Wow, so I really stink at the whole regularly posting on my blog thing. I'm really sorry guys. I was so good at the beginning too...I'll do my best to catch you up on the last few days of my life, k?
Monday: A pretty slow day. At least I had an excuse for not posting...nothing notable really happened! Except that, oh wait, it was a day spent in LONDON - so I guess that makes it pretty notable! I went to class in the morning, did homework for most of the afternoon, and went to see "War Horse" with our group that evening. It was a very slick show, by which I mean it was full of special effects and what-have-you. It was a West End show, so that part of it was definitely not unexpected. The coolest part was the life-size horse puppets: they each took 3 people to work them, and the actors could ride them!! Awesome, huh! Of course, that means they were 3-d puppets. The puppet workers were fantastic - they coordinated so well, and they knew just how to make the horses move like real horses do, down to the anxious ear swivels, the occasionally stomping hind leg when they're standing still, and the wary neck/head movements when they meet someone new. It was pretty awesome.
Tuesday: Very "touristy" but worth every minute of it!
The first stop of the day was the Tower of London (as a group). It was SO amazing! I really wasn't expecting much - just another old castle, right? - but it was really very impressive. First thing that I learned is that the Tower of London isn't just a tower - it's a full-on castle with outbuildings, impressive walls, a moat (it's empty now), and a history rich enough to suffocate in! Let's see...where to start...
First, I don't know how many of you know the legend of the ravens, but here's a quick summary: if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, then terrible disaster will befall England, likely leading to the collapse of the entire country. According to this legend, it was King Charles II (in the 1600's) that ordered that at least 6 ravens should always be kept in the tower. Ever since then, there has been ravens kept here. And yes, they're still there - paid for by England's government, and cared for by a special Yeoman warder who raises them from hatchlings, and so is accepted by them as one of their own. They even have their wings clipped to ensure that they don't ever leave the tower grounds. Crazy what people do because of ancient legend, isn't it?
Another fantastic must-see at the Tower of London are the crown jewels. Unfortunately, nobody is allowed to take pictures in the building where they're held...so I can only describe them from memory. Honestly, my persistent thought was that they couldn't possibly be real...everything is so crusted with huge jewels that it looks rather fake! I mean, I know they're all real, but it's just so mindblowing that it's hard to believe. There are at least 6 crowns, a few sceptres, a ceremonial orb, solid gold dinnerware, and a robe embroidered with gold thread. One of the sceptres is topped by the second-largest cut diamond in the world, called the Star of Africa, or Cullinan I. It's over 500 carats. Yes, 500. CRAZY!!!!!! It's about the size of a toddler's fist. Absolutely mind blowing. I looked it up online last night, because I was so curious about it, and I found out some pretty amazing stuff. For example, the rough diamond it was cut from was over 3100 carats. Yes, that's a figure in the thousands. I can't even wrap my mind around it!
And who knew? They still use these priceless things in ceremonies! The very day we were there, the crown and sceptre of state were gone because the Queen was opening Parliament for the new legislative year. They played a video of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, and she was wearing and holding so many of the amazing things that I saw on display, including the sceptre with the Star of Africa. Anyway, to sum it all up, the crown jewels were beautiful, stunning, mind blowing, insane, and shockingly real.
My final favorite of the Tower of London was the armory exhibit in the White Palace. It held many of the suits of armor of England's past Kings. I think it's really amazing that people actually wore those things...they're so bulky and awkward, it just seems illogical! They had a hands-on portion, and one thing you could do is stick your head in a helmet to see for yourself how limiting they were. I couldn't see hardly ANYTHING - I mean, all there is to see out of is a smattering of 20 or so pin-head-sized holes in the visor. I can't believe people fought in those things! The exhibit also displayed the heaviest (130 lbs) smallest (barely 2 feet tall), and largest (6' 9", I think) suits of armor ever. The guide said that in all likelihood, the smallest one was never worn by anyone - rather, it was an armor apprentice's final project. A child small enough to wear it would never have the muscle development to carry it. Anyway, it was super-cool looking.
In conclusion, even though it's very touristy, I definitely think that the Tower is a must-see for anyone. It's absolutely awesome. I'm glad that the program covered it, because getting in is expensive, but in any case, I think it's worth it!
After the Tower, I went to Chinatown to wander around for a bit. It wasn't anything like New York City's Chinatown...I guess I just thought it would be, since they have the same name. Not so. London's is 95% restaurants, rather than 95% cute little booths full of merchandise to haggle for. So it was cool to walk around in, and I did buy chopsticks, (PS, they're the same exact ones that my family has - funny, innit?) but it wasn't the hustle and bustle of the one in NYC. I'm glad I went though!
Wow...yesterday took a long time to write about! Now, on to today!
Class this morning - nothing unusual. Right after class, we caught a matinee of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" at the Unicorn theatre. It was a children's theatre production, so it was cut down and made flashier and more entertaining, to suit the hordes of field trip students. It was a fun atmosphere with all the little kids, and the company did a fantastic job of making it accessible to a younger audience, I thought. I mean, I didn't learn anything new about the text, really, because it wasn't meant to be a production that opened the scholar's eyes to new subtleties of Shakespeare's mastery of the English language. It was just meant to be fun, and that it was.
After "The Tempest" is where my day got incredibly exciting. Some of the girls in the group got tickets to go to the National Movie Awards tonight. I didn't care enough to want to shell out the $40 bucks for a back-row balcony seat, though. Anyway, they pointed out to me that I was welcome to come with them for the pre-show red carpet entrance of the stars. Since I had nothing else to do, I said why not! We got there at about 4:30, and the stars were scheduled to start arriving at 6. As we talked to people around us, I just got more and more excited - Harry Potter cast members (including Harry himself), Brad Pitt, Sarah Jessica Parker, some of the Twilight cast (:P), Orlando Bloom, Johny Depp - the list of confirmed attendees just kept growing! Well, 6:00 rolled around...and 6:30...and 7:00...and all we saw were a bunch of nobodies. At this point, I was starting to get cold, tired, and rather frustrated. The other girls had to leave at 7 to be seated, but I decided to stick around a little longer anyway. I can't be happier that I did!!! At about 7:15, who should walk by but Orlando Bloom! He wasn't really signing autographs, he was in too much of a hurry. But I did get a couple of terrible, blurry pictures. :) After that, I was more enheartened, so I decided to stick around even a little longer. Best decision EVER!!!!!!!!! At about 8:15, I heard an absolutely deafening cheer from the other end of the carpet, and pretty soon, the message was passed down the line - TOM CRUISE IS HERE! Well, I definitely wasn't going to leave then! He's such a great guy - he signs a good deal of what is thrust at him, and he even takes pictures with people (his bouncers take cameras from fans so that they can get a good shot from the red carpet with the fans leaning up against the metal barriers and Tom right up there next to them). Well, thanks to his kindness, it took nearly an hour for him to get down the line to where I was standing. PS, he's just as GORGEOUS in real life as he is in the movies! OH. MY. GOSH. I took a ton of pictures. I didn't get one with him, unfortunately...I wasn't standing in the very front, so I didn't really have a chance. BUT...are you ready for this?...I GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOM FAMOUS FOR DECADES AWESOMENESS CRUISE!!!!!!!! I swear, I've felt like a hyperactive teenager all night, because I can't stop freaking out about it. Amazingness of my life. So ya. That's my amazing claim to fame. TOM CRUISE, you guys.
Well, after that I just went home - I mean, the awards had already been going for an hour, and I'm pretty sure everyone else was already inside. After all, like the security guard said, there are two entrances (essentially one red carpet, and one "I don't feel like dealing with crazy fans"). So now I'm just trying to stop hyperventilating and calm down enough to go to bed. :)
Cheers, everyone!
THE AUTOGRAPH
His GORGEOUS face...and NO, the camera was not zoomed in. He was this close to my face. :)
Orlando Bloom's profile. PS, he's a bumhead. He wouldn't sign anyone's anything, and I guess he was just as much of an unsocial stinker inside, according to the girls in my group who went in. Meh. Oh well...at least I got a sideways shot.
Outside the Tower of London - this is just one corner of the fortress.
Me with the smallest and largest suits of armor in the Tower.
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