Last weekend was my final weekend of going and seeing plays for the time being. When I got down to London, it was a bit strange because I couldn’t really think of where I wanted to go. I had been to much of what I had wanted to see of the city. Mostly I ended up walking around, killing time in the Burlington Arcades and in bookshops. The arcades were pretty cool just because they had a lot of used watch stores. Those who know me best know that I like a good watch. They had used watches by Omega, Breitling, Jaeger LeCoultre, Rolex… there was one store entirely devoted to vintage Rolex. They had Rolex’s from the twenties and even earlier. It was interesting for me to see that just because of how the company had evolved some of its designs in the past decades.
I did walk the down the Mall which is the road that leads up to Buckingham Palace. I also ate in a restaurant which had really crappy Disney muzak playing constantly on repeat. If I had to work there I would want to kill myself or if I didn’t, I slowly would have been driven insane.
The play I saw this past Friday was The Caretaker by Harold Pinter. It starred Jonathon Pryce as one of the main characters. He would be most notable to American audiences has having played the main villain in Tomorrow Never Dies. It was a good production. Pinter has a knack for dialogue as well as pauses which have been analyzed and debated over by scholars and critics alike. I had taken a class last year in which we had to read The Homecoming by him. There were lots of pauses in that too. This has also been one of my favorite theatre going experiences which was almost toppled by the following day’s production
Enron, a play about greed and corporate corruption based on that infamous company’s history integrating musical numbers, video clips as well as a lot of other symbols and metaphors I can’t even really begin to describe. They had business men dressed in suits wearing mouse heads using walking sticks for the blind. Three blind mice. They had men wearing raptor masks symbolizing the company’s other companies where they would dump all their debt. They had lightsabers representing how they had paralyzed California in the early 2000’s once the state had deregulated its energy holdings allowing the energy companies to raise prices astronomically. It was bleak, bitter, dark satire of the postmodern kind. It was one hell of a show which had me in hysterics at several points in the production.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
London Weekend Number Two
A few weeks ago, I went back down to London. I had planned three weekends of constantly seeing plays as well as being able to sightsee whilst being down there.
This time, I went down there and the major sights that I saw were St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern art museum.
St. Paul’s was a brilliant sight. It’s probably the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen. It’s also the biggest. Its construction is made up of three domes, one on top of the other. The first dome holds the equivalent of the Eiffel Tower on top of it.
I couldn’t get any photos inside because the security personnel on sight had said that no pictures were aloud. I complied just for worry of getting chucked out. I didn’t go up to the very top also because I didn’t have time nor did I really want to. I did however go up to the top of the interior. It was a bit creepy being that high up. It was also a bit exhausting. The top of the interior contains the whispering gallery. One is able to lean against the wall, whisper and it goes across the room. As long as you have your ear pressed to the side of the dome you are able to hear what the other person is saying. This is possible because it is a perfect circle. One of the staff members demonstrated this to me by having me go across the interior of the dome stopping at several points. He would then whisper to me as I proceeding from one door to the next. It was pretty cool and I had a smile on my face every time it worked. I left shortly thereafter.
I headed across the Thames to the Tate Modern. Inside were all of these weird impressionist paintings by modern artist. All of it was very… strange. Unintelligible. I only recognized a few of the artists: Jackson Pollock and Fernand Lédger. I couldn’t really begin to name the rest. It was interesting stuff but I preferred the National Gallery. I did appreciate the fact that it was a free gallery though. It is free because it is subsidized by the government.
Afterward I got dinner and then went to the play for the evening. An Inspector Calls. It was an interesting show. The special effects were pretty nifty and I was impressed that the actors breaking props was part of the show. In fact part of the stage lifts up and dumps out most of this table from inside of a mock house. That was pretty nifty. It was an entertaining, suspenseful and at times creepy production.
The next day after checking out of my hotel, I went to Hyde Park. While most of London, especially the touristy parts of London, is full of hustle and bustle, this place was full of a sense of calm. I wish I was there when the flowers were in bloom because it then would have been an impressive site. Oh well, one can imagine.
The play for this afternoon was The Woman in Black. This production has been running since 1989 in the same theatre, the Fortune theatre. It’s a horror play which also works as meta-theatre as one character tells his story to an actor to learn how he can tell the story to his family. It begins slowly but this is there for us to get to know the characters. It’s quite a funny bit at the beginning. The play actually does become quite scary with doors opening and the ghost of the woman in black showing up at certain points in the play but is it maybe that she is showing up in real life? We don’t know until the very end. On paper, reading the play, I don’t think it would be that horrifying of an experience. On stage however, when a play can come alive, it does become quite freaky. The audience screamed quite a lot and then would stop laugh at the fact that they were screaming. Just because something isn’t real doesn’t make it any less scary. Like a good horror movie, this play utilized sound and hardly relied on cheap scares evoking atmosphere rather than just have “gotcha” moments. There still are those “gotcha” moments but they happen few and far between.
This time, I went down there and the major sights that I saw were St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern art museum.
St. Paul’s was a brilliant sight. It’s probably the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen. It’s also the biggest. Its construction is made up of three domes, one on top of the other. The first dome holds the equivalent of the Eiffel Tower on top of it.
I couldn’t get any photos inside because the security personnel on sight had said that no pictures were aloud. I complied just for worry of getting chucked out. I didn’t go up to the very top also because I didn’t have time nor did I really want to. I did however go up to the top of the interior. It was a bit creepy being that high up. It was also a bit exhausting. The top of the interior contains the whispering gallery. One is able to lean against the wall, whisper and it goes across the room. As long as you have your ear pressed to the side of the dome you are able to hear what the other person is saying. This is possible because it is a perfect circle. One of the staff members demonstrated this to me by having me go across the interior of the dome stopping at several points. He would then whisper to me as I proceeding from one door to the next. It was pretty cool and I had a smile on my face every time it worked. I left shortly thereafter.
I headed across the Thames to the Tate Modern. Inside were all of these weird impressionist paintings by modern artist. All of it was very… strange. Unintelligible. I only recognized a few of the artists: Jackson Pollock and Fernand Lédger. I couldn’t really begin to name the rest. It was interesting stuff but I preferred the National Gallery. I did appreciate the fact that it was a free gallery though. It is free because it is subsidized by the government.
Afterward I got dinner and then went to the play for the evening. An Inspector Calls. It was an interesting show. The special effects were pretty nifty and I was impressed that the actors breaking props was part of the show. In fact part of the stage lifts up and dumps out most of this table from inside of a mock house. That was pretty nifty. It was an entertaining, suspenseful and at times creepy production.
The next day after checking out of my hotel, I went to Hyde Park. While most of London, especially the touristy parts of London, is full of hustle and bustle, this place was full of a sense of calm. I wish I was there when the flowers were in bloom because it then would have been an impressive site. Oh well, one can imagine.
The play for this afternoon was The Woman in Black. This production has been running since 1989 in the same theatre, the Fortune theatre. It’s a horror play which also works as meta-theatre as one character tells his story to an actor to learn how he can tell the story to his family. It begins slowly but this is there for us to get to know the characters. It’s quite a funny bit at the beginning. The play actually does become quite scary with doors opening and the ghost of the woman in black showing up at certain points in the play but is it maybe that she is showing up in real life? We don’t know until the very end. On paper, reading the play, I don’t think it would be that horrifying of an experience. On stage however, when a play can come alive, it does become quite freaky. The audience screamed quite a lot and then would stop laugh at the fact that they were screaming. Just because something isn’t real doesn’t make it any less scary. Like a good horror movie, this play utilized sound and hardly relied on cheap scares evoking atmosphere rather than just have “gotcha” moments. There still are those “gotcha” moments but they happen few and far between.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Waiting for Godot
The final play I saw this past weekend was Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. This play is one of the fundamental plays which any English major… no, which any human being should read. Beckett is an Irish playwright who wrote his major works in French. One of his other more famous works was Endgame which I saw last December. Personally I think Endgame is better but Godot is the more famous or infamous of the two.
The plot revolves around two characters, Estragon and Vladimir as the wait by a tree for a man named Godot (who never shows up). Two other characters, Lucky and Pozzo show up. Pozzo is a fat, bulbous bald man who smokes a pipe and Lucky is a mute who carries Pozzo’s bags and wears a noose as a leash. Lucky only has one major monologue in the play but it is quite the speech which may or may not make perfect sense.
That is the point of the play. It is the absurdity of them waiting for a man who may not ever come, which may not even exist yet they still wait.
It is the quintessential existential question: why do something for your life for which there may be no reward? What is the point? All these questions are coalescing throughout the play. In fact, Estragon even asks why they don’t just leave at numerous points in the play.
This production stars Ian McKellen as Estragon. He is the biggest name in the production. He starred in the X Men movies as Magneto and, more famously, as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings series.
It was a phenomenal production with a fairly apocalyptic set. There was dust and broken planks of wood strewn throughout the stage. It was a fairly spectacularly visceral set. The play, despite being quite cynical and apocalyptic is also quite funny. It is tragic but it does it in such a light hearted way that it is easy to forget how heartbreaking the end really was. It is an absurd play but it is one which is quite funny.
I feel lucky as an English major to have been able to see both of Beckett’s quintessential works in such a short time period in London.
Afterwards I got dinner and caught my train back home.
The plot revolves around two characters, Estragon and Vladimir as the wait by a tree for a man named Godot (who never shows up). Two other characters, Lucky and Pozzo show up. Pozzo is a fat, bulbous bald man who smokes a pipe and Lucky is a mute who carries Pozzo’s bags and wears a noose as a leash. Lucky only has one major monologue in the play but it is quite the speech which may or may not make perfect sense.
That is the point of the play. It is the absurdity of them waiting for a man who may not ever come, which may not even exist yet they still wait.
It is the quintessential existential question: why do something for your life for which there may be no reward? What is the point? All these questions are coalescing throughout the play. In fact, Estragon even asks why they don’t just leave at numerous points in the play.
This production stars Ian McKellen as Estragon. He is the biggest name in the production. He starred in the X Men movies as Magneto and, more famously, as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings series.
It was a phenomenal production with a fairly apocalyptic set. There was dust and broken planks of wood strewn throughout the stage. It was a fairly spectacularly visceral set. The play, despite being quite cynical and apocalyptic is also quite funny. It is tragic but it does it in such a light hearted way that it is easy to forget how heartbreaking the end really was. It is an absurd play but it is one which is quite funny.
I feel lucky as an English major to have been able to see both of Beckett’s quintessential works in such a short time period in London.
Afterwards I got dinner and caught my train back home.
Museums
The following morning I checked out of my hotel after getting breakfast.
I decided to go to the London Film Museum which is right next to the London Eye. It was alright. Some of the props there were interesting but for the price I paid, I was expecting to see a few more props from more well known movies. Some of the people who were working the job obviously didn’t want to be there. Some looked annoyed and some were peppy. I suppose that is like any job. Especially one as mundane as working in a film museum.
The coolest prop there was the carbonite slab of Han Solo from The Empire Strikes Back. The also had the Alien queen from Aliens as well as the wet suit worn by Matt Damon in the Bourne Identity. I forgot to take a photo of some of these props.
After that I went to Covent Garden Market again. I got lunch at an outdoor Italian restaurant. It was okay though overpriced.
I went to Trafalgar Square and went to the National Gallery. They had a wide range of paintings there. Some I’m sure I’ve seen before in an English Anthology along the line. They had paintings there by Degas, Monet (or Manet I can’t remember… or both), Pissarro, Seurat and many others. The building itself was a work of art as well. Beautiful. The best part of it was that the entry was free. They are government funded and because of this, it is open to the public. They do have donations boxes in front of the entryways.
No pictures were allowed at all. In fact there was more than one occasion when a guard had to tell patrons to delete a photo that they had just taken.
I sat in awe in front of those paintings.
I decided to go to the London Film Museum which is right next to the London Eye. It was alright. Some of the props there were interesting but for the price I paid, I was expecting to see a few more props from more well known movies. Some of the people who were working the job obviously didn’t want to be there. Some looked annoyed and some were peppy. I suppose that is like any job. Especially one as mundane as working in a film museum.
The coolest prop there was the carbonite slab of Han Solo from The Empire Strikes Back. The also had the Alien queen from Aliens as well as the wet suit worn by Matt Damon in the Bourne Identity. I forgot to take a photo of some of these props.
After that I went to Covent Garden Market again. I got lunch at an outdoor Italian restaurant. It was okay though overpriced.
I went to Trafalgar Square and went to the National Gallery. They had a wide range of paintings there. Some I’m sure I’ve seen before in an English Anthology along the line. They had paintings there by Degas, Monet (or Manet I can’t remember… or both), Pissarro, Seurat and many others. The building itself was a work of art as well. Beautiful. The best part of it was that the entry was free. They are government funded and because of this, it is open to the public. They do have donations boxes in front of the entryways.
No pictures were allowed at all. In fact there was more than one occasion when a guard had to tell patrons to delete a photo that they had just taken.
I sat in awe in front of those paintings.
Six Degrees of Separation
I went to the Old Vic Theatre to see Six Degrees of Separation. The plot revolves around a young con artist who pretends to be the son of Sidney Poitier as he dupes an affluent couple in New York City. The character himself also happens to be gay but that really isn’t a major element to the character. It is just a part of him. This play is not a social critique nor is it one for understanding of the gay community. It just happens to have a character that is gay and is a con artist.
The set was pretty minimal. It involved a painting on both sides hanging from a wire. Red partitions which could be pulled backwards and a couch in the center of the stage which could revolve around. The floor was all red.
The performers were all really good. This was just a one act play at 90 minutes but it flowed beautifully. Ninety minutes is still a long time and if there is a dull moment it’s noticeable. With this play there was never a dull moment. There was drama and comedy mixed easily. One unfortunate character, he ends up killing himself, leaves the stage into the shadows. We know by this action what his fate is going to be. Passing into the shadows of death. Powerful stuff.
The main idea of the play, the theme is that we are all interconnected by six people. So, in theory, I am at the most six people away from everybody else. The idea is that we are all linked. In this play, the con artist character acts as a linchpin for all the other people. He connects a young couple from Utah to the wealthy art collector to the art collector’s children to another student at MIT to the police officer and even the doorman.
It was a good show and it was a wonderful way to end the evening. Afterwards I headed back to my hotel. I stopped off at a nearby pub and had a pint of ale and a bottle of Budweiser Budvar. Both were glorious.
The set was pretty minimal. It involved a painting on both sides hanging from a wire. Red partitions which could be pulled backwards and a couch in the center of the stage which could revolve around. The floor was all red.
The performers were all really good. This was just a one act play at 90 minutes but it flowed beautifully. Ninety minutes is still a long time and if there is a dull moment it’s noticeable. With this play there was never a dull moment. There was drama and comedy mixed easily. One unfortunate character, he ends up killing himself, leaves the stage into the shadows. We know by this action what his fate is going to be. Passing into the shadows of death. Powerful stuff.
The main idea of the play, the theme is that we are all interconnected by six people. So, in theory, I am at the most six people away from everybody else. The idea is that we are all linked. In this play, the con artist character acts as a linchpin for all the other people. He connects a young couple from Utah to the wealthy art collector to the art collector’s children to another student at MIT to the police officer and even the doorman.
It was a good show and it was a wonderful way to end the evening. Afterwards I headed back to my hotel. I stopped off at a nearby pub and had a pint of ale and a bottle of Budweiser Budvar. Both were glorious.
Covent Garden
After I saw Ghosts I continued to walk around for a while. I had a few hours to kill between that play and my next one. I crammed them in. It was more economical as well as more fun to do it that way. I also saw two on Saturday because I knew I would be exhausted from Friday.
I wandered into Covent Garden Market. Who doesn’t like open air markets? Some of the stores and stalls were selling overpriced junk, yes but still… it was a brilliant place. I had run into it the night prior by mistake but didn’t realize what it was and I didn’t stick around for very long.
I did manage to find a stall which was selling artistic renderings of famous movie stills or of famous musical artists. I bought three. Steve McQueen in Bullitt, Pulp Fiction and The Rolling Stones. I might buy three more next weekend when I’m down there again.
I headed across the Thames towards Waterloo station. I found a place to eat. I had fish and chips. They also were doing cocktails. I bought an old fashioned. It’s one of my favorite drinks. If Don Draper of Mad Men likes it, then that’s good enough for me.
I wandered into Covent Garden Market. Who doesn’t like open air markets? Some of the stores and stalls were selling overpriced junk, yes but still… it was a brilliant place. I had run into it the night prior by mistake but didn’t realize what it was and I didn’t stick around for very long.
I did manage to find a stall which was selling artistic renderings of famous movie stills or of famous musical artists. I bought three. Steve McQueen in Bullitt, Pulp Fiction and The Rolling Stones. I might buy three more next weekend when I’m down there again.
I headed across the Thames towards Waterloo station. I found a place to eat. I had fish and chips. They also were doing cocktails. I bought an old fashioned. It’s one of my favorite drinks. If Don Draper of Mad Men likes it, then that’s good enough for me.
Ghosts
The play I saw in the afternoon was Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. It’s a Victorian play revolving around the sins of the father tainting an entire family. It’s a social critique play. I think the play is a well written play and it was well acted for the most part. There was one performer, the son who has syphilis, which was kind of a boring performance. He felt like he was in there for pretty obvious drama and he really only played him in the standard fashion of always having this glazed look over his eyes. I get it, you’ve gone crazy.
The other actors did a fine job especially the man who played the minister character as well as the woman who played the wife. It ended though in a lackluster fashion. I understood the dramatic weight of it but it didn’t pack the emotional punch it should have.
The set was well done, minor in detail but heavy on placement.
I also enjoyed the theatre itself. It was the Duchess. I saw Endgame in there last December. It is a very small theatre. There really isn’t a bad seat in the house. You are always going to have a perfect view of the action while also feeling especially close to the stage. This may not have been my favorite play but The Duchess is probably my favorite theatre mainly due to its size and providing such an intimate space for drama to unfold.
The other actors did a fine job especially the man who played the minister character as well as the woman who played the wife. It ended though in a lackluster fashion. I understood the dramatic weight of it but it didn’t pack the emotional punch it should have.
The set was well done, minor in detail but heavy on placement.
I also enjoyed the theatre itself. It was the Duchess. I saw Endgame in there last December. It is a very small theatre. There really isn’t a bad seat in the house. You are always going to have a perfect view of the action while also feeling especially close to the stage. This may not have been my favorite play but The Duchess is probably my favorite theatre mainly due to its size and providing such an intimate space for drama to unfold.
London Eye
The next day I woke up. I had missed the breakfast bar at the hotel. I slept in. Whoops.
I got off the tube at Embankment and got some food at the first place I could. Something quick, cheap and fast. McDonald’s. Yes, Yes, I did the American tourist thing and went with what was safe. I realize that I should have gone for something more multicultural or for something which I can’t normally get in Iowa City or in Birmingham for that matter but time was of the essence and I just hedged my bets.
After a “nice” meal, I headed across the Thames towards the London Eye. I had been here before in the winter and it was interesting to see it again but this time I was actually going to go on it. After a long wait in line, I got my ticket. There was another long wait in line to get on it.
The ride itself was quite interesting. The view was astounding. The worst of it was the sun had just come out. The glare was really bad. Also with it being a glass box it made it feel like it was a hot box. Oh well. I saw some pretty cool stuff that on that ride. There really isn't much to talk about really without it sounding cliched. It was just one hell of a view.
Afterwards I headed off towards the Duchess theatre.
I got off the tube at Embankment and got some food at the first place I could. Something quick, cheap and fast. McDonald’s. Yes, Yes, I did the American tourist thing and went with what was safe. I realize that I should have gone for something more multicultural or for something which I can’t normally get in Iowa City or in Birmingham for that matter but time was of the essence and I just hedged my bets.
After a “nice” meal, I headed across the Thames towards the London Eye. I had been here before in the winter and it was interesting to see it again but this time I was actually going to go on it. After a long wait in line, I got my ticket. There was another long wait in line to get on it.
The ride itself was quite interesting. The view was astounding. The worst of it was the sun had just come out. The glare was really bad. Also with it being a glass box it made it feel like it was a hot box. Oh well. I saw some pretty cool stuff that on that ride. There really isn't much to talk about really without it sounding cliched. It was just one hell of a view.
Afterwards I headed off towards the Duchess theatre.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Novello was presenting the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams with an all black cast. The plot revolves around the patriarch of a family who is dying and what will become of his estate. There is far more to it, including his son’s alcoholism and possible homosexuality. I did find it interesting to watch and listen considering Tennessee Williams went to the University of Iowa.
It was an interesting performance for various reasons.
Number One: James Earl Jones as Big Daddy who doesn’t show up until the second act. It creates this aura of mystery around the character as he is built up so much. His performance was filled with fire, passion, greed and hubris. It was an amazing performance with a lot of understanding and character development. I also found it interesting that the character would curse quite often. He had some pretty disparaging remarks to say about everyone in the family.
Number Two: the play is presented in real time. There were intermissions but once the play started up again, the actors were in their positions we last saw.
Number Three: all the performers were excellent, especially Adrian Lester as Brick, Big Daddy’s son. There were no weak performances.
Number Four: the crowd was quite unruly. On more than one occasion in the first act, cell phones went off and when they go off, they always go off for a while. Why is it that when phones go off at inappropriate times it is always some rap song like Flo Rida’s Low. Yes, that’s exactly what will add to the ambience of the theatre. “Shawty had them apple bottom jeans/ boots with the fur.” Yes. The couple sitting next to me were also lamenting at how it is disgraceful to have your cell phone on in a theatre.
Number Five: audience members showing up late. A large group of people showed up late and having people come in and shuffle about and make noise and see that they found their seats. God, that was annoying.
Number Six: the theatre itself was a bit annoying. I was up in one of the balconies. The ceilings were quite sloped. While I could still see quite well, it did make things quite claustrophobic at times.
All in all it was a quality show, strong performances all around and a truly involving human story.
Afterwards I went back to my hotel and fell asleep. Not much to tell. I did have a small blister on my foot from all the walking.
It was an interesting performance for various reasons.
Number One: James Earl Jones as Big Daddy who doesn’t show up until the second act. It creates this aura of mystery around the character as he is built up so much. His performance was filled with fire, passion, greed and hubris. It was an amazing performance with a lot of understanding and character development. I also found it interesting that the character would curse quite often. He had some pretty disparaging remarks to say about everyone in the family.
Number Two: the play is presented in real time. There were intermissions but once the play started up again, the actors were in their positions we last saw.
Number Three: all the performers were excellent, especially Adrian Lester as Brick, Big Daddy’s son. There were no weak performances.
Number Four: the crowd was quite unruly. On more than one occasion in the first act, cell phones went off and when they go off, they always go off for a while. Why is it that when phones go off at inappropriate times it is always some rap song like Flo Rida’s Low. Yes, that’s exactly what will add to the ambience of the theatre. “Shawty had them apple bottom jeans/ boots with the fur.” Yes. The couple sitting next to me were also lamenting at how it is disgraceful to have your cell phone on in a theatre.
Number Five: audience members showing up late. A large group of people showed up late and having people come in and shuffle about and make noise and see that they found their seats. God, that was annoying.
Number Six: the theatre itself was a bit annoying. I was up in one of the balconies. The ceilings were quite sloped. While I could still see quite well, it did make things quite claustrophobic at times.
All in all it was a quality show, strong performances all around and a truly involving human story.
Afterwards I went back to my hotel and fell asleep. Not much to tell. I did have a small blister on my foot from all the walking.
Walking Around the Thames
Last Friday I went down to London to see some plays as well as to explore the city. I booked a hotel in zone two of the city (at least zone two on the underground map). There are six zones with zone one and two (especially zone one) making up the city centre. My rationale for backing a hotel vs. a hostel was the added privacy as well as the fact that from what I’ve heard, many hostels in London are party oriented. I don’t like the idea of being forced to sleep with one eye open.
When I got into London the first thing I did was went to Green Park to kill some time. Green Park is right next to Buckingham Palace. It was interesting to see as well as ironic since I’ve yet to see the White House in person. After snapping photos and asking some questions to a security guard about the palace, I started to make my way back over to Green Park. I noticed an arch way just down the road. I said, why not? I might as well just because who knows if I’ll make it back there.
The archway was a memorial and surrounded the arch were other little memorials for soldiers in past wars who are dead and gone. I found many memorials like this across the city, small plagues and small statues. It was interesting at how this city seemed to be steeped in its own history.
I took the tube to Earl’s court and checked into my hotel. They had bumped me up from a single to a double at no extra charge. I was pleasantly surprised. The room was adequately sized. It’s not as big as American hotels but I wasn’t planning on staying in my hotel for any other reason than to sleep.
I got lost on the tube after that. The district line can be a bit fickle as to where it wants to go. Once I got my bearings straight I headed to right near the centre of the Thames. I got off and walked down. I found the Millennium Bridge which is sandwiched between St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern Museum. I headed towards St. Paul’s. Snapped photos and then headed towards the Gherkin a massive skyscraper which is a huge part of the financial district. To me it looks like a Faberge Egg. It’s easy to get lost looking for it because it’s designed in such a way that you can only really see it when you are standing right beneath it.
I got a coffee and then went to the Tower of London. I didn’t go in it. I just walked around the outside. I then headed towards Tower Bridge. This is the actual name of it. It’s not London Bridge like most Americans think. From there I walked down the Thames and then crossed over again at London Bridge. Continuing along I crossed again at Southwark Bridge. I ran across the Globe theatre and then I crossed yet again at the Millennium Bridge. It was an epic walk after which I was quite exhausted.
For me it was an interesting walk just because I am a big fan of taking walks, especially around rivers. I tended to take some pretty extensive walks around the Iowa River my freshmen and sophomore years.
I headed to the Novello theatre. I found a place to grab dinner. It was a good meal though pricey. I found my seats and the play will be my next blog post.
When I got into London the first thing I did was went to Green Park to kill some time. Green Park is right next to Buckingham Palace. It was interesting to see as well as ironic since I’ve yet to see the White House in person. After snapping photos and asking some questions to a security guard about the palace, I started to make my way back over to Green Park. I noticed an arch way just down the road. I said, why not? I might as well just because who knows if I’ll make it back there.
The archway was a memorial and surrounded the arch were other little memorials for soldiers in past wars who are dead and gone. I found many memorials like this across the city, small plagues and small statues. It was interesting at how this city seemed to be steeped in its own history.
I took the tube to Earl’s court and checked into my hotel. They had bumped me up from a single to a double at no extra charge. I was pleasantly surprised. The room was adequately sized. It’s not as big as American hotels but I wasn’t planning on staying in my hotel for any other reason than to sleep.
I got lost on the tube after that. The district line can be a bit fickle as to where it wants to go. Once I got my bearings straight I headed to right near the centre of the Thames. I got off and walked down. I found the Millennium Bridge which is sandwiched between St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern Museum. I headed towards St. Paul’s. Snapped photos and then headed towards the Gherkin a massive skyscraper which is a huge part of the financial district. To me it looks like a Faberge Egg. It’s easy to get lost looking for it because it’s designed in such a way that you can only really see it when you are standing right beneath it.
I got a coffee and then went to the Tower of London. I didn’t go in it. I just walked around the outside. I then headed towards Tower Bridge. This is the actual name of it. It’s not London Bridge like most Americans think. From there I walked down the Thames and then crossed over again at London Bridge. Continuing along I crossed again at Southwark Bridge. I ran across the Globe theatre and then I crossed yet again at the Millennium Bridge. It was an epic walk after which I was quite exhausted.
For me it was an interesting walk just because I am a big fan of taking walks, especially around rivers. I tended to take some pretty extensive walks around the Iowa River my freshmen and sophomore years.
I headed to the Novello theatre. I found a place to grab dinner. It was a good meal though pricey. I found my seats and the play will be my next blog post.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Reading Week
A few weeks ago it was reading week. Reading week is a week in which there is no school for the humanities majors. The people in the science courses who don’t have a reading week think it’s a little unfair. It probably is but that isn’t my problem. At this point in the game, I’ve still kept things pretty low key just because I am going to have a lot of free time towards the end of my time here in the UK just because I don’t have a summer term which is essentially the test term. That is when I’m planning on doing most of my traveling around.
I was however interviewed by a girl from one of my classes for her radio show. She had asked me if I would be able to do so last term and I agreed. We also ran into each other quite randomly at the Guild one night. After filmsoc we go there to discuss the movie over drinks.
She interviewed me about various topics: the differences between the UK and the US, things which are different at this University compared to the University of Iowa, experiences I had had and that sort of thing. It was mostly about how different but the same this university and this country was from back home. She also asked for my reasons why I chose Birmingham over others and why I chose to come here instead of going somewhere else.
It was an interspersed with music. It was a pretty good day and it was also a very interesting experience to be interviewed for a few hours over why I’m here.
Later that week one of my friends, Sonia was having a birthday party. We went to Lazerquest which is Lazer Tag but with a different name. It was fun though there was a slight snafu with the taxis. A few friends and I missed the first game but I didn’t mind so much. I just wish the staff personnel weren’t so rude.
I was however interviewed by a girl from one of my classes for her radio show. She had asked me if I would be able to do so last term and I agreed. We also ran into each other quite randomly at the Guild one night. After filmsoc we go there to discuss the movie over drinks.
She interviewed me about various topics: the differences between the UK and the US, things which are different at this University compared to the University of Iowa, experiences I had had and that sort of thing. It was mostly about how different but the same this university and this country was from back home. She also asked for my reasons why I chose Birmingham over others and why I chose to come here instead of going somewhere else.
It was an interspersed with music. It was a pretty good day and it was also a very interesting experience to be interviewed for a few hours over why I’m here.
Later that week one of my friends, Sonia was having a birthday party. We went to Lazerquest which is Lazer Tag but with a different name. It was fun though there was a slight snafu with the taxis. A few friends and I missed the first game but I didn’t mind so much. I just wish the staff personnel weren’t so rude.
21st Birthday
My birthday was a pretty good one. We all went to the Plough to get some food. There wasn’t much that happened other than there was a mix up at the tables and some of our group ate at the Green Man instead which isn’t as good a pub.
After my group was done we just went over to the Green Man. Their drinks are cheaper.
It was a pretty good night. Part of the fun of it being one’s birthday is that people will just buy you free pints left and right. It was nice.
For the most part I just kept it simple. We all just had a good time. Later on we went out to Gatecrasher which is a massive club. By massive, I mean massive. There are five separate club rooms each with a different theme as well as a main room with a DJ practically every night. I’m not the biggest fan of those hyper clubs. I prefer just going out to a nice bar or pub or having a quiet night in rather than something which is that loud although I do enjoy the occasional club.
When we got there I found the queue to be rather large and so I decided to hang out with my friend Victoria instead. We went back to her place which wasn’t that far from Gatecrasher. It was getting pretty late but then we both got cornered by one of her flat mates and we were forced… I mean compelled to hang out with her and her friends. It was okay but once it hit like 3 in the morning I was more than ready to leave.
After my group was done we just went over to the Green Man. Their drinks are cheaper.
It was a pretty good night. Part of the fun of it being one’s birthday is that people will just buy you free pints left and right. It was nice.
For the most part I just kept it simple. We all just had a good time. Later on we went out to Gatecrasher which is a massive club. By massive, I mean massive. There are five separate club rooms each with a different theme as well as a main room with a DJ practically every night. I’m not the biggest fan of those hyper clubs. I prefer just going out to a nice bar or pub or having a quiet night in rather than something which is that loud although I do enjoy the occasional club.
When we got there I found the queue to be rather large and so I decided to hang out with my friend Victoria instead. We went back to her place which wasn’t that far from Gatecrasher. It was getting pretty late but then we both got cornered by one of her flat mates and we were forced… I mean compelled to hang out with her and her friends. It was okay but once it hit like 3 in the morning I was more than ready to leave.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Manchester
After I got back home, for the next two weeks my life was hell. Writing papers is not much fun. Basically, instead of doing the work before hand, I kept pushing it off and procrastinating like crazy. One of the problems with the system over here is that while one may think that one has free time, one actually doesn’t.
My papers got done. Though they could have been better. That was my fault. I will say this, I never ever thought that I would gladly do work on a Friday just to make sure it got done.
After I handed my papers in, after all was said and done, I just did things for myself. Things which makes me happy. I went to the movies as many times as I could. I saw Up in the Air, The Road, The Book of Eli. I rented many movies off iTunes. All in all, it was mostly about just celebrating the fact that I was done with all that work.
The first major thing I did with this new term was I went to Manchester with my friend Charles from Filmsoc to go to an Ale tasting festival. That was brilliant. He like me is a big fan of stouts and ales. Lagers aren’t bad. They just don’t tend to have that personality of an Ale. Lagers all taste quite similar. Charles had been to these events before. He told me to rent the pint glass. There was also a ½ pint glass but the pint glass also had a marker for ½ pint. I just bought ½ pints all day but the vendors had a habit of overfilling by accident. So, I ended up getting more beer for less money.
One of the hosts for this event was Budweiser Budvar which has trouble selling anywhere other than Europe because of Anheuser Busch. In the pamphlet for the event which had all the different beers in it, there was a short piece which ripped the American counterpart to shreds. They didn’t beat around the bush at all. They just talked about how bad the American beer is.
Pretty much the norm for alcohol percentage was 5% or so. I think the weakest beer I had was 3.9%. Needless to say it was a good day although after a while, I couldn’t really taste the new beers just because my palate was shot. We did meet a group of German girls who kept saying cheers constantly. There was also a live band which played at the tail end of the event. They played old classic hits. Knocking on Heaven’s Door. For What it’s Worth. That sort of thing.
The city of Manchester itself seemed nice. They have a tram system there not unlike San Francisco. Before going to the festival Charles and I walked around a bit. We stopped by their public library which has a massive circular reading room. We also walked through their art museum and looked at some of the paintings very briefly. It was fun.
That night in the Manchester train station, there were a bunch of football hooligans. It was a big game day in Manchester. As we were getting on the train to get back to Brum, cops were wrestling some to the ground to arrest them. It was strange because those that were getting arrested seemed to take it pretty well like it was all part of the game. It was almost as if getting arrested was something fun for them.
It was a good day but there isn’t much to talk about really. I just went up and got decently drunk off of some very nice beer. Before I came to England, I never really liked beer. Now that I’m here, I’ve gained an appreciation. The thing is that beer in the States just tends to not have as good a flavor. My flat mates think light beer is ridiculous and in truth it kind of is. I would rather have a full flavored heavy dark beer, than one which is just like drinking water…. which is slightly off.
My papers got done. Though they could have been better. That was my fault. I will say this, I never ever thought that I would gladly do work on a Friday just to make sure it got done.
After I handed my papers in, after all was said and done, I just did things for myself. Things which makes me happy. I went to the movies as many times as I could. I saw Up in the Air, The Road, The Book of Eli. I rented many movies off iTunes. All in all, it was mostly about just celebrating the fact that I was done with all that work.
The first major thing I did with this new term was I went to Manchester with my friend Charles from Filmsoc to go to an Ale tasting festival. That was brilliant. He like me is a big fan of stouts and ales. Lagers aren’t bad. They just don’t tend to have that personality of an Ale. Lagers all taste quite similar. Charles had been to these events before. He told me to rent the pint glass. There was also a ½ pint glass but the pint glass also had a marker for ½ pint. I just bought ½ pints all day but the vendors had a habit of overfilling by accident. So, I ended up getting more beer for less money.
One of the hosts for this event was Budweiser Budvar which has trouble selling anywhere other than Europe because of Anheuser Busch. In the pamphlet for the event which had all the different beers in it, there was a short piece which ripped the American counterpart to shreds. They didn’t beat around the bush at all. They just talked about how bad the American beer is.
Pretty much the norm for alcohol percentage was 5% or so. I think the weakest beer I had was 3.9%. Needless to say it was a good day although after a while, I couldn’t really taste the new beers just because my palate was shot. We did meet a group of German girls who kept saying cheers constantly. There was also a live band which played at the tail end of the event. They played old classic hits. Knocking on Heaven’s Door. For What it’s Worth. That sort of thing.
The city of Manchester itself seemed nice. They have a tram system there not unlike San Francisco. Before going to the festival Charles and I walked around a bit. We stopped by their public library which has a massive circular reading room. We also walked through their art museum and looked at some of the paintings very briefly. It was fun.
That night in the Manchester train station, there were a bunch of football hooligans. It was a big game day in Manchester. As we were getting on the train to get back to Brum, cops were wrestling some to the ground to arrest them. It was strange because those that were getting arrested seemed to take it pretty well like it was all part of the game. It was almost as if getting arrested was something fun for them.
It was a good day but there isn’t much to talk about really. I just went up and got decently drunk off of some very nice beer. Before I came to England, I never really liked beer. Now that I’m here, I’ve gained an appreciation. The thing is that beer in the States just tends to not have as good a flavor. My flat mates think light beer is ridiculous and in truth it kind of is. I would rather have a full flavored heavy dark beer, than one which is just like drinking water…. which is slightly off.
The Flight Back
I didn’t really do much while I was at home. I saw a few friends but mostly I just hung out with the family. My flight back was another interesting adventure. It started at round about five in the morning. My brother Chris was to drive me back to St. Louis to catch a mid morning flight. We were a little rushed for time but we made several stops to grab cheap coffee from truck stops. Neither of us are morning people.
We got to the airport all right. I was the last one to check in and I had to rush to get through security. I then found out that the flight was delayed by about 30 minutes. I bought some candy for the flight. I ended up not eating it until after I got back to Birmingham.
I talked with some of the other passengers before we boarded. They were heading to Ottawa for their second Christmas and for New Years.
The flight from St. Louis to Toronto was uneventful. I wish I had had my camera on me for when we actually flew into the city because it was one hell of a view. Seeing the CN Tower looming over the city like a giant citadel was quite a sight.
I kept checking my watch constantly. We were running late and I was going to have to hoof it to get through customs to get to my next flight on time. We did land in a separate terminal and were bussed over to the main concourse to get through customs. It was annoying just because I was running so late. Thankfully, I got through on time (and I now have a Canadian stamp) and I rushed to my next flight. Due to being so late they had bumped me but they allowed me to get on this flight. I was heading to Montreal. There is a flight between Toronto and Montreal almost every hour. I didn’t need to rush as much as I thought I had to.
I did have time to purchase a book from a News stand. I had finished the only book I brought with me on the flight and I needed something to entertain myself. I purchased City of Thieves by David Benioff. It’s a pretty solid read. I did however forget at how expensive books are in North America. I had gotten so used to UK book prices.
Once we landed in Montreal, the first thing I saw once I debarked from the flight was a restaurant. I probably could have found a different one, or a much cheaper one but I didn’t really care at this point. I just wanted food. I had a salmon steak and a vodka martini. I found out pretty quickly that I don’t really like those just because I don’t like vodka. I also had a pint of Heineken beer.
I found my gate. There was added security in the airport due to the Detroit incident. There was a doorway where once I walked through I was going to have to stay on that side no matter what. I decided to hang back at a café bar type place. I had two more pints of Rickard’s Red beer which is a very tasty Canadian beer that I had never heard of before. Very amber.
I got on the plane and due to my exhaustion, and the amount of alcohol which was in my system, I crashed the second I got comfortable. I don’t remembering taxiing. I don’t remember take off. I remember waking up half way through the flight realizing that the person next to me had gotten up and was sitting somewhere else. I did ask the stewardess if there was supposed to be a meal. Apparently I had slept through that as well. They did provide me with one though. I got a crew meal just because the economy meal wasn’t looking so good at this point. It was trout and as airplane food goes, it was actually pretty good.
We landed. I went through customs. Got to the underground and went to Euston train station. Once there I was going to buy a ticket to get home.
When I was in line to purchase my ticket there was a woman in front of me who was taking forever. I kept checking my watch repeatedly. The man behind me asked where I was going. I told him I could make the 9:23 to Birmingham if this woman would hurry up. “It’s always a life story.” I’m looking at this guy. The second he said that I start noticing that he looks very familiar. I then ask a dumb question. “Has anybody ever mistaken you for James Ellroy?”
“I am James Ellroy.”
My immediate reaction was that I thought he was lying but he kept giving me this wry smile. That’s when I realized that he wasn’t lying at all. I shook his hand and said that I was a fan of his work. For those of you who don’t know, James Ellroy is the crime novelist who wrote The Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential among others. A few minutes later he went up to the woman selling the tickets and told her that she should do her job just because the line was getting pretty long. “Stop listening to this life story.” The woman with the life story thought he was being rude and while, yes, he was I’m still going to side with him.
Number One: He’s James Ellroy
Number Two: I could have made that 9:23 train if this woman didn’t have a 20 minute problem.
We got to the airport all right. I was the last one to check in and I had to rush to get through security. I then found out that the flight was delayed by about 30 minutes. I bought some candy for the flight. I ended up not eating it until after I got back to Birmingham.
I talked with some of the other passengers before we boarded. They were heading to Ottawa for their second Christmas and for New Years.
The flight from St. Louis to Toronto was uneventful. I wish I had had my camera on me for when we actually flew into the city because it was one hell of a view. Seeing the CN Tower looming over the city like a giant citadel was quite a sight.
I kept checking my watch constantly. We were running late and I was going to have to hoof it to get through customs to get to my next flight on time. We did land in a separate terminal and were bussed over to the main concourse to get through customs. It was annoying just because I was running so late. Thankfully, I got through on time (and I now have a Canadian stamp) and I rushed to my next flight. Due to being so late they had bumped me but they allowed me to get on this flight. I was heading to Montreal. There is a flight between Toronto and Montreal almost every hour. I didn’t need to rush as much as I thought I had to.
I did have time to purchase a book from a News stand. I had finished the only book I brought with me on the flight and I needed something to entertain myself. I purchased City of Thieves by David Benioff. It’s a pretty solid read. I did however forget at how expensive books are in North America. I had gotten so used to UK book prices.
Once we landed in Montreal, the first thing I saw once I debarked from the flight was a restaurant. I probably could have found a different one, or a much cheaper one but I didn’t really care at this point. I just wanted food. I had a salmon steak and a vodka martini. I found out pretty quickly that I don’t really like those just because I don’t like vodka. I also had a pint of Heineken beer.
I found my gate. There was added security in the airport due to the Detroit incident. There was a doorway where once I walked through I was going to have to stay on that side no matter what. I decided to hang back at a café bar type place. I had two more pints of Rickard’s Red beer which is a very tasty Canadian beer that I had never heard of before. Very amber.
I got on the plane and due to my exhaustion, and the amount of alcohol which was in my system, I crashed the second I got comfortable. I don’t remembering taxiing. I don’t remember take off. I remember waking up half way through the flight realizing that the person next to me had gotten up and was sitting somewhere else. I did ask the stewardess if there was supposed to be a meal. Apparently I had slept through that as well. They did provide me with one though. I got a crew meal just because the economy meal wasn’t looking so good at this point. It was trout and as airplane food goes, it was actually pretty good.
We landed. I went through customs. Got to the underground and went to Euston train station. Once there I was going to buy a ticket to get home.
When I was in line to purchase my ticket there was a woman in front of me who was taking forever. I kept checking my watch repeatedly. The man behind me asked where I was going. I told him I could make the 9:23 to Birmingham if this woman would hurry up. “It’s always a life story.” I’m looking at this guy. The second he said that I start noticing that he looks very familiar. I then ask a dumb question. “Has anybody ever mistaken you for James Ellroy?”
“I am James Ellroy.”
My immediate reaction was that I thought he was lying but he kept giving me this wry smile. That’s when I realized that he wasn’t lying at all. I shook his hand and said that I was a fan of his work. For those of you who don’t know, James Ellroy is the crime novelist who wrote The Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential among others. A few minutes later he went up to the woman selling the tickets and told her that she should do her job just because the line was getting pretty long. “Stop listening to this life story.” The woman with the life story thought he was being rude and while, yes, he was I’m still going to side with him.
Number One: He’s James Ellroy
Number Two: I could have made that 9:23 train if this woman didn’t have a 20 minute problem.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Christmas Surprise
A few months ago, I was talking to my brother Chris on Skype. It was a normal conversation. We were talking about his study abroad and my personal experiences. There wasn’t anything overtly special about it other than I hadn’t talk to him in a while. Over the summer we had had several long telephone conversations about similar topics.
He finally asked what I was going to do for Christmas. Originally, I was hoping that one of my flat mates or friends would be able to host me for Christmas. That didn’t happen. Things fell through or people’s houses were already way too full. That sort of thing. Anyway, Chris asked about the possibility of coming home for a few days. I thought it was a possibility but also was a ludicrous idea. My brother is a kind of travel whore. He has even admitted to being way too attached to his passport. Within a minute of this idea he already had sent me some possible flight details.
The game plan was to fly me into St. Louis via Air Canada. My itinerary was from Heathrow to Toronto then Toronto to St. Louis on Christmas Day. He was going to have to drive through St. Louis anyway and it wouldn’t look suspicious at all. My brother was going to have to play a gig that morning in a church in Louisville and then drive up to Mount Pleasant. This isn’t the first Christmas that has had to happen and it surely won’t be the last. He would hit St. Louis at around 4:30 right as my flight got in.
The only problem with the plan, and it really wasn’t a problem but was more of a physical hurtle to cover was staying up all night in Heathrow just because my flight was so early in the morning. There was no reason to get a hotel. I had planned to stay up all night Christmas Eve watching movies on my laptop. The hesitation to buy the tickets lasted about 20 minutes. I felt that it was too good of an idea to pass up on. It also felt like it was straight out of a John Hughes movie a la Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It’s not surprising this came to mind considering I was going to have to utilize pretty much all forms of transport to get home.
I also needed to come up with a good lie or at the very least a good reason why I couldn’t skype with them on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve. The light bulb went off when I was talking with my flat mate Caitlin. My lie to my parents was that I had been invited on a trip down to France with her and her family. I had to modify it slightly when the trains between the UK and mainland Europe were cancelled due to bad weather. My family and I skyped on the 23rd. They asked why I had been invited. I hadn’t thought of how to answer that question but then another light bulb went off and without missing a beat I told them that with me in the picture, it brings the cost of the “trip” into group rate level. So, theoretically, I was doing them a favor by joining. After the conversation, I emailed Chris and told him that I had the perfect lie to cover our tracks.
On Christmas Eve around about noon, I quietly went up to Harborne to get a burger from the Plough. I ate quietly whilst slowly contemplating my travels ahead of me. I got a fat boy burger and a pint of purity ale. It was one of the most delicious burgers I’ve ever had. It consisted of a beef patty and a grilled chicken sandwiched between two buns. It was sort of like eating a mixed grille sandwich. It was delicious.
When I got back to my flat I decided to take a nap so I would have enough energy to stay awake that night. I had to stay awake so that I would crash on the plane. (I really shouldn’t use those two words in the same sentence: crash and plane.) I was awoken a few hours later by a phone call from my friend Victoria wishing me luck on my travels. I’m glad she called because it woke me up and got me focused. I had already packed the previous night on the 23rd.
I carried my bag and backpack down to University train station, transferred at New Street and then went on down to London Euston. Carrying my bag that far was the worst part of the journey. I was bringing home a lot of books. I hadn’t realized how heavy that would be. I could use many adjectives to describe that part of the journey. None of my adjectives would be very nice. The train ride to Euston wasn’t anything special. It was quiet and there were few people on board what with it being Christmas Eve.
I then carried my bag through the London Underground transferring at Green Park station onto the Piccadilly line to head straight to LHR. That took about 40 minutes. Once at LHR, I found out pretty quickly that all the ticket counters were shut off so I was going to have to spend the night in the arrivals section of the airport. That sucked because there was very little choice for food and drink on that side of the gate. I did find a 24 hour Costa. I plopped down and proceeded to watch movies all night on my laptop whilst sipping on some tea. I watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Conversation and The Night of the Hunter. All classic films and more importantly, all good films. There was very little which could be said of the evening other than it was surprising at how many other people were doing the same thing I was doing as well as one guy who I don’t think was all there. At one point he had a very vivid and very animated conversation with himself.
Once that was done, I finally got over to the ticket counter and waited to be checked in. I had a conversation with a man from Kenya who was heading to Canada. I also helped an Iranian woman, who could hardly speak any English with her bags. I hope she made it alright.
I then got through security and surprisingly enough, they did not make me take my shoes off. That was a first. Past security, there were a lot of stores in the departure gate. Several restaurants, jewelry stores, luggage shops and a few other gift/alcohol shops awaited beyond the security checkpoint. I killed time perusing stores. I bought some candy at a Boots store for the flight. I then decided to get something to help me sleep on the flight at a café. I ordered a scotch and plain water. The waitress gave me a strange look, checked her watch and shrugged her shoulders. It was 8 in the morning but I didn’t care. It was 5 o’clock somewhere.
I checked in at my gate and got a hot drink before boarding. Once on the plane I was hoping to fall asleep fast. Alas my best laid plans were all for naught. There were two screaming children a row or two back. I know it wasn’t their fault and that they didn’t understand but my God was it annoying.
I ended up watching more movies. In the span of 15 hours, I had watched six movies. I love movies but that’s just getting ridiculous.
In Toronto, customs was interesting. They asked me odd questions about why I, as an American, went through Canada to get to America. Once that was out of the way, I got some pizza and found my gate. It was an agonizing two and a half hour wait. The view of the city wasn’t that great either, through no fault of the airport. The weather was cloudy and there was a slight drizzle. I could barely make out the CN tower from a distance. I had been there some years prior so that was interesting to see it again albeit from a different perspective.
I crashed on the floor. I woke about 20 minutes later to the sound of some voices near me. Two people, who were also on the same flight as me, were quietly talking. We struck up a conversation. They lived and went to school in Wales though they weren’t Welsh or English. I couldn’t remember their nationality but it was an interesting conversation and, more importantly, it was a time killer. They made fun of the Welsh which was hilarious. When I got back, and asked my flat mates about this, they all agreed that the Welsh were the butt of many jokes. We shook hands and I checked into my flight.
I was excited. I was nearing the homestretch. I only had one two hour flight and a three hour car ride ahead of me. There were no hiccups or delays. Everything was sailing smoothly. The bad weather in the central part of the States was no problem. We flew over them. Looking down through the window, it was like looking down on mashed potatoes for the entire flight. The worst part of the flight was that the glare from the sun off the cloud gave me a slight headache. I decided to wear my sunglasses and I just laid back and was in that state of semi consciousness were one isn’t quite asleep or awake. My legs were twitching from exhaustion as well as the surge of adrenaline.
Upon landing in St. Louis, I walked through the airport with a spring in my step. I do remember passing by an airport bar and thinking about getting a celebratory drink and then I remembered the horrible truth that in the US, I was still underage. Oh well. It was merely a passing thought. I also was annoyed by a poster they had of an American beer in front of Big Ben in a show of how they are an international beer because deep down, not many people in the UK drink those beers on a regular basis. It’s about Bavarian beer or ales and not much else.
I did a lap through the baggage claim. Chris wasn’t there. Suddenly I had a horrifying thought that he had been in a car crash. That’s when I realized, while brilliant though our plan may be, there was a small problem that there was no way for each of us to communicate with each other if something tragic were to happen. Chris also mentioned that he himself had had a passing thought of “what if?” “What if the plane were to crash on takeoff or landing and was nothing more than a massive explosion for high def news?” He said that he wouldn’t have had a mental neurotic breakdown if that happened. Thankfully it didn’t. The second I turned around, there he was walking through the entryway.
I called his name and we got my bag. I then told him of my lie with the group rate portion of the trip. He stopped and said that sounded completely legitimate. At this point in the journey, I’m flying high on adrenaline. The finish line is in sight. I could see it with crystal clear vision. Dad called several times and my brother would look at me and go, “Shut up.” He and Dad argued a bit about the route he took and why it was better to go one way or another. I forgot how witty Chris can be. I had to bite my hand to keep from laughing. After the call Chris said he would tone it down a tidge. He did make the mistake of using “we” when meaning to refer only to himself in the car. Dad didn’t catch this.
Outside of the Iowa state line, we stopped at the Flying Jay for coffee and gas. It was funny because Chris asked if he should go for the house blend or the French roast. It’s gas station coffee. This isn’t like walking into a high brow coffee shop. It’s going to be black and disgusting so the only option is to make it as sweet as possible by dumping in more sugar than is needed.
One last phone call to Dad and then it was another half hour to Mount Pleasant. Once in town we stopped. Chris gave me one of those small cheap bows you put on gifts to put on and then he asked how I wanted to do this. I told him to drop me off at the corner about a block from the house. Upon doing so, I had completely forgotten how cold Iowa winters are when compared to the UK. The snow on the ground was the loose kind of snow which just would fly up your jeans upon each step. There’s a wood patch right next to the road which leads to our house. Upon the edge of the wood, I checked to see whether or not there was anybody outside the house for one reason or another. There wasn’t. I couldn’t see where the cars were parked but I decided to go the cautious route. I snuck down through our yard to the front porch. I crossed to the edge of the house. I looked to see if there was anybody at the side porch. There wasn’t. I then crouch walked and checked each window that I passed before making it to the entryway. As soon as I hit the top step, I noticed my Dad in the window cooking. I thought he had seen me. He hadn’t but that didn’t stop me from barreling through the door and into the house.
“HI!!” I shouted as soon as I entered the house. Chris was right there. Dad didn’t really notice. Mom was coming around the corner to tell us to shut the door. Once around the corner she stopped and saw who it was. She was shocked. There was a stunned silence for about 90 seconds with awkward laughter coming from Tom’s girlfriend Jen. Dad couldn’t really say anything either. Mom then feebly said, “You’re supposed to be… in France.” I started to quickly take off my coat. My bow had fallen off and nobody had really seen it. Oh well.
As soon as recognition wore off my parents gave me big hugs and my brother Tom was just like, “Why didn’t you tell me?” Chris and I thought that Tom might have blown the surprise by accident and the surprise was like, 90 percent of it. Chris and I looked at Tom and both said, “I think we won this year Tom.” There was no gift that he could give which would have been able to match ours at all. I think though that I might have raised the bar way too high to be able to ever match this one ever again.
We ate dinner and I told them about my flight and our little plan. Afterwards we unwrapped gifts. I didn’t get hardly anything at all. That’s the problem with coming home unannounced. Oh well. Mom told me that she doesn’t really remember unwrapping gifts. To be honest, neither do I. Though, I could hardly stay awake through it.
I slept pretty soundly that night. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed my bed. Maybe it was just the exhaustion, I don’t know but it was a pretty damn good sleep. I will say this, rapidly switching time zones twice in less than a week plus the flights and travel in general, is terrible for one’s sleeping pattern.
He finally asked what I was going to do for Christmas. Originally, I was hoping that one of my flat mates or friends would be able to host me for Christmas. That didn’t happen. Things fell through or people’s houses were already way too full. That sort of thing. Anyway, Chris asked about the possibility of coming home for a few days. I thought it was a possibility but also was a ludicrous idea. My brother is a kind of travel whore. He has even admitted to being way too attached to his passport. Within a minute of this idea he already had sent me some possible flight details.
The game plan was to fly me into St. Louis via Air Canada. My itinerary was from Heathrow to Toronto then Toronto to St. Louis on Christmas Day. He was going to have to drive through St. Louis anyway and it wouldn’t look suspicious at all. My brother was going to have to play a gig that morning in a church in Louisville and then drive up to Mount Pleasant. This isn’t the first Christmas that has had to happen and it surely won’t be the last. He would hit St. Louis at around 4:30 right as my flight got in.
The only problem with the plan, and it really wasn’t a problem but was more of a physical hurtle to cover was staying up all night in Heathrow just because my flight was so early in the morning. There was no reason to get a hotel. I had planned to stay up all night Christmas Eve watching movies on my laptop. The hesitation to buy the tickets lasted about 20 minutes. I felt that it was too good of an idea to pass up on. It also felt like it was straight out of a John Hughes movie a la Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It’s not surprising this came to mind considering I was going to have to utilize pretty much all forms of transport to get home.
I also needed to come up with a good lie or at the very least a good reason why I couldn’t skype with them on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve. The light bulb went off when I was talking with my flat mate Caitlin. My lie to my parents was that I had been invited on a trip down to France with her and her family. I had to modify it slightly when the trains between the UK and mainland Europe were cancelled due to bad weather. My family and I skyped on the 23rd. They asked why I had been invited. I hadn’t thought of how to answer that question but then another light bulb went off and without missing a beat I told them that with me in the picture, it brings the cost of the “trip” into group rate level. So, theoretically, I was doing them a favor by joining. After the conversation, I emailed Chris and told him that I had the perfect lie to cover our tracks.
On Christmas Eve around about noon, I quietly went up to Harborne to get a burger from the Plough. I ate quietly whilst slowly contemplating my travels ahead of me. I got a fat boy burger and a pint of purity ale. It was one of the most delicious burgers I’ve ever had. It consisted of a beef patty and a grilled chicken sandwiched between two buns. It was sort of like eating a mixed grille sandwich. It was delicious.
When I got back to my flat I decided to take a nap so I would have enough energy to stay awake that night. I had to stay awake so that I would crash on the plane. (I really shouldn’t use those two words in the same sentence: crash and plane.) I was awoken a few hours later by a phone call from my friend Victoria wishing me luck on my travels. I’m glad she called because it woke me up and got me focused. I had already packed the previous night on the 23rd.
I carried my bag and backpack down to University train station, transferred at New Street and then went on down to London Euston. Carrying my bag that far was the worst part of the journey. I was bringing home a lot of books. I hadn’t realized how heavy that would be. I could use many adjectives to describe that part of the journey. None of my adjectives would be very nice. The train ride to Euston wasn’t anything special. It was quiet and there were few people on board what with it being Christmas Eve.
I then carried my bag through the London Underground transferring at Green Park station onto the Piccadilly line to head straight to LHR. That took about 40 minutes. Once at LHR, I found out pretty quickly that all the ticket counters were shut off so I was going to have to spend the night in the arrivals section of the airport. That sucked because there was very little choice for food and drink on that side of the gate. I did find a 24 hour Costa. I plopped down and proceeded to watch movies all night on my laptop whilst sipping on some tea. I watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Conversation and The Night of the Hunter. All classic films and more importantly, all good films. There was very little which could be said of the evening other than it was surprising at how many other people were doing the same thing I was doing as well as one guy who I don’t think was all there. At one point he had a very vivid and very animated conversation with himself.
Once that was done, I finally got over to the ticket counter and waited to be checked in. I had a conversation with a man from Kenya who was heading to Canada. I also helped an Iranian woman, who could hardly speak any English with her bags. I hope she made it alright.
I then got through security and surprisingly enough, they did not make me take my shoes off. That was a first. Past security, there were a lot of stores in the departure gate. Several restaurants, jewelry stores, luggage shops and a few other gift/alcohol shops awaited beyond the security checkpoint. I killed time perusing stores. I bought some candy at a Boots store for the flight. I then decided to get something to help me sleep on the flight at a café. I ordered a scotch and plain water. The waitress gave me a strange look, checked her watch and shrugged her shoulders. It was 8 in the morning but I didn’t care. It was 5 o’clock somewhere.
I checked in at my gate and got a hot drink before boarding. Once on the plane I was hoping to fall asleep fast. Alas my best laid plans were all for naught. There were two screaming children a row or two back. I know it wasn’t their fault and that they didn’t understand but my God was it annoying.
I ended up watching more movies. In the span of 15 hours, I had watched six movies. I love movies but that’s just getting ridiculous.
In Toronto, customs was interesting. They asked me odd questions about why I, as an American, went through Canada to get to America. Once that was out of the way, I got some pizza and found my gate. It was an agonizing two and a half hour wait. The view of the city wasn’t that great either, through no fault of the airport. The weather was cloudy and there was a slight drizzle. I could barely make out the CN tower from a distance. I had been there some years prior so that was interesting to see it again albeit from a different perspective.
I crashed on the floor. I woke about 20 minutes later to the sound of some voices near me. Two people, who were also on the same flight as me, were quietly talking. We struck up a conversation. They lived and went to school in Wales though they weren’t Welsh or English. I couldn’t remember their nationality but it was an interesting conversation and, more importantly, it was a time killer. They made fun of the Welsh which was hilarious. When I got back, and asked my flat mates about this, they all agreed that the Welsh were the butt of many jokes. We shook hands and I checked into my flight.
I was excited. I was nearing the homestretch. I only had one two hour flight and a three hour car ride ahead of me. There were no hiccups or delays. Everything was sailing smoothly. The bad weather in the central part of the States was no problem. We flew over them. Looking down through the window, it was like looking down on mashed potatoes for the entire flight. The worst part of the flight was that the glare from the sun off the cloud gave me a slight headache. I decided to wear my sunglasses and I just laid back and was in that state of semi consciousness were one isn’t quite asleep or awake. My legs were twitching from exhaustion as well as the surge of adrenaline.
Upon landing in St. Louis, I walked through the airport with a spring in my step. I do remember passing by an airport bar and thinking about getting a celebratory drink and then I remembered the horrible truth that in the US, I was still underage. Oh well. It was merely a passing thought. I also was annoyed by a poster they had of an American beer in front of Big Ben in a show of how they are an international beer because deep down, not many people in the UK drink those beers on a regular basis. It’s about Bavarian beer or ales and not much else.
I did a lap through the baggage claim. Chris wasn’t there. Suddenly I had a horrifying thought that he had been in a car crash. That’s when I realized, while brilliant though our plan may be, there was a small problem that there was no way for each of us to communicate with each other if something tragic were to happen. Chris also mentioned that he himself had had a passing thought of “what if?” “What if the plane were to crash on takeoff or landing and was nothing more than a massive explosion for high def news?” He said that he wouldn’t have had a mental neurotic breakdown if that happened. Thankfully it didn’t. The second I turned around, there he was walking through the entryway.
I called his name and we got my bag. I then told him of my lie with the group rate portion of the trip. He stopped and said that sounded completely legitimate. At this point in the journey, I’m flying high on adrenaline. The finish line is in sight. I could see it with crystal clear vision. Dad called several times and my brother would look at me and go, “Shut up.” He and Dad argued a bit about the route he took and why it was better to go one way or another. I forgot how witty Chris can be. I had to bite my hand to keep from laughing. After the call Chris said he would tone it down a tidge. He did make the mistake of using “we” when meaning to refer only to himself in the car. Dad didn’t catch this.
Outside of the Iowa state line, we stopped at the Flying Jay for coffee and gas. It was funny because Chris asked if he should go for the house blend or the French roast. It’s gas station coffee. This isn’t like walking into a high brow coffee shop. It’s going to be black and disgusting so the only option is to make it as sweet as possible by dumping in more sugar than is needed.
One last phone call to Dad and then it was another half hour to Mount Pleasant. Once in town we stopped. Chris gave me one of those small cheap bows you put on gifts to put on and then he asked how I wanted to do this. I told him to drop me off at the corner about a block from the house. Upon doing so, I had completely forgotten how cold Iowa winters are when compared to the UK. The snow on the ground was the loose kind of snow which just would fly up your jeans upon each step. There’s a wood patch right next to the road which leads to our house. Upon the edge of the wood, I checked to see whether or not there was anybody outside the house for one reason or another. There wasn’t. I couldn’t see where the cars were parked but I decided to go the cautious route. I snuck down through our yard to the front porch. I crossed to the edge of the house. I looked to see if there was anybody at the side porch. There wasn’t. I then crouch walked and checked each window that I passed before making it to the entryway. As soon as I hit the top step, I noticed my Dad in the window cooking. I thought he had seen me. He hadn’t but that didn’t stop me from barreling through the door and into the house.
“HI!!” I shouted as soon as I entered the house. Chris was right there. Dad didn’t really notice. Mom was coming around the corner to tell us to shut the door. Once around the corner she stopped and saw who it was. She was shocked. There was a stunned silence for about 90 seconds with awkward laughter coming from Tom’s girlfriend Jen. Dad couldn’t really say anything either. Mom then feebly said, “You’re supposed to be… in France.” I started to quickly take off my coat. My bow had fallen off and nobody had really seen it. Oh well.
As soon as recognition wore off my parents gave me big hugs and my brother Tom was just like, “Why didn’t you tell me?” Chris and I thought that Tom might have blown the surprise by accident and the surprise was like, 90 percent of it. Chris and I looked at Tom and both said, “I think we won this year Tom.” There was no gift that he could give which would have been able to match ours at all. I think though that I might have raised the bar way too high to be able to ever match this one ever again.
We ate dinner and I told them about my flight and our little plan. Afterwards we unwrapped gifts. I didn’t get hardly anything at all. That’s the problem with coming home unannounced. Oh well. Mom told me that she doesn’t really remember unwrapping gifts. To be honest, neither do I. Though, I could hardly stay awake through it.
I slept pretty soundly that night. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed my bed. Maybe it was just the exhaustion, I don’t know but it was a pretty damn good sleep. I will say this, rapidly switching time zones twice in less than a week plus the flights and travel in general, is terrible for one’s sleeping pattern.
An Interesting Conversation
I know it has been a long time since I’ve blogged but I’ve been incredibly busy lately. Anyway, let’s go through this one by one, all the little events that have happened since my last post.
A few days before Christmas, I was up in Harborne to go shopping for some food from the Sainsbury’s Local. I decided to stop into the Oxfam bookshop just to kill some time. I did end up picking up a book whilst there but in the process I met a very interesting old man. He was about 70 or so. The conversation got started by all accounts on a very normal circumstance but was elevated by an odd little passion of mine. I overheard him discussing how he was going to go down to Heathrow in the next few days. He looked like he had done it before so, I decided to ask him for some advice as I was going to have to go down to Heathrow in the next few days. He told me where to go and what to do. He was very nice about it. He asked where I was headed and I told him my Christmas plans. I’ll talk about those later as that is going to take some back story.
He wished me luck but then out of the corner of my eye, I got a flash of something steel, red and blue. I took a closer look and I asked him if his wristwatch was the Rolex GMT with the Pepsi blue bezel. He told me that it was. I complemented him on it. The conversation then went from watches to travel horror stories. He talked about flying to Vegas. I told him that I had done the same and how I flew over the Grand Canyon. He told me about how he was in the RAF and had been stationed in Australia where they had done some nuclear testing. He said that he had personally seen about six nuclear bombs go off. He then told me about traveling across the Orient express as well as taking the Transsiberian down to China. His next trip was to go to India. This was a man who had been around the world. It was an interesting conversation to say the least.
A few days before Christmas, I was up in Harborne to go shopping for some food from the Sainsbury’s Local. I decided to stop into the Oxfam bookshop just to kill some time. I did end up picking up a book whilst there but in the process I met a very interesting old man. He was about 70 or so. The conversation got started by all accounts on a very normal circumstance but was elevated by an odd little passion of mine. I overheard him discussing how he was going to go down to Heathrow in the next few days. He looked like he had done it before so, I decided to ask him for some advice as I was going to have to go down to Heathrow in the next few days. He told me where to go and what to do. He was very nice about it. He asked where I was headed and I told him my Christmas plans. I’ll talk about those later as that is going to take some back story.
He wished me luck but then out of the corner of my eye, I got a flash of something steel, red and blue. I took a closer look and I asked him if his wristwatch was the Rolex GMT with the Pepsi blue bezel. He told me that it was. I complemented him on it. The conversation then went from watches to travel horror stories. He talked about flying to Vegas. I told him that I had done the same and how I flew over the Grand Canyon. He told me about how he was in the RAF and had been stationed in Australia where they had done some nuclear testing. He said that he had personally seen about six nuclear bombs go off. He then told me about traveling across the Orient express as well as taking the Transsiberian down to China. His next trip was to go to India. This was a man who had been around the world. It was an interesting conversation to say the least.
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