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The Diligent Diarist
Mar. 29th, 2008 03:39 pmI cloak my failure to post my adventures appropriately in the excuse that it's sometimes rather hard to update when you are dealing with someone's else's computer. Not to mention in a foreign country, which speaks your language, and full of wonders.
So, the brief rundown of my last days with Emma in London:
Tuesday:
Emma needed to study, so she and a friend stationed themselves in pub (The Hung, Drawn, and Quartered, memorable for their decent burgers as well as the curious reluctance of their customers to ask where they got the name...) while I was sent to explore the Tower.
With the typical foolishness of a foreigner, I had not understood just how large the Tower compound was- I expected an aging if wondrous building, and was pleasantly surprised to find just how expansive the thing was. I spent most of the day there, from a bit before one to almost five. It was expensive to get in, but well, well worth the money. (I think I may have inappropriately giggled at the deaths of the Little Princes in the Bloody Tower- of my historical crushes, Richard III is high on the list purely for the devilish glee of the Shakespearean rendition. And Ian McKellan's rendition thereof.)
Emma and I had intended to see Hairspray, which has been playing for several months literally across the street from her. (She has the best location for a dorm. This is a fact.) But, when we got there, there was no student concession. We decided to try the Lord of the Rings musical- which was actually great. The technical aspect was stellar, the costumes and dancers lovely. The only drawback is that it was not very strong musically or in the writing. The music was fine for background music, but it was clearly 'inspired by movie' music- which is fine, but for it to stand without the visuals it would have to either radically depart from the movies while still being great, or it would have to *be* the movie music. As it was, it was great show (though it did cut out the whole subplot of the Rohirrim and Eowyn's fight with the Witch-King of Angmar. Which hurts my little sci-fi feminist-loving heart, but it does simplify the story much more.)
Wednesday:
John Soane's Museum, which is like a tiny little British museum (with appropriate focus on classical architecture) crammed into a very oddly constructed little house. Very small, very fun. I spent the morning there, while Emma studied and worked on life-stuff.
Evening, we went on literary walk around the area where she lives, which was highly entertaining for the gossipy anecdotes that the tour guide related. We had dinner in Emma's dorm.
Thursday:
Imperial War Museum- great, interesting, and full of small children in school uniforms. There was also a small crowd of old men around the German WWII tank (Jägdpanther model) comparing stats. There was a great exhibit called "Weapons of Mass Communications" of war and propaganda posters from various countries from WWI and WWII. Some of them, I had seen earlier in my Austrian history course, which was rather cool. There was a very real difference in tone between the English and American posters and the German/Austrian ones- while the Allied troopers were tough, ordinary cheerful guys, the German forces were very solemn, almost holy. It was an interesting look into the different psychologies of the warring parties.
After that, I had to catch my train to catch my plane, but I had time to stop at Scoops, a cute little gelatteria near Emma's home. Then I had to get on the train and go.
So, the brief rundown of my last days with Emma in London:
Tuesday:
Emma needed to study, so she and a friend stationed themselves in pub (The Hung, Drawn, and Quartered, memorable for their decent burgers as well as the curious reluctance of their customers to ask where they got the name...) while I was sent to explore the Tower.
With the typical foolishness of a foreigner, I had not understood just how large the Tower compound was- I expected an aging if wondrous building, and was pleasantly surprised to find just how expansive the thing was. I spent most of the day there, from a bit before one to almost five. It was expensive to get in, but well, well worth the money. (I think I may have inappropriately giggled at the deaths of the Little Princes in the Bloody Tower- of my historical crushes, Richard III is high on the list purely for the devilish glee of the Shakespearean rendition. And Ian McKellan's rendition thereof.)
Emma and I had intended to see Hairspray, which has been playing for several months literally across the street from her. (She has the best location for a dorm. This is a fact.) But, when we got there, there was no student concession. We decided to try the Lord of the Rings musical- which was actually great. The technical aspect was stellar, the costumes and dancers lovely. The only drawback is that it was not very strong musically or in the writing. The music was fine for background music, but it was clearly 'inspired by movie' music- which is fine, but for it to stand without the visuals it would have to either radically depart from the movies while still being great, or it would have to *be* the movie music. As it was, it was great show (though it did cut out the whole subplot of the Rohirrim and Eowyn's fight with the Witch-King of Angmar. Which hurts my little sci-fi feminist-loving heart, but it does simplify the story much more.)
Wednesday:
John Soane's Museum, which is like a tiny little British museum (with appropriate focus on classical architecture) crammed into a very oddly constructed little house. Very small, very fun. I spent the morning there, while Emma studied and worked on life-stuff.
Evening, we went on literary walk around the area where she lives, which was highly entertaining for the gossipy anecdotes that the tour guide related. We had dinner in Emma's dorm.
Thursday:
Imperial War Museum- great, interesting, and full of small children in school uniforms. There was also a small crowd of old men around the German WWII tank (Jägdpanther model) comparing stats. There was a great exhibit called "Weapons of Mass Communications" of war and propaganda posters from various countries from WWI and WWII. Some of them, I had seen earlier in my Austrian history course, which was rather cool. There was a very real difference in tone between the English and American posters and the German/Austrian ones- while the Allied troopers were tough, ordinary cheerful guys, the German forces were very solemn, almost holy. It was an interesting look into the different psychologies of the warring parties.
After that, I had to catch my train to catch my plane, but I had time to stop at Scoops, a cute little gelatteria near Emma's home. Then I had to get on the train and go.
