A Saturday in London

Today has been absolutely marvelous. Sometimes I cannot believe that I am actually here; it's a bit of a dream come true.

Early this morning, I left Barnet for Covent Gardens in order to queue for tickets to George Farquhar's  The Recruiting Officer at Donmar Warehouse.

Managed to snag a dirt cheap standing ticket and then wandered over to the National Portrait Gallery to pass the hours before the matinee performance.

Thoroughly enjoyed wandering through time in the Portrait Gallery. Started on the second floor with the Tudor portraits and made my way through much of British history via faces. Many wonderful paintings and photographs. Here are some of my favorites:

The Brontë Sisters
by Patrick Branwell Brontë 

Vanessa Bell
by Duncan Grant

"Mike's Brother" - Paul McCartney
by Sam Walsh

John Keats
by Joseph Severn

I love what Joseph Severn said about his painting:

"This was the time he first fell ill and had written the Ode to a Nightingale on the morning of my visit to Hampstead. I found him sitting with the two chairs as I have painted him and was struck with the first real symptoms of sadness in Keats so finely expressed in that poem."

After the National Portrait Gallery, I had a coffee and then headed to Donmar. As I entered the upper circle (as a stander), I encountered a candle-lit stage in an intimate theatre. Energetic and jovial actor-musicians danced about the stage, already luring me into the play's world. I knew nothing about the plot. Truthfully, I only decided to see the production because I knew Mark Gatiss was in the cast.

Just as the play was about to start, one of the ushers came up to tell the standers that there were seats in the stalls. He directed me downstairs where I took my place in the left side block. Seated and close to the stage. Felt exceedingly lucky.

The performance was brilliant: comical, bawdy, witty, and vibrant.  I enjoyed the humor, the metatheatre... the clever quips and gender disguise. Now I'd really like to read the play. The music and the staging were just right - very effective and not distracting. The costumes were gorgeous. And the cast. Oh the brilliant and talented cast.

A few of my favorites (though the rest were equally wonderful):

Mark Gatiss, one of my favorite actors and writers. Gatiss has written for and performed in both Doctor Who and Sherlock. He was marvelous as the ridiculous Captain Brazen.

As Captain Brazen*

. 

As Mycroft Holmes
(from BBC)

Mackenzie Crook as Sergeant Kite. Most known for playing Gareth Keenan in The Office and Ragetti in The Pirates of the Caribbean.

As Gareth Keenan
(from BBC)

As Sergeant Kite*

Tobias Menzies as Captain Plume, who I recognized from my many years of watching Masterpiece Theatre. He played William Elliot in the 2007 Persuasion. 

As William Elliot
(from PBS)

As Captain Plume*

Rachael Stirling as Melinda. Also from The Young Victoria, an episode of Lewis, etc.

As Melinda*

The Recruiting Officer made for a lovely and entertaining afternoon. So happy I decided to attend a performance.

As per usual, my day ended with a crowded tube ride back to Barnet and then an evening spent with my homestay family: dinner, telly, and tea.
~L

*photo credit to Donmar Warehouse and Johan Persson

Wholock

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how amazing this gif is?

Doctor Who, Sherlock, and the lovely
city I've begun to call home

~L

Keats House

Home of John Keats (from 1819 to 1820) - here
he wrote some of his most famous poetry and fell
in love with Fanny Brawne

Keats' study/sitting room

Keats' bedroom

Fanny Brawne's room 

Mulberry tree, believed to date back to the 17th century 

~L

Virginia Woolf, Greenwich, & Peanut Butter

To make up for yesterday's lack of a post, I've also posted an entry on Metacognitive today. Yesterday was the anniversary of Virginia Woolf's suicide and I decided to pay homage to the brilliant writer by visiting one of her London homes and writing a brief commemoration. (Click through pictures for post.)

Yesterday we walked around Greenwich. Visited Greenwich Park, Queen's House, the Painted Hall & Chapel in the Old Royal Naval College, and St. Alfege's Church. Then took a boat up the Thames back to Westminister. Twas a marvelously sunny day and the boat ride was fabulous. My favorite site of the day was the Painted Hall (James Thornhill, you cheeky man).

Queen's House

Tulip Staircase (in Queen's House) 

Painted Hall

The West Wall, featuring King George I

James Thornhill himself, reminding
us that he needs to be paid

Bought my first jar of peanut butter this week. How domestic. It's very delicious, but tiny.

In other news, I'm sunburnt. In March.

Also: I love London. 

~L

Classes

Second day of class. I rather adore all of my courses (no surprise there), and my professors are all very lovely. Here's a brief run-down on what I will be studying:

London Theatre - For this class, we read one play a week and then see it performed here in London (or Stratford-upon-Avon, for the Shakespeare plays). We also have to attend one fringe theatre production. Later in the quarter, we will be writing, staging and performing our own "playlets" in small groups.

Modernist London - A study of modernism and modernity in London. We're reading: The Picture of Dorian Gray, selections from Henry Mayhew's London Labour and London Poor, The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, London Scene by Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, the Vorticist manifesto from Blast 1,  and selections from George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London. Our excursions include: a Jack the Ripper tour, tour of Greenwich Royal Observatory and National Maritime Museum, visiting the London transport museum, a Dalloway walk, visiting the Tate Modern, and an Orwell walk.

Art, Architecture & Society - Once a week, Peter Buckroyd takes us on a long walk. He takes us to important places and monuments and teaches us about architectural styles, history, and London society. Some of our scheduled walks are: Greenwich, Hampton Court, Stratford-upon-Avon, St. Paul's Cathedral & Wren Churches, Canal Walk, Stonehenge/Stourhead/Avebury, Post-Modernism, and several pub-crawls (for academic purposes, of course).

Contemporary Britain - I'm not actually taking this class, but I'm probably going to attend most of the meetings and excursions. We'll be looking at the monarchy, Britain's relationship with Europe, the place of religion, homelessness, terrorism, and Britain's future. Some of our excursions are: Trafalgar Square & St. James's Park, palaces & monuments, the Imperial War Museum,  Mayfair, the Blitz, the old docks, and a mosque.

~L

The Madness of George III

Tonight was The Madness of George III at the Apollo Theatre.

Greatly appreciated and loved the allusions to King Lear. And, I absolutely adored the use of Handel throughout the play. Quite effective and often very moving.

~ L

Handel's Coronation Anthem No. 1 (Zadok the Priest)

Sherlock Saturday

"My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of the window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains of events, working through generation, and leading to the most outre results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitable. 

~ "A Case of Identity" by Arthur Conan Doyle

*This post contains Sherlock series two spoilers.

Sherlock Saturday began with lunch at Speedy's Sandwich Bar & Cafe, featured in the recent BBC production of Sherlock. The food was quite excellent (burgers for my friends, falafel wrap for me) and the atmosphere was warm and friendly. We've already decided to make a return trip.

Speedy's Sandwich Bar at 187 North Gower St

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meet
at 221b for the first time

Standing in front of the fake 221b

From there, we made our way to the actual 221b Baker Street. Only getting turned around once. Just as London, A to Z helps Sherlock solve the book cipher in time to save John and Sarah, the trusty map book saved us from getting too lost while navigating through London.

The Sherlock Holmes museum was quite a treat. Especially for a Holmesian nerd, like myself. After the famous seventeen steps, the first floor holds the famous study and the detective's bedroom, maintained as they might have appeared in Holmes's lifetime.

A book in Holmes's bedroom, open to a page on beekeeping

"His unanswered correspondance transfixed by
a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden
mantelpiece" - The Musgrave Ritual

Legendary icons

Dr. Watson and Mrs. Hudson's bedrooms are on the second floor. These rooms contain fictional correspondence, artifacts from cases, and personal belongings from Doyle's many stories. I loved recognizing all the little details from many of the cases.

The third floor was decidedly creepy, but only because of the wax figures. 

Holmes and Reginald Musgrave peer down
- from "The Musgrave Ritual"

The famous pair (and a corpse, of course)

Our next destination being Northumberland Street, we caught the Bakerloo line to Charing Cross at Baker St. Station.

The Sherlock Holmes Public House and Restaurant is tucked away on Northumberland Street, near Great Scotland Yard (the street that gave Scotland Yard its name). The pub is located in what used to be the Northumberland Arms, the hotel where Henry Baskerville lodged when he arrived in England at the beginning of Hound of the Baskervilles. We didn't stop, but made plans to eat there at a later time.

Sherlock Saturday ended with a visit to St. Bart's Hospital. Here, in one of its chemical laboratories, Holmes and Watson met for the very first time. And more recently, Sherlock fell to his "death" from the roof of St. Bart's in the BBC's updated Sherlock  We had a brief moment of silence. 

First meetings - from BBC's Sherlock

The Fall - from BBC's Sherlock 

*spoilers

All in all, quite the perfect Sherlockian adventure.
~L

Orientation, day two

aka: The joys and pains of being an English major

Why joy and pain, you might ask? 

Because of these lovelies - 

Joy: acquiring new books and the prospect of reading all of these. Pain: carrying them all over London in a backpack (for four hours). They conveniently handed out our books right before our four hour walk today.

That pile contains:

• London Labour and London Poor by Henry Mayhew
• The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster
• Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
• Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
• 253 by Geoff Ryman
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• London A to Z (eeee... Sherlock geekout)

• She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
• The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare
• London guide book
• The Tempest by Shakespeare
• The London Scene by Virginia Woolf
• The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett

And that's not everything. Still have the books for the second half of the London Theatre course. 

Have to admit I'm getting pretty excited about classes starting up. Especially since the classes are going to be integrated with the city itself. Excursions and experiences, rather than lectures.  

Tomorrow's being taken over by Sherlock Saturday, so I'll write a proper post about my first week on Sunday. 

~L

Orientation, day one

Four plus hours of walking around London, with this brilliant and witty man as our leader:

Peter Buckroyd

Here he is, telling us to keep an eye out for lampposts.

~L

First full day

Though I may not write every day (I'll try to write once a week, at the minimum), I will try to post something for every day that I'm in London... a picture, video, or link.

My place of residence

My room is the top left window

Adorable and friendly, Bubbles the cat

A bit of Barnet from my walk today: timed my walk
 to Cockfosters station and explored Barnet 

~L

Arriving

Three hours in Sea-Tac, nine hours on an airplane, three films (A Dangerous Method, My Week With Marilyn, and Tinker Tailor Solider Spy), border control, a very long ride on the Underground (the entire Piccadilly line), no sleep, and I am here. London.

Everything went quite smoothly. No delayed flights, nothing lost (and that includes myself), no problems. Also, the weather was gorgeous today. A rather exceptional beginning.

My final destination: Cockfosters, end of Piccadilly Line

Attempting to stay awake as long as I possibly can. Already had two cups of tea, and biscuits. My homestay is absolutely lovely. Quite perfect, really. The most charming house with a crazy staircase and very friendly cat named Bubbles. Suzan and Esme are wonderful.

I reside at the top of a winding narrow staircase on the third floor:

All unpacked and settled in now. Here's my lovely room and the view outside my window:

Dinner's in a few. Listening to the sound of cooking and Esme doing her homework. 

~L