National Gallery and Florence Foster Jenkins

The coolest thing about returning to London with the same program is even though we're going to a lot of the same places, these places are so massive and fascinating, that the second visit is just as cool as the first.

Here are just a few of my favorite pieces from the National Gallery:

John Constable -- Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds

Pierre-Auguste Renoir -- At the Theater (1876)

Jean-Baptiste Perronneau -- Jacques Cazotte (1760-5)

Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun (a woman artist!) -- Self Portrait in a Straw Hat (1782)

Georges Seurat -- Le Bec du Hoc, Grandcamp (1885)

Theo van Rysselberghe -- Coastal Scene (1892)

Akseli Gallen-Kailela -- Lake Keitele (1905)

John Constable -- Salsibury Cathedral and Leadenhall from the River Avon

Claude Monet -- The Thames below Westminster (1871)

Claude Monet -- Water-Lilies, Setting Sun (1907)

Peter Paul Rubens -- A Lion Hunt (1614)

Bartolome Esteban Murillo -- A Peasant Boy leaning on a Sill (1670-80)

Raphael -- The Madonna of the Pinks (1506-7)

Leonardo da Vinci -- The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist (1500)

Jacopo Tintoretto -- Saint George and the Dragon (1555)

Paolo Uccello-- Saint George and the Dragon (1479)

El Greco -- The Adoration of the Name of Jesus (1578)

Sassoferrato -- The Virgin in Prayer, The Virgin and Child Embracing (1609-85)

Bartolome Esteban Murillo -- The Heavenly and Earthly Trinities (1675)

Luca Giordano -- Perseus turning Phineas and his Followers to Stone

Now, I don't usually condone mocking of great works of art. There is always some level of understanding and beauty people can find in pieces painted hundreds of years ago . . . but I'll admit, this is just in here so I show it to Marissa. :D 

I love the National Gallery. I love taking my time and finding the pieces I connect with, reading the plaques, and standing back and looking for a good chunk of time. Like with museums, its almost impossible to comprehend all the history and culture I have available before me -- for free. 

After the gallery and a beautiful lunch of Nandos (I took Alexis for the first time and now she's hooked. Success.), we saw our first film! Florence Foster Jenkins, a really fun and touching film starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant about the worst opera singer in New York's history. We had a cool discussion about pride and love and how each can be expressed in different ways and be confining/freeing. It had a little bit of the American-Idol-audition cringe, but mostly I admired Florence and her true love of music and believe in its power to heal and reach others.

And with this fabulous Monday, we launch the busiest week of the program!

Civil War and a Gala for St. George

Saturday (4/30 -- I know, I'm disgustingly behind)! So . . . of course Alexis and I spent our first free morning seeing Captain America: Civil War because, well, it was our duty as film students to see it as soon as possible. Our theater was large with great sound, and obviously it was fantastic. Team Iron Man all the way. Fight me.

Then, for the small inconvenience of 15 pounds, I bought me a UK sim card so I can have data and look up things to my heart's content. Things like "bergamot" and "Canadian independence" and "Nando's near me." It has been quite handy.

To wrap up our day, we went to one of my most favorite places in all of London -- the Royal Albert Hall. The concert was a Gala for St. George, so it was a patriotic, more casual concert of traditional English songs like Elgar, Handel, and Vaughan Williams, and favorites like "The White Cliffs of Dover," "Rule Britannia!" and "Scarborough Fair." It was so fantastic! Mostly an older crowd, and so hearing them sing along with the war songs and wave their flags was really something else. I love this building so much and I can't wait to go to another concert there!

Harrods and the British Museum

Thursday! Our first full day in London! Miraculously, I hardly felt jet-lagged at all! That's the power of sleeping on the plane for ya. We have class from 9-12pm every Tuesday and Thursday, so after a class (that was mostly filled with housekeeping things, followed by some great prep discussion) we all headed over to Harrods.

Every time I go to this store, I'm just overwhelmed. There are some rooms, like the high-end watch/jewelry/clothes/everything rooms, that I feel so out of place in. I had to do the casual walk-in-smoothly-turn-around-walk-out move a couple times. Not that they wouldn't have allowed me in . . . but it's strange to be surrounded by things meant for a completely different level of life style. And also things that cost more than my entire college education.

The Toy Kingdom is where I love to go. :D Dude, it's every kid's dream up there. So many toys and games, and the rooms are designed so beautifully. They have staff demonstrating toys everywhere, and I got to try out that instant-snow stuff. I bought a couple super-secret things there, and I can't wait to get back and give them as presents.

Also, I like the food sections. There's a whole store devoted to chocolates. Perfection.

I've also run into a strange phenomenon this time around -- I don't have as many urges to take pictures. I wonder if that's because I'm revisiting places I've already been, or if because I'm revisiting I'm more sensitive to the experience rather than the novelty of being somewhere new . . . anyway, I didn't take any pictures here.

...But I did at the British Museum! Obviously the museum is massive, so I just like to take pictures of the things that I liked the most, either for their design, cultural reflection, or age.

The attention to detail here is amazing.

Flutes in the shape of birds' heads, most likely used in ceremonial celebrations of the seasons since they imitate bird song.

I don't even remember who this guy is, but I love the artifacts that are created for worship or beauty. The fine work is really something to admire, and I love looking at something that others hundreds or thousands of years ago saw as beautiful or precious.

Weapons, of course, also fascinate me because often they were a mixture of utility and beauty. These are some fine Celtic swords.

Celtic boars. I don't know, I just saw them and knew I had to take a picture for Kaitlin. ;D

Jewelry and hairpins. Again, the fine craftsmanship of these objects is incredible. What a journey these little trinkets have had since they left their original owners. 

Here's an amulet of Harpocretes found in the River Thames. It's still so fascinating that the Romans came, conquered (mostly), and then left this crazy island to the Britians. 

This time around, I also saw the Rosetta Stone! I seriously don't know how I missed it last time, but it was incredible. The one thing about museums though, especially one as massive as the British Museum, is it's hard to really grasp the concept of how old everything is. I think the fact that I can't touch these objects, that they're separated by glass and lighting, makes it difficult to actually understand that they're real. I think that's why I connect most with the craftsmanship of personal and worship items, like the jewelry, weapons, and statues. It's easier to see the humanity in them.

After the British Museum, we went to see at musical at the National Theater called wonder.land (yes, pronounced "wonder dot land".

It's a reimagined, modern version of Wonderland, and it was definitely unexpected. The story was a little unorganized and the acts were unbalanced in content, but aesthetically it was super interesting to watch. Basically, Alice is a modern girl in London with a broken home and a new school, and because of cyber and physical bullying, she creates an avatar (who looks like the blonde Alice from the film) on a site called wonder.land, where she meets her friends and finds a way to express herself. The idea was fun, and it was interesting to see the Millennials vs Establishment issue attacked so head on. Definitely an interesting play to start our study abroad on!

Oh, and also I went here for lunch:

Chicken burger, hot, with a side of corn please. Oh and a refillable Diet Coke. :D Thank you, Nandos.

I'm back!

Due to a lucky circumstance of generous scholarships, money-saving, and amazing professors, I am back in the beautiful city of London!

This trip has been especially fun because I'm already familiar with the city and fancy myself to be more of a resident than a tourist, crossing streets confidently (but still having to dodge the occasional cab) and navigating the tubes like a pro (though, honestly they're very well designed so that's not a hard thing to do).

Our first night was quite rainy and cold, but I loved it all the more because of it. After a long but fairly comfortable, nap-filled flight, we arrived at our flats at about 3pm two Wednesdays ago. In an attempt to keep all the students awake, our valiant professors led us on a cold and windy walk to the British Film Institute (hence referred to as the BFI) on Southbank, and even though there was much grumbling from the students, they all got their first glimpse of the London Eye, Big Ben, and Parliament, so though we got rained on in the freezing cold -- I think everyone liked it in the end.

Here is the first (crappy) picture I took of the view from the Jubilee Bridge:

*Note: So, I'm not a photographer. I mean, I know the principles and theory behind picture composition, etc. . . but I'm not a practitioner. But! This blog is mostly for me, so I'm going to include any picture I like -- despite quality.

I still can't believe I'm here! Look! The building with the red light is the National Theater, and just under that bridge is the BFI. These are the two places we visit the most, so there will be much walking across this bridge.

Anywho, I'm going to try and do these posts in chronological order, so back to the flight. Everything was straight forward as far as security and customs, and I was lucky and had a center aisle seat with no one next to me. I watched Iron Man 3 (in prep for Civil War, of course), Kung Fu Panda 3 (cute!), and Brooklyn (gorgeous!), and tried to sleep for the rest of it. I was pretty successful, but mostly slept in 20 minute intervals. The flight fed us very well with a large dinner, regular soda runs, and a great little breakfast.

Only one anxiety stomach ache later and we had our group through customs, security, bought tube passes, and all climbed on the Piccadilly train to the flats!

Oh, the flats. They're actually pretty nice, modern, and clean. Just small. It's kind of amazing how well they use the space that there is, though!



They're only a bus ride away from South Kensington station, so that's convenient.

So there's my first day back in this beautiful city! I'll try and catch up to the present as quickly as possible!