Dear Grace,
What a crazy past couple of days! I've just barely found time to write down my latest escapades! But before I get into those, please enjoy this picture of our lovely church building here in the middle of London.
It's a lovely little piece of architecture dedicated in the 50s, I believe, and it's literally like two buildings down from the Victoria and Albert museum and across the street from the Natural History museum (as well as a subway station). It's also a ten minute walk away from our flat, which is another plus. I can't wait to show the inside to Mom and Dad when they come to pick me up this spring!
On to my adventures! So on Tuesday a group decided to go see Phantom of the Opera, and at the last possible minute I decided on impulse to go with. I'm SO glad I decided to go! What an incredible experience!
We lucked out BIG time on the seats we got. Normally the seats we got cost £65 ($100-ish), but because we were students we got them for just £26 ($40-ish)! Which placed us like six rows away from the stage. Needless to say, it was breathtaking.
The theater itself was the perfect setting for this play. I just wish I could have gotten better pictures of the interior!
Yesterday we got up at about 6:00 or so and hopped on a bus at 7:30 to go to our first destination: St. Alban's cathedral. Most of us were still pretty trashed when we got on the bus, and slept most of the way there. Today was the first day I've been here that it was really gray and rainy all day, if you can believe it! I didn't mind the rain, but the one lowlight of my day was the fact that I messed up my knee a few days ago and have been walking (okay, limping) a lot slower for the last few days, so I tend to fall behind.
(First time on the bus!)
When we got to the parking lot, I kept looking all around trying to figure out where in the world the cathedral was. Finally I spotted it - waaaay up on top of a hill. Getting to the cathedral actually turned out to be my favorite part, because we walked through an adorable little village full of cottages and cute little homes. The first glimpse I caught of the cathedral was quite impressive.
The interior was pretty much what I had expected, but it also held a lot of things that I didn't expect. So much of the architecture was different all throughout the old building. It reminded me of looking at rock layers where you could walk from one end of the cathedral to the other and see the different sections added on from each era in time.
After the cathedral, we walked down to a Roman-England history museum of which, alas, I have no photos of. After that we got back on the bus and headed on over to the fantastic city of Cambridge.
When we first drove past King's college, I thought it was some duke or baron's palace! My mouth was literally hanging open as we drove by. This was the first place since I was in Chelmsford that a place felt so distinctly English to me. London reminds me so much of New York City that I sometimes forget that I'm not in America. But in Cambridge I think the narrow streets and the little shops and medieval architecture really gave me that distinctly European feeling :)
I had the opportunity to visit the oldest bookshop in the world during some free time! Apparently, this bookshop was first established in the 1500s, and has been a bookshop ever since. Our tour guide said that Ronald McDonald tried to buy up this bookshop a few years ago, but the owners (bless their hearts!) basically told him to take his diabeetus epidemic somewhere else. Apparently the city or the university or something wants to ensure that this stays a bookshop forever.
Around 3:00 or so, the sun finally came out for a little bit to shine on the buildings as we were touring around. I have to say, holy crap do those buildings look breathtaking in the sunshine!
At the end of the day we went into one of the churches/cathedrals to attend a church service given almost entirely in song by candlelight. Honestly, when I closed my eyes and listened to the echo of the choir's voices through that great hall, I could imagine just what it must have sounded like to attend church there hundreds of years ago. The fact that everyone spoke in a British accent only added to the illusion!
After that we rode home, and after splitting warm cherry pie (which I scored for just £1 at the bakery!), we forced ourselves to do some homework until we were too tired to see straight. Tune in tomorrow for my experience of going to see Hamlet tonight!
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