More Museums and Theater

I forgot to mention this, I think, but a while back I went and toured the Tower of London, a famous fortress where many people were kept prisoner, executed, and where the crown jewels of England are stored. I saw the spot where Jane Grey and Henry VIII's wife Anne Boleyn was beheaded, where Walter Raleigh was kept prisoner, and where prisoners were brought in by ship to the tower. From the Tower Hill tube station, you can even see some remains of the ancient wall built around the City of London when the Romans occupied the area 2,000 years ago. My favorite part was the crown jewels...I only had to wait about 45 min to get in. We weren't allowed to take pictures of them, but I bought some postcards so you all can see the largest diamond in the world when I get back. After that, I walked across the Tower Bridge, a famous landmark right down the road.

Last Wednesday, between classes, I made a quick trip to the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar square. They had a neat exhibit on portraits done by young or unknown artists that I though was pretty cool.

This weekend I found Frederick Chopin's house where he stayed before he gave his last ever public performance. I realized that I walk past that music hall on my way to work everyday. After that, I toured Westminster Abbey, the church where many monarchs are married and buried. Princess Diana's funeral was held there in 1997. In addition, many famous writers and musicians like Handel, Chaucer, Dickens, Newton, Cromwell, Darwin, and many others are buried there.

After Westminster, I made my way over to Temple Church, located in the City. It was built in the 11oos and was the meeting point for the Templar Knights. If you've read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, he references this church in there somewhere. Although it was heavily bombed in 1940, restorations have brought the church back to it's former state. Marble effigies of Knights are scattered all over the floor. It was a pretty cool stop in my day of touring.

Next, I went to the Museum of London, another free museum in the middle of the city. They had a pretty nice exhibit on London throughout history. My favorite parts were the ones about the Plague in the 1300s and 1600s and the Fire of London in 1666. It was pretty crowded in there, so I didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked.

Also this weekend, my roommates and I went over to Soho to check out Carnaby Street where the Mod movement started in the 1960s. There are still a bunch of cute boutiques around there, and it still seemed to be a very fashionable district. We grabbed lunch and Chinatown and then made a quick trip over to Denmark Street. There, I found 4 Denmark Street where Regent Sound Studios is located. Here, the Rolling Stones recorded their first album. After that, we went over to Notting Hill to check out the Portabello Market.

After Portabello Market, I stopped in a little bookstore and bought a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Money well spent.

On Sunday, my roommates and I went over to Abbey Road to try to recreate the Beatles' album cover. We got some cool pictures of the graffiti there and added our own lines to the wall. After that, we walked to Regents Park, where we found the Royal Cricket stadium. Cricket is pretty big here, and I still don't understand it. Finally, we went to a communion service at St. Paul's cathedral, which was not as good as the Mattins service I went to earlier, but it was still enjoyable.

On Monday night, I bought a last minute ticket to see The Tempest directed by Sam Mendes (Mr. Kate Winslet) in the theater owned by Kevin Spacey. It was an amazing performance, especially for only £12. Last night, I went to go see Les Mis. Although the main performer hit his head during the first scene and had to be replaced, it was still a really good show.

That's what I've been up to in the last week. Next week all of my papers and projects are due, so it might get interesting time-wise, but I will try to update after my weekend in Dublin.

Sadly, my trip is coming to an end and I will be home in the morning on the 23rd.