A Tale of Two Cities

I have a theory that the reason the study abroad planners schedule breaks in the middle of the trip like Stratford and our free weekend is to make us miss London and feel as if we are returning home by the end of our trips. If so, mission accomplished. I’m not saying that I didn’t like Paris, because I did. Watching the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower was an out-of-body experience unlike any other. We took a bus around town that let us get on at off at stops like Champs Elysees, Arc de Triumph (changing of guards was really cool), Notre Dame, and the Bastille. We saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, walked along the Seine, and we ate more éclairs, crepes, and croissants than anyone ever should. The food was UNBELIEVABLE. One night, we climbed the Eiffel Tower and saw the most beautiful panorama ever. Paris is called “la ville lumiere” for a reason. We could see from one end of the city to the other, and it amazed us how much ground we had covered over just a few days. There were miles and miles between our many destinations. After descending, we joined a crowd of people listening to a guitarist by the tower. It was really, truly amazing. My favorite part was Sacre Coeur, however. Yesterday before leaving we went to mass at this beautiful church in Montmartre. It was on one of the highest hills in Paris and we climbed hundreds of stairs to get there, but it was all worthwhile. The view of the city was breathtaking, and then we went inside to celebrate mass in French. I loved being able to understand the Priest and what was going on in mass and I was so excited to put my French to use.

Immediately upon arriving to Paris, however, we discovered that it is dirty—smelling like urine and sweat with trash and graffiti everywhere. London, on the other hand, is IMMACULATE. There are no trashcans anywhere, but the city is pristine. And the people are so nice. In Paris, the stereotype is true. They do not like Americans and they are violent towards us! We were pushed, waved away, and berated nearly everywhere we went. Needless to say, this did not improve our opinion of the city. The nicest people we met were from Tampa! We clearly adopted the British attitude of superiority and were so unbelievably happy to return home to London. After a joyful reunification with our friends (the Scotland and Ireland travelers were happy to be home too) we took a “gentle stroll” to Hyde Park. We picnicked by Peter Pan and had a lovely evening running around the park and bonding over our shared affinity for London.

to be or not to be

     We have spent the last few days in Stratford upon Avon, the home of Shakespeare and not much else. The whole town is centered around Shakespeare, with more references to his works in one glance around the block than you have probably ever seen. Our teachers told us that this is the time when most students catch up on their rest during a little hiatus from the big city. We proved them wrong. Stratford turned out to be the some of the most fun times we’ve had yet. When we got there on Wednesday afternoon, we checked into our respective bed and breakfasts (SO CUTE) and headed out to take a look around town. We ate at a small café and covered the extent of town within an hour or two, stopping in stores such as “Poundland” where everything is a pound—comparable to the dollar tree. Then the gang met up at a pub before going to see Morte d’Arthur, a four hour play. Many of us (including one of the teachers) opted to sneak out after the first of FOUR intermissions. We headed to the pub next door and watched the soccer game instead. Afterward, we discovered the Bureau-- a cool little club near our B&B—and we were the only ones there so we got to choose the music and talk to the bartenders.

     The next day we had to be up early for a tour of Shakespeare’s birthplace and grave. We were all relatively excited about this, but when we got up from the best sleep and breakfasts of our lives to find that this MIGHT have been Shakespeare’s birthplace, that what we were looking at MAY have been his ring…we were ready to peace out and find our own adventures. Later that day, our professor Mark gave a beer seminar as we sat by the river. It was actually very enlightening. Then, the best part—I spotted a place to rent canoes! Paul, Morgan, Casey and I got one and headed out. It was so much fun! We saw Shakespeare's grave and church and waterfall. When we got out, we got ice cream and walked along the river. It was a perfect day! As it grew dark (at 10PM) all 29 of us headed back to the Bureau. I will not attempt to describe how much fun we had last night.

     The bus pulled up to one of the most beautiful palaces in Europe at 11AM, and everyone stumbled out gracelessly. The Blenheim palace was one of very few that Hitler did not destroy because he wanted it to be his when he was in total power. We wandered around for hours before crashing under the shade of a huge tree in the formal garden. We probably made a pretty funny sight—29 college kids sleeping under a tree in one of the most historical and gorgeous sites in England.

rock on, america

     The word ‘lovely’ and its counterpart ‘quite’ are beginning to pervade my vocabulary almost undetected. English people use these words so frequently that we can’t help but say them ourselves. At the risk of being banal, however, I will say that they most aptly describe the events of the past few days. Immediately after class this morning, our LSU group (“le tigre” as the boys call us) took the tube to Camden, a hippie village in central London. Camden is essentially a market place with every tiddlywink and useless treasure you can imagine surrounding vendors of Thai, Polish, and Korean food as well as pina coladas—quite an eclectic mix. From outside of the open air market, we took what is called a long boat—a narrow, hundred year old boat—down through the canals of central London that were used until midcentury for travel and to carry goods throughout the UK. Along the canals were houseboats, famous graffiti, and floating Chinese restaurants…the usual.

     When we wandered back into the part of London with which we are more familiar, we decided to go see Mamma Mia. It was so much fun because the audience was extremely engaged in the show—clapping, singing, and dancing throughout its entirety. It was nothing like last night’s show, The Woman in Black. That show was one we attended as a group and happened to be SUPER creepy. Everyone was jumpy when we made it to the pub after the performance. One of our teachers was there hanging out with us and we were having a great time when the last call rang at 11 (this town SHUTS DOWN at 11). As my roommate turned to grab her purse, however, she realized that it wasn’t where it had been just ten minutes ago. All this time, we have heard about thieves in the big city but never really heeded the warning. How could someone slip in the middle of the 15 of us as we sat together talking and laughing and completely (apparently not) aware of our surroundings? However, this was the case! Two of the boys said they had looked over at Morgan, Mark (our teacher), Matt and me as we were talking at our table and that there had been two guys across the room looking at us, but the boys thought nothing of it. We figure that they must have snatched the purse and exited from the back. After this extremely discouraging event, we took the tube and headed home. On the tube ride, Morgan was cheered up by a friendly character wearing nothing but a leather vest and jean shorts who gave us the “rock on sign” and simultaneously repeated “4^th of July” over and over (it was July 5^th…).

     On Sunday, we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral for Mass. The church was gorgeous and the entire mass was sung, but the best part was that I heard my name being called from across the church and looked over to see Kyndel Edens! It was so great to see a familiar face so far away from home! Later that day, we had a 4^th of July celebration at our dorm. We ate pizza and had birthday cake with the other American students and later got in trouble with the mounted police for shooting off fireworks. I had another welcome encounter from home just moments ago as I rode the tube station home from Mamma Mia. I had just finished talking to one of my friends when the guy next to me asked if I was from Mobile! He and his fiancée just graduated from Alabama and were on vacation to England before heading to grad school. They had noticed my Alabama license and he said that they could tell by my accent that I was a Mobilian! All the LSU people got a kick out of that, and I was so excited to meet them. We finally hopped off the tube and headed back to the dorms in full agreement that the day had been truly quite lovely.

Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous

     Where to begin? The last few days have been so full of superstars, monuments and famed events that I can hardly separate the days from one another. We entered the realm of the rich and famous here in London, not the least of which include the actors who play Twilight's Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Paul and Riley. The Twilight gang along with Joe Jonas and other British pop sensations attended the UK premier of Eclipse on Thursday night, and we were there to see them! At first, we were only permitted to stand with the public masses around a screened in area which enclosed the stars and the elite members of high society London who were present to greet them as they stepped out of their limos. However, after exchanging some sweet words with the security guard, he decided that these "lovely charmers" should be able to go inside! We were literally feet from the red carpet.

     Duffy, the UK singer was also present and made it quite clear that she was not familiar with the Twilight saga despite claims that she "adored the novel." She said that myths are very common in Wales and that her favorite was one that Stevie Nicks had told her about a "bah (bear) who ate anotha bah who climbed a tree and ate a wahwolf." Everyone booed her off of the stage. The next night, we attended the National Theatre where we were given a tour (so cool, Laurence Olivier is a genius!) and met actress Natalie Dormer (The Tudors) and some guy from Jurassic Park and The Tudors--can't remember his name.

     Today, we ran into Serena Williams and Nadal at Wimbledon of all places. Wimbledon is one of the coolest things I have gotten to do so far...it was quite an experience. First, we got off the Tube to a sign that indicated Wimbledon 30 min away. We began the hike and 30 min later took a left suggested by another 30 minute sign. We began to see buses and we asked where we might enter the stadium, but the driver laughed, pointed in the direction from which we had just come, and told us it would be about a 30 minute walk in that direction. Thus began our first ride on a double decker bus! He took us to the queue which was literally miles long and after a few hours, we made our way into Centre Court. It was such an incredible and humbling feeling, being there in such a world renowned place with tension rising over the imminent sporting event and tons of people milling around drinking champagne with strawberries and cream. We sat on the hill and watched the match on the huge screen behind the court. Again we ended the night with a customary visit to the pub, but as it has been a long day (we met at 5AM to get to Wimbledon...) and everyone is sunburned, we have decided to retire early.