We slept in again today, but this time I wasn't too happy about it. I decided to wear my white shirt, tie, and sweater. Just because. But I ended up regretting the sweater; it was really rainy, but I got super hot and ended up carrying it under my arm the whole day.
We tried going to the museum of Natural History, but the queue was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long we would have been waiting for hours and hours. So instead we went to Harrod's (all the stores are having huge sales), but all we got was a pair of purple tights to wear with the dress I got in Paris. I was going to try on some shoes and hopefully buy a pair, but my feet were soaked so I couldn't get them in or out.
I don't know why, but clothes shopping always makes feel very awkward, and when I'm with Dad its worse than usual. I can tell he isn't comfortable, and I barely am, so his awkwardness just amplifies mine. I love going shopping, but not really with him. :/
Just as we were heading out I spotted a Burberry sale rack (which is something I thought I would never see. ever.)but I didn't point it out; I think Dad was starving at that point. We found a cute little Persian restaurant and ate breakfast/lunch there, with baklava for pudding.
After lunch we headed for Trafalgar Square, hoping to be able to catch a glimpse of the goings-on in there, but it had been blockaded off. Only the people who had camped out in the night got to be in there, since they were in there before it got blocked off. :'(
Instead, we decided to seek out the big Apple Store. We walked the entire length of Regent Street, found it, got in, wondering why the heck we even bothered seeing as it was just like any other Apple Store, and left. I was pretty annoyed. Oh well.
The entire length of Regent Street, plus Piccadilly, plus half of Trafalgar Square, plus the entire length of Strand, is quite a long distance. The Apple store is at the head of Regent Street, and the theatre showing The Lion King is on the corner of Strand and Wellington. But we walked the whole way, like proper troopers. I actually find it rather fun to walk around large cities. It makes me feel cool :)
On our way back down Regent, we stopped at a Burberry store. I absolutely love Burberry. Dad knows this, so he insisted we take a look around (the dear) even though I asked what the point was, it wasn't as if we would buy anything. But I still like looking, so he went to the men's side and I admired all the pretty trench coats (This season they have this blueish one, it reminds me of the Starry Night by Van Gogh). When I felt like leaving, I walked up to Dad, who was examining a blue polo shirt, and told him how much it was (L295). Then we left.
Someday when I am quite rich, I will own quite a few coats by Burberry, I should think.
So we made our way to the Lyceum Theatre, occasionally poking our heads into shops along the way. We had dinner right next to the theatre, and got out just in time for our show to start. I loved it! Rafiki was my favourite character. In this production he was a she, and she was brilliant! The animals would occasionally run down the aisles; I got snarled at by a hyena! :)
Tomorrow we are seeing Much Ado About Nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XD XD XD
07 July 2011
06 July 2011
Day 4: The Underground and the nerd campground
This morning I slept in. It was niiiice. By the time I was all awake and ready to go, it was almost lunchtime, so Dad and I just walked over to Sainsbury's and bought some sandwiches, nectarines, granola bars (for the theatre; they let you bring in your own food!) and smoothies. They were pretty good; I had a egg-tomato sandwich with a carrot-orange-ginger smoothie.
After lunch, we set off to find Queen's Theatre, where we would be watching Les Miserables at 2:30. We took the underground for the first time to get there! Queen's is also right across the street from Her Majesty's Theatre, where we're seeing the Phantom of the Opera. How convenient, right?
Since we still had a few hours till the show started, and since we were by Regent Street, we decided to try to find the Regent Street Apple store. By the way, yesterday, while we were watching Wicked, the Malfoy family and Matt Lewis were there for a fan meet-and-greet. I wish we had gone, but it is too far away from the Apollo Victoria. :(
Regent Street is insanely long, so we never did find the Apple Store, but instead backtracked to make our show on time. Mom had told me a revolving stage was used for Les Mis in order to show more than one scene, but I couldn't even imagine how incredible it actually was. It reminded me of a movie, because the actors could actually walk around for some distance without actually moving, and the sets would move so as to create illusion of a panning camera. There were even scenes in slow motion!
Phantom wasn't until 7:30, so we had several hours to kill. We wandered around, and I saw that one theatre was showing Much Ado About Nothing. I explained to Dad how we just had to buy tickets, because David Tennant and Cathering Tate were starring, so we did!! Dad asked for close seats because he can't see well, and the lady cut our price in half because he's disabled; we ended up getting seats in the second row for L20 each!!! AAHH! My heart is fluttering...
We found a little pub that had 'traditional British food,' so we stopped there for dinner. I had fish and chips and Dad got a meat pie with mashed potatoes. It was so yummy!!!
After dinner we tried to get back to Her Majesty's, but got lost in Trafalgar Square. We saw where the Deathly Hallows Part II premiere is being held, and saw all the nerds camping there in robes and ties.* I noticed that there was a pretty even amount of people in all houses, which made me glad, because in America I always see like 80% Gryffindor, 9% Slytherin, 8% Ravenclaw, and 3% Hufflepuff, which makes me feel sorry for all the close minded people.
Anyway, we asked for directions from a postcard salesman, and found our way back to the theatre, literally just in time. I won't even spend any time trying to say how amazing Phantom was. I was simply in awe of the set; absolutely incredible.
We took the underground back to the hotel and watched some weird science show on BBC.
Tomorrow we shall be going to Harrod's. Hopefully I can find some white leggings so I can wear the dress I got in France.
*Also, tomorrow is the red carpet premiere! Actors start arriving at 4:00, but we haven't yet decided what time we want to be there. I'll be in my Ravenclaw sweater!
After lunch, we set off to find Queen's Theatre, where we would be watching Les Miserables at 2:30. We took the underground for the first time to get there! Queen's is also right across the street from Her Majesty's Theatre, where we're seeing the Phantom of the Opera. How convenient, right?
Since we still had a few hours till the show started, and since we were by Regent Street, we decided to try to find the Regent Street Apple store. By the way, yesterday, while we were watching Wicked, the Malfoy family and Matt Lewis were there for a fan meet-and-greet. I wish we had gone, but it is too far away from the Apollo Victoria. :(
Regent Street is insanely long, so we never did find the Apple Store, but instead backtracked to make our show on time. Mom had told me a revolving stage was used for Les Mis in order to show more than one scene, but I couldn't even imagine how incredible it actually was. It reminded me of a movie, because the actors could actually walk around for some distance without actually moving, and the sets would move so as to create illusion of a panning camera. There were even scenes in slow motion!
Phantom wasn't until 7:30, so we had several hours to kill. We wandered around, and I saw that one theatre was showing Much Ado About Nothing. I explained to Dad how we just had to buy tickets, because David Tennant and Cathering Tate were starring, so we did!! Dad asked for close seats because he can't see well, and the lady cut our price in half because he's disabled; we ended up getting seats in the second row for L20 each!!! AAHH! My heart is fluttering...
We found a little pub that had 'traditional British food,' so we stopped there for dinner. I had fish and chips and Dad got a meat pie with mashed potatoes. It was so yummy!!!
After dinner we tried to get back to Her Majesty's, but got lost in Trafalgar Square. We saw where the Deathly Hallows Part II premiere is being held, and saw all the nerds camping there in robes and ties.* I noticed that there was a pretty even amount of people in all houses, which made me glad, because in America I always see like 80% Gryffindor, 9% Slytherin, 8% Ravenclaw, and 3% Hufflepuff, which makes me feel sorry for all the close minded people.
Anyway, we asked for directions from a postcard salesman, and found our way back to the theatre, literally just in time. I won't even spend any time trying to say how amazing Phantom was. I was simply in awe of the set; absolutely incredible.
We took the underground back to the hotel and watched some weird science show on BBC.
Tomorrow we shall be going to Harrod's. Hopefully I can find some white leggings so I can wear the dress I got in France.
*Also, tomorrow is the red carpet premiere! Actors start arriving at 4:00, but we haven't yet decided what time we want to be there. I'll be in my Ravenclaw sweater!
05 July 2011
London: Day 3.5: A Wicked View
Guess what? I'm writing this on my own computer! Ha! So hopefully no more weird characters?
After we pulled into St Pancras station (I wonder if he is the patron saint of pancreases or something :P) we caught a cab and were off to our hotel! Our cabbie stayed parked for us while we checked in and then took us straight to the Eye. I was so used to the cabbies having French accents that I couldn't understand him!
The Eye was dizzying, mostly due to the fact that my eyes were having a hard time focusing on what was outside the windows, rather than the windows itself. London is so beautiful. I like it a lot better than Paris already. I bet its because the blocks are square instead of triangular and everyobdy speaks English and people occasionally put their garbage in the bins...
I think my favourite buildings so far are the Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. They have such intricate carvings and are really spiderweblike.
Once we got off the Eye we immediately began our trek to the Apollo Victoria Theatre. We didn't go inside right away, because we still had a load of time until Wicked started, but we jsut wanted to make sure we knew where it was. At this point we were starving, so we ate this Italian place near Victoria Station. It was delicious; I had a calzone with chicken, meatballs, mushrooms, and chillies, and a cheesecake with chocolate coated honeycomb sprinkled on top. That was possibly the yummiest thing I've ever heard of on a cheesecake.
Right after we finished eating (the waiters took like 20 minutes getting our check) we ran in the rain to the theatre and settled into our seats. Dad used his blindness to get us really good seats ;) (We also got into the Louvre for free and the Eye at a discount with this) And then it began...
...and there really are no words to describe it. The costumes and the set was absolutely incredible. I wish I cold have gone backstage and gotten detailed photos of each munchkin and emerald citizen dress. They were so intricate!
After we pulled into St Pancras station (I wonder if he is the patron saint of pancreases or something :P) we caught a cab and were off to our hotel! Our cabbie stayed parked for us while we checked in and then took us straight to the Eye. I was so used to the cabbies having French accents that I couldn't understand him!
The Eye was dizzying, mostly due to the fact that my eyes were having a hard time focusing on what was outside the windows, rather than the windows itself. London is so beautiful. I like it a lot better than Paris already. I bet its because the blocks are square instead of triangular and everyobdy speaks English and people occasionally put their garbage in the bins...
I think my favourite buildings so far are the Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. They have such intricate carvings and are really spiderweblike.
Once we got off the Eye we immediately began our trek to the Apollo Victoria Theatre. We didn't go inside right away, because we still had a load of time until Wicked started, but we jsut wanted to make sure we knew where it was. At this point we were starving, so we ate this Italian place near Victoria Station. It was delicious; I had a calzone with chicken, meatballs, mushrooms, and chillies, and a cheesecake with chocolate coated honeycomb sprinkled on top. That was possibly the yummiest thing I've ever heard of on a cheesecake.
Right after we finished eating (the waiters took like 20 minutes getting our check) we ran in the rain to the theatre and settled into our seats. Dad used his blindness to get us really good seats ;) (We also got into the Louvre for free and the Eye at a discount with this) And then it began...
...and there really are no words to describe it. The costumes and the set was absolutely incredible. I wish I cold have gone backstage and gotten detailed photos of each munchkin and emerald citizen dress. They were so intricate!
Paris: Day 3: The EuroStar
This morning we ate breakfast once again in the restaurant next door to our hotel. I had a crepe this time, with nutella in it. Nutella is a really big thing here, I think. I see it everywhere.
We took a farewell walk of sorts around the city, and bought some 'abricot et pommes' croissants for our train ride into England. We sent off our postcards and rested (we had been getting to bed late and waking up early) and packed and made sure we weren't leaving anything behind.
At around 11:30, we called our cab and checked out of the hotel. We were now on our way to train station! Once we got there, it was so confusing and it took us forever to figure out where we needed to go. Also, we were confronted with sooo many people begging for money. It's incredibly annoying. :/ Anyway, we found our queue and got through it at a decent time. We didn't have to sit on the train for very long before it left the station.
I think it only took about two hours to get from Paris to London on the train. I had a window seat and so got to observe all the cute little houses and farms. The tunnell under the Channel didn't last nearly as long as I thought it would. It sure made one's ear pressure funky, though. ;)
We took a farewell walk of sorts around the city, and bought some 'abricot et pommes' croissants for our train ride into England. We sent off our postcards and rested (we had been getting to bed late and waking up early) and packed and made sure we weren't leaving anything behind.
At around 11:30, we called our cab and checked out of the hotel. We were now on our way to train station! Once we got there, it was so confusing and it took us forever to figure out where we needed to go. Also, we were confronted with sooo many people begging for money. It's incredibly annoying. :/ Anyway, we found our queue and got through it at a decent time. We didn't have to sit on the train for very long before it left the station.
I think it only took about two hours to get from Paris to London on the train. I had a window seat and so got to observe all the cute little houses and farms. The tunnell under the Channel didn't last nearly as long as I thought it would. It sure made one's ear pressure funky, though. ;)
Day 2: Lost in the Louvre
This morning Dad and I ate breakfast at the restaurant next door to our hotel. We ordered omelettes, and they were enormous! I al,ost couldnùt finish. I think the breakfast portions here are bigger than in the States...
After breakfast we walked to the Louvre. It is basically a beeline from our hotel, so we didn't get lost. =) Once there; ze got free ad,ission since dad is disabled and I a, his 'accompanist.' We explored the Sully wing of the Louvre (there are three zings, all of which are absolutely enor,ous) because the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo are there. We got to see both of them, but ze coulnd't get very close to the Mona lisa, since it is protected by glass, a wooden barrier, security guards, a rope barrier, and a gigantor throng of people. We snuck around the crowd and ,ade it like 20 feet away, i think. The Venus de Milo is a very pretty statue. She has a nice face, i think.
Then, as we att,ped to get to the Egyptian stuff, ze got horribly lost and ended up staying for like 2 hours. After that ze zere no longer appreciating the art and just trying desperately to get out of there. It is sooo hot in there...
Once ze escaped we tried to get to Champs Elysees, but we were ,iserable by the ti,e ze got there (we had to walk through what I believe to be miles of park) and so decided to go back too the hotel and took a well-needed nap.
(scrambled, will rewrite later)
I bought a white dress and almost bought a black dress to zear to the theatre, but decided to wait till ze zere in England. It was a very expensive (but extre,mely cute!) dress, but I ,ight find something I like better.
After another break and dinner, a Citroen car picked us up for a tour around the city at night. I had no idea hoz large the Eiffel tozer actually is, or, for lack of a better zord, spiderweblike. Really, it re,inded ,e of intricate lace or a spiderzeb. So beautiful!
And today is ,y native countryùs independance day. I hope you all had fun!
After breakfast we walked to the Louvre. It is basically a beeline from our hotel, so we didn't get lost. =) Once there; ze got free ad,ission since dad is disabled and I a, his 'accompanist.' We explored the Sully wing of the Louvre (there are three zings, all of which are absolutely enor,ous) because the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo are there. We got to see both of them, but ze coulnd't get very close to the Mona lisa, since it is protected by glass, a wooden barrier, security guards, a rope barrier, and a gigantor throng of people. We snuck around the crowd and ,ade it like 20 feet away, i think. The Venus de Milo is a very pretty statue. She has a nice face, i think.
Then, as we att,ped to get to the Egyptian stuff, ze got horribly lost and ended up staying for like 2 hours. After that ze zere no longer appreciating the art and just trying desperately to get out of there. It is sooo hot in there...
Once ze escaped we tried to get to Champs Elysees, but we were ,iserable by the ti,e ze got there (we had to walk through what I believe to be miles of park) and so decided to go back too the hotel and took a well-needed nap.
(scrambled, will rewrite later)
I bought a white dress and almost bought a black dress to zear to the theatre, but decided to wait till ze zere in England. It was a very expensive (but extre,mely cute!) dress, but I ,ight find something I like better.
After another break and dinner, a Citroen car picked us up for a tour around the city at night. I had no idea hoz large the Eiffel tozer actually is, or, for lack of a better zord, spiderweblike. Really, it re,inded ,e of intricate lace or a spiderzeb. So beautiful!
And today is ,y native countryùs independance day. I hope you all had fun!
03 July 2011
Day 1: AZERTY keyboard layout
So, here I am; sitting here in my hotel, blogging on an AZERTY keyboard (which I'll have you know, is quite hqrd to remember where evything is; so I zill just type hoz I qm used to and fix everything zhen I get bqck! So don't judge! Sigh; this mqy tqke q zhile...Why do I have to press the shift button for a period? And qlso there is this kid from South Africa zho thinks Europeans are deprived little cavemen zho have never heard of an iPhone (he is explaining Apple to my very patient hostess as I zrite this, meanzhile I a, laughing silently at him).
I have been awake since 8:00 July 2nd US Mountain Time, and right noz it is 7:00 in Paris. So I think I have been up for around two days...it feels crazy.
The cab drivers here are awesome. Every ride is a thrilling adventure. Lots of people here can speak English; zhich is a relief. The wife of the ozner of the bistro I qte dinner at today didn, even have much of an accent. She gave us some pointers on tipping. Apparently you don,t tip waiters here; but you do cqb drivers. Also, the hotel hostess is sooooo nice! She is incredibly patient with the dumb A,erican tourists:
µ§£ look at those crazy characters! sweet...perhaps i will take a picture of this wacky keyboard...
After we checked into our hotel, Dad and i went to the catacombs! They were really exciting, and I shall be adding my pictures I took after i get home. The pathways were really muddy fro, all the water dripping, but all those skulls and femurs were amazing to look at.
After our dinner we bought to,orrow,s breakfast: cherries; pastries; and sodas.
Good night, all!
01 June 2011
Time and Space
My how the time's flown! Dad just called me today and we discussed our trip for a long time. We fly out to Paris on July 2nd, which is almsot exactly one month from now.
In other news, Aislynn and Ronan's birthday is coming up as well and I'm working on a tunic for Aislynn. It's gonna be so darling! I've made a sleeveless tunic base with purple jersey, and am covering it in 4.5" circles that have been folded to make ruffles. The circles go up the top about 2/3s of the way, so it's got an empire waist. I can't wait to see her in it! I shall take many pictures and put them up here.
...and now I have to think of something for Ronan. FAST! I only have a month! What would you make for your ten year old brother?
Also, I've gotten to the End of Time in watching Doctor Who. Since I've never written about this before: I only started watching this in November, but I wanted to do it properly so I started with Series One, with Christopher Eccleston. So I've yawned during Aliens of London, cried during Doomsday and all through the Runaway Bride, couldn't blink for a week after Blink*, and had a heart attack as I watched Silence in the Library in the dark. And now, apparently, Rose has her own living copy of Ten. I'm jealous. So, now I've reached the End of Time, and now I'm depressed. Because I've enjoyed David Tennant as Ten. And apparently he regenerated in this special. Why do all the bad things happen during specials?
*So, about Blink. Possibly the scariest episode during the Tenth Doctor's tenure. It's called Blink because the creatures in this particular episode are angels that turn to stone if you watch them, but as soon as you look away, or even blink (they're wicked fast), they can move. And kill you. And poor Sally Sparrow (and her friend's brother) has to fight them off with only a video of the Doctor to help.
I watched it for the first time with my cousin Mikey. She and I were in my room, in the basement, in the dark, at flipping 1:00 a.m. My mother was napping (yes, at 1:00 a.m.) upstairs. She had a pretty good rest too, until Sally and that other guy realised they had looked away from a certain angel. Mum was none too pleased about being woken up by our screams. Yeah. I couldn't go into a dark room for weeks.
In other news, Aislynn and Ronan's birthday is coming up as well and I'm working on a tunic for Aislynn. It's gonna be so darling! I've made a sleeveless tunic base with purple jersey, and am covering it in 4.5" circles that have been folded to make ruffles. The circles go up the top about 2/3s of the way, so it's got an empire waist. I can't wait to see her in it! I shall take many pictures and put them up here.
...and now I have to think of something for Ronan. FAST! I only have a month! What would you make for your ten year old brother?
Also, I've gotten to the End of Time in watching Doctor Who. Since I've never written about this before: I only started watching this in November, but I wanted to do it properly so I started with Series One, with Christopher Eccleston. So I've yawned during Aliens of London, cried during Doomsday and all through the Runaway Bride, couldn't blink for a week after Blink*, and had a heart attack as I watched Silence in the Library in the dark. And now, apparently, Rose has her own living copy of Ten. I'm jealous. So, now I've reached the End of Time, and now I'm depressed. Because I've enjoyed David Tennant as Ten. And apparently he regenerated in this special. Why do all the bad things happen during specials?
*So, about Blink. Possibly the scariest episode during the Tenth Doctor's tenure. It's called Blink because the creatures in this particular episode are angels that turn to stone if you watch them, but as soon as you look away, or even blink (they're wicked fast), they can move. And kill you. And poor Sally Sparrow (and her friend's brother) has to fight them off with only a video of the Doctor to help.
I watched it for the first time with my cousin Mikey. She and I were in my room, in the basement, in the dark, at flipping 1:00 a.m. My mother was napping (yes, at 1:00 a.m.) upstairs. She had a pretty good rest too, until Sally and that other guy realised they had looked away from a certain angel. Mum was none too pleased about being woken up by our screams. Yeah. I couldn't go into a dark room for weeks.
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