The Tale of the Youthful Vagabonds and the Sweetest Lady on the Planet

Gather around while I tell you the epic tale of my weekend...

This weekend involved a wonderful trip with my fellow Lawrentians to Stourhead Gardens and Bath.  Stourhead was a newly wealthy family's wonderful attempt at showing off to the older nobility; they spared no expense in the gardens, which tell the story of Hercules as you go along.  Each view in the garden is carefully engineered to match Italian landscape paintings, and with the leaves just now starting to turn colors...it was stunning, to say the least.

Just a general idea of how RIDICULOUSLY GORGEOUS this place is.

After getting the pants wowed off me, we journeyed on to the equally gorgeous town of Bath (pronounced "Bahth" not "Baaath").  Here we explored the ancient Roman public bath house, which was beautiful, and then stopped for dinner at a delicious Thai place.

 Street in Bath

The Baths

The Avon River

Many of us were staying the night so we could explore Bath more on Sunday, myself included.  I had booked a double room for me and my roommate Jill at a nice lodge, and by the end of the day we were both looking forward to a nice bed and shower.  We took a cab to the lodge because neither of us knew how to get there (my mistake, I didn't look up how to get there), and I walked up to the front desk and said to the lady there that I had made a reservation.  Here's where shit got complicated.  She looked for my name and we soon discovered that I had accidentally booked Sunday night instead of Saturday night!  There was immediate panic when we realized that we now had nowhere to stay the night- it was 8:45pm and we were exhausted.  The lady called all the hotels in the area and none of them had any rooms left for under 120 pounds a night (which is ridiculous, roughly $200).  This is where she became the heroine of the night: she was obviously worried about us in a motherly sort of way because there was no where for us to sleep, so she offered us some floor space in a little room she had because she didn't have any rooms left either (I do NOT know what was going on in Bath that night, that every hotel within 20 km was full).  This woman could have just shrugged and said sorry and kicked us out, but she took us in, found us blankets and an air mattress (she made her husband blow it up for us); in the morning, she gave us breakfast.  I cannot thank this woman enough for her generosity- without her, I honestly don't know what we would have done because of my mistake.  Whenever I tried to thank her, she just said, "It happens to the best of us, and I wouldn't want to see two young women on the streets!"  Let this be a lesson to all of us, the lesson of the Kind Innkeeper.  This sweet old woman helped me when I most needed it, when I had made a mistake that had put me and my roommate in very real trouble.  It's people like her that make the world worth living in.

After that rather stressful episode and a restless night on a floor, we woke up and got ready to explore Bath.  We took a tour to Stonehenge, and I was blown away (literally, it was very windy) by just how OLD these stones are.  When the Romans conquered, Stonehenge was already in ruins!  I'm getting used to being around old stuff, living in London, but Stonehenge was another story entirely.  And we, with all of our knowledge and technology, STILL have no idea what the hell these gigantic stones are doing chilling in the middle of the English countryside.  I was a bit disappointed that they don't let the tourists closer than 15 feet or so to the standing stones; I'm a very tactile person and my favorite part of being around old stuff is being able to look closely and touch things, it makes me feel closer to the ancients who built it.

Ze proof!

After the Hanging Stones (what "Stonehenge" means in old English), I had the Jane Austen tea at the Jane Austen museum.  The tea was delicious, and the museum had various letters that Jane wrote when she lived in Bath.  We actually don't know exactly what she looked like, which I thought was interesting; this incredibly famous woman is still a mystery to us!  I also checked out the Bath Abbey, which is in the centre of town, and saw various architectural masterpieces (The Circus and The Royal Crescent).  To my UU readers, I found a Quaker Meeting House!  I had to do a double take- what's an American religion doing in the middle of a fancy little English town?  Mind.  Blown. 

 Quaker Meeting House?!  What?!

Mr. Darcy watching over me and my tea :) 

Now I'm broke and starting orchestra rehearsals as a new member of Orchestra Vitae, an orchestra with a close relationship with FIE, the program that Lawrence is teamed up with in London.  We'll see how this goes!  I've definitely missed playing with an orchestra- we're performing in a week, Gershwin's An American in Paris, Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, and McNuff's Secret Destinations.  I have no idea what I'm doing this weekend, but I'm definitely excited for Halloween in London and for Mom to come in 2 weeks!  I hope you are all doing well and that the world is treating you as kindly as it did me this past weekend.

Yours Truly,

The Management

I saw London, I saw France...and I spent a lot of money

I'm still alive I promise!  Nothing really happened in the beginning of the week when I would usually update, so I decided to wait for more exciting developments.  I got the amazing opportunity to see a Broadway show at a big West End theatre- The Book of Mormon made me laugh so hard I practically cried.  The dancing was fantastic, the music was fantastic, the acting was fantastic, and the jokes against religion were (you guessed it) fantastic!  I actually could see all of the action despite my "cheap" seat because the Prince of Whales Theatre is rather compact- I think I may have gotten a better view than those on the ground floor!

I spent the past two days in Canterbury and then Dover as I attempted to explore more of this country.  This trip was a surprise adventure, as I didn't know I was going until a week or so ago when one of my classmates mentioned tickets to a performance of Verdi's Requiem in a cathedral located in Canterbury. Sooo I hopped on a train (trains are soooo niiiiiice) and listened to Mumford and Sons on the 2 hour trip, all the while hoping that I was actually on the right train; it was NOT very clear at the station because apparently the train was going to split in half part way through the trip so I had to make sure I was in the right part of the train?!!  Annoying and kind of stressful, but it was nice once I'd figured it out.

So anyways I arrived in Canterbury to find a bustling little town with the cheerful air of a festival; it feels OLD, unlike London which gives off the vibe of "Yeah, we're old, but we're going to pretend like we're not."  Canterbury celebrates and continues its traditions and old buildings, so I had a great time strolling along the square listening to live street music, eating cheap food, and poking my nose into random shops.  I'd done some research to try and figure out how to spend my day, so I went to the visitor's centre to find a map (partially because I love maps and partially because I get lost a lot).  My first stop was the beautiful cathedral that you can see wherever you go in Canterbury- this was also where I would later get to see Verdi's Requiem.  I then decided to take the map's tourist advice and take a punt boat trip down the river to see some more of the historic buildings along the river (Great Stour river).  Punts are the traditional boat from Canterbury, and it was a really beautiful, calming trip.  There were several other tourists with me on the boat, and one young couple had an adorable daughter who I played with throughout the trip.  We also got hot water bottles, which I had to giggle at because I've only heard of them and they're so very British (sooooooo waaaarrm and lovely).  After the boat trip I trotted off to see a Norman castle and then St. Augustine's Abbey before meeting Rachelle and her two friends for dinner.  I was surprised at how nice it was moving at my own pace, not having to worry about what others wanted to do, stopping when I wanted, etc.; exploring on my own was really perfect for me!

The Verdi concert was stunning.  And I mean absolutely mind-blowingly powerful.  This picture doesn't really capture the beauty of the space- I think it rivaled Notre Dame.  At the end of the picture is the choir doing their dress rehearsal.

I should also mention that the walls of this church are lined with plaques and graves, as well as the many chapels with important dead people in them.  When the second movement of the requiem came around (this is the part where the choir sings about the terror of the Day of Judgement, so the music is, understandably, terrifying), I felt myself edging away from those plaques a little.  I was listening to a song for dead people while surrounded by dead people, so I was a little nervous!  Also, because I was sitting a few feet away from the bass drum, I jumped every time it came in during the most terrifying part of the movement.  Moving on from the part where I was feeling the inevitable nature of my own mortality, there were also many moments when I was transported by the beauty of the calm, expressive solos about the Lord's lamb and stuff like that.  So basically, it was...indescribable. Afterwards, we went on the lookout for a pub but ended up hanging out at a chocolate restaurant; much consumption of chocolate ensued therein.  And a cocktail.

I spent the night in a hostel!  My first hostel, it should be mentioned.  It was actually a lot nicer than I expected, aside from the part where they didn't provide towels so I had to be creative with showering.  The rooms were clean, the sleeping bag was comfy, and my roommates were only a little noisy.  The fun part came the next morning when I was tasked with finding the Canterbury EAST train station (there are 2 train stations, thanks Canterbury).  I gave myself an hour to do this, and it took me every bit of that hour.  Directions from 3 different people, getting caught on the other side of town, walking for ages without breakfast later I finally got to the station.  Did I mention that it was raining?  I mean the hard, bitterly cold, sheeting kind of rain the entire time I was getting lost with all my shit in my backpack (it was very heavy).  A kind soul finally walked a thoroughly bedraggled me to the bloody station, where it was unclear how to get INSIDE the station- there were signs everywhere and none of them were clear.  I finally asked for instructions again and luckily saw my friends waiting outside the station for me, but I was almost in tears at that point.

So, needless to say, I was pretty miserable when we got on the train to Dover.  It was raining still when we got there and it was pretty cold- probably 8 or 9 Celsius with wind.  That was when we decided (I was unhappy about this decision but I shut up about it) to explore the enormous old castle on top of the hill that has protected Dover for centuries.  That journey was entirely uphill, and I was feeling like punching someone at the end of that.  We went inside and explored the tunnels that housed the British army during WWII and then on to the castle.  The castle was cool, but I was not interested considering how cold and wet I still was.  We even took a bit to hold various clothing up to the high speed hand dryer in the bathroom in an attempt to dry off!  That was fun, but a futile attempt as we soon went outside again to climb up more damn stairs to see the castle that wasn't that cool.  I begged a stop for lunch, where I had soup and bread and crumble with custard.  Afterwards, we went back down the hill (stupid hill) to see if we could get a better view of the White Cliffs of Dover; it had FINALLY stopped raining and we went out on the pier to see Dover from the sea (ha, WORD PLAY!).  We caught a glimpse of France from across the channel, which caused much excitement from my companions.  The view was really beautiful, but I was still cold and not entirely dry and my feet were wailing like there was no tomorra!  So I didn't really appreciate it.  I was really quite happy to get back on the train to London, as I was able to rest in a mindless stupor on the journey.  That was yesterday and I'm still exhausted!

I'd like to take a moment now to mourn a very important figure in my journey to London so far: my boots.  They survived for so much!  But the zipper broke after this weekend's ordeal, and alas, one of them is no more.  I might be desperate enough to see if I can have the zipper fixed, but perhaps not.  Goodbye my faithful friends!  I shall be forced into wearing leggings with normal shoes as a gesture of my loss.

That's all for now folks!  Cheerio.  (Weird mix of American and British culture for ya there)

Yours truly,

The Management

Also: Updated Mailing Address!

Elise Massicotte

Mansion Residence Hall

Manresa Road

Chelsea, London SW3 6NA

United Kingdom

Week 1: Wanting to curl into a ball in the corner but exploring instead

Hello friends and family!  Week 1 has come and gone, so here's what's been happening with me.

Class started on Monday last, but it still feels oddly like vacation because I have a grand total of ONE class a day.  Just to fill you all in, I go to a school of overachievers, AND I'm an absurdly busy music major.  Basically, I'm used to waking up at 7 and being constantly busy until 11pm (on good days), so WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THIS TIME??? I'm trying desperately to make a list of all the stuff I want to see in London so I can get those done in my ridiculous amounts of free time.  I've also noticed a change in myself: every time I try to talk to a Londoner, I talk in my best British accent.  I have to think about it to talk like normal.  I'm also getting confused about which way cars go on the street because I'm used to both ways now.

Chelsea and Kensington look remarkably like Paris, with all the new (new for London, meaning 19th century) residences and ridiculously expensive stores like Tiffany and various clothing venues.

Here's a picture of my res hall: it's got 10 floors, I'm on the 6th.

Some random differences from the US:
1. We're speaking the same language technically, but we are SO NOT speaking the same language.  Cash registers are tills, the underground is the tube, cell phones are mobiles, strollers are push chairs, hard cider is cider (the bar tender was so confused when I asked for hard cider- he said, "What do you mean, most of it is liquid..."), trash bags are bin liners, and the list goes on.

2. Londoners have no concept of personal space.  Maybe it's because they've been squeezed into tiny apartments all their lives, but everywhere I have been bumped, slid past, squished, stepped on, and brushed up against without so much as a glance.

3.  The sheer SIZE of this city and the number of people here.  There are EIGHT POINT TWO MILLION people in London, and it's STILL GROWING!  There are over 1400 people per square mile!  All squeezed into a country that could fit into Texas eight times.

4.  British people are weird.  Part of it is that they have no real self identity- what does it mean to be British?  No one knows, so don't ask.  They ADORE their queen, they have naked women in their newspapers (seriously), they're very reserved but friendly, and they carry odd things on the tube (I saw someone carrying a mirror).

They're also very kind to all the foreign people here- I learned that a third of London's population wasn't born in the UK.  Also, over 300 different first languages are spoken in London.  Basically, THIS IS A BIG-ASS CITY!

I like the drinking attitude they have here- no getting smashed or getting killed, just drinking with friends.

Careful, the trees here are very slow.

 Just in case you missed them...

 ...Mr. Weasley?  Is that you?

Some good news: I'm getting good at navigating the tube!  That was accomplished mostly because on Sunday it felt like I was on the tube all day.  I had to go pick up my cello in Upmister (far north), then go to tea with my program at Christine's house in the far east, and I didn't get lost at all!  I was familiarized with the "tube stupor" as I'm calling it- the blurry-eyed look of boredom when you're on the tube for a long time- as well.  I also went with my roommate Jill to a play at her internship so she wouldn't get lost by herself (getting lost was inevitable, so I wanted to make sure we were lost together).  We took the tube without incident, but then couldn't find the theater.  We also went to the London aquarium yesterday- Jill calculated it, and we both walked 8.91 miles.  Just so everyone knows, the aquarium IS NOT EASY TO FIND.  

I was so happy that we found it that I took a picture of the damn sign.

 There were these weird fish statues that looked so grumpy that I couldn't resist...

Me and Jill

 The view from outside the aquarium was spectacular.

 Oh yeah, and we found the London Eye!

I forgot to explain the whole "wanting to curl into a ball in the corner" part.  Being in a different country by myself is HARD.  In fact, it kind of sucks, especially since I have very little to do with myself.  I've been trying to keep busy, but I feel the time ticking away while I'm struggling to make this the "best experience" I can have.  There's no guidebooks for that, unfortunately.  But anyways...it's only the first week.

So, I hope I have entertained you with my pictures and tales.  Until the next time!

Yours truly,

The Management