When I made plans with Hilary to visit Brighton, I had no idea what I was in for. I imagined that it would be another trip where I would visit a historic site and see another part of England, have a good time, and come home satisfied at getting out and about. While all of the above is true, the trip turned out to be one of the best I've had during my stay in London.
The outside reflects the huge Asian/Eastern influence on the design of this palace. But even this is subdued to what's inside. Every room is decorated with dragons and other fantastical creatures; railings are made of wood carved to look like bamboo, giving a decidedly tropical feel to the place. Sadly, photographs are forbidden inside the pavilion, so I have to make do with images I've found on the internet, none of which do justice to the Pavilion when seen in person.
This is the Long Gallery, which features many Chinese statues and paintings.
A painting of the banqueting hall from the Royal Pavilion website (click to enlarge). The centerpiece is the amazing Dragon Chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A large green dragon (see below) holds the chandelier in its claws; the chandelier in turn has multiple dragons holding lotus flower shaped lanterns in their mouths.
This is the kitchen, where you can see the palm tree decorations:
After the Pavilion, we headed to the beach, which at first glance looked quite similar to the ones at home:
Until you got closer that is....they apparently don't have sand in Brighton!
When what to my wondering eyes should appear, then the glorious site of Brighton Pier!
The weather, FYI, went back and forth between sunny and cloudy all day, so it wasn't as dismal as it may appear in some of these photos.
The pier was the absolute epitome of a seaside boardwalk. Although not everything was open (it was a Monday afternoon, after all), I could just imagine what it must look like in the summer. Several stalls selling everything from hot dogs to Belgium Waffles were spaced out along the walkway; a giant arcade is housed behind me in the picture above; your typical carnival games are below:
And then there were the rides! Sadly, the big coaster was not open, as there weren't enough people on the pier, but we found plenty else to do. We started on Booster. The beam seen in the photo below rotates, sending the cars at either end of the pole out over the ocean as the beam spins faster and faster. Oh, and did I mention the cars spin too?
Then we went on the smaller, "wild mouse" style coaster, where the cars actually spin on different sections of the track.
Afterwards, it was time for a cheesy, yet effective, ride through the Horror Hotel.
Then it was time for Galaxia. Think of it as the Dumbo ride from Disneyland where you don't have control of when you go up and down. Add in a soundtrack that changes with each different phase of bounciness, and you've got a pretty fun time.
Before we headed back to the train, we stopped for hot dogs from the "American style" Burger Bar.
But the fun didn't stop when we got to London! That night Hilary, Vanessa, Emily and I went to see Les Mis:
The show is still amazing after all these years. We were higher up then I would have liked, but we got to make use of a handy feature found in most balconies in London theatres. In the back of the seats are are cheap binoculars. Deposit 50 pence and it's yours for the show.
Well, I'm off with friends to go take advantage of Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. While I go enjoy that, you have fun with my album.
On Thursday, my day ended up being dedicated to exploring the history of Britain and World War II. I started out at the Britain at War museum, which explores the home front life of the British, including what it was like to live through the Blitz. It was a very small space, but still interesting. In one area they had a bomb shelter set up; when you went inside, audio was played that mimicked the sounds a family would have heard during the bombings of London: the air raid sirens, the engines of the planes, the whistling of a bomb before it struck its target. Another room was a two story reconstruction of a bombed out building. In between, there were displays about everything from fashion to rationing during the war.
After grabbing hot chocolate to warm myself against the drizzling rain (and scalding half of my taste buds in the process) I walked a few hundred yards to the Thames and the HMS Belfast, a decommissioned Navy ship that, among many other things, was present at D-Day.
This exhibit was a lot of fun, despite the rain. The self-guided tour took you all over the ship, including down into the maze of piping in the engine room and into the gun turrets on deck. Wax figures recreated the life of soldiers stationed on board during the war--though sometimes what I first thought was a wax figure turned out to be an on-duty officer, as the ship is still staffed with Navy personnel. To encourage children to explore the exhibits, there was a kind of "treasure hunt" game: the premise was that "rats" had escaped and were scattered about the ship, and the children needed to find them all to win the game. Needless to say, once I figured out what was going on, I became just as interested in finding the rats as listening to the information from my audio guide. Here are a few of the ones I found:
After all this WWII information, I found myself watching Mrs. Miniver that night, which I thought was quite good.
Friday I went to the National Portrait Gallery, which unfortunately did not hold my interest as much as I thought it would. While I did manage to increase my knowledge of the succession of the monarchs for the last few hundred years, I found that the headshots of various dukes and other nobility began to blur together after the first couple dozen. I revived myself with a triple-chocolate muffin (a dessert that has been one of my greatest discoveries in London) from a local Costa Coffee Shop before ducking out of the rain and going home.
This week should be full of fun, as my friends are back from their various trips. A day trip to Brighton is being arranged, and last night we secured tickets for both Les Mis and Oliver! for later in the week, checking a few more shows off of my "Must-see" list. All that's left is Stomp and Jersey Boys.
I must admit that since I've been back from Paris I have overall been lazy, choosing to rest my poor legs then venture into the wet London atmosphere. But I have not been entirely devoid of activity!
Saturday and Monday I spent time at the British Museum, breaking it up over two days to make it more manageable. The museum is full of mummies, Greek antiquities and Buddhist statues and was a lot of fun. Of course, there were some more notable displays such as:
The Rosetta Stone:
The Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon:
And then the not so famous. Mummified Eel anyone?
Today I took advantage of the relatively nice morning weather to go to Kensington Gardens. I was here a few months ago, but only to see the Albert Memorial for an architecture paper. The weather was also horrid at the time, as it was literally hours before the "Great Blizzard" struck London. Today was quite mild, even if there was no sun, and the garden was in full bloom, which made the park much prettier than when I first saw it in January. As I was by myself (the rest of the Group is scattered about Europe on different trips) I was able to take a leisurely tour of the Gardens, and as I had brought a book with me (Lorna Doone), I was able to stop at benches and read for a bit whenever I felt like it.
A map of the Princess Diana Memorial Playground...much as I would have liked to check it out, it is gated, and you are only allowed inside if you have a child with you.
This sign, however, gave me the giggles (click to enlarge). It warns parents that using the playground equipment will involve their children in taking risks (*gasp*) and that this is a good thing for the children. I wish somebody would tell that to the elementary schools in the States; they've taken out all the monkey bars at my old elementary school, including the balance beam (a whole two inches off the ground)--because somebody might trip over it. As if the giant mat surrounding the beam wouldn't be a clue that it was there.
The Sunken Gardens outside of Kensington Palace.
The Albert Memorial, as seen through the Flower Walk.
The Peter Pan statue! If you don't know where to look for it, its darn hard to find. Believe me, I wandered for two hours before I came across it.
After that, I went to Oxford Circus, where I gave into my hunger and broke my "No American Fast Food in London" rule and had McDonald's for lunch, before heading to Hamleys--where I decided that if Disneyland was out of space, this would be the next place I'd build an apartment. For those who don't know, Hamleys is a toy store--a five story toy store. Every floor is stocked with employees showing kids how to work certain toys in such an idyllic fashion you wonder if this place can be real.
If the banners don't clue you in to where Hamleys is, the clowns out front are sure to point you in the right direction.
Hamleys does not just have toys. Oh no. It comes complete with a Build-a-Bear Workshop, a mini petting zoo with rabbits, and a candy corner--complete with dark chocolate fudge. Yuuum.
Oh, and did I mention the section dedicated to replica movie props? Have a look at the Harry Potter wands if you don't believe me.
And then I found the Doctor Who section. For those who don't know, I'm a big fan of this British Sci-Fi show. I was seriously tempted to get the Sonic Screw Driver Laser Tag or the Dalek Alarm clock, but faced with hefty prices and limited luggage space, I gave up the dream--though I did walk away with a mini Tardis model I picked up in the model railroad section of all places.
I finally tore myself away from all the displays and headed home...just in time too, as within half an hour of returning, it began to pour rain. My timing amazes even me sometimes.
Let me start this post by saying Happy Easter! I dragged my body from my bed at 7:30 AM this morning to navigate the half-closed Tube system to get to Westminster Abbey for their Easter service. My plans to beat the crowds worked out--I ended up snatching a seat in the first row of one of the three wings of the church that faces the altar, giving me easy view of the entire service. I went to Westminster Abbey a month ago with Caitlin M. and Stephanie, but we were further back in one of the side wings, so today's view was much better. While the service was more formal than that in my home parish, it made me happy when the organ started playing the opening music to the hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Allelulia." We always sing that at church back home at Easter, so it was comforting to hear that during my first Easter away from my family.
Now I'm back in my flat looking disapprovingly at the dismal weather we're having (my first Easter spent in a turtleneck) and enjoying the Mars Easter eggs I picked up from the local store (imagine a Milky Way in the shape of an egg)-- sadly my Easter candy has yet to arrive from home (I have such a good mother). Having wrapped up watching Easter Parade, it's time to catch up on my blog.
When last I left you, I was heading for Paris. We left bright and early Friday morning and arrived at our hostel around 2 PM. After taking a few hours to catch up on our sleep, we spent some time getting our bearings in the City of Lights. We mostly hung around the Eiffel Tower, eating at a sidewalk cafe and getting some night time shots of the monument.
On Saturday, Vanessa had plans to meet a friend in Brussels in Belgium (only an hour away by train), so Hilary and I went to Versailles. The palace of Louis the Sun King is gorgeous and enormous. I don't know how many miles I walked that day, but legs felt every step by the end of the day. While the rooms inside the palace were very pretty, I was much more interested in the fountains and statues in the gardens outside (if you haven't caught on by this point, I'll reiterate again how much I love statues and fountains). A few of my favorites (remember, you can click on the photo to enlarge it):
But my favorite part of Versailles was just on the outskirts of the estate, in a place called the Queen's Hamlets. Constructed for Marie Antoinette to play in with her children, its a very small village of life-size houses that look like they stepped out of a fairy tale.
Sunday morning was spent at the Louvre. As it was the first Sunday of the month, entry was free of charge (unlike England, France charges for their museums). We made a bee line to the Mona Lisa, where we encountered this mob scene: Instead of the nice, orderly line I expected to find, it was literally a pushing-shoving contest to get to the front to snap blurry pictures of the famous artwork. I was thoroughly disgusted by the state of affairs, as it A) was dangerous--I nearly fell on top of a small child when someone tried to shove past and B) allowed no chance to just look at the painting. The only reason people (including, I admit, myself) were in this crowd was to take a picture of something famous so they could show all their friends. No attempt to appreciate the art at all, just snap a picture and shove your way out.
The rest of the museum was quite enjoyable, however, so I'm glad we did the Mona Lisa first. I probably only saw 1/3 of what was on display, but I got to enjoy a floor of statues and the Egyptian section, so I have little to complain about. I took dozens and dozens of photos, but I've only put a handful onto Facebook, as the task of putting them all up was a little daunting.
After the Louvre, we enjoyed some time walking along the Seine, where I decided to pull a Gene Kelly and be an American in Paris:
Sadly, I missed the famous fountain from the movie; I'll just have to catch that on another trip.
We made our way to Notre Dame, where we toured the ground floor, again free of charge. It was too late to go the top, so we decided to come back the next day. Instead, we walked to the Luxembourg Gardens and rested there for a while, enjoying the setting sun--which doesn't actually set completely until nearly 9 PM, a very disorientating fact. It was then back to the hostel to collapse from exahustion.
Monday was the day that nearly killed us. We began at Sainte-Chapelle, where the second floor has huge stain-glass windows, each of which tells the story of one of the books of the Bible in picture form. Then it was to the Arc de Triomphe for photos and lunch.
Then back to Notre Dame, where we waited in line for an hour to climb the 400+ steps to get to the top. It was amazing to get up close and personal with the gargoyles, however, not to mention the view, so it was very much worth it. Then we had to literally run across Paris to get to the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart Cathedral) before it closed. This included up and down multiple flights of stairs in the Metro walkways--and let me tell you, when you transfer lines in the metro, you have to walk somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 a mile to get to the next platform. And then once we got to Sacre Coeur, we had to run up several flights of stairs. Needless to say, once we got inside we were plum exhausted, but we made it. After a quick look around the Cathedral, we went back out to the steps, where we promptly found a large stone railing next to the stairs and collapsed on it. It was a very nice view; there were dozens and dozens of people sitting on all the steps and landings just taking it all in. Did I mention how gorgeous the weather was in Paris? We're talking nearly 70 degrees here. I was wearing T-shirts with no jacket, something I haven't been able to do in months. Quite a feat for a girl from Southern California.
After Sacre Coeur, it was time for the most difficult challenge I faced on the entire trip:
We then hightailed it to the Eiffel Tower, where we went up for night time shots of the city, then went back to the hostel and collapsed.
On Tuesday, Vanessa left early to meet friends who were visiting her in London. Hilary and I went to the Museum D'orsay, home to Modern and Impressionist art. Our legs, however, were so shot from the previous day's experiences that we only stayed an hour and a half before we realized we could barely stand. Instead, we went to the airport early and managed to move up our flight to six o'clock, which had us back at Queen Mary by 8 PM local time, instead of well past midnight, which was our original plan.
And that, in a nutshell, was our trip in Paris! It was exhausting, but quite a bit of fun.
That only encompasses a fraction of the 600+ photos I took, but it will have to suffice, as I will never have the energy to load an label all those photos onto Facebook.
One item of business before I progress with my tale. It has been brought to my attention that the links to albums in older posts have stopped working, which poses a problem for those of you who periodically check up on my blog. I will try to figure out what's going on, since those links are supposed to be permanent.
Tuesday morning, we were picked up by Haggis Tours, a group which skews towards ferrying around young adult groups. After that, the days are a blur, as we saw a large chunk of Scotland in only a few days. I loved the Highlands, which were just beautiful, with its large rolling hills of greeness. We started by driving up to Loch Ness, stopping at Dunkeld Cathedral, the only cathedral built in a location not designated a city, for it is here that the remains of St. Columbo of Ireland are kept. Just so you can get an idea of the kind of tranquil settings I was traveling through, here's a picture below:
After stopping for lunch in a ski village, we stopped at Culloden, site of the 1745 Battle of Culloden, where the Scottish Jacobites supporting the Stuart line claim to the throne were permanently defeated. After this battle, the Gaellic language was banned, and the Scots were forbidden to own weapons, in an attempt to prevent future outbreaks. We then went to Loch Ness, to the town of Fort Augustus, on the southern tip of the loch, to stay the night. We saw a cultural show where we were shown what life would have been like for 18th century Scotsman. Our hostel that night had a Scottish movie theme, featuring posters from movies set in Scotland, with each room designated a movie. We stayed in the Rob Roy room, a film starring Liam Neesom which I have yet to see, but is now resting in my Netflix Queue for me to view when I return to the States.
Loch Ness:
The next day we drove to the Isle of Skye, stopping at Eilean Donon Castle, filming location for Highlander and one or two other films. At the Isle of Skye, we drove around to several natural landmarks, including Sligachan, a river which is supposed to grant beauty to those who bathe in it, and Kilt Rock, a striated cliff face, supposedly created when by a giant hanging his kilt. Our tour guide new many folklore stories which he told as drove as around, which definitely added to the trip.
Kilt Rock: Day Three was mostly spent driving to Edinburgh, but we did stop at the Commando Monument, to commemorate the Green Berets who died in World War II, the Three Sister Mountains, and the National Wallace Memorial (the same Wallace whose character is featured in the film Braveheart. We also stopped to say hello to Hammish, a Highland cow who is a popular tourist trap.
Wallace Memorial:
After a quick four hour train ride home, I had enough time to pack and grab a few hours of sleep before my next destination: Paris!
It's been a long time since I last posted, largely due to the fact that I have spent a grand total of 6 hours in my apartment in the last week and a half. I spent Monday through Thursday in Scotland, then left Friday morning for a five-day stay in Paris. It was an amazing time, and I know you are all eagerly awaiting stories and pictures, so let's get right to it!
Monday morning, I traveled with the USC members from my Group (Hilary and Vanessa) by train to Scotland. If I you didn't pick up on the fact from my trip in February, I simply ADORE train travel, as I find it much less stressful than plane travel, and much more scenic. While waiting for our train at King's Cross, we made the obligatory Muggle pilgrimage to Platform 9 and 3/4, where wizards board the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter series. Sadly, I was unable to make it through the Muggle (non-magical person)-proof wall.
Once in Scotland and settled in our hostel, we went to Edinburgh Castle. Although we only had about an hour and a half there, we got some great photos and managed to tour a good chunk of the grounds.
We wandered about Edinburgh afterward, looking at the various monuments and gardens before meeting up with the rest of the USC students and our host. Dinner was at Jimmy Chung's, a Chinese buffet (we've discovered our host has a weak spot for Asian food--don't worry, we had more traditional Scottish food later in the trip). Some of the USC students are studying in Edinburgh, and they took us around to some of their favorite spots after dinner. This included a folk music cafe called the Royal Oak, a trip to eat fried Mars (Milky Way) bars (which were actually quite edible), and a stop at a Jazz bar, where one member of our group broke out his saxaphone and took part in a jam session.
Photos of Edinburgh can be found here and here. Next stop, the Highlands!
I know I'm a bit backed up on posting (explanation in next post for those who forgot why). This post is dedicated to information from March 27 to 29th.
Classes ended for me on March 25th with my architecture final. I spent Friday morning at the Natural History Museum looking at the geological exhibits that I missed during my first trip there. Having not taken a geology class in a year (I'm minoring in the subject), I found myself growing very nostalgic over the displays-- a sad but true fact. One display was on a trivia fact that combined both movie and geology interests for me. Apparently, in the last Superman movie, the writers created a fictitious formula for the infamous rock kryptonite. A few years later, geologists discovered a new mineral in Siberia that matched the formula exactly, a sample of which is now on display at the Museum. For more shots of Caitlin getting giddy over rocks (as well as shots of the amazing carvings inside and outside the museum), turn to this album.
Saturday was an end-of-term celebration for the Group with a trip to Leicester Square for dinner and a show. First we had to survive a hail storm:
We went to a Mexican restaurant, the on to see Spring Awakening, an adult-content rock musical. It was a very abstract production--think Chicago with teenagers. While not my cup of tea, the dancing and vocals were pretty good. After the show, we ended up wandering around Central London and looking at the sights at night before heading home.
Sunday was the day of the big Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race. We headed out a few hours beforehand to secure a good viewing spot, grabbing fish and chips from a local eatery as we waited for the race to begin. Some of the squares we passed were impressively packed with people, music, and jumbo trons from which the revelers could watch the entire race. We settled for a slightly less populated area from which we could see a good stretch of the river. Oxford won this year (yay!). Trivia fact: there have been three races where the race has concluded with a boat sinking. The last time it happened was in the '70s, when the Cambridge boat crashed into a stationary barge and sank--before the race even started.
The crowds line up for the race....
Oxford is the boat that is ahead. Go Oxford!
Final exciting news of the weekend: Mom and Dad are coming to visit me in May! They will be arriving on May 9, and their stay will include a three day trip to Disneyland Paris! *squeal* I'm soooo excited to see them.
Stay tuned for posts about my trips over the last week and a half.
This is the kitchen, where you can see the palm tree decorations:
Until you got closer that is....they apparently don't have sand in Brighton!
The weather, FYI, went back and forth between sunny and cloudy all day, so it wasn't as dismal as it may appear in some of these photos.
Afterwards, it was time for a cheesy, yet effective, ride through the Horror Hotel.
But the fun didn't stop when we got to London! That night Hilary, Vanessa, Emily and I went to see Les Mis:
