Royalty

Enjoying our first pint together

Greetings from ROME! Sitting in my hostel before going to sleep, what a perfect time to get caught up on blogging about my life since going to see Swan Lake 3 weeks ago in London (oops….)

Anyways, the Friday after the Royal Opera house, my dearest mother arrived in London for a one-week visit! After living in London for over 6 weeks, I can truly say I felt very much like a local and was excited to share the fabulous city with someone so close to me from home without having to use a map…that much.

The first day, lovely London weather awaited her (read: cold with torrential rain), so from her hotel by Trafalgar square—The Royal Horseguards, a five-star hotel much swankier than the prison cell I currently live in—we took refuge in my mom’s first pub, splitting pints and some bar food. Not only was it fantastic to see my mom after six weeks (and being across an ocean), but she also brought me the most wonderful American care package of John Frieda shampoo, Spongebob Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, homemade chocolate chip cookies, some clothes I forgot, and Caribou Coffee. Best. Mom. Ever.

After walking around a bit and deciding walking around was not our first activity of choice in the current weather, we headed to the V&A where I could show my mom one of my favorite museums in London.

The grounds outside of Kensington Palace

Little did we know that the Victoria & Albert museum turns into quite a swanky spot itself on Friday nights—the only day of the week its open until 10pm instead of 5pm. We were greeted by a DJ playing jazz music, champagne bar, and small groups of people chatting and snacking on h’ourderves.

Our first stop at the V&A was checking out the limited-time-only Ball Gowns Exhibit. As my mom and I are both connoisseurs (or, at least big fans) of fashion—more specifically, pretty dresses worn by celebrities—the exhibit was a perfect first stop for our first night in London together.

The exhibit was pretty fabulous. It featured a whole range of designs worn by British (and American) royalty and celebrities since 1950s, including those worn by Princess Diana, Helen Mirren, and even Beyoncé—the one she wore at one of Obama’s State dinners. After feeling sufficiently glamorous, we checked out some of the other exhibits, including the medieval room and the Raphael room. After that, we both went home—her to sleep, and me to….not sleep.

Kensington Palace!

The next morning, we got up bright and early to head to Portobello Market and Notting Hill—a favorite location of mine that was clearly a must-show. Though various Tube line closures led to some confusion, my mom managed to meet me only three minutes late at Notting Hill Gate. I, of course, some how caught a bus right away from Hampstead which didn’t stop until Finchley Road Station, and caught two Tubes right away in a row. So I made it there over 30 minutes early. Which meant the guy working at the Tube station thought I was lost/abandoned/orphaned waiting at Notting Hill Gate by myself for so long.

Ah, well.

After exploring the market, buying Christmas presents, and tasting some of the unbelievably delicious ethnic foods, we walked to Kensington to scope out Kensington Palace—one of the things I’ve been waiting to do for a while since I arrived in London. Kensington Palace, located in Kensington Gardens (of course) has served as the home to many famous British royals, most notable Queen Victoria and Princess Diana, both of whom we saw exhibits on throughout the palace.

Clothing worn by Prince Albert & Queen Victoria

A notable feature was a large room with an entire map of London on the floor, color-coded to highlight where the poor and rich of London lived during the reign of Victoria. As you can imagine, it was quite divided with poor on the East End, rich on the West. Some smart/important guy came up with this during Victoria’s reign to highlight the plight of the poor, which he saw to be an issue largely ignored by the Queen. Interesting.

As any other palaces I’ve seen on my trips, it was hard to imagine it being home for anyone. It was filled with beautiful paintings, sculpture, and tapestries lining exquisite staircases and grand halls. All looking over an expanse of beautiful gardens. Stranger, perhaps, is to imagine Princess Diana (a contemporary figure) living in a home that was also home to one of the most consequential British Queens in history, Queen Victoria. Both lived at Kensington Palace during very different times, but you have to imagine they felt similar feelings and went through similar struggles. Ah, to be royalty.

After Kensington, we made our way back to the hotel, where I crashed. Let me tell you, after sleeping on a hard bed with no sheets (the fitted one I had provided for me from King’s doesn’t fit of course) and a pillow as thick as a piece of paper, sleeping on the hotel bed was truly a beautiful experience. Highlight of the trip? I think yes.

After I rallied, we grabbed some traditional fish & chips at a pub down the street (with pints of course) before heading to the theater. What did we see? ONLY THE BEST MOVIE MUSICAL OF ALL TIME TRANSLATED TO THE STAGE. Yep, you guessed it, Singin’ in the Rain!

Ever since I participated in my dance studio’s dance camps starting at the age of seven, I of course fell in love with the old Hollywood musicals we watched every year (West Side Story, Top Hat, etc.) Singin’ in the Rain was of course no exception. Gene Kelly may not be British royalty, but he certainly is in the realm of tap dance, with classics like American in Paris, Ziegfield Follies, and, of course, Singin’ in the Rain. And he looks really, really good in those pants he always wears. RIP, Gene.

Of course, there was no Gene Kelly in this production, but they did a fantastic job of re-creating the magic of him, Donald O’Connor, and Debbie Reynolds. The Sid Cherise look alike wasn’t as good, but there’s no point trying to replacing her, is there?

Our view of the stage—fantastic!

We had absolutely fantastic seats incredibly close to the stage and enjoyed all of my mom and I’s favorite songs—Make ‘Em Laugh, Moses Supposes, Good Morning, and what else? SINGIN IN THE RAIN J The Gene Kelly-wannabe (blanking on names at the moment) even splashed the first few rows of the audience at about every opportunity possible during the iconic scene, which was pretty hilarious. Unfortunately for them, most people were too proud to wear the ponchos that were provided for them. Big mistake.

My only complaint of the night? The stupid middle-aged British lady sitting next to me that decided it would be a good idea to sing along. To EVERY song. It took two death glares from me and one from my mom to get her to stop. I mean, come on, lady, I know the words, too. That doesn’t mean I’m going to sing them.  Loudly. After the show, I caught a bus home from Piccadily Circus, which of course preceded to break down. After finding another bus, I made it home for a decent night sleep.

As there is clearly no rest for the weary while in Europe, next morning early it was to Waterloo Station for a train to Windsor! It’s actually a bustling little town about an hour away from London. Of course, the main attraction was the castle—my first one in Europe.

Someone put foam in this fountain in Windsor. Our guess ? The guys laughing at it from the windows of a hotel across the street.

It was very….castle-y. At least on the outside, what seemed like miles of stone towers and walls looked over green courtyards and hills, fairytale style—complete with plenty of British guards, of course.

The inside was quite spectacular: rooms after rooms after rooms, all spectacular in their own right. We saw world-class paintings and sculptures and a suit of armor worn by Henry VIII (complete with an expandable frame for his later years). There was a huge great hall with the family crests of centuries of knights, used now for great assemblies given by the Queen and modern knightings. We also saw a chamber completely filled with weapons: hundreds of guns in spirals on the walls, swords, and jewel-encrusted knives. What are you even supposed to do with all of those?! (Picturing trekking through the rain forest Indiana Jones style).

Anyways, I’ll stop going on about Windsor because no photos were allowed inside (sigh). After exploring the town of Windsor for a bit, we hopped a train back to London, where I caught up on my Austen reading (and, more notably, sleep). From there, it was off to Shakespeare’s Globe for the museum and tour!

One thing I didn’t realize about the Globe, though I knew the original burnt down in a fire due to a misaimed canon some odd-centuries ago, was that it wasn’t built until 1997. And it took an American disappointed with the lack of a remembrance of the original theater to conceptualize raise enough money to build it. Good to know Americans are good for something. And occasionally cultured.

Anyways, it was pretty cool to learn more of the history behind Shakespeare, of whom I’ve read a dozen or so plays over the years and currently taking Elizabethan Shakespeare. I wish I knew a bit more, but seeing as my last Shakespeare Professor was a crazy old German man who didn’t once in class talk about the play we were supposed to read for the week, I haven’t been the most dedicated Shakespeare student.

The reconstructed Globe!

The Globe was awesome though, almost a perfect reconstruction of how English audiences in the sixteenth century viewed their plays—up close in person and very loud. Interesting note that the richest members of society actually sat directly behind the top of the stage: not to see, but to be seen, of course.

I never got a chance to see a production at the Globe before it closed for the season in early October (all the tickets were sold out upon arrival), but there is a production of “Twelfth Night,” my favorite comedy (favorite tragedy? “Macbeth”), at the Apollo I’m going to attempt to see in my last month here. We’ll see how that does.

And there ended my mother and I’s first weekend together in London. British royalty, fashion royalty, tap royalty, and literary royalty. Not too shabby for three days.

Walking up Windsor, based on a giant hill, like all good castles.