December 31
We had a day trip today to Dover and Canturbury. Dover was first. I was completely amazed and awed.
We first set down on Dover Beach. While there is no evidence that I was
standing on the very beach that Matthew Arnold stood to be inspired for his
poem, it felt like it. I could see why
he was so inspired. The day was grey and
cloudy and the sky and sea just blended into one expansive bowl. The beaches were rocky, so I picked up a
rock, just so I could have a rock from Dover beach. I had an amazing view of the White cliffs of
Dover. So incredibly exciting!! They were absolutely beautiful.
After our quick stop on the beach, we went up the hill to
Dover Castle, but we didn’t immediately go into the castle at first. We first went into the secret WWII tunnels
underneath the castle, where Churchill ran most of the war. That was absolutely phenomenal. They did an amazing job recreating the
sights, sounds, and smells in the tour we took.
I know this was an illusion, a video screen, but at one point, I saw a
soldier at the end of the tunnel, and he looked at me before turning and
marching off. I could feel the ghosts of
that place, and I am not ashamed to admit that my eyes were a bit misty throughout
most of it. The courage and triumph and
fear and despair that went on in those tunnels are so humbling.
I was wide-eyed instead of misty eyed when we were released
from the tunnels to go see Dover Castle, home of Henry II and Eleanor of
Acquitaine. Words cannot express how
wonderful that was! I went in every room
and took oodles of pictures. From the
throne room to the toilet, I saw it all, and loved it all! I went up and down the steps, imagining
Eleanor sweeping up them scheming all the while. The people who own Dover Castle did a
fantastic job at reconstructing what the castle would have looked like. I was giddy with excitement.
Also on Dover premises was a ruin of a Roman Lighthouse,
which was quite wonderful! It was nice
to see some Roman work. I always
appreciate a good ruin.
After that, we all trundled back to the hotel footsore, but
happy. It was New Year’s Eve, and there
was no way that I was going out at all.
So me and my four other friends (Holly, Callie, Sarah, and Heather) all
stayed in together. We had planned to
get drunk on champagne, but that didn’t quite work out. We never even finished the first bottle of
Strawberry Champagne that Sarah had. It
was, in a word, terrible.
So we stayed sober for New Year’s Eve, but I’m okay with
that. I don’t really mind. We went up to Sarah’s room on the seventh
floor and got to see a bit of the fireworks, and then we all went to bed happy
and content that we stayed warm and comfortable for New Year’s, instead of
standing for three or four hours, smashed against countless strangers with no
where to urinate.
I definitely think our homey celebration was worth it.
January 1
Didn't wake up with a hangover! Yay!! I also got to sleep in, which was a fantastic gift. Really wonderful, since today was going to be the day that I got scared out of my pants.
Sarah and I had seen and walked by something advertised as The London Dungeon. On closer observation, we discovered that it was a scary tour with 3 roller coasters that took you through all the seedy dangerous times of London. We both really wanted to do it, so January 1 off we went!
It was so much fun! I was so very very scared, but it was so worth it! They took us through the London in the 1600s with the plague, which was awesome! They even had some rats behind glass, scampering about. Quite awesome!! We then had a little show on the Fire of London, and then we went over to be judged as criminals. There was a woman in a judges wig who improved expertly! She called one man, who was American, up on the box and teased him quite a bit, and then a little kid, and then she called on me! I got in the box, and as soon as I opened my mouth to answer what my name was, she looked at me, and said, "Are you American?" I nodded and she immediately said I was guilty and told me to get off the stage. Then, as I was leaving, she told everyone to keep me away from the other American, because we might breed! So funny!
Then we went on a ride on the Thames, our first ride. It was a water ride, done in complete darkness, and we went backwards at one point. So much fun! Then we got off the ride, and were given 3D glasses and came to our second ride: an occult madame, who accidentally filled the room with evil spirits and zombies that we had to shoot with laser guns. It was all 3D video and it was so much fun! It felt like I was in Left 4 Dead! Coolio!!
We saw so much more, too! Bloody Mary, a crypt of lost souls (a mirror maze that was so creepy!), Mrs. Lovett's Pie Shop, Sweeny Todd's Barbar shop, an excellent Jack the Ripper exhibition that had me quaking in my boots, and then finally, we went off to be hanged. Our third and final ride. It was the drop type of ride, like the tower of terror. They took a picture as we went down, and, while I normally don't buy pictures like this, I couldn't resist. Sarah's face is absolutely priceless. She looks so mournful and scared! It makes me giggle so much!!
It was a wonderful wonderful time!
After a quick lunch and a short rest, I set out on my own to explore the Victoria Albert, and a stupidly forgot my camera. Yes, yes, I know. All the groans. And while I could, and probably will, go back and take pictures of some of the sculptures, I couldn't take pictures of the things that I was really interested in: The theatre exhibit.
Sarah and I had seen and walked by something advertised as The London Dungeon. On closer observation, we discovered that it was a scary tour with 3 roller coasters that took you through all the seedy dangerous times of London. We both really wanted to do it, so January 1 off we went!
It was so much fun! I was so very very scared, but it was so worth it! They took us through the London in the 1600s with the plague, which was awesome! They even had some rats behind glass, scampering about. Quite awesome!! We then had a little show on the Fire of London, and then we went over to be judged as criminals. There was a woman in a judges wig who improved expertly! She called one man, who was American, up on the box and teased him quite a bit, and then a little kid, and then she called on me! I got in the box, and as soon as I opened my mouth to answer what my name was, she looked at me, and said, "Are you American?" I nodded and she immediately said I was guilty and told me to get off the stage. Then, as I was leaving, she told everyone to keep me away from the other American, because we might breed! So funny!
Then we went on a ride on the Thames, our first ride. It was a water ride, done in complete darkness, and we went backwards at one point. So much fun! Then we got off the ride, and were given 3D glasses and came to our second ride: an occult madame, who accidentally filled the room with evil spirits and zombies that we had to shoot with laser guns. It was all 3D video and it was so much fun! It felt like I was in Left 4 Dead! Coolio!!
We saw so much more, too! Bloody Mary, a crypt of lost souls (a mirror maze that was so creepy!), Mrs. Lovett's Pie Shop, Sweeny Todd's Barbar shop, an excellent Jack the Ripper exhibition that had me quaking in my boots, and then finally, we went off to be hanged. Our third and final ride. It was the drop type of ride, like the tower of terror. They took a picture as we went down, and, while I normally don't buy pictures like this, I couldn't resist. Sarah's face is absolutely priceless. She looks so mournful and scared! It makes me giggle so much!!
It was a wonderful wonderful time!
After a quick lunch and a short rest, I set out on my own to explore the Victoria Albert, and a stupidly forgot my camera. Yes, yes, I know. All the groans. And while I could, and probably will, go back and take pictures of some of the sculptures, I couldn't take pictures of the things that I was really interested in: The theatre exhibit.
They had an exhibit on "The Making of Postmodernism" which I passed over for obvious reasons. To get to the Theatre Exhibit, I had to go through the Jewelry Room. So much shiny!! There were so many pretty things to look at! Gemstones, tiaras, ancient jewelry from around the world. They had modern jewelry, too, but it was less exciting, since there weren't any gemstones. Who wants to wear a necklace made out of car tires? Really?
Another thing they had was a ring of gemstones, so that you could see what all the precious stones looked like. It was a spiral of pretty and I oogled at it with cartoon hearts twirling around my head. Yay for pretty and shiny!
Then, finally, I was in the theatre exhibit. SO FREAKING COOL!!! I saw so many many awesome things! Mick Jagger's costume from the '72 European tour? Saw it! A guitar broken by The Who? Saw it! I saw many many costumes that famous actors wore, like Richard Burton's Henry V costume, Judi Dench's costume in the Seagull, and so much more! They even had some Lion King costumes there. So much fun!
They also had a room for technical theatre, so I got to see models and sketches for a lot of plays, but, unfortunately, I didn't write any of them down, because, by that time I was in a theatre coma. They had a model of Sweeney Todd that you could press a button and see the different lighting effects for each scene. Drool!
The only part of that that I didn't really like was the part where we got to see Annie Lenox's house. It was... odd. Very modern. I don't think she's dead. I'm still not very sure who she is. Very very odd to have a person's "house" exhibited in the museum, when they're not even dead. Doesn't that seem weird?
Anyway, after that, me and my tired footsies made their way back home to sleep. I went to bed early, because the next day I knew was going to be amazing. Two plays and Baker Street!
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