Photo Book of My Adevntured in England! And Carfidd, Manchester, and Paris.

Using Shutterfly, I created a photo book from pictures that I took during my study abroad course in England. Obviously, I didn't use every picture that I took. I will upload additional pictures to Facebook soon and link those albums here. But, for now, consider this a little teaser. Enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create a gorgeous, high quality wedding photo album at Shutterfly.com.

Mementos

I am back home, safe and sound, with all of my luggage. Well, all of it except my scissors. I forgot that I'd placed the scissors in my old bag/purse for some reason, and thus I packed the bag with the scissors in my carry-on luggage. Scissors are considered a weapon, so they had to be confiscated.

Now that I am back in the U.S., all I have to remember England by are Facebook friends, this blog, and a few memento items that I picked up along the way. As promised, I have taken pictures of everything that I bought, so that all my readers can see the little things I never bothered to take pictures of before. Of course, you have seen a few of these items previous. For instance, I have three new penguin items: the card and eraser that you already saw, plus this awesome necktie that I bought at the British Library. I took a close up picture too, so you can see why I call it a penguin item. That's the Penguin logo, with various titles that they have published over the years.

I also modeled this Manchester United shirt in a previous post. Here is a better picture of just the shirt, and on the right, a bigger picture of the crest. It’s my favorite memento from my visit to Manchester, although I also kept the train ticket.

 




And then there is the Doctor Who Experience packet. Below is all of the experience swag together. In the top row, the professional green screen photo of me clinging to the TARDIS, plus a Vampires of Venice and Dalek souvenir postcards. The souvenir poster, the postcard containing all the monsters, and a booklet containing images of all the things I couldn’t take pictures of, are in the middle row. Then there’s my experience packet T-shirt, and postcards containing images of a Silence, a Jadoon, a Cyberman, and a Silurian. All of these items, except the green screen photo, were part of my full experience packet. The green screen image was one of the museum's activities. 

In addition, I bought the shirt that I am modeling on the right from The Doctor Who Experience gift shop. The T-shirt features “the crack.” Actually, everything featured in that picture and my second modeled outfit (except the boots) were bought in the U.K. I bought the white hat at Camden Market and the black and white speckled one while visiting King’s Cross Station. The pants were both bought at the Marks and Spencer store located in the Kingstone shopping mall.

 

Larger Photo of the T-shirt Design

 

I also purchased this Doctor Who mug from the Forbidden Planet Mega Store, located just a few blocks from our flats. I originally visited Forbidden Planet for an author signing that I learned about through Paul Cornell, but quickly discovered that this mega bookstore/comics store/collectables store is a dangerous place for me to visit. I came out with this mug, featuring all eleven Doctors, plus the book featured in the author signing (Beyond Rue Morgue, shown below), and three Simon's Cat books! I adore Simon's Cat, so I got super excited when I found all of his books at this one store. Some of them were bigger and hardback, so I resisted buying them, because I wasn't sure if I'd have room in my luggage, but I bought all three smaller books. If you've never seen the comic strips or the videos, you should give them a try. As one of my flatmates pointed out, it's a little like Garfield in terms of situation and plot. But Simon's Cat is more minimalistic and mostly wordless.

The other books featured above include a poetry book I bought at the Poetry Break Out event that I went to at the Royal Festival Hall near Waterloo Bridge. The London Poetry Library is housed in the same facility, but I didn't have a chance to go see the library, sadly. And on the far right (top row) is the book and bookmark that I purchased at the Roald Dahl museum.

Last but not least, I bought two of these Sainsbury's reusable bags; one for me to use and one to keep as a memento. I am a little disappointed that their design has changed from four year ago. I liked the blue color scheme of the old design. Still, I absolutely refused to leave England without a bag to replace the one I bought previously, that broke due to overuse. Sainsbury is where I do most of my grocery shopping whenever in London, so I like having the bags.


 
If nothing else, I will always think of London when I drink my Whittard's Strawberry and Kiwi tea. I actually went back and bought four additional packages, so now I have five of them at home. That should last me for a while. Although, it probably won't last until my next trip to London. Supposedly, the company will be opening a U.S. branch soon, so I'll be able to order it without the international shipping fee. Yay! For now I will leave you with sweet thoughts of berry tea and London memories. Look out for the photo book that I am currently compiling. I will be posting it shortly.

Tea and Teasers

Today was our final day in London, so I suppose Buckingham Palace was a fitting place to visit – a royal ending to our London trip. We received an audio tour at the gates and then proceeded through the various royal State Rooms at our leisure. The State Rooms were beautiful enough, although much of the detail looked pretty much the same, probably because many of the rooms were designed by the same person (John Nash). However, I was intrigued by the rolltop desk in the White Drawing Room, because it reminded me an awful lot of these cabinets that I found in Louis XIV’s furnishings at The Louvre. I don’t know if the artist was the same or if it was a style of that time period, but I do like the pictures on panels effect.

After Buckingham Palace we practiced a little motion photography, and then went to lunch at the original Hard Rock Cafe. Honestly, my favorite part of the day was walking over to Whittards with my flatmate Liz, to pick up a few more bags of Strawberry Kiwi tea. Thanks to Carolyn for pointing it out to us, because we were going to visit the Oxford Street location last night, but that branch closed. Liz was new to Whittards, so it was fun to watch her wonder from tea stand to tea stand smelling one and then another, and then debating which ones to buy. Whittards has dozens of different types of teas, so it can be quite difficult to choose.

I am more than ready to return home, but I am going to miss a number of people in this program. Not to mention, this is my last academic experience. It’s still surreal to think that my “educational” experience is over. But I now have network connections all over the states. And maybe I will see some of these people again at ALA.

I also need to write a blog about my visit to Forbidden Planet yesterday. I went to an author singing at the bookstore/comic store/collectables store. The store is absolutely gigantic! I came out with four books and honestly wanted to buy many, many more. I also bought a Doctor Who mug featuring all eleven Doctors. So, look out for that blog later, after I return home. I will be taking pictures of many of my souvenirs once I'm back in the states.

Billy Boyd Day! ... or Rather, Macbeth, plus Sherlock Holmes

Globe Theater Day number two, or as I’ve been referring to it, the day I get to see Billy Boyd live on stage!!! Actually, I had a very excitement packed day. First Liz and I went to the Sherlock Holmes Museum. I’ve been there before, but this was Liz’s first time. And she thoroughly enjoyed it, took a bunch of pictures, and bought a bunch of souvenirs, including a poster of Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes. I was also able to get a few neat shots that I didn't get previously. You can see my other photos via Facebook.

 

Oh, and for my Beatles fan friend, there is a Beatles shop right next to the Sherlock Holmes Museum. This is the shop window. And those weird looking shelves, they actually rotate around in circles. It's actually kind of freakish.

 

And finally, because I knew my flatmate Annette was unlikely to get out of the flat much today, I decided to get a picture with the policeman in front of the museum entrance (he’s actually an employee). Annette has been collecting pictures of “cute guys” during this entire trip, and even made her photostory about the cute guys in London, so I felt she’d appreciate a picture of the Bobby.

Then Hilary and I met up for Macbeth. And oh my gosh, Macbeth was even better than A Midsummer Night’s Dream, if you can imagine that. Of course, it helped that we had a fantastic view of the stage and that Billy Boyd was in the play. Honestly, I could listen to Billy talk all day long. I love, love, love his accent. Dom makes me laugh more, but Billy’s accent is definitely more fun to listen to. You can actually hear his accent here http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/education/discovery-space/adopt-an-actor/archive/banquo-played-by-billy-boyd

We were standing just a couple rows back from the stage and right next to the stairs, which means that virtually every member of the cast walked right by us at some point during the production. I was literally about a foot from Billy. He looks even more angelic/devilish up close, because yes, somehow Billy can pull off both expressions simultaneously. Macbeth is technically a tragedy, but the actors are so terrific that they managed to work in physical humor, and occasionally deliver a line in a way that made us laugh. Billy was especially good at this, but I would have been disappointed if he hadn’t been, because I’ve come to expect a certain caliber of humor from Billy. Heck, he was even funny as a ghost, marching around after Macbeth. And the battle scene at the end was terrific. All the choreography for these plays is terrific. I wish we could clap for the directors and choreographers, too, because they deserve it. But the best part of this play, if you ask me, was the what sounded like the tune for “Loch Lomond” and the group dance number with traditional Gaelic dance steps. That dance number, and the fiddle accompaniment was so beautiful. It was a breathtaking experience and one I hope I will never forget; totally worth standing for three hours.

Globe Theater Hysterics and the Beauty of a London Evening

Two shows at the Globe in two days and the Sherlock Holmes Museum tomorrow morning. Add a slow and relaxing walk along Queen’s Walk (or rather, from Waterloo station to The Globe), and night pictures with a tripod, and you have one of the best days ever, quickly to become two of the best days ever! Today our class met in the evening and the majority of my class went up in the London Eye. After my panic attack at the Eiffel Tower, I decided to opt out of the Eye and walk along the Thames to the Globe by myself. And oh my gosh, it was amazing! I was able to take a bunch of pictures of the graffiti/skateboarding area, and a couple panoramas of this huge sandbox by the water (fingers crossed they turn out). I took photos of this open air used book sale and pictures of street performers and so forth. The weather has finally cooled down, so it was a really nice evening for walking. And possibly the best part was this huge penguin outside the aquarium! I got so excited. I just wish someone had been with me so they could have taken a picture of me posing with the penguin.

And then we saw A Midsummer’s Night Dream at The Globe Theater, which was absolutely hilarious! I can’t even begin to describe how much fun the play was. The actors were superb. The physicality of their performances made it hard not to go into hysterics. If you know me, you might know that I went through a stage in my preteens when I had a problem with getting hysterical frequently, so I’ve learned to restrain myself because I hate feeling like I can't breathe. Thus, it takes a rare spot of genius to make me hysterical these days. The play scene at the end was still the best part, but even the lovers made me laugh, and sometimes I find the first part of this play a bit tedious. I am really looking forward to seeing Macbeth (I refuse not to use the name) tomorrow.

And our night photography session tonight was more fun than I had anticipated. I had never taken pictures with a tripod before and I love the way mine turned out. Unfortunately, because it’s late and I am getting up early to go to the Sherlock Holmes Museum with Liz tomorrow, and then Macbeth with Hilary, I am only uploading a few pictures now. I plan on updating this blog entry (both the written and the photo portion) tomorrow, after all the fun is over and I have some time. Honestly though, I think today and tomorrow will be two of my favorites in London. Manchester and Doctor Who Experience don’t count because they didn’t take place in London.

Promised update: So, here are more photos from my stroll along the Queen's Walk. I finally got a relatively good picture of Big Ben. I wish it was more golden, but this is the best picture I've gotten over the course of two trips to London. And I also am very excited to have gotten a good picture of the fish lampposts that line the Queen's Walk.


I also took this nice evening picture of the London Eye. It has some camera flares, but I happen to love camera flares, as my friend Kait Dowling can attest.

My favorite parts of the walk though were the skateboard/graffiti area and the giant sandbox. If I remember right, this skateboarding area was even featured in a BBC's Sherlock episode. I love going back and looking at it again because it changes constantly. I love that about streetart. And this sandbox was super awesome. I don't even know how many meters long it is, but I'd guess over a dozen. And there were lots and lots of kids playing there. It's so great to see kids being encouraged to play outside in a social environment like this.

And last but not least, I love street performers and this was my favorite from yesterday. There were actually a whole bunch of these performers based off of famous paintings.

The night shooting was really a lot of fun, and I just want to include a couple more photos taken last night, as well. This is what St. Paul's Cathedral looks like at night. The second is a general cityscape.

I also want to say a couple additional words about A Midsummer Night's Dream because it was truly a wonderful production. I am amazed at how multi-talented these actors are. They all seem able to act (superbly), sing, dance, etc. I loved how minimalistic the play was too, so much in the spirit of Shakespeare. There were very few props, the set stayed the same, and much was left up to the audiences imagination, but the physical actions of the actors made it easy to engage with and follow the context. A lot of the characters were also slightly reinterpreted. For instance, Puck was more curious and innocent, Peter Quince was extra hilarious and ecstatic (and the whole acting troupe worse tap shoes!), and the guy playing Lysander had that love-sick drunkenness behavior down to a science. This was, handsdown, my favorite production of this play that I have ever seen.