A month less two days ago, July 17, 2011, it was my 2nd day in LONDON. That morning, I went on a 3 hour walking tour of the city with my internnational summer school group which began at Covenant Garden near our Travelodge Hotel at Drury Lane. Although it was early morning when we set off, it seemed as though The Night was over London with the waves of dark clouds that broke over us in two concentrated intervals during the tour. Our umbrellas and water jackets were no match for the downpours, and since we stuck in the wide open, we became soaked through and through TWICE (no doubt a cause of the virus I would suffer from once in Exeter a week later).
Of course, little did I know then during our grand tour of the city, with the rainwater sloshing in my boots, that the REAL Night over London would arrive on August 6 -- the day I left the city to return home to the U.S. Although the sky appeared peaceful and the sun shown early that morning as I rode in the Gatwick Express train to the airport, the London streets were darkened by the Riots that broke out across the city.
The title of this post comes from the song "Cemetries of London," the 2nd track from Coldplay's most recent album entitled Viva La Vida, which I brought with me and listened to during the final week of my month in England when Madhurima Das -- a kind, maternal Indian woman in the program with me -- lent me her headphones (since I had idiotically forgotten to pack my own!) Here is the song, along with 34 photos from my 3 hour tour of London on July 17!!
CEMETRIES OF LONDON (Coldplay, Viva La Vida)
LONDON TOUR PHOTOS -- July 17th, 2011
Our tour guide, an intelligent, enthusiastic, and jolly fellow, reminded me keenly of the rugged mill worker Nicholas Higgins (actor Brendan Coyle) in the BBC's gorgeous 2004 production of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel North and South:
NICOLAS HIGGINS (ACTOR: BRENDAN COYLE)
SCENE FROMNORTH AND SOUTH (2004)between JOHN THORNTON (ACTOR: Richard Armitage) and NICHOLAS HIGGINS (ACTOR: Brendan Coyle)
OUR LONDON TOUR GUIDE:
Our London Tour Guide narrating the sites at Brook Street, with Brenna Lash (a current Bryn Mawr Student) and several other attentive Exeter participants in the background
Our London Tour Guide holding up his signature yellow umbrella and his coke bottle, with Exeter participants Jacob Flowers (left) and Raman Sharma (right)
Our Tour Guide with his open yellow umbrella in front of the "Royal Wedding Entrance" of London's Buckingham Palace
During the tour, I seemed to be obsessed with Hotel Entrances (perhaps because they symbolized potential sanctuaries from the rain):
London's Savoy Taylor's Guild Hotel Entrance
London's Charing Cross Hotel Entrance
...And Darkening Street/Station Entrances:
London's Westminster Tube Station, with bustling Londoners and the church in the background
London's Transport Museum, near Covenant Garden (the start of our 3 hour walking tour)
London's No. 10 Downing Street (aka The Prime Minister's Street)
But, even Big Ben and St. James could not keep my Taiwanese friend Eileen Chen and me sheltered from the approaching rain:
Eileen and Me at London's Big Ben, with the first wave of approaching rain clouds behind us!
Eileen and Me in St. James Park trying in vain to dry off after the first torrential rain downpour!
The tour continued through the Park, a Parade, and at a Theater:
The bridge and the lake with the ducks in London's St. James Park
A Brazilian Commerative Parade with gathered onlookers in the middle of a London Street -- just one of the many "random events" our tour guide pointed out to us!
London's Adelphi Theater where Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies was in production. This photo was specifically taken for musically inclined twin sister, Jennifer, whose favorite musical is its prequel The Phantom of the Opera!
...And took us to a number of Monuments and Statues:
The Commander and Chief of the British Army Statue
The Women of World War II Monument
The George Canning Statue with a London tourist holding a map and a "I love London" bag sitting on the steps in the foreground
The Base of the Abraham Lincoln Statue
The full view of the Abraham Lincoln Statue
London's Consolate Building Entrance with Engraved Women Statues above the doorway
Seated Female Statue at the "Royal Wedding Entrance" of London's Buckingham Palace
The George Washington Statue with a seated young couple conversing in the foreground
Our tour concluding with stops at Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square (with the famed National Gallery):
A quite sideways view of the Main Entrance of Westmister Abbey
The Main Door of Westmister Abbey with dispersed crowds of tourists in the foreground
The right side of Westminster Abbey with the Clock Tower
A view of Westminster Abbey with a gracious Exeter participant from China smiling for the camera!
The "Welcome" and "Visiting Times" Signs on the Entrance Gate at Westminster Abbey
A crowd of tourists with umbrellas in front of London's Buckingham Palace
The "Countdown to the 2012 London Olympics" Sign at the Entrance to Trafalgar Square with a crowd of tourists gathered
The Pillar against the darkening London sky in Trafalgar Square
The Lion (left) at the base of the Pillar in Trafalgar Square
The Lion (Right) at the base of the Pillar in Trafalgar Square
A view of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square with a dispersed crowd of tourists
A view of the National Gallery and the Fountain in Trafalgar Square
The Fountain and the Pillar in Trafalgar Square (I love the way the fountain water contrasts against the darkening sky)
THE EXETER PICTUREHOUSE THEATER -- Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Kimberly and I walked 30 minutes (with the guidance of saints from above) to the lovely Independent film theater (which was also showing several foreign films and had a billboard advertisement for the new adaptation of Jane Eyre* already released in the States, but coming to British cinemas on 24 September!) for the 8:45 p.m. screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2**! The film was perfect from the opening shot to the end credits -- the music was gorgeous, the acting was spot on, the ending of the journey was breathtakingly riveting and emotional, and we were both left speechless!! It was a magical evening -- so much so that Kimberly and I have both been drifting off to Harry Potter dreamland ever since! Thank you, J.K Rowling!!
ME holding up the Exeter PICTUREHOUSE Playbill in the upstairs lounge/cafe of the theatre just before the 8:45 p.m. showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2!!
ME (naughtily standing on the couch (subtlely channeling the wizardary of the wonderful Hermoine Granger while silently praying not to be thrown out of the theatre!) in the Exeter PICTUREHOUSE Lounge, at the explicit instruction of Kimberly, the evening's expert photographer :)
ME safely and properly sitting on the couch in the Exeter PICTUREHOUSE lounge minutes before the 8:45 p.m. showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2!!
ME lounging on the couch in the Exeter PICTUREHOUSE lounge with the row of artsy photographs/paintings behind and above me!! The lounge/cafe looked like a space out of an Andy Wharhol production with jazzy music playing :)
A closer shot of ME lounging on the couch in the Exeter PICTUREHOUSE lounge leisurely, yet excitedly waiting for the start of the 8:45 p.m. showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2!! What a magical evening :)
*Trailer for Jane Eyre (2011) directed by Cary Fukanaga and starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender in the classic title roles:
**Trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) directed by David Yates and starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Ruprt Grint in the title roles:
ME in front of the EXETER campus fountain near Holland Hall Dormitory
ME at the foot of a "weeping" tree on the EXETER UNI campus
ME sitting upon the arch of another massive tree on the EXETER UNI campus
ME channeling J.K Rowling (except Italian!) at the foot of the tree on the EXERTER UNI campus
KIMBERLY and ME posing under the "weeping" branches of the tree. Kimberly set the camera to take the picture in 10 seconds, but on the 9th second, the camera fell over and initally took a picture of the blue sky which Kimberly posted on her Facebook profile. We had such a laugh taking these photos :)
The second shot of KIMBERLY and ME posing under the "weeping" branches of the tree. When we place this photo side by side with the first one, it actually retains the effect that the branch above Kimberly moves to conform to our body poses in each photo! First, the camera, then the branch...Harry Potter magic?
DAY TRIP ONE: OXFORD!! We didn't get a tour of the University, but Kimberly and I did experience what we like to term the "human zoo" of the central shopping market (the crowds of people were at times overwhelming) and the contrasting serenity of the Church commons. We also had a bit of "an education" ** (See Below!!) regarding outlandish fascinators in a quaint charity shop :) More photos and mobile video of the day will be added in the coming weeks, once they are sorted!
Until then...
Day 8 (Saturday, July 23): Christ's Church, Oxford Charity Shop, and Pembroke Street
ME in front of CHRIST CHURCH and its war memorial garden.
ME in an OXFORD charity shop trying on an gray bow headband/fascinator!
KIMBERLY DeROSA and ME in an OXFORD charity shop posing for a photo with our outlandish bow headbands/fascinators. We died laughing while shooting this photo with Kimberly's digital camera :)
ME in front of the PEMBROKE STREET sign, an subtle omage to Bryn Mawr (my aluma mater) since one of its dorms is named Pembroke. The Pembroke dorm at Bryn Mawr has an East and West side. Jennie and I lived in Rockefeller Dorm (Room 118) all four years, but we walked through the Pembroke Arch (linking the East and West sides) regularly!
**The phrase "An Education" as the title for this post is taken from Lone Scherfig's 2009 film of the same name starring Carey Mulligan as a bright 16 year old girl (Jenny) who faces the choice of studying for a place at Oxford University, or of getting married to a much older man in the 1960's, as shown in the trailer below:
