were especially interested in seeing it, knowing how quickly it closed on Broadway. I think its premature closing had something to do with Ben Brantley's review, but also the content maybe just didn't settle well with American audiences. I can see how it is such a hit here though. I personally thought it was brilliant. It was just the right balance of spectacle and deliberate content. I appreciated many moments, including the blind mice opening and a beautiful choreographed trading floor hand signal sequence. I do admit, however, there were a few unsettling moments in the second act that may have gone a bit over the top. All in all, I think it is a very important piece - a good representation of what political satire can be today.
Thursday and Friday were taken up by Summer Cabaret Rehearsals in preparation for a grueling 5 performances. Yesterday we had an all day rehearsal and then an evening performance. It doesn't seem as prepared as some other shows I've been in, but there's something very exciting about throwing it all together doing the best we can do. I think it's turned out to be a pretty great show after all. Now we've got 2 performances today, and then Monday and Tuesday as well. I'll keep posting about Summer Cabaret as we go along.
...are over! Thank goodness. Preparing for 3 two hour exams took out most of the past two weeks. Studying and stressing out is pretty much all I had been doing.
I had two papers to write in two hours for Studies in Contemporary Music, Biological Psychology, and Music and Politics in Tudor England. Let's just say it made me miss conference week at Sarah Lawrence more than anything.
Next on the list is Summer Cabaret! We go up this coming Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Should be a lot of fun. It was hard to have rehearsals during exam month, and I think we could all use some extra rehearsals, but I think it'll come together. We're doing 21 songs each from different shows. Some are solos, some are small group, and some are full cast. I'm in the chorus of "Both Reached for the Gun" from Chicago (Jess is Mary Sunshine!), we're reprising "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat" from Guys and Dolls, and I've got a little solo as Cosette in "One Day More" for the show's finale! I'm really excited. Some of my favorite numbers are "Fame", "Be Italian" and "Officer Krupke".
Besides that, I'm enjoying the weather and making lists of things to do in London while I'm still here.
Candace and Jess and I have a sort of 'bucket list' going on:
Places: Tower of London Covent garden Borough Market Portabello Road Notting hill Buckingham Palace Platform 9 3/4 Hampton Court Palace Abbey Road Hamstead Heath Park Hyde Park Regent's Park
Museums: British Museum National Gallery Tate Modern Tate Britain Victoria & Albert Wallace Collection National Portrait Gallery Natural History Museum Science Museum
Plays: Enron Billy Elliot Globe production The Real Thing The Habit of Art Peter Pan
Yesterday Candace and I woke up very early to head into London to meet the Arcadia group for a little field trip. The event, which we signed up for in January, was a trip to Rochester, Kent for a May Day festival.
It was a rough morning, but once we arrived in the little town it was like the super nerd inside me woke up. I have this thing about revels, mummers, medieval festivals, re-enactments in general, caroling, and funny fat kings eating turkey legs that I find hilarious and too good to be true. Not that I like making fun of this sort of thing - it's more like I want to take part. Badly. In fact, there's a part of me that wishes I was born a peasant in a tiny village so I could get good and drunk and silly and sing songs and dance around the may pole.
But this is the next best thing I suppose. The town, Rochester, is absolutely beautiful itself. Set side the Medway River and at the bottom of a hill holding a real life castle, you couldn't have asked for a better setting. The buildings on the street are also very old so it really was like stepping back in time.
After we walked through the visitor's center, we immediately stumbled upon a troupe of Morris dancers in the street. Complete with live musicians, crazy costumes, face painting, and - literally - all the bells and whistles, it was shocking at first. I couldn't stop squealing with joy and saying "What the hell is going on?!". As we wandered down the street, we saw more groups like this with their own traditional costumes and style. It was almost like a street dance-off. Only Morris dancing.
On top of that, there were food stalls lining the sidewalks and antique stores up the wazoo. A huge portion of the day was spent just walking around, relishing in the sights, sounds, and smells and just enjoying spring.
Eventually we arrived at Rochester Castle on the hill. We couldn't go in, but the grounds surrounding the castle were taken over by a carnival. More food, music, and now lots of kids and families were up here. It reminded me of June in middle school at the Ridgefield Fireman's Carnival. But what a place to have a carnival! There was a gorgeous view of the river as well.
And I have to talk about the food. If you've been reading this blog at all, you'll probably know that a lot of my best experiences abroad have been somehow based around food. Now, even though I didn't try any of the beer, and therefore did not get to be a jolly peasant, I did have other exceptional treats. I had a pork and apple burger with onions and every sauce available, and I think it was honestly the best burger I've ever had. And for only £2.50! I later found the Hog Roast and had the most incredible sandwich - roast hog meat off the spit with home made stuffing and apple sauce on bread. Before we left, of course, I ducked into the local pastry shop and got not one but 3 scones. I'm still working on those.
We were there so early that by the time 4 o'clock rolled around, it felt like 8 pm. I felt like a kid again going to this festival. Not only was it just a great atmosphere, but for really the first time I felt very in touch with the history of England. There is nothing really like the Sweeps Festival in America, and since it was outside of London in a tiny historical town, there were hardly any tourists besides ourselves. I didn't feel out of place though. Just very happy to be in a small, lovely town, enjoying the history and culture of England.
I am a rising senior at Sarah Lawrence College.
This blog is about my yearlong study abroad experience. I traveled to Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, France, England, Scotland, and The Netherlands. I studied at Accademia dell'Arte and Royal Holloway University of London.
