Back in London!

I have not managed to update my blog since I set foot in Paris almost three weeks ago. I spent a relatively uneventful two days in Paris wandering around the city and recuperating from my three weeks of spring break travels. I watched the Royal Wedding on a television screen in Paris, a decision I now regret. I returned to London on April 30th and celebrated a return to my city. London welcomed me back with open arms, although I think I missed London more than London missed me. The last two weeks I have been busy becoming reacquainted with London, appreciating the ability to speak English and dragging myself to prepare for finals. This will be a brief recap of what I have been up to.

My second night back in London, Amy and I attended a burlesque performance called the Hurly Burley show. It was an extravagant and tantalizing parade of beautiful women! My favorite performer was a fire-eater who set flame to her nipple tassels, while swinging them around and moving in a brilliantly choreographed dance. The next morning I was mischievous and spend a little too much time and money in Burberry’s outlet store.

The next week was full of museum I have wanted to visit since initially arriving in London in June. I spent Tuesday, May 3 at the Imperial War Museum. They have an incredible collection of retired war tanks, airplanes and submarines to peruse. Another favorite was (I will call it an exhibit for lack of a better word), but an exhibit that simulates the trenches of WWII. I cannot imagine living in such a hell and I wondered if my Grandpa Ronald had to spend much time in trenches. The most moving gallery was a large portion of the museum devoted to the Holocaust. I once had the opportunity to hear a childhood Holocaust survivor, but prior to this exhibit I was never so affront with the horrors through photograph and recorded video interviews of survivors. Awful.

Wednesday the 4th I spent at the Natural History Museum. It was fun to see the dinosaur skeletons, fossilized bugs and so much creatively displayed information about Earth’s history. My favorite was the “Sexual Nature” exhibit chronicling the reproductive habits of the world’s insects, marine life, mammals, all the way to barnacles and preying mantises. Thursday I went to the National Army Museum, specifically to see an exhibit devoted to the “Wives and Sweethearts” of army personnel. It was a powerful and moving display of the challenges of such relationships through love letters and photos. Friday morning I pretended to study before going to a stand up comedy show. HILARIOUS.

On Saturday, May 7 my friend Hannah arrived for a few days on her way to a summer study abroad program in Italy. She landed in the late morning giving us just enough time to race off to the Harlequins versus Wasps rugby game. I have no understanding of rugby’s rules. After the game all I have tell you is the stadium had delicious Cornish pasties and rugby players have large thighs. That Sunday (which was Mother’s Day), we went to an afternoon tea at the Sanderson Hotel that was themed like the Mad Hatter’s Tea of Alice in Wonderland. It was so cute and entertaining with brightly colored sandwiches, lovely scones, bottomless cups of tea AND lollipops that change from hot to cold in your mouth! We wrapped up the day with a dinner picnic in Regent’s Park.

Monday morning Hannah and I went to Westminster Abbey. It is a gorgeous cathedral. I have a morbid fascination with deceased English monarchs, especially the Tudors, so I was thrilled to see the graves of Elizabeth I, Mary I and Mary, Queen of Scots. It was captivating to see even the graves of non-Tudors like Richard II (better known as Richard the Lion Heart) and Charles Darwin. I had to finally submit to studying in the afternoon. After Hannah I celebrated my successful studying with pints and pub grub. I took my Rise of the Novel exam on Tuesday morning, which I am confident about. Wednesday Hannah was left to her own devices while I spent more time studying. We rendezvoused in the afternoon to have more pub grub and to see the play “All’s Well that Ends Well” at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. It is an experience just to go the outdoor theatre and attempt to imagine it in the Elizabethan era.

Hannah left Thursday morning, just in time for my second exam on early modern identities in Renaissance English literature. I feel like it went well. Friday was my final exam in cultural criticism, although it is the one I feel nervous about. Either way, I am thrilled to be done with school for the summer! Now I am up Horwich with the family for the next week!