Thursday/Friday January 29, 39, 2009: The Sound of Music and Windsor

We went on a field trip for the Popular Culture class, it was pretty good. We saw the Wallace Collection and it was amazing how it was preserved exactly how it was in the 1900’s. If you ask me it was kind of tacky and overdone, I guess that was the fashion. Also, I do not understand hanging up random portraits when you do not even know the people/persons. The outside and area was even more stunning. The Wallace collection was set off of Oxford Crcus and was a quaint and quiet residential area. You could tell it was once for the wealthy, because there were private parks and closed streets. I loved it! It was my style, in the city without the busy and noisy feel. There were hole-in the wall pubs, cafes, and shops. Even Simon Bolivar lived there! There is so much local history with in those streets. My teacher, who is named Mo, is definitely a burnt out hippie, which at one point in time did drugs and was a flower child. I have never had a teacher like him before. He knows so much and it always seems like he is up in the clouds. I never realized how difficult it is too transfer thoughts and ideas from one culture to the next. Such as were I am from and words that describe things, like earthy. Things are just so different, yet so much alike, that words and thoughts get lost in translation. It does teach you how to convey things better and more clearly. That night we went to the Theater and saw Sound of Music! It was amazing, I loved it so much. Seeing a play in a big city, makes you appreciate the theater so much more. Though, I was dressed like a bum, with sweatpants and a sweater shirt (plus no socks), because I thought we were going back home to change. I didn’t even have make up on. I probably looked like a real character next to the posh and chic Londoners, who are always dressed up. It was great though, and anyway I was more comfy throughout the show. We decided that before the show, we would be even more American and go to McDonalds for a snack. It was amazing. Haha. It was the first American food I had in a while. People are crazy over McDonalds and there flurries. It was packed. The sound of music’s cast was fantastic, it was so entertaining. The kids were so cute. Also, the theater was gorgeous; we only got the tickets for 20 pounds. The scene changes were fantastic as well. Just the whole show atmosphere, with the city scenery gave an amazing feel. It was a perfect London night. We are now attempting to see other productions like Mamma Mia and Phantom of the Opera. The songs from the musical are still in my head. I just wanted to sing along during the whole thing. Toward the end I almost accidentally kicked a Nazi that was walking down the aisle, whoops: take that Hitler. The next day we took the train to Windsor, which was great. It was only 4.25 for round trip! The castle was awesome, and I can’t believe the queen lives there on the weekends. The only thing that wasn’t the greatest was that you couldn’t take pictures of the gorgeous rooms and artifacts. The whole ensemble of the room was out of this world. It is hard to imagine how wealthy these people are. Everything is covered in jewel or other minerals. It was also fun to try and locate all the secret passages throughout the castle. The portraits in the castle were much more interesting than the Wallace Collection. Many were famous ones that are on the covers of books and such. Such as the one of Queen Elizabeth the first as a child. There was also a cloak of Napoleon that was taken from him at the battle of Waterloo. I can’t believe that I was in a real castle, the largest inhabited castle in the world by the way. It was unreal. Now I am on a castle mission and I would love to see more, like Hampton or Hever, even some in Scotland or Germany. The outside was fantastic too; it is so large and foreboding. I can just imagine the environment in the summer, with all the flowers and greenery. It would be brilliant to live there, and I think some people do live within the walls, they are probably dukes and ladies. From the distance the castle doesn’t look as much as a strong hold as it is, but it is still majestic with the Union Jack flying on the Turrets. I wish the gardens would have been open but it was out of season. It would be fun to stroll down the winding gardens and pretend you are royalty. We did find another gorgeous park that we sat and ate lunch in(the sun was actually shinning for a bit) where it gave great views of the castle. The town of Windsor, in general, was quaint, though not as cute as Bath. It was nice though, because it was quick train ride away. The town is definitely more modern looking with more industrial type buildings in the distance, but worth the trip. They have local pubs and unique coffee shops. They still have cobblestone streets and old buildings, but it is less put together than bath. I would really like to return during the warmer months when things are in bloom, which is the same story for Bath. There were many tourists, especially Asian ones, but even the British take notice of this and comment about it. They all take their very young children, who do not even know what is going on. A big trend for them is too giving the peace sign in many of their pictures, which I don’t really understand, so in many of mine I imitated them. Overall, I really enjoyed Windsor; it is spectacular and is full of history that has been preserved. It is a great way to get away from the city and still have the luxuries of it. Time is just flying here, I am loving it now. I enjoy it, though there is still some stress, with the damn tube and busy streets. And the people. There are so many of them! Though, London does a great job of having green spaces, so you can get away! I would really like to spend some more time in the country side, even if in April, instead of traveling over Europe, maybe just seeing the English(and maybe Scottish) countryside. After all, Rach and I are going to travel together after for awhile.