THEATRE! (The BAFTAs and the Globe)

Let's work backwards for this. So today, we went to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre for 30 minutes. Some of you may be saying "The Globe? Wait a second, you said The Globe was destroyed and that it's now just an empty space?" That's true, this is a reconstructed Globe Theatre, rebuilt to what the architects believe it looked like with it's open ceiling and beautiful stage. Others might be asking "Why only 30 minutes?" Because that's literally all the time we had in there. We went in. Snapped shots, had an actor talk to us about performing in the Globe, and then we left to go talk somewhere else. A lot of us werereally excited to be in there and possibly get to go on stage. *sigh* oh well.

The actor that was talking to our group was very experienced. We got to re-enact a scene from Julius Caesar in the way that the Elizabethan actors would've rehearsed, which is only using cue sheets. You'd get the last couple lines of the person who speaks before you and then your lines. That's it. They did this in order to prevent other theatres from stealing whole manuscripts, and putting on their own productions of it.

The reconstructed Globe Theatre from the Millenium Bridge.

The Shakespeare Globe Theatre

The Stage

Cue script. This is how the actors had to memorize their lines.

Now to tell y'all the good story. Six of us (someone from our group actually WENT to it) went to the Red Carpet of the BAFTAs! It was fantastic. So our story begins Sunday morning at 1:00 in the morning. The six of headed out to the Royale Theatre to stand in an already long line of people to get wristbands for the public viewing area of the BAFTA red carpet. We stood out their for 6 hours until they started handing them out at 7:00am. After we'd gotten our wristbands, we ran back to our flat, snoozed for at least an hour and a half, then went back to the red carpet. They opened the public area at 1:00ish and we all dashed for any open or pretty close spot to the barriers. We all stood there, waiting for the stars to arrive at 5:00pm. We saw the stars, got pictures and autographs, then went back to the flat.

Hm, I feel like I'm forgetting something...

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Oh, yeah, I forgot. It was 37F outside and rained the entire day. So let me tell you this story again.

Six of us (someone from our group actually WENT to it) went to the Red Carpet of the BAFTAs! It was excruciatingly painful but worth every minute of what we got to do. So our story begins Sunday morning at 1:00 in the morning. The six of us, layered up and ready to take on our prolonged stay outside, headed out to the Royale Theatre to stand in an already long line of people, in the freezing rain to get wristbands for the public viewing area of the BAFTA red carpet. Every part of us got soaked. The comforter and rain poncho that we brought in order for us to sit down on the sidewalk got drenched, so we stood the last 3 hours. We stood out their for 6 hours in the cold and the rain until they started handing the wristbands out at 7:00am. There were only two people doing the wristbands, and one of them was just standing there holding them while the other guy put them on us. After we'd gotten our wristbands from the one guy who was the only one physically putting them on the hundreds of us there, we ran back to our flat, snoozed for at least an hour and a half, layered ourselves the f*ck up again, and went back to the red carpet where it was still raining. They opened the public area at 1:00ish and we all dashed for any open or pretty close spot to the barriers. We then waited in the freezing rain for the stars to arrive at 5:00pm. All the umbrellas went down when the stars came in order to get pictures and autographs, and those who still kept them up were written in many a burn book when the event was over, due to their obstruction of views and taking up of space. To top it off, in the middle of the red carpet event, it began to snow! So there we all were, packed like wet sardines in a refrigerator, shoving each other and our damp autograph books out on the red carpet in the hopes that the stars would grace us with their presence. When we'd all had enough, we booked it back to our flat. Every part of us soaked, cold, tired and exhilarated from seeing the stars. We got back, ate a bit of dinner, told our stories, then passed out on our beds (only to wake up the next morning for classes).

Now that I've got my story straight, I have to tell you, there were SO many stars! Below, are my photos and videos (separate post) from the Red Carpet. Just a heads up, I took a LOT of photos and videos. When a celebrity came it was either, record it or press the camera button furiously and hope one of them would turn out alright. A large percentage of the photos are blurry and the videos are long and are just a group of us shouting "MARTIN!" and "TOM!" at Martin Freeman and Tom Hiddleston. What y'all are seeing are the the best shots that I got and videos that aren't 3 minutes long.

Waiting in line for the wristbands.

It's 7am. Time to get our wristbands!

Simon Pegg!

George Clooney!

George Clooney's autograph! 

Olga Kurylenko!

Olga Kurlylenko's autograph!

Helen Mirren signing my history notebook that Cassie, a Bennie, offered to hold out for me!

Helen Mirren's autograph!

Sarah Jessica Parker!

Saoirse Ronan!

Sally Field!

Joaquin Phoenix!

Quentin Tarintino!

Ben Whishaw (Q from Skyfall)!

So yeah, I had a pretty exciting weekend going to the 9th circle of Dante's Inferno BAFTA Red Carpet. Looking back, if I knew the hell I had to go through in order to get to the Red Carpet, I wouldn't have done it. But it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I knew that I just had to do it. Spring Break is coming up soon. I'll be in Berlin, Prague and off to Nantes to see an old friend. I'll probably be busy working on finals and whatnot, so you might not hear from me for a while. If anything happens, I'll be sure to post. Till then, later!

Footage of the 9th circle of hell (I mean the BAFTA Red Carpet)

Juno Temple

Eddie Redmayne (Marius from Les Mis)

Tom Hiddleston

Henry Cavill

Anne Hathaway

"You know what this place needs? Lions." (Well, funny you should say that)

The Tower of London. Constructed in 1066 by King William I as a fortress. Originally, it was only the White Tower, but as time went on, later kings constructed additional defensive walls. It was a place where prisoners were held and tortured. One of the people pointed out that what would make the place even cooler would be to have lions roaming in the area that used to be the dried up moat. Later, we found out that The Tower also held a great menagerie of animals at a time.
We got a tour from one of the Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters). Apparently, according to our guide, Shady (not joking, his name was Shady and he was rather slim), there is no actual recorded reason for why they are called "Beefeaters." The one theory that makes the most sense is because the guards were well fed (probably with beef) because, well, they were guards and had to be on top of their game. People used the term as an insult against them.
Sadly, we didn't have a lot of time. Arrival time was meant to be 1:15 but we had some issues with at least one person being late so we lost about half an hour and we had to factor in time to get back to FIE for 5 o' clock class. So, I started out with a couple friends but at right off the bat we lost sight of each other, so I was on my own running about trying to see as much as I could after we'd taken the tour. The White Tower was turned into an armouries museum. It was full of suits of armor, swords, guns and cannons. It was really neat. I also got to see the crown jewels. I couldn't take any pictures but it was a lot of gold and shiny jewels. With all of the diamonds on the crowns and the lights, if you just turned your head left and right, you'd get a light show.
I also saw some of the torture devices but other than that, it was a mad run around, snapping pictures at all the stuff I thought looked neat. I really wish I could've had more time there. Maybe eaten at the cafe or just not feel so rushed to see everything. Still, I had a great time at the Tower of London (which is odd considering what it used to be used for). If I had the spare pounds I might consider going back. That's the adventure of the day. I'll update the blog when I find the next one. Till then, later!

The Tower of London

Me being a purse holder as some of the girls take a picture. That's them in the corner, looking at how the picture turned out.

Slim Shady, the Yeoman Warder, our guide.

Entrance to the Crown Jewels

Tower Bridge, a lot cooler than London Bridge

Traitor's Gate

Moat around the Tower (and future lion enclosure)

Video of The Tower of London. Biggest things to point out are The White Tower on the left, Waterloo Block (Crown Jewels) on the right, and the Fusiliers' Museum behind. When I turn, Tower Green and living area of the Yeoman Warders will be to my right.

Taster Day and Unseen Tour (and a little poetry on the side)

So today I woke up at 8:00 this morning. Got ready and shipped out on a 14 tube stop adventure to Forest Hill out in Zone 3. This is where the Horniman Museum is and the place where I am doing my internship. I didn't take any pictures of it today, but I will have pictures of it up another time to show what it looks like. I was there for what they called a Taster Day. They showed the soon-to-be volunteers and I what we'd be doing around the museum, some of the exhibits. Overall, it was a great time. I'm a part of a great programme that's about engaging visitors, showing off some of the objects at the museum, even handling some of them to show to them. I also had a really fun time getting to know the other people who were at the Taster Day. It was so much fun talking and getting to know them. It was my first real experience interacting with Londoners. I had to think about all the basic questions someone would ask a student on study abroad like "What university are you here through?" "What university are you from back in the states?" "What state is that?" It was the first time I had to think about it and try and explain it to someone, because FIE isn't technically a college. It's a study abroad programme, so that got kind of confusing. We also talked about comparing the UK to the US, one of the big topics were the recent election, Mitt Romney, NHS. It was a blast. I loved it.
The fun didn't stop there though. The Taster Day ended at 2:30pm and I had to run it back to the tubes, get to London Bridge station and meet up for a tour at 3:00pm. Funny enough, I ran into one of the would-be volunteers at the tube station and we talked some more on the way there. I got to the station, ran to an exit. Ran away from that exit to the right exit, and clumped with the nearest group of American sounding, college age, people I found. This tour was called the Unseen Tour, and it's led by ex/homless people. Our tour guide, John Smallshaw (www.johnsmallshaw.com), was really funny, very engaging and also a poet! He gave us a couple poems along the way and it was really cool to hear him reciting them to us. We went to a couple out of the way places that weren't big stops like Big Ben or Hyde Park, but the lesser known areas, and sights that people might not go out of their way to see. We saw the London Bridge, where The Globe Theatre used to be, the Golden Hinde, Southwark Cathedral (the oldest gothic cathedral in London), The Rose Theatre, Red Cross cemetery, and Red Cross Garden.
I may not have gone out to Istanbul this weekend, but I had a fantastic time here in London. From tours, to the people, to just exploring on my own. London has so much to offer. Last post I said there'd be more adventures. Well, they aren't over yet. I think they're just getting started. I'll be sure to post as many as I can in the future. Till then, later!

The Shard, London skyscraper

Southwark Cathedral, oldest gothic cathedral

London Bridge (yeah, that's it)

Former Globe Theatre (yeah, again, not a lot to see)

Cross Bones Graveyard

The Rose Theatre

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the [Churchill] war room[s]!" (and a mosque)

So today I left the flat at 8:45ish AM and didn't get back until 6:40 PM. I was busy checking out the Churchill war rooms and museum. It was a fantastic experience. There were so many great things in there. I was taken on an audio tour of the place. I had my own private little phone device that told me about the rooms and first hand accounts in the bunkers. There was one funny one that was from a typist  who worked for Churchill and it was pretty funny. The audio guide said that some of the things down there, chairs, desks, and phones have been down there for years. When the war was over, all the people just got up, turned off the lights and just left with all the maps and things still there.

Connected to the bunker is a Churchill Museum which had a bomba$$ interactive timeline. I have a photo and a video of me using it below. It was so much fun.

The War Cabinet

The man himself, with me reflected in the glass.

The Map Room

A cigarette lighter. You press the button and the (barely visible) coil begins to heat up.

Bomba$$ interactive timeline of Sir Winston Churchill

Musicians on the tube ride back from the War Rooms

After Churchill, I was off to a mosque for my Understanding Civilizations: Islam and the West. All the females need to cover their heads and we got to see some of the Muslims pray in the direction towards Mecca. We had a speaker talk to us about the mosque and the 5 Pillars of Islam. After the mosque trip, we all went out for a Turkish dinner. We all sat at a tiny table and ate lamb kabobs, chicken, tea and ayran (a yogurt, water, salt drink that tasted like cream cheese).

I've been having a fantastic time here in London. I was out at Oxford Circus and Notting Hill. So many shops! I could do without the homework and papers, but so far it's been a fantastic experience filled with all sorts of different adventures. More adventures are to come! Till then, later!

Photos from within the mosque.

Turkish dinner